In the Nation

LONGMONT, Colo. - Police say a man who killed his ex-girlfriend and two of her relatives before fatally shooting himself had been accused of kidnapping the woman and released from jail just hours before the attack.

The Weld County Sheriff's Department says Daniel Sanchez, 31, was released from the Boulder County Jail at 10 p.m. Monday.

About 4 a.m. Tuesday, a 911 dispatcher received a desperate call from a woman who could be heard saying, "No, no, no" before the sound of a gunshot.

Authorities say Sanchez then took the phone and told the emergency operator he shot three people. The dispatcher then heard another gunshot.

Killed were Sanchez's ex-girlfriend, Beatriz Cintora-Silva, 25; her sister, Maria Cintora-Silva, 22; and her sister's husband, Max Aguirre Ojeda, 32. - AP

LANSING, Kan. - The bodies of the two men executed for the 1959 murders of a Kansas family that became infamous in the Truman Capote true-crime book

In Cold Blood

were exhumed Tuesday in an effort to solve the slayings of a Florida family killed weeks later.

Kyle Smith, deputy director of the Kansas Bureau of Investigation, said bone fragments were collected from the remains of Richard Hickock and Perry Smith, who were hanged for the murders of Herb and Bonnie Clutter and their children in Holcomb, Kan., on Nov. 15, 1959.

The fragments were collected at the request of a Sarasota County sheriff's detective, who has been trying to determine whether the pair were responsible for the deaths of Cliff and Christine Walker and their two young children Dec. 19, 1959, in Osprey, about four hours northwest of Miami. Smith and Hickock fled to Florida after the Clutter murders.

DNA testing now has advanced enough that older material can be analyzed more effectively. - AP

WASHINGTON - House and Senate negotiators reached agreement Tuesday on a $633 billion defense bill that would tighten sanctions on Iran, increase security at diplomatic missions worldwide after the deadly September raid in Libya, and presses the military on possible options to end the bloodshed in Syria.

The bill would authorize $528 billion for the Defense Department's base budget, $17 billion for defense and nuclear programs in the Energy Department, and $88.5 billion for the war in Afghanistan.

The measure, which is about $1.7 billion more than requested by President Obama, includes a 1.7 percent pay raise for military personnel and provides money for new ships, aircraft, and other weapons. The White House had threatened a veto, but negotiators made a number of changes to address administration concerns.

- AP