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U.S. District Court Judge Morey Sear, one of Louisiana's most highly regarded judges, has died of complications from a fall at his New Orleans home. The 75-year-old Sear, who received his law degree from Tulane University in 1950, then spent two years in the Marine Corps before beginning a 21-year private practice that was followed by work as a judge, the Times-Picayune reported.

A listing of high school and junior college players signing national letters-of-intent for IA college football. Schools F through J. Name, Pos, Ht. Wt. Hometown School Florida (17) Eraste Austin FB 6-2 250 Lafayette, La. (St. Thomas More HS) Dallas Baker WR 6-3 185 New Smyrna Beach, Fla. (New Smyrna Beach HS) Vernell Brown QB-RB 5-8 160 Gainesville, Fla. (Gainesville HS) Wesley Bryant OL 6-3 285 Charlotte, N.C. (Vance HS) Lance Butler OL 6-7 300 Lexington, N.C. (West Davidson HS) Deshawn Carter DB 6-1 203 Hammond, La. (Ponchatoula HS)

The Human Rights Watch office in Brazil Friday condemned the appointment of police Gen. Nilton Cerqueira as chief of security in Rio de Janeiro because of his alleged role in the military repression of the 1970s. In a document released Friday, Human Rights Watch noted Cerqueira was head of internal intelligence in the state of Bahia in the 1970s, when the country was under military rule. 'It should be remembered that (internal intelligence) was one of the organizations that most violated the human rights of Brazilian citizens, torturing hundreds of people, killing 269 and causing another 152 to disappear,' the document said. The group said that naming Cerqueira to head public Security in Rio de Janeiro would attend 'neither to the needs of the city nor to the problems of violence and drug trafficking in Rio de Janeiro.' Cerqueira has rejected charges that he was involved in the torture of political prisoners during the military dictatorship between 1964 and 1985. 'The centers of hatred will not intimidate me. The group Torture No More, with lightly given accusations, is one of them, and they are carrying out a slander campaign,' he said. 'They are people who never achieved their political and ideological goals and they don't forgive me.' Cerqueira's appointment this week raised heated debate in Brazil, where opponents questioned his planned hard line for dealing with the gang violence that has gripped Rio de Janeiro in recent years. Rio de Janeiro Governor Marcello Alencar said in announcing Cerqueira's appointment that it was 'not time to choose a little companion or little friend to look after public security.

Federal and state authorities said Tuesday a federal grand jury indicted 17 members of the Marcello, Gambino and Genovese organized crime families on charges of infiltrating the video poker industry in Louisiana. U.S. Attorney Robert Boitmann, FBI New Orleans Special Agent in Charge Charles Neil Gallagher and Louisiana State Police Superintendent Paul Fontenot said indictments handed down Friday capped a two-and-a- half-year joint investigation. The investigation centered on the infiltration of Worldwide Gaming of Louisiana Inc. and its subsidiary, Louisiana Route Operators Inc. Worldwide Gaming is the sole distributor in Louisiana for Bally video poker machines. All 17 defendants were charged with violations of the Racketeer Influenced Corrupt Organizations Act, mail fraud, wire fraud, interstate travel and communications in aid of racketeering, conducting an illegal gambling business and conspiracy. If convicted, they faced terms of up to 230 years in prison and fines totaling millions of dollars.

Here are four main theories that have dogged the investigation of the Kennedy assassination: 1. Kennedy was killed in an international plot directed by either the Kremlin or the Cuban government.

Carlos Marcello, the longtime New Orleans' Mafia kingpin who was prosecuted in the Brilab case and once accused of plotting the assassination of President Kennedy, died Tuesday. He was 83. Marcello died at 7:30 a.m. at his home in suburban Metairie. The coroner did not immediately disclose the cause of death.

A federal grand jury charged the father and brother of former Gov. Buddy Roemer with conspiracy and fraud involving $9.6 million borrowed in 1985 from a now-defunct savings and loan company. Named in the indictment handed down Thursday were Charles E. Roemer II, the father of the ex-governor; Franklin 'Danny' Roemer, brother of the former governor; and R. Lee Harvill. Buddy Roemer, who lost a bid for re-election in an October 1991 primary, was not involved in the case, according to Assistant U.S. Attorney William Flanagan.

A book coming out this week and a television report based on it claims Marilyn Monroe was killed by the Mafia to expose Attorney General Robert Kennedy's romance with the actress, a plot that failed its purpose. Kennedy was saved from scandal when Los Angeles authorities declared Monroe's death a suicide, according to a book titled 'Double Cross,' to be published by Warner Books, and a three-part expose beginning Monday on the nationally syndicated TV show, 'Hard Copy.' The author of the book, Chuck Giancana, appears on the TV series. He is the nephew and godson of Sam Giancana, the late Chicago mob boss, who was one of the Mafia leaders targeted by Kennedy for prosecution or deportation. Some theorists claim President John F. Kennedy was assassinated at the order of the mob, probably the Carlos Marcello organization in New Orleans, in the belief that this would end his brother's term as attorney general and his harassment of organized crime figures. Giancana writes in his book that his uncle, longtime boyfriend of singer Phyllis McGuire and well known in entertainment circles, romanced Monroe shortly before her death. The elder Giancana bugged Monroe's Hollywood apartment to get information on the Kennedy brothers, both of whom have been linked romantically with the super star. Then he ordered her death, Giancana said, hoping to disgrace Robert Kennedy.

A book coming out this week and a television report based on it claims Marilyn Monroe was killed by the Mafia to expose Attorney General Robert Kennedy's romance with the actress, a plot that failed its purpose. Kennedy was saved from scandal when Los Angeles authorities declared Monroe's death a suicide, according to a book titled 'Double Cross,' to be published by Warner Books, and a three-part expose beginning Monday on the nationally syndicated TV show, 'Hard Copy.' The author of the book, Chuck Giancana, appears on the TV series. He is the nephew and godson of Sam Giancana, the late Chicago mob boss, who was one of the Mafia leaders targeted by Kennedy for prosecution or deportation.

A new book by a Texas attorney-historian charges that late FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover was guilty of treason for failing to divulge advance knowledge of a Mafia conspiracy to assassinate President John F. Kennedy, working instead to make sure the plan would be successful. 'Act of Treason' by Mark North of Austin, Tex., (Carroll & Graf, $26.95), scheduled for publication Nov. 14, is the result of five years of research and based on documentation from many sources, including the 1979 report of the House Select Committee on Assassinations. This report implied that Kennedy most likely was killed by the Carlos Marcello Mafia organization in New Orleans, an allegation attacked by the Justice Department and the FBI. North concentrates on proving that Marcello was out to get Kennedy because he was the only Mafia leader the president had personally humiliated by attempting to deport him as an undesirable.

------ Bones and Silence, by Reginald HillNEWLN: (Delacorte, 336 pp., $17.95) You know from page one of 'Bones and Silence' that this is a good book. Reginald Hill sets his British police detectives to work on a murder witnessed by Supt. Andrew Dalziel. At least Dalziel says it was murder. The two men in the room when the woman's brains were blown out say it was an accident, the gun went off while they were trying to keep her from committing suicide.

Thunderstorms offered Horst Skoff a reprieve Tuesday just as he looked certain to become the first seed to fall at the $375,000 Austrian Open. However, his chances of survival will be slim when he resumes play against Romanian-born West GermanChristian Saceanu. Skoff, the No. 6 seed, trailed 4-6, 2-5 when play stopped.

osse Pointe, Mich., def. Andres Vysand, Soviet Union, 6-3, 6-2; Mark Koevermans, Netherlands, def.

Jack Ruby, a police crony who ran a house of bottle-blonde strippers on the low-rent fringe of Commerce Street, put an end to it. Grief-ridden and seized by 'psychomotor epilepsy' -- the words are those of his attorney Melvin Belli -- Ruby lunged through a knot of newspapermen on a rear ramp of the Dallas police station and pumped a .38 slug into the accused assassin of President John F. Kennedy. A famous photograph caught Lee Harvey Oswald in his death embrace, his lips pursed, the dark shadow of Ruby, fedora pulled low, swooping in like an avenging angel. 'I put an end to him because nobody else would,' Ruby told his captors. 'I did it for the country, and for Jackie and for those poor (Kennedy) kids growing up without a father.'

Men 100 meters 'A' final -- 1, Brian Cooper, U.S., 10.35 seconds, 2, Leandro Penalver, Cuba, 10.39. 3, Jiri Valik, Czechoslovakia, 10.40. 4, Ezio Madonia, Italy, 10.41. 5, Michele Lazazzera, Italy, 10.51. 6, Victor Edet, Nigeria, 10.62. 100 meters 'B' final -- 1, Carlo Simonato, Italy, 10.52 seconds. 2, Antonio Ullo, Italy, 10.54. 3, Mario Longo, Italy, 10.60. 200 meters -- 1, Thomas Jefferson, U.S., 20.70 seconds. 2, James Butler, U.S., 20.73. 3, Pietro Mennea, Italy, 21.16. 4, Antonio Ullo, Italy, 21.35. 5, Paolo Catalano, Italy, 21.51. 400 meters -- 1, Roberto Hernandez, Cuba, 45.29 seconds. 2, Brian Whittle, Britain, 45.91. 3, Antonio Sanchez Munoz, Spain, 46.54. 4, Tiziano Gemelli, Italy, 46.96. 5, Marcello Pantone, Italy, 47.33.

Armed paramilitary forces and riot police stormed a hotel where opposition leaders had scheduled a news conference Monday, arresting dozens of opposition leaders and foreign journalists and beating at least one U.S. newsman, witnesses and U.S. Embassy officials said. About a dozen men in civilian clothes brandishing pistols, shotguns and submachine guns took over the Marriott Cesar Park Hotel in downtown Panama City at about 6:10 p.m. shortly before the news conference was to begin. Witnesses said between three dozen and four dozen people were detained, including 11 or 12 journalists -- at least five of whom are U.S. citizens. Two of the Americans were freed hours later. A U.S. Air Force serviceman also was reportedly detained.

At the peak of his popularity, Louisiana Gov. Edwin Edwards returned to power from a four-year absence by knocking off a Republican incumbent in a campaign that saw him boast, 'The only way I'll lose is if I get caught in bed with a dead girl or a live boy.' Edwards won that election by the largest popular vote of any gubernatorial candidate in state history, taking 63 percent of the vote to humiliate Gov. Dave Treen, who campaigned on a theme of honesty and integrity. Edwards' boast was typical of the combative, self-aggrandizing and frequently outrageous style of the French-speaking Cajun politician who makes no secret of his fondness for lavish Las Vegas casinos and young Louisiana women. His return to a third term in the 1983 election was the pinnacle of Edwards' public career, marked by a triumphant tour to Paris and Versailles with hundreds of supporters to help pay his $14.7 million campaign debt.

Louisiana's colorful Cajun Gov. Edwin Edwards suffered his first political defeat in 33 years with a No. 2 primary showing and conceded the race early Sunday to Rep. Charles 'Buddy' Roemer rather than face him in a runoff. Edwards, who was running for an unprecedented fourth term as Louisiana governor, faced almost certain defeat in a Nov. 21 runoff election with Roemer, according to vote totals. His withdrawal means Roemer will become governor March 14. Roemer, 44, D-La., a Shreveport reformer, finished first in Saturday's non-partisan open primary after bolting from last place in the final weeks of the state's primary election by promising to change the state's image as a haven for political corruption.

Gov. Edwin Edwards, facing voters for the first time since his acquittal on racketeering charges, trailed Congressman Charles 'Buddy' Roemer Saturday in his bid for an unprecedented fourth term and the two appeared headed for a runoff. With 24 percent of the vote counted, the Harvard-educated Roemer had 120,392 or 32 percent. Edwards ran second with 107,548 or 29 percent.

Three-term Gov. Edwin Edwards, the Cajun craps shooter undefeated in 33 years in politics, spent his final day of campaigning Friday working to hang on to a run-off spot in a re-election bid threatened by the lowest popular rating of his career. Four public opinion polls released in the final week before Saturday's non-partisan primary election put Democratic Rep. Charles 'Buddy' Roemer as much as 11 percentage points ahead of the governor, and Republican Rep. Bob Livingston in third place but within a percentage point of the governor. In a statewide poll of 995 registered voters released on the eve of the election by the Shreveport Journal, the poll showed Roemer was leading by 27 percent, followed by Edwards with 16 and Livingston with 13 percent. Brown and Tauzin each had 6 percent.

The 'Anyone But Edwin' bumper stickers symbolize the fall from popularity of Edwin Washington Edwards, but the high-stakes gambler who has ruled Louisiana for 11 of the past 15 years still leads his seven challengers in next Saturday's non-partisan primary election for governor. Edwards, who sat out a term and returned to power in 1983 by thrashing Republican Gov. Dave Treen with 63 percent of the vote, barely has been able to muster more than 20 percent in pre-primary polls. Most of his support has come from black communities, where he has been spending the bulk of his campaign money to hold votes he used to be able to take for granted. The 60-year-old admitted ladies man who neither smokes nor drinks has never lost an election in 35 years in public office. He believes he can beat the long-shot odds against him by getting in the runoff with Rep. Bob Livingston, R-La., and winning it when Democrats -- who outnumber Republicans 8-to-1 in Louisiana -- 'come home' in the general election.

The United States, needing a draw to advance, Thursday night was eliminated by South Korea from the FIFA Under-16 World Cup. The South Koreans rallied past the Americans and into the quarterfinals with a 4-2 victory at St. John, New Brunswick. The Ivory Coast, Italy and the Soviet Union also advanced with victories. Quatar, triumphant Thursday over winless Canada, already had secured a berth. Nigeria lost to Mexico but moved to the next round on goal differential.

Swimming Men's 100-meter breaststroke Final A -- 1, Lorenzo Carbonari, Italy, 1 minute, 03.75 seconds. 2, Andrew Deichert, U.S., 1:04.60. 3, Heiko Schafer, West Germany 1:04.97. 4, Naritoshi Matsuda, Japan, 1:05.15. 5, Hisashi Fuwa, Japan, 1:05.38. 6, Richard Lockhart, New Zealand, 1:05.38. 7, Paul Lee, Australia, 1:05.58. 8, Todd Torres, U.S., 1:05.71. Final B -- 1, Jin Fu, China, 1:06.11. 2, Marco Cavazzoni, Canada, 1:06.19. 3, Serge Score, Canada, 1:06.39. 4, Dmitri Porotski, Soviet Union, 1:06.48. 5, Alexandre Yokochi, Portugal, 1:06.82. 6, Robert Grubisic, Yugoslavia, 1:06.92. 7, Adrian MacKay, Britain, 1:07.13. 8, Cicero Torteli, Italy, 1:07.41. Men's 100-meter butterfly Final A -- 1, Andrew Jameson, Britain, 55.04 seconds. David Cademartori, U.S., 55.31. 3, Jay Mortenson, U.S., 55.34. 4, Anthony Mosse, New Zealand, 55.79. 5, Flavius Visan, Romania, 55.84. 6, Tibor Rezmanj, Yugoslavia, 55.89. 7, Neil Cochran, Britain, 56.06. 8, Frank Drost, Holland, 56.30. Final B -- 1, Gerard de Kort, Holland, 56.47. 2, Scott Isaac, Canada, 56.54. 3, Helio Celidonio, Brazil, 56.69. 4, Otavio Silva, Brazil, 56.75. 5, Viatcheslav, Soviet Union, 56.94. 6, Zhan Jiang, China, 57.13. 7, (tied), Marco Braida, Italy, and Kersten Petry, West Germany, 57.17. Men's 4x200-meter freestyle relay Final -- 1, U.S., 7 minutes, 34.95 seconds. 2, Britain, 7:37.83. 3, Holland, 7:38.29. 4, Soviet Union, 7:38.81. 5, Canada, 7:40.99. 6, Japan, 7:41.37. 7, Yugoslavia, 7:43.15. 8, Brazil, 7:46.52.

Carlos Marcello, the imprisoned 'Little Man' of Gulf Coast organized crime, is not eligible for Social Security benefits because he was not legally re-admitted to the United States after deportation in 1961, a federal appeals court ruled. A three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Monday upheld a lower court ruling supporting the Social Security Administration's denial of benefits because of Marcello's 1961 deportation to Guatemala. Marcello, 76, was convicted in 1981 of plotting to trade bribes for lucrative insurance contracts in a federal sting operation code-named Brilab. He was sentenced to seven years in a Missouri federal prison and began serving the term in 1983.