Woodbury admitted fatally shooting James Walker, manager of the Army Barracks outdoors gear store in Conway, on July 2, along with two customers, William Jones, 25, and his friend Gary Jones, 23.

Woodbury gave short answers in Merrimack County Superior Court as Fitzgerald and public defender Caroline Smith reviewed his history of mental problems, including bipolar disease, and his understanding of the process and his options.

"I'm pleading guilty because I am guilty," he said.

He apologized to each victim by name, and to their families.

But Walker's father, also named James, told him, "You are a coward, a thief and a cold-blooded murderer."

Woodbury, of Windham, Maine, was released May 4 from the Maine State Prison after serving five years for robbery and theft. Authorities say he left the state a month later, heading south with two teenage sisters in a car allegedly stolen from their mother.

Woodbury is accused of robbing a bank in Florence, S.C., on June 6; breaking into a million-dollar home in St. Simons Island, Ga., and then setting it on fire June 12; and holding up a clothing store June 19 in Chattanooga, Tenn., wielding a knife in a scuffle with the shop owner's son before escaping.

Both sisters eventually broke away from Woodbury, one of them hiding from him in a gas station restroom the day before the Chattanooga robbery.

After his arrest for the murders, Woodbury told authorities he thought Walker, 34, was reaching for a weapon, so he shot him. He said he then shot the other two men because they got in his way. Relatives said William Jones of Walpole, Mass., and Gary Jones, of Halifax, Mass., were not related but were as close as brothers.

Woodbury complained after his arrest that he had warned prison officials in Maine he would be a danger.

"I reached out, asking for help. I reached out and told them I need medication. I reached out and told them I shouldn't be out in society. I told numerous cops, numerous guards," Woodbury told reporters outside a courthouse on July 5.

Maine authorities said Woodbury had access to a wide variety of mental health services.

When the judge declined to let Woodbury speak a second time on Friday, he scribbled a sign and pointed it toward the family members. "U have a lawsuit," it said.

A relative of one victim had said Woodbury pleaded guilty in order to choose his prison, but Jeffery Strelzin, head of the criminal division in the Attorney General's Office, said Woodbury was promised nothing in return for his plea.

Before being sentenced, Tocchet told Burlington County Superior Court Judge Thomas S. Smith: "I'm sorry to the court, my family and friends I was involved in this."

Tocchet, 43, partnered with former New Jersey state trooper James Harney and another man in a sports betting venture they ran for five years.

Harney, who pleaded guilty on Aug. 3, 2006, was sentenced two weeks ago to five years in jail. He could be eligible for parole in about a year. Tocchet remains on indefinite leave from his job with the Coyotes.

Dura Automotive Systems Inc. has received U.S. Bankruptcy Court approval for the $160.2 million sale of its Atwood Mobile Products unit and an equity plan with Pacificor LLC to support its reorganization.

Dura, which filed for bankruptcy in October 2006 in Delaware, announced the approvals late on Wednesday. It expects to emerge from court protection in the fourth quarter.

The agreement with Pacificor provides a $140 million to $160 million commitment and would make Dura a privately held company upon its emergence from Chapter 11, with protections for minority shareholders, Dura said.

Several parties objected to an earlier equity plan led by Pacificor, but Dura filed an amended agreement earlier this week to address the objections.

Private equity firm Insight Equity is acquiring the Atwood unit from Rochester Hills, Michigan-based Dura. Atwood is based in Elkhart, Indiana.

Computer maker Dell will reduce more than four years' worth of earnings by up to $US150 million ($A183.52 million) after an internal probe found the company misled its auditors and manipulated results to meet performance goals.

The struggling company said today that its net income for the restatement period will be reduced by between $US50 million and $US150 million ($A61.17 million and $A183.52 million), or two cents to seven cents a share.

The largest reductions in quarterly profits were expected to be in the first quarter of fiscal 2003 and the second quarter of fiscal 2004, each lowered between 10 per cent and 13 per cent.

Dell will restate all of fiscal 2003 through 2006 and the first quarter of fiscal 2007.

The investigation, which began in August 2006 and evaluated more than five million documents, "identified evidence that certain adjustments appear to have been motivated by the objective of attaining financial targets," Dell said.

Round Rock-based Dell added that unspecified terminations, reassignments, reprimands, increased supervision, training and financial penalties either have or will be taken as a result.

"We are committed to achieving and maintaining a strong control environment, high ethical standards and financial reporting integrity," Chairman and Chief Executive Michael Dell said in a statement.

"This commitment will be communicated to every Dell employee and external stakeholder. It is accompanied by renewed management focus on decision-making and processes intended to drive long-term shareholder value."

The Securities and Exchange Commission's investigation into some of Dell's accounting and financial reporting practices is ongoing, the company said.

Dell said the findings would not have a material impact on second-quarter results, which are scheduled for release on Aug. 30.

Dell has issued only preliminary financial results for the four most recent quarters and has not filed its annual report for the fiscal year that ended on February 2 because of the ongoing investigations.

With the internal probe complete, Dell said it expects to file the past-due documents by the first week of November. Its annual shareholders meeting is scheduled for December 4.

Dell still faces shareholder lawsuits, and federal prosecutors in New York subpoenaed documents on the company's financial reporting since 2002.

Dell is the world's second largest PC maker, having recently lost the top ranking to Hewlett-Packard Co.

Dell shares dropped 37 cents, or 1.4 per cent, to close at $US25.93 before the announcement was made.

Every parent in the country is likely familiar with over-the-counter cold medicines -- and even comfortable reaching for them when their children are ill.

But a public health advisory issued by federal health officials Wednesday may change the way many parents view cough and cold preparations intended for their children's relief. The FDA said that children under 2 shouldn't be given these remedies without a doctor's order because of serious adverse effects, including death.

Dr. Janet Serwint, associate professor of pediatrics at Johns Hopkins Children's Center in Baltimore, Md., said her past experiences certainly raise a red flag -- especially considering the dosing errors that send many children each year to hospitals for medical treatment.

"I've been involved with cases in which the parent and the grandparent both gave the child the preparation without knowing it, and were not worried because it is over-the-counter," she said. "I have been in situations where parents gave more and more doses because they assumed it was safe."

The advisory comes two months ahead of a scheduled FDA Nonprescription Drugs Advisory Committee meeting on Oct. 18-19 to discuss the use of the drugs by children -- a meeting spurred by a petition in March by a group of doctors, including Serwint.

Concern may well be warranted. In January, a study conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) showed that in 2004 and 2005, more than 1,500 children under the age of 2 had to be taken to an emergency department due to serious health problems after taking these common remedies. Three of these children died.

Other reports have suggested that young children up to the age of 6 may be at risk of life-threatening adverse effects from the medications.

The findings have prompted some doctors to worry that parents who give these products to their children may be putting them at risk for hallucinations, seizures and potentially fatal heart problems -- all in exchange for little, if any, real benefit.

The medicines have since come under harsh scrutiny from at least one professional organization; last year, the American College of Chest Physicians recommended that parents avoid giving cough and cold medicines to their children, particularly younger children.

Industry representatives continue to stand by the safety and efficacy of the products, however. In a statement issued Thursday, Linda Suydam, president of the trade association Consumer Healthcare Products Association (CHPA), which represents U.S. manufacturers and distributors of over-the-counter medicines and nutritional supplement products, defended the remedies.

"Millions of Americans safely and effectively use OTC cough and cold medicines every year, both for themselves and for their families," according to the statement. "These medicines have been found safe and effective by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and are the same medications families have trusted for decades to help relieve cough and cold symptoms and make their children feel better."

But Dr. Joshua Sharfstein, commissioner of the Baltimore City Health Department, called this assertion "completely untrue."

"There products have not been evaluated for safety in children," he said. "They kind of snuck in through an evaluatory back door."

Cough medicines are one of a number of products whose safety profiles have been tested on adults, but not on children -- a concern reiterated in March by Dr. Charles Ganley, director of the FDA's office of nonprescription drug products.

Sharfstein was also part of the group of doctors that petitioned the FDA to review the products on the grounds that they haven't been specifically evaluated for safety and effectiveness in this age group.

"What we're asking is for these products to be held to a reasonable standard of safety and efficacy [for children]," he said. "To the extent that there is evidence in kids, the evidence is that they don't work."

Pediatricians Urge Caution

The warnings about cough and cold remedies are being echoed by many pediatricians, who note that parents may not be aware of possible adverse effects.

"In proper doses it is not dangerous, but some parents don't know what proper doses are," Dr. Lisa Thornton, a pediatrician at Children's Hospital in Chicago told ABC News medical editor Dr. Tim Johnson on ABC News Now's "Healthy Life" program Thursday.

Part of the confusion over dosing, she said, has to do with the fact that the amount of the drugs taken by the child should be measured according to the child's weight rather than their age, since children of the same age can vary drastically in terms of weight.

However, current dosing recommendations for the product are, in fact, based on a child's age.

"What we discuss with parents is that these medicines do have dangerous side effects, even though they are sold over-the-counter," Thornton said. "Pediatricians need to stress to parents that these are medicines that are not without side effects."

Alternatives to the Bottle and Spoon

Thornton noted that there are several drug-free ways to sooth a child's cough.

Parents may want to place a vaporizer in the child's room, or have the child take a hot shower, as the steam may soothe their throats and sinuses. Even spending time with a child as they fall asleep can often help relax children when they are uncomfortable.

And as for the medicines, it is still unclear whether the Oct. 18-19 meeting will yield new regulations. However, Sharfstein said he is optimistic.

"I think it is very encouraging that this is going before an advisory committee," he said. "It's a mechanism for the FDA to really shift tracks on how it's treated these products."

"Is it the government's position that when our country is engaged in a war that the power of the executive when it comes to wiretapping is unchecked?" Judge Harry Pregerson asked a government lawyer in a tone of incredulity and frustration.

Gregory G. Garre, a deputy solicitor general representing the administration, responded that the courts have a role, though a limited one, in assessing the government's assertion of the so-called state secrets privilege, which can require the dismissal of suits that could engender national security. Judges, he said, must give executive branch determinations "utmost deference."

"Litigating this action could result in exceptionally grave harm to the national security of the United States," Garre said, referring to the assessment of intelligence officials.

The three judges, on the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, were hearing arguments in two combined lawsuits challenging the highly classified surveillance programs, which the administration said were essential in combatting international terrorism. The appeals were the first to reach the court after dozens of suits against the government and telecommunications companies over NSA surveillance were consolidated last year before the chief judge of the federal trial court here, Judge Vaughn R. Walker.

The appeals concern two related questions that must be answered before the merits of the challenge can be considered: whether the plaintiffs can clearly establish that they have been injured by the programs, giving them standing to sue; and whether the so-called state-secrets privilege requires dismissal of the suits on national security grounds.

Though the questions are preliminary, the impact of the appeals court's ruling may be quite broad. Should it rule for the government on either ground, the legality of the NSA programs may never be adjudicated.

All three judges — appointed by Democratic presidents — indicated that they were inclined to allow one or both cases to go forward for at least limited additional proceedings before Walker.

The two cases deal with different secret programs, but are broadly similar. One, a class action against AT&T, focuses mainly on allegations that the company provided the NSA with its customers' phone and Internet communications for a vast data-mining operation. The lawyers in the AT&T case call that program, which the government has not acknowledged, a "content dragnet."

The second case, brought by an Islamic charity and two of its lawyers against the government, concerns a targeted program which the Bush administration calls the Terrorist Surveillance Program. The program, which has since been submitted to a secret court's supervision, bypassed court warrants to monitor international communications involving people in the United States.