Looking back at the top stories of 2002, one could say it wasn't one of the best years locally.

Murder and vehicle collisions dominate the top 10 stories of the year, as chosen by the Times-Union staff, and those stories are:

1. Charges against a Warsaw woman were upgraded to murder Oct. 25 and she is being held without bond while awaiting trial. Beatriz Cuautle is alleged to be the mother of an infant that was found dead in a trash can at Kralis Brothers Foods Inc., 2601 S. Tinkey Road, Mentone, where Cuautle apparently gave birth in a bathroom the afternoon of Oct. 21. Cuautle then returned to her job at the chicken processing plant and a janitor found the dead infant.

2. Five members of a Pierceton family were killed in a two-vehicle collision Oct. 14 in Larwill. The driver of the car, Penny M. Eppelman, 36, was ejected from the vehicle and, despite the efforts of emergency crews, she was pronounced dead at the scene. All four passengers - Eppelman's children, who ranged in age from 9 to 16 - died upon impact. Prounounced dead at the scene were Christopher, David, Shane and Jamie Eppelmann.

3. Samuel J. Creekmore suffered five gunshot wounds, three of which could have caused his death. Creekmore, 30, of Warsaw, was shot to death May 2. The alleged shooter is Jason Paul Davidson, 32, of Leesburg, who remains in custody while awaiting trial. Creekmore was the current husband of Davidson's ex-wife. Davidson's attorney plans to use an insanity defense.

4. Shanna Zolman scored her 2,870th career point to become the greatest scorer in Indiana High School girls basketball history. The historic moment came Jan. 12 in a game against Elkhart Memorial. Zolman later was named Indiana's Miss Basketball.

5. Jason Fisher of Goshen was granted a modification of his prison term and will be allowed to serve the balance in the Elkhart County Work Release Program. Fisher, 24, was sentenced Oct. 10 to four years in prison for burglary and 1-1/2 years for theft, with the terms ordered served concurrently. A charge of murder in the death of Kathy Vroman was dismissed against Fisher April 9. In March, Jason's father, Fred Fisher of Shipshewana, was charged with Vroman's murder but was found not guilty. The charge against Jason was dismissed in exchange for testimony against his father. No other suspects have been named in Vroman's death, which authorities said was linked to a car-theft ring.

6. Federal and state investigators converged upon the Warsaw wastewater treatment facility Oct. 31, arriving soon after the work day began to present an all-encompassing search warrant. All the Warsaw mayor and city attorney can do is guess what the Indiana Department of Natural Resources and the Environmental Protection Agency have in store. The Warsaw wastewater treatment plant has been hit with a number of violations resulting from a sewage spill into Walnut Creek last summer.

7. One child was killed and 10 others injured when the First Christian Church of Warsaw van they were traveling in was struck by a semi tractor/trailer at the intersection of U.S. 24 and Ind. 101, near Woodburn.

8. Kosciusko Circuit Court Judge Rex Reed rejected all mitigating factors cited and sentenced Christoval Dimas, 27, of Ligonier, to the maximum terms in prison for murder and abuse of a corpse, 65 years and three years, respectively. The terms were ordered served consecutively for a total of 68 years. Dimas was convicted March 1 after a five-day trial in the death of a 22-year-old Crystal Gayle Homister, Elkhart. Homister's burned remains were previously found near Syracuse.

9. Earlier this year members of the Company A of the 1st Battalion, 293rd Infantry, were called to active duty. On Nov. 30 they said farewell to family and friends again at the Armory north of Warsaw.

10. Electrial service outages were experienced by the entire county Jan. 30 due to an ice storm. School corporations canceled classes and business openings were delayed. Many nonessential city and county government employees were told to take the day off. The region experienced freezing rain today and apparently the loss of service was weather-related. [[In-content Ad]]