By LESLIE WILLIAMS, Scripps Howard News Service

Marie Aimee lay awake, replaying old conversations with her best friend in her head. "We always said, 'Guerline, if he tries to kill you, just leave him,'" Aimee said. "Don't let him kill you."

Police told a family member Guerline Damas' husband, Mesac Damas, did just that, slitting her throat and that of their five children.

After 14 years working in the same artistic medium, it seemed to Nanette Dion-Winn she needed to diversify.
Her trompe l'oeil business was doing well, the Naples, Fla. woman said, but she also had the feeling it would not last forever.

It could have ended so differently.
Five people on board a plane that took off from Marco Island Executive Airport Sunday got back on the ground safely after the pilot of their private plane died mid-air.
One passenger assisted by three air traffic controllers and a pilot relaying cockpit instructions from Connecticut worked together to avoid further tragedy.