31.   As if to demonstrate his contentiousness, Murphy immediately began excoriating police officials and politicians for trying to convict Leary while he lies in his hospital bed.

32.   As part of the effort to calm public anxiety, police officials were assuring residents that they would not be making sweeps into black neighborhoods for suspects.

33.   As part of the investigations, Adams was followed and his telephone records obtained, police officials said.

34.   As police officials became more aware of his case, he said, some of them became easier to deal with.

35.   As police officials scoured the school for evidence, students and teachers expressed shock.

36.   As time passed and promising leads faded, police officials began investigating the case as a homicide.

37.   As Washington described it, the incident might have escalated further, but a police official passed by, recognized him as a deputy mayor and intervened.

38.   At least one of the victims said her attacker made her perform a sequence of ballet steps, the police official said.

39.   Asked whether the police were confident that Pearl was still alive, a senior police official declined to give a direct answer.

40.   At the same time, however, police officials identified Imtiaz Siddiqi as the man accused of making telephone calls to India.