Nation IN BRIEF : FLORIDA : Convicted Killer Gets Child Custody

A man convicted of killing his first wife in 1974 and who won custody of his 11-year-old daughter because his former wife is a lesbian said he can give the girl a better home. John A. Ward, 44, who served eight years in prison for second-degree murder after pleading guilty to killing his first wife, Judy, won custody of his daughter in August from a judge in Pensacola, Fla., who wanted to give the girl a chance to live in “a non-lesbian world.” The mother, Mary Ward, 46, has asked a state appeals court to return their daughter, Cassey, to her, contending that her sexual orientation is irrelevant.