HARRISBURG — Suspended Superior Court Judge Michael T. Joyce pleaded not guilty Monday to federal charges of mail fraud and money laundering, but abandoned his re-election campaign and said he plans to retire when his term expires in January.

Joyce was suspended by the state Supreme Court last week after a grand jury indicted him for allegedly bilking two insurance companies out of $440,000. He continues to receive his state salary of $165,342 a year plus benefits.

Joyce, 58, a Republican who served more than a decade as an Erie County judge before his election to the state appellate bench in 1997, vowed to mount "a vigorous legal defense" against the criminal charges.

PITTSBURGH — The 18-year-old boyfriend of a high school cheerleader was charged with fatally stabbing her and remained under police guard at a hospital where he is recovering after slashing his own throat.John Mullarkey Jr. of Monroeville was charged with criminal homicide late Sunday, as about 1,500 people gathered at Gateway High School to remember his alleged victim, Demi Brae Cuccia, 16.The complaint filed by Allegheny County police says one witness reported hearing "loud, hysterical and horrible" screams on Aug. 15 coming from the Cuccias' town house in Monroeville, about 15 miles east of Pittsburgh. The witness then saw Cuccia walk outside covered in blood, twice screaming, "He stabbed me!", according the complaint.The unidentified witness told police Mullarkey followed Cuccia outside as she screamed, "Get away from me! I hate you! I hate you!"Cuccia was stabbed 16 times in the upper torso and died of a wound to her shoulder, according to autopsy results included in the complaint.Cuccia's funeral was held Monday morning.

SOUTH VALLEY, N.Y. — Police found the body of a missing Roman Catholic priest late Monday in the Kinzua Dam Reservoir.The Rev. Greg Brennan, 56, was reported missing by officials at St. Bonaventure University after he failed to return from a boating trip Saturday on the reservoir.His damaged, 19-foot motor boat was discovered Saturday evening on the reservoir's east shore in Pennsylvania a few miles south of a marina in South Valley where it was usually moored.Police believe the incident occurred "between Friday evening and Saturday morning," said William Martin of the Pennsylvania Fish and Wildlife Commission.

PITTSBURGH — A pregnant Mercyhurst College student-athlete passed a sports physical and was cleared to play volleyball two days before giving birth, police said Monday.The 18-year-old sophomore, whose baby was later found dead in her on-campus apartment, participated in what police called a "light workout" the day before the Aug. 12 birth — even though investigators would later determine she was 39½ weeks pregnant at the time.The baby girl lived for about 10 minutes before asphyxiating, an autopsy showed. Erie County Coroner Lyell Cook said it's unclear if that happened because the student-athlete put the baby in a plastic bag or because the child was smothered.Mercyhurst is a private, Catholic liberal arts college with about 3,000 students.