[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide
June 17 PHILIPPINES/MALAYSIA: Philippines to appeal Malaysia death sentence on 9 FilipinosThe 9 Filipinos face Malaysia's death row over the Sabah standoff that killed at least 70 people in 2013 The Philippines will appeal the death sentence imposed by the Malaysian Court of Appeal on 9 Filipinos over the Sabah standoff that killed at least 70 people in 2013. "What's gonna happen there is, of course, we're going to appeal," Philippine Foreign Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano said in an interview with reporters Friday, June 16. Cayetano said the Office of Public Diplomacy of the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) will later give reporters the details. The Sabah standoff refers to the bloody incursion by some 200 armed Moro rebels from the southern Philippines. Their move was inspired by a self-proclaimed Filipino sultanate's claims of historical dominion over Sabah, which is claimed by the Philippine government. The assault, the most serious security crisis faced by Malaysia in years, led to a siege between the Moro rebels and Malaysian armed forces sent to root them out. The Kota Kinabalu High Court in 2016 imposed life imprisonment on 9 Filipinos over the Sabah standoff, but the Malaysian Court of Appeal reversed this decision on June 8 of this year. Bernama, the national news agency of Malaysia, said the following Filipinos face the death sentence in Malaysia over the Sabah standoff: "Datu Amirbahar Hushin Kiram, 54, the son of the late self-proclaimed Sultan of Sulu Jamalul Kiram; Julham Rashid, 70; Virgilio Nemar Patulada @ Mohamad Alam Patulada, 53; Salib Akhmad Emali, 64; Tani Lahad Dahi, 64; Basad H. Manuel, 42; Atik Hussin Abu Bakar, 46; Al-Wazir Osman, 62; and Ismail Yasin, 77." On other Filipinos on death row around the world, Cayetano said Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has ordered the DFA to adopt a "pro-active" approach, which will ensure "100% effort" in assisting them. To achieve this goal, he said the DFA "is also studying to have more retainer agreements with law offices around the world" to help overseas Filipino workers on death row. (sources: Agence France-Presse & rappler.com) *** Trial of Vietnamese suspect in N Korean's murder set to open 2 suspects, one of whom is a Vietnamese national, will appear before the Shah Alam high court in Selangor state on July 28 in the case of the murder of Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) citizen Kim Chol . The decision was made during the 4th court hearing on the case at the Kajang female prison in Selangor yesterday. The 2 suspects are Vietnamese national Doan The Huong and Indonesian national Siti Aisyah. During the 30-minute hearing, the prosecutor handed over 44 documents to lawyers. Some documents, including the CCTV footage relating to the death will be handed over in 1 month. The Embassy of Vit Nam in Malaysia will continue co-ordinating closely with Vietnamese relevant authorities and Huong's lawyers in Malaysia to ensure the fair trial and to protect the legitimate rights of the Vietnamese national. Kim Chol, as named in his passport, died at Kuala Lumpur International Airport on February 13. Malaysia said he was poisoned, but the DPRK insisted that he died of a heart attack, plus high blood pressure and diabetes. At the court hearing on March 1, the 2 women were charged with murder but they denied and said that they were cheated to take part in an innocuous prank. According to the Malaysian law, they will face the death penalty if found guilty. (source: vietnamnews.vn) ** Maid arrested over alleged murder of employer Police have arrested a maid who is suspected of killing her employer by holding a pillow over her face. Kajang OCPD Asst Comm Othman Nayan said police received information about a 65-year-old woman who was lying unconscious in bed with a pillow covering her face early last month. "We found the woman in the master bedroom and neighbours claimed to not have heard any noise. The deceased's sister also said that the front door was locked from the inside," ACP Othman said. He said the woman, a retiree, lived in the house with her 25-year-old Indonesian maid. Her husband had passed away 15 years ago. "The couple were childless and the woman had a congenital heart condition," he said, adding that she made frequent trips to the hospital because of it. ACP Othman said the maid is believed to have run away after her employer's death. A post-mortem on the victim revealed that she had died of asphyxiation and there were bite marks on her right nipple. Following investigations, police arrested the suspect on Thursday afternoon near Negri Sembilan. They also arrested a 29-year-old Indonesian man in connection to the crime. Both suspects have been remanded until June 21 and the case is being investigated under Section 302 of the Penal Code for murder,
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----ARIZ., NEV., CALIF., USA
June 17 ARIZONA: Juan Martinez Gets More Time to Mull Death Penalty for Serial Street Shooter Suspect Deputy County Attorney Juan Martinez has been granted more time to decide whether to seek the death penalty for suspect Aaron Juan Saucedo for the first murder that police say kicked off the Serial Street Shooter slayings, according to court filings reviewed this week. More than a month has passed since the Phoenix Police Department named Saucedo, 23, as the man responsible for a dozen shootings and nine deaths in 2015 and 2016. So far, Saucedo has only been charged with the murder of his mother's boyfriend, Raul Romero. County prosecutors are biding their time before seeking charges in the other 8 deaths. If convicted of all 9 murders, Saucedo would share the distinction with Baseline Killer Mark Goudeau as the deadliest serial killer in Arizona history. Typically, the team of prosecutors reviewing a case gives itself 30 days to file charges, Martinez's boss, County Attorney Bill Montgomery told reporters the day after Saucedo was named. That arbitrary and informal deadline came and went last week, to much media musing. The reporting pack paid less attention to Martinez's motion on May 30, when he asked a judge to give him 60 more days to declare if he would seek the death penalty. The judge granted the request. Martinez has a courtroom reputation for being brash, sarcastic, and aggressive. Some defense attorneys would add sneaky to that list, but Martinez is unapologetic. He's trying to win and take a brutal killer off the streets, he often says. He earned an international reputation and legions of critics and admirers for putting boyfriend-killer Jodi Arias away for life in a sensational 2013 trial. In the Saucedo case, his legal filing did not explain his thinking. What comes closer to explaining the case against Saucedo is another recent court record outlining the possible witnesses. In the motion filed June 5, prosecutors say they could call any of 3 dozen Phoenix cops, detectives, and crime-scene specialists. In addition, prosecutors listed employees of 2 pawnshops on Indian School Road in Phoenix. One was Mo Money Pawn, where police said they traced a 9 mm Hi-Point pistol used in Romero's shooting. But authorities revealed for the 1st time publicly that Windy City Pawn Shop, just over a mile to the west, also played some role in the case. Nothing hints at the possible significance of the 2nd pawn shop. In court documents filed to establish that police had sufficient evidence to hold Saucedo for the other 11 shootings, police said their suspect used 3 guns. They did not say where he bought them. Also June 5, authorities listed an employee at First Transit. Saucedo worked there as a city bus driver in 2015 and received a traffic ticket after being caught on camera running a red light. Police said unidentified coworkers recognized Saucedo from the artist's sketch they released a year ago. He apparently left that job around the time police first questioned him in December. Court records at the time of his April arrest showed he was a laborer since around the new year. Prosecutors disclosed as possible witnesses a man who lives about three miles east of most of the killings, and another who lives near Interstate 17 and Camelback Road. 2 men living near the crime scene at 920 East Montebello Avenue in central Phoenix also likely will be called as witnesses. Saucedo's mother, Maria Saucedo-Ramos and two women with her dead boyfriend's surname were also listed. In filings earlier this week, Saucedo's lawyers began mounting a defense for the only crime he's been formally charged with, Romero's murder. Saucedo's team says that the state lacks evidence, that he didn't do it, and that he was mistakenly identified. They also say he has good character and lacked motive. So that lone case against Saucedo churns slowly toward trial. (source: Phoenix New Times) NEVADA: Man on trial for 2008 double murder sang song about killing wife In the late 1980s, Thomas Randolph would walk around singing the lyrics to "Foolish Behaviour" by Rod Stewart, a former friend testified Friday during the Las Vegas man's double murder trial. "Or should I act quite cold and deliberate," the lyrics go. "Or maybe blow out her brains with a bullet?/They'll think suicide, they won't know who done it/I'm gonna kill my wife, I'm really gonna take her life." Prosecutors launched the evidence portion of Randolph's trial on charges that he hired a hitman to kill his wife in 2008 before fatally shooting the hitman by telling jurors about the 1986 death of Randolph's 2nd wife, Becky Gault. Chief Deputy District Attorney Jacqueline Bluth pointed to similarities in Gault's death and the killings of Randolph's 6th wife, Sharon Clausse, and Michael James Miller, a man authorities said Randolph groomed to kill Clausse. He is facing the
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, PENN., GA., FLA., ALA., OHIO
June 17 TEXAS: Larry Fitzgerald, face for Texas death row, dies at 79 Larry Fitzgerald, former Texas Department of Criminal Justice spokesman, sits on the sofa in his living room in what had been his quarters in Huntsville. He witnessed more than 200 executions during his 8 years as the face of the nation's busiest death chamber. He died June 12. As prison system spokesman, Fitzgerald was the face of the nation's busiest death chamber for 8 years. Friends and relatives remember his wit, empathy with death-row inmates and his notorious gallows humor. Larry Fitzgerald, who for years was the Texas prison system's spokesman, working as the public face of the busiest death chamber in the nation, died June 12 at his Austin home, according to his family. Fitzgerald was the Texas Department of Criminal Justice spokesman for 8 years during which Texas was building new prisons and dealing with the attention drawn by then Gov. George W. Bush's run for the presidency. He was inevitably drawn into stories about the death penalty and Texas' approach to it, fielding inquiries from American media he said were generally cordial and foreign outlets that he said treated him as if he personally sharpened the executioner's axe. A hard-drinking, chain-smoking archetype of a public relations era now past, Fitzgerald, according to a 2014 Texas Monthly article, once showed his mischievous streak by taking a newly hired spokeswoman to a prison on the pretense of educating her about the business - only to lead her "past dozens of newly shorn arrivals who had been divested of not just their hair but all their clothes." Fitzgerald's obituary - most of which he wrote himself - notes that as a prison system spokesman he "witnessed 219 executions, allowing him to meet many state, national and international media types. Big whoop." But as the public face of a notorious prison system, "If Larry said it, you could take it to the bank," said Michelle Lyons, the co-worker Fitzgerald had led past the cluster of nude inmates. "He was, quite simply, the face of TDCJ and he always will be." Fitzgerald is survived by his wife, Marianne Cook Fitzgerald; daughter, Kelly Anne Fitzgerald; and son, Kevin Lane Fitzgerald. He died from what his wife said was a serious internal disease, for which he had been in hospice care. The family is planning a public memorial, though they are still working out the details, Marianne Fitzgerald said. Clyde Larry Fitzgerald was born Oct. 12, 1937, in Austin, according to his obituary. He was the son of a government land man and a schoolteacher, according to an article by Houston Chronicle reporter Mike Ward, one of the many Texas journalists Fitzgerald grew to know over the years. Fitzgerald graduated from McCallum High School and attended the University of Texas. He worked for years at radio stations around Texas as a disc jockey, reporter and news director, developing the authoritative voice he would employ before the cameras. He worked in political campaigns for Bill Hobby, who was then the lieutenant governor, and Ann Richards during her run for governor. His obituary notes that he "was proud that he kept one particular promise he had made to himself: never vote Republican." (source: Austin American-Statesman) PENNSYLVANIA: Convicted killer 'should go to the very top' of execution list, judge says A Lancaster County man has been formally sentenced to death for fatally stabbing a woman and her 16-year-old daughter because they were going to testify against him in a child sexual assault trial. Lancaster County President Judge Dennis Reinaker ordered the sentence Friday for 40-year-old Leeton Thomas and said if Pennsylvania lifts a moratorium on the death penalty, Thomas "should go to the very top of the list." Thomas, 40, was found guilty by a jury Tuesday of 2 counts of 1st-degree murder in the June 2015 killings of 44-year-old Lisa Scheetz and her daughter. The Quarryville man was also convicted of attempted homicide for severely wounding Scheetz's then-15-year-old daughter after breaking into the family's East Drumore Township home. She testified at trial and identified Thomas as the killer. The jury decided on the death sentence Wednesday night. (source: WHTM news) GEORGIA: Prison bus was 'tank of piranhas' as guards slain; death penalty sought for escapees Convicts on a Georgia prison bus appeared to laugh and jump around as 2 corrections officers were shot to death earlier this week in an escape that prompted a nationwide manhunt. The callousness of the crime has authorities preparing to seek the death penalty for accused killers Ricky Dubose and Donnie Russell "Whiskey" Rowe. "We've got too many of these savages out here. We need to keep them caged up and send those to hell that we can," Putnam County Sheriff Howard Sills said Friday, a day after Rowe and Dubose were caught south of Nashville,
