Sept. 16 CALIFORNIA----female death row inmate dies Death row inmate dies of kidney failure 1 of California's 15 female death row inmates died of kidney failure Friday, according to prison officials. Caroline M. Young, 61, died at Fresno's University Medical Center, according to Lt. Kevin Kostecky of Central California Women's Facility in Chowchilla. Young was convicted in 1993 of murdering 2 of her grandchildren with a knife after her daughter lost a custody battle, according to state Corrections Department spokeswoman Terry Thornton. Angela Backers, a prosecutor at the Alameda County District Attorney's office, said Young was the 1st woman sentenced to death in that county. Her daughter's children lived with her until their biological father, who was in the military stationed in Hawaii, won custody, Backers said. "She decided she didn't want him to have the grandchildren," Backers said. "She said, 'I'd rather kill them than let him have the kids.'" She stabbed the 1st child, then the mother came in the room "and found her baby stabbed to death. She went to call 911 and while she was on the phone her mother killed the other baby," Backers said. "It was absolutely vicious." Young had been on death row at the women's prison since October 1995, Thornton said. In January, she was sent to the prison's nursing facility where she received dialysis, Kostecky said. She was hospitalized Sept. 7 and was in the intensive care unit intermittingly, he said. It was unclear whether an autopsy would be done because there were no suspicious circumstances surrounding the death. Young's case was being appealed; 4 women have been executed in California. (source: Associated Press) ARIZONA: LeRoy Nash - The Oldest Man on Death Row - Happy 90th Birthday LeRoy was born shortly after Bonnie & Clyde - he was in Chicago at the time of the St. Valentine's Day Massacre. One of the ORIGINAL 'Angels with Dirty Faces', although a killer on Eymans Death Row, LeRoy is a living legend. He 'celebrated' his 90th birthday by writing a 9-page letter to me from his SMU II cell. With his typewriter now confiscated, he uses: "the small plastic ink-tube that fits inside a ballpoint pen", adding: "So, each of us [death row inmates] must use either a small stub of a pencil, to write, or reinforce the thin ink tube to stiffen it. So I hope you can stand that slow-motion writing, and I am surprised, nicely, with the result." I enjoy LeRoys letters, all of which portray a remarkable snapshot into days gone by. Ya old rascal - HAPPY BIRTHDAY LeRoy Nash! You may have been a bad man, in your time, but to execute you would be a sin. (source: New Criminologist) ILLINOIS: Accused serial killer will fight against death penalty An accused serial killer who tried twice to plead guilty earlier this year to a string of Peoria killings will fight attempts by prosecutors to seek the death penalty against him. Larry Bright's attorney said today that the former concrete worker's family convinced him to fight for his life. Prosecutors say Bright has confessed in the deaths of eight Peoria women. Half of the bodies were dumped along country roads, while the others were burned to ash and bone in backyard pits. Peoria County State's Attorney Kevin Lyons has said he will seek the death penalty in the case. Defense attorneys say they will file motions within a month seeking a psychiatric examination and a change of venue due to pretrial publicity. Bright tried twice to plead guilty to the murders but judges rejected it to protect his rights. (source: Associated Press)
