May 3
ARKANSAS: Death penalty ruled out in murder case A preliminary Sept. 26-29 trial date was set Monday for 3 men charged with the capital murder of a Morrilton man near London in March. One of the three men, Atkins resident David Woody, entered an innocent plea Monday through his attorney, John Burnett, who made his initial appearance in the case. Russellville resident Kevin Erdelyi and Lamar resident Floyd "Turbo" Briggs were each determined indigent at a hearing last month, and Pope County Public Defender James Dunham entered innocent pleas on behalf of the two men. Dunham told Circuit Judge John Patterson Monday Johnson County Public Defender Mike Helms and Franklin County Public Defender William Pearson would assist him at the trials. The 3 men have been held without bond at the county jail for a month, because the state is not required to set a bond amount for those charged with capital murder. Although the offense is punishable by life in prison without parole or the death penalty, Fifth Judicial District Prosecutor David Gibbons said Monday because of a lack of "aggravating circumstances," none of the men would be eligible for the death penalty. Aggravating circumstances include murders that occur in prison, that occur to escape jail time, that are done in an especially cruel manner, done to an especially vulnerable (young) person, etc., Gibbons said Tuesday. Hindering apprehension. A trial date was also set Monday for Travis Farmer of Oark and Donavan Farmer of Clarksville, who were arrested April 5 for hindering the apprehension of the murder suspects. Formal charges were filed against the men last week in Pope County Circuit Court, and an Oct. 24-25 trial date was set. The men are represented by Attorney Earnie Witt. The men were allegedly present at the murder scene and denied any knowledge of the incident to authorities, according to previous testimony. Background During an April 5 press conference at the Pope County Sheriff's Office, Sheriff Jay Winters announced suspects were arrested and charged with the murder of 46-year-old Conway County resident Jack Christen. The arrests came less than two weeks after Christen's body was found March 25 on Chimney Rock Road off Highway 333 near London. A filed probable cause statement accused Erdelyi of firing the shot that killed Christen, and authorities believe Woody and Briggs served as accomplices in the alleged premeditated act. According to the Pope County Probation and Parole Office, Erdelyi and Woody were each released from prison in early 2006 from serving 1/3 of their 10-year sentences for drug-related convictions. (source: The Courier) OREGON: Serial killer spared death row ---- Verdict - Jurors split 9-3 on execution, giving Sebastian A. Shaw, 37, a life term for cutting a man's throat in 1991 A Multnomah County jury decided Tuesday against sending serial killer Sebastian Alexander Shaw to death row for the July 1991 murder of a paraplegic man selected at random. The Circuit Court jury, which convicted Shaw, 37, of aggravated murder 2 weeks ago, deliberated about 6 hours Monday and Tuesday on how to punish him for cutting the throat of Jay Rickbeil, 40. The death penalty requires a unanimous vote. Instead, the 6 men and 6 women split 9-3 in favor of death, so Shaw will receive life in prison without the possibility of release. Circuit Judge David Gernant will sentence Shaw on May 9. The term probably will be tacked on to the 2 life sentences Shaw is serving for the 1992 murders of Donna Ferguson, 18, and Todd Rudiger, 29. Their throats were slashed, and Ferguson had been raped. Shaw also is in prison for the 1995 rape of a Southeast Portland woman. Multnomah County juries are not inclined to sentence killers to death. Before a jury sent Michael Andre Davis to death row in November, 5 years had passed since the previous death penalty verdict. This time, when the judge read the jury's decision, a gasp arose from investigators who worked for defense lawyers Richard Wolf and W. David Falls. Shaw did not move. Prosecutors Mark McDonnell and Ethan Knight had argued to the jury that Shaw deserved the death penalty. McDonnell said the trial could have been avoided if Shaw had accepted an earlier prosecution offer. While in prison, Shaw has told authorities that he killed 10 or 12 other people. McDonnell said that if Shaw had agreed to tell everything he knew about those deaths, he could have avoided a death penalty trial in the Rickbeil case and been given another life sentence. Shaw wanted a promise that he would not face the death penalty in any future prosecutions. Prosecutors said no. So both sides prepared for a trial. But other circumstances arose that almost prevented the trial. After several delays in 2003 and 2004, prosecutors told Gernant that they wanted the survivor of the 1995 rape to testify. The judge feared her story would be inflammatory and barred it. The prosecution then asked for another delay. Gernant threw out the case. Last year, the Oregon Supreme Court overturned Gernant's decision about the witness, and the case went before a jury in late March. In the 6-week trial, the jury learned about the science that finally led police to Shaw. For years, no one knew who had committed the 3 killings and the rape. But DNA evidence pointed to an Asian American man. By then, police were keeping an eye on Shaw, a Vietnamese refugee who had been arrested on car theft charges. To collect a DNA sample, police waited outside the Safeway on Hawthorne Boulevard until Shaw flicked away a cigarette. The sample matched the evidence from the 1992 murders and the rape. Then computer searches found another match, to the July 2, 1991, murder of Rickbeil. Rickbeil, who had cerebral palsy and used a wheelchair, lived in a Southeast Raymond Street apartment. Somehow, Shaw had selected him in 1991 as a possible target. When Shaw was fired from his job at Paragon Cable, he took out his rage on Rickbeil, slashing and severing his main neck artery and vein while the man lay in bed. The rape survivor testified about Shaw's 2 1/2-hour attack on her. Though he threatened to kill her and had bound her, she fought so ferociously that he gave up and fled. McDonnell delivered the news of the verdict to Rickbeil's sister, Tamara Rickbeil of Klamath Falls. She declined to comment. But Rudiger's mother, Vickie Johnson of Gresham, expressed fury. Now, she said, Shaw has no incentive to reveal what else he has done. "He got away with it. It's all an act," Johnson said. "He's a maniac. It's like the detective in the case once told us -- it's like talking to a reptile. The system failed us." (source: The Oregonian) VIRGINIA: Ex-death row inmate testifies in case about his confession Earl Washington Jr.'s time on death row continues to haunt him. Once, he saw the electric chair through an open door. Sometimes, he heard the thrum of the current as corrections officers tested it. Several dates were set, and Washington came within 9 days of being executed before the courts intervened. In 2000, DNA tests showed that Washington did not commit the rape and murder for which he had been convicted and spent more than nine years on death row. At his new apartment, the sound of a power converter outside his window reminds him of the chair. "I still have dreams, being on death row," Washington said. Washington testified in federal court Tuesday in the trial for a lawsuit he filed against Curtis Reese Wilmore, a state police investigator who questioned him about the 1982 rape and slaying of Rebecca Lynn Williams in Culpeper. After he was arrested for assaulting an elderly neighbor in 1983, Washington confessed to the Williams killing under questioning by Wilmore and another detective. Washington's attorneys argue that his mild mental retardation made him susceptible to tell lies to please authorities. DNA tests proved that semen found on the victim and her bed came from another man - not Washington. The lawsuit says that Wilmore fed Washington facts about the case and then coached his confession. Wilmore died in 1994. Attorneys for his estate argue that Wilmore was an honest investigator. Washington confessed without prompting, Wilmore's attorneys said. Under cross-examination by William Broaddus, one of the attorneys representing Wilmore's estate, Washington said he never denied committing the crime to the investigators. Washington answered many of Broaddus' questions with "I don't know." As Washington's attorneys wound down their case, they showed jurors a film clip about the electric chair from a British documentary. Dr. Stuart Grassian, a psychiatrist who has studied the effects of solitary and segregated confinement on inmates, testified that Washington has post-traumatic stress disorder. Because of Washington's retardation, Grassian said, he could not engage his mind by reading or studying law as other inmates do while on death row. "He was often in a fog, just blank and frightened," Grassian testified. "The fear is 10 times worse when you are cognitively impaired; at least if you can understand, you can get some control." Broaddus' 1st witness was Curtis Todd Wilmore, the son of the state investigator . Wilmore testified that his father had been well-liked by everyone. "He was a very honest man," Wilmore said. "Very up front. You knew where you stood with him within a few minutes. He was like that, the same way, every day." The trial resumes today and is expected to last through the end of the week. (source: Virginian-Pilot) DELAWARE: Killer's execution set for May 19----Robert W. Jackson III to die for ax murder of Hockessin woman The Delaware Department of Correction is moving forward with plans to execute convicted killer Robert W. Jackson III on May 19. The final order setting the death date was signed by Superior Court Judge Richard R. Cooch on April 5. Appeals could delay the date, but the Delaware Attorney General's Office indicates that Jackson, 32, has largely exhausted his options. However, one of Jackson's attorneys, Thomas A. Foley, said Tuesday he is hopeful there will be a delay. "There are a lot of irons in the fire in both state and federal courts that have not played out yet," he said. The DOC is preparing for Jackson to receive a lethal injection between 12:01 to 3 a.m. on that date, spokeswoman Gail Stallings Minor said. Jackson was convicted of using an ax to kill Elizabeth Girardi, 47, of Hockessin on April 3, 1992. Jackson and another man, Anthony Lachette, had been burglarizing Girardi's Old Wilmington Road home when she arrived and surprised the men. According to court testimony, Jackson struck Girardi with a 4.7-pound splitting ax he took from a nearby woodshed. When Jackson heard his victim moan, he struck her 3 more times. Lachette pleaded guilty in 1993 to reduced charges of second-degree burglary and conspiracy and was sentenced to 5 years in prison and testified against Jackson. Lachette testified that Jackson told friends, "I think there's something wrong with me -- I don't feel any remorse." "He was real excited," Lachette told jurors. "It was like he got off on it." Lachette was released from prison in 1996, authorities said. After Jackson's conviction, Delaware's high court found that the sentencing phase of his trial was flawed and ordered a new one. His conviction was upheld. In September 1995, a 2nd jury recommended 11-1 to execute Jackson. If the state goes ahead with the execution, Jackson will become the 15th person to be put to death in Delaware since 1992 -- that year marked Delaware's 1st execution since the state reinstated the death penalty in 1961, according to the DOC. Brian D. Steckel, 36, who was executed Nov. 4, was the last person put to death in Delaware. There are currently 15 other men on Delaware's death row. (source: The News Journal)
