death penalty news August 4, 2004
SOUTH CAROLINA: Prosecutor to seek death penalty in Abbeville standoff Prosecutors will seek the death penalty against one of the people involved in a 13-hour standoff last year in an Abbeville home that started with the killing of two law enforcement officers. Solicitor Townes Jones said he served Steven Bixby, 36, with a notice to seek the death penalty Tuesday in a courtroom in Abbeville County. Jones wouldn't say whether he would ask for the death penalty for Bixby's parents - 75-year-old Arthur, who authorities say was in the home with his son during the standoff, and 71-year-old Rita Bixby, who authorities say planned an ambush on the officers with her husband and son. But lawyers for both Steven and Rita Bixby say they won't be surprised if all three of them end up fighting for their lives. "I think they're going to seek death against the whole family," said Bill Nettles, one of Steven Bixby's attorneys. Rita Bixby, who turns 72 on Wednesday, was in the same courtroom later Tuesday afternoon for an arraignment. Prosecutors didn't serve her with a death warrant, but her lawyer Joseph Smithfield said "all indications show they will seek the death penalty" against her. Arthur Bixby's lawyer could not be reached for comment. South Carolina's death row has no women and the oldest of 69 inmates there is 60, prison statistics show. Steven and Arthur Bixby have been indicted on two counts of murder in the deaths of the officers, as well as kidnapping, conspiracy and 12 counts of assault and battery with intent to kill in firing on State Law Enforcement Division agents during the standoff at Arthur Bixby's home. Rita Bixby is charged with conspiracy to commit murder and accessory before the fact of murder. Authorities have said the Bixbys were angry that they would lose a small amount of land as state Highway 72 was widened in front of their home. Abbeville County Sheriff's Sgt. Danny Wilson went to the home on Dec. 8, a few days after the Bixbys threatened a construction crew putting up survey stakes. Wilson was walking into a trap that day because the Bixbys planned to ambush the next law officer that came to their property, SLED Chief Robert Stewart said shortly after the standoff. State constable Donnie M. Ouzts was killed about an hour later responding to the Bixby home to check on Wilson. Steven and Arthur Bixby barricaded themselves inside the house, while Rita Bixby went to a nearby apartment and threatened to kill bystanders if anyone harmed her son or husband. She would surrender peacefully after several hours. Later that night, Stewart said, Steven and Arthur Bixby started shooting hundreds of rounds at officers in what the SLED chief said was the biggest gunfight he has seen in his 30 years in law enforcement. Steven Bixby surrendered about 11 hours into the standoff, and Arthur Bixby, shot once in the chest, gave up about two hours later. All three of the Bixbys are in custody. No trial dates have been set. (source: AP) ================================ CALIFORNIA --- federal death penalty: Prosecutors seek death penalty for three defendants in kidnapping-murder case Federal prosecutors said Tuesday they will seek the death penalty for three of five people accused of kidnapping and killing five Russian immigrants whose bodies were found in a reservoir near Yosemite National Park. The notices were filed for defendants Jurijus Kadamovas and Iouri Mikhel, both 38, and Petro Krylov, 31. The notices came after a revised indictment was filed Thursday that stated the three were also charged with attempting to escape from the Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown Los Angeles. The three are charged with the killings along with Natalya Solovyeva, 29, and Aleksujus Markovskis, 30. Prosecutors have said those two will not face execution. The bodies of four of the victims, who had been suffocated, were pulled from a Sierra foothills reservoir in March 2002. Alexander Umansky, 35, of Sherman Oaks, ran a car stereo and electronics shop; Georgy Safiev, 37, of Beverly Hills, had a film production company; Nick Kharabadze, 29, of Woodland Hills, was Safiev's chief executive; and Rita Peckler, 39, of Encino, was a bookkeeper for Safiev's Matador Media. The revised indictment also alleges the defendants kidnapped and killed Meyer Muscatel, 54, a wealthy San Fernando Valley homebuilder whose body was found in the reservoir in October 2001. Authorities contend the defendants abducted two of the victims in an attempt to gain access to their wealthy friends and business partners, then killed them after ransom arrangements had been made. The defendants allegedly killed Umansky even after his family had wired $235,000 in payments, some of it after he was already dead, prosecutors said. The notices filed Tuesday said Kadamovas and Mikhel participated in kidnap-slayings in Turkey in 2000 and Cyprus in 2001. Kadamovas, Mikhel and Krylov are also accused of taking part in the kidnapping of Armen Gyurdzhiyants in November 2001. The three are not charged in connection with those cases, but prosecutors said their alleged involvement would help establish that they have taken part in past "serious acts of violence" that would justify the death penalty. Authorities say the escape plan was thwarted on March 7, 2003, when guards searched Mikhl's cell and found tools and a large hole behind a mirror that led to a stairwell. Thomas Tynan, his wife, Sabrina, and his brother Michael pleaded guilty in connection with the escape attempt and were sentenced to prison terms ranging from 16 to 41 months. Ainar Altmanis, 45, pleaded guilty and agreed to cooperate with the government in the kidnapping-murder case. He has not been sentenced. (source: AP)
