April 13 CALIFORNIA: Jury recommends death penalty in LA murder case A jury recommended the death penalty Wednesday for an Orange County man convicted of murdering a business rival and three members of her family. Pravin "Peter" Govin, 35, of Cypress, was due back in Superior Court on June 13 for formal sentencing. He was found guilty last week of murder, robbery, burglary and arson in the May 2002 slayings of Gita Kumar, 42; son, Paras, 18; daughter, Tulsi, 16; and mother-in-law, Sitaban Patel, 63. They were blindfolded and tied up before being strangled with plastic ties and burned in a fire at the family's Hollywood Hills home. Prosecutors said the killings stemmed from a business dispute over an alley that separated a hotel Govin owned and a hotel owned by the victims' family in the Studio City area. "My family can rest in peace now," said Kumar's husband, Harish. Defense attorney John Sweeney said he was confident an appellate court would overturn the case. It was the 2nd trial for Govin. Jurors deadlocked the 1st time but convicted his older brother, Victor Govin, of the same charges and later sentenced him to death. Another co-defendant, Carlos Amador, pleaded guilty to 4 counts of 2nd degree murder in a plea agreement and faces 15 years to life in prison. (source: Associated Press) *************************** Death Row-Bound Peterson Attracts Female Suitors Condemned killer Scott Peterson has been receiving as many as 25 pieces of mail a day since arriving on San Quentin's death row, many coming from females including at least 3 wedding proposals, according to a prison spokesman. San Quentin spokesman Vernell Crittendon said Peterson's 1st month at the prison has been rather uneventful. He currently is in the prison's adjustment center along with recent Bay Area additions brothers Justin and Glenn Helzer -- convicted of the slayings of 5 people -- and Stuart Alexander -- convicted of gunning down 3 meat inspectors. "Scott has been adjusting to prison life on death row rather well," Crittendon said. "He's on with a number of death row inmates we are processing at this time. Justin and Glenn Helzer as well as Stuart Alexander, the Sausage King." The prison spokesman said Peterson was approved last Friday to go out and begin exercising in a walk-alone caged area -- called dog cages by the inmates -- barely bigger than his cell. When he is in his cell, Crittendon said Peterson has no access to personal property yet but does enjoy reading mail. "He is doing a lot or reading, particularly mail," the prison spokesman said. "He is still receiving a large amount of mail, I didn't actually count them but I'd say he probably receives 25 piece of mail a day." "Much of that mail is from people who do not know Scott Peterson personally and most of them are femalesThree of them I recall were actually wedding proposals to him. There have also been a number of media requests for interviews." Crittendon said Peterson could meet the women who are writing to him by simply sending them a visitor's questionnaire. Once the questionnaire is returned, prison officials review it and then would give the person a security clearance to come and visit Peterson. Peterson is not the only member of San Quentin's death row to attract a female following. Convicted mass killer Richard Ramirez, the infamous Night Stalker, was married at the prison on October 3, 1996. Crittendon said as for visitors, Peterson's family received their security clearance last Friday and could now come and visit him. Peterson will remain in the adjustment center for another 4-6 weeks while prison officials observe how he interacts with fellow prisoners. He will then be moved to death row. Peterson was sentenced to death in March for the murder of his wife, Laci, and the couple's unborn son. At his sentencing, Judge Alfred A. Delucchi accepted the jury's recommendation of death and called the killings "cruel, uncaring, heartless and callous." An eight-months-pregnant Laci Peterson disappeared on Christmas Eve 2002. Prosecutors said Peterson killed her and then dumped her body in San Francisco Bay. The badly decomposed remains of Laci and her fetus washed ashore 4 months later. Prosecutors said Peterson strangled his wife to escape marriage and impending fatherhood, longing to return to the bachelor life as he carried on an affair with massage therapist Amber Frey. In a probation report sent to the court, Modesto Police Detective Craig Grogan called Peterson "a very dangerous man and without a conscience." (source: KTVU News) ILLINOIS: State to Seek Death Penalty for Tucker The man who went on a fatal shooting spree in the Valley earlier this year was back in court on Wednesday. Aubrey Tucker appeared in a Lawrence County, Illinois courtroom and learned the State will seek the death penalty against him. Tucker is charged with 1 count of murder and 3 counts of attempted murder for shooting his ex-girlfriend and 3 other members of her family, killing her 2-year-old granddaughter. A court-appointed expert will determine whether Tucker is physically and mentally fit to stand trial. (source: WTWO News) SOUTH CAROLINA----impending execution Judge denies death penalty stay in Longworth case A federal judge denied an appeal Wednesday in a death penalty sentence stemming from a double murder conviction in Spartanburg 14 years ago. Richard Longworth, 36, is scheduled to be executed at 6 p.m. Friday for his role in the shooting deaths of 2 Spartanburg movie theater workers in January 1991. Federal District Judge Sol Blatt denied motions for a stay of execution and for relief from judgment in an order entered Wednesday. Longworth is represented by David Belser of Asheville, N.C. Prosecutors have said Longworth and David Rocheville shot and killed Alex Hopps, 19, and Todd Greene, 24, while robbing the Westgate Mall cinema on Jan. 7, 1991. Rocheville was executed in 1999 for his role in the murders. (source: Associated Press)
