Appendix F

Defendants Spared from Death Sentences by Prosecutors

In order from highest number of Depravity Points to lowest (and if Depravity Points are equal, then in alphabetical order by defendant’s surname)

(Numbered with the prefix “PS” denoting “Prosecutor Spared”)

Age is given as of the time of the crime, although the age may be off by a year because of lack of knowledge of the defendant’s birthday in relation to the date of the crime.  When there are multiple murders with years in between, the defendant’s age at the time of the most recent murder is listed.

In the grid “Prosecutorial Reasons for Not Pursuing Death Sentence” an “s” indicates that the prosecutor stated this as a reason; an “i” indicates that the reason can be reasonably inferred from the facts of the case, even though the prosecutor did not state it as a reason.

PS 1.  Charles Cullen, age 42

County and State: Somerset, New Jersey (also—Pennsylvania)

Date of Crime: All murders in NJ occurred in 2003

Summary of Facts of Crime, and case resolution: Cullen admitted to killing at least 33 of his patients by injecting them with drugs during his 16 months as a critical care nurse in several hospitals in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.  He entered into life-without-parole deals with authorities in both states in return for helping to identify his victims. 

Sources: Star Ledger (Newark) 9/9/04 (2004 WL 90148536), 9/15/04 (2004 WL 90150090), 10/14/04 (2004 WL  90158168), 12/16/03, 11/9/04, 10/14/04; Philadelphia Daily News (2004 WL 94810347); Allentown Morning Call (PA) 10/15/04 (2004 WL 92824463), 11/18/04 (2004 WL 96578465); St. Louis Post Dispatch 3/17/04 (2004 WL 96172852)

PS 2.  Lee Boyd Malvo, age 17 

County and State: Spotsylvania, Virginia

Date of Crime: 11/02

Summary of Facts of Crime, and case resolution:  Malvo was the accomplice to John Allen Muhammed in the notorious “Beltway sniper” murders.  Malvo shot the victims through a peephole in the trunk of their car; Muhammed was the driver.  (Malvo also faces possible capital charges in Alabama and Louisiana.)  In the Spotsylvania cases, he shot one and killed one victim while he was pumping gasoline and wounded another victim who was shot in a parking lot.  He pled guilty to a life-without-parole sentence.  

The following factors certainly played a role in the prosecutor’s decision not to pursue the death penalty: 1) Malvo was 17 at the time of the murders, and the issue of the constitutionality of executing 17-year-old offenders was pending before the U. S. Supreme Court; 2) Malvo had been convicted but spared the death penalty by a jury in Fairfax County, Virginia in December, 2003; 3) Malvo was at least semi-indoctrinated by Muhammad, whom he viewed as a surrogate father. 

Sources: Deseret Morning News (UT) 9/25/04 (2004 WL 92482429)

PS 3, PS 4.  Victor Jesus Rodriguez, age 39; Fredy Giovanni Tobar, age 23

Federal Court in District of Texas

Date of Crime: 5/14/03

Summary of facts of the crime, and case resolution: Rodriguez and Tobar were part of a conspiracy to transport illegal immigrants for profit.  The illegal immigrants were found in an abandoned trailer with seventeen immigrants dead, and more close to death.  The immigrants died of hyperthermia, suffocation and dehydration.  The prosecution decided not to seek death sentences.  After conviction by a jury, the two men face a maximum sentence of life in prison. 

Sources: Houston Chronicle 12/21/04 (2004 WL 101439351), 12/24/04 (2004 WL 101439924)

PS 5.  Richard Paul White, age 30

County and State: Arapahoe, Costilla and Otero; Colorado

Date of Crime: 9/7/03 (he confessed to 5 other murders occurring before that).

Summary of the Facts of the Crime: White shot and killed his co-worker Jason Reichardt, then stole his truck and $240. He was apprehended two days later and confessed. In addition to confessing to Reichert’s murder, he confessed to the murders of Victoria Lyn Turpin and Annaletia Maria Gonzales and three other women. All five, he said, were prostitutes. Turpin and Gonsales were buried in his backyard.  He also admitted to sexually assaulting and kidnapping three other prostitutes who survived, and attempting to murder one of the prostitutes.  White pleaded guilty to life-without-parole.

Sources: Denver Post: 9/08/04 (2004 WL 59332445), 9/17/04 (2004 WL 59333131), 11/30/04 (2004 WL 10176917)

PS 6, PS 7.  Edward Herrera, age 50; Michael Sandoval, age 23

County and State: Denver, Colorado

Date of Crime: 8/6/03

Summary of Facts of Crime, and case resolution: Herrera and Sandoval robbed Herrera’s ex-girlfriend.  During the robbery they shot and killed four people and wounded two others, including Douglas Kubo who was left a quadriplegic.  The 3-year-old daughter of one of the murder victims was present during the robbery.  There was inconsistent eyewitness testimony about who the triggerman was.  The prosecution decided not to seek death sentences.  Herrera pled guilty and was sentenced to four consecutive life sentences for the murders, plus an additional 48 years for the attempted murders.  Sandoval pled guilty to one count of aggravated robbery and was sentenced to 15 years in prison and 5 years of probation.

Sources: The Denver Post 3/30/04, 9/30/04; Rocky Mountain News 10/2/04 LEXIS New Library, USPAPR file.

PS 8.  Stephen Flemmi, age 47

County and State: Tulsa, Oklahoma

Date of crime: 1981

Summary of facts of the crime, and case resolution: Flemmi and cohorts ambushed with a gunshot to the head Tulsa businessman Roger Wheeler after he had played a round of golf.  The mob in Boston had a dispute with Wheeler, who had just bought a jai alai company.  At the time of the current plea, Flemmi was already serving life sentences for racketeering, that included nine other murders.  In this case, Flemmi received another life sentence in a deal worked out with prosecutors in at least three jurisdictions.

Source: Tulsa World 10/1/04 (2004 WL 94041889)

PS 9.  Michael Roman, age unknown

County and State: Palm Beach, Florida

Date of crime: 9/21/02

Summary of facts of crime, and case resolution: Roman believed members of the Gomez/Valentin family had molested his minor daughters.  He went to the home of the family he believed to be the molesters.  He lured Ismael Gomez outside, and shot him in the head, and did likewise with Gomez’s common-law wife Carmen Valentin.  Then Roman went into the house where he found 19-year-old, eight-months pregnant Damaris Roman (no relation).  As she begged for her life, he chose not to shoot her, but to stab her to death so she would feel more pain.  Then he shot both 17-year-old Juan Carlos Valentin and 22-year-old Elizabeth Valentin in the head—both died.  Roman calmly admitted the crimes to the police, and said he did it because the victims had laughed at him when he had confronted them about the alleged molestation.  The defense claimed to have evidence that the molestation allegations were true, which constituted a partial excuse for Roman’s crimes.

Sources: Palm Beach Post 1/29/03 (2003 WL 2798962), 12/9/04 (2004 WL 13699428), 12/16/04 (14425796).

PS 10.  Clinton A. Brathwaite, age 30 

County and State: Roanoke, Virginia

Date of Crime: 4/4/03

Summary of Facts of Crime, and case resolution: Braithwaite killed his girlfriend, then shot and killed three of her four children (two of them 12 years of age or less) because they witnessed the crime.  He attempted to kill the fourth child by shooting her in the head, but she survived.  He pled guilty to a life-without parole sentence. 

Sources:  Daily Press 9/29/04 (2004 WL 92725310), Roanoke Times & World News 9/26/04 (2004 WL  86037858), 9/28/04 (2004 WL 86038018)

PS 11, PS 12.  Dawud Farqui, age 25; Khalid Faruqi, age 24

County and State: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Date of Crime: 12/28/00

Summary of Facts of Crime, and case resolution: The Farqui’s and two accomplices shot to death seven people and tried to murder three others inside a West Philadelphia crack house to get revenge on a drug dealer who ruined a clutch on one killer’s car.  These killings were known as the “Lex Street Massacre.”  The brothers pled guilty to life sentences as the jury had returned to decide they should be executed.