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Jury Center :: Capital Case Data Project ::
Thomas Robert Lane – white, age 37 Sentenced to death in Mobile County, Alabama By: A judge, who overruled a jury recommendation of 8-4 for life Date of Crime: 10/12/03 Prosecution’s case/defense response: Lane drowned his estranged “mail-order” wife Teresa in a bathtub after invading her home. He then stole her jewelry in order to pay for a new wife. Lane claimed he was innocent of the murder. Prosecutor(s): Barbie Francey, Ashley Rich Sources: Mobile Register 2/9/06 (2006 WLNR 2406479), 4/28/06 (2006 WLNR 7565418). Sentenced to death in Macon County, Alabama By: A judge, after an unknown jury recommendation Date of Crime: 2001 Prosecution’s case/defense response: Newton and an accomplice invaded the home of Charles Clarence Whately in an attempted robbery. They tied Whately up and then set the home on fire, burning the victim alive. They also burned his vehicle. Prosecutor(s): Sources: www.aldoi.org/currentnewsitem.aspx?ID=164; telephone call with Macon County court records office 11/9/06.
Sentenced to death in Morgan County, Alabama By: A judge, overriding a jury recommendation of 7-5 for life Date of Crime: 9/7/93 Prosecution’s case/defense response: Newton and his cohort John Hardy (also sentenced to death in an earlier proceeding) shot Clarence Nugene Terry multiple times with a rifle during the robbery of a convenience store. The store’s videotape showed Terry attempting to hide under the counter while Hardy shot him. Sneed argued that he had not known that Hardy intended to kill the clerk. Sneed’s death sentence had been earlier reversed for the improper admission of evidence. Prosecutor(s): Sources: AP Alert – Alabama 2/6/06; Mobile Register 2/6/06 (2006 WLNR 2405372); AP Alert – Alabama 2/7/06. Cite: Sneed v. State, 783 So.2d 841 (Ala. Crim. App. 1999)
Sentenced to death in Jefferson County, Alabama By: A judge, following an 11-1 jury recommendation of death Date of Crime: 11/16/05 Prosecution’s case/defense response: Washington had recently been fired from a Radio Shack store. He robbed the store and the manager, Justin Campbell, and then shot Campbell in the back of the head as the victim begged for his life. Washington later bragged of the slaying. The defense claimed there was insufficient proof that Washington was the killer. In mitigation, the defense pointed out his youthful age and his lack of a prior record. Prosecutor(s): Mike Anderton, Carlos Gonzalez Sources: Birmingham News 1/13/06 (2006 WLNR 794091); AP Alert – Alabama 1/14/06; Birmingham News 3/28/06 (2006 WLNR 5265085).
Sentenced to death in Yuma County, Arizona By: A jury Date of Crime: 2/89 Prosecution’s case/defense response: Kiles had been on a drug binge. He went to his girlfriend Valerie Gunnell’s house to get more money for drugs. They argued and she slapped him. He went out to his car, got a tire iron, and beat Valerie and her two children—Shemaeah Gunnell (age 5) and LeCresha Kirkland (age 9 months)—to death. He put the two children’s bodies in plastic bags and threw them in the Colorado River. One was later found in Mexico, and the other was never found. Prosecutor(s): Dave Powell Sources: US State News 6/15/06 (2006 WLNR 11315092). Cite: State v. Kiles, 175 Ariz 358, 857 P.2d 1212 (Ariz. Sup. Ct. 1993)
Sentenced to death in Maricopa County, Arizona By: A jury Date of Crime: 3/25/01 Prosecution’s case/defense response: During a home invasion robbery, Lynch and a cohort tied James Panzarella to a chair and slashed his throat. The first penalty phase jury could not reach a verdict. The State elected to retry the penalty phase and obtained a death verdict. Prosecutor(s): Sources: The Arizona Republic 3/28/01 (LEXIS USPAPR file), 1/9/04 (LEXIS USPAPR file), 5/10/06 (LEXIS USPAPR file).
Sentenced to death in Maricopa County, Arizona By: Date of Crime: 9/24/93 Prosecution’s case/defense response: Pandeli killed Holly Iler after what he claimed was an abortive sexual encounter. He slit her throat and mutilated her body. After being captured and interrogated for that murder, he confessed to killing Holly Humphreys more than a year before the Iler murder. He was tried separately for the murder of Humphreys, and convicted of second-degree murder. He was sentenced to death for Iler’s murder, but the sentence was reversed. He was sentenced to death again in a new sentencing proceeding. Prosecutor(s): Sources: State v. Pandeli, 200 Ariz. 365, 26 P.3d 1136 (Ariz. Sup. Ct. 2001)
Sentenced to death in San Bernadino County, California By: A jury Date of Crime: 1/10/92 Prosecution’s case/defense response: Dunlap kidnapped 9-year-old Sandra Astorga on her way to school. He raped her and held her several days. The case was solved in 1999 due to a match with DNA he provided before a planned parole for another sexual assault. Prosecutor(s): Cheryl Kersey Sources: AP Alert – California 10/26/05; Los Angeles Times 10/26/05 (2005 WLNR 23332617); Monterey County Herald 4/16/06 (2006 WLNR 6377478).
Sentenced to death in Riverside County, California By: A jury Date of Crime: 5/03 Prosecution’s case/defense response: Leon dated Veronica Haft before she left to study in England. In retaliation for Veronica’s going to England, Leon invaded the home of Veronica’s grandmother, Hope Ragland, and stabbed her to death. Then when Veronica’s 13-year-old brother Austin Perez walked in while Leon was putting Ragland’s body in the closet, Leon stabbed Perez to death, too. Additionally, Leon hit Veronica’s grandfather Marion Ragland in the head, with a hatchet, but Marion survived. Prosecutor(s): Sources: AP Alert – California 5/13/06; Monterey County Herald 5/14/06 (2006 WLNR 8268362).
Sentenced to death in Stanislaus County, California By: A jury Date of Crime: 12/12/01 Prosecution’s case/defense response: Mendoza “dressed for war” in a helmet and bulletproof vest while carrying two handguns, a rifle, and extra ammunition. He invaded the home of his estranged wife’s mother and fired 72 rounds, killing his mother-in-law Alicia Martinez, his wife’s cousin Carlos Lopez, and a man his wife had been dating, Carmino Chavez. The defense claimed Mendoza was mentally ill, and had a terrible childhood. Prosecutor(s): Douglas Raynaud, Annette Rees Sources: The Modesto Bee 12/7/05 (2005 WLNR 19706848), 12/16/05 (2005 WLNR 20359701), 12/17/05 (2005 WLNR 20423709), 4/26/06 (2006 WLNR 7064287).
Sentenced to death in Tulare County, California By: A jury Date of Crime: 1995 Prosecution’s case/defense response: The brothers killed five patrons and wounded the owner of the “Pato’s Place” bar during a robbery. They claimed innocence, and presented evidence of their good characters. Prosecutor(s): Sources: Tulare Advance-Register 1/20/06 (LEXIS USPAPR file); The Fresno Bee 4/20/06 (LEXIS USPAPR file), 4/26/06 (LEXIS USPAPR file).
Sentenced to death in Seminole County, Florida By: A judge, following a jury recommendation of 7-5 for death for victim Williams, and a 9-3 recommendation for death for victim Bareis Date of Crime: 6/17/04 Prosecution’s case/defense response: During an invasion of his neighbors’ home Aguirre-Jarquin stabbed Cheryl Williams to death with over 120 wounds. He then stabbed her mother Carol Bareis twice—Bareis was in a wheelchair. The defense claimed innocence, and that Aguirre-Jarquin had only discovered the bodies, which was why he had blood on his clothes. But a prosecution expert testified that one of the bloody patterns on Aguirre-Jarquin’s pants could only have come from a blood spatter. Prosecutor(s): Jim Carter Sources: Orlando Sentinel 3/1/06 (2006 WLNR 7366385), 3/11/06 (2006 WLNR 7348588), 6/2/06 (2006 WLNR 9473250), 7/1/06 (2006 WLNR 11400406).
Sentenced to death in Alachua County, Florida By: A judge, after defendant waived a jury trial Date of Crime: 1999 Prosecution’s case/defense response: Gill was in jail from ages 17-30, then within 11 months of his release killed a travel agent during a home invasion robbery, and attempted to murder another woman. During that sentencing he asked the judge to sentence him to death, but the judge imposed a life sentence. Then while in prison Gill strangled cellmate Orlando Rosello with cloth strips torn from a bedsheet. Gill pleaded guilty, and again asked the sentencing judge for a death sentence, saying, “Please make the right decision and don’t be at fault of another loss of life.” The defense would have been able to present mitigating evidence of ongoing mental problems, and a horrific upbringing. This time the judge went along with Gill’s sentencing recommendation. Prosecutor(s): Sources: Gainesville Sun 7/9/05; www.alligator.org/edit/issues/99-sumr/990701/b07murder1.htm; www.fadp.org/news/GS-20050715.htm.
Sentenced to death in Broward County, Florida By: Unknown Date of Crime: 10/17/92 Prosecution’s case/defense response: Hoskins robbed, raped, beat, kidnapped, strangled, bludgeoned, and buried his 80-year old neighbor Dorothy Berger. The defense argued that Hoskins had brain damage and a low IQ. The Florida Supreme Court had reversed an earlier death sentence on the basis that Hoskins was unfairly denied a brain scan that might have revealed a neurological defect. Prosecutor(s): Sources: Orlando Sentinel 10/24/92 (LEXIS USPAPR file), 11/6/94 (LEXIS USPAPR file), 5/14/99 (LEXIS USPAPR file); Florida Today 12/7/99 (LEXIS USPAPR file), 5/3/01 (LEXIS USPAPR file). Cite: Hoskins v. State, 702 So.2d 202 (Fla. Sup. Ct. 1997). Sentenced to death in Duval County, Florida By: A judge, after an 8-4 jury recommendation of death Date of Crime: 4/22/04 Prosecution’s case/defense response: Mosley had a pending hearing on whether he was the father of Lynda Wilkes’s 10 month-old baby Jay-Quan Mosley. To avoid such a finding, Mosley strangled Wilkes. He then thrust Jay-Quan into a plastic bag to suffocate him. He tried to burn Wilkes’s body, and threw Jay-Quan’s body into a trash bin—it was never found. Mosley claimed he was innocent of the murders. Prosecutor(s): Libby Senterfitt Sources: AP Alert – Florida 11/9/05; AP Alert – Crime 11/16/05; AP Alert – Florida 11/19/05; Bradenton Herald 12/2/05 (2006 WLNR 19392890); AP Alert – Florida 6/30/06. Sentenced to death in Okeechobee County, Florida By: A judge, after a unanimous jury recommendation of death Date of Crime: 6/27/00 Prosecution’s case/defense response: Along with two cohorts, Salazar broke into an apartment, bound victims Evelyn Nutter and her boyfriend Ronze Cummings with duct tape, and shot both of them in the head. Cummings survived. The motive was apparently some sort of revenge. Prosecutor(s): Sources: Palm Beach Post 7/7/00 (LEXIS USPAPR file), 8/8/00 (LEXIS USPAPR file); English.nessunotocchicaino.it/bancadati/schedastato.php?idstato=8000393&idconti.... 5/30/06.
Sentenced to death in Broward County, Florida By: A judge, after an 8-4 jury recommendation for death Date of Crime: 6/2/03 Prosecution’s case/defense response: Tennis wanted to marry a Roma (gypsy) girl. Her mother demanded a $3400 dowry. Tennis committed a home invasion robbery to obtain money and severely injured the victim. Two weeks later, during another home invasion robbery, Tennis stomped to death 91-year-old, disabled Albert Vessella. Prosecutor(s): Howard Scheinberg Sources: South Florida Sun-Sentinel 3/1/06 (2006 WLNR 7341633); Miami Herald 3/19/06 (2006 WLNR 4547921); 4/7/06 (2006 WLNR 5844647); South Florida Sun-Sentinel 4/7/06 (2006 WLNR 7343439). Sentenced to death in Cook County, Illinois By: Date of Crime: 2/3/97 Prosecution’s case/defense response: Runge was a sexually-motivated serial killer. He admitted in a police interrogation video to eight murders. These were committed after he had been paroled for the kidnap and sexual assault of a 14-year-old. The specific murders for which he was sentenced to death were the killings of Yolanda Gutierrez and her 10-month-old daughter Jessica Muniz. Runge responded to a sign Gutierrez had posted in her yard to sell exercise equipment. Once inside, Runge raped Gutierrez, slashed her throat and her daughter’s, and burned the apartment. Runge also had once escaped from incarceration. Prosecutor(s): Bernie Murray Sources: AP Alert – Illinois 6/5/06; Chicago Tribune 6/6/06 (2006 WLNR 9657561); AP Alert – Crime 6/6/06; Daily Herald 8/14/06 (2006 WLNR 14323377). Sentenced to death in Floyd County, Kentucky By: A jury Date of Crime: 11/30/04 Prosecution’s case/defense response: Hunt’s wife Betina was seeking a divorce. He went to her apartment, shot the lock off the door, and then shot Betina to death as she was summoning help via a 911 call. Prosecutor(s): Sources: Lexington Herald-Leader 6/2/06 (2006 WLNR 9455125); AP Alert – Kentucky 7/29/06.
Sentenced to death in Jasper County, Missouri By: A jury Date of Crime: 10/2/98 Prosecution’s case/defense response: Black’s girlfriend told him that victim Jason Johnson had intentionally brushed against her in a convenience store. Black (who was white) was enraged, and referred to Johnson (who was black) with racial slurs. Black drove after Johnson, caught him at an intersection, and stabbed him to death. Black had prior convictions for armed robbery and aggravated assault. Black claimed that he was acting in self-defense, and at worst that he was guilty of non-death-eligible second-degree murder because he lacked premeditation and deliberation. The Missouri Supreme Court had reversed an earlier death sentence due to ineffective assistance of counsel. Prosecutor(s): Sources: AP Alert – Missouri 5/7/06. Cite: Black v. State, 151 S.W.3d 49 (Mo. Sup. Ct. 2004).
Sentenced to death in Boone County, Missouri By: A jury Date of Crime: 2/12/94 Prosecution’s case/defense response: Johnson robbed a convenience store and bludgeoned three employees to death (and also shot one of them and stabbed one of them): Mary Bratcher, Mabel Scruggs, and Fred Jones. Johnson said he became enraged after Bratcher, the manager, tried to flush a key down the toilet. The defense presented mitigation evidence that Johnson was mentally retarded, and had suffered a horrible, impoverished upbringing. Prosecutor(s): Kevin Crane Sources: AP Alert – Oklahoma 5/13/06 (LEXIS USPAPR file); AP Alert – Missouri 6/13/06 (LEXIS USPAPR file); Columbia Daily Tribune 6/13/06 (2006 WLNR 10116763). Cite: State v. Johnson, 968 S.W.2d 686 (Mo. Sup. Ct. 1998). Sentenced to death in Rutherford County, North Carolina By: A jury Date of Crime: 6/22/04 Prosecution’s case/defense response: Garcell and cohorts went to the home of 71-year-old victim Margaret Bennick to rob her. She admitted them because she knew Garcell’s girlfriend. Garcell tied Bennick to the bed and strangled her. After he was sentenced to death, he escaped, invaded a home, and stole a truck, but was soon recaptured. Prosecutor(s): Charlie Walker Sources: The Asheville Citizen-Times 4/6/06 (LEXIS USPAPR file); The McDowell News 4/6/06 (www.mcdowellnews.com), 4/6/06 www.mcdowllnews.com (version 2).
Sentenced to death in Brunswick County, North Carolina By: A jury. The sentencing was marred by an unusual sequence of events. The jury returned a life sentence verdict, but when the judge polled the jurors, four of them disavowed the life verdict. The judge sent them back to deliberate further, and they returned a death sentence. Date of Crime: 1/18/05 Prosecution’s case/defense response: Officer Mitch Prince pulled Maness over in a traffic stop. Maness hit the officer with a bottle, took his gun, and then shot him three times while the officer was on his knees begging for his life. He later shot at other officers before he was captured. Prosecutor(s): Rex Gore Sources: AP Alert – North Carolina 4/5/06; The State Port Pilot 4/5/06 (www.stateportpilot.com/stories/deathsentence0405.htm); Myrtle Beach Sun News 4/6/06 (2006 WLNR 5751802); Star-News 4/6/06 (2006 WLNR 6938781), 5/5/06 (2006 WLNR 9621987. Sentenced to death in Clark County, Ohio By: A jury Date of Crime: 4/05 Prosecution’s case/defense response: Dean and a 16-year-old accomplice engaged in a crime spree, committing three shootings in a four-day period. Only one of the shootings resulted in a death: Titus Arnold was robbed and shot by the duo (although it appears the juvenile pulled the trigger). Dean claimed innocence, and in mitigation presented evidence that he had been abused by his father. Prosecutor(s): Sources: Dayton Daily News 5/13/06 (LEXIS USPAPR file), 5/27/06 (LEXIS USPAPR file), 6/3/06 (LEXIS USPAPR file), 7/25/06 (LEXIS USPAPR file), 8/18/06 (LEXIS USPAPR file), 10/1/06 (LEXIS USPAPR file).
Sentenced to death in Montgomery County, Ohio By: A jury Date of Crime: 7/22/04 Prosecution’s case/defense response: Short drove in his truck—with his minor son as a passenger—to his estranged wife’s house. In the yard he shot to death with a sawed-off shotgun a man his wife had been dating (Donnie Ray Sweeney), and then went into the house and shot his wife Ronda to death. The defense argued for a lesser degree of murder, claiming lack of premeditation and deliberation. Short apparently backed out of a plea deal that would have spared him a death sentence. Prosecutor(s): Leon Daidone, Robert Deschler Sources: Dayton Daily News 5/5/06 (2006 WLNR 8088027); AP Alert – Ohio 5/10/06; Dayton Daily News 5/31/06 (2006 WLNR 9393402). Sentenced to death in Oklahoma County, Oklahoma By: A jury Date of Crime: 2/14/04 Prosecution’s case/defense response: Hunt stabbed his girlfriend Wynona Reames to death with ten stab wounds. He claimed while they were both drunk, she had come at him with two knives, and that he was defending himself. Prosecutor(s): Sources: The Oklahoman 5/10/06 (LEXIS USPAPR file), 6/1/06 (LEXIS USPAPR file). Sentenced to death in Blair County, Pennsylvania By: A jury Date of Crime: 2/25/04 Prosecution’s case/defense response: Staton’s ex-girlfriend Beverly Yohn had a protective order against him and was staying at her mother’s. Staton went to the mother’s house and stabbed Yohn to death in front of her two children. He was on parole from a conviction for a prior stabbing. Staton claimed that he was high at the time, and that he had acted in self-defense. Prosecutor(s): Richard Consiglio Sources: Centre Daily Times 6/2/06 (2006 WLNR 9471184).
Sentenced to death in Lexington County, South Carolina By: A jury Date of Crime: 5/02 Prosecution’s case/defense response: Mercer carjacked Tracy Davis, shooting the victim in the head to obtain a Lincoln Navigator in order to drive to a party in Atlanta. Mercer had a long criminal record, and had attacked another inmate with a shank in 2004. Mercer claimed the other passenger found with him in the vehicle was the killer. Prosecutor(s): Rick Hubbard, Donnie Myers Sources: Columbia State 4/20/06 (2006 WLNR 6579361), 4/23/06 (2006 WLNR 6768416). Sentenced to death in Laurant County, Texas By: A jury Date of Crime: 2004 Prosecution’s case/defense response: Victim 9-year-old Davontae Williams was starved to death by his mother and Coleman, who was her girlfriend. The victim also had over 250 scars or wounds on his body. Coleman presented mitigation evidence that she had a terrible upbringing, was bipolar, and a drug user. In a seemingly unusual resolution, the victim’s mother pleaded guilty to a sentence with possibility of parole in 40 years, while Coleman was sentenced to death. Prosecutor(s): Mitch Poe Sources: Dallas Morning News 6/22/06 (2006 WLNR 10836177), 9/21/06 (2006 WLNR 16408700).
Sentenced to death in Bexar County, Texas By: A jury Date of Crime: 11/22/04 Prosecution’s case/defense response: Neal invaded the home of Diane Tilly and held her for four hours while he raped and robbed her. Then he kidnapped her to a field where he shot her as she pleaded for her life. The case is notorious in the San Antonio area because his accomplice was his 16-year-old daughter, who was pregnant by him. Prosecutor(s): Catherine Bobbitt, Jill Mata Sources: San Antonio Express-News 6/6/06 (2006 WLNR 5833173), 4/7/06 (2006 WLNR 5901233), 4/14/06 (2006 WLNR 6315819), 5/2/06 (2006 WLNR 7508070), 6/27/06 (2006 WLNR 11133117).
Sentenced to death in Harris County, Texas By: A jury Date of Crime: 3/24/05 Prosecution’s case/defense response: Angry that Tammie Harris had decided to stop dating him, Smith invaded her home and shot her to death while a group of middle school-age girls was present. Smith then chased down and killed Harris’s 11-year-old daughter Kristina. The defense presented mitigation evidence of Smith’s hard upbringing. Prosecutor(s): Sources: Houston Chronicle 6/21/06 (2006 WLNR 10729196), 6/22/06 (2006 WLNR 10850851), 6/23/06 (2006 WLNR 10916499), 6/28/06 (2006 WLNR 11210971). Sentenced to death in Federal District of Vermont By: A jury Date of Crime: 11/27/2000 Prosecution’s case/defense response: Fell and a cohort (who later committed suicide in jail) killed Fell’s mother and one of her friends. Then they carjacked and kidnapped Terri King, transported her in the vehicle, and bludgeoned her to death as she prayed for her life. In mitigation, the defense presented evidence of Fell’s miserable upbringing. Prosecutor(s): Sources: AP Alert – Vermont 6/8/06, 6/15/07; AP Alert – Crime 6/16/06; Chicago Tribune 6/17/06 (2006 WLNR 10491480). Sentenced to death in Federal Northern District of Illinois By: A jury Date of Crime: Prosecution’s case/defense response: Mikos was a podiatrist who had been committing massive Medicaid fraud (over 6000 surgeries never performed, netting over $1.2 million). He was being investigated by a federal grand jury, and former patient Joyce Brannon was scheduled to testify against him. Mikos invaded her apartment building and shot her to death with six shots as she sat in her garden. Mikos claimed innocence on the basis that Brannon may have been killed by a gang that frequented the neighborhood. In mitigation, he presented evidence of good character and drug usage. Prosecutor(s): Jeffrey Cramer, John Kocoros Sources: Chicago Sun Times 5/6/06 (2005 WLNR 7429691), 5/12/05 (2005 WLNR 23423449); Belleville News Democrat 5/24/05 (2005 WLNR 22691074); Chicago Tribune 5/24/05 (2005 WLNR 23398329); AP Alert – Illinois 5/26/06; Chicago Sun Times 4/26/06 (2006 WLNR 7002358), 4/28/06 (2006 WLNR 7437061); Chicago Tribune 4/28/06 (2006 WLNR 7299256). |
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