Appendix D

Defendants Sentenced to Death

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 “DS” denoting “Death Sentence”)

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.

(Race of defendant is given because it is available, but no racial analysis is possible because race of the victims is unknown, as race of defendant for the cases in Appendices E and F.)

Note: There are 142 defendants in the Appendix, even though the numbers only go up to 140—there is one later-discovered defendant who has been incorporated as DS 78A, and a second later-discovered defendant who has been incorporated as 89A, making a total of 142.

DS 1.  Andrew Urdiales – white, age 31

Sentenced to death in Livingston County, Illinois

By: A jury

Date of crime: 1996

Prosecution’s case/defense response: Urdiales, a former Marine, shot and killed Cassandra Corum and dumped her body in the Vermilion River.  Urdiales confessed to killing seven other women, two in the Chicago area and five in California between 1988 and 1996.  While not mentioned in the news reports, it appears that these murders must have all involved kidnappings and sexual assaults, and death by both shooting and stabbing.  Urdiales pled not guilty by reason of insanity, but later changed his plea to guilty but mentally ill; ultimately both pleas were rejected.  In mitigation, the defense claimed Urdiales lacked mental capacity, was sexual abused and raised away from his mother.  Urdiales had been on death row for the murders of the Chicago area women, but when Governor Ryan emptied death row Urdiales’s life was spared.  However, the Corum murder case was still pending, and his death sentence in that case after the commutation made him the first Illinois prisoner to be sent back to Death Row. 

Sources: Chicago Sun-Times 5/25/04 (2004 WL 63143409), 8/18/04 (2004 WL 63153149); Chicago Tribune 4/24/04 (2004 WL 77185722), 4/25/04 (2004 WL 77186227), 5/11/04 (2004 WL 78471093), 5/25/04 (2004 WL 80030757), Press-Enterprise 5/31/03 (2003 WL 19926286) Illinois Department of Corrections: www.idoc.state.il.us

DS 2.  John Allen Muhammad—black, age 41

Sentenced to death in Prince William County, Virginia  

By: A judge, after a jury recommendation of death

Date of crime: multiple murders in 10/02

Prosecution’s case/defense response: The “Beltway Snipers” Muhammad and Lee Boyd Malvo committed ten murders in the Washington area and three murders in the south.  Prosecution presented numerous witnesses putting Muhammad at the scene of the shootings.  The defense objected to a judge’s ruling that enabled prosecutors to get around the requirement that allows only triggermen to be prosecuted for the death penalty under the multiple murder law.  During the sentencing phase, prosecutors presented evidence that Muhammad had already attempted to escape from jail, and when he was arrested possessed a stolen laptop which contained locations where he planned more shootings. 

Sources: L.A. Times, 11/19/03 (2003 WL 2449199), 11/25/03 (2003 WL 68900426)

DS 3.  Derrick Todd Lee – black, age 34

Sentenced to death in East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana

By: A jury

Date of crime: 5/31/02

Prosecution’s case/defense response: Serial killer Lee killed 22 year-old Charlotte Murray Pace by raping and then stabbing her over 81 times with a knife and a 12-inch flat-blade screwdriver.  By the time it was over, her skull was fractured, her face disfigured and her hands bruised, suggesting that she fought her attacker.  Authorities say they have linked Lee through DNA evidence to the deaths of seven women from 1998-2003.  Defense attorneys argued that Lee should be spared the death penalty because he is retarded, putting on evidence from a neuropsychologist.  The prosecution rejects these claims, saying its psychologist and psychiatrist examined Lee and found him not to be retarded.

Sources: Houston Chronicle 10/14/2004 (2004 WL 83672635);

Times Picayune 9/12/2004 (2004 WL 83877343); 10/15/2004 (2004 WL 83884311); 10/16/2004 (2004 WL 83884416);

Charleston Gazette 9/14/2004 (2004 WL 59660424);

The Baton Rouge Advocate 9/21/2004 (2004 WL 58415216); 9/22/2004 (2004 WL 58415373);

The Sun Herald 9/22/2004 (2004 WL 92785870); 9/24/2004 (2004 WL 92786089)

DS 4.  Reinaldo Rivera—Latino, age 36

Sentenced to death in Richmond County, Georgia  

By: A jury

Date of crime: 9/4/00, victim survived until 9/9/00

Prosecution’s case/defense response:  Rivera was a serial killer.  This trial involved the rape-murder of Army Sgt. Marni Glista in her home.  Rivera also admitted to the rape-murders two 17-year-old girls in Aiken County in 1999, another of a 17-year-old girl in Augusta on 6/29/00, and the rape and attempted murder of an 18-year-old-girl in Augusta on 10/10/00 (who he later couldn’t believe had survived).  The defense did not contest guilt.  Mitigation was that he had been consumed by a sexual obsession since childhood that had eventually gotten out of control, and that he had good aspects to his life as a husband, father, and Navy veteran.  The defense asked for a verdict of guilty but mentally ill.  In the penalty phase, Rivera took the witness stand and advised the jury it should give him the death penalty because of the severity of his crimes, and because he would kill again if he were ever free.

Sources: Augusta Chronicle 1/14/04 (2004 WL 59895742), 1/15/04 (2004 WL 59895778), 1/21/04 (2004 WL 59896725), 1/24/04 (2004 WL 59897786), 1/25/04 (2004 WL 59896921), 2/13/04 (2004 WL69186228)

DS 5.  Scott Erskine – white, age 30

Sentenced to death in San Diego County, California

By: A jury

Date of crime: 3/27/93       

Prosecution’s case/defense response: Charlie Keever and Jonathan Sellers (ages 13 and 9) were molested, tortured and strangled to death by Erskine; Sellers’ body was discovered hanging from a tree.  The case went unsolved for eleven years until new DNA analysis linked Erskine to the killings.  When Erskine was charged with the boys’ murders he was already serving a 70-year sentence for rape.  He had an additional long history of sex crimes.  Erskine also pleaded guilty to murdering a woman in Florida in 1989.  The defense did not contest the killing, but asked the jury to spare Erskine life because he suffered from a brain injury when he was hit by a car at age five.  The defense argued the injury caused Erskine to lose the ability to stop sexual impulses.    

Sources: The San Diego Union-Tribune 8/29/04 (2004 WL 59002669), 9/2/04 (2004 WL 59003128), 9/5/04 (2004 WL 59003470); Los Angeles Times 9/2/04 (2004 WL 55934934)

DS 6.  Anthony Shore – white, age 30

Sentenced to death in Harris County, Texas

By: A jury

Date of crime: 4/92

Prosecution’s case/defense response: Shore was a confessed serial rapist/killer. The crime for which he was on trial was the kidnap/rape/strangulation of Maria Del Carmen Estrada (21).  Shore described to police he was hearing voices that he had to possess Estrada.  Shore also confessed to killing Laurie Lee Tremblay (15) in 1986, Dana Sanchez (16) in 1995, and Diana Rebollar (9) in 1994.  Two of these three victims were raped.  He had also been convicted of sexually assaulting two family members.  These convictions put him in the DNA database, which then led to his being tied to the Estrada murder when some fingernail scrapings were analyzed that had not been tested earlier.  Shore insisted his counsel not cross-examine witnesses, and not present mitigating evidence because he wanted a death sentence.     

Sources: Houston Chronicle 10/21/04 (2004 WL 83674099), 10/23/04 (2004 WL 83674728), 10/28/04 (2004 WL 83675731)

DS 7.  James Lee Crummel – white, age 35

Sentenced to death in Riverside County, California

By: A jury

Date of crime: 4/79     

Prosecution’s case/defense response: Thirteen year old, Jamey Trotter, was kidnapped, sexually abused, and murdered.  Crummel showed authorities to Trotter’s remains in 1990, claiming he just ran across the body while hiking.  It took seven years for police to determine the remains were Trotter’s and to prove Crummel was the killer.  Crummel sexually assaulted at least ten children in the past four decades, and was already sentenced to life in prison for his past molestation.  The prosecution’s case presented circumstantial evidence and the testimony of a jailhouse informant.  During the punishment phase, the defense argued Crummel should receive life imprisonment because he suffered from brain damages as a result from severe beatings as a child. 

Sources: Los Angeles Times 6/8/04 (2004 WL 55918035); The Press-Enterprise 6/14/04 ((2004 WL 77926034), Monterey County Herald 7/11/04 (2004 WL 80127059)

DS 8.  Joseph Clarence Smith, Jr.—white, age about 25 (re-sentencing after an appellate reversal)

Sentenced to death in Maricopa County, Arizona

By: A jury

Date of crime: late 1975

Prosecution’s case/defense response: Smith kidnapped two teenaged female hitchhikers in separate incidents, took them into the desert, bound them, suffocated them by forcing dirt into their noses and mouths, and then taping their mouths.  He then inflicted perverse injuries on their corpses.  Smith had other convictions for rape.  This was at least Smith’s second re-sentencing after an appellate reversal.

Sources: State v. Smith, 569 P.2d 817 (Ariz. 1977); State v. Smith, 599 P.2d 187 (Ariz. 1979); State v. Smith, 599 P.2d 199 (Ariz. 1979); State v. Smith, 638 P.2d 696 (Ariz. 1981).

DS 9.  Juan Raul Navarro Ramirez—Latino, age 19

Sentenced to death in Hidalgo County, Texas

By: A jury

Date of crime: 1/5/03

Prosecution’s case/defense response: Twelve members of a gang burglarized two adjacent homes demanding drugs, money, and weapons.  They shot and killed six persons using automatic rifles.  Ramirez was the first of the twelve to go on trial.  No information is available concerning the defense approach to the case.

Sources:  Houston Chronicle 1/7/03 (2003 WL 3228926), 1/17/03 (2003 WL 3230985), San Antonio Express-News 1/25/03 (2003 WL 5584471), 2/1/03 (2003 WL 5584988), 2/15/ 03 (2003 WL 5586189), 12/21/04 (2004 WL 104083618)

DS 10.  Virendra “Victor” Govin – Asian, age 35

Sentenced to death in Los Angeles County, California

By: A jury

Date of crime: 5/4/02

Prosecution’s case/defense response: Govin and his brother owned a motel that bordered the victims’ motel.  Both motel owners wanted to expand their businesses and use the common alley for different purposes.  Govin killed four members of the Patel family by strangling them and then setting their home on fire.  The prosecution case was based on the testimony of Govin’s co-defendant, Carlos Amador.  Amador testified he and the Govin brothers robbed the home, and saw Govin strangle the victims.  The jury gave Govin the death penalty because he committed multiple murders and killed for financial gain.  The defense argued that Amador lied and in actuality he was the mastermind behind the killings.  The defense also disputed that Govin had a business argument with the Patels. 

Sources: Los Angeles Times 5/19/04 (2004 WL 55913765), 6/5/04 (2004 WL 55917325)

DS 11.  Anthony Quinn Francois—black, age 33

Sentenced to death in Harris County, Texas

By: A jury

Date of crime: 9/11/03

Prosecution’s case/defense response: Francois snuck into the home of his ex-girlfriend Shemika Patterson (age 16).  He proceeded to shoot and kill her three sisters who were sleeping: Nikesha (15), Ashley (11), and Brittany (10).  Francois also shot Shemika and her mother Sheila in their heads and backs, but they survived.  Francois had a long criminal record, including for burglary and armed robbery.  He had also told another woman a week before the murders that he was going to kill Shemika’s family while she watched.  Francois told the police, however, that he panicked and snapped.  In the penalty phase the prosecution presented evidence of rape by Francois for which no charges had been filed.  The defense presented evidence that Francois had been fathered by a rapist, and had suffered a traumatic childhood.

Sources: Houston Chronicle 7/20/04 (2004 WL 83652774), 7/21/04 (2004 WL 83652794), 7/22/04 (2004 WL 83652843), 7/23/04 (2004 WL 83652896), 7/24/04, (2004 WL83652956) 7/27/04 (2004 WL 83654486), 7/29/04 (2004 WL 83654577)

DS 12.  Gary Lee Sampson—white, age 41

Sentenced to death in federal in District of Massachusetts  

By: A jury

Date of crime: 7/01

Prosecution’s case/defense response: During a crime spree over several days, Sampson kidnapped and killed an elderly man and a college student after they picked him up on two separate days, while he was hitchhiking.  Sampson stabbed both of his victims to death.  He also kidnapped and attempted to murder another person.   Sampson confessed and pled guilty to the killings.  In the punishment phase, the defense argued Sampson was mentally ill.  Because Massachusetts does not have a state death penalty the judge ordered the execution to take place in New Hampshire, where Sampson faces other murder charges. 

Sources: Boston Globe, 1/30/04 (2004 WL 59769171), 1/31/04 (2004 W 57711796), 2/15/04 (2004 WL 59772387), 5/21/04 (2004 WL 59787957)

DS 13.  Douglas Belt – white, age 40

Sentenced to death in Sedgwick County, Kansas 

By: A jury

Date of crime: 6/24/02

Prosecution’s case/defense response: Belt was convicted of beheading Lucille Gallegos at an apartment complex where she worked as a housekeeper.  After the murder, Belt set the apartment on fire to destroy the evidence of the murder.  The prosecution presented DNA evidence linking Belt to the murder.  The defense argued it was Gallegos’s abusive boyfriend who killed her.  Belt maintained his innocence throughout the trial.  DNA evidence also tied Belt to a six different rapes. 

Sources: Wichita Eagle 10/21/04 (2004 WL 96338668), 10/22/04 (2004 WL 96338777), 11/2/04 (2004 WL 96340128), 11/3/04(2004 WL 96341035), 11/4/04 (2004 WL 96340614), 11/18/04 (2004 WL 96342306)

DS 14.  Edgardo Rafael Cubas – Latino, age 23

Sentenced to death in Harris County, Texas

By: A jury

Date of crime: 1/18/02

Prosecution’s case/defense response: Cubas confessed to killing 15-year-old Esmeralda Alvarado.  Cubas was involved in a rampage of five slayings and four robberies or attempted kidnappings.  Cubas and Walter Alexander Sorto kidnapped Alvarado from a convenience store, took turns raping her, and then Cubas shot her in the head.  Cubas claimed he did not want to kill Alvarado, but Sorto made him.  The defense argued that the police should have notified Cubas, who is a native of Honduras, of his rights in the United States legal system.  The defense also argued that there were points when the video recorder was not on during Cubas interview with detectives.  In mitigation, the defense argued Cubas was traumatized by the death of his brother and was influenced by Sorto. 

Sources: Houston Chronicle 5/6/04 (2004 WL 57827236), 5/11/04 (2004 WL 57828270), 5/12/04 (2004 WL 57828543), 5/22/04 (2004 WL 57830761), 8/20/04 (2004 WL 83662394); Texas Department of Criminal Justice: http://www.tdcj.state.tx.us/stat/deathrow.htm

DS 15.  Billy Dale Green – white, age 43

Sentenced to death in Randolph County, Arkansas

By: A jury

Date of crime: 7/29/98

Prosecution’s case/defense response: Billy Green had his son, Charles, pretend he was having car trouble to lure the victim, Carl Elliott, to a bridge where Billy shot him.  Billy then went to the Elliott house where he beat and killed Elliott’s wife and two children.  Billy used a tire tool to kill Elliott’s 5-year-old son, and then hit the wife 27 times with the tool and slit her throat.  Billy then put Elliott’s 8-year-old daughter in a trash can and kept her alive for two days in a shed before he drove her to the woods and killed her.  Prosecutors argued that Billy killed the family two weeks after Elliott confessed to stealing Billy’s marijuana plants in 1994.  The prosecution had no forensic evidence of the crime, but only the testimony of Billy’s son, Charles.  The defense argued that Charles killed the Elliott family and blamed it on his father.  In mitigation, the defense blamed Green’s upbringing that led him to a life of drugs and crime.  

Sources: The Arkansas Democrat Gazette 8/8/03 (2003 WL 57086811), 9/23/03 (2003 WL 62520936), 5/14/04 (2004 WL 78805842), 5/15/04 (2004 WL 78805987), 5/18/04 (2004 WL 78806219), 5/21/04 (2004 WL 78806377), 5/22/04 (2004 WL 78806488), 5/28/04 (2004 WL 78806990); Arkansas Department of Corrections: www.state.ar.us/doc/deathrow.html

DS 16.  Michael Edward Hooper—white, age 20 (re-sentence after an appellate reversal of the death sentence)

Sentenced to death in Canadian County, Oklahoma

By: A judge after waiving a jury.  Hooper had been sentenced to death by a jury in 1995, but his sentence had been reversed, which led to this second sentencing proceeding.

Date of crime: 12/7/93

Prosecution’s case/defense response: Hooper kidnapped his ex-girlfriend Cynthia Jarman and her two children (Tonya, age 5, and Timothy, age 3), shot each of them twice in the head, and buried them atop each other in a field.  At the resentencing Hooper did not wish to present evidence that might spare him from death, but his attorney nonetheless pointed out that Hooper suffered from serious mental health issues and was a victim of childhood abuse and neglect. 

Sources: Daily Oklahoman 10/1/04 (2004 WL 94232053); Hooper v. State, 947 P.2d 1090 (Okla. Crim. App. 1997)

DS 17.  David Zink—white, age 42

Sentenced to death by a Lafayette County jury sitting (apparently due to sequestration) in St. Clair County, Missouri

By: A jury

Date of crime: 7/12/01

Prosecution’s case/defense response: Zink kidnapped 19-year-old Amanda Morton, sodomized her, tied her to a tree, and inflicted numerous injuries on her: numerous blunt-force traumas, strangling, choking, stabbing, putting mud in her mouth, and breaking her neck (which was the fatal injury).  Zink confessed and led investigators to where he had buried Morton’s body in the woods.  Zink had convictions for raping and kidnapping two women in 1980, for which he had been released on parole only five months before killing Morton.  Zink’s attorney’s contended he was mentally ill and unable to formulate the intent for first-degree murder, while Zink pursued a different strategy that he had been enraged and thus should be convicted only of manslaughter.  In the penalty phase the defense offered evidence of Zink’s troubled childhood, his narcissistic personality disorder, and his alcohol dependence. 

Sources: News-Leader (Springfield, MO) 7/30/04 (2004 WL 80526722), 9/8/04 (2004 WL 80528163)

DS 18.  Kenneth “Pat” Bondurant—white, age unknown (re-sentencing after an appellate reversal)

Sentenced to death in Giles County, Tennessee

By: A jury

Date of crime: 5/30/86

Prosecution’s case/defense response: Bondurant beat a man to death with a child’s rocking chair who he thought was cheating at cards.  The beating continued for half an hour after the man was dead, and left only a small piece of the rocking chair intact.  Then Bondurant and his brother Pete dismembered the body, transported it to their parents’ home, and burned it.  Bondurant and his brother Pete were also found guilty in another murder case (for which each received 25-year sentences) that involved rape, multiple bludgeoning wounds, gunshot wounds, and burning the body. 

Sources: State v. Bondurant, 1996 WL 275021 (Tenn. Crim. App. 1996) (unpublished); State v. Bondurant, 4 S.W.3d 662 (Tenn. 1999)

DS 19.  Marco Chapman – white, age 30

Sentenced to death in Boone County, Kentucky 

By: A judge

Date of crime: 8/23/02

Prosecution’s case/defense response: Chapman, a family friend, went to the Marksberry home to rob them.  Chapman then tied Carolyn Marksberry up, raped, and stabbed her repeatedly.  Carolyn survived by playing dead.  Chapman then proceeded to kill her two children, Cody Sharon, 6, and Chelbi, 7; Courtney also survived by playing dead.  Initially, Chapman explained to the judge he wanted to fire his attorneys, plead guilty and be executed.  The judge refused to accept the plea because he determined Chapman was not competent to represent himself. 

Sources: The Cincinnati Post 10/22/04 (2004 WL 90036634), 10/23/04 (2004 WL 95910776), 12/15/04 (2004 WL 90040214)

DS 20.  Sherman Lamont Fields – black, age 29

Sentenced to death in federal court in Western District of Texas

By: A jury

Date of crime: 11/6/01

Prosecution’s case/defense response: Fields was angry with his girlfriend, Suncerey Coleman, after he learned she got pregnant by another man.  Fields was in jail at the time, but bribed a guard to assist him in escaping.  He took Coleman from the hospital where she was caring for her baby and shot her twice in the head.  Fields’ former girlfriend testified that Fields confessed to killing Coleman, and other inmates testified Fields bragged about having sex with Coleman before he killed her.  Fields represented himself until the penalty phase and claimed he was innocent and there was no physical evidence linking him to the crime.  In mitigation, the defense argued that Fields was suicidal and had a possible diagnosis of bipolar disorder.  Fields also had a difficult childhood because he was abused by his mother’s boyfriend and saw his grandfather killed. 

Sources: Cox News Service 1/27/04 (2004 WL 66842670), 1/28/04 (2004 WL 66842848), 2/3/04 (2004 WL 66843884), 2/4/04 (2004 WL 66844080), 2/7/04 (2004 WL 66844643), 4/9/04 (2004 WL 75391242)

DS 21.  Ernest R. Wholaver, Jr.—white, age 42

Sentenced to death in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania

By: A jury

Date of crime: 12/24/02

Prosecution’s case/defense response: Wholaver was estranged from his wife Jean, and she had a protective order against him. His two daughters (Victoria, age 20, and Elizabeth, age 15) had accused him of sexually abusing them for many years, and were within weeks of the trial where they would testify against him.  Wholaver had his brother drive him to his wife’s house (his brother pleaded guilty to three counts of third-degree murder for his role in the crime, and testified against Ernest).  Ernest burglarized the home, shooting and killing Jean, Victoria, and Elizabeth.  He killed Victoria while she was holding her infant daughter.  The police found the infant alive by her mother’s body the next day.  Wholaver was also convicted of attempting to hire a hit man from jail to kill Victoria’s ex-boyfriend and frame him for the crime by leaving a suicide note confessing to the crime.  In defense, Wholaver denied committing the murders.  The defense attempted to point the finger at Victoria’s ex-boyfriend, and claimed that Wholaver had attempted to have him killed because Wholaver believed the ex-boyfriend had killed the three victims. 

Sources: Bucks County Courier Times (PA) 8/22/04 (www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/103-08222004-352840.html); Centre Daily Times (State College, PA) 9/1/04 (2004 WL84786058), Patriot-News (Harrisburg, PA) 8/31/04 (2004 WL 57769124), 9/1/04 (2004 WL 57769198)

DS 22.  Chadrick Fulks—white, age 25

Sentenced to death in federal District Court for the District of South Carolina

Date of crime: 11/14/02

Prosecution’s case/defense response: Fulks and cohort Branden Basham escaped from jail in Kentucky and went on a two-week crime spree in November, 2002.  They carjacked Alice Donavan from a parking lot, killed her, and dumped her body in a location where it was never found.  They also kidnapped and killed West Virginia college student Samantha Burns, whose body was also not found; committed another carjacking where the victim was tied to a tree in the woods, attempted at least one other carjacking, and shot at the police and a civilian.  Fulks pleaded guilty, so only the penalty phase was tried to a jury.  At that phase, the prosecution presented evidence that Fulks had physically and sexually abused women, was a liar and con artist, and had tried to escape after his arrest.  The defense attempted to paint Basham as the leader of the crime spree and Fulks as the follower, and argued that Basham killed Donovan outside Fulks’ presence and without his knowledge.  The defense also presented evidence that Fulks was brain-damaged due to fetal alcohol syndrome, and that he had a horrific upbringing.  (Note: this case had a particularly vigorously litigated penalty phase—the prosecution called over 100 witnesses, and the defense a substantial number, as well.)

Sources: Lexington Herald-Leader (KY) 6/1/04 (2004 WL 81452127); Myrtle Beach Sun News (SC) 6/4/04 (2004 WL 81743230), 6/25/04 (2004 WL 84447531), 6/25/04 (2004 WL 84447584), (2004 WL 84963406); Evansville Courier 6/4/04 (2004 WL 69154902); The State (Columbia SC) 6/6/04 (2004 WL 78722106); 6/19/04 (2004 WL 83514222), 6/23/04 (2004 WL 83514828); Charleston Gazette 6/30/04 (2004 WL 59648065), 7/1/04 (2004 WL 59648227)

DS 23.  Buenka Adams—black, age 19 (see also Richard Cobb, below)

Sentenced to death in Cherokee County, Texas

By: A jury

Date of crime: 9/2/02

Prosecution’s case/defense response: Adams and co-defendant Richard Cobb (also sentenced to death in 2004) robbed a convenience store, and then forced two store clerks, Nikki Ansley Dement and Candace Driver, and a customer, Kenneth Vandever, into their car. After kidnapping the victims and sexually assaulting Dement, Cobb and Adams shot each of them. Vandever died of his injuries, while Dement and Driver survived.

Sources: Houston Chronicle, 9/5/02 (2004 WL 23221202); Tyler Morning Telegraph 8/21/04, 8/31/04 (www.zwire.com/site/news/cfm?)

DS 24.  Teodoro Baez—Latino, age 22

Sentenced to death in Illinois  

By: A judge.  Baez pleaded guilty and waived sentencing by a jury.

Date of crime: 8/5/99

Prosecution’s case/defense response: In a drug dispute, Baez shot Juan Estrada twice and then slashed and stabbed him dozens of times with a samurai sword.  He then lured Janet Mena, who was waiting in a car outside, into the apartment where he choked, kicked, and stabbed her repeatedly with the sword.  He then dismembered the bodies and scattered the pieces around Chicago.  The prosecution also presented evidence that he had assaulted one prisoner and one correctional officer in jail since his arrest.  Baez also had a lengthy record of felonies.  Baez told mental health professionals who interviewed him that he would welcome death as providing “closure.”  The defense presented evidence of Baez’s hideous childhood.

Sources: Chicago Sun-Times 3/10/04 (2004 WL 63132850); Chicago Tribune 3/10/04 (2004 WL 72752145)

DS 25.  Richard Cobb—white, age 18 (See also Buenka Adams, above)

Sentenced to death in Cherokee County, Texas  

By: A jury

Date of crime: 9/2/02

Prosecution’s case/defense response: Cobb and co-defendant Beunka Adams robbed a convenience store, and then forced two store clerks, Nikki Ansley Dement and Candace Driver, and a customer Kenneth Vandever into their car.  After kidnapping the victims and sexually assaulting Dement, Cobb and Adams shot each of them.  Vandever died of his injuries, while Dement and Driver survived.     

Sources: Houston Chronicle, 9/5/02 (2002 WL 23221202); Tyler Morning Telegraph, 8/21/04; 8/31/04

DS 26.  Robert Joe Hood—black, age 33

Sentenced to death in Shelby County, Tennessee

By: A jury

Date of crime: 2/7/01

Prosecution’s case/defense response: Hood shot ex-girlfriend Toni Banks in the head in her apartment because she knew too much about his earlier crimes, and to get money to get out of town.  He killed her in front of her two children and left them locked in the apartment with her body. The earlier crimes (which were presented in evidence during the penalty phase) were a home invasion burglary/robbery/murder in late 2000.  After killing Banks, Hood went to Colorado where he committed another murder during the robbery of a liquor store, and a robbery/kidnapping that did not include a murder.  (Hood  had been convicted of the crimes in Colorado before he was brought back to Memphis to face the capital charge.)  During a portion of the trial Hood had to be shackled because he had threatened one of his lawyers.

Sources: Memphis Commercial Appeal 4/11/03 (2003 WL 18421619), 5/5/04 (2004 WL 75565672), 5/7/04 (2004 WL 75565880); Gazette (Colorado Springs) 5/11/04 (2004 WL 75941348)

DS 27.  Dale Wayne Eaton—white, age 43

Sentenced to death in Natrona County, Wyoming

Date of crime: March 1988

Prosecution’s case/defense response: Eaton kidnapped Lisa Marie Kimmel on a desolate stretch of Interstate 25 near Casper.  He took in her car to his property where he repeatedly raped her, and then killed her by beating and stabbing.  He dumped her body into the North Platte River.  He was not a suspect for many years until a routine check of Wyoming’s DNA database led to his arrest.  Kimmel’s car was then found buried in his backyard.  No information is available on the defense approach to the case.

Prosecutor(s): Kevin Meenan

Defense lawyer(s): unknown

Sources: Rocky Mountain News (Denver) 3/19/04, Denver Post 5/21/04 (both available on Lexis/Nexis USNEWSPAPERS database

DS 28.  Charles David Ellison—white, age 33

Sentenced to death in Mohave County, Arizona  

By: A jury

Date of crime: 2/24/99

Prosecution’s case/defense response: Ellison killed Joseph and Lillian Boucher in their home in Kingman during a burglary.  The jury found 6 aggravating circumstances: his prior criminal record, that he was on parole for armed robbery at the time of the murders, that the crime was committed for pecuniary gain, that the victims were older than 70, that the victims were bound and suffocated tape, and that there were two murders.  The defense mitigation focused on Ellison’s rough childhood and his drug and alcohol addictions, and attempted to convince the jury that the primary wrongdoer had been accomplice, Richard Finch, who was earlier sentenced to life in prison.

Sources: Kingman Daily Miner, 2/17/04, 2/18/04

DS 29.  Curtis Flowers—black, age 25 (re-sentence after an appellate reversal)

Sentenced to death in Montgomery County, Mississippi

Date of crime: 1996

Prosecution’s case/defense response: Bertha Tardy, owner of the Tardy Furniture Store, withheld an $80 paycheck from Flowers because of some golf cart batteries that had been damaged when they fell off a truck he was driving.  Flowers went to the store and shot Tardy, two other employees, and a delivery driver in the head, and took about $250.  The defense claimed an alibi.  The conviction and death sentence were twice reversed on appeal due to prosecutorial errors.

Prosecutor(s): Doug Evans

Defense lawyer(s): Ray Charles Carter, Andre DeGruy

Sources: Clarion-Ledger (Jackson, MS) 2/7/04, 2/12/04 (available on Lexis/Nexis USNEWSPAPERS database); Commercial Appeal (Memphis) 2/13/04 (2004 WL 9636904).

DS 30.  Ronnie Keith Williams—black, age 28 (re-sentencing after an appellate reversal)

Sentenced to death in Broward County, Florida

By: A judge after a 10-2 recommendation of a death sentence by a jury

Date of crime: 1/26/93

Prosecution’s case/defense response: Williams raped, bit, and repeatedly stabbed 8-months’ pregnant 18-year-old Lisa Dyke.  Dykes died 19 days later. (Her baby was born prematurely and with grave and lifelong physical disabilities as a result of the attack, a fact the jurors were not permitted to learn; nor were they permitted to know that Williams had been out of prison only seven months for a prior conviction for stabbing another woman to death.)  Williams testified that he was so high on drugs and alcohol that he did not remember the killing of Dyke.  The defense offered evidence of Williams’s horrible childhood. 

Sources: Miami Herald 11/4/03 (2003 WL 65454798), 3/2/04 (2004 WL 70705812), South Florida Sun-Sentinel 2/4/04 (2004 WL 67631257), 2/11/04 (2004 WL 67632479), 2/13/04 (2004 WL 67632895), 3/2/04 (2004 WL 71851927), 4/17/04 (2004 WL 77018975)

DS 31.  Linda Lou Charbonneau – white, age 53

Sentenced to death in Sussex County, Delaware

By: A judge, after a 10-2 jury recommendation of death

Date of crime: 9/01, 10/01

Prosecution’s case/defense response: Charbonneau planned the beating deaths by her son-in-law of her husband, for greed; and of her ex-husband because he had become suspicious that she had killed her husband.  As to her husband, she and her son-in-law and daughter buried his body—and the autopsy discovered dirt in her husband’s lungs, indicating he was still breathing when he was buried.  Charbonneau became the first woman to face execution in Delaware since 1935.  

Sources: The News Journal 6/5/04 (2004 WL 77360928); State of Delaware Department of Correction: www.state.de.us/correct/Data/Death_Row.htm

DS 32.  Quawn Franklin – black, age 24

Sentenced to death in Lake County Florida

By: A judge, after an unanimous jury recommendation of a death sentence

Date of crime: 12/29/01

Prosecution’s case/defense response: Franklin shot night watchman, Jerry Lawley, in the back as Lawley pled for his life during a robbery.  Franklin was on a conditional release from prison for robbery.  This murder was the last event in a 10-day crime spree by Franklin that included robbing, kidnapping, and killing a pizza deliveryman and for robbing and almost beating an elderly woman to death.  (Franklin was convicted in an earlier trial for these crimes and sentenced to six life sentences.)  The defense did not contest Franklin’s responsibility for the murder, but argued he should receive the same sentence his co-defendant (who was a 13-year-old girl), 35 years in prison.  In mitigation, the defense presented that Franklin had a troubled childhood, when he was removed from his home and sexually abused at a juvenile home.

Sources: Orlando Sentinel 4/23/04 (2004 WL 76741718), 4/27/04 (2004 WL 76742498), 6/4/04 (2004 WL 79858429)

DS 33.  Jorge Galindo – Latino, age 21

Sentenced to death in Madison County, Nebraska

By: A three-judge panel after a jury had found aggravating circumstances

Date of crime: 9/26/02

Prosecution’s case/defense response:  Galindo and three other men robbed a bank and killed four employees and one customer.  Galindo shot Lola Elwood, a bank employee, after he asked her if she had pulled the alarm.  The ringleader, Jose Sandoval, shot the other three employees and one customer.  The men killed five people in less than a minute and left the bank without any money.  In mitigation, the defense argued Galindo did not know what he was doing because he was on methamphetamine, and was dominated by Sandoval.  The defense also claimed Galindo’s life should be spared because he cooperated with police.  

Sources: Omaha World Herald 6/9/04 (2004 WL 60555871), 10/14/04 (2004 WL 60572862), 10/16/04 (2004 WL 60573227), 11/10/04(2004 WL 60577144)

DS 34.  Larry Hazlett – age 30

Sentenced to death in Kern County, California

By: A jury

Date of crime: 10/24/78       

Prosecution’s case/defense response: Hazlett raped and murdered former beauty queen, Tana Woolley.  Hazlett lived in Woolley’s apartment building and was the prime suspect initially, but police lacked evidence to arrest him.  The case went unsolved for 24 years until newly-available DNA tests pointed to Hazlett.  In aggravation, prosecution presented evidence of four other rapes Hazlett committed.  The defense attacked the DNA evidence, arguing the semen was not initially found on the bedspread. 

Sources: Los Angeles Daily News 6/19/04 (2004 WL 58344779), 6/25/04 (2004 WL 58345104), 7/15/05 2004 WL 58346294)

DS 35.  Brian P. Wakefield—black, age 23

Sentenced to death in Atlantic County, New Jersey  

By: A jury

Date of crime: 1/18/01

Prosecution’s case/defense response: Wakefield went to the door of the home of Richard and Shirley Hazard (ages 70 and 65).  When Richard answered the door, Wakefield beat and stabbed him to death.  Then Wakefield threw Shirley down the cellar stairs and kicked and stabbed her to death.  He ransacked the home and took valuables, then set the house and bodies on fire and left in their car.  Wakefield’s mitigation consisted of evidence of a traumatic childhood, and that he was high on bad drugs at the time of the killings. 

Sources: Press of Atlantic City 6/27/04 (www.pressofatlanticcity.com/news/atlantic/hazards.cfm); Star-Ledger (Newark) 2/7/04 (2004 WL 56511383), 2/12/04 (2004 WL 56512283)

DS 36.  Joseph Williams – black, age 27

Sentenced to death in Chatham County, Georgia

By: A jury

Date of crime: 7/01

Prosecution’s case/defense response: Williams was in prison for murder when he killed former police officer, Michael Deal.  Williams killed Deal because Williams was afraid Deal would inform authorities about an escape plot being hatched by Williams and another inmate. Williams strangled Deal with an Ace bandage and hung a bed sheet in his cell to make it appear like a suicide.  While awaiting trial for the Deal murder, Williams killed one inmate with multiple stab wounds from a prison shank, and attempted to kill another inmate the same way because he thought they were snitches.  The defense offered no excuses for the murders.    

Sources: Associated Press Newswires 3/29/04 (APWIRES 10:11:05), 4/6/04 (APWIRES 11:20:42); Law Discussion Forums, Prosecutors Detail Joseph Williams’ Assaults Prior to Killing, available at http://www.lawdiscussion.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=3887.  

DS 37.  James Brownfield—white, age 27

Sentenced to death in Jackson County, Alabama

By: A judge, after a jury recommendation of death

Date of crime: 12/24/01

Prosecution’s case/defense response:  Brownfield beat to death with a hammer his sister Brenda McCutcheon, and her 3-year-old grandson.  He scrawled in lipstick on a wall, “Tammy I love you.  Never forget.  Killing is my business now.”  Then he went to the home of Brenda’s estranged husband Latham and beat him to death with the hammer, also.  There was evidence that Brownfield was high on several drugs, including Xanax, at the time of the killings. 

Sources: Associated Press 12/26/01 (APWIRES 15:50:00), Heather Smith, Brownfield Found Guilty of Capital Murder, The Daily Sentinel, Feb. 26, 2004.  Heather Smith, Brownfield’s Fate in the Hands of the Jurors, The Daily Sentinel, Feb. 25, 2004.  Heather Smith, Psychiatrist Testifies in Murder Trial, The Daily Sentinel, Feb. 22, 2004.  Mobile Register 2/16/04

DS 38.  Mark Duane Edwards, Jr. – black, age 19

Sentenced to death in Fayette County, Pennsylvania

By: A jury

Date of crime: 4/14/02

Prosecution’s case/defense response: Edwards killed a family and then set their home on fire to try to cover up the murders.  Edwards shot Larry Bobish Sr., his wife, Joanna, and their pregnant daughter, Krystal over stolen drugs.  Larry Sr., started selling drugs to support Joanna and Krystal’s drug habit.  Edwards admitted to stealing drugs from Larry, but claimed he was asleep at his grandmother’s house at the time of the murders.  Edwards also shot 12-year-old, Larry Bobish Jr. in the head.  Larry Jr., survived and testified that Edwards was the killer.  During sentencing, the defense argued that Edwards was borderline mentally retarded and was addicted to drugs at the time of the murders. 

Sources: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette 5/6/04 (2004 WL 57965209), 5/8/04 (2004 WL 57966103), 5/18/04(2004 WL 57967905); Pennsylvania Department of Corrections: www.cor.state.pa.us

DS 39.  Earl Forrest II—white, age unknown

Sentenced to death in Dent County, Missouri

By: unknown

Date of crime: 12/9/02

Prosecution’s case/defense response: Forrest killed Harriet Smith and Michael Wells in an apparent drug dispute.  Sheriff Bob Wofford and Deputy JoAnn Barnes went to a home to question Forrest.  When the door was opened, he began shooting at them, killing Barnes and wounding Wofford.  Forrest surrendered after a brief stand-off.  No information is available concerning the defense approach to the case.

Sources: News-Leader (Springfield, MO) 12/11/02 (2002 WL 103682878), 12/19/02 (103683134)

DS 40.  Arthur Lee Gales—black, age 35 (re-sentence because a judge imposed the original sentence in violation of the Ring v. Arizona principle)

Sentenced to death in Douglas County, Nebraska

By: A three-judge panel after a jury had found aggravating circumstances

Date of crime: 11/00

Prosecution’s case/defense response: Gales strangled and sexually assaulted 13-year-old Latara Chandler and her 7-year-old brother Tramar, and beat their mother Judy almost to death.  Gales maintained his innocence.  He had previously been convicted of armed sexual battery in 1986.  At the penalty phase the defense presented evidence of Gales’ good behavior in prison.

Sources: Omaha World-Herald 10/23/03 (2003 WL 5284524), 10/23/03 (2003 WL 5284557), 10/31/03 (2003 WL 5285230), 12/4/03 (2003 WL 5288103), 12/9/03 (2003 WL 5288475), 12/10/03 (2003 WL 5288601)

DS 41.  Carroll Joe Parr – black, age 25

Sentenced to death in McLennan County, Texas

By: A jury

Date of crime: 1/11/03

Prosecution’s case/defense response: Parr was an admitted drug dealer.  In a deal with 18-year-old Joel Dominguez, Parr paid $2500 for seven pounds of marijuana.  Then he circled around the block and robbed Dominguez of the money, and shot him in the head.  He also ordered his cohort Earl Duane Whiteside to “smoke” (kill) Dominguez’s companion—Whiteside did so, but the companion was only injured and fled.  The companion testified against Parr at trial.  The defense claimed that Parr had send Whiteside to do the deal, that Whiteside had killed Dominguez, and that Whiteside had turned state’s evidence to deflect the blame onto Parr.  In the penalty phase the prosecution presented evidence that Parr had bragged of killing another person, and that he was violent while incarcerated.  In mitigation, the defense argued Parr grew up in poverty and suffered from a brain injury as a child.