Oct. 22 TEXAS: Allen Shore Convicted of Capital Murder A man accused of strangling 4 females over 9 years has been convicted of capital murder in one of the deaths. Jurors deliberated less than 3 hours Thursday before convicting Allen Shore, 42, in the death of 21-year-old Maria Del Carmen Estrada. She was sexually assaulted,strangled with a nylon cord and left dead behind a fast-food restaurant in April 1992. The punishment phase of Shore's trial was to begin Friday. He faces the possibility of the death penalty. Shore showed no emotion as the jury's verdict was announced. During the punishment phase, jurors will hear about the 3 other females Shore is accused of killing: 2 teenagers and a 9-year-old girl. Faced with DNA tests and Shore's tape-recorded confession to police, his lawyers have conceded his guilt. They have tried to avoid a possible death penalty by denying a kidnapping or a sexual assault, which raised the charge from murder to capital murder. "He intended to kill her. He killed her. It's disgusting. It's depraved. It's maniacal. But it's not capital murder," attorney Gerald Bourque told jurors. Prosecutor Terese Buess told panelists to use their "common sense." "Is there any doubt in your mind that an aggravated sexual assault was committed here?" Buess asked. Shore, a former telephone repairman and tow truck driver, was arrested last year after new DNA tests on scrapings found underneath Estrada's fingernails. The DNA was on file because of his 1998 guilty plea to molesting 2 young women in his family. (source: Associated Press) FLORIDA: Man Indicted for Murdering Fla. Deputy In Fort Lauderdale, a man who officials say once had an Internet profile listing a hobby of "hunting cops" was indicted on federal charges of murdering a deputy during a search for child pornography at his home. A federal grand jury on Thursday indicted Kenneth Wilk on 1st-degree murder charges, saying he intentionally and maliciously shot and killed Broward County Sheriff's Deputy Todd Fatta, 33. Investigators said when officers broke down the front door, Wilk fired a rifle shot at Fatta that penetrated his protective vest, and he kept firing at Sgt. Angelo Cedeno through a wall while the sergeant took cover. Cedeno was wounded in the shoulder and lost a finger. Wilk, 43, had told his gay partner Kelly Ray Jones that he had weapons around their house, the indictment said. Jones had already been arrested on child pornography charges and was in jail during the Aug. 19 raid. If convicted of murder, the only possible sentences for Wilk are life in prison or the death penalty, U.S. Attorney Marcos Jimenez said. Federal prosecutors in Florida have never obtained a death sentence from a jury. If they fail to obtain a death sentence, state prosecutors could try, Jimenez said. Wilk was scheduled to appear in court Thursday. Jones, 39, pleaded guilty Thursday to scheming to obtain and distribute sexually graphic images of children. If convicted, he faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison and up to 20 years, as well as a $250,000 fine. Sentencing was set for Jan. 14. (source: Associated Press) CALIFORNIA: Peterson Prosecutors Deal Blow to Defense A witness critical to Scott Peterson's defense conceded on the stand that he made an assumption in calculating when Laci Peterson's fetus died, a potential victory for prosecutors as Peterson's murder trial is nearing its conclusion. The age of the fetus is crucial because defense lawyers maintain it was born alive, proving Scott Peterson couldn't have killed his wife -- given her due date of Feb. 10, nearly 7 weeks after she vanished. By that time, a nationwide search was under way and Scott Peterson was under police observation. On Thursday, Dr. Charles March, a gynecologist, testified that based on bone measurements of the dead fetus and reviewing ultrasounds taken of Laci, the fetus probably died on Dec. 29, 2002, at the earliest, 5 days after the pregnant schoolteacher vanished. That would undercut the prosecution's claim that Scott Peterson murdered his wife on or around Dec. 24, then dumped her body into San Francisco Bay. But March also said he based his findings, in part, on anecdotal evidence of when Laci may have discovered she was pregnant. According to previous testimony, Laci Peterson told one of her friends on June 9, 2002, that she was pregnant. Under cross-examination, March acknowledged he inferred from that information that Laci had just found out she was pregnant based on a home test June 9 because, he said, Laci would likely have told her friend about it immediately. "Where in the medical records does it talk about Laci Peterson using a pregnancy test on June 9?" prosecutor Dave Harris asked. "Nowhere," March replied, becoming obviously flustered, shifting nervously in his seat and biting his lower lip. "So you're making an assumption to form a medical opinion, isn't that correct?" Harris prodded. "Based on 30 years of being a doctor ... that's a pretty good assumption," March said. The coroner who performed the autopsy on the fetus estimated its age at death to be about nine months, or full term. A prosecution witness said the fetus probably died between Dec. 21 and Dec. 24. Defense lawyer Mark Geragos promised jurors during his opening statement that he would prove the fetus died after Laci vanished. Legal experts agreed March's testimony fell tremendously short of delivering on that promise. "This was meant to be one of the high points of the defense and it just sunk," said James Hammer, a former prosecutor and trial observer. Later, however, on redirect, Geragos noted that Laci had told several friends of her pregnancy on that June day. It is expected the defense will call witnesses next week to testify that Laci also told them she learned of her pregnancy on June 9. Geragos then asked March if his findings would have been different without that information. "Not really," March said. "I think it's nice to have that information because it reinforces." The remains of Laci Peterson and her fetus washed up about 4 months after she disappeared, and a few miles from where Peterson claims to have been fishing alone the day his wife vanished. Defense lawyers claim someone else abducted Laci while she walked the couple's dog and killed her, then framed her husband. Judge Alfred A. Delucchi told jurors Thursday they would be sequestered for deliberations set to begin Nov. 3. They have been free to go home throughout the duration of the 5-month old trial. (source: Associated Press) PENNSYLVANIA: Smart gets life sentence--Jury cant agree on death penalty for McMann death Former Lock Haven University football player Fabian Desmond Smart was sentenced to life in prison Thursday after a jury could not decide whether he deserved the death penalty. Smart, 27, of Clyo, Ga., was convicted last week of 1st-degree murder, kidnapping and conspiracy in the death of Jason McMann in January 1999. The jury voted 7-5 in favor of the death penalty, but Pennsylvania requires a unanimous decision. Seconds after the sentence was handed down, Smart offered condolences to the McMann family. "My heart goes out to y'all," Smart said, leaning over the railing to where Paula and Tucker McMann sat in the gallery surrounded by family and friends. Paula rose as Smart spoke, but seemed unable to understand his strong Southern accent. Smart then was escorted by sheriffs deputies to a holding cell and then transported back to the Clinton County Correctional Facility to await transfer to a state facility. Arguments in the penalty phase of Smarts trial were made Tuesday. Deliberations lasted 7 hours Wednesday and continued Thursday morning until the jury foreman notified the judge just after 11 a.m. that the jurors had reached the 7-5 impasse. "We do not anticipate obtaining a unanimous decision in this matter. We deliberated in good faith. We feel further deliberations would be useless," the foreman said. Judge Richard Saxton then imposed the life sentence, the only other penalty permitted for the murder charge under Pennsylvania law. "This certainly is better than the alternative sentence," defense attorney Ronald C. Travis said. "It helps take some of the sting out of their verdict a week ago, but it still doesn't - at least as far as Im concerned, and I'm sure Fabian feels the same way - it doesnt undo what we consider to be a serious injustice." Travis said he planned to appeal the guilty verdict. Smart's family declined comment and shook hands with Travis and Linhardt before departing the courthouse. Special Assistant District Attorney Joseph McGettigan said he asked Saxton to give the jurors an "Allen charge" when they deadlocked in the penalty phase, but the judge refused. An "Allen charge" is used to encourage a jury to move forward when after some deliberation it is unable to decide on a verdict. McGettigan said he didnt strongly object to the judges decision, given the nearly even split among jurors. "If it were 10 to two I might have felt differently, he said, "but as it was I have no quarrel." As to the final decision of the jury, he also said he had no quarrel with that. "In my position as prosecutor I have been asked on occasion if I'm disappointed with the results," he said. "I wouldn't say that. I can't be disappointed. Im not, when mercy is shown the defendant - however undeserved that mercy might be." District Attorney (Ted McKnight) was not in court Thursday, having been called away for other duties, but made a few comments Wednesday after the verdict was announced. "Jason McMann was unconscious in Probst Plaza when the crime began to unfold," McKnight said. "He was totally helpless and defenseless. He could do nothing to prevent from being thrown in the trunk of that Cadillac. He was unable to wake up to ask for the same mercy the defendant requested. He was unable even to shed a tear as a plea for mercy." Smart had his opportunities to show humanity, McKnight said. "This defendant was told by one of his co-conspirators, dont do this. 2 other co-conspirators said we go this far and no farther - and neither should you. The defendant rejected that." McMann was beaten by several men in Lock Haven the night of Jan. 22, 1999. Smart and another man then drove McMann to a wooded area several miles from town, where Smart tried to shoot McMann. When the gun misfired, Smart beat McMann with the gun and with a tree branch, then left him to die. McManns body was found 3 months later. McMann was the older brother of Olympic wrestler Sara McMann, who won a silver medal at the Athens Olympics in the 138 1/2-pound class. Last month, she was charged with careless driving causing death after a crash in Colorado that killed her boyfriend, Steven Blackford, 28, a 3-time NCAA All-American wrestler at Arizona State. (source: Williamsport Sun-Gazette) USA: Tells ISU students ultimate sentence seldom, if ever, fair David Kaczynski has always been opposed to the death penalty, but never dreamed it would affect him personally. That was until August of 1996 when he and his wife Linda began to suspect his older brother Ted Kaczynski, now 62, was the Unabomber - the Federal Bureau of Investigation's most sought-after criminal of that decade. "I'm not here for validation. But to stimulate the thought process," the 55-year-old David Kaczynski, who is executive director of New Yorkers Against the Death Penalty, told a group at Illinois State University Thursday as part of the American Democracies series. Kaczynski shared his personal story of discovering his brother was the Unabomber and learning the socioeconomic bias of capital punishment. The summer of 1996 was coming to an end and the media was all over the story of the mysterious Unabomber who planted bombs in various places or sent them randomly in the mail. Three people were killed and 2 dozen were injured. Linda Kaczynski began to piece together strange similarities between her brother-in-law, whom she'd never met, and the person dubbed the Unabomber by the FBI. Ted Kaczynski was born in Chicago and was associated with Berkley University where he had been a professor. He was obsessively opposed to the advancement of modern technology. "We had suspected for a long time Ted was mentally ill," Kaczynski said because of angry letters he wrote to family members in the 1980s. Ted Kaczynski lived in a remote cabin in Montana with virtually nothing, surviving on about 12 cents a day and feeding on animals he hunted himself. It was after the 78-page manifesto penned by the Unabomber was published in the New York Times and the Washington Post that the FBI posted a $1 million reward. "Over a period of four weeks I developed a sinking feeling. As I read the manifesto I could hear my brother's voice," said Kaczynski, who remained quiet out of concern for his mother's health and fear of playing a role in his brother's death if he received the death penalty. Repressing their fears, David Kaczynski and his wife contacted the FBI. The decision to turn his brother in was the hardest and most ethically defining moment of his life. "The human dimension of this tragedy is overwhelming to me," he said. Ted Kaczynski was arrested on April 3, 1996, and only because of his high-quality legal representation, according to his brother, did he escape the death penalty and instead was sentenced to life in prison without parole. David Kaczynski and his wife used the reward money to pay lawyer fees and gave the remaining $680,000 to the families of the victims. "There's a whole human dimension to the death penalty people don't even look at. We don't understand the human cost of violence. The death penalty included," he said noting his brother was fortunate. "Why do we inflict more victims in the name of justice? "My awakening was the criminal justice system is not what we think it is," he said, stating examples of instances where innocent people were executed or African-Americans were sentenced to death by an all-white jury. "If we're going to have the 'ultimate punishment' it should be ultimately fair. We haven't even come close to reaching fairness." (source: Peoria Journal Star)
