Oct. 27
TEXAS----new death sentence
Serial killer gets the death penalty
Confessed serial killer Anthony Allen Shore will get his wish. A Harris
County jury voted Wednesday to give him the death penalty.
They found him guilty of capital murder last week for killing Maria Del
Carmen Estrada.
Shore's attorney said last week his client has "accepted the Lord" into
his life and is ready to "pay the consequences" of his crimes.
The victim was last was seen at 6:30 a.m. on April 16, 1992, when she left
her home to walk to work. Her body was found four hours later in the
drive-through lane of a fast-food restaurant. She had been strangled with
a cord, police said.
Harris County prosecutor Kelly Siegler told jurors during opening
statements that Shore used a cord and a piece of wood to torment and
control Estrada while sexually assaulting and strangling her.
"When he was finished having his way with her, he left her ... like a
piece of garbage," Siegler said last week.
Shore has also confessed to killing a 9-year-old girl and 2 teenagers
during a 9-year period.
Last year, a private DNA lab in Dallas came up with a profile from old
evidence in one of the 4 cases that was compared to a database of
registered sex offenders, police said. The comparison produced a link to
Shore, who prosecutors say became a registered sex offender in 1998 for
sexually assaulting family members.
(source: KHOU News)
*****************
Juror halts capital murder conviction
A lone juror prevented a 12-person jury from reaching a guilty verdict in
a capital murder trial Tuesday.
The trial of Carlos Lopez, who was charged in the July 1, 1992, stabbing
deaths of Mary Kocurek, 89, and Estefana Munoz, 80, ended in a mistrial
because the 12-person jury could not reach a unanimous decision. A new
trial will be scheduled.
"We are hopelessly deadlocked. We see no way out," jury foreman Arthur
Loudon told the judge. "There is no room for movement. I think it's only
going to get more negative and personal."
The dissenting juror left the courthouse without comment.
The jury heard about 15 hours of testimony about the deaths of Kocurek and
Munoz, who were patients at the former Riverside Hospital in Calallen.
Lopez reportedly told hospital security guards, "Estoy embrujado," Spanish
for "I'm bewitched."
After closing statements last week, the jury began what would turn out to
be 16 hours of deliberations. During that time, the foreman sent three
notes to the judge saying they were not making progress. After the last
note, Judge Jack Hunter granted the defense's motion for a mistrial,
saying it was clear the jurors would not agree.
Defense lawyers Eric Perkins and Fred Jimenez said that they would have
preferred a not guilty verdict, but that Hunter was correct in granting
the motion for a mistrial.
"It's better for them to stick to their principles than compromise just
for the purpose of reaching a verdict," Perkins said.
Perkins said his client understood the judge's ruling. Lopez, 49, had been
in a state hospital being treated for schizophrenia until recently, when
doctors concluded he was competent to stand trial after years of
treatment. Jimenez said the ruling "gives us another shot."
Prosecutor Frank Errico said the case might be tried again as early as
next month.
"We'll see if justice can be done the second time around," he said. "The
shame of it is, the family still does not get closure."
The victims' families, who remained after the trial to talk to the
lawyers, said the mistrial was a discouraging setback that meant they
would have to hear the details of their loved ones' deaths one more time.
"We look forward to the next time we go through this because we are
looking for closure," said Minerva Reyes, Munoz's granddaughter. "This has
been difficult on all of our families."
Lopez's family declined comment.
(source: Corpus Christi Caller-Times)
