Jan. 19 OKLAHOMA----new execution date Execution date set for killer The state Court of Criminal Appeals today set a March 15th execution date for convicted killer Jimmy Ray Slaughter. Slaughter is to be put to death for the July 1991 murders of his ex-girlfriend, Melody Sue Wuertz, and their 1-year-old daughter, Jessica Wuertz, in the Wuertz's home in Edmond. Melody Wuertz was shot in the head and neck and stabbed numerous times. Jessica Wuertz was shot in the head. Prosecutors say Slaughter killed the 2 after arguing with Melody Wuertz about child support payments. Slaughter says he was in Kansas at the time of the killings. (source: Associated Press) LOUISIANA: Court upholds death sentence for New Orleans killer The Louisiana Supreme Court today unanimously upheld the death sentence for a New Orleans killer whose victim died trying to keep him from kidnapping her 11-year-old daughter. Clarence Harris Junior was convicted of killing Katie Carlin on August 17th, 1993. The girl told police he also raped her, although at the trial she testified only that she saw him shoot her mother. Two other teenagers testified that he had raped them in 1992 and 1993, when they were 11 and 13 years old. Jurors deliberated only one hour before sentencing Harris to death in 1997. In their appeal, Harris' lawyers claimed, among other things, that they did not get a tape of the daughter's 1st statement to police until four days before jury selection began -- and did not get a detective's supplemental report until two days after that. However, the Supreme Court said that the trial transcript shows the lawyers were well prepared, and, in rejecting their request for a mistrial, the trial judge said they showed preparation "well beyond what is reasonably expected of an attorney" and "left no stone unturned." (source: Associated Press) TEXAS: Man found incompetent in death penalty case----Morales accused of killing restaurant co-worker A Travis County jury decided Wednesday that a man accused of killing a former co-worker at an International House of Pancakes restaurant is incompetent to stand trial. David Diaz Morales is accused of killing 18-year-old Virginia Garcia on Jan. 26, 2004 at the restaurant on U.S. 183 near Duval Road. He would have faced the death penalty if competent to stand trail.. Judge Wilford Flowers sent Morales to Vernon State Hospital in North Texas, where he will be treated for 4 months before he is re-evaluated to see if he is competent to stand trial. Witnesses for the defense said during the competency trial that Morales, 21, has schizophrenia. A witness for the state, however, suggested that Morales might be faking symptoms of mental illness. Police think that Morales broke into the home of Garcia's family and stabbed her to death after finding her alone. A telephone wire had been cut, investigators said. (source: Austin American-Statesman)
