April 28 TEXAS: Prosecutors want death penalty in killing of pregnant woman, boy County prosecutors will seek the death penalty in the case of a Fort Worth man accused of killing a pregnant woman and her 7-year-old son and then burying their bodies in nearby Denton County. Prosecutor Kevin Rousseau made his intentions public Wednesday, shortly after Stephen Dale Barbee, 38, was indicted on a capital murder charge in the Feb. 19 deaths of Lisa and Jayden Underwood. Holly Pils, who co-owned Boopa's Bagel Deli with Lisa Underwood, read a statement from Sheila Underwood, the victims' mother and grandmother. "I am absolutely confident that Assistant District Attorney Kevin Rousseau will ensure that justice is served and that my babies Lisa, Jayden and Marleigh Underwoods' deaths will be avenged," Sheila Underwood wrote. Marleigh is the name of Lisa Underwood's unborn baby. Bill Ray, who is representing Barbee with attorney Tim Moore, promised a vigorous defense. "As soon as we get a chance to look at the facts, we'll go to work," Ray said. Barbee remained in the Tarrant County Jail Wednesday with bail set at $2 million. Last week, Ron Dodd, 33, Barbee's co-worker and friend, was indicted in Denton County on 2 counts of tampering with physical evidence. He is accused of helping Barbee conceal the bodies. Because Dodd has a felony conviction, he could be sentenced to a maximum of 20 years in prison. Barbee was arrested Feb. 22 in Tyler in east Texas by investigators who said he confessed to the killings. Barbee told authorities that he killed Underwood, whom he had dated, after they argued in her home over his refusal to leave his wife. Underwood was seven months pregnant. Jayden, Underwood's son from a previous relationship, ran into the room screaming, and Barbee used his hand to cover the boy's mouth and nose until he was dead, according to an arrest warrant affidavit. Afterward, police reported, Barbee loaded the bodies into the back of Underwood's sport utility vehicle, drove to a rural area in Denton County and buried them together. Barbee later led investigators to the shallow grave. (source: Knight Ridder Tribune) ALABAMA----impending execution Centobie wants execution tonight Convicted cop-killer Mario Centobie is set to die by lethal injection at 6 tonight, despite efforts of anti-death penalty activists to save his life. In an affidavit this week, the 39-year-old condemned man lashed out at a Montgomery attorney who is challenging his execution and asked a federal judge to let it move forward. "I know when the date of my death is going to happen. That is a luxury to me because I can prepare for this event," Centobie wrote. "I had planned to mail letters to my family and friends (Monday) because I knew that I would die on Thursday. Now, it's torture and stress." Centobie spent most of Wednesday visiting with his mother, Tracy Centobie, brothers Jeff Moore and Clifton Moore, and 2 members of a prison ministry group. He made no special request for a last meal for today, but instead said he will eat from vending machines in the visiting yard. A Mississippi native and former decorated firefighter, he is set to die for the 1998 murder of Moody police Officer Keith Turner. Turner's death was part of a high-profile crime spree that included a dramatic escape from a Mississippi prison, the wounding of a Tuscaloosa police officer, the carjacking of a Moody man and a week-long hunt that brought hundreds of law enforcement agents from around the Southeast. Katherine Puzone, an assistant federal defender in the state's middle district, is challenging the execution. The U.S. District Court for the Northern District issued an opinion Tuesday blocking her efforts. The case was pending Wednesday at the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Centobie disputed the lawyer's claims that he is mentally ill and not capable of deciding his own fate. "The only kind of mental condition that I may be suffering from is depression. ... If I wasn't on Death Row, I would not have any depression whatsoever," he wrote. "The crimes that I have committed have also caused me to have some depression." Centobie said he met with Puzone because he thought she would help him find his son, Dominic, now 17. Before his convictions, Centobie was known in his community as a doting father to his only child. He rummaged through trash bins to raise money to buy him toys, and once shoplifted a video game his son had wanted for a year. "I thought she was trying to help me find my son and that she wanted to be my friend," Centobie said. "I now know that she only wanted to get close to me to pursue her own anti-death penalty agenda." Efforts to reach Puzone for comment were unsuccessful. In his Tuesday ruling, U.S. District Judge R. David Proctor said that Puzone's well-intentioned actions were viewed as "legal `meddling' by an 'intruder.'" Centobie said he doesn't want to live the rest of his life in prison, burdening his family and taxpayers. "The money that could be spent on me could be better spent on somebody else," Centobie wrote. "I know that I could live in prison and be assistance to other inmates, but I don't care to do that. I don't want to have life in prison because it's not much of a life." (source: Birmingham News) TENNESSEE: Death penalty upheld in stabbing death of tow truck driver The Tennessee Supreme Court has upheld the conviction and death sentence a Missouri man in the killing a Dyer County tow truck driver. Steven Ray Thacker was convicted of first-degree murder for the Jan. 2, 2000, stabbing death of Ray Patterson. Thacker had called Patterson to tow his car after it broke down as he was driving from Missouri to Dyersburg. Patterson towed the car to a service station, and Thacker tried to pay for the service with a stolen credit card. When the card was rejected, Thacker stabbed Patterson because he knew Thacker was wanted in other states. Thacker also was convicted of killing two others as part of a 3-state crime spree that began in December 1999 with the stabbing of Laci Dawn Hill of Bixby, Okla. She had advertised a pool table for sale at her Tulsa County home and Thacker answered the ad. On New Year's Day, Thacker stole a car from Forrest Boyd's home in rural Polk County, about 20 miles north of Springfield, Mo., and stabbed Boyd to death. A credit card belonging to Boyd was used the following morning in Tennessee, where Thacker killed Patterson. Thacker stole money, a gun and credit cards from Patterson before going to a local restaurant and eating a hamburger. He later checked into a Union City motel, where he was arrested. Justice William M. Barker, writing the majority opinion released Wednesday, said issues raised by Thacker in his automatic direct appeal are without merit. Justice Adolpho A. Birch Jr. wrote a separate opinion in which he agreed that Thacker's conviction should be upheld but disagreed with the death sentence. The court scheduled a Sept. 8 execution date for Thacker, who has state and federal appeals remaining. (source: Associated Press) NORTH CAROLINA: Prosecution Hits Snags at Hearing on Iraq Killings Prosecutors in the case of a marine accused of murdering 2 Iraqis advised one of their own witnesses on Wednesday that he could face charges for talking to reporters, and vigorously cross-examined another who praised the defendant. The developments came at a preliminary hearing that will determine whether the marine, Second Lt. Ilario Pantano, will face a court-martial in the deaths of Hamaady Kareem and Tahah Ahmead Hanjil, who were shot in the back on April 15, 2004, near Mahmudiyah, Iraq. Under questioning from a civilian defense lawyer for Lieutenant Pantano, one witness, Sgt. Daniel Coburn, acknowledged that he had violated orders not to discuss the case with the news media. The admission came after the lawyer, Charles Gittins, quoted what appeared to have been transcripts of conversations Sergeant Coburn had with a New York Magazine writer. During a break, prosecutors advised Sergeant Coburn of his right against self-incrimination and advised him to seek legal counsel because he could be criminally charged. The sergeant was 1 of 2 servicemen with Lieutenant Pantano when the shooting occurred, and the defense has suggested that he was disgruntled with the defendant and tried to portray a combat shooting as a murder. The defense argues that the lieutenant acted in self-defense. Before being warned that he could face charges himself, Sergeant Coburn gave the most detailed testimony to date about what happened that April day after his platoon stopped a car leaving what was believed to be an insurgent hideout. He told a hearing officer that Lieutenant Pantano was angered when he learned that intelligence officers had decided not to detain Mr. Kareem and Mr. Hanjil. "These 2 were going to be let go because there was no proof they had anything to do with the house," Sergeant Coburn testified, adding that the lieutenant "looked a little upset that these guys were going to get off." He said Lieutenant Pantano was "mumbling to himself" and told the 2 Iraqis to go back and search their own vehicle, though it had already been twice searched by a Navy corpsman, George Gobles. Lieutenant Pantano ordered that the detainees' plastic handcuffs be cut off, the sergeant testified, and that the lieutenant then ordered him and Corpsman Gobles to take positions facing away from the car. The 2 detainees, Sergeant Coburn said, were on their knees searching the inside of their car when staccato bursts of gunfire caused him to turn around, and he saw Lieutenant Pantano firing at the detainees. "He was still firing," the sergeant said. "I was trying to figure out when he was going to stop." Corpsman Gobles, who testified earlier in the day, gave a similar account, but also said Lieutenant Pantano had told the 2 men to "stop" in Arabic and English. "And I heard shots fired," Corpsman Gobles said, testifying, as did Sergeant Coburn, that the men were shot in the back. During a lengthy cross-examination by the defense, Corpsman Gobles lauded Lieutenant Pantano's service in combat. "He was a damned good leader," Corpsman Gobles said. "I felt the safest with, you know, this platoon, because more than anything because of Lieutenant Pantano, his leadership." When prosecutors questioned Corpsman Gobles once again about that statement and others, Mr. Gittins said they could not cross-examine their own witness. But Maj. Stephen Keane, the lead prosecutor, said he could do so under military rules, because Corpsman Gobles had become a defense witness. (source: New York Times)
