June 28 DELAWARE: Del. to seek death penalty in rampage----Slaying suspect to be tried 1st in Maryland Delaware prosecutors will seek the death penalty for slaying suspect Allison Lamont Norman, of Seaford, after he faces charges in Maryland for crimes committed during a deadly April shooting spree. A Sussex County grand jury on Monday indicted Norman, awaiting trial in a Maryland jail, on a single charge of 1st-degree murder and 10 other offenses in the April 7 2-state rampage that left 2 people dead and 4 injured. A Laurel man, 24-year-old Jamell Weston, died in the outburst, during which Norman allegedly sprayed gunfire along a route from Laurel to Delmar and Salisbury, Md. Police have since said Norman apparently chose victims at random. "A determination has been made that it is a capital case," said Lori Sitler, spokeswoman for Delaware Attorney General M. Jane Brady. "He will not be brought back until Maryland has completed processing their state charges." Weston's family members could not be reached for comment late Monday. Earlier this month, Maryland charged Norman, 22, with 108 crimes, including 1st-degree murder, in the shooting death of DaVondale M. "Pete" Peters, 28, of Salisbury. Norman also was charged in Maryland with 28 counts of attempted 1st- and 2nd-degree murder and other offenses in the shootings, assaults and carjackings in Maryland that left one woman partially paralyzed and some neighborhoods terrorized. Sam Vincent, Maryland deputy state's attorney for Wicomico County, said Norman is scheduled for an Oct. 31 trial. The state has yet to declare whether it will pursue a capital case. "I don't feel like he should get the death penalty for it, but he should pay for what he did," said victim Anthony White, 45, of Seaford. Police said White was shot twice in a parking lot along U.S. 13 after Norman fatally shot Weston and wounded another man, Marcus Cannon, 18, in a nearby apartment complex. In addition to 1st-degree murder, Delaware indicted Norman on 2 counts of attempted 1st-degree murder, 3 counts of possessing a firearm during a felony, 3 counts of wearing body armor in a felony, 1 count of theft and 1 count of possession of a deadly weapon by a person prohibited. "I don't trust anybody anymore," said White, who has been unable to regain full use of his left leg or work after suffering nerve damage from a bullet. In Salisbury, Beatrice Peters, DaVondale Peters' widow, said Monday she wanted assurance Norman would never walk free again. "I don't wish death on anybody," Peters said. "I just feel that he does need to pay for what he did. I don't want to ever see him set free again. My children have fears that it's possible he may want to hurt them, and I don't want there ever to be a day where they would ever come face to face with the person who hurt my husband." Norman, who has a criminal record dating to the age of 12, threatened those in the courtroom shortly after his arrest. Police said Norman stole a vehicle and fled south from Laurel after shooting Weston, Cannon and White, firing randomly at cars and taking a shot that pierced the wall of a home in Delmar, Md. The gunfire continued into Salisbury, where he shot and wounded Marsha L. Henderson and killed 2 dogs before kidnapping and later shooting Peters, police said. The rampage ended after Norman shot and gravely wounded another woman, Carla D. Green, 33, police said, then broke into a home where he attacked an elderly couple. When Norman ran out of bullets, police said, he tried to hide, then surrendered to police. (source: The News Journal) CALIFORNIA: Juddge sends L.A. 'Onion Field' figure back to jail A 74-year-old man who spent nearly 20 years in prison for one of the most notorious murders in Los Angeles history was sent back to prison for 3 years on Monday after admitting to heroin possession. Jimmy Lee Smith, 1 of 2 men convicted in the 1963 "Onion Field" murder of a Los Angeles police officer, put up no defense to violating his probation from a prior drug conviction and said he was resigned to going back to prison. "I'm 75 years old and I got high blood pressure," Smith, who actually turns 75 in August, said during a brief hearing. The gray-bearded, frail-looking Smith said that another prison term was "just a fact of life I have to deal with." 3 years was the maximum sentence Smith could have faced for the probation violation and his attorney, public defender Craig Osaki, argued that the judge should consider a lighter term. "Clearly these (drug) offenses are not the crimes of the century," Osaki told Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Dennis Aichroth. Aichroth shot back: "No, he's already committed that crime." Smith and Gregory Powell abducted 2 Los Angeles policemen from a Hollywood street in March 1963 and drove them to an onion field some 75 miles away. Powell shot one of the officers, Ian Campbell, to death and fired at the other, Karl Hettinger, as he fled into the darkness. Hettinger survived. The case became the subject of a best-selling 1973 book, "The Onion Field," by Joseph Wambaugh and later a film. Powell and Smith were sentenced to death but were spared execution when the California Supreme Court abolished the death penalty in 1972. Powell has never been released but Smith was freed on parole in 1982 and has had several scrapes with the law since. Deputy District Attorney Carol Rash, who prosecuted the drug-possession case against Smith, described him as a career criminal with a drug problem and a rap sheet dating to the 1950s, including 18 convictions and 6 stints in prison. (source: Reuters) ***************************** Woman's death sentence upheld by state Supreme Court The state Supreme Court upheld the death sentence for a woman who orchestrated the murders of her ex-husband and a hit man who expressed remorse about his role in the killing. The state's highest court on Monday rejected arguments by Mary Ellen Samuels that numerous errors were made in the trial that led to her July 1994 conviction of 2 counts of 1st-degree murder, solicitation of murder and conspiracy to commit murder. She was sentenced to death in September 1994. Robert Samuels was found dead on Dec. 8, 1988 from a gunshot wound to the head. After his death, Mary Ellen Samuels bought a Porsche and property in Cancun, Mexico, among other things, and was photographed while covered only in money. The pose earned her the nickname "the Green Widow." During her trial, prosecutors presented evidence showing she had collected $240,000 in life insurance after her ex-husband's death. The prosecution said Samuels had hired James Bernstein to kill her ex-husband and then ordered his death when he expressed regret about the killing to a friend. Bernstein was strangled on June 27, 1989 by 2 men who were later sentenced to life in prison. Samuels is 1 of 15 women on death row in California. (source: Associated Press) VERMONT: Penalty phase of death penalty trial starts today The penalty phase of the Donald Fell trial starts today in Burlington. Yesterday a judge, defense attorneys and prosecutors debated what evidence can be presented to the jury who will decide if Fell should be executed. The 25-year-old Fell of Pennsylvania has been convicted of kidnapping and killing a Clarendon woman 5 years ago. Now he is the 1st person to face the death penalty in Vermont in nearly 50 years. (source: Associated Press)
