August 27 FLORIDA: Jury finds man guilty of murdering Atlantic Beach father and teen son----Victims were killed with an AK-47 in 2004; jury to decide on use of death penalty. A jury found a Jacksonville man guilty Friday of 2 counts of 1st-degree murder and one count of attempted murder in the 2004 shooting deaths of a 13-year-old Atlantic Beach boy and his father. Thomas Eugene Bevel -- who faces a possible death sentence -- stood passively as the verdict was read, while the teen's mother hung her head and wept silently. "It still doesn't bring my baby back, but I'm glad the verdict came back the way it did," said Sojourner Sims Parker, mother of Phillip Sims. She praised police and prosecutors for their work. Jurors will return Sept. 6 to recommend to Circuit Judge L. Page Haddock whether Bevel should be executed. It would be the 1st such sentence in Duval County since 2003. Parker said she hasn't decided whether she wants Bevel to be executed. "I'm going to pray on that," she said. Mayport Middle School student Phillip Sims and his father, Garrick Stringfield, were fatally shot with an AK-47 rifle last year in Stringfield's Colchester Road home, where Sims was visiting for the weekend. Felitta Smith, who was watching television with Stringfield, was shot but survived and eventually identified Bevel, Stringfield's roommate, as the shooter. But during closing arguments Friday, Bevel's court-appointed defense lawyer seized on her 1st identification of two masked gunmen. That matched what Bevel, 23, told police after first saying he wasn't there, attorney Refik Eler said. "2 black males wearing masks got their way in ... and shot Rick Stringfield and Phillip Sims and Felitta Smith," Eler told the jury. Eler suggested a likely suspect was Bevel's younger brother, who owned 2 AK-47s and visited Smith in the hospital to ask her if she recognized who shot her. That would explain why Bevel and his girlfriend were allowed to live and why Bevel ultimately confessed -- to protect his brother, according to Eler. "Why on Earth would Thomas Bevel return with his girlfriend ... if he's going to kill everybody in the house?" Eler asked the jury. "That absolutely makes no sense." But what makes no sense, said Assistant State Attorney Bernie de la Rionda, is Bevel and his lawyers expecting jurors to believe he was innocent when he lied then confessed to police and when the only living victim identified him as the killer. Bevel finally told police he killed Stringfield because he feared Stringfield was planning to kill him and shot Sims and Smith because "he couldn't leave a witness," de la Rionda said. "We can sit here and speculate all day, but then there's the truth," de la Rionda said after placing each of the eight bullets used in the slayings before the jury, one by one. "Which story do you believe -- the 1st one, the 2nd one, the 3rd one, or the final one?" He reminded jurors of Smith's testimony that she feared for her and her family's lives because Bevel was still at large. That fear was heightened when Bevel's brother showed up with a friend at the hospital, de la Rionda said. "She knew that the defendant knew her. She knew that he knew where her family lived," de la Rionda said. He also reminded jurors of letters Bevel sent to his girlfriend from jail, urging her to change her story and tell police two masked men were responsible. The prosecutor acknowledged Stringfield had a long history of drug-related crimes, as did Bevel, but said that doesn't mean he deserved to be "shot in the face like he was and left there." Phillip was innocently playing video games on the sofa when he was shot in the head at close range. "What did Phillip Sims do to deserve that?" de la Rionda questioned. "There are no words that can truly describe the horror that occurred." (source: The Florida Times-Union) ********************************** Waiting for justice: Serial killer has picked fights with inmates Today, in the 1st of a 3-part series, The Sun looks at the impact the student murders had on the Gainesville area, and those on both sides of the argument of whether lengthy stays on Death Row - like Rolling's - are a good idea. Danny Rolling just can't seem to get along with others, even in the insulated world of death row where he spends his days primarily with other murderers and rapists. According to prison records and Web postings, the man behind the Gainesville student murders has fought in recent years with several of his fellow felons in the exercise yard at Union Correctional Institution. Officers have written up disciplinary reports over fights between Rolling and fellow Death Row inmates Stephen Booker, Jose Jimenez, Pablo Ibar and Richard McCoy, all convicted of 1st-degree murder. The 1st took place in 2000. Rolling has had a fight each year since 2002. Officers reported that Rolling started each fight, twice walking toward other inmates as they were walking away. "Let's fight. I know you're soft," Rolling told McCoy before kicking him in the chest, according to reports. Rolling apparently also shared a rather contentious relationship with anti-abortionist Paul Hill before the former minister was executed in 2003 for the 1994 killing of an abortion doctor and his bodyguard outside a Pensacola clinic. Hill once said in a 1998 interview that he enjoyed the camaraderie on Death Row and was especially friendly with inmates in nearby cells, including Rolling. But, in a posting attributed to Rolling on a Web site, Rolling in 1997 said he found Hill "self-righteous" and "holier-than-thou." "I've cussed him out more times than I can recall. It's not his anti-abortion stance in itself that ticks me off. It's his 'Everybody on Death Row deserves to die - but him.' He gunned down 2 people in cold blood. Yet he refuses to accept responsibility for his actions. "I've gotten into deep conversations with him about the Bible, and his need to ask God for forgiveness for killing. Well! Mr. Sanctimonious emphatically stated, 'Oh! I don't need to ask for forgiveness. What I did was righteous and good.'" Life on death row, in some ways, is like real life, said Gainesville Police Officer John O'Ferrell, a former corrections officer who once worked the prison where Rolling was held. "Generally, human things go on with them, too. There's personal conflicts" among inmates, O'Ferrell said, even when they're separated by cell walls. Time in prison Fifteen years after his Gainesville killing spree, Rolling's name still stands out among the 368 men and women awaiting execution in Florida. The son of a former police officer in Shreveport, La., Rolling became infamous after he confessed to stabbing to death 5 college students inside their apartments. The murders, committed over a 4-day span at the start of the 1990 University of Florida fall semester, sent students fleeing from Gainesville and panicked area residents. "He's in the classification of Bundy or Wuornos," said state Sen. Rod Smith, the area's former state attorney who prosecuted Rolling and compared him to convicted serial killers Ted Bundy and Aileen Wuornos. Both were executed in Florida. "He will forever have a certain infamous notoriety." Web sites carry Rolling's comments and hawk the art work he still draws in his prison cell. Books and news stories chronicle his crimes and his troubled past. The state spends $72.39 a day to house Rolling or about $26,422 annually. Prison officers don't describe him as a problem inmate, despite his run-ins with other prisoners. "He reads and watches TV. His attitude is that he's pretty quiet," said Debbie Buchanan, a spokeswoman for the Florida Department of Corrections, after checking Rolling's prison file. O'Ferrell worked as a corrections officer at Florida State Prison near Starke from late 1994 until 1997 and saw Rolling when he patrolled Death Row. Rolling later was transferred to nearby Union Correctional Institution, where most of the state's male inmates awaiting execution are now housed. O'Ferrell had been friends with one of Rolling's victims, 23-year-old Manuel Taboada. "I guess it was kind of eerie for me," O'Ferrell recalled seeing Rolling behind cell bars. The police officer remembered the convicted killer getting "lots and lots of mail." "Most of the death row inmates, they had little to no problems from them," O'Ferrell said, describing officers' dealings with prisoners facing execution. Part of that may have been because those inmates had some privileges other inmates didn't get, he said. They could keep televisions in their cells and had more legal materials than other inmates, so they could work on their court cases and appeals. Rolling kept some of his art in his cell but nothing O'Ferrell, then in his mid-20s, recalled as "disturbing." "It seemed like he was a regular person," O'Ferrell said. "I remember him seeming to be a relatively humble person, not cocky, . . . which again I felt was very odd knowing the things that he did." Words of a killer In a courtroom at Florida State Prison on Jan. 31, 1993, Rolling first talked with investigators about the murders in Gainesville. Over four hours, Rolling and investigators went back and forth with each other. Officers said they were willing to hear Rolling out after he had "summoned" them to the Bradford County prison about a month before he was scheduled to go to trial for murder. But Rolling refused to answer questions directed to him about the grisly attacks. Instead, officers were supposed to get answers from another inmate in the room, Bobby Lewis, who Rolling described as his "confessor" in whom he had confided. Speaking to both Rolling and Lewis, investigators learned Rolling had randomly chosen his victims and had spied on two of the women before he broke into their homes in southwest Gainesville. Officers had Rolling through Lewis describe what happened to the students and explain where he hid the murder weapon, a Marine Corps Ka-Bar knife he bought at a Tallahassee military supply store about a month before. Rolling, through Lewis, claimed he had different personalities. There was Danny. But then there was a side he referred to as "Jessie James," another called "Ynnad," (an anagram for Danny) and a 3rd, "Gemini." Investigators doubted Rolling's assertions he had other personalities, believing instead that Rolling had lifted the Gemini reference after watching the movie "Exorcist III" at a Gainesville theater just before the murders. The film's killer had the same name. It also is his astrological sign. "Gemini was who you would have found at the five murder scenes," Lewis told officers on Rolling's behalf. Rolling tried to blame his crimes on this alternate personality or demons, Smith said. "God only knows that there is this force in this world, gentlemen, that can even overpower even the strongest of us," Rolling said in the interview, one of the few times he spoke directly to officers about the murders instead of having Lewis speak for him. "I've seen 'em and I know it's real, just as sure as there's angels in heaven there's devils in hell. They're mighty angry and they're working awful hard. They don't have anybody else to . . . really try to tip the scales cause they know that Lord God of heaven and earth is coming soon, and then they won't have any more time to . . . even enjoy any kind . . .of pleasure whatsoever other than through us." Smith said Rolling has always tried to blame his actions on "satanic forces." "In the end, Danny Rolling escapes personal responsibility under the Flip Wilson defense of 'the devil made me do it,' " Smith said. "The way you can commit those kinds of horrible crimes is to have a mechanism by which you divorce yourself," Smith said. "When he talks about things like Ynnad and Gemini taking over his personality, what he was really saying is, 'This is a different Danny, not the Danny who you're talking to now.'" On television true-crime shows that have followed the student murders case, Rolling has given some interviews and said he's better off in prison, Smith said. "He really doesn't believe any of that. I know he took great glee in talking about the appearance of his victims and their struggles." Rolling bound the women with duct tape and raped three of them after surprising them inside their apartments. He posed some of the bodies, removed body parts from 1 woman and mutilated the body of another, leaving her head on a bookshelf. Lewis also later told investigators that Rolling had faked mental illness in hopes of being moved to the prison's psychiatric wing and plotting an escape. And Marion County officers said Rolling's mood would shift from moments when he would "act crazy," to committing violent acts including where he tore a toilet from his cell floor and threw it toward a barred window and ripped two thick paperbacks in half with his bare hands. Rolling was arrested for robbery and housed at the Marion County jail before he became a suspect in the Gainesville slayings. Rolling did not respond to requests from The Sun for an interview. In a comment attributed to Rolling on the Web site www.mayhem.net, he does apologize for the murders as he did in court when he was sentenced in 1994. The site contains listings about cases of mass murder and serial killings. "I want you to listen to me very carefully," Rolling wrote to an Australian teenager whose posting said she was intrigued by killers. "You mention you feel the thrill of the kill when you read stories about murder. If indeed that is the case, I strongly suggest you read something else. Why? you might ask. Because KILLING of all deeds done by mortals is most tragic and horrible. Believe me, young lady, not only does the victim lose that which is most precious than silver or gold (LIFE). The KILLER loses a part of his or her soul every time a life is taken. God as my Sovereign Judge, I regret with all my mind, heart & soul that which I took. If only I could go back? I'd find a way to prevent what happened. "I send my heartfelt thoughts across the yawning sea between thee & me. When one takes another's life, 'tis of all things most grievous. I pray you NEVER find yourself on the other side of midnight dripping life blood of another. At that point you will have lost your way." The posting also has Rolling talking about being incarcerated. "Prisons and jails are a prime example of human's lack of wisdom. No other species on Earth builds prisons or executes their own. It's not about Justice as so many of the Rulers of Darkness of this present world would have the public believe. It's about GREED! If you take mine? I want yours," the message says. It does not say when it was written. Rolling's routine Rolling, 51, follows the same daily routine as other death row inmates, whose average age is 44, prison officials say. His cell at UCI near Raiford, located toward the interior of the prison and away from windows, is a standard size of 6-by-9-by-9.5 feet. Rolling's meals, like other inmates, are served three times a day, at 5 a.m., between 10 and 11 a.m. and between 4 and 4:30 p.m. The inmates are allowed to use plates and spoons to eat their meals, and food is delivered via insulated carts. Occasionally, Rolling gets visitors, corrections records show. His last, a woman described by the state corrections office as a "pen pal" from Arizona, came to UCI in May. All of the prisoners' visitors must be approved by the corrections department before they are allowed to see any death row inmate. Rolling has 13 people on his approved visitation list including his younger brother and daughter, his prison file shows. The corrections department describes others allowed to see Rolling as a girlfriend, personal friends and pen pals. At least three of the people on the list have deposited money in Rolling's prison account and describe themselves as collectors of serial killer art. Like other inmates, Rolling can use the money in his account to buy items from the prison's canteen like snacks and deodorant. Among those who regularly contribute to the account are Rolling's brother, who has given his sibling $1,545 since October 2000 and deposits $30 every few weeks. Inmates may shower every other day. O'Ferrell said death row inmates are constantly monitored. They are counted at least once an hour. When escorted out of their cells, they wear handcuffs everywhere except on the exercise yard or in the shower. The only reason inmates can leave their cells are for medical reasons, exercise, social or legal visits or for media interviews. Inmates can get mail every day except holidays or weekends and can have cigarettes, snacks, radios and black-and-white televisions in their cells. They don't have cable television or air conditioning and aren't allowed to be with each other in a common room, only on the exercise yard. They can watch church services on closed circuit television. Unlike other prison inmates, death row inmates wear orange T-shirts. 'Danny liked it' Rolling continues to appeal his death sentence in the courts. A key argument in those appeals has been that his case and sentence were decided in Alachua County, where the crimes occurred. Back in a Gainesville courtroom in 2000 on his appeals, Rolling said he was never comfortable that his case wasn't moved from the county where the murders occurred. But he respected his attorneys and their opinions and went along with their decision to keep the case in Alachua County. "I had my reservations concerning it, I certainly did, because you know the people of Gainesville had been greatly wronged and they, the passions of this, of this fine city were extremely high. And they couldn't help but . . . look at me from a, you know, a viewpoint that I'm not a monster. But I'm not a monster sir," Rolling told Smith, who questioned him during the hearing on his appeal. Smith scoffs at any apologies Rolling has offered for the murders or issues he's raised about his abusive childhood. Rolling sees himself as "the ultimate victim" and has "this chameleon-like quality of fitting in," Smith said. "The interesting thing about these kind of guys, these are people who have never been good at anything and they get a special status. There is a prison hierarchy. Some of the horror of what he had done gave him prowess. And if given the chance, Smith said he thinks Rolling would do it again. "He talked about liking to look into the eyes at the point of death. He could conquer and possess people who were far superior to him in terms of intellect and potential. "Danny liked it. It's what he was successful at," Smith said. ******************************** Rehabilitating killers: Can it and should it be done? Profile of a serial killer The following list of traits are the factors most commonly found in serial killers, according to the FBI. Not every serial killer will have all of them, however. White males in 85 % of the cases. 25 to 35 years of age. Kill same type of victim in the same way. May have physical deformities. Average or above-average intelligence. Abused as a child. Psychopaths. Few social attachments. Interest in violent pornography, bondage, detective magazines. Keeps records of offenses. No history of arrests in more than half of cases. History of head or brain injury. Alcohol or drug abuse. When Danny Rolling stalked his young Gainesville victims 15 years ago, he knew exactly what he was going to do to them. And when he killed them, it felt good. Whether or not Rolling or other convicted serial killers might be rehabilitated just isn't an issue, many legal experts say. For an outraged public, rehabilitation is not an option. "In their outrage, juries and judges conclude that they deserve the ultimate punishment," says Christopher Slobogin, a professor in the University of Florida's Levin College of Law. Jeanne Singer is now the chief assistant state attorney for the 8th Judicial Circuit. In 1993, she was 1 of 3 attorneys assigned to the Gainesville student murders and made the case for the prosecution in the murders of Tracy Paules and Manuel Taboada. "The issue of rehabilitation is not relevant in a case where a person commits crimes as heinous as Danny Rolling has committed," Singer says. "The issue in our criminal justice system for a person like Danny Rolling is punishment." Slobogin, who is also affiliated with UF's department of psychiatry, has given more than a little thought to the question of whether the punishment fits the crime when a serial killer like Rolling is sentenced to death. Some mental health professionals will say that even Ted Bundy, who may have stalked and killed as many as 20 young women, including three in Florida, could have been rehabilitated. It is just a matter of time and resources, Slobogin said. "You must convert someone from a psychopath to a relatively normal person, but many mental health professionals claim it can be done," he said. "It's just a very tough task." Speaking from the prosecutor's position, Singer said rehabilitation is not an option to even be considered for someone who killed in the violent and heinous way that Rolling did. "Under the laws of the state of Florida, we have capital punishment as one of our forms of punishment. In this case, the jury having heard all the facts, the recommendation was that he should receive the ultimate punishment, which is death," she said. Singer said Rolling knew exactly what he was doing when he stalked his Gainesville victims before raping, torturing and killing them. "After he killed them, he mutilated them and then he left the premises, making sure his fingerprints were wiped clean," Singer said. "It made him high. It made him feel good, which is what makes it even worse," she said. "There is no issue of rehabilitation and we are not looking to rehabilitate him." In drawing a portrait of a psychopathic killer, experts portray someone who is not just antisocial, but also a remorseless predator who uses charm, intimidation and, if necessary, impulsive and cold-blooded violence to attain his ends. "Most of these people are psychopathic," Slobogin said, picturing someone with a conscience as full of holes as a piece of Swiss cheese. "They don't react to horrible situations the way that most of us do," he said. Psychopaths can function very successfully in society, Slobogin said. While some would find them charming, others recognize them as manipulative. "Some become serial killers and some become CEOs," he said. "It's all a matter of upbringing, opportunities and psychological proclivities." In 1978, the FBI set up a behavioral science service unit in Quantico, Va., to study what traits serial killers seem to have in common. By studying how a killer murders his victims, who he chooses as a victim, how the body was left and other characteristics of a case, the FBI can develop a "profile" to describe the probable suspect. Profiles can include details such as the killer's age, race, social ties and personal characteristics. Critics of such profiles worry that police investigating a crime will take them too literally, searching only for people who match the profile, whether or not they are the killer. Experts stress that a profile is just one weapon in law enforcement's arsenal used to track repeat killers. It may not be the key to unlocking the case. Slobogin points to a French saying: "The more you understand, the more you forgive." "If you understand that these persons may have been born with a birth defect, and almost always had horrible childhoods, as a juror you might not vote to acquit, but you begin to understand why they did what they did and at least relent on recommending the death penalty," the legal expert said. Danny Rolling didn't even try to convince a jury of his innocence. He pleaded guilty. In the end, Slobogin said, juries and judges don't care about the mitigating evidence when faced with an accused serial killer; they focus on the number of crimes and their nature. In Singer's view, that is as it should be. "I love life, and I understand that Danny Rolling is a human being," the attorney said. "But our system has to have some authority and credibility. When you see the youth and the beauty of the people that he killed, and know how horribly he killed them, it will change your perspective on rehabilitation for a person like him." ************************************** Waiting for justice: Crime pays "He's a decent artist for being a serial killer," Bohannon said. Rolling's art and letters are among the items Bohannon auctions on his Web site, Murderauction.com. The site is among a handful of sites where collectibles from Rolling, who murdered 5 Gainesville college students in 1990, and other serial killers are sold. Everything from a picture Rolling drew of Michael Jackson with his hair on fire to a review Rolling wrote of the 1960s slasher film "The Undertaker and His Pals" has been sold online. Rolling items are being sold at prices ranging from letters at $25 apiece to an oil painting at $1,200.P> Under a Florida law banning felons from profiting from crimes, the state seized profits from a book that Rolling wrote with his former fiancee and art of his that she sold. But the law hasn't been applied to other items - called "murderabilia" by both collectors and detractors - despite the fact that some collectors who sell Rolling's art have sent him money in prison. The brother of one of Rolling's victims said the state should stop him from profiting from items that only have value because of the murders. "The whole thing adds insult to injury," said Mario Taboada, whose brother Manny was killed by Rolling. Rolling had 170 deposits in his account from Oct. 18, 2000, to Aug. 10, 2005, for a total of $6,745, according to Department of Corrections records. He is allowed to use the money to buy up to $100 per week of items in the commissary, such as food and toiletries. He had $163.14 remaining in his account as of Aug. 10. Deposits are read by a computerized system that didn't register many of the names, listing those as coming from an unknown source. Most of the remaining deposits came from Rolling's younger brother, Kevin. But several other deposits came from murderabilia collectors. Merle Allin, the bassist for the punk band Murder Junkies and a collector of serial killer art, deposited a total of $750. A New Orleans man who said he had planned to collect serial killer art for a book, Anthony Meoli, deposited $130. A New Jersey man who collects murderabilia, James C. Brown, deposited $30. If the state can show the deposits are payments for art, they are fair game to be seized, said George Waas, an attorney with the state Attorney General's Office. But he doubted the state would pursue the matter, since tracking down sellers would cost more than the money seized and give their Web sites publicity. Allin said by e-mail that he considered Rolling a friend and wouldn't comment for this story. Brown said he also considers himself a friend, not a collector. Rolling never asked him for money, he said, and told him during a prison visit that the artwork was his only creative outlet. "I guess it's one of the last ways he can really express himself," Brown said. It's unclear how much art Rolling has created behind bars. In a 2003 letter to Meoli, he makes reference to having completed his 128th painting. But since the Department of Corrections banned inmates from obtaining more oil paints in July 2004, he's been able to complete few paintings, according to Meoli. "He's probably one of the most talented incarcerated prisoners ever as far as I'm concerned," Meoli said. Meoli said he was planning to include Rolling's art and poems in a book on serial killer art, but "had second thoughts about it." He said he's corresponded with more than a dozen serial murderers and collected their art. "Whether or not you like the idea, this is what people have created," he said. But Andy Kahan, director of the crime-victims office for the Houston mayor, said most pieces are only valuable because of their connection to heinous crimes. "You shouldn't be able to rob, rape and murder and turn around and make a buck on it," he said. Only California and Texas have more inmates than Florida with items being sold online, Kahan said. He keeps a top 10 list of bizarre murderabilia sold online, which includes dirt from serial killer John Wayne Gacy's crawl space and foot scrapings from "The Railway Killer," Angel Maturino Resendiz. He helped persuade eBay to ban murderabilia from its online auction site and successfully lobbied for new laws to stop "notoriety for profit" in California and Texas. A measure that would have allowed Florida to confiscate profits made by murderabilia sellers died in the state Senate last year before action was taken. The borderless nature of the Internet makes it futile to push more states to pass such laws, he said, so he's lobbying for a federal law to crack down on murderabilia. But some civil libertarians say such a law would be difficult to enforce. Inmates should have the right to produce literature and art, if not profit from it, said Ralph Selfridge, a member of the American Civil Liberties Union in Gainesville. "Clearly the dividing line is not going to be easy to draw," he said. The courts have wrangled with lawmakers over the issue for decades. After a publisher offered to pay "Son of Sam" killer David Berkowitz to tell his story in 1977, New York became the first state to prohibit criminals from profiting from their crimes. Another 40 states, including Florida, followed suit. But the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1991 the law violated the First Amendment. The court ruled the law had the potential to restrict any literature that referred to the author's past crimes, such as "The Autobiography of Malcolm X." States were forced to ditch or revise their laws. Florida's prosecution of Sondra London under its revised law is one of a handful of successful cases since that time. London started writing Rolling after his arrest, trading love letters and other correspondence with him. She eventually became engaged to him, wrote about their relationship for the tabloids, co-wrote a book with him, "The Making of a Serial Killer," and edited another book that contained his writings. The state of Florida sued to seize her profits from selling those stories, his art and letters. The state won and Rolling's victims received about $16,400 from the suit, which was distributed to a local victims' memorial park, and scholarships and foundations named for the students. By e-mail, London refused comment for this story. But she directed a reporter to a Web site, on which she criticized the victims' families for taking issue with her work but also making a deal for a made-for-TV production about the slayings. When the families discovered they couldn't stop a movie from being made, they resorted to making the deal to keep control over its content, said Jay Howell, a Jacksonville lawyer who represented the families in the deal. "Their whole intent from day one was to not have something made," he said. A push by national politicians to crack down on TV violence caused studios to back away from making the movie, he said. Political pressure has also caused Web sites related to Rolling and other killers to be taken down. London maintained one such site, which included Rolling's writings and those of another serial killer with victims in Wyoming and other states. When the former governor of Wyoming caught wind of it, he convinced AOL chief executive Steve Case to remove the site from the company's servers. Political pressure also led AOL to ban another Web site that posted letters and art from serial killers, Mansonfamilypicnic. com. That site, which is back online on another server, includes one of Rolling's letters. "He seemed eager for more attention," said Rick Downey, who runs the site, in an e-mail. One European collector of Rolling's art, Henk Janssen, said efforts to ban such sites will only incite a greater interest. "If they would just pay no attention to it, it will flow over like a silent breeze on the ocean," he said in an e-mail. But Kahan said he's detected much less interest in murderabilia since its heyday, before it was banned on eBay. Meoli said "Hollywood types" maintain interest, paying as much as $10,000 for pieces. He's been contacted by collectors looking for tips on getting Rolling to write back and send art, but considers that a violation of their friendship. "This isn't a freak show - what I have with him isn't for sale," he said. Bohannon said most collectors will part with even their most valued pieces. "For the right price, it's all for sale," he said. **** Art, letters and other items made by notorious criminals are being sold online at several independent Web sites. The following three sites offer so-called "murderabilia" from Danny Rolling and other prominent serial killers, with the asking price or opening bid listed earlier this week. Murderauction.com: Danny Rolling ink sketch, $200 Danny Rolling letter and art, $25 Danny Rolling letter, $50 John Wayne Gacy painting of Christ, $600 Charles Manson signed fingerprint card and press photo, $225 Supernaught.com: Danny Rolling poem, $175 Danny Rolling oil painting of skeleton and knight, $1,200 Danny Rolling, drawings (5 listed), $150 apiece Ted Bundy final Christmas card, $1,200 Jeffrey Dahmer handwritten birthday card, $1,700 Lowbrowartworld.com: "Son of Sam" David Berkowitz greeting card and photo, $120 Jacksonville serial killer Ottis Toole handprint in fingerpaint on paper, $150 No art or letters by Danny Rolling [source: Murderauction.com, Supernaught.com, Lowbrowartworld.com] Deposits in Danny Rolling's prison account (Oct. 18, 2000- Aug. 10, 2005): Kevin Rolling, younger brother, $1,545 Merle Allin, friend/murderabilia collector, $750 Anthony Meoli, friend/murderabilia collector, $130 James C. Brown, friend/murderabilia collector, $30 Other/unknown, $4,290 Total deposits by outside parties: 170 Total amount deposited: $6,745 Account balance (Aug. 10, 2005): $163.14 [source: Florida Department of Corrections] (source for all: Gainesville Sun) CONNECTICUT: Apology's sway on death penalty case As he described his drug and violence-corroded childhood Friday, Christopher DiMeo said he didn't want sympathy and wasn't trying to justify the crimes he'd committed. But the tearful, 15-minute apology offered moments before DiMeo was sentenced for murdering Glen Cove jeweler Thomas Renison last year could have a powerful impact on capital murder charges DiMeo still faces in the shootings of 2 Connecticut jewelers. "It's not a question of could it have an impact, it will have an impact," said Commack defense attorney Robert Gottlieb, who has tried several death penalty cases. DiMeo, 23, was sentenced to life in prison without parole for killing Renison in December. DiMeo has yet to settle charges that he gunned down Timothy Donnelly, 52, and his wife, Kimberly, 52, at their shop in Fairfield during a heroin-fueled robbery spree with his girlfriend Nicole Pearce. DiMeo's attorney, Mitch Dinnerstein of Manhattan, said his client knew several of the Donnellys' relatives were going to attend the Nassau sentencing, but insisted the remarks were not meant to invite sympathy. "I think he talked because he was genuinely remorseful," Dinnerstein said. Connecticut State Attorney Jonathan C. Benedict declined to speculate on the impact of DiMeo's remarks. But Nassau prosecutor Robert Biancavilla said DiMeo's motivation must be questioned. "Whenever remorse is displayed after a person has been caught with their hand in the cookie jar, it's very, very difficult to judge the sincerity of the display," he said. DiMeo's speech will surely be referenced by defense attorneys during plea negotiations with Connecticut prosecutors, Hofstra Law School professor Barbara Barron said. "Contrition is a very powerful tool," Barron said. That is because the statement telegraphs the kind of remorse DiMeo could express to a jury in Connecticut. In deciding whether to pursue a death penalty prosecution - one that requires testimony from dozens of experts and can cost millions of dollars - a suspect's contrition becomes a crucial consideration. "If a prosecutor believes the statement could impact on a jury's decision," Gottlieb said, "he may decide it does not make sense to pursue the death penalty." (source: Newsday) TENNESSEE: Writings left in Ohio jail cell discuss violent escape, prosecutor says A woman accused of fatally shooting a corrections officer while helping her husband escape from a Tennessee courthouse left in her Ohio jail cell writings detailing the crime, a prosecutor said. Jennifer Hyatte's 34-page diary, which she titled "A Modern Day Bonnie and Clyde," calls husband George Hyatte the love of her life. It also says the couple's ultimate destination wasn't Ohio but Pennsylvania, Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O'Brien told Columbus television WCMH on Thursday. Monday, U.S. marshals brought the Hyattes back to Kingston, Tenn., from Columbus, where they had been held since their arrests Aug. 10. They were caught about 36 hours after authorities say Jennifer Hyatte, a former prison nurse, fatally shot a guard while helping her husband escape after a hearing at the Kingston courthouse. O'Brien said the diary, a collection of letters and notes, has been turned over to a prosecutor in Tennessee. "Not only is the escape (discussed), but the crime is discussed. As a prosecutor, this would be useful at time of trial," O'Brien said. District Attorney General Scott McCluen, who will prosecute the Hyattes in Tennessee, "is not going to make a comment on" the diary at this time but may issue a statement next week, assistant Brian Crisp said. Authorities accuse Jennifer Hyatte of ambushing her husband's 2 guards. Corrections officer Wayne "Cotton" Morgan, 56, was killed; a guard shot Jennifer Hyatte in the leg. The Hyattes were captured late the next day at a budget motel in Columbus after the cab driver who drove them to the city called police. George Hyatte, 34, has a long criminal record of robberies, assault and escape and already is serving a 41-year sentence. Jennifer Hyatte, 31, had been fired from her prison job because of her relationship with Hyatte, whom she married this year. (source: Tennessean) ALABAMA: Bester pleads innocent James Lee Bester pleaded innocent in Tuscaloosa County Circuit Court to the capital murder accusation that he shot and killed his 15-year-old stepdaughter in their Holt-Peterson Road residence almost 1 year ago. Bester, 44, stood before Judge John England in shackles and a clean, white Tuscaloosa County Jail uniform Friday as he listened to prosecutors read the charges against him. His attorneys, Jim Roberts and Nettie Blume of Tuscaloosa, then entered the pleas of not guilty and not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect. State law allows a capital murder defendant to enter both pleas, a move defense attorneys use to leave open the doors of both innocence and insanity. Tuscaloosa County District Attorney Tommy Smith, who is leading the prosecution of Bester, said the plea was "standard and anticipated." Bester is accused of killing Shannon Marie McGuire, 15, in the morning hours of Aug. 30, 2004. Authorities said Bester shot the teenage student of Holt High School in the head with a .38-caliber pistol as he kept them locked in her bedroom. When sheriff's deputies entered the residence following an hour-long standoff, they found the girl's body in the closet. Chris Hargett, chief assistant district attorney for Tuscaloosa County, said prosecutors want a death sentence for Bester. "The state, at this point, is seeking the death penalty," said Hargett, who filled in for Smith during Friday's arraignment. England set a tentative trial date for March 2006, but a series of motions and hearings must be held before then. Among them is a mental evaluation of Bester, a motion for which also was filed on Friday, as well as the completion of the autopsy of Shannon. The 8-count indictment, which includes four counts of capital murder, was delivered by a grand jury in November. It accuses Bester of killing the teenager while holding her prisoner, while breaking in to the residence with the intent to commit assault and burglary and committing murder in violation of a violence protection order. All of these charges are punishable by death or life in prison without parole. The remaining 4 charges include third-degree domestic violence for allegedly threatening to set Shannon on fire with a lighter, violation of a court-sanction protection order and two counts of attempted murder for allegedly attempting to shoot and kill Shannon's mother and his wife, Barbara Bester, as well as James Langford, who lives next door to the Bester residence. (source: The Tuscaloosa News) CALIFORNIA: Prosecutors to seek death penalty in trial of Metrolink crash suspect In Los Angeles, prosecutors will seek the death penalty against the man accused of causing a deadly collision of 2 commuter trains in January, a spokeswoman said. The district attorney's capital case committee agreed this week to employ a rarely used "train wrecking" statute as a special circumstance allegation against Juan Manuel Alvarez, spokeswoman Jane Robison said Friday. She declined to discuss what led the committee to seek the death penalty. 11 people were killed and nearly 200 injured after Alvarez allegedly parked his Jeep on tracks in suburban Glendale on Jan. 26, then abandoned the vehicle as a Metrolink train approached. The train crashed into the Jeep and derailed, slamming into an oncoming train. Glendale police have said that while it initially appeared Alvarez was trying to commit suicide, the discovery of other evidence, including gasoline doused on the sport utility vehicle, showed he was trying to cause the crash. Defense attorney Eric Chase did not immediately return a telephone message requesting comment. Alvarez, 26, has pleaded not guilty to charges of murder and arson. (source: Associated Press) ****************************** Death row plan scaled back A $45 million cost overrun in San Quentin State Prison's new death row plan has prompted state officials to cut the number of cells from 1,024 to 768, according to a state Department of Finance memo. "Primarily due to extraordinary inflation in the construction industry, the recently completed preliminary plans estimate the project to now cost approximately $265 million," Finance Director Tom Campbell said in the memo, dated Wednesday. Campbell said the cutback would drop the cost to $233 million - still 6 percent more than the $220 million appropriated. The state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation wants to start construction on 40 acres next to the 153-year-old prison this fall. But state Assemblyman Joe Nation, D-San Rafael, part of a contingent of local leaders opposed to the project, said the news is proof the planned death row is "another Bay Bridge debacle," referring to the much-publicized huge cost overruns on that bridge's planned new span. "Here we are, before there's even been a shovel put into the earth, and we're already effectively 31 % over budget," Nation said. "They're downsizing it by 25 %, and with that, acknowledging a 6 % increase." But J.P. Tremblay, corrections department assistant secretary, said the revision was a prudent move to stay on track within the $220 million appropriation. "We're living within our means - that's what this is about," Tremblay said. "We're not going to go back to the Legislature and ask for more money." He said the new death row would still house more than 1,000 inmates because some cells will be double-bunked. The original project was expected to house 1,408 prisoners. "We believe this plan, even with the scaled-back size, will address the needs and get us through the next 20 years," Tremblay added. "We still need this project - the current facility is not a safe facility for the population we're dealing with." Nation and state Sen. Jeff Denham, R-Merced, on Tuesday introduced a bill to require the state to contract an independent analysis of the cost to expand death row at San Quentin, as compared with other sites across the state. "To spend more money on an outdated 150-year-old-prison is ludicrous," Denham said. "We cannot allow out-of-control spending to be wasted on this project when it is way over budget and will soon be beyond capacity." Denham called for "the governor and Legislature to look for other alternatives to this mess - the time has come to deal with the sins of the past." Tremblay, however, maintains the state has looked at alternative sites, but "the issue comes down as to where can we get a death row placed, politically speaking," he said. "You have to look at it logistically - it has to be near an urban area, where there's access to the courts and to attorneys." Nation said he and Denham will schedule one or more public hearings in Marin after the end of the current legislative session Sept. 9 to discuss the cost comparisons. "We want to ask the departments of corrections and finance to explain their rationale in continuing to push for a project that continues to break the bank and doesn't make any fiscal sense," Nation said. Nation and Denham introduced Assembly Bill 1672 Tuesday after inserting the substance of the bill into the body of a former health-care bill. The new bill won't be heard until the Legislature comes back for a short session in early December. "I think this is the 1st of many cost overruns on this project," Nation said, referring to a 20 % cost markup already allowed in the project's scope. "I think this is only the beginning, and that's why they've scaled back to 768 cells." Nation and other Marin officials, such as Supervisor Steve Kinsey, said the site is better used as a regional transit hub and deep-water ferry port. The corrections department said security at the current death row is so lax it is unsafe for guards as well as prisoners. Nation disagreed with Tremblay's estimate of the lifecycle of the downsized death row, saying the state would have to start double-bunking in four years. "It makes no sense to spend this kind of money on a facility that will be full in 4 years," he said. Nation's comments came as Marin County officials are in the preliminary stages of a lawsuit challenging the project's environmental impact report. The suit, supported by the city of Larkspur, says the report is inadequate and failed to address alternative sites. Both city and county officials worry about traffic, views, the shoreline, lighting, noise and water, sewage and electric use. County Counsel Patrick Faulkner said he didn't believe the downsizing was an attempt to appease the community by proposing a smaller project. "If they're doing that, it's because of something they're generating internally, not because of the lawsuit," Faulkner said. "I think they're running into the same thing we're running into on all the bridges -the cost overruns." (source: Marin Independent Journal)
