[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----ILL., ARIZ.

[Rick Halperin]

July 10


ILLINOIS:

Prosecutors want death for dad accused of burning sons----Glendale Heights
man accused of dousing sons with gas, setting them on fire


DuPage County prosecutors said Wednesday that they will seek the death
penalty for a Glendale Heights man accused of burning his 2 young sons,
who died of their injuries earlier this year.

Kaushik Patel showed no emotion as he was told through an interpreter that
the state had filed an official notice of intent to seek his execution
because the case involved multiple deaths. If Patel is convicted of
first-degree murder, the only other punishment under state law would be
life in prison.

Patel, 34, is accused of dousing his sons, Vishv, 7, and Om, 4, with
gasoline and setting them on fire in a bathroom of their home Nov. 18. Om
died of his injuries in January and Vishv died in February after both
lingered for months in a Maywood hospital burn unit.

The trial for Patel, who also suffered serious burns in the fire and has
heavy scars on his right hand, isn't expected to take place for more than
a year.

"He knew [the death penalty] was a possibility," said DuPage Public
Defender Robert Miller.

Assistant State's Atty. Alex McGimpsey told Judge Kathryn Creswell that
Patel's family has been informed of the decision to seek the death
penalty. Neither Patel's wife nor any other relatives or friends were
present in court Wednesday.

Patel, a native of India who immigrated to the U.S. in 1992 and uses an
interpreter at his court hearings, contends he was trying to commit
suicide and that his sons' injuries and deaths were accidental. In a
Tribune interview, he said he doesn't remember lighting the fire.

Afterward, Patel drove the severely burned boys to the Hanover Park home
of his brother and sister-in-law, who called police.

Police said Patel had a half-gallon of gasoline in the bathroom and poured
it on himself and the boys before lighting it. No other family members
were injured.

(source: Chicago Tribune)






ARIZONA:

Jury Considers Death Penallty


60 year old Vincent Accardo is facing the death penalty for the 1997
murder of local farmer Kenneth Cloud. Closing arguments in the sentencing
phase wrapped up Tuesday afternoon. The jury is now considering the
sentence.

Accardo was convicted of the murder in late June. Cloud was shot and
killed as he sat inside a car in the parking lot of a Yuma restaurant.
Prosecutors believe Cloud's wife- Lois Kay Cloud- hired Accardo to kill
her husband. Accardo is facing a minimum of 25 years behind bars.

(source: KYMA)