[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----OHIO, OKLA.

[Rick Halperin]

Oct. 3



OHIO:

Parole board OKs executing cult killer ---- Taft to rule on Lundgren
clemency


Jeffrey Lundgren said he thought "the end of time was near" when he
received a vision from God that commanded him to kill five members of his
Kirtland religious cult in 1989.

After spending 16 years on death row, the end of time finally does appear
to be near for Lundgren after the Ohio Parole Board voted unanimously
Monday to recommend that Gov. Bob Taft deny him clemency. He faces an Oct.
24 execution date.

Taft leaves Sunday for a weeklong trade mission to Mexico. His spokesman,
Mark Rickel, would say only that the governor will rule on Lundgren's plea
for mercy before the 24th.

"Mr. Lund gren systemati cally and pre meditatedly killed five peo ple,
three of whom were in nocent children," the eight Parole Board members
wrote. "Mr. Lundgren's motive for killing this particular family involved
financial gain, an increase in power over the lives of others, as well as
the exploitation and manipulation of the fears and beliefs of others."

At Lundgren's clemency hearing last week, the board was clearly unswayed
by attorney Henry Hilow's claim that Lundgren, 56, received a "deific
decree" -- an order from God -- to commit the murders.

Even psychologist Sandra Mack -- the only board member who has voted more
than twice to grant clemency since Ohio reinstituted capital punishment --
told Hilow she thought Lundgren was motivated more by greed than God. Mack
has recommended clemency in four of the 25 capital cases she has heard.

The board's report contains excerpts from a one hour and 40 minute
interview that board member Kathleen Kovach did with Lundgren at the Ohio
State Penitentiary on Sept. 20.

The excerpts quote Lundgren as saying he grew up in the Reorganized Church
of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, where he learned that "love equals
justice."

"Mr. Lundgren shared that he thought that the 'end of time was near' and
that he had to build a city where he and his followers would dwell
together, have a place of refuge and escape the enemy," the report says.
It says he "compared himself to Moses and stated that the Lord
communicated to him '. . . to go and get the sacred records,' " which led
him from Missouri to the Kirtland Temple.

Lundgren told Kovach that he was "commanded by God" to kill Dennis, 49,
and Cheryl Avery, 46, and their daughters Trina, 15, Becky, 13, and Karen,
7, but that he has found "redeeming love" on death row.

Lundgren's wife, Alice, 55, is serving 150 years to life for the murders.
But Lundgren - who took multiple wives - told Kovach that his 2nd wife,
Kathryn Johnson, and their 16-year-old daughter constitute his sole
support system. He said they visit him from Missouri every 12 to 14
months.

Johnson, a former cult member who served one year in prison for
obstructing justice, was previously married to cult member Larry Johnson.
Authorities arrested Lundgren in 1990 in California after Larry Johnson
tipped them to the April 1989 murders.

(source: Cleveland Plain Dealer)

*************

SERIAL KILLER Defendant admits to prostitute murders----Plea saves Colvin
from death penalty


Hours before day three of his trial for 2 murders was set to resume
yesterday, Dellmus Colvin admitted responsibility for the deaths and for 3
more unsolved murders of Toledo-area prostitutes.

The confession saved him from the death penalty and prompted investigators
to contact more than 100 police departments nationwide where the Toledo
truck driver was known to have traveled.

Colvin, 47, pleaded guilty to four counts of aggravated murder and one
count of complicity to aggravated murder in Lucas County Common Pleas
Court in exchange for prosecutors lifting the death penalty specification
against him. Judge Thomas Osowik immediately sentenced him to 5
consecutive sentences of life in prison.

Labeling him a 'serial killer,' prosecutors said that the deal was a
balancing act made so that the families of all 5 victims involved in the
plea agreement could feel some sense of justice.

'He's a true serial killer.  He's a callous killer who kills people
because he can,' assistant county prosecutor Tim Braun said. 'He should be
on death row, but there are people out there who didn't know what happened
to their loved ones, and peace of mind is a priceless thing.'

As part of the plea agreement yesterday, Judge Osowik also dismissed rape
charges for the sexual assaults of 2 Toledo women, ages 47 and 31. They
were assaulted in April, 2004, and July, 2003, respectively, but lived
through their attacks.

As a truck driver, Colvin crisscrossed the country, working for 9
different companies. Most recently, he worked for Schuster Trucking of Le
Mars, Iowa.

Toledo police investigators are now working with the FBI's Violent Crimes
Apprehension Program, or VICAP, in an effort to determine whether Colvin
killed women elsewhere. A list has been compiled of the places where he
may have traveled by looking at fuel purchase records.

Letters will be sent to authorities in those jurisdictions to see if they
have unsolved murders of prostitutes. Meanwhile, Toledo police are
continuing to investigate other people who may be involved in the murders
leads provided by Colvin during his interviews with investigators that
began Sunday and lasted until about 2 a.m. yesterday.

Colvin was in the midst of a trial for the kidnappings and murders of
Jackie Simpson, 33, and Melissa Weber, 37, who prosecutors said worked as
prostitutes to finance their cocaine addictions.

A mother of two, Ms. Simpson's decomposed body was discovered April 23,
2003, under bushes near a tanning business at 4200 Creekside Ave. Ms.
Weber's body was found May 9, 2005, under a couch in a vacant trucking
terminal behind 1045 Matzinger Rd.

Pattern cited

Prosecutors said the pattern of the crimes was consistent: The victims
were strangled and suffocated, wrapped in sheets and blankets, and dumped
in desolate areas in the city's industrial north end.

Colvin's admissions also brought to close a case that hadn't yet been
ruled a murder. Jacquelynn A. Thomas, 42, was reported missing by her
mother Aug. 28, 2000. Her body was found several days later just across
the Michigan line near Smith and Telegraph roads in Bedford Township, but
authorities had been unable to determine her cause of death.

Other area victims identified for authorities were:

 Lily Summers, 43, a mother of two whose body was found April 8, 2002, in
a 45-foot tractor-trailer behind B&B Repairs, 4400 Martin-Moline Rd., near
Metcalf Field in Lake Township.

 Valerie Jones, 38, a grandmother whose skeletal remains were found Jan.
6, 2000, near the Ottawa River and Hoffman Road landfill.

Ms. Weber's mother, Theresa, began sobbing in court yesterday after Colvin
stopped his trial to admit guilt in the deaths of the 5 women. Joined by
her brother, Michael Riebe, and niece, Tammy Handy, she listened as Colvin
read statements listing the dates and victims involved in his crimes.

Theresa Weber said she believes her daughter's killer should have been
given the death penalty, but said she agreed to life in prison to offer
other families some closure.

'I hope they got what they need,' added Mr. Riebe, speaking of the other
victims' families. 'I hope they got their closure.'

Ken Thomas, 52, a brother of Ms. Thomas, said he felt 'glad that they
actually got somebody.'

'When my sister was found dead in a field, my fear was that because they
said she was a prostitute, no one was going to find who did this,' he
said.

'An unpleasant cage'

Mr. Thomas said that he was 'undecided' on whether Colvin should have
received a death penalty sentence. 'I'm happy that Toledo police actually
got this guy, and I'd rather think of him spending many years in an
unpleasant cage.'

Although Colvin had been a suspect in the unsolved murders that he
admitted to, investigators said they did not have the evidence they needed
to charge him. Toledo police Sgt. Steve Forrester added that there are
other unsolved cases with similar characteristics being investigated.

'He was motivated [Sunday] night to give details in cases in Lucas
County,' he said of Colvin's confessions. 'Our hope is to keep
investigating to see if we can make more matches.'

Originally from the East Coast, police believe Colvin moved to the Toledo
area in 1997. Colvin has no known local relatives, but records indicate
that a Dellmus Colvin, Jr., had at one time lived in North Carolina.

According to the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction, Colvin
served three years in prison, from 1989 to 1992, for a felonious assault
charge and for having a weapon in a case out of Summit County. Less than a
year later, he returned to prison for an additional 2 years and 3 months
for a parole violation involving drugs. He was released in September,
1995.

Investigators believe that Colvin's recent confession could break open
cold murder cases elsewhere in the country.

Truck drivers probed

A Toledo police detective is scheduled to travel to Harrisburg, Pa., on
Oct. 18 to speak about Colvin's case during a 2-day law enforcement
conference.

Local authorities hope to exchange information with counterparts elsewhere
about serial killers who work as truck drivers  a profession that, because
of its transient nature and availability of easy targets  might attract
such killers.

'Without the truck drivers and the freight industry, our country would
shut down very quickly. There are some very good, hardworking folks out
there in this industry. But for those who want to use it the wrong way,
it's the perfect profession,' said Terri Turner, a senior intelligence
analyst with the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation.

Prompted by an unsolved murder 3 years ago, Ms. Turner began compiling a
database of murdered prostitutes who were known to work near truck stops.

The database now lists at least 150 dead women and details of their murder
cases dating back to the 1980s. It's not clear how many killers might be
involved.

Most of the bodies were found along roadsides, Ms. Turner said, adding:
'They're dumped out. They're just left.'

(source: Toledo Blade)






OKLAHOMA:

US Supreme Court Refuses To Consider Oklahoma Murder Cases


The Supreme Court refuses to consider 3 Oklahoma murder cases in which the
convicted killers escaped execution by claiming they were mentally
retarded.

In each case, the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals modified the sentence
to life imprisonment after the convicted killers said they were mentally
retarded. Oklahoma Attorney General Drew Edmondson's office says rules the
appeals court adopted about mental retardation are over-inclusive and
sought to have the modifications set aside.

The Oklahoma officials suggested evidence in the 3 murder cases points to
the offenders as possessing low intelligence or borderline mental
retardation as opposed to mental retardation.

In a 2002 case, the US Supreme Court identified mentally retarded criminal
offenders as a class for which capital punishment would violate the Eighth
Amendment ban on cruel and unusual punishment.

Oklahoma officials argued in court papers that the Supreme Court ruling
doesn't demand modification of a death sentence merely because there is
some evidence of mental retardation exclusive of evidence to the contrary.

The defendants in the cases are Darrin Lynn Pickens, Maximo Lee Salazar
and Robert Wayne Lambert.

(source: Associated Press)