July 4
TEXAS:
Mass murderer who was spared death penalty gets erased by time
A tragic, little-remembered anniversary in Dallas history passed nearly
unnoticed last weekend.
3 decades ago last Sunday, on June 29, 1984, Abdelkrim Belachheb murdered 6
people in a restaurant-club called Ianni's near the intersection of LBJ Freeway
and Midway Road. It remains Dallas' worst mass murder.
The motive for the murders was his injured sense of personal importance: A
woman at the bar had allegedly called him a "monkey" and shoved him away on the
dance floor.
Belachheb got a 9-mm handgun out of his car, returned to the bar and started
shooting. He killed 4 women and 2 men: Marcell Ford, Janice Smith, Linda Lowe,
Ligia Koslowski, Frank Parker and Joe Minasi. Another man was shot but
survived.
Police traced the gunman to a friend's house less than 2 hours later.
Belachheb was a Moroccan citizen who for years had drifted from one low-rent
job to the next. He was also a narcissistic sociopath and an all-around failure
in life who blamed his problems on everybody but himself. The profile fits
other criminals who have committed similar atrocities.
His case was a landmark, but not because of the body count. Sadly, homicidal
lunatics with a lot more firepower have since done much more damage.
Belachheb's rampage was eclipsed 3 weeks later when a gun nut in San Ysidro,
Calif., killed 21 people at a McDonald's.
Belachheb's case did, however, inspire a change in Texas' death-penalty law -
because Belachheb wasn't eligible for the death penalty.
Texas author Gary Lavergne wrote a book about the case and its aftermath in
2002. He explains that at the time of the Ianni's murders, Texas law was
specific in limiting a capital charge to murders that took place with certain
circumstances, such as during the commission of another felony or killing a
police officer. Those circumstances did not include multiple victims.
"If the Ianni's murderer had killed 1 person and stolen a dime from her purse,
he could have been sentenced to death," Lavergne wrote. "If he had walked off
with an ashtray or a stolen fork off a table, he could have been sentenced to
death."
Instead, Belachheb was soon tried and sentenced to life in prison. During the
following legislative session, state lawmakers added a "multiple victims"
provision to the death-penalty statute.
In his book, Lavergne doesn't make any sweeping generalizations about capital
punishment.
But his title, Worse Than Death, sums up the author's conclusion that life in
prison - for the egomaniacal, self-important Belaccheb, at least - really was
the worst punishment possible.
Lavergne writes:
"In cell 108 of Pod F, at the High Security Section of Ad Seg [administrative
segregation] of the Clements Unit in Amarillo, sits a man who wallows in
self-pity and finds something to complain about nearly every moment of his
life. He believes everyone is out to pick on him, he hates the food, and
believes he is being harassed and even tortured. Every day he awakens in the
same miserable surroundings knowing why he is there."
Today, 12 years since that was written, prison records show that Belachheb
still lives on the same unit. He'll turn 70 in November, a forgotten old man
whose life is ticking away in a prison cell. The state didn't execute him, but
it did, as the saying goes, "throw away the key."
His victims and their families cannot forget, of course.
But for everyone else, time has moved on. Abdelkrim Belachheb is a distant name
from a largely forgotten past.
He is nobody.
(source: Dallas Morning News)
PENNSYLVANIA:
Man no longer facing execution in 1982 Pa. slaying
A judge has removed the death sentence imposed on a man convicted in the murder
of a south-central Pennsylvania woman more than 3 decades ago.
Lebanon County President Judge John Tylwalk instead sentenced Freeman May on
Wednesday to life in prison without possibility of parole.
May, 56, was convicted of the 1982 stabbing death of Kathy Lynn Fair, 22, whose
remains were found 6 years later in woods in Lebanon County.
The judge ruled in April that May was incapacitated and incompetent to proceed
after a forensic psychologist testified that he suffered from a delusional
disorder.
District Attorney David Arnold said the life term was the only appropriate
solution since "the law is crystal clear that you cannot execute a mentally
incompetent defendant," the Lebanon Daily News reported.
"So while it's frustrating that Freeman May was not executed after his initial
death sentence, we have no choice but to respect the fact that he cannot be
executed now or in the future under Pennsylvania law," he said after the
hearing.
May was convicted of killing Fair, a young mother, and sentenced to death in
1991. The sentence was reversed but reinstated after a second penalty phase
hearing in 1995. An appeals court again lifted the death sentence but it was
reinstated by a jury in 2008 following a 3rd penalty phase hearing.
Tylwalk said May had gone into "a precipitous decline" since 2008 and as a
result was "unable to properly analyze his options," which included accepting a
life sentence, a possible fourth penalty phase trial or death by lethal
injection.
May's son, Landon, now 32, remains on death row on convictions in the 2001
torture and murder of a friend's adoptive parents.
(source: Associated Press)
GEORGIA:
Death penalty possible for US father
A US man has been charged with murdering his nearly 2-year-old son by leaving
him in a hot car for 7 hours and could face the death penalty if convicted.
Justin Ross Harris, 33, was denied bail on Thursday on child cruelty and murder
charges after leaving his son Cooper, 22 months, strapped to a car seat in his
SUV while he was at work in the southern state of Georgia.
"This is a possible death penalty case," Judge Frank Cox said at the close of a
3-hour hearing at the Cobb County Magistrate Court outside Atlanta.
Harris says he forgot to drop his son off at day care and didn't realise he had
left him in the car until driving for a few minutes after work, stopping and
calling for help once he noticed Cooper's lifeless body in the backseat.
Cox countered it was inexplicable "for him to enter the car ... when the child
had been dead and rigor mortis had set in, and the testimony is the stench in
the car was overwhelming at that point in time, that he - in spite of that -
got in the car and drove it for some distance before he took any action to
check on the welfare of his child".
In an unexpected twist, a police detective said Harris had texted sexually
explicit messages at work with 6 women - one as young as 17 - while his son was
baking to his death in the car.
In the days before June 18, it emerged Harris had made internet searches about
life without children and how to survive prison, and watched videos of animals
dying in cars in the sun.
The detective said both Harris and his wife Leanna had no reaction when they
learned their child had died.
Harris sat emotionless until the end of the hearing, when he broke down in
tears.
He will remain in custody pending trial.
(source: 3news.co.nz)
FLORIDA:
Florida Supreme Court revamps rules for death penalty appeals
The Florida Supreme Court on Thursday approved a series of changes aimed at
improving the death-penalty appeals process, including revising requirements
for attorneys handling cases.
Justices last year formed a subcommittee to look at the appeals system, a move
that came as the Legislature targeted delays in carrying out the death penalty
by passing a bill dubbed the "Timely Justice Act."
The Supreme Court largely approved a series of rule changes that were proposed
by the subcommittee and that deal with what are known as "post-conviction"
appeals in death-penalty cases. The subcommittee took input from groups such as
judges, prosecutors, public defenders and the governor's office.
As an example of the revisions, justices approved additional requirements for
lead attorneys in post-conviction appeals. Those attorneys, in part, will be
required to have at least three years of experience in post-conviction
litigation and also meet criteria for experience in handling capital cases.
Justices Charles Canady and Ricky Polston dissented on 2 issues, including a
rule change that will prevent defendants from representing themselves in
post-conviction proceedings.
(source: Palm Beach Post)
MISSISSIPPI:
Appeal in '96 slayings back before Miss high court
One of Mississippi's longest-running death penalty cases goes before the
Mississippi Supreme Court on July 21 for oral argument.
In 6 trials, Curtis Giovanni Flowers has been convicted 4 times for the 1996
slayings of 4 workers at a Winona furniture store. Now, he is back before the
Mississippi Supreme Court asking that his conviction and sentence be tossed
out.
2 trials in Montgomery County ended with hung juries. 3 trials ended in
convictions, but the high court reversed them. The 4th conviction came in 2010.
Flowers was sentenced to death.
Flowers, now 44, was convicted of capital murder for the July 16, 1996, fatal
shootings of Tardy Furniture store owner Bertha Tardy, 59; employees Carmen
Rigby, 45; Robert Golden, 42; and Derrick "BoBo" Stewart, 16. All had been shot
in the head.
Prosecutors described Flowers as a disgruntled employee who'd been fired from
his job at the store. They said Flowers didn't receive his last paycheck
because the owner kept it as payment for golf cart batteries she believed he
had damaged. Court records show $398 was missing from the store cash register.
Defense attorneys argued that Flowers was at a relative's home at the time of
the murders and that no one saw him go in or come out of the store on the day
of the murders.
In the latest high court case, Flowers' attorney, Alison Steiner, argued no
physical evidence links Flowers to the crimes. She said prosecutors presented a
"series of witnesses intended to show that Flowers could have stolen a gun and
was in the vicinity of the furniture store on the morning of the murders,"
Steiner wrote.
Special Assistant Attorney General Melanie Thomas argued prosecutors provided
substantial evidence that placed Flowers near the murder weapon, near the crime
scene, with the missing money, with gunpowder on his hand, and with a reason to
kill the employees of Tardy Furniture.
"Appellant is correct that no fingerprint or DNA evidence ties him to the
crime. Appellant is also correct that portions of the witnesses' testimony -
for both the state and the defense - were inconsistent. However, the jury is in
the best position to determine the credibility of the witnesses and the merits
of the case," Thomas said.
Steiner, an attorney for the Office of State Public Defender, said the evidence
against Flowers was flimsy and constitutionally insufficient to support a
conviction.
(source: Associated Press)
OHIO:
Prosecutors may pursue death penalty in stabbing of Ohio girl, 16
Prosecutors in Mahoning County, Ohio, said they might seek the death penalty
against a man accused of fatally stabbing a 16-year-old Ohio girl, whose body
was discovered days later in a Mercer County landfill.
Ricki D. Williams IV, 18, killed Gina Burger of Austintown, Ohio, June 23, then
dumped her body in a baby's playpen that he trashed in a dumpster outside her
apartment building, police said in court documents released Wednesday. He was
arraigned Wednesday morning on murder and related charges.
"There is no motive. There's none," said Ken Cardinal, Mahoning County
assistant prosecutor. "He went to the apartment to kill somebody. He just
happened to run across this girl 1st."
Mr. Cardinal said Mr. Williams grabbed Gina by the arm just after she left her
unit at the Compass West apartment complex then started beating on the door of
another apartment. Resident Ronisha Johnson, who could only see Gina on her
doorstep, started opening the door, and Mr. Williams forced his way in, Mr.
Cardinal said.
Mr. Williams and Gina were acquaintances, and Gina had babysat for Ms. Johnson,
Mr. Cardinal said. Mr. Williams had been previously ordered to stay away from
the complex but would sometimes visit Ms. Johnson, Mr. Cardinal said, adding
that they were not romantically involved.
According to the police affidavit, Mr. Williams immediately started beating Ms.
Johnson and forced both women into a bedroom where Mr. Williams "made comments
about 'putting them both in the trunk' and forcing them to pose together
hugging," police wrote. He then forced them into the kitchen, allowed them to
"have a last cigarette" and got out gloves for Ms. Johnson and himself, the
affidavit said.
Ms. Johnson told police Mr. Williams ordered her to stab Gina. Ms. Johnson
refused, saying she'd rather stab herself, and Mr. Williams grabbed the knife
and stabbed the girl, the affidavit said.
The pair then placed Gina's body in Ms. Johnson's son's Pack 'n Play and hauled
it to the complex's dumpster, police wrote.
Authorities said the trash from that complex is taken to the landfill in Mercer
County.
In the course of the investigation, detectives found the phrase "KILL FO FUN"
carved into the stairwell hallway outside Ms. Johnson's apartment and what
appeared to be 3 knife holes in the drywall, the affidavit said.
Ms. Johnson told police that Mr. Williams forced her to help dispose of Gina's
body and that she did so because she feared he would kill her. She has not been
charged.
"The detectives are firmly convinced that she was in fear of her life," Mr.
Cardinal said.
Mr. Williams, who is homeless, has a history of violence, including felony
assault cases in juvenile and adult courts, Mr. Cardinal said.
(source: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)
***********************
Accused killer smirks as court hears how he 'stabbed teen girl to death and
carried her butchered body past her mother in a playpen bag'
The Ohio teen accused of stabbing a teenage girl to death stuffed her body in a
playpen bag and brazenly carried it past her mother in 'a baby thing,' police
said.
Ricki D. Williams IV, 18, of Youngstown, was called 'evil' by the prosecutor
after a Wednesday court hearing in the death of 16-year-old Gina Burger.
Authorities claim said he confessed to killing the girl and dumping her body in
a Pennsylvania landfill.
Williams appeared to smirk as he was led out of court following the short
hearing, after which the prosecutor said: 'There is evil in the world and he's
one of those evil people.'
Williams was arrested Tuesday by federal Marshals and taken to suburban
Youngstown, where he is being held without bond.
Burger was stabbed inside an apartment at a complex in Austintown, where she
lived with her mother, police said. Another woman helped Williams dispose of
the body under threat of death, according to police.
The teen, assumed by authorities to be homeless, is charged with aggravated
murder and kidnapping. Authorities will seek the death penalty, an official
told WPXI.
Jaqueline Bacher reported her daughter missing around 11 p.m. on June 23, 3
hours after Burger had left their apartment to borrow bags for iced tea.
A police report said Bacher told officers that while she waited outside for an
officer to take a missing person's report, she saw Williams walk out of another
apartment struggling to carry what appeared to be a bag used to store a
portable playpen.
Bacher told police that Williams asked her if she 'wanted to buy a baby thing.'
An officer soon arrived and Bacher did not see what Williams did with the bag,
the police report said. She said she saw what appeared to be the same bag in a
trash container outside the apartment complex the next day.
A worker found Burger's body June 25 at a landfill in Mercer County,
Pennsylvania, about 45 miles north of Pittsburgh. It is not clear how the
homeless teen got the body to the landfill.
'She wasn't just a piece of trash to be disregarded,' Bacher told KDKA. 'Then,
to find her in a landfill; I mean, that's someone who has no regard for life.'
On June 26, police went to the apartment of a woman Burger sometimes visited. A
manager of the complex let them inside and police discovered blood stains
throughout the home.
Investigators found the woman who lived in the apartment the next day. She told
officers she helped Williams dispose of Burger's body in the bag for her son's
playpen after Williams threatened to kill her.
The woman said Williams forced her and Burger into the woman's bedroom and
allowed them to smoke a 'last cigarette,' the police report said. Williams then
tried to force the woman to stab Burger. When she refused, Williams grabbed the
knife and stabbed the teen once in the chest, the report said.
Both Williams and Burger knew each other, police said, but no further details
were provided.
'She had a family,' Bacher told WPXI. 'People loved her and cared about her.
'She was a sweet, caring and trusting girl.'
(source: Daily Mail)
KENTUCKY:
Supreme Court sets July 23 deadline for prosecutors to respond in Kentucky
death penalty case
Prosecutors have until July 23 to tell the U.S. Supreme Court why a Kentucky
death row inmate should not get a hearing before the high court.
Justices set the deadline in the case of 42-year-old Kevin Wayne Dunlap.
Attorneys for Dunlap reached an agreement with his attorneys to allow the
appeal after he sought to waive his appeals. The attorneys asked for a review
of the case on May 19.
Dunlap, a former soldier at Fort Campbell with the 160th Special Operations
Aviation Regiment, a unit known as the "Night Stalkers," pleaded guilty in
February 2010 to attacking Kristy Frensley as she worked in the yard her Trigg
County home in 2008. Dunlap killed 5-year-old Ethan Frensley, 17-year-old Kayla
Williams and 14-year-old Kortney Frensley before lighting the house on fire.
(source: Associated press)
USA:
CNN to Air 3 More 'Death Row Stories' Starting Next Sunday
CNN's original series "Death Row Stories" is set to return to the news channel
next Sunday, July 13, with 3 new episodes debuting on successive Sundays.
Executive produced by Jigsaw Production's Alex Gibney ("Taxi to the Dark Side,"
"The Armstrong Lie") and Sundance Production's Robert Redford and Laura
Michalchyshyn, the CNN series focuses on inmates facing the death penalty and
the legal process of defending them and attempting to ensure that justice
prevails.
The new episodes, each narrated by Susan Sarandon, explore three cases from the
1980s and 1990s, 2 involving double murders and 1 involving a mass murder in a
Chuck E. Cheese in Colorado. Several of the defendants or prosecutors involved
in the case are interviewed for the 1st time, and in the Colorado-centered
episode, Gov. John Hickenlooper as well as former Gov. Bill Ritter, Jr. and
2014 gubernatorial candidate Rep. Tom Tancredo are all interviewed.
The series's first 5 installments premiered in March and will be re-aired after
the three new episodes. The March airings garnered CNN the top spot in the
cable news demographic, according to Nielsen, and at the time, Gibney, Redford
and Sarandon penned an opinion piece in Salon calling on Americans to reflect
on the "systemic problems" of the American justice system.
Whether Democratic or Republican, legislators can no longer ignore the fatal
flaw in the justice system. At a minimum, we must insist that they find a way
to hold prosecutors accountable for misconduct that can - if intentional -
amount to premeditated murder. More broadly, we should insist that lawmakers
face the most harrowing question from all of our death row stories: if the
institution of capital punishment - with consequences so final and irreversible
- can never be a perfect instrument of criminal justice, is the institution
itself a criminal injustice?
CNN will air the 3 new "Death Row Stories" episodes at 10:00 pm and 1:00 am
Eastern. They will also be available as a simulcast through CNN's iPad app, as
well as on CNN's website and other mobile applications.
(source: indiewire.com)
_______________________________________________
DeathPenalty mailing list
DeathPenalty@lists.washlaw.edu
http://lists.washlaw.edu/mailman/listinfo/deathpenalty
Search the Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/deathpenalty@lists.washlaw.edu/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A free service of WashLaw
http://washlaw.edu
(785)670.1088
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
