[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----PENNSYLVANIA

[Rick Halperin]

Oct. 8




PENNSYLVANIA:

Jury to hear statements in May case tomorrow


A jury of 6 women and 6 men will hear opening statements Thursday morning
in the sentencing trial of Freeman May, convicted in 1991 of 1st-degree
murder.

Later Thursday, the panel will begin to hear testimony on aggravating and
mitigating circumstances they will use to determine whether the
51-year-old May, formerly of Narvon, Lancaster County, should die by
lethal injection or spend the rest of his life behind bars. The trial is
expected to be completed Wednesday.

He was convicted of the stabbing death of 22-year-old Kathy Lynn Fair of
Lancaster. She disappeared in September 1982, and her remains were found 6
years later in a wooded area in South Lebanon Township.

During the sentencing trial, the prosecution will present testimony
regarding May's conviction on attempted homicide and rape charges related
to the attacks on 2 young women in the same wooded area several months
after Fair disappeared. The defense will present mitigating evidence, such
as his childhood and possible brain damage, to convince the jury to spare
May's life.

This is will be the 3rd time a jury will decide Mays fate. 2 previous
death penalty sentences were overturned on appeal, although his murder
conviction was upheld.

(source: Lebanon Daily News)