[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, PENN., ALA., KY., USA

[Rick Halperin]

Oct. 6



TEXAS:

Toddler death case: Jury selection this week


Jury selection is scheduled this week in a potential death penalty capital 
murder case, involving the 2011 death of a 2-year-old child.

A final pretrial hearing in the case against Arturo Aguilar Vega is scheduled 
Monday morning in the 354th District Court.

A general jury pool setting is scheduled Wednesday and individual juror 
interviews is set to begin on October 13.

A trial date will be announced once a jury is chosen in the case.

Vega has pleaded not guilty in the death of Brandon Herrera and is the 1st of 2 
defendants charged in the case to face trial.

New indictments against Vega and Gabriela Ortiz were released March 28 and 
include several more potential causes of Herrera's death in July 2011.

Vega and Ortiz both remain in custody in the Hunt County Jail, each in lieu of 
$2 million bond.

The Hunt County District Attorney's Office is seeking the death penalty for 
Vega and for Ortiz, should they be convicted of capital murder.

The original indictments filed against the pair claimed Herrera died as the 
result of either blunt force trauma, choking/strangling or smothering.

The new indictments include additional potential causes of Herrera's death, 
including blunt force trauma, chronic blunt force trauma, choking/strangling, 
smothering, causing the victim to be dehydrated, causing Herrera to suffer 
malnutrition, suffocation and/or arrhythmia.

Ortiz does not currently have a trial date set in the case.

(source: KETR news)






PENNSYLVANIA----new execution date//not serious

Corbett signs death warrant for Baumhammers


Gov. Tom Corbett on Monday signed the death warrant for convicted murderer 
Richard Baumhammers, who killed 5 people during a racially motivated shooting 
spree in the South Hills and Beaver County in April 2000.

Baumhammers, 49, has been on death row in Greene County since an Allegheny 
County jury gave him 5 death sentences. A 6th victim died of his injuries seven 
years after the shooting.

The execution is scheduled for Dec. 3. It is likely to be delayed, however, 
because of appeals and the state's difficulty in obtaining drugs used in 
executions.

Corbett was forced to sign a temporary reprieve for death row inmate Hubert 
Michael Jr. last month in part because manufacturers stopped selling their 
drugs to states that used them in executions. Michael was sentenced to death 
for the 1994 murder of Trista Eng, 16, in York County.

A spokesman for the governor's Office of General Counsel could not immediately 
be reached for comment.

Pennsylvania has executed 3 men - all of whom voluntarily ended their appeals - 
since the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976. The last 
person executed in Pennsylvania was Gary Heidnik of Philadelphia in 1999 for 
the kidnap and torture of 6 women, 2 of whom he killed.

(source: triblive.com)

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

'A painful irony,' murder victim's ex-husband tells jury in York County 
death-penalty trial


When 3 police officers knocked on the door of Jon Schmeyer's Hanover apartment 
on April 1, 2010, he hoped the news they bore was "a horrible April Fool's 
joke."

Schmeyer took the stand Monday morning as the 2nd week of trial for a member of 
a social club he was part of, Timothy Jacoby, 41, of York, began on charges 
related to the shooting death of Schmeyer's ex-wife, Monica Schmeyer.

While the prosecution was building the case Monday that Schmeyer made many 
statements at these social club meetings he and Jacoby both attended, saying he 
would give large amounts of cash to his ex-wife as part of a divorce 
settlement, Jacoby's attorney, Brian Perry, was indicating through his 
cross-examination that Schmeyer would be the one who would benefit financially 
if he no longer had to pay her expenses in the house they once shared in rural 
Manheim Township.

In his testimony Monday, Jon Schmeyer recalled the day the Southwestern 
Regional Police officers told him about his wife's murder.

"I was pacing and crying in my apartment," Schmeyer told the York County jury. 
Still hoping his ex-wife's death was a joke, he drove to the Trone Road home 
they once shared, and went inside.

"There was blood everywhere," Schmeyer said.

And from that police visit, he realized something else.

"I was considered a suspect," Schmeyer said. He watched enough "Forensic Files" 
on television to know the husband or ex-husband is often accused of the crime, 
but testified he still called several people, and told them to cooperate fully 
with the police, "because there was nothing to hide."

One of those calls was placed to Jacoby's fiancee, Sara Powell.

Jacoby, Powell and Jon Schmeyer all regularly attended the informal meetings of 
the Orange Shorts Society, which would get together at the Hooter's restaurant 
in York. There was a meeting the day of Monica Schmeyer's death, but Jacoby was 
not present, testimony indicates. And just prior to that meeting, Jon Schmeyer 
had met with Powell at a nearby Panera Bread to discuss financial matters, he 
said.

Their meeting was at 3 p.m. - around the time police say Monica Schmeyer was 
killed. Video surveillance backs this up, but Perry pointed out Schmeyer and 
Powell had never met alone, before or since.

And on cross-examination, Perry was also building the case that finances could 
have been at play.

Through a divorce decree, Schmeyer gave his ex-wife $1,700 per month - in cash 
since she had no checking account. He also covered many of her other day-to-day 
expenses. He wasn't happy about doing so, and would frequently mention this in 
conversation at the Orange Shorts Society meetings.

While Schmeyer admitted to Perry he would discuss those payments, he said his 
discussions fell short of "complaining," though when Perry asked if he would, 
"call her the B-word," he said he did.

Schmeyer testified, though, he would receive no financial benefit from her 
death. Their two daughters would evenly split his ex-wife's estate as well as 
the sale of the Trone Road home. Additionally, the divorce agreement that had 
him paying his ex-wife on a monthly basis was set to expire in a year.

It was in 2012 when York County Det. Douglas Demangone told Schmeyer Jacoby had 
been arrested and charged in connection with his ex-wife's murder that Schmeyer 
reacted by telling the detective, "I'm responsible," testimony indicates.

But Schmeyer explained what he meant was that Jacoby only knew about Monica 
Schmeyer through him.

"Tim would have only known about Monica through me and what's even more painful 
is that Monica hated Hooter's and hated my associations at Hooters," he said. 
"It's a painful irony."

And Chief Deputy Prosecutor Tim Barker came out and asked him on redirect, "Did 
you try to arrange to have anyone kill your wife, Monica Schmeyer," to which 
Schmeyer answered, "No, sir."

The prosecution is expected to present 1 more witness Monday afternoon before 
resting its case.

(source: pennlive.com)

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

Death-penalty trial of Timothy Jacoby in its 2nd week


The prosecution on Monday morning continued its parade of witnesses against a 
man accused of fatally shooting Monica Schmeyer inside her Manheim Township 
home more than 4 years ago.

Timothy Matthew Jacoby, 41, of 1719 W. Princess St. in West Manchester 
Township, could be sentenced to death if jurors convict him of 1st-degree 
murder for the March 31, 2010, homicide.

Trial began Sept. 29 and has continued to a 2nd week.

On Friday, state police Cpl. David Krumbine, a ballistics expert, testified the 
lone spent .32-caliber shell casing found at the homicide scene matches 4 spent 
shell casings seized by police from the North Codorus Township farm of Jacoby's 
parents.

Barrels seized: The .32-caliber gun used to kill Schmeyer was never recovered, 
although police found and seized 2 .32-caliber gun barrels - 1 from Jacoby's 
home, the other from his parents' farm.

Jurors learned Thursday that Jacoby ordered a replacement barrel for his 
.32-caliber Kel-Tec pistol in November 2010, less than 8 months after Schmeyer 
was fatally shot in the head inside her Trone Road home.

The exterior of that barrel had been filed down, Krumbine testified, as if 
someone was trying to make it fit the model Kel-Tec that Jacoby owned.

The interior of the other pistol barrel had numerous scratches, Krumbine told 
jurors. He said it's his opinion someone used a sharp, hard object to scratch 
up the barrel's bore "in random directions."

Can't be sure: Because of that, he said, he was unable to definitively 
determine whether the bullet found at the crime scene was fired out of that 
barrel.

The prosecution alleges Jacoby - who was friends with the victim's husband - 
went to Schmeyer's home to steal cash because he knew she received large 
monthly alimony payments in cash.

Testimony has revealed Jacoby was friends with the victim's ex-husband, 
ophthamologist Dr. Jon Schmeyer, and that Jon Schmeyer was at Panera Bread in 
West Manchester Township and the former Hooters restaurant in York with 
Jacoby's then-fiancee the afternoon of the homicide.

(source: York Dispatch)






ALABAMA:

Trial in Auburn triple killings resumes

The trial of a man charged with killing 2 former Auburn University football 
players is resuming in Opelika following the man's testimony that he fired in 
self-defense.

Circuit Judge Jacob Walker told jurors to return Monday as the conclusion of 
the trial nears.

Defendant Desmonte Leonard testified Friday that he began shooting at a party 
in June 2012 because he was on the ground being attacked and feared for his 
life.

2 former Auburn players were killed along with a 3rd man, and 3 more people 
were wounded.

Leonard's testimony came after other witnesses said they saw him fire the gun 
but didn't see anyone assaulting him.

Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty on a capital murder charge. Leonard 
could be acquitted or convicted on a lesser charge.

(source: Associated Press)






KENTUCKY:

Prosecutors to decide whether to seek death penalty against Ricky Kelly


Several years ago, state prosecutors dropped more than a dozen murder charges 
against Ricky Kelly hoping he would face a harsher sentence in federal court. 
Now, the case is being moved back to state court.

Prosecutors say they will decide by next month whether to seek the death 
penalty against Ricky Kelly.

Kelly is accused of shooting Lajuante Jackson in 2005.

Kelly was once charged with 8 murders.

State prosecutors dropped those charges, so he could stand trial for Jackson's 
death in federal court.

But his federal case was dismissed after a key witness was gunned down in 
March.

Kelly was then re-indicted in Jefferson Circuit Court in August.

"It's a murder for hire, we believe, where he was paid to kill Lajuante 
Jackson. And under the aggravators, it is eligible for the death penalty," said 
Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Leland Hulbert.

Kelly's trial was also moved from March to June.

He returns to court next month to ask for a bond reduction.

(soure: WLKY news)






USA:

Inmate faces death in Williams case


Federal prosecutors will seek the death penalty against an inmate charged in 
the fatal stabbing and beating of Eric Williams, a correctional officer at the 
U.S. Penitentiary at Canaan.

"The defendant committed the offenses in an especially heinous, cruel, or 
depraved manner involving torture or serious physical abuse to the victim," 
U.S. Attorney Peter J. Smith wrote in a notice of intent to seek the death 
penalty against Jessie Con-Ui.

Con-Ui is charged with murder and murder of a federal corrections officer.

Con-Ui, 37, is accused of beating and stabbing to death Williams, 34, of 
Nanticoke, last year at the federal prison in Wayne County.

The defendant repeatedly stabbed Williams with a shank and repeatedly kicked, 
stomped and slammed him in the head, face and torso, according to paperwork.

Con-ui had been a member of the New Mexican Mafia. His role as an armed guard 
in the gang's trade of cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine in the early 2000s 
led to an 11-year federal prison sentence and his eventual transfer to Canaan.

Smith, in a court filing, noted numerous aggravating factors in the prosecution 
seeking the death penalty.

They include:

-- The defendant had been previously convicted of a state offense resulting in 
the death of a person for which he was sentenced to life in prison.

-- The defendant had been previously convicted on charges involving the use or 
attempted or threatened use of a firearm against another person.

-- The defendant killed Williams in a heinous, cruel or depraved manner.

-- The defendant committed the offenses against a federal public servant.

-- The defendant committed the offenses after substantial planning and 
premeditation to cause the death of Williams.

The defendant agreed to participate in the stabbing of other inmates in 1999 in 
a state prison in Florence, Ariz.

Con-Ui also agreed to participate in multiple murders, including that of a law 
enforcement officer, in 2003 in Phoenix, Ariz., according to court papers.

He was arrested before the murders took place.

Also, in 2010, Con-Ui assaulted and stabbed another inmate at another state 
prison.

Smith stated, "The defendant represents a continuing danger to the lives and 
safety of other persons."

Con-Ui also has demonstrated an "utter lack of remorse," Smith said.

(source: Wayne Independent)