[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, PENN., MD., DEL., VA., N.C., ALA

[Rick Halperin]

Nov. 6



TEXAS:

Family seeking death penalty in teen's death


A grieving father says he wants the 2 men facing capital murder charges in his 
teenage son's death to face the death penalty. We have obtained disturbing 
pictures of 1 of those men, 19-year-old Teaonta Clark.

"By them just taking the life of his only son, his 13 year old child. For him 
to see those events unfold before his eyes," said Rankin-Madison District 
Attorney Michael Guest.

13-year-old Muhammad Saeed was shot and killed at point blank range while 
working at his father's convenience store. The robbery happened while his 
father Fahd Saeed stood just feet away. Today, grieving and clinging to hope in 
the justice system, Fahd met with Guest about justice for his son.

"I have children his age and so as he was telling his story about what happened 
I could only imagine me being in his place and seeing that happen to one of my 
children," said Guest.

19-year-old Teaonta Clark and his 34 year old uncle Tony Clark, both of Canton, 
are behind bars in Dallas, Texas; each facing capital murder and attempted 
murder charges. Guest says the victim's father is pushing the death penalty for 
the 2 responsible for his son's killing.

"We explained to the family that if we do seek the death penalty, and the death 
penalty is still very much an option in this case, that the case will take a 
little longer to progress through the criminal justice system," said Guest. 
"The family, at this point, definitely is interested in the State seeking the 
death penalty and so at this point that will be 1 of the options that we will 
continue to look at as this case plays out."

We found pictures on 19-year-old Teaonta Clark's facebook page of him posing 
with guns, cash and other pictures which appear to be illegal drugs.

Guest says his team is planning to present this case to the grand jury this 
month.

(source: MSNewsNow)






PENNSYLVANIA:

Trial opens for man accused in Pennsylvania woman's death, dismemberment


A former electrical contractor at the Tobyhanna Army Depot in eastern 
Pennsylvania went on trial Wednesday on charges he beat, strangled and 
dismembered a woman whose body parts were stuffed into garbage bags and strewn 
along 2 interstate highways.

Jurors in the trial of Charles Ray Hicks, 40, were warned by the prosecution 
they would hear gruesome details and see graphic pictures during the trial in 
Monroe County Court in Stroudsburg, which is expected to last about 2 weeks.

Hicks is facing a potential death penalty, if convicted, and is being held 
without bail.

"This case is a journey to the darkest inner recesses of the human soul," lead 
prosecutor Michael Mancuso said in his opening statement.

Mancuso outlined how the investigation started with the discovery of a severed 
head and other body parts in black garbage bags by state highways crews on a 
snowy day in January 2008.

The prosecutor also recounted how state police eventually arrested Hicks on 
first-degree murder charges, among others, after finding the hands of Deanna 
Null, 36, wrapped in socks and newspaper, hidden behind a wall in his home in 
the Pocono Mountains.

Mancuso said the prosecution will present expert witness testimony that Null 
was tortured before she died.

Jason LaBar, the public defender representing Hicks, told the jury Hicks is 
guilty of tampering with evidence and abuse of a corpse and disputed the 
prosecution's claim Null was tortured and murdered. He said medical experts 
disagree on the cause of death, which he said is undetermined.

LaBar also referred to toxicology tests that showed Null had a significant 
amount of alcohol and cocaine in her system at the time of her death. He 
suggested Null died from a possible drug overdose and that Hicks panicked and 
"drug dumped" Null because he did not want to get in trouble with the police.

Witnesses interviewed by state police in Scranton said they saw Null entering a 
car driven by a man they later identified as Hicks, according to prosecutors. 
Hicks, originally from Texas, had recently started working at the Tobyhanna 
Army Depot.

Besides the hands, police recovered black plastic garbage bags in the attic of 
Hicks's house they said matched the bags containing the body parts. They also 
found knives, saws and blades in the house.

Police say Hicks admitted he had sex with Null and smoked crack cocaine with 
her.

(source: Reuters)

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

Chester County Officials: Mother, Boyfriend Beat 3-Year-Old Boy To Death


The Chester County DA's office has announced the arrest of a mother and her 
boyfriend for allegedly beating a 3-year-old child to death.

Jillian Tait and her boyfriend, Gary Fellenbaum, were arrested for killing 
Tait's 3-year-old son, Scotty McMillan, and beating 6-year-old Ryan McMillan.

Both children are from a previous relationship.

Officials say all 4 moved into a trailer in West Caln Township last month, and 
that's when the abuse started.

The alleged beatings reportedly escalated earlier this week and lasted a couple 
days until Scotty was found dead.

Both Tait and Fellenbaum are facing 1st degree murder charges and the DA has 
made it clear he will seek the death penalty if the 2 are found guilty.

The pair is scheduled for a preliminary hearing next week.

A 3rd adult is also facing charges related to the case

(source: CBS news)






MARYLAND:

Gansler asks court to rescind death penalty----Brief filed in support of 
attorneys for Jody Lee Miles


Maryland Attorney General Doug Gansler said Thursday that the death penalty 
should no longer apply to an inmate whose sentence was imposed before Maryland 
abolished capital punishment last year.

Gansler announced that he was filing a brief with the Maryland Court of Special 
Appeals to support attorneys for convict Jody Lee Miles, who was convicted in 
the 1997 robbery and murder of Edward Atkinson, a musical theater director, in 
Wicomico County.

Maryland's repeal of capital punishment does not affect 4 men on death row, who 
are still under a death sentence. But, Gansler noted, Maryland no longer has 
regulations and procedures to carry out an execution, even for a crime and a 
sentence imposed before the repeal of capital punishment.

He said it is wrong to have Miles under a death sentence when Maryland has 
abolished capital punishment.

Gansler is asking the court to impose a sentence of life without parole 
instead.

The filing relates only to Miles' case, Gansler said, but it opens the door for 
attorneys for the other three inmates to pursue similar requests with the 
courts to replace capital sentences with prison terms of life without parole.

(source: WBAL TV news)






DELAWARE:

The Effects of Judge vs. Jury Sentencing


A new study by researchers at Cornell University examines the effects of 
Delaware's decision to transfer capital sentencing authority from the jury to 
the judge. The study used data from capital cases from 1977-2007, during which 
time Delaware shifted responsibility for death penalty sentencing from jury to 
judge, making it one of very few states that give a judge the final say over 
capital sentencing. The shift to judge sentencing significantly increased the 
number of death sentences, according to the study. The authors raise the 
question of whether judge sentencing is constitutional under the Sixth and 
Eighth Amendments. Highlighting the focus on "evolving standards of decency" 
when the Supreme Court examines capital sentencing practices, the authors 
conclude, "The fact that only a few states currently allow judges to impose 
death sentences renders the practice suspect on that basis. Our research shows 
that the replacement of juries by judges has a strong and significant impact, 
increasing the likelihood of death sentences. This is also out of step with the 
dwindling number of death sentences imposed by juries."

(source: DPIC)






VIRGINIA:

'Death row isolation' seems not too harsh a life for a man who killed three


Re: the Oct. 28 Virginia section article "Va. court to review death row 
isolation":

Alfredo Prieto is a convicted killer on death row for the rape and murder of a 
15-year-old girl in California. After his DNA linked him to the murders of 2 
students in Virginia, he was tried and convicted in a death penalty case here 
as well.

The average enclosure of a coffin is 15 square feet. He enjoys 56 more feet of 
floor space than any of his victims. He is allowed a TV and a CD player. He 
eats and showers and exercises. He gets to breathe.

He has plenty of room, in my estimation, to contemplate another path he could 
have taken than the one that leads to his own eventual jury-mandated death.

It is a waste of the state's time and money even to consider a review of 
whether solitary confinement "violates the due process rights of condemned 
inmates."

My skin crawls every time a convicted killer attempts to use the court to 
expand his privileges. What about the rights of his helpless victims, the ones 
who put him on death row to begin with?

Hiding behind the excuse of "the law demands due process for everyone" does not 
let the lawyers or a U.S. District Court judge off the hook for taking this 
case, either. I can't imagine the pain his victims' families are revisiting 
because of this court's action.

ALICE McNEILL

BOTETOURT COUNTY

(source: Letter to the Editor, Roanoke Times)






NORTH CAROLINA:

Feces-strewn floors, pentagrams on every wall and graves in the garden: Inside 
the North Carolina 'Satanist killer's' house of horrors----Pazuzu Illah 
Algarad, 35, was arrested October 5 after the remains of 2 people were found in 
a shallow grave behind the Clemmons home----Algarad's professed wife Amber 
Nicole Burch, 24, was also charged following the discovery of the bodies of 
Joshua Wetzler and Tommy Welch


Police have released stomach-turning video taken from inside the disgusting 
home of accused North Carolina 'Satanist killer' Pazuza Algarad.

Inside the Clemmons house, behind which police uncovered 2 long-dead bodies 
from a shallow grave last month, is a virtual sea of trash, animal feces and 
other putrescence within walls utterly covered in pentagrams and depictions of 
the Devil.

The squalid scene lay behind a door covered in skulls and arcane symbols. 
Otherwise, the ranch-style brick home suggests none of the horrors police say 
took place inside and which date back as far as 2009.

Early this past October, police dug 2 bodies out from the yard behind the home 
35-year-old Algarad shared with his Satanist mother Cynthia Lawson and his 
self-proclaimed wife Amber Burch, 24.

The 1st victim has been identified as 37-year-old Joshua Fredrick Wetzler while 
the 2nd victim has been named as Tommy Dean Welch, 36.

Police say they wound up dead and buried in the yard in 2009.

Algarad was arrested and charged with murder October 5 after the 2 bodies were 
discovered at the house in Clemmons where neighbors say he has performed animal 
sacrifices and satanic rituals.

A friend claims that he had 'told everyone' about the bodies, but nobody 
believed him, and he described how he killed them, ate part of them and then 
burned the rest in a fire pit.

Burch was also charged with murder, while 28-year-old Krystal Nicole Matlock 
has been charged as an accessory with police alleging that she helped bury the 
bodies.

Police have said they also found animal bones in the property and that more 
arrests as part of the investigation are possible.

After the trio were detained, Forsyth District Judge Gordon Miller assigned 
capital defenders to represent them.

Miller told them that if convicted, they could receive life in prison without 
the possibility of parole or the death penalty. They are set to appear in court 
on October 23.

On the front door of the house where the skeletal remains were found was a sign 
warning law-enforcement not to enter.

It reads: 'No gang members allowed: anyone that dresses the same, has the same 
badge and call themselves the authority of the land they did not create. Below 
and to the right is a picture of a skull and cross bones.

Under that picture are the words, 'Evil will triumph'.

According to the Winston-Salem Journal, Algarad was born in San Francisco, 
California, as John Lawson, but dropped out of high school, became a drug 
dealer.

His mother Cynthia Lawson, who is also a Satanist, changed his name to Pazuzu - 
after the devil that possessed the girl in the film The Exorcis - and claimed 
it was of Iraqi descent.

His tongue was split down the middle like a snake and he allegedly filed down 
his teeth to sharpen them.

In 2010, Algarad was convicted on a charge of accessory after the fact in the 
shooting death of 30-year-old Joseph Chandler.

Chandler's body was found near a river by police after his mother reported him 
missing that morning.

According to state records, Algarad was on probation at the time the bodies 
were found.

Bianca Heath claimed she lived with Algarad for a month in 2005, and that he 
had spoken of the bones in his back yard.

She told The Huffington Post: 'Paz told everyone. But I never believed him. I'm 
sure no one else believed him either. He laughed about the skeletal remains 
when telling the story on why he did what he did.

' Heath said Algarad told her he picked up 2 prostitutes at two separate 
locations before he killed and ate them, burning the remains in a fire pit 
before burying the rest.

In 2011, Burch was accused of slapping Algarad's mother in the face and 
attempting to choke her.

She is described as Algarad's wife on Facebook, but authorities have said there 
is no legal document to suggest they are together.

(source: Daily Mail)


ALABAMA:

DeBlase Found Guilty of Capital Murder


John DeBlase. on trial for the brutal murder of his 2 young children, has been 
found guilty of 3 counts of capital murder.

The judge will determine whether the sentence warrants the death penalty or 
life in prison without the chance of parole either Thursday or Friday.

There is no indication whether DeBlase, 31, plans to appeal the verdict at this 
time.

DeBlase is accused of poisoning his 2 children in 2010 and burying their bodies 
in 2 different states.

News 5's Ashley Knight was in the courtroom as the verdict was read. The judge 
instructed the court for there to be no reaction upon hearing the verdict. As 
such, DeBlase showed no visible emotion when the guilty counts were read aloud.

Here's Ashley Knight's full report:

As the jury came into the courtroom, John Deblase looked up for the f1t time, 
as if trying to read the faces of the jurors. Then, you see him look back down 
and shake his head as if he sensed what was coming.

For the past 3 weeks, jurors have sat patiently, and listened to everything the 
defense and prosecution threw at them. It all boiled down to whether you 
believe Deblase's actions were intentional, or if he was just a negligent 
parent.

The defense, focusing on making Deblase's girlfriend, Heather Keaton, out to be 
the monster, portraying Deblase as a quiet, loving father who was manipulated 
by an evil woman. They said Keaton was jealous of Natalie's relationship with 
her father. And when she couldn't control the children, she killed them. They 
agreed their client was guilty, but not of capital murder - and instead asked 
for a lesser charge of manslaughter which would imply Deblase did not realize 
the situation would lead to the children's deaths.

The prosecution focused on the brutality of the murder. That 4-year-old 
Natalie's hands, feet and mouth were duct taped before she was put in a 
suitcase for hours until, they say, Deblase came and choked her to death, her 
body dumped in the woods in Citronelle. Months later, 3-year-old Chase was said 
to have been duct taped to a broom before meeting the same fate as his sister. 
His body was dumped outside Vancleave, Mississippi. They say Deblase stood by 
and watched Keaton abuse the children in the days leading up to their deaths 
and did nothing - stressing the point that all parents have a legal obligation 
to protect their children.

Rich made it clear the jury could send back a capital murder charge if they 
believe Deblase simply helped Keaton in the deaths.

After the verdict, Deblase's parents were too distraught to give a comment.

"Is there anything you'd like to say about John?"

"Not today," says mother Ann Deblase.

After the verdict, the jury was dismissed and will come back in the morning to 
start the sentencing phase. They will listen to testimonies given by character 
witnesses and the jury will then decide if Deblase will see life in prison 
without parole or the death penalty.

(source: WKRG news)