[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----PENN., FLA., ALA., OHIO, IND., TENN.

[Rick Halperin]

Oct. 20



PENNSYLVANIA:

End futility of death penalty system


If there's one thing for which Pennsylvanians can thank confessed double 
murderer William Parrish, it's pointing out the mirage of the state's capital 
punishment law.

"Mirage" is no mere opinion. It reflects reality. Pennsylvania has imposed the 
death penalty 412 times since 1978, when capital punishment was reinstated, but 
only 3 people have been executed - and they essentially committed legal 
suicide, by declining to appeal. The last prisoner executed against his will 
was put to death in 1962, more than 50 years ago.

Parrish is not one of the few going quietly. He pleaded guilty in 2010 to 
shooting to death his wife and and baby son, but withdrew the pleas and stood 
trial, then was convicted. In August, the Governor's Office signed an execution 
warrant, but Monroe County President Judge Margherita Patti Worthington signed 
a stay in September.

Parrish's case resembles that of hundreds of other convicted individuals, all 
entitled to pursue appeals. It's a costly, lengthy but necessary process that 
has given rise to a boutique industry of lawyers who argue both sides. This 
life-and-death tug of war involves prosecutors, plaintiff's lawyers and judges, 
including federal judges from the Supreme Court on down. All these people 
recognize the gravity of their work. No one wants to see an innocent person 
killed by government. Besides costing tens of millions of dollars, the appeals 
process renders the "deterrence" argument toothless.

So, what's the point of Pennsylvania's death penalty, if nobody gets killed?

A 2011 Morning Call article reported that the death penalty costs an additional 
$2.27 million every year, even though, as Parrish's recent stay shows, 
executions do not occur.

Death penalty advocates and death penalty opponents alike should agree that the 
system is broken. For all intents and purposes, it's mere smoke and mirrors. 
All the death penalty is doing is bleeding Pennsylvania taxpayers.

(source: Editorial, Pocono Record)

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

2 charged in shooting death to have pre-trial hearing


Carl Leonard Varner and Jason C. Shauf are scheduled to have a pre-trial 
conference as co-defendants on Wednesday, for the 1st-degree murder and robbery 
charges they are facing in the death of Victor Hugo Campos-Olguin.

According to court documents, Varner, 56, and Shauf, 40, allegedly burglarized 
and robbed 310 E. King St., on Oct. 22, 2012 at 10:06 p.m., and killed 
Campos-Olguin during the incident.

At the time of the home invasion, there were 6 people at the scene. Varner and 
Shauf allegedly went into the home, demanding money and personal property, 
according to court documents. One of the men allegedly discharged a long 
barreled firearm into the ceiling of a bedroom during the incident. The 2nd 
allegedly used a black revolver to shoot Campos-Olguin, who fell into a nearby 
bathroom.

The 2 men then allegedly fled the area. In an investigation by Chambersburg 
Police, Shauf was identified as a suspect, according to court documents. On 
Oct. 23, 2012, Shauf was identified by a witness as being the man who shot into 
the bedroom ceiling during the incident.

In an interview with police, Varner denied involvement in the incident. He 
claimed that Shauf was "setting him up," according to court documents. During 
the interview, Police recovered a small single-shot .410 shotgun and a .22 
caliber Mag revolver from his residence, 238 E. McKinley St., Chambersburg. 
Both weapons were found to be consistent with evidence documented at the murder 
scene.

Varner was facing the death penalty in the incident until this March, when the 
District Attorney's Office withdrew the Notice of Aggravating Circumstances, 
preventing them from pursuing the death penalty. The District Attorney's office 
discovered evidence concerning Varner's "mental health history, which would 
certainly allow a jury to find evidence of a 'mitigating factor,'" according to 
court documents. After finding that, the death penalty was "no longer tenable."

Varner is facing 23 charges, including of 1st-degree murder, robbery, burglary, 
conspiracy to commit murder, robbery and burglary, kidnaping and unlawful 
restraint charges. Shauf is facing nearly all the same charges, with 28 counts 
of robbery, burlgary and conspiracy to commit charges, however the 1st-degree 
murder charge against him has been dropped, according to court documents.

The trial is currently scheduled for Dec. 8 through Dec. 12, and Dec. 15 
through Dec. 19. On Wednesday, attorneys are expecting to resolve any pre-trial 
motions left prior to the trial.

Both men are in Franklin County Jail, after bail was denied.

(source: publicopiniononline.com)






FLORIDA:

Adam Matos pleads not guilty; prosecutors to seek death penalty


Adam Matos, charged with murdering four people in Hudson last month, entered a 
not guilty plea in court Monday morning, while prosecutors announced they will 
seek the death penalty.

Standing in a red prison jumpsuit before Circuit Court Judge William Webb, 
Matos confirmed he will waive his right to a speedy trial. Via his public 
defender, Dean Livermore, Matos pleaded not guilty to 4 counts of 1st-degree 
murder, 1 count of aggravated assault, and 1 count of being a fugitive from 
justice.

Matos will next appear in court Dec. 9 for a pretrial hearing.

Early last month, investigators discovered four bodies stacked on a hill in 
Hudson. They were identified as Matos' ex-girlfriend Megan Brown, 27, the 
mother of his 4-year-old son; her parents Margaret and Greg Brown, both 52; and 
Nicholas Leonard, 37, whom Megan Brown had recently begun dating.

Deputies had visited the Browns' home, which Matos shared, in early September 
after receiving a tip that no one could be reached at the home. When a Pasco 
County sheriff's deputy entered, he found large amounts of blood and a strong 
odor.

>From there, deputies tracked down the bodies, decomposing in the heat less than 
a mile away.

Arrest reports detail the way the victims died: Megan Brown was shot in the 
head. Margaret Brown was found with a plastic bag over her head, which had been 
bashed in. Her husband had been shot in the torso. Leonard died of blunt force 
trauma to the head.

Deputies found Matos a day later at a Tampa hotel, where he had checked in 
under his own name with the 4-year-old son he fathered with Megan Brown. The 
child, severely autistic, was unharmed and taken into protective custody.

Authorities have found weapons inside and surrounding the Browns' Hudson home, 
including crossbows, rifles and knives. They have also found blood-soaked rugs 
and sheets, as well as blood and maggots on the floor of a Dodge Caravan in the 
home's garage, court documents show.

Matos is being held without bail in the Pasco County jail.

(source: Tampa Bay Times)






ALABAMA:

Attorney for man charged in Pelham triple-homicide claims self-defense; 
prosecutors say victims were 'executed'


Prosecutors say Jon Ingram Staggs Jr. "executed" 3 people inside a Pelham home, 
1-by-1, because he was angry over a drug debt. His attorney says the shootings 
were in self-defense, a "fight-or-flight" response to a struggle with one of 
the men.

On Sept. 9, 2012, Casey Lee Cumberland, 22; Joshua Adam Smith, 22; and Simeon 
Gilmore, 19, were found dead inside a home in the Chandalar subdivision in 
Pelham. All three men were shot with a .45 caliber Glock.

Staggs was taken into custody that afternoon after telling his mother and 
stepfather that he shot three people who tried to rob him.

The 22-year-old faces 5 counts of capital murder. His trial began 2 weeks ago 
before Shelby County Circuit Judge Dan Reeves.

Herbie Brewer and Lisa M. Ivey are representing Staggs. Shelby County District 
Attorney Jill Hall Lee and Assistant District Attorneys Roger Hepburn, Alan 
Miller and Jeff Bradley are prosecuting the case. They are seeking the death 
penalty.

Reeves will give an explanation of charges to the jury Monday morning, and 
jurors will begin deliberations. Attorneys delivered closing statements Friday 
afternoon.

Throughout the trial, they have offered different descriptions of the events 
leading up the shootings.

The night started at Club NV in downtown Birmingham. The 3 victims, Staggs and 
a man named Jeremiah Mullins planned to meet at the Chandalar house after 
leaving the club.

Staggs gave Gilmore some marijuana in exchange for a promise he would pay $40 
for it later.

Mullins testified on Oct. 15 that Staggs showed him the Glock and a shotgun 
while they were in his truck.

They arrived first and grew impatient waiting for the others. Staggs walked 
around the home and broke a window. He took a television and a video game 
system and brought the items to a friend's house, Mullins said.

He testified that Staggs planned to return to the house alone later that 
morning.

Brewer said the shootings happened after an argument and a struggle between 
Gilmore and Staggs, who then acted "in the heat of passion, without time to 
think or cool off."

"We might take 2 weeks in court but this young man made a decision in the blink 
of an eye," he said in his closing statement.

Miller said Staggs was more calculating that night, particularly when he 
decided to bring his gun inside to ask for his money.

Prosecutors say that no struggle took place in the house that night. Several 
facts support their contention, Bradley said: Only a single, small drop of 
blood was found on Staggs' shorts. A couch cushion was found on top of 
Gilmore's body. Drawers removed haphazardly from a dresser were piled on top of 
Cumberland's shoes.

A Pelham police sergeant who collected evidence at the home testified that the 
scene "looked more like a ransacking" than a struggle.

Gilmore was shot 1st. He was found face down in a pool of blood in the living 
room, where furniture was overturned and cushions strewn around the room.

Staggs has repeatedly told friends, his family and investigators that he was 
defending himself.

In a Sept. 9, 2012, interview with investigators, Staggs' statements are 
sometimes indiscernible.

In that statement, Bradley says, Staggs is "evasive, mumbles and looks down" 
but still "confesses to each and every element" of the charges against him.

Staggs told investigators that he returned to get his money and a conversation 
with Gilmore turned quickly into a confrontation. He said Gilmore "jumped up 
and started running" at him, and he fired 3 times.

Staggs said he heard Cumberland yelling from the other room. He said they 
struggled in the hallway before he fired several shots.

Cumberland was found on the floor in the hallway outside a bedroom, where the 
drawers had been pulled out of a dresser and thrown on the floor.

Prosecutors contend that Cumberland was in bed when he was shot the 1st time.

"The only way out was past the guy with the gun who had just executed his 
friend," Bradley said.

Then Staggs went downstairs to leave through the basement door, through a room 
where Smith was asleep on a couch.

Smith "threatened to get a gun" and, in a kneejerk reaction, Staggs shot him, 
Brewer said.

Bradley said that claim is "preposterous," and prosecutors believe no such 
conversation happened. Smith, who was drunk earlier in the night, was passed 
out with his face on his arms.

"The only thing that explains that position is defendant went down there and in 
cold blood he executed Josh Smith," Bradley said.

Brewer said Staggs never denied shooting the men, but that the deaths of 
Gilmore and Cumberland were not intentional.

(source: al.com)






OHIO:

Austin Myers moved to death row


The teen sentenced to death for the murder of 18-year-old Justin Back in Warren 
County has been transferred to the Chillicothe Correctional Institution.

That's where male inmates on Ohio's death row are housed.

According to the website for the Ohio Department of Correction and 
Rehabilitation, Austin Myers, 19, was admitted on Friday, one day after a judge 
handed down a death sentence.

Myers and Timothy Mosley, 20, were convicted of robbing and killing Back in his 
Wayne Township Home. Back was choked, stabbed and shot. The pair dumped Back's 
body in Preble County.

Mosley testified against Myers in accordance with a plea deal he made with 
prosecutors to avoid the death penalty. Mosley faces life in prison without the 
possibility of parole at his sentencing in a few weeks.

Myers is now the youngest inmate on death row in Ohio. An execution date has 
not been set.

Executions in Ohio are on hold until February 2015 while the state reviews its 
lethal injection method.

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

Prosecutors seek death penalty in I-75 slaying


The man who sparked a 2 state manhunt faces the death penalty in Ohio and 
Kentucky.

Terry Froman, 41, now faces 2 counts of aggravated murder and 2 counts of 
kidnapping. He is accused of killing a teenager in Kentucky, then killing the 
teen's mother, Kim Thomas, 34, along Interstate 75 in Warren County.

Police found Thomas in Froman's car on I-75 near Monroe on September 12. The 
prosecutor says forensics show that Thomas was alive when they entered Ohio 
that day. She was shot multiple times and killed in Warren County. They say 
Froman also shot himself, but was not seriously hurt.

Thomas's family was there when the announcement was made. They say they are 
appreciative of the speed to prosecute the case.

Warren County Prosecutor David Fornshell says he will face charges first in 
Kentucky, then in Ohio.

Froman is being held in jail on a $1-million bond.

(source for both: WDTN news)



INDIANA:

Suspect Held In 7 Murders In Northwest Indiana


A man was in custody in northwest Indiana, after the bodies of 7 women were 
found in the area this weekend.

A 43-year-old convicted sex offender was being held in Hammond, Indiana, where 
at least one of the victims was found Saturday night.

Police suspect the man is a serial killer who might be responsible for at least 
7 murders.

A source tells CBS 2's Brad Edwards that the suspect has indicated that there 
may be many other victims, including those in other states. So far, he has only 
told investigators where to find the bodies of the 7 from Indiana.

He apparently only wanted to discuss the Indiana cases because the state has 
the death penalty and he wants to be executed for his crimes, the sources told 
Edwards.

The suspect has lived in Northwest Indiana since 2004, mostly recently in Gary, 
according to Gary Police Corporal Gabrielle King.

He was 1st arrested in connection with the slaying of 19-year-old Afrika Hardy, 
who was found dead inside a Motel 6 in Hammond.

While he was being questioned about Hardy's death, he allegedly told police 
about 3 other bodies. Investigators followed up on that information, and found 
3 bodies in abandoned homes in Gary, Indiana.

"Once we received the information, of course we sent uniformed officers to the 
scene," Gary Police Cpl. Gabrielle King said.

One of those women has been identified as 35-year-old Anith Jones, who had been 
missing for a week before her body was found in Gary.

"We believe this may be the work of one or more persons, but again the 
investigation is ongoing," Gary Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson said.

Early Monday, the Lake County Coroner's office confirmed three more women's 
bodies had been found, but have yet to provide any details on any of the 
murders.

Hardy and at least 1 other victim were strangled. Autopsies were pending for 
the other 5.

5 victims remained Jane Does as of early Monday.

"We're going through our missing persons reports at this time, to see if 
anything is connected," Gary Police Chief Larry McKinley said. Police in 
Hammond and Gary were conducting a joint investigation.

Hammond Mayor Thomas McDermott Jr. took to Facebook to defend his police 
department, in the wake of the apparent serial killings, as well as unrelated 
allegations of police brutality and racial profiling.

"Charges of racism, brutality, etc. against the Hammond PD are being encouraged 
and solicited around many parts of our city at this very moment. All in an 
attempt to destroy the Hammond PD???s credibility as a fine policedepartment, 
as I KNOW it to be," he wrote.

"As you hear the details of this grisly murder in Hammond motel room, and 
discover how this murder was solved by our police, it will make you proud of 
the Hammond PD. They captured a murderer, from Gary, that is a suspect in many 
murders, spanning many years, in NWI. Hammond, and NWI, are safer today because 
this murder case was solved. Our condolences and prayers go out to the victims, 
and to the families of the victims."

(source: CBS News)






TENNESSEE----death row inmate dies

Tennessee death row inmate dies of natural causes


Tennessee officials say a death row inmate convicted of a 1988 murder in 
Campbell County has died of natural causes.

Department of Correction spokeswoman Neysa E. Taylor says Olen E. Hutchison, 
61, was pronounced dead at 8:55 a.m. Sunday at Riverbend Maximum Security 
Institution in Nashville.

Hutchison was convicted in 1991 in the drowning death of Hugh L. Huddleston, 
46, of Knoxville.

Huddleston was lured to Norris Lake under the guise of going fishing.

Hutchison's case became the focus of demonstrations and forums on disparities 
in the state's death sentences.

Hutchinson was 1 of 7 men accused of plotting to kill Huddleston in an 
insurance fraud scheme. Hutchison was the only person sentenced to death.

The man convicted of pushing Huddleston into the lake received a life sentence.

(source: Associated Press)