[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----PENN., MO., LA., OHIO

[Rick Halperin]

Aug. 26



PENNSYLVANIA:

Death penalty considered for Rostraver man accused in bludgeoning death of 
sister's boyfriend


Westmoreland County District Attorney John Peck said Tuesday he will soon 
decide whether to seek the death penalty against a Rostraver man accused of 
bludgeoning to death his sister's boyfriend earlier this year.

Peck told a county judge that Billy Ray Boggs has a lengthy criminal record, 
including a case from 1995 when he was charged with attempted murder, a factor 
that could lead prosecutors to seek the death penalty.

Boggs, 49, is charged with the 1st-degree murder of Thomas Guercio, 35, of 
Jeannette, who had been missing since the end of March. Guercio's body was 
found in an Armstrong County gas well.

Boggs appeared in court Tuesday for a brief hearing before Westmoreland County 
Judge Chris Feliciani as part of the scheduling procedure for trials.

Defense attorney Brian Aston said Boggs would plead guilty to a charge of 
1st-degree murder.

Peck, though, asked to delay a guilty plea so he could consider a potential 
death penalty.

"I want to explore all the possible sentences before any decision is made," 
Peck said.

According to court records, Boggs has been convicted of several burglaries, and 
Peck said he wants to review details of the attempted-murder case that was 
filed against Boggs 20 years ago in Cumberland County. Court records indicate 
Boggs served a 5- to 10-year prison sentence associated with pleading guilty in 
that case.

Aston said Boggs was prepared to accept responsibility for his actions. Boggs 
in May gave a detailed confession to police in which he said he beat Guercio in 
the head with a hammer, and after the man wouldn't die, continued to assault 
him into the next day and stabbed him to ensure he was dead.

Boggs, according to court records, told police he killed Guercio because he 
threatened the defendant's sister. Guercio and his girlfriend, Jamie Lynn 
Boggs, had been in a relationship and quarreled just before the fatal assault, 
police said.

"We're just waiting for John Peck to decide. We were going to plead guilty 
today, but John Peck said there were other considerations," Aston said.

1st-degree murder carries a mandatory sentence of life in prison without the 
possibility of parole. Should Peck seek the death penalty against Boggs, a jury 
or a judge would weigh evidence before a sentence is imposed.

Peck has most recently sought and secured death penalties against 3 men. Ricky 
Smyrnes, 29, and Melvin Knight, 24, are on death row for the February 2010 
torture slaying of a mentally disabled woman. Kevin Murphy, 55, was sentenced 
to death for the 2009 slayings of his mother, sister and aunt in Loyalhanna.

Peck said the death penalty moratorium imposed this year by Gov. Tom Wolf will 
not affect his decision to seek capital punishment. The governor has said he 
won't sign death warrants until a review of the state's death penalty is 
completed.

"The law has not been changed," Peck said. "The Legislature has enacted a law 
that is still on the books. I took an oath to uphold the law."

(source: triblive.com)






MISSISSIPPI:

Death penalty halted for prisoner after judge asks if lethal injection is 
painful


A convicted killer on death row since 1976 has had his execution halted after a 
judge demanded to know if the use of lethal-injections was painful.

The ruling by US District Judge Henry Wingate shuts down the use of the death 
penalty in Mississippi until the case is heard.

His decision came almost a month after the Attorney General's Office in the 
state asked the Supreme Court to set an execution date no later than Thursday 
for inmate Richard Gerald Jordan.

The 69-year-old along with another death row inmate have alleged the 
combination of drugs Mississippi has been using in lethal injections could 
cause them great pain before killing them.

Prison officials cannot now use pentobarbital or midazolam, 2 drugs used to 
make prisoners unconscious.

Mississippi law requires a 3-drug process, with the sedative followed by a 
paralysing agent and a drug that stops an inmate's heart.

If pain is caused in the use of the lethal injection it would violate the 
constitutional mandate against cruel and unusual punishment.

Jordan's lawyers in New Orleans had asked the judge to issue a preliminary 
injunction preventing the setting of an execution date until he rules on the 
lawsuit.

Wingate granted the request yesterday ensuring the convicted killer will have a 
stay of execution until a decision has been made.

Reacting to the decision Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood said: "We are 
extremely disappointed that the federal court has frustrated the State of 
Mississippi's lawful duty to enforce its criminal sentence of capital 
punishment.

"Just months ago the United States Supreme Court approved Oklahoma's method of 
lethal injection. Mississippi's method follows that of Oklahoma. We feel 
strongly that the district court misapplied the law."

Jordan, the state's longer serving inmate on death row, was convicted of 
shooting dead Edwina Marter in January 1976.

He had kidnapped the 33-year-old before demanding a $50,000 ransom in Gulfport, 
Mississippi.

His trial heard how the killer targeted mum-of-two Marter after learning her 
husband was a vice president at a Gulfport Bank.

Jordan claimed he accidentally killed Marter while trying to stop her from 
fleeing.

However evidence showed she was kneeling in front of Jordan when he shot her in 
the back of the head in northern Harrison County, Mississippi.

Legal experts predict if the injection is found to be painful it could have 
ramifications across America and see a ban of the drug.

Following a number of botched executions America's death row units have found 
it increasingly difficult to obtain the deadly injections due to a European-led 
boycott on such sales.

The controversy surrounding the use of such methods has recently gained 
momentum after European manufacturers, including the Denmark-based maker of 
pentobarbital, banned US prisons from using their drugs for executions.

It came after convicted murderer and rapist Clayton Lockett convulsed, clenched 
his teeth and struggle to talk on the execution table before officials moved in 
to block the view of witnesses.

The 38-year-old killer's death in April last year was the 1st time Oklahoma had 
used a new, 3-drug lethal cocktail.

Lockett died of a heart attack 43 minutes after he was initially injected.

Amid the growing shortages of the injections Tennessee agreed to bring back the 
electric chair, Oklahoma the gas chamber and Utah the firing squad.

(source: The Mirror)






LOUISIANA:

Kevin Daigle makes 1st court appearance following arrest in connection with 
trooper's death


Daigle, 54, accused of killing Louisiana State Trooper Steven Vincent, 44, was 
making his 1st court appearance since his arrest Sunday. Daigle is charged with 
1st-degree murder of a police officer and aggravated battery.

Daigle appeared before Ware in 72-hour court for a right-to-counsel hearing at 
Calcasieu Correctional Center. The Public Defender's Office was appointed to 
represent Daigle, but the office has already been in contact with attorneys 
certified to handle death penalty cases, Ware told Daigle. The case was 
allotted to Judge Guy Bradberry's department.

The hearing was held in a small room off to the side of the larger courtroom at 
the jail where about 50 other inmates were also making court appearances.

The District Attorney's Office will make the final determination of whether to 
seek the death penalty in the case, which will be presented to a Calcasieu 
grand jury in the coming days or weeks.

Daigle is also a suspect in the killing of his roommate, who was found dead in 
his Moss Bluff house Monday.

State police said Vincent was responding to a report of an erratic driver when 
he found Daigle stuck in a ditch in a truck. Daigle opened the door and shot 
Vincent with a sawed-off shotgun, Col. Mike Edmonson said.

(source: KSLA news)






OHIO:

Ohio Mom Accused of Killing 3 Sons Could Face Death Penalty


A woman accused of killing her 3 young sons over a 13-month period out of 
jealousy at the attention her husband paid them was indicted Tuesday on 
aggravated murder charges that carry the possibility of a death sentence.

The charges against Brittany Pilkington in Bellefontaine, in western Ohio, 
include capital punishment factors of multiple victims and victims under 13.

Logan County Prosecutor William Goslee had previously said death penalty 
charges were unlikely given the circumstances, which included what he said was 
Pilkington's abusive childhood and life with her controlling husband, who 
previously was her mother's boyfriend.

Pilkington, 23, is in jail on $1 million bond. She didn't speak at a brief 
court hearing last week and wasn't required to enter a plea on the murder 
charges against her.

Her mother, Lori Cummins, said Pilkington told her in a brief jailhouse phone 
call last week that she's innocent.

But police and prosecutors say Pilkington confessed Aug. 18, the day her 3rd 
son, 3-month-old Noah, was found dead.

Goslee has said authorities didn't have any evidence of a crime in the earlier 
deaths and no one could have predicted Pilkington would kill her remaining son.

Authorities were unsure what caused the July 2014 death of 3-month-old Niall, 
which was attributed to sudden infant death syndrome. After 4-year-old Gavin 
died in April, a daughter and the newborn boy, Noah, were taken into custody by 
the Logan County Children's Services agency pending an investigation.

During a hearing, a doctor speculated that the boys might have had a genetic 
defect. But the doctor also said there were signs of neglect.

A judge allowed Noah to be returned home because there wasn't conclusive 
evidence the first 2 boys had been killed. The judge, Dan Bratka, said he 
couldn't comment about the Pilkingtons because the family's child services case 
is pending in his court.

Authorities now believe Pilkington used each boy's comfort blanket to suffocate 
him in his crib or bed because she wanted her husband to pay more attention to 
her and their 3-year-old daughter, Goslee said.

Goslee said Pilkington was dominated and isolated by her 43-year-old husband, 
Joseph Pilkington, who had been Cummins' live-in boyfriend before marrying 
Brittany Pilkington in 2010. He isn't a suspect in the case. Relatives say he 
hasn't been seen since his wife's arrest. He hasn't returned messages from The 
Associated Press.

Police and prosecutors have noted that Brittany Pilkington did not seem 
affected or emotional about her sons' deaths.

Cummins said that her daughter was always good with the children and that 
Joseph Pilkington favored the 4-year-old son over the 3-year-old daughter. This 
bothered Brittany Pilkington, who said the children should be treated equally, 
Cummins said.

The county prosecutor has alleged Brittany Pilkington was physically abused as 
a child by her father. Her father, Ed Cummins, said he wasn't present when she 
grew up and he regrets it. But Cummins, 41, said he never harmed her.

(source: Associated Press)

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

Death penalty sought for Bellefontaine mom accused of killing her sons

Bellefontaine mom Brittany Pilkington could face the death penalty if convicted 
of smothering her 3 young sons to death over the past 13 months.

A Logan County grand jury indicted the 23-year-old mom on 3 counts of 
aggravated murder with a death penalty specification late Tuesday.

Pilkington was scheduled to have a hearing in Bellefontaine Municipal Court at 
5 p.m. Tuesday but that was cancelled after the grand jury's decision.

An arraignment on the new charges will be held at 2 p.m. Wednesday at the Logan 
County Jail. Pilkington's bond has been set at $1 million.

Pilkington's family said they will attend Noah's funeral on Wednesday instead 
of the court hearing in order to lay him to rest.

Police have accused Pilkington of killing 3-month-old Niall Pilkington in July 
2014 and 4-year-old Gavin Pilkington in April. Authorities took custody of her 
3rd son, Noah Pilkington, after he was born in May, but a judge allowed him to 
return home because there wasn't enough evidence to determine a cause of death 
for the first 2 boys.

Noah died Aug. 18, 6 days after he was returned to Brittany Pilkington.

A visitation for Noah will take place at noon today, followed by a funeral 
service at 2 p.m. at Eichholtz Daring & Sanford Funeral Home, 321 N. Main St. 
in Bellefontaine.

Family members who showed up for the cancelled court hearing Tuesday evening 
said they plan to attend the funeral instead of the rescheduled court hearing 
now that they are at the same time.

"Once we can get this baby buried and laid to rest with his brothers, there 
will be a little bit of peace there," said Pat Cummins, Brittany Pilkington's 
step-mother.

A vigil has also been organized for 4 p.m. Saturday at Southview Park on Lake 
Avenue in Bellefontaine. The entire community is invited to launch balloons in 
honor of the boys or anyone they've lost and want to remember, Cummins said.

Brittany Pilkington's uncle Jeff Skaggs has called local lawmakers, hoping to 
propose a new law to prevent deaths like Noah's.

"I hope something positive comes out of this," Skaggs said.

He believes there should have been more Children's Services could have done to 
keep Noah and his sister in foster care after the deaths of Brittany 
Pilkington's first 2 sons.

County officials have said the law prevented them from keeping the children out 
of the home because the causes of death in the other cases remained 
undetermined.

"I'd like to change the law and call it Noah's Law," Skaggs said.

His niece has received counseling while in jail, Skaggs said, and the family 
has left word for her that they are supporting her.

"The message is, 'We are here for you,'" he said. "It was wrongful what she 
did, but I just hope she gets the help she needs." Cummins said the last she'd 
heard, Brittany Pilkington was on suicide watch at the jail.

"It's just hard to take," Cummins said.

She doesn't believe that her step-daughter is capable of what she s accused of, 
but said if she did do it, she needs to spend time in prison or a mental health 
facility. She doesn't deserve the death penalty if convicted, Cummins said.

Skaggs denies allegations of child abuse that prosecutors have said Brittany 
Pilkington made against her father.

She has had a troubling relationship with her husband Joseph Pilkington, Skaggs 
said. He lived with Brittany Pilkington's mother from the time she was about 8 
years old.

"It goes back 12 to 15 years," Skaggs said. "Brittany never went to her prom, 
she never had a boyfriend," because Joseph Pilkington had complete control over 
her, he said.

Joseph Pilkington hasn't been able to be reached for comment.

(source: Springfield News-Sun)