[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, CONN., DEL., N.C., GA., FLA., MISS.

[Rick Halperin]

June 27



TEXAS:

Court's Ban of Death Penalty Lawyer Will Stand



The Texas Supreme Court on Friday ruled it has no authority or jurisdiction to 
intervene in its sister court's ban of prominent death penalty lawyer David 
Dow.

In January, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals - the state's highest criminal 
court - found Dow in contempt after he was a day late filing an appeal to stop 
the execution of Miguel Angel Paredes last year. The court banished Dow from 
appearing with new clients before that court for a year. Dow had been warned he 
could be suspended after missing another deadline with the appeals court in 
2010.

"Dow has been suspended for an important but limited reason ... ensuring that 
pleadings in death penalty cases are filed in time to be thoroughly considered 
by the courts," the ruling stated.

Paredes was executed in October for his role in 2002 slaying that left 3 people 
dead.

Dow appealed the ban, arguing that the criminal appeals court had overstepped 
its bounds by regulating attorney conduct, a power that rests with the Texas 
Supreme Court, the state's highest civil court.

But on Friday, the Texas Supreme Court's ruling stated the criminal appeals 
court's ban did not usurp its authority.

"The Court of Criminal Appeals has not undertaken to determine what lawyers may 
practice before it," the Supreme Court ruled. "Rather, it has imposed a 
sanction for the violation of a rule that provides for such a sanction. This in 
no way threatens our authority to regulate the Texas bar."

The Texas Supreme Court ruling pointed out that Dow can continue to represent 
his current clients before the court but cannot take any new cases to them 
during the ban.

Dow's attorney, Stanley Schneider, did not immediately respond to a request for 
comment.

(source: Texas Tribune)

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

Fewer Death Row Inmates in Texas



The number of death row inmates in Texas continues to fall while executions 
remain few and far between. At its peak in 1999, the number of Texas death row 
inmates was 460 -- today its only 260.

"The number of death penalty cases that are going to trial have been dropping 
over the past decade," says attorney Kathryn Kase, executive director of Texas 
Defender Service. "As a result, the number of new death sentences and new 
inmates on death row have dropped dramatically."

Kase credits the decline to a change in attitude as more convictions are 
overturned due to new evidence. Texas currently has 745 people serving life 
sentences.

"If you execute somebody you can't go back and reverse your mistake," she says. 
"However, if you sentence them to life without parole, you can reverse your 
mistake."

Kase says jurors also are questioning whether capital punishment is the best 
sentence.

"DNA testing casts doubt on whether we have the right person, or where racial 
attitudes come into play when making that life or death decision," she says.

(source: KTRH news)








CONNECTICUT:

Cheshire Killer's Attempt To Speed Up Execution Denied



Cheshire home invasion killer Steven Hayes has lost his latest bid to waive his 
appeals and proceed to execution.

In a handwritten document titled, "Emergency Habeas," filed June 17 in Superior 
Court in Rockville, Hayes said his incarceration is illegal because delays with 
his direct appeal to the Supreme Court - automatic and mandatory for capital 
cases in the state of Connecticut - will not allow him to be put to death.

Hayes, 52, said that he filed the petition in an effort to get the habeas court 
to carry out his death sentence and that he was not challenging the conditions 
of his confinement at Northern Correctional Institution in Somers, where he has 
been on death row since December 2010. Yet Hayes says in the petition that he 
is in "hostile living conditions" and "psychologically tormented" by prison 
staff daily. He also says he is denied proper mental-health and medical 
treatment and is "forced to go without food, clothing, cosmetics, and cell 
cleaning supplies."

"I was sentenced to death, I deserve my sentence, I was not sentenced to years 
of psychological torment, physical abuse and neglect until my appeal can be 
heard," Hayes wrote. "If not for the mandatory aspect of this appeal, I could 
choose to freely have my sentence imposed. The direct appeal takes away my 
freedom of choice and is now forcing me to live as I am."

In an order issued Wednesday, Judge William H. Bright Jr. said the court would 
not issue a writ of habeas corpus "because the relief sought by the petitioner 
is not available" according to the Connecticut Practice Book. Writs of habeas 
corpus, also known as final petitions, usually contain claims that a convict is 
being held unlawfully and are filed after challenges involving evidence and law 
are resolved.

Should Hayes "seek to challenge the conditions of his confinement, he may do so 
by filing a petition of writ of habeas corpus that properly challenges the 
conditions of his confinement," Bright wrote.

Karen Martucci, acting director of the external affairs division of the state 
Department of Correction, declined to comment Friday.

Jennifer Bourn, assistant public defender in the office of the chief public 
defender, said that while she is handling Hayes' direct appeal, Hayes 
represented himself in his filing of the habeas petition. Bourn said Hayes' 
appeal has been fully briefed and is now awaiting a spot on the Supreme Court's 
calendar for arguments.

Hayes and his accomplice, Joshua Komisarjevsky, are on death row for killing 
Jennifer Hawke-Petit and her daughters, Hayley, 17, and Michaela, 11, during a 
July 2007 home invasion.

The men tied up and tortured the family as they ransacked the home for cash and 
valuables. Komisarjevsky sexually assaulted Michaela, and Hayes raped and 
strangled Hawke-Petit. The house was doused with gasoline and set on fire. 
Hayley and Michaela died of smoke inhalation. The daughters' father and 
Hawke-Petit's husband, Dr. William Petit Jr., survived but was severely 
injured.

Komisarjevsky, 33, was sentenced to death in January 2012. Both men are 
appealing their death sentences.

Connecticut abolished the death penalty in 2012 but left in place the death 
sentences imposed on Hayes and Komisarjevsky and the other men currently on 
death row. A challenge based on that action is pending before the state Supreme 
Court.

For nearly 3 years, Hayes has been pushing for his execution to be carried out. 
In a September 2012 letter to The Courant, Hayes wrote that he wanted to waive 
his appeals and be executed. At the time, he cited "cruel and unusual 
punishment" by prison staff.

And days before correction officers found him unresponsive in his prison cell 
in March 2014, Hayes sent a suicide note to The Courant, calling Northern a 
"psychological torture chamber."

In the letter, Hayes wrote as if he were already dead - "as you know I am dead 
by suicide" - and said that prison officials would blame "unresolved issues and 
anger due to my crime and past actions" for his suicide. Like his previous 
suicide attempts, Hayes' attempt to overdose on medication was unsuccessful.

Hayes has also filed federal civil rights complaints against the prison and its 
staff, allegations correction officials have denied.

(source: The Hartford Courant)








DELAWARE:

Sentencing for fatal Eden Park shootings postponed



Sentencing for 2 men convicted in fatal shootings during a soccer tournament at 
a Wilmington park has been postponed.

Jeffrey Phillips, 23, and Otis Phillips, 38, who are not related, in November 
were convicted of the 1st-degree murder of Herman Curry and the manslaughter of 
16-year-old Alexander Kamara Jr. They were killed in a daytime shooting on July 
8, 2012, at Eden Park.

The men were scheduled to appear for sentencing Friday, but the hearing will be 
rescheduled, Deputy Attorney General Ipek Medford said in an email Thursday. A 
date has not been set, he said.

Prosecutors have argued both men deserved to die for their crimes. They have 
said the men, members of the Sure Shots street gang, went to the tournament 
seeking revenge against people in Jamaican community because a Jamaican man 
shot and killed a friend of theirs at a party hours earlier.

Curry was at the park and was targeted because he had seen Otis Phillips shoot 
and kill another man, Christopher Palmer, at a 2008 party, prosecutors said.

In December, a jury voted unanimously that Otis Phillips should be put to 
death. The vote confirmed 2 or more people were killed as a result of his 
actions and the murder was premeditated and the result of substantial planning, 
qualifying him for the death penalty.

But the question of whether Otis Phillips should die is up to the judge, as the 
vote is only a recommendation. When there is a clear vote, judges almost always 
follow the jury's recommendation.

Jeffrey Phillips is more likely to receive a life sentence for his role in what 
prosecutors called the "bloodbath" in Eden Park. In December, a jury voted 10-2 
in favor of life in prison. That vote is also just a recommendation, though the 
judge gives it heavy consideration in the final decision.

Witnesses testified that Jeffrey Phillips turned toward a crowd in the park and 
began shooting. Witnesses said Kamara was standing waiting for his turn to play 
in the tournament. He was struck in the head and died.

Otis Phillips was convicted of the 2008 2nd-degree murder of Palmer and faces 
sentencing for that crime Friday also. Witnesses testified that Otis Phillips 
and several Sure Shots attempted to push their way into Curry's birthday party 
in January 2008. Palmer was the bouncer and refused to let them in. A fight 
ended with Otis Phillips shooting and killing Palmer, according to testimony.

The jury found both men guilty of the intentional murder of Curry, holding 
Jeffrey Phillips responsible as an accomplice.

The jury found the killing of Kamara was a reckless act by Jeffrey Phillips, 
not an intentional one. The panel found both defendants guilty of the lesser 
charge of manslaughter for Kamara. Both men were also convicted of gang 
participation.

(source: delawareonline.com)








NORTH CAROLINA:

Murder suspects appear in court; victim's body was found burning



A former baseball standout who drew the attention of perennial power Louisiana 
State University now faces murder charges.

Justin Wayne Quick, 20, of Hope Mills, and his girlfriend, Misty Dawn Burns, 
24, of Fayetteville, made their 1st appearance Friday afternoon in Cumberland 
County District Court. The couple is charged with 1st-degree murder in the 
death of a man whose body was found burning.

The court appearances for Quick and Burns were conducted separately at the 
Cumberland County Detention Center.

"I've never seen anybody that could throw as hard as he could when he was 13 or 
14 years old. And as accurate as he was," said Lee Troutman, who coached Quick 
from 2009 through 2014 on a Dixie Majors 19-and-under team. "He was just an 
outstanding talent."

An LSU coach showed interest in recruiting Quick, but Troutman said poor grades 
were an obstacle.

The defendants showed little emotion, and neither had anything to say to the 
court when Judge Lou Olivera gave them the opportunity in the courtroom.

Quick and Burns are accused of killing William Ted Foster, 49, of the 3100 
block of Paddlefish Road, the Cumberland County Sheriff's Office said. Foster's 
body was found burning about 10:15 p.m. Tuesday at the edge of woods at Tom 
Starling Road and Production Drive off U.S. 301 South. Authorities have not 
said how he died.

Cumberland County District Attorney Billy West said his office has not decided 
if it will seek the death penalty. He said he wants to look at all of the 
evidence before making that determination.

Quick and Burns both requested court-appointed lawyers.

Cumberland County Public Defender Bernard Condlin represented the 2 during 
Friday's appearance. He said there was a chance he would take Quick's case.

West said outside the detention center that the two appeared to have killed 
Foster, dumped his body and then left the area.

Quick and Burns were arrested in Carolina Beach - more than 100 miles from 
Fayetteville - about 5:30 p.m. Thursday; they were returned to Fayetteville on 
Friday, authorities said.

The defendants also are accused of stealing Foster's 2011 Chrysler 300 and 
using his credit cards, the Sheriff's Office said.

They are being held without bail. Their next court dates are scheduled for July 
16.

No family members for either defendant was in court Friday, said Nunzio 
Accetturo, who is a friend of Quick's.

"I think it's a messed-up situation, to be honest," Accetturo, who is 31, said 
afterward. "I really couldn't see him doing this. He's a good guy. He has 
always been a good guy. It's just shook me the last couple of days."

Accetturo said he has known Quick 2 to 3 years. He said Quick loves to play 
pool and excels at most sports. Accetturo said he played Quick in a pool match 
Sunday.

Last July, Quick pitched the Hope Mills Majors Rangers - a 19-and-under team - 
to its 2nd straight state championship with a 10-1 victory over Duplin County. 
Quick was the winning pitcher, striking out 10 while allowing 3 hits.

In July 2011, he tossed a no-hitter against Burgaw, giving Hope Mills the 16U 
Dixie Youth state championship, 11-0.

Troutman said his former player was on the South View High School baseball team 
until his senior year.

"His grades were bad," he said.

"His parents broke apart," Troutman said. "He was pretty much left to fend for 
himself. He and his brother, Brandon - they were the best brother tandem I've 
seen play baseball. When I had those 2 on my team, I didn't think anybody could 
beat us."

Accetturo said Quick had ambition, and he had accompanied him over the last few 
weeks while he looked for work.

"He always wanted to start his own construction company," Accetturo said.

He called Burns a bad influence.

"She just influenced him to do the wrong things," said Accetturo, who added the 
couple had been seeing each other a little over 2 months.

David Chamberlain, 42, said Quick was a former roommate. After rooming together 
for about a year, he said he had to tell Quick to leave. Chamberlain said he 
had given Quick free room and board during that time.

"He wouldn't do something like this," said Chamberlain, who attended the court 
hearing.

"He's quiet. A good-hearted guy," he said. "He tries to help other people with 
their problems. He thinks about others before he thinks about himself. That's 
why I don't think he did it."

Troutman, his former coach, said Quick had been hanging out with the wrong 
crowd for a couple of years.

"I wish I could have done something to help him," he said. "Wish I'd known."

(source: Fayetteville Observer)








GEORGIA:

A moment that changed me - seeing a man executed ---- Before the state of 
Georgia killed Larry, he became a Christian. Religion may be the opiate of the 
masses, but in his place, we might all take the 1st pill on offer



13 November, 1996. A Wednesday, not a Friday, but still not so lucky for Larry 
Lonchar. He was electrocuted just after midnight. I got to watch. The very next 
day they were going to kill Ellis Wayne Felker. We got his case stopped, but 
only for 24 hours. Then they killed him too. Meanwhile the Feds re-arrested 
Clarence Smith. I'd spent years getting him exonerated and off death row in 
Louisiana, but the federal government had the power to charge him with the same 
things all over again, acquittal notwithstanding. All in all, not a great 3 
days.

Larry's bipolar rollercoaster had taken in several crests and troughs. When he 
was depressed, he would periodically drop his appeals and ask to die. Each time 
the good state of Georgia would cut off his antidepressants, keen that he 
should follow through. We had come within 40 minutes of his execution 4 times - 
once within 58 seconds - before we got a stay. Each time he had been terrified, 
as the electric chair loomed closer.

This was the 5th time. In the last year, Larry had become a Christian.

"What they say's gotta be true," he said. For once, Larry did not look at the 
ceiling; he looked me in the eye. "I know snitches. 12 of them, the Apostles, 
and 11 got executed for him." "11?" I asked. "John," Larry explained. "He died 
of old age. 80-something. All they had to do to save themselves was renounce 
him. Even if they believed, most people would've said that to save their lives. 
I know snitches. You've gotta believe it if 11 of them went down."

I sat there, watching him as he repeated himself, and swallowed any response. I 
remembered how Leo Edwards had accepted several tablets of Valium before they 
gassed him in Mississippi, 10 years before. Maybe religion is the opiate of the 
masses, but if any of us was about to be tortured to death, we might all 
swallow the 1st pill on offer. "It's got no fear for me now, Clive," he said. 
"You think about dying on the cross. Days of suffering, dying from thirst. At 
least it'll be over in a few minutes. I can deal with it." I almost believed 
him.

I had written up voluminous pleadings that we could file if only he would 
authorise it. Meanwhile I had to be at the prison by 6 in case Larry changed 
his mind. Emily and I pulled into a truckstop on the way there. We got him on 
the phone. "How're you doing, Larry?" I asked, the banal American greeting. 
"Why don't you just go ahead and file that thing you've been working on, 
Clive," he said. "You got my permission."

I was elated to be fighting again. I quickly thanked him and passed the phone 
to Emily. I went to another phone to get the attorney general and Judge Camp on 
the line. Soon we were having an argument, and I was struggling for Larry's 
life from a dimly lit bank of telephones in a petrol station, lowering my voice 
as truckers passed by on their way to the toilet.

When we drove on, Emily recited her conversation with Larry. "What'd Clive look 
like when I told him he could do it?" had been Larry's 1st question. Emily had 
cautiously explained how happy I had been to ride into battle once "Good. 
That's good." She could see his smile at the other end of the telephone. "I 
planned it this way. I know it's too late now, but it's kinda like saying thank 
you, I guess." He was right. I still had the law on Larry's side, and had the 
better final argument, but Larry had vacillated once too often. In less than an 
hour, the 13 judges stood between Larry and death did not pause in denying his 
final appeal.

I reached the prison in time to have a final conversation with Larry on the 
telephone. "Well, Clive, you have been a friend," Larry said, his voice flat, 
but almost ethereally calm. I could feel him choosing his words, a final speech 
he wanted to make. "You know, you stuck by me. And I'm real grateful for it. I 
couldn't have dealt with this last year, the year before. Back then, I was 
afraid. I'm not afraid now. Not at all. I'm ready for it. And that's thanks to 
you. Even before I learned I was worth something, even before I learned that 
from Jesus, you let me know you thought so. Maybe it's been frustrating for 
you, but you helped me till I was ready. I want you there tonight, if you can. 
'Cos you've been my friend."

Warden Turpin asked if he had any last words. 'Yes,' he said. 'Lord, forgive 
them, for they know not what they do.'

He was through. My throat felt as if I was being strangled. I stared at the 
yellow prison wall in front of me. It was my turn to look up at the ceiling, 
the white tiles. "I'll be there for you, Larry. I wouldn't be anywhere else." I 
couldn't manage anything else. "See ya then," said Larry. "Bye for now."

An hour later I was in a witness chair when the guards brought Larry into the 
death chamber and set about strapping him in. He managed to wave to me with the 
fingers of his left hand. He was calm. I had feared his fear more than anything 
else. Warden Turpin asked Larry if he had any last words. It was Turpin's 1st 
execution, and he was behaving like it was an exam. Larry hesitated. "Yes," he 
said, with only a slight tremor in his voice. He looked up to the ceiling. 
"Lord, forgive them, for they know not what they do." There were 33 witnesses 
there with me. They seemed to look at their feet in unison.

12 minutes later, Larry was dead. I stopped watching when they pulled the 
leather mask over his face. My job was done. I closed my eyes in my hands, and 
waited for it to be over.

Larry had written a longer final statement, but he did not want to read it out. 
He left that for me to read at the press conference later: "To God: Thank you 
for loving me so much that you sent your Son to die for me. To my family and 
the victim's family, who I have caused so much pain and tears: I am so deeply 
sorry. To the people of the State of Georgia: Thank you for killing me. You 
thought you was punishing me. But instead you rewarded me by sending me to a 
better place, heaven. A question to the people who think they are Christians: 
Would Jesus Christ push the buttons tonight that killed me?"

Larry had always been a gambler. He told me he'd fix the funding of our charity 
for good from heaven. I'd laughed at him, but a primordial moment made me play 
Larry's numbers in the lottery the following week. Not even one came up. Maybe 
Larry wanted to remind me that friendship was more important than anything 
else.

(source: Clive Stafford Smith, The Guardian)








FLORIDA:

Florida Supreme Court upholds death sentence in escape case



The Florida Supreme Court is upholding a death sentence against a man who 
killed a family acquaintance following an elaborate escape from a jail.

Timothy Fletcher was convicted of strangling the ex-wife of his grandfather. 
Fletcher in 2009 killed Helen Googe shortly after he and a cellmate escaped 
from the Putnam County Jail.

The 2 inmates escaped by ripping out the toilet from the wall with a jack that 
Fletcher stole from a county van during a previous court appearance. They 
crawled through the hole in the wall, dug under a fence and got through a 2nd 
barrier.

The escape triggered a manhunt as Fletcher and fellow inmate Doni Ray Brown 
used a stolen car and traveled to Kentucky before returning to Florida where 
they were eventually captured.

Attorneys for Fletcher tried to overturn both his conviction and sentence for 
various reasons, but the court rejected the arguments.

(source: Associated Press)








MISSISSIPPI:

Almost executed by Mississippi, Michelle Byrom free



Michelle Byrom - who came close to being the 1st woman executed in Mississippi 
since World War II - emerged free Friday for the 1st time in 16 years.

Byrom, who maintains her innocence, pleaded no contest to a charge she 
conspired to kill her husband, Edward Sr., in 1999, and the judge sentenced her 
to 20 years with 4 years suspended.

In the same courthouse where she was previously sent to death row, she left a 
free woman. She had spent 14 of her 16 years of imprisonment on death row.

"It's been a long arduous journey. The outcome is appropriate, given the 
history of the case," her attorney, John R. White of Iuka, said Friday.

Byrom also has been represented by Alison Steiner, capital defense counsel with 
the state Public Defender's Office.

She had exhausted her state and federal appeals when The Clarion-Ledger and 
others pointed out in March 2014 that the jury never saw the letters her son, 
Edward Jr., wrote, confessing to the murder. The jury also never heard from a 
psychologist who said Junior gave details of how he killed his father.

Before the month ended, the state Supreme Court tossed out her conviction and 
ordered a new trial.

Friday's sentencing ends a long road for Byrom, who came out of the courthouse 
in a wheelchair. The 58-year-old woman has been battling lupus and other health 
issues.

At her 2000 capital murder trial, Junior testified that Byrom hired "hit man" 
Joey Gillis for $10,000 to $15,000 to kill Edward Sr. at their Iuka home - 
money he said she planned to get from insurance proceeds.

The jury convicted Byrom of capital murder for this alleged murder-for-hire 
scheme.

Convinced her case would be reversed, her defense lawyers at the time 
introduced no mitigating evidence, which could have included her being a 
lifetime victim of physical, sexual and emotional abuse.

Her stepfather abused her and, by age 15, she was working as a stripper. Edward 
Sr., who had a special darkened room to watch pornography, reportedly forced 
her to have sex with other men, which he videotaped.

Without any mitigating evidence, Circuit Judge Thomas Gardner sentenced Byrom 
to death.

In her appeal to the state Supreme Court, 3 justices said Byrom deserved a new 
trial, but 5 justices upheld her conviction.

Justice Jess Dickinson wrote at the time, "I have attempted to conjure up in my 
imagination a more egregious case of ineffective assistance of counsel during 
the sentencing phase of a capital case. I cannot."

Months after Byrom's conviction, Gillis' attorney learned about Junior's 
statement to the psychologist and challenged the accusations against his 
client. The defense also learned authorities found gunpowder residue on Junior, 
rather than Gillis.

Gillis wound up pleading to accessory after the fact for helping Edward Jr. get 
rid of the gun, and in 2009, he walked free from prison. He has since said in a 
sworn statement that he did not shoot Edward Sr.

Junior, who was sentenced to 30 years in prison after pleading guilty to 
conspiring to commit capital murder, has been free since August 2013 on earned 
supervised release.

When The Clarion-Ledger questioned him by telephone, he denied he shot his 
father, but when asked about a psychologist's statement that he admitted 
killing his father, he hung up.

While authorities have insisted they believe Byrom was "the instigator" behind 
the killing of Edward Sr., Junior's letters tell a much different story.

On the evening of June 3, 1999, Junior grabbed a bottle of Jim Beam and headed 
to a boat dock near Iuka.

"I sat and watched the night, like a drunken sailor, and the time flew," he 
wrote. "It was so beautiful. It really relaxed me a lot, so I sat and cried and 
drank and cried some more."

Back home, his alcoholic and abusive father slapped him and shoved him against 
a bookcase, cursing him and saying he was a "f-ing mistake to begin with."

The next day, Byrom was in the hospital with pneumonia and other ailments after 
ingesting rat poison - something she had reportedly done for 3 years because of 
a mental disorder.

Later in the day, Junior wrote that his father entered his bedroom, "going off 
on me, calling me bastard, no good, mistake and telling me I'm inconsiderate" 
before slapping him and leaving.

"As I sat on my bed, tears of rage flowing, remembering my childhood, my anger 
building and building. I went to my car, got the 9mm (gun) and walked to his 
room and peeked in, and he was asleep.

"I walked about 2 steps in the door, and screamed and shut my eyes. When I 
heard him move, I started firing."

Deputies found his father dead in the darkened room where he watched porn 
films.

Junior asked a deputy if his father, who had worked as an electrician for the 
Tennessee Valley Authority, had a heart attack.

Then Junior told the sheriff that his mother had hired someone to shoot his 
father and was unaware who had.

The sheriff drove to the hospital, where Byrom was and told her that Junior had 
told them everything about her hiring somebody.

"He didn't know which person you had got," the sheriff said.

"Hold on a minute," Byrom replied. "I don't know. ..."

"Don't leave him hanging out here to bite the big bullet," the sheriff said.

"No, he's not going to," she replied. "I wouldn't let him."

"Well," the sheriff said, "he's fixing to."

"Well, I will take all the responsibility. I'll do it."

After she gave several statements, saying she was involved, deputies arrested 
her, her son and Gillis.

Junior wrote his mother later, "You are all I have, and they're trying to take 
that away from me now, but Mom I'm gonna tell you right now who killed Dad 
'cause I'm sick and tired of all the lies. I did, and it wasn't for money, it 
wasn't for all the abuse - it was because I can't kill myself."

(source: Clarion-Ledger)