[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----IND., ILL., NEB., IDHAO, WYO., CALIF., WASH.

[Rick Halperin]

May 7



INDIANA:

Gary man charged with killing 2 told death penalty possible



A judge on Wednesday formally informed a Gary man charged with murder in the 
deaths of 2 women and suspected of killing 5 others that he could face the 
death penalty.

Darren Vann, 44, told Lake Superior Court Judge Diane Boswell that he 
understood the cases involving the deaths of Afrikka Hardy and Anith Jones had 
been joined and that he could be sentenced to die if he's convicted, The Times 
of Munster reported (http://bit.ly/1FPzZcL ).

Police have said that Vann confessed to having killed 7 women whose remains 
were found over 3 days in October. He has only been charged in the deaths of 
Hardy and Jones, though.

The court last year issued a gag order prohibiting officials from commenting on 
the case, and Boswell on Wednesday granted the state's request to prevent the 
coroner's office from releasing the women's autopsy reports. Deputy Prosecuting 
Attorney Michelle Jatkiewicz said the motion was in response to Freedom of 
Information requests for information from the reports. The defense agreed with 
the state's non-disclosure motion for the autopsy reports.

During a previous hearing, Hollandsworth said Vann asked prosecutor Bernard 
Carter in the letter if the state was going to seek the death penalty against 
him. On Wednesday, Boswell granted the state's request for a handwriting sample 
to determine if Vann wrote the letter. Jatkiewicz said the state was seeking 
the sample as a precaution.

Defense attorney Teresa Hollandsworth said Vann didn't deny writing the letter 
and would file a stipulated agreement stating that. However, she objected to 
her client having to submit a handwriting sample.

Boswell also vacated the June 22 trial date she set earlier because Vann now 
faces the death penalty. She said she would set a new trial date at a hearing 
on May 22.

(source: Associated Press)

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

Cannibal killer - who ate girlfriend's brain and heart - says he's 'too 
handsome' to rape



A man accused of killing his girlfriend before eating her organs is furious at 
being charged with her rape.

The 'cannibal killer,' known as Joseph Oberhansley, told the court he was 'too 
handsome' to be a rapist.

However he seemed less bothered by the charges relating to him eating his 
girlfriend's brain, heart and lung.

34-year-old Oberhansley confessed to the murder of Tammy Jo Blanton, sawing 
open her head and body so he could gain access to her vital organs.

According to court documents, Oberhansley broke into Blanton's home, stabbed 
her to death with a knife before using an electric jigsaw to open her skull and 
eat parts of her brain.

He then consumed parts of her heart and lung.

A worker contracted to clean up the crime scene in Indiana, USA, said he was 
wiping the bathroom floor when he saw a bloodied jigsaw blade underneath a 
trash can.

Prosecutors only have to prove one of the following - dismemberment, burglary 
or rape - on top of murder, in order for the man to qualify for the death 
penalty.

'I've never seen such bulls***' said Oberhansley.

'Excuse my language. They keep falsifying s***.'

Police were called to 46-year-old Tammy's home on the day of the incident, and 
asked Oberhansley to leave.

However 7 hours later, when she failed to turn up to work, police were called 
again and she was discovered dead in her bath tub.

'The front of the victim's skull appeared to have been crushed and brain tissue 
appeared scattered around the bathtub,' read court documents.

The trial continues.

(source: closeronline.co.uk)








ILLINOIS:

Chicago-area firm asks states to return drugs used in lethal injections



A Chicago area drugmaker has asked states to return supplies of the company's 
products that could be used for lethal injection, saying it strongly objects to 
the drugs being used for capital punishment.

Akorn, based in Lake Forest, made the request in a letter sent in March to 
attorney general's offices in states including Alabama, Florida, Ohio, Oregon 
and Texas.

The March 4 letter refers to midazolam, a sedative, and hydromorphone, a 
painkiller. Akorn contends using the drugs for lethal injection violates 
federal drug regulations and may also violate federal drug laws.

"Additionally, such use is contrary to Akorn's commitment to promote the health 
and wellness of human patients," states the letter from general counsel Joseph 
Bonaccorsi.

Neither the company nor its distributors will sell the drugs directly to 
prisons and distributors will use their best efforts to keep drugs from getting 
to prisons in other ways, the letter said.

Bonaccorsi did not return messages left by The Associated Press. Several states 
that confirmed receiving the letter to the AP didn't plan a response to Akorn.

Good for Akorn. If states need to carry out executions, then do them in the 
traditional manner like hanging, firing squad, beheading, etc. Using drugs to 
calmly and quietly kill people is far too neat and hypocritical.

It's unclear what triggered Akorn's letter, which appeared to go only to states 
with the death penalty. The only 2 states that have used the 2-drug combo in 
executions, Arizona and Ohio, had previously dropped the drugs after 
problematic executions.

Ohio says it didn't get either drug from Akorn. The state adopted a new lethal 
injection policy earlier this year calling for single doses of drugs it has had 
difficulty obtaining in the past. Executions are on hold until next year while 
Ohio tries to find those drugs.

In Oregon, capital punishment has been on hold since 2011, and its previous 
rules called for a single dose of pentobarbital. Court challenges have halted 
executions in Pennsylvania, where the state's lethal injection drugs don't 
include those named by Akorn.

Texas, which also received the letter and doesn't plan to respond, uses 
compounded pentobarbital whose source the state won't identify.

Alabama's system calls for midazolam as the 1st of a 3-drug protocol, as does 
Florida's. In Oklahoma, the prisons agency says it had obtained drugs to carry 
out 3 executions that have been delayed while the U.S. Supreme Court considers 
whether the use of midazolam is appropriate for capital punishment.

States have been scrambling to find new drug supplies or adopt new execution 
methods as drugmakers clamp down on their products' use in capital punishment.

Oklahoma enacted a law allowing nitrogen gas as an alternative, Utah reinstated 
the firing squad and Tennessee brought back the electric chair as a backup.

Other drugmakers including Hospira, also based in Lake Forest, Illinois, have 
stopped selling drugs for use in executions.

States that confirmed they received the Akorn letter: Alabama, Arkansas, 
Florida, Mississippi, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, 
Texas, Tennessee, Utah and Washington.

(source: Chicago Tribune)








NEBRASKA:

Nebraskan convicted of 3 separate killings dies in prison



A 3-time convicted killer died in the Nebraska State Penitentiary on Tuesday 
morning.

Clarence Victor, 82, who suffered from a long-term medical condition, died in 
the state prison's nursing facility, said James Foster, a spokesman for the 
Nebraska Department of Corrections. An official cause of death has not yet been 
determined. A grand jury will conduct an investigation into Victor's death, as 
required by state law.

Victor was sentenced to death row after being convicted of killing Alice 
Singleton, 82, in 1987. Victor stabbed her and clubbed her with a metal pipe. 
Victor had been Singleton's gardener.

His death penalty sentence was changed to life in prison after the Nebraska 
Legislature passed a law in 1998 prohibiting the execution of inmates with IQ 
levels lower than 70. Victor had an IQ of 65.

In 2000, the Nebraska Supreme Court rejected then-Attorney General Don 
Stenberg's request to reinstate Victor's death penalty sentence.

Victor had also been convicted in 2 other killings. In 1964, he was convicted 
of manslaughter after he strangled and beat 40-year-old Hilda Williams. Her 
body was found in a park. He served 5 years in prison.

In 1976, Victor slashed the throat of a 24-year-old Jerry Black in her home. He 
served 10 years in prison for 2nd-degree murder. Both times he was released 
early for good behavior.

(source: omaha.com)








IDAHO:

Prosecutor: Renfro could face death penalty



An attempted murder charge against Jonathan Renfro is expected to be amended to 
1st degree murder early Thursday morning, following the death of Sergeant Greg 
Moore, the Coeur d'Alene police officer he allegedly shot on Tuesday morning. 
Kootenai County Prosecuting Attorney Barry McHugh would not comment on the case 
but did tell KHQ it's possible Renfro could be looking at the death penalty. If 
McHugh files an intent to seek the death penalty it'll be the 2nd time he's 
done so in less than a year.

If an intent to seek is filed, it'll be up to a jury when the case goes to 
trial if the death penalty will be enforced. According to Idaho state law there 
are only 3 crimes that would warrant the death penalty; 1st degree murder, 
aggravated kidnapping and perjury resulting in the execution of an innocent 
person. First a jury would have to determine if Renfro is guilty of 1st degree 
murder and then they have to determine if that murder meets a different set of 
criteria, known as aggravated circumstances. These aggravated circumstances 
range from if the crime is especially heinous to if the person who committed 
the crime also killed another person in that same day.

KHQ spoke with a former criminal prosecutor who said he wouldn't be surprised 
if the death penalty was sought in Renfro's case.

Peter Erbland said, "If in fact the officer was attempting to contact this 
individual, responding to a call and he was killed because he was performing 
those duties, then that's a statutory aggravating circumstance."

Court documents detail the events leading up to Moore being shot. He was called 
into a northwest Coeur d'Alene neighborhood investigating a suspicious persons 
call. According to a police affidavit, Renfro repeatedly admitted to shooting 
Moore, telling investigators he had a gun on him and knew the officer would 
find it.

Renfro is due back in court for a preliminary hearing on the 15th.

(soure: KHQ news)








WYOMING:

Accused murderer Guajardo could get death penalty



Daniel Guajardo, the man accused last month of murdering his ex-girlfriend and 
trying to kill her boyfriend, could face the death penalty.

Guajardo, 26, made his initial appearance Wednesday in Laramie County Circuit 
Court.

The prosecution has not yet decided whether it will seek the death penalty, but 
it is a possibility, Laramie County District Attorney Jeremiah Sandburg told 
Magistrate Tim Kingston.

Sandburg said in court that there is strong evidence to suggest a great deal of 
pre-planning went into the shooting, that it wasn't just a spur-of-the-moment 
decision for Guajardo.

"We believe he set up an escape route in advance of the event," Sandburg told 
Kingston.

He added that Guajardo had to walk over Janessa Spencer's body to exit through 
the back door of her house. Guajardo then got in his car, which was parked in 
the alley, and drove to Fort Collins, Colorado, Sandburg said.

Law enforcement there arrested Guajardo just hours after the April 12 shooting. 
He was extradited to Laramie County on Tuesday.

Guajardo was charged the day of the shooting with 1st-degree murder for the 
shooting death of 26-year-old Spencer.

He also was charged with attempted 1st-degree murder for shooting 24-year-old 
Samuel Cook as well as with aggravated burglary.

At Sandburg's request, Kingston ordered Guajardo to remain in custody at the 
Laramie County jail without bond pending his preliminary hearing, which is set 
for May 15.

Sandburg asked Kingston not to set a bond for Guajardo or to set a $1 million 
bond for each of his alleged victims for a total bond of $2 million.

The district attorney outlined some of Guajardo's criminal history for 
Kingston.

He said Guajardo was convicted of felony burglary in 2007 and added that the 
district attorney's office is trying to have his juvenile criminal record 
unsealed in Colorado.

"This is certainly not his 1st contact with law enforcement," Sandburg said in 
court.

Guajardo's attorney, public defender Eang Man, said she would reserve her bond 
argument for the preliminary hearing. But she asked Kingston to set a 
reasonable bond.

Charging documents say Guajardo entered Spencer's house in the 1400 block of 
East 23rd Street armed with a shotgun. He reportedly located Spencer and Cook 
in the bathroom, where they were trying to hide from him.

Cook jumped out of the window and was shot in the back when he stood up to run.

Police found Spencer's body between the kitchen and living room of the house. 
Like Cook, she suffered a gunshot wound to her upper right back.

Cook was taken to Cheyenne Regional Medical Center and was treated there 8 days 
before being arrested on an unrelated matter.

(source: Wyomingnews.com)








CALIFORNIA:

Defense team petitions appeals court to halt death-penalty trial



The defense team for an accused cop killer has turned to the Court of Appeal, 
trying to bring a halt to his murder trial that's now in its 4th week.

Lawyers for Henry A. Smith Jr. asked the appellate court to both halt the trial 
and to issue an order forcing the Solano County jury commissioner to provide 
them with myriad pieces of information about thousands of potential jurors from 
2014.

The defense attorneys have said they believe that the numbers of 
African-Americans is under-represented among potential jurors showing up for 
jury duty at the Fairfield courthouse when compared with those showing up for 
jury duty at the Vallejo courthouse.

Jury selection has been ongoing since the trial got underway April 15.

2 groups of potential jurors are expected to be in court Thursday to answer 
questions from Judge Peter B. Foor, the defense team and prosecutor Karen 
Jensen. Several of those potential jurors will likely be asked to return May 11 
with as many as 75 other potential jurors when the final panel of 12 jurors and 
7 alternates is chosen for the trial that???s expected to extend into June.

The prosecution is seeking the death penalty for Smith, who has pleaded not 
guilty to charges of murdering a peace officer, robbery and being a felon in 
possession of a gun.

In a request received Tuesday by the Court of Appeal, the defense team states 
that past decisions by Foor and a visiting judge rejecting the release of the 
2014 jury information must be reversed if Smith is going to get a fair trial 
with an unbiased jury.

The defense team has spent seven months leading up to the trial trying to get 
the 2014 jury demographic information along with information about how the jury 
commissioner handles hardships and no-shows among potential jurors. The defense 
team accuses the jury commissioner of using stalling tactics and "cynical 
obstructionism."

Smith is accused of robbing a Bank of America in Vallejo in November 2011 and 
then getting into a high-speed pursuit with Vallejo police officer Jim Capoot.

The car chase ended in a residential neighborhood in east Vallejo, where Capoot 
rammed Smith's truck before Smith fled the wrecked truck on foot. Capoot 
followed Smith over a fence into a nearby backyard, where the veteran officer 
was fatally shot in the back. Smith was arrested a few moments later and police 
wrested a gun from him.

(source: Daily Republic)



WASHINGTON:

Carnation killer jury to weigh mercy or death for 6 murders



Jurors considering the fate of Joseph McEnroe are being asked to decide if he 
is a coldblooded killer or the victim of a manipulative woman who coerced him 
into murdering 6 people in Carnation on Christmas Eve 2007.

12 jurors will gather in a small room at the King County Courthouse starting 
Thursday to weigh whether Joseph McEnroe is a coldblooded killer or the victim 
of a manipulative woman who coerced him into murdering her family.

Those 2 portraits of McEnroe were painted Wednesday by the prosecution and 
defense attorneys in their daylong closing arguments in the penalty phase of 
his nearly 4-month trial. The same jury that convicted him of aggravated murder 
in March will decide if his crimes warrant life in prison without the 
possibility of parole or the death penalty.

As King County Senior Deputy Prosecutor Scott O'Toole urged the jury Wednesday 
to send McEnroe to death row for the murders of 6 people, the 36-year-old man 
shook, twitched, sweated and appeared to be crying. Members of the audience 
cried when O'Toole displayed photos of the 6 bodies.

"We know that the man sitting in this courtroom killed all these people. He 
murdered them," O'Toole told jurors.

Calling jurors the "conscience of the community," O'Toole said it's their job 
to condemn McEnroe to death for the murders in rural Carnation on Christmas Eve 
2007. He said of a death sentence: "It's right, it's just."

O'Toole said McEnroe did far more than murder 6 people. He also wiped out 3 
generations of the Anderson family.

"What Joseph McEnroe has done literally changes and destroys history," O'Toole 
said. "You will never know what the future might have been. This defendant, 
Joseph McEnroe, destroyed them for all time."

Defense attorney William Prestia, during his 2-hour closing argument, told the 
jury that even though his client did something "terrible," he deserves mercy.

"Joe McEnroe is filled with regret, he is riddled with remorse. He is worthy of 
mercy," Prestia said at the end of his closing argument. "We ask you to choose 
life."

Prestia rattled off a list of reasons mercy should be granted, including: 
McEnroe's mental illnesses; his troubled childhood filled with bullying; and 
the fact he has been a trouble-free inmate in the 7 years he's been living in 
solitary confinement at the King County Jail.

"There is good in him and there is the potential for good. He is seeking 
redemption," Prestia said. "At the end of the day, I'll say this to you: This 
is one of the worst of the worst crimes, I'm not going to sugarcoat it for you. 
Joe is not one of the worst of the worst offenders."

As Prestia talked, McEnroe continued twitching and rocking in his seat.

Prestia blamed the murders on McEnroe's former girlfriend and co-defendant 
Michele Anderson, who he said orchestrated the deaths of 6 of her relatives. He 
said Anderson "reeled in" and manipulated McEnroe, making him "into the tool 
she needed" to commit mass murder.

"When she wants something, she's truly relentless," Prestia said about Michele 
Anderson. "She's got a pattern of manipulation, a pattern of wanting to be in 
control. What we've got here is a pathological relationship."

Prestia added: "Joe's fragile personality made him susceptible to Michele."

The same jury in March convicted McEnroe of killing Michele Anderson's parents, 
Wayne and Judy Anderson; their son Scott and his wife, Erica Anderson; and the 
younger couple's children, 5-year-old Olivia and 3-year-old Nathan, during a 
holiday gathering.

McEnroe's defense claims he was coerced into the murders by Michele Anderson, 
who he claimed was angry at her family because she believed the family owed her 
money and mistreated her.

Unlike the criminal trial, when jurors had to be unanimous in their verdict, in 
the penalty phase only a single juror has to vote for a life sentence for 
McEnroe to be spared the death penalty.

"You decide whether the defendant gets what he wants," O'Toole said, referring 
to a life sentence. "Or what he deserves."

Michele Anderson, 36, is scheduled to be tried this fall.

(source: Seattle Times)