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

[Rick Halperin]

January 8




TEXAS:

2020 trial in county death penalty case



A 19-year-old Houston man will stand trial in a brutal Texas County murder in 
August 2020, it was decided during a conference call Friday.

Andrew J. Vrba is charged with 1st-degree murder, armed criminal action and 
abandonment of the corpse of Joseph M. Steinfeld, 17, who was transitioning to 
a female and killed in September 2017 north of Cabool. Steinfield went by the 
name, “Ally.” Vrba could face the death penalty.

Prosecutors said they are ready to hold the trial, but Vrba’s lawyers say their 
workload is so heavy they wouldn’t be able to mount a defense under the summer 
of 2020. Vrba is represented the Missouri Public Defenders Office. 2 attorneys 
who specialize in capital cases, Thomas Jacquinot and Patrick Berrigan, both of 
Kansas City, are assigned to the Vrba case.

They also represented Craig Wood, who was convicted of killing 10-year-old 
Hailey Owens in Springfield, in a high-profile Missouri case.

Holden set Vrba's trial to begin Aug. 3, 2020, in Greene County. He set aside 3 
weeks: 1 week for jury selection and 2 weeks for the trial, according to court 
records. The case had been set to be heard in Steelville on a change of venue, 
but the judge assigned to the case was defeated in an election last year.

Holden will next meet with attorneys on May 6 for a pre-trial conference.

3 others were also charged with murdering Steinfeld north of Cabool at a 
trailer.

Isis Schauer, 19, of Houston, was sentenced to 20 years in prison. As part of 
the plea agreement, the charge against Schauer was lowered from 1st-degree 
murder to 2nd-degree murder. She is appealing the sentence. She cites 
ineffective counsel and that her plea was not voluntary or knowledgeable.

Briana Calderas, 25, of Cabool, will stand trial the week of Feb. 25 in Pulaski 
County Circuit Court at Waynesville. She is charged with 1st-degree murder, 
armed criminal action and abandonment of a corpse at her residence where 
authorities said the crime occurred. She could face life in prison without a 
chance of probation or parole.

A 4th person, James T. Grigsby, 26, of Thayer, pleaded guilty to abandonment of 
a corpse and was sentenced to 4 years in prison in July 2018.

Texas County Prosecutor Parke Stevens Jr. said the lengthy incarceration for 
Vrba raises concerns about the cost of housing the suspect in Greene County. 
Vrba will likely be held in Texas County unless the county agrees to pay board 
bill to Greene County.

At the conference, Stevens and Judge Calvin Holden also agreed that the county 
prosecutor could talk to the Texas County sheriff about possibly arranging some 
sort of deal in which Greene County inmates could be housed in Texas County 
while Vrba is in Springfield to offset costs.

(source: Houston Herald)








PENNSYLVANIA:

Holly Grim homicide: Michael Horvath trial pushed back to October



Jury selection in the case of Michael Horvath, the Monroe County man accused of 
kidnapping and killing Holly Grim of Lower Macungie Township, will not begin 
until October, prosecutors confirmed Monday.

Horvath, 51, was in Monroe County Court Monday morning for a pretrial hearing. 
His attorneys are challenging the science behind cellphone data collection, 
which police say shows Horvath was near Grim’s home on the day she disappeared.

Monroe County Judge Margherita Patti Worthington said she will rule on the 
motion before Horvath’s trial.

Grim’s disappearance is one of the most closely watched missing person cases in 
Lehigh Valley history. Police say that in November 2013, Horvath kidnapped Grim 
from her trailer in the Red Maples Mobile Home Park, then took her to his Ross 
Township home where he killed her and disposed of her body.

Police say they found evidence that Horvath was stalking Grim, his coworker at 
Allen Organ Co. in Macungie, and that he had books and videos on “hunting 
humans” in his home.

Horvath was arrested on Oct. 13, 2016. He's charged with homicide, abuse of a 
corpse, tampering with evidence and obstruction of the administration of law. 
Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.

Horvath is being held in the Monroe County Correctional Facility without bail.

Michael Horvath is charged with homicide in connection with the death of Holly 
Grim, a Lower Macungie woman who went missing in 2013.

Although investigators believe Grim was kidnapped in Lower Macungie, they say 
evidence points to Horvath killing her and burying her body on his property. 
That’s why the trial is being held in Monroe County.

Police in October 2016 announced that Grim's skeletal remains were discovered 
in a 4-by-4-foot area at the bottom of an embankment behind Horvath's house, 
covered by about a foot of dirt.

In court Monday, defense attorney Chandra Bleice argued that she needed more 
information about how police gathered cellphone evidence in the case so that 
she could call an expert at trial to dispute the science behind cellphone data 
mapping.

Assistant District Attorney Michael Rakaczewski countered that the cellphone 
records the jury will hear about simply show that Horvath’s phone was moving in 
a particular direction on the day Grim disappeared, and were not being offered 
to prove that he was in a particular location.

Grim was last seen at 6:34 a.m. Nov. 22, 2013 after dropping her son off at the 
bus stop. In the home, Grim’s mother found a spilled coffee mug, Grim's 
eyeglasses and an overturned ashtray, authorities said.

State police say they later found a bloodstain and other signs of a struggle in 
Grim's trailer.

Grim and Horvath shared the same work schedule at the organ factory. According 
to a search warrant, Horvath was one of several employees who was either late 
or absent from work on the day Grim disappeared.

Court records say Horvath was interviewed shortly after Grim went missing and 
explained that he got a flat tire on his way into work that day and stopped to 
fix it, then went home.

Horvath appeared in court Monday wearing a bright red prison jumpsuit. He did 
not testify.

(source: The Morning Call)








FLORIDA:

Man charged in Florida school massacre due for court hearing



A status hearing is set for Nikolas Cruz in the Florida school massacre that 
killed 17 people last year.

The hearing Tuesday is likely to be mainly procedural in nature, with many 
months to go before the case gets close to trial. A tentative trial date has 
not yet been set.

The presiding judge has been closely monitoring the state's release of evidence 
to the defense and the pace of Cruz attorney interviews of dozens of potential 
trial witnesses.

The 20-year-old Cruz faces 1st-degree murder and attempted murder charges in 
the Valentine's Day 2018 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.

His attorneys have said he will plead guilty in exchange for a life prison 
sentence, but prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.

(source: thestate.com)

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

Prosecutors to seek death penalty in pregnant woman's death



Prosecutors plan to seek the death penalty against the man charged with killing 
a woman, and their unborn child on the Treasure Coast last year.

In the court filing Monday, the state says the murder of Tania Wise encompasses 
a number of aggravating factors that merit the death penalty including that the 
crime "was especially heinous, atrocious, or cruel" and "committed in a cold, 
calculated, and premeditated manner."

Wise was found August 24th, 2018 face down in a ditch in an isolated stretch of 
northern St. Lucie County.

She suffered head and throat trauma.

A month later, Jose Soto-Escalera was arrested for the crime .

In an affidavit outlining a complex sequence of events, one witness said 
Soto-Escalera had given Wise money for an abortion and believed Escalera was 
mad because Wise did not follow through. DNA evidence confirmed Soto-Escalera 
was the father of Wise’s baby.

Wise’s family did not want to comment on the decision to seek the death 
penalty, except to say this has been a very difficult time. Soto-Escalera’s 
attorney said his client maintains his innocence.

In the last week, the defense filed paperwork claiming Soto-Escalera’s Miranda 
rights were violated. They’ve also filed a request for a change of venue, in 
part because of the recent guilty verdict handed down to Checkingson Sinclair . 
Sinclair killed his wife and their unborn child in Port St. Lucie back in 2014.

The trial in the Soto-Escalera case is set for next month.

(source: WPTV news)

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

Killer clown trial tentatively set for November



The accused killer clown of Wellington is tentatively scheduled to stand trial 
in November, 29 years after she is accused of dressing up as a clown and 
shooting her lover’s wife in the face on her doorstep.

A Palm Beach County judge on Monday set a tentative November trial date for 
Sheila Keen-Warren, accused of the 1990 murder of her husband’s former wife.

On May 26, 1990, Marlene Warren, 40, was shot in the face by a clown carrying 
balloons with a bouquet of carnations arranged in a white basket.

Keen-Warren has pleaded not guilty. Her attorney, Richard Lubin, said it’s 
unlikely a trial could take place by November, which he said is too soon for 
the voluminous research by the defense that remains to be done.

“November is unrealistic,” Lubin said. “We won’t be able to finish our work 
before then.”

After the murder, investigators began hearing rumors that Warren’s husband, 
Michael, owner of Bargain Motors in West Palm Beach, was having an affair with 
Sheila Keen, the estranged wife of one of the men who worked for Warren 
repossessing cars from people who failed to make payments.

Within days of the murder, the Publix clerks who sold the flowers and balloons 
— and the costume store employees who sold the clown suit — all picked Sheila 
Keen’s picture out of a photo lineup. Police even found the Chrysler LeBaron 
believed to be driven by the clown parked outside a supermarket eight miles 
from the Warren home. A later search of the vehicle turned up orange fibers 
from a wig and several strands of long brown hair.

In May 1991, a detective declared there was enough evidence to make an arrest. 
But state attorneys were concerned there was not enough physical evidence for a 
successful prosecution.

In 2002, Michael Warren married Sheila Keen in Las Vegas. They moved to 
Tennessee, then later to Virginia.

In 2013, the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office formed a task force to 
re-investigate the case. DNA tests conducted decades earlier were not 
conclusive, but with improved technology, lead detective Paige McCann ordered 
new tests by an FBI lab.

On Sept. 26, 2017, law enforcement officials caught up with Sheila Keen-Warren 
and her husband as they were driving home to Virginia from a trip to Vermont 
and arrested her, according to the arrest report.

Keen-Warren faces the death penalty if convicted.

Lubin said Monday the lengthy time before trial is typical of major cases that 
present complications for attorneys and investigators.

“This case is so old,” Lubin told reporters outside the courtroom. “The 
technology in play then was so different. It makes everything more difficult.”

Keen-Warren’s next court date is set for April 17.

(source: heraldmailmedia.com)








ALABAMA:

Once a cold case, man jailed for killing Dothan woman at hotel



A man freed from death row in Texas is now in Dothan where he faces murder 
charges stemming from the death of a woman in 2003.

Dothan investigators believe 49-year old Douglas Tyrone Armstrong inflicted 
blunt force trauma to the head of 40-year old Debra Hopey Wilson. A cleaning 
crew discovered her body in a guest room at Beeline Inn, a downtown Dothan 
hotel.

For 10 years investigators struggled with the case until DNA and video evidence 
linked Armstrong to Wilson's death and, in 2013, a Houston County Grand Jury 
indicted Armstrong.

By then, he had been convicted of murdering a 60-year old man in Texas and 
awaited execution. However, two attorneys successfully fought to have his 
sentence overturned. Afterwards, prosecutors decided not to seek the death 
penalty again and Armstrong is serving life in prison.

Armstrong, a Mobile County native, was brought to Dothan over the weekend where 
he will likely remain until he is tried for Wilson's murder. If convicted, he 
could receive another life sentence.

(source: WTVY news)








OHIO:

Craigslist killer Richard Beasley’s appeal to highest court denied



Craigslist killer Richard Beasley’s appeal of his death penalty conviction was 
denied by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Beasley’s case was included in a list of appeals Monday morning that the high 
court declined to hear.

Beasley, a death row inmate from Akron, argued that Ohio Supreme Court Justice 
Patrick DeWine, the son of former Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine, now the 
governor-elect, should have recused himself from Beasley’s case when it was 
before the state Supreme Court. The Ohio Attorney General’s Office assisted 
with Beasley’s prosecution and argued the case before the Ohio Supreme Court.

“The U.S. Supreme Court hears a very small number of cases,” said Donald 
Gallick, one of Beasley’s Akron attorneys. “I’m disappointed they’re not going 
to speak on the issue of family members serving as judges in cases involving 
relatives.”

The Beasley case wasn’t the only time the issue of Patrick DeWine and Mike 
DeWine’s relationship was raised in court. Patrick DeWine recused himself last 
July from deciding a case involving the Electronic Classroom of Tomorrow 
(ECOT), an online charter school, that Mike DeWine’s office was involved with.

The state’s high court ultimately ruled against ECOT.

The Ohio Supreme Court upheld Beasley’s death sentence Feb. 9. Beasley had 
challenged the sentence because he claimed there were multiple trial errors.

Beasley was convicted of posting bogus job offers on Craigslist to rob and 
murder three men in 2011. Beasley and his teenage accomplice, Brogan Rafferty 
of Stow, were convicted in 2013. Rafferty was sentenced to life in prison 
without parole.

The murders made national news because Beasley posted ads on Craigslist to lure 
the men to a remote spot in southern Ohio.

Beasley’s challenges of his death sentence aren’t done yet. He still must be 
appointed a post-conviction attorney for the next steps of his appeals. He also 
must be resentenced on the non-capital convictions against him because of an 
Ohio Supreme Court ruling. The court found the trial court didn’t follow 
statutory requirements in determining the consecutive sentences on these 
charges.

(source: Akron Beacon Journal)

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

SCOTUS orders Danny Lee Hill case to be reheard, death penalty back on the 
table



While the nation's highest court won't hear the case of a decades-old Trumbull 
County murder case, they have ordered another court to rehear the case.

The U.S. Supreme Court issued an order Monday granting a motion by the Trumbull 
County Prosecutor and the State of Ohio that the case should be reheard.

At question was a ruling by the U.S. Sixth District Court of Appeals ruling 
that said that Danny Lee Hill, convicted in the case of a 12-year-old boy scout 
who was tortured, raped and murdered, should not be executed.

Although the appellate court upheld Hill's conviction for the kidnapping, rape, 
and murder of Raymond Fife, the court also found that Hill demonstrates several 
of the prerequisites to be considered mentally deficient.

According to that ruling, Hill's IQ varies between a low of 48 and a high of 
71.

After review of videotapes of Danny Lee Hill's interrogation, the court found 
Hill to be "childlike, confused, often irrational, and primarily self 
-defeating".

That appeals court ruling took the death penalty off the table.

However, The Supreme Court's opinion outlines several "deficits" in the Sixth 
District Court of Appeals ruling.

At the center of the debate is how the appeals court came to their decision. 
The Supreme Court argues that the Sixth District "relied repeatedly and 
extensively" on a capital murder case dealing with intellectually deficient 
individuals.

However, the Supreme Court justices ruled that that specific case Moore v. 
Texas wasn't decided until well after Hill's case.

The Supreme is now ordering the Sixth District Court of Appeals to reconsider 
the case applying the correct laws and rulings to the case.

Trumbull County Prosecutor Dennis Watkins points to the fact that the opinion 
of the U.S. Supreme Court was unanimous- all nine judges agreed that the Sixth 
District Court of Appeals "did not appropriately apply the law".

The question now, according to Watkins, is whether the "correct law" would 
bring about the death penalty when applied to the Hill case.

Watkins says the state courts which ruled on the case under the current, 
correct laws found that Danny Lee Hill should be executed for the crime.

According to court records, on September 10, 1985, at approximately 5:15 p.m., 
Raymond Fife left home on his bicycle to visit a friend, Billy Simmons.

After learning that the 12-year-old had not arrived at his friend's home by 
5:50 pm, Fife's family began searching for him.

Raymond Fife's father found his son more than 4 hours later in a wooded field 
behind the Valu-King supermarket on Palmyra road.

The child was naked and appeared to have been severely beaten and his face was 
burned. Raymond's underwear was found tied around his neck and appeared to have 
been lit on fire.

Raymond died in the hospital 2 days later.

The coroner, who ruled Raymond's death a homicide, testified during the trial 
that the victim had been choked and had a hemorrhage in his brain. The coroner 
also said that Fife sustained several burns, damage to his rectal-bladder area 
and bite marks on his penis.

Through testimony from 3 Warren Western Reserve High School Students, the jury 
learned that Danny Lee Hill and Timothy Combs were in the area of the Valu-King 
and the bike trails on the evening Raymond Fife was assaulted. One of the 
students had also seen Fife riding his bike in the store parking lot.

A student who said he saw Combs on the trail also said he heard a child's 
scream. Another student says he saw Combs pulling up the zipper of his blue 
jeans.

2 days after Fife was found, Danny Lee Hill, who was 18-years-old at the time, 
went to the Warren Police Station to inquire about a $5,000 reward that was 
being offered for information concerning the murder.

According to Police Sergeant Thomas Stewart, Hill told him that he had just 
seen some he knew riding Fife's bike. When Stewart asked Hill how he knew the 
bike belonged to Fife, Hill replied, "I know it is."

Sergeant Stewart testified that during their conversation, it became apparent 
that Hill knew a lot about the bike and the underwear that was found around 
Fife's neck.

On the following Monday, September 16, Hill went to the police station 
accompanied by his uncle, Warren Police Detective Morris Hill.

Police say after waiving his Miranda rights, Danny Lee Hill admitted on audio 
and videotape that he was present during the beating and sexual assault of 
Raymond Fife, but that Timothy Combs did everything to the victim.

Combs was eventually convicted of felonious sexual penetration, arson, rape, 
kidnapping and aggravated murder.

Since Combs was 17-years-old at the time of the crime, he was not eligible for 
the death penalty and is serving a life sentence. He will be eligible for his 
first parole hearing in 2049.

Hill was convicted on the same charges, but since he was 18-years-old at the 
time Fife was assaulted, he was sentenced to death.

(source: WFMJ news)

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

Supreme Court rules lower court erred in setting aside death penalty for Hill



The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Monday that a February decision from the U.S. 6th 
Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati that set aside the death penalty for 
Warren killer Danny L. Hill was made in error and sent the case back to the 6th 
Circuit for further review.

The top court said the 6th Circuit’s reliance on a 2017 case in making its 
decision on whether Hill, 51, was too intellectually disabled to be executed 
was “plainly improper ... and we therefore vacate that decision and remand so 
that Hill’s claim regarding intellectual disability can be evaluated based 
solely on holdings of this court that were clearly established at the relevant 
time.”

The U.S. Supreme Court was expected only to decide on whether to review the 
lower court’s decision, but it instead took the unusual step of deciding the 
matter outright.

The top court said the appeals court should not have relied on a case that had 
not been decided at the time Visiting Judge Thomas P. Curran in Trumbull County 
Common Pleas Court ruled that Hill was not too intellectually disabled to be 
executed.

Hill and co-defendant Timothy Combs killed Raymond Fife, 12, in 1985, by 
brutally assaulting, raping and setting fire to him in a field off of Palmyra 
Road in Warren. Fife was on his way to a Boy Scouts meeting.

(source: The Youngstown Vindicator)

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

Prosecutor, victim's mother 'very happy' Danny Lee Hill could still get death 
penalty----The justices said the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals needs to take a 
2nd look



The U.S. Supreme Court decided a federal appeals court needs to take another 
look at the case of Danny Lee Hill, who was convicted of murdering a boy in the 
'80s. Trumbull County Prosecutor Dennis Watkins and the victim's mother are 
happy the death penalty could be brought back.

Hill was convicted in the 1985 attack, rape and murder of 12-year-old Raymond 
Fife. Hill was 18 at the time.

The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals threw out the death penalty last February, 
saying there was clear and convincing evidence that Hill is mentally disabled.

Then-Attorney General Mike DeWine appealed that ruling.

In Monday's unsigned opinion, the justices said the Sixth Circuit Court of 
Appeals applied the wrong standard when it found Hill was not eligible for 
execution.

"Justice is a journey. It doesn't end until it's done," Watkins said.

The high court said the appellate judges were wrong when they relied on a 
recent Supreme Court Decision to base their case, saying they should have based 
their decision on rulings that were in effect at the time state courts found 
Hill was not mentally disabled.

"As far as we know, it's unanimous," Watkins said. "There were no dissents. The 
whole court said the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals wrongfully applied the 
law."

Watkins was joined Monday by Miriam Fife, Raymond's mother.

"I was happy about it. I wanted it to be over, period," she said. "But I just 
know that, OK, maybe this case -- when it's finally settled and everything's 
done -- will help another case at some point coming down the pike."

"We are very happy that it's going back and the death penalty may be imposed," 
Watkins said. "As we said with the appeal and as this string opinion says, the 
evidence is there."

Watkins said the Supreme Court accepts only about 1 % of petitions like this 
each year.

(source: WKBN news)

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

Convicted killer denied death sentence appeal



Convicted killer, Austin Myers, has been denied a death sentence appeal by the 
U.S. Supreme Court, says Warren County Prosecutor David P. Fornshell.

Myers, along with Timothy Mosely, was convicted of killing Justin Back of Wayne 
Township in 2014.

Back was stabbed 20 times during a burglary and his body was dumped several 
counties away.

Myers and Mosely both admitted to creating an elaborate plan to kill Back.

Mosely received a life sentence.

Myers was found guilty on multiple counts including aggravated murder and 
kidnapping. A jury recommended death for Myers in Oct. 2014.

According to Fornshell, post-conviction claims by Myers are still pending in 
state court.

Fornshell says they are expecting habeas lawsuits to be filed.

(source: Fox News)

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

Pike County murder suspect back in court----Angela Wagner appeared in a Pike 
County courtroom Thursday to be arraigned on charges stemming from the murder 
of 8 members of the Rhoden family in 2016.



1 of 4 family members facing murder charges for the Pike County massacre is due 
in court Monday. Angela Wagner is expected in court for a pre-trial hearing a 
1:30 p.m.

Wagner has pleaded not guilty on 22 counts, including 8 counts of aggravated 
murder in connection with the slayings of 8 members of the Rhoden family in 
Pike County in 2016.

Wagner's husband, George "Billy" Wagner III, and 2 of her sons, 26-year-old 
Edward "Jake" Wagner and 27-year-old George Wagner IV are also facing multiple 
charges, including aggravated murder.

All 4 family members are being held without bond. If convicted, they could face 
life in prison or the death penalty.

Authorities say a possible motive was a custody dispute over Jake Wagner's 
daughter with 1 of the victims.

(source: WDTN news)