Post by SoulTrainOz on Jun 17, 2006 19:50:10 GMT -5
It's been almost a year since a jury of 12 Vermonters returned a verdict calling for the execution of Donald Fell, and none of them have said a word publicly.
That changed Friday when five of those jurors attended the formal sentencing hearing in U.S. District Court in Burlington, making Fell, 26, of Rutland , the first person in Vermont sentenced to death in nearly half a century.
"I wanted closure," said Bill Thompson, 55, of Colchester, one of the jurors at the sentencing hearing Friday. "I was here in the beginning and I wanted to be there at the end."
None of the five jurors said they have wavered from their death penalty verdict.
"We made the right decision and we did the right thing," Thompson said.
"There are no second thoughts," John Lepore, 44, of Northfield, another one of the jurors, said Friday outside the federal courthouse. "Basically this was about as clear and cut as you could ever get. I think we came to the right decision."
Lepore and the other four jurors said Friday they came to watch federal Judge William Sessions impose the death sentence they called for in the case of Fell, convicted last summer in the abduction and killing of Tressa King, a 53-year-old grandmother from North Clarendon, more than five years ago.
According to court records, at the time of King's kidnapping, Fell, and a co-defendant who later died in prison were fleeing the killings of two other people in Rutland, including Fell's mother and her friend, Charles Conway.
The jurors said Friday they came to meet and talk for the first time with the families of Fell's victims.
"There is a certain bond with you guys I'll have for the rest of my life," David Noyes, 50, of Barre, said outside the courtroom to the family of Fell's victims as well as his fellow jurors who attended the hearing Friday.
Noyes stressed that everyone on the jury kept an open mind throughout the proceeding.
"Both sides expected they were going to get a fair hearing and they did," Noyes said. "Both sides knew they were going to get a fair shake."
Joyce Gagnon, 64, of Colchester, also a juror in the case, said she stands by her death penalty verdict.
"I feel bad about it," she said, "but I never second-guessed it."
Another juror, Marcie Noyes of Middlesex, also attended the hearing Friday.
"I just wanted closure for myself," she said.
The victims' families exchanged handshakes and hugs with the jurors outside the courtroom.
"We were thrilled to be able to talk to the jurors. We've been wanting to do that for a long time," said Barbara Tuttle of North Clarendon, King's sister. "It was not easy for them, what they did."
Tuttle added that the King family all along just wanted a 12-person jury to hear the facts of the case and decide whether the death penalty was the appropriate punishment.
"When you hear the story of what this man did, not just to my sister, but two other people, in less than 24 hours, we just couldn't understand how they could come back with anything but the death penalty," Tuttle said. "And that's what the (jury) did."
Jurors for the trial were randomly selected by computer from a list of registered voters from northern Vermont. Each potential juror was asked to fill out a 34-page form asking 75 questions, ranging from the last book they read to their favorite television programs.
They were each also called into the courtroom one at a time for about a half-hour to answer still more questions from the attorneys in the case. Some were excused because they too strongly supported the death penalty. Others, who said they could never impose a death sentence, were also let go.
In total, federal prosecutors and Fell's defense team spent 17 days quizzing 240 potential jurors before seating the final panel.
The jury of seven men and five women convicted Fell of the capital crimes in King's slaying, which was brought under federal law because the killing involved the crossing of state lines.
In the penalty phase of the case, the jurors deliberated for a little more than nine hours over two days before returning their death penalty verdict last July 14.
However, according to the jurors Friday, reaching that death penalty verdict didn't take all nine hours.
"For the punishment phase it took us about 45 minutes to reach that decision, and we had to gain composure and came out later," Lepore said.
Fell did not testify in the trial, at either the guilt or penalty phase.
"Had he been sorry for it, he would have gotten up there in the penalty phase and said so," Lepore said Friday of Fell. "That was one of the factors that weighed against him. He had no remorse and the jurors knew it."
Lepore added that while the defense did convince jurors that Fell had a rough upbringing, that wasn't enough to spare his life.
"Just because you have a bad upbringing doesn't mean you have the right to take somebody's life," Lepore said. "This kid slipped through the cracks and they were big cracks, but he also had a lot of chances to redeem himself and he didn't."
During the penalty phase, jurors also heard from Fell in two profanity-filled videotapes showing him fighting with prison guards, one from March 2004 and then another in April 2005, only about one month before the start of jury selection for his trial.
"Weeks before facing his trial last year he was misbehaving in prison and that was not helping his case," Lepore said. "This guy just didn't understand how society should behave."
Some of the jurors said that since the trial ended, they have traveled to the Rutland area to see for themselves the downtown shopping plaza where King was abducted and the home on Robbins Street where Fell's mother, Debra Fell, and Conway were killed.
Lepore said Friday after the sentencing hearing that the case has changed him forever.
He said he keeps a closer watch of young people in town, trying to do what he can to help those who might be heading into trouble.
Lepore added, "I don't want to see a Donald Fell come out of my neighborhood, and me sit back with regrets saying I could have done something to stop it sooner."
Contact Alan J. Keays at alan.keays@rutlandherald.com
That changed Friday when five of those jurors attended the formal sentencing hearing in U.S. District Court in Burlington, making Fell, 26, of Rutland , the first person in Vermont sentenced to death in nearly half a century.
"I wanted closure," said Bill Thompson, 55, of Colchester, one of the jurors at the sentencing hearing Friday. "I was here in the beginning and I wanted to be there at the end."
None of the five jurors said they have wavered from their death penalty verdict.
"We made the right decision and we did the right thing," Thompson said.
"There are no second thoughts," John Lepore, 44, of Northfield, another one of the jurors, said Friday outside the federal courthouse. "Basically this was about as clear and cut as you could ever get. I think we came to the right decision."
Lepore and the other four jurors said Friday they came to watch federal Judge William Sessions impose the death sentence they called for in the case of Fell, convicted last summer in the abduction and killing of Tressa King, a 53-year-old grandmother from North Clarendon, more than five years ago.
According to court records, at the time of King's kidnapping, Fell, and a co-defendant who later died in prison were fleeing the killings of two other people in Rutland, including Fell's mother and her friend, Charles Conway.
The jurors said Friday they came to meet and talk for the first time with the families of Fell's victims.
"There is a certain bond with you guys I'll have for the rest of my life," David Noyes, 50, of Barre, said outside the courtroom to the family of Fell's victims as well as his fellow jurors who attended the hearing Friday.
Noyes stressed that everyone on the jury kept an open mind throughout the proceeding.
"Both sides expected they were going to get a fair hearing and they did," Noyes said. "Both sides knew they were going to get a fair shake."
Joyce Gagnon, 64, of Colchester, also a juror in the case, said she stands by her death penalty verdict.
"I feel bad about it," she said, "but I never second-guessed it."
Another juror, Marcie Noyes of Middlesex, also attended the hearing Friday.
"I just wanted closure for myself," she said.
The victims' families exchanged handshakes and hugs with the jurors outside the courtroom.
"We were thrilled to be able to talk to the jurors. We've been wanting to do that for a long time," said Barbara Tuttle of North Clarendon, King's sister. "It was not easy for them, what they did."
Tuttle added that the King family all along just wanted a 12-person jury to hear the facts of the case and decide whether the death penalty was the appropriate punishment.
"When you hear the story of what this man did, not just to my sister, but two other people, in less than 24 hours, we just couldn't understand how they could come back with anything but the death penalty," Tuttle said. "And that's what the (jury) did."
Jurors for the trial were randomly selected by computer from a list of registered voters from northern Vermont. Each potential juror was asked to fill out a 34-page form asking 75 questions, ranging from the last book they read to their favorite television programs.
They were each also called into the courtroom one at a time for about a half-hour to answer still more questions from the attorneys in the case. Some were excused because they too strongly supported the death penalty. Others, who said they could never impose a death sentence, were also let go.
In total, federal prosecutors and Fell's defense team spent 17 days quizzing 240 potential jurors before seating the final panel.
The jury of seven men and five women convicted Fell of the capital crimes in King's slaying, which was brought under federal law because the killing involved the crossing of state lines.
In the penalty phase of the case, the jurors deliberated for a little more than nine hours over two days before returning their death penalty verdict last July 14.
However, according to the jurors Friday, reaching that death penalty verdict didn't take all nine hours.
"For the punishment phase it took us about 45 minutes to reach that decision, and we had to gain composure and came out later," Lepore said.
Fell did not testify in the trial, at either the guilt or penalty phase.
"Had he been sorry for it, he would have gotten up there in the penalty phase and said so," Lepore said Friday of Fell. "That was one of the factors that weighed against him. He had no remorse and the jurors knew it."
Lepore added that while the defense did convince jurors that Fell had a rough upbringing, that wasn't enough to spare his life.
"Just because you have a bad upbringing doesn't mean you have the right to take somebody's life," Lepore said. "This kid slipped through the cracks and they were big cracks, but he also had a lot of chances to redeem himself and he didn't."
During the penalty phase, jurors also heard from Fell in two profanity-filled videotapes showing him fighting with prison guards, one from March 2004 and then another in April 2005, only about one month before the start of jury selection for his trial.
"Weeks before facing his trial last year he was misbehaving in prison and that was not helping his case," Lepore said. "This guy just didn't understand how society should behave."
Some of the jurors said that since the trial ended, they have traveled to the Rutland area to see for themselves the downtown shopping plaza where King was abducted and the home on Robbins Street where Fell's mother, Debra Fell, and Conway were killed.
Lepore said Friday after the sentencing hearing that the case has changed him forever.
He said he keeps a closer watch of young people in town, trying to do what he can to help those who might be heading into trouble.
Lepore added, "I don't want to see a Donald Fell come out of my neighborhood, and me sit back with regrets saying I could have done something to stop it sooner."
Contact Alan J. Keays at alan.keays@rutlandherald.com