Post by Anja on Aug 14, 2006 3:48:12 GMT -5
So Cal jury recommends death penalty for serial killer
In San Bernardino, a judge will determine whether to follow a jury's
recommended death sentence for former truck driver Wayne Adam Ford,
convicted of strangling four women and dumping their mutilated bodies
across California.
Superior Court Judge Michael A. Smith will ultimately decide Ford's fate
when he is scheduled to be sentenced Oct. 20. Smith also was to hear
defense motions for a new trial at that time.
Jurors spent seven days deliberating whether Ford should be put to death
or spend the rest of his life in prison. The same panel convicted him in
June of the slayings and the special-circumstance allegation of multiple
murders, which made him eligible for the death penalty.
Ford, 44, was arrested after he walked into a sheriff's station in
Northern California's Humboldt County in November 1998 with a woman's
severed breast and told authorities it represented the "tip of the
iceberg."
He was subsequently charged with the killings of Patricia Tamez, 29, of
Hesperia; Lanett Deyon White, 25, of Fontana; Tina Renee Gibbs, 26, of Las
Vegas; and an unidentified woman whose torso was found in a slough. The
killings occurred in 1997-98.
3 jurors who spoke with reporters after the verdict said the panel's 7
women and 5 men were so shaken by the gruesome testimony and the
photographs of the victims' mutilated bodies that all planned to seek
counseling. They said everyone on the jury suffered nightmares and had
trouble sleeping during the trial.
"It was the most horrific thing I've ever seen in my life," said Darlena
Murray, a 47-year-old English teacher from Highland. "I pray to God I
never see that again."
The 3 also said the panel didn't buy the defense's contention that Ford
was repentant when he walked into the sheriff's station with his brother.
"They knew police were looking for him," said Elecia Morris, 25, of
Montclair.
Jurors also were skeptical of Ford's contention that he couldn't remember
killing the women, noting that as the father of one victim described
nightmares he was having about the way his daughter must have died, Ford
interrupted him and said it didn't happen that way.
Prosecutors said Ford would pick up prostitutes and hitchhikers, have sex
with them in his truck and strangle them. He would then cut off parts of
their bodies to keep as souvenirs.
Morris said autopsy results that showed the victim who could not be
identified had once given birth to a child was what convinced her to vote
for the death penalty.
"Knowing she has a child, family and friends who will never know what
happened to her," she said.
During the trial's penalty phase, Deputy District Attorney J. David
Mazurek showed jurors images of the women's dismembered bodies on a
projection screen and called their killings "some of the most horrific,
brutal crimes you could ever see."
"I'm very happy the victims' families finally have justice," he said after
the verdict.
Some of the victims' relatives also testified during the penalty phase,
asking the jury to recommend death.
"I want to see him dead," said White's father, Bill White. "He's already
dead to me."
The defense argued that Ford surrendered to stop the killings. His lawyer
told jurors the former trucker from Arcata had arrived in tears at the
sheriff's station just 2 weeks after the last murder and after having
attended a Bible camp.
"This man is here because he repented," said attorney Joseph D. Canty Jr.
The defense also focused on Ford's troubled past, which his lawyers said
included a failed marriage, a lack of time with his son, a difficult
childhood and a head injury he suffered in a 1984 traffic collision.
A prostitute who testified during the trial said Ford choked her during
sex and then showed her a photograph of his ex-wife and their son. She
said Ford cried and claimed his behavior was revenge against his ex-wife.
(source: Associated Press)
In San Bernardino, a judge will determine whether to follow a jury's
recommended death sentence for former truck driver Wayne Adam Ford,
convicted of strangling four women and dumping their mutilated bodies
across California.
Superior Court Judge Michael A. Smith will ultimately decide Ford's fate
when he is scheduled to be sentenced Oct. 20. Smith also was to hear
defense motions for a new trial at that time.
Jurors spent seven days deliberating whether Ford should be put to death
or spend the rest of his life in prison. The same panel convicted him in
June of the slayings and the special-circumstance allegation of multiple
murders, which made him eligible for the death penalty.
Ford, 44, was arrested after he walked into a sheriff's station in
Northern California's Humboldt County in November 1998 with a woman's
severed breast and told authorities it represented the "tip of the
iceberg."
He was subsequently charged with the killings of Patricia Tamez, 29, of
Hesperia; Lanett Deyon White, 25, of Fontana; Tina Renee Gibbs, 26, of Las
Vegas; and an unidentified woman whose torso was found in a slough. The
killings occurred in 1997-98.
3 jurors who spoke with reporters after the verdict said the panel's 7
women and 5 men were so shaken by the gruesome testimony and the
photographs of the victims' mutilated bodies that all planned to seek
counseling. They said everyone on the jury suffered nightmares and had
trouble sleeping during the trial.
"It was the most horrific thing I've ever seen in my life," said Darlena
Murray, a 47-year-old English teacher from Highland. "I pray to God I
never see that again."
The 3 also said the panel didn't buy the defense's contention that Ford
was repentant when he walked into the sheriff's station with his brother.
"They knew police were looking for him," said Elecia Morris, 25, of
Montclair.
Jurors also were skeptical of Ford's contention that he couldn't remember
killing the women, noting that as the father of one victim described
nightmares he was having about the way his daughter must have died, Ford
interrupted him and said it didn't happen that way.
Prosecutors said Ford would pick up prostitutes and hitchhikers, have sex
with them in his truck and strangle them. He would then cut off parts of
their bodies to keep as souvenirs.
Morris said autopsy results that showed the victim who could not be
identified had once given birth to a child was what convinced her to vote
for the death penalty.
"Knowing she has a child, family and friends who will never know what
happened to her," she said.
During the trial's penalty phase, Deputy District Attorney J. David
Mazurek showed jurors images of the women's dismembered bodies on a
projection screen and called their killings "some of the most horrific,
brutal crimes you could ever see."
"I'm very happy the victims' families finally have justice," he said after
the verdict.
Some of the victims' relatives also testified during the penalty phase,
asking the jury to recommend death.
"I want to see him dead," said White's father, Bill White. "He's already
dead to me."
The defense argued that Ford surrendered to stop the killings. His lawyer
told jurors the former trucker from Arcata had arrived in tears at the
sheriff's station just 2 weeks after the last murder and after having
attended a Bible camp.
"This man is here because he repented," said attorney Joseph D. Canty Jr.
The defense also focused on Ford's troubled past, which his lawyers said
included a failed marriage, a lack of time with his son, a difficult
childhood and a head injury he suffered in a 1984 traffic collision.
A prostitute who testified during the trial said Ford choked her during
sex and then showed her a photograph of his ex-wife and their son. She
said Ford cried and claimed his behavior was revenge against his ex-wife.
(source: Associated Press)