Post by sclcookie on Jun 1, 2006 15:48:03 GMT -5
FAIRFAX HOMICIDE----U.S. to Seek Death Penalty; Prosecutors Link Stabbing
Defendant to Other Killings
Federal prosecutors in Alexandria said yesterday that they will seek the
death penalty for Thomas M. Hager for his alleged role in the stabbing
death of a Fairfax County woman, saying that since 1992, Hager has killed
5 other people and ordered the slaying of a 7th person.
Two men have pleaded guilty to the murder of Barbara E. White, a
19-year-old single mother who lived in the Mount Vernon area. Those men
admitted that on Nov. 29, 1993, they stabbed White repeatedly in her
bathtub while White's 13-month-old daughter was elsewhere in the apartment
with a 4th suspect. White's body and her toddler weren't found for 18
hours. White had been stabbed 82 times.
The 2 men, Lonnie T. Barnett Jr. and Arlington Johnson Jr., received life
sentences. They said they were working for Hager, a crack cocaine dealer,
who also stabbed White repeatedly, according to prosecutors. Hager was
indicted in January on a charge of murder while engaged in drug
trafficking.
Hager, now 33, is serving a minimum 87-year sentence for killing a man in
the District in March 1995. In filing notice of their intent to seek the
death penalty for Hager, prosecutors outlined a career of crime dating to
a conviction for dealing cocaine as a 16-year-old.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys James L. Trump and Steven D. Mellin wrote that
Hager was a regular crack dealer in the District who robbed people,
including rival drug dealers, of drugs, money and other valuables.
Hager was convicted in two killings that occurred in the 1990s. In March
1995, he broke into Jerome Robinson's apartment in the District and
fatally shot him. In that case, he was found guilty of 1st-degree murder
and sentenced to 87 years to life in 2001. In October 1996, he shot and
killed Londell Duvall in the District. He was convicted of manslaughter in
that case in 1999.
In addition, prosecutors allege, Hager shot and killed a rival drug
dealer, DeCarlos Bannister, in a District shootout in December 1992; shot
and wounded two drug dealers in the District in October 1993; had a cousin
kill Cornell Coplin in February 1996; shot and killed Montao Heard in the
District in May 1996; and shot and killed Jason Hopkins in the District in
July 1997. Hager has not been charged in those cases.
Authorities said Hager had been found to be armed or been involved in
assaults 4 times since being jailed in 1999. Those signs of "future
dangerousness" are used by prosecutors to convince a jury that a person
should be put to death.
Trump and Mellin also allege that Hager "bragged that by killing Barbara
White" with Johnson and Barnett, "he trained Johnson and Barnett to kill."
Hager's attorneys, Joseph J. McCarthy and John C. Kiyonaga, declined to
comment yesterday. No trial date has been set.
The case was investigated for years by 2 Fairfax cold case homicide
detectives, Robert Murphy and Steve Milefsky. The detectives said they
worked the streets of the District, searching for witnesses and evidence
to persuade federal prosecutors to charge the suspects.
In 6 cases since 1998, including that of Zacarias Moussaoui, no jury has
handed up a death sentence in Alexandria federal court.
(source: Washington Post)
Defendant to Other Killings
Federal prosecutors in Alexandria said yesterday that they will seek the
death penalty for Thomas M. Hager for his alleged role in the stabbing
death of a Fairfax County woman, saying that since 1992, Hager has killed
5 other people and ordered the slaying of a 7th person.
Two men have pleaded guilty to the murder of Barbara E. White, a
19-year-old single mother who lived in the Mount Vernon area. Those men
admitted that on Nov. 29, 1993, they stabbed White repeatedly in her
bathtub while White's 13-month-old daughter was elsewhere in the apartment
with a 4th suspect. White's body and her toddler weren't found for 18
hours. White had been stabbed 82 times.
The 2 men, Lonnie T. Barnett Jr. and Arlington Johnson Jr., received life
sentences. They said they were working for Hager, a crack cocaine dealer,
who also stabbed White repeatedly, according to prosecutors. Hager was
indicted in January on a charge of murder while engaged in drug
trafficking.
Hager, now 33, is serving a minimum 87-year sentence for killing a man in
the District in March 1995. In filing notice of their intent to seek the
death penalty for Hager, prosecutors outlined a career of crime dating to
a conviction for dealing cocaine as a 16-year-old.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys James L. Trump and Steven D. Mellin wrote that
Hager was a regular crack dealer in the District who robbed people,
including rival drug dealers, of drugs, money and other valuables.
Hager was convicted in two killings that occurred in the 1990s. In March
1995, he broke into Jerome Robinson's apartment in the District and
fatally shot him. In that case, he was found guilty of 1st-degree murder
and sentenced to 87 years to life in 2001. In October 1996, he shot and
killed Londell Duvall in the District. He was convicted of manslaughter in
that case in 1999.
In addition, prosecutors allege, Hager shot and killed a rival drug
dealer, DeCarlos Bannister, in a District shootout in December 1992; shot
and wounded two drug dealers in the District in October 1993; had a cousin
kill Cornell Coplin in February 1996; shot and killed Montao Heard in the
District in May 1996; and shot and killed Jason Hopkins in the District in
July 1997. Hager has not been charged in those cases.
Authorities said Hager had been found to be armed or been involved in
assaults 4 times since being jailed in 1999. Those signs of "future
dangerousness" are used by prosecutors to convince a jury that a person
should be put to death.
Trump and Mellin also allege that Hager "bragged that by killing Barbara
White" with Johnson and Barnett, "he trained Johnson and Barnett to kill."
Hager's attorneys, Joseph J. McCarthy and John C. Kiyonaga, declined to
comment yesterday. No trial date has been set.
The case was investigated for years by 2 Fairfax cold case homicide
detectives, Robert Murphy and Steve Milefsky. The detectives said they
worked the streets of the District, searching for witnesses and evidence
to persuade federal prosecutors to charge the suspects.
In 6 cases since 1998, including that of Zacarias Moussaoui, no jury has
handed up a death sentence in Alexandria federal court.
(source: Washington Post)