v4
ape
Children and tie Death Penalty in the USA Werf Gos
rh
ON THE WRONG SIDE OF HISTORY fe
~
"When a society siarts killing its children, something is wrong, something is, a ,
deadly wrong." Voany Voom
Joseph Green Brown, death row survivor, May 1998 [ Joseph Green Brown, also known as Shabaka, > Yah
was wrongly convicted and sentenced to death in Florida in 1974. He was released 13 years later. ] [Ca gum |
Conn
bp
INTRODUCTION
"We are the indispensable nation. We stand tall and we see further than other countries into
the future..." Madeleine Albright, US Secretary of State, 19 February 1998 [ Interview on
NBC-TV "The Today Show" with Matt Lauer, Columbus, Ohio]
Fifty years after the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, with its vision of
universal freedom from state cruelty, more than half the countries of the world have abolished the
death penalty in law or practice. Of the diminishing number of retentionist nations, the vast
majority respect international human rights law by restricting capital punishment to adult
offenders. It is ironic, then, that the country which repeatedly proclaims itself to be the world's
most progressive force for human rights, in fact heads a tiny circle of nations with a far less
distinguished claim to fame - the execution of people for crimes they committed as children.
The USA makes no secret of its determination to perpetrate this particular human rights
violation. The federal government has explicitly reserved the right to defy the international ban on
the use of the death penalty against those who commit crimes when under 18 years old, and state
authorities pursue this practice apparently unconcemed about world opinion. As a result, some 70
juvenile offenders await their deaths at the hands of US Officials [ The term "juvenile offender" is
used throughout this paper to denote a person convicted or accused of an offence committed when they
were under 18 years old.]. Eight such prisoners have been executed in the USA in the 1990s. In the
same period, only five other countries - Iran, Nigeria, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Yemen - are
known to have executed juvenile offenders, killing a total of nine such prisoners between them.
In 1642 Thomas Graunger was executed in Plymouth Colony, Massachusetts, for a crime
he committed when he was a 16-year-old boy. He became the first recorded person in what was
to become the USA to be executed for an offence committed when under 18 [ From: Victor L.
Streib. Death Penalty for Juveniles. Indiana University Press, 1987. References to pre-1977 executions
of juvenile offenders in the USA in this report are made possible by Professor Streib's research.]. More
than 350 years later, years which have seen the USA develop into the most powerful economy in
the world, the US authorities maintain their link through history to Thomas Graunger. In
mid-1998 they sent Joseph Cannon and Robert Carter to the same fate. Both were executed for
crimes they committed when they were 17. At the time of their crimes, both were emerging from
profoundly abused and deprived childhoods. By the time they were executed, each had undergone
substantial change in prison. When their lives were extinguished by lethal injection, the hope
raised by their efforts towards rehabilitation was killed too.
But for some in the USA, this calculated and brutal response to violent juvenile crime is
not enough. As the rest of the world withdraws from using the death penalty against its children,
some politicians in the USA are calling for their state legislatures to lower the age for capital
defendants even below the current minimum of 16 set by the US Supreme Court.
Is this the action of a political leadership which "sees further into the future" than other
countries, or one which still clings to one of the unacceptable practices from its past?
WRONG FOR ALL: A PUNISHMENT WHOSE TIME HAS PASSED
"I don't think age matters when it comes to the death penalty. It is wrong for everybody. It
would be selfish of me to say that just because I was under 18 when I was sentenced to die,
my life would be more important that the older guys in here''. Napoleon Beazley, Texas death
row, 1998 [ Interview in Ellis Unit 1, Huntsville, Texas, conducted by Carmilla Floyd of Barnens Varld
(Children's World), Sweden, June 1998. Text in box from same interview. ].
Children and the death penalty
"Usually, I don't like talking about what it's like in prison. But when young kids write to me,
that's what they always ask and I try my best to answer. I tell them to envision themselves being
locked in their room for over three years (I've been here a little over three years now). No
school is allowed, no cassettes or CDs, no computer so definitely no e-mail. And imagine your
mom lets you out in the backyard to play for two hours every day, but afterwards it's back to
the bedroom. Picture that and that's what it's like in prison. Throw 400-plus guys in there with
you and add fights, killings, stabbings, and while you're at it you can add the fact that the
system is all eager to stick some poison in your arm to kill you -that's prison.
Now, the reason I don't like to tell people about life in prison is that, when I tell you
about my life, you can imagine it. Through my eyes, I'm bringing them in here. I'm locking
them up, if only in mind. But I don't want to be here and I don't want them to be either. Prison
is not a place you want to be in mind, spirit or body.
In the beginning they used to call me Youngster. But the other day, when I was on the
basketball court, I heard someone call Youngster and I turned around. But he was talking to a
new guy, even younger than me. So I'm already old in here and I'm barely 21.
Napoleon Beazley, juvenile offender, Texas death row,
1998
About one in 50 of the more than 3,400 individuals on death row in the USA were convicted of
crimes committed when they were under 18. As this report will illustrate, there are specific
reasons, backed by an overwhelming international consensus, to oppose their death sentences.
But it should not be forgotten that the use of the death penalty against anyone is a human rights
violation of premeditated cruelty which denies the right to life proclaimed in the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights. Stopping the execution of juvenile offenders, while being a major
objective in itself, is just one step on the road to total abolition.
The cases of juvenile offenders on US death rows continue to reflect more than just the
specific concerns raised by their youth at the time of the crime. They also illustrate the wider
characteristics of a punishment whose time has passed: its inherent cruelty; its failure as a
deterrent; its use against the mentally impaired; the risk of wrongful conviction; inadequate legal
Amnesty International AMR 51/058/1998 USA On the Wrong Side of History - Children and the Death Penalty in the USA
representation, particularly for poor defendants; and arbitrariness in sentencing as a result of
politics, prejudice, and the power of state prosecutors to choose who will face a capital trial [ For
an outline of Amnesty International's concerns about, and recommendations on, the death penalty as a
whole in the USA, see USA: Rights for All, AY Index: AMR 51/35/98, October 1998. For more
information on the organization's concerns on non-death penalty aspects of juvenile justice in the USA,
see Betraying the Young: Children in the US Justice System, Al Index: AMR 51/60/98, to be issued on
20 November 1998. ].
Those convicted and sentenced to death for crimes committed when they were under 18
are not the only children affected by the death penalty. Violent crime scars the young family
members of its victims, but the brutal and brutalizing effects of the death penalty are also felt by
children beyond death row. A child who has a family member executed becomes yet another
victim in the cycle of violence; but all society's children, along with its adults, receive the message
carried by the death penalty that killing is an effective and appropriate response to killing. How
can this teach children to value life?
In June 1998 death row survivor Sonia Jacobs said: "Now more and more we have little
children picking up guns and killing each other as a solution to their problems. I truly believe
that that's because of the example we have set for them." Sonia Jacobs’ daughter lost her father
to violent death when she was 15. He was executed despite serious doubts over his guilt (see box,
page 27). His wife Sonia Jacobs, who was found to have been wrongly convicted and was saved
from the electric chair, does not accept the claim, popular in the USA, that a retributive execution
is the only way the loved ones of a murder victim can find peace. And she asks: "Whose death
will help me heal? Whose death will help my daughter heal?... Perhaps it will take the death of
the death penalty to help us heal. The end of this violence." { Sonia Jacobs was speaking at a
meeting "The Human Face of Capital Punishment" on 6 June 1998 in Dallas, Texas, attended by
Amnesty International. The meeting was organized by 'The Journey of Hope... from Violence to
Healing’, a US organization led by family members of murder victims].
BREAKING THE CONSENSUS, BREAKING THE LAW
"Under Nevada's interpretation of the treaty, the United States will be joining hands with
such countries as Iran, Iraq, Bangladesh, Nigeria and Pakistan in approving death sentences
for children. I withhold my approval." Chief Justice Springer, Supreme Court of Nevada, 1998
[ Dissenting opinion in Michael Domingues v. The State of Nevada, 31 July 1998. The last known
executions of juvenile offenders in the countries that Chief Justice Springer cites were in 1986
(Bangladesh), 1987 (Iraq), 1992 (Iran), and 1997 (Pakistan and Nigeria). The treaty he refers to is the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. ]
On 31 July 1998 Chief Justice Springer dissented from the majority opinion of the Supreme Court
of Nevada when it confirmed the death sentence against Michael Domingues, convicted in 1994
for the murder of his next door neighbour and her four-year-old son in their home in Las Vegas in
1993. The crime took place when Michael Domingues was 16 years old. His appeal to the state
Supreme Court had raised one issue: the illegality of his death sentence under international law.
There is now an almost global consensus that people who commit crimes when under 18
should not be subjected to the death penalty. This is not an attempt to excuse violent juvenile
crime, or belittle the suffering of its victims and their families, but a recognition that children are
not yet fully mature - hence not fully responsible for their actions - and that the possibilities for
Amnesty International AMR 51/058/1998 USA On the Wrong Side of History - Children and the Death Penalty in the USA
rehabilitation of a child or adolescent are greater than for adults. Indeed, international standards
see the ban on the death penalty against people who were under 18 at the time of the offence to be
such a fundamental safeguard that it may never be suspended, even in times of war or internal
conflict [ Additional Protocols I and II to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949 relating to the
protection of victims of armed conflict not of an international character, articles 77.5 and 6.4
respectively.]. However, the US authorities seem to believe that juveniles in the USA are different
from their counterparts in the rest of the world and should be denied this human right.
Manipulating the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
Principal among the human rights standards which seek to protect juvenile offenders from the
death penalty, and the one cited in Michael Domingues’ appeal, is Article 6(5) of the International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which states that "sentence of death shall not be
imposed for crimes committed by persons below eighteen years of age...". The ICCPR came into
force on 23 March 1976, coincidentally just a few weeks before the US Supreme Court ruled that
US states could begin executing again under their new capital statutes [ Gregg v. Georgia (1976).
In 1972, Furman v. Georgia, the Court had stopped executions in the USA after finding that the death
penalty was being imposed in a manner that violated the constitution.]. Executions resumed in January
1977. Since then, the number of crimes punishable by death and the number of executions have
relentlessly increased in the USA, just as the list of countries which use the death penalty has been
steadily shrinking. The USA has been even further out of step with the rest of the world as far as
the death penalty for juvenile offenders is concerned.
Children and the death penalty
no longer exists. It is almost as if in some nightmarish procedure the state has arbitrarily
juvenile offender on death row, South Carolina. Time magazine, 19 January 1998.
"By the time the state gets around to executing these people, the kid who committed the crime
substituted one person for another prior to the execution." Lawyer representing Joseph Hudgins,
The vast majority of juvenile offenders executed in the USA before 1972 were sentenced to death
and executed while still teenagers. The current application of the death penalty in the USA means
that most juvenile offenders will be well into their adult years by the time they come to be
executed. Perhaps the fact that it is not actually a child who is strapped down and killed makes it
easier for society to stomach this human nights violation. The fact remains, however, that such
prisoners are being put to death for something they did when they were children.
The USA signed the ICCPR in October 1977 - thereby binding itself not to do anything
which would defeat the object and purpose of the treaty, pending a decision whether to ratify it [
Article 18 of the United Nations Convention of the Law of Treaties (Vienna, 1969)]. In the time
between signature and eventual ratification in June 1992, the US authorities executed Charles
Rumbaugh, James Terry Roach, Jay Pinkerton, Dalton Prejean and Johnny Garrett for crimes
committed when they were 17. More than 70 juvenile offenders were sentenced to death during
this period.
When it ratified the ICCPR, the US government made clear its intention to continue this
practice by explicitly reserving the right to impose the death penalty for crimes committed by
those under 18 [ The reservation reads: "The United States reserves the right, subject to its
Constitutional constraints, to impose capital punishment on any person (other than a pregnant woman)
Amnesty International AMR 51/058/1998 USA On the Wrong Side of History - Children and the Death Penalty in the USA
duly convicted under existing or future laws permitting the imposition of capital punishment, including
such punishment for crimes committed by persons below eighteen years of age."]. Since ratification, the
US authorities have put their words into lethal action six times against juvenile offenders, with the
execution of Curtis Harris, Frederick Lashley, Ruben Cantu, Chris Burger, Joseph Cannon and
Robert Carter. More than 50 juvenile offenders have been sent to death row during this period,
including Michael Domingues.
Michael Domingues' 1998 appeal argued that the US reservation is invalid, and that the
international ban on the use of the death penalty against juvenile offenders takes priority over
domestic law. This claim has widespread support. Eleven countries have voiced their objection to
the USA's reservation to Article 6(5) on the grounds that it is incompatible with the article's
purpose and intent [ Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Norway,
Portugal, Spain, Sweden.]. In 1995 the UN Human Rights Committee, the body of experts set up to
monitor compliance with the ICCPR, also said that the US reservation to Article 6(5) was
incompatible with the object and purpose of the ICCPR and should be withdrawn. The US Senate
reacted by proposing a legislative amendment to restrict any funding related to the reporting
procedure to the Committee until the latter accepted the validity of the US approach to the ICCPR
[See William A. Schabas, The Abolition of the Death Penalty in International Law, Second Edition,
Cambridge University Press, 1997, page 90]. The amendment was adopted by Congress but vetoed
by President Clinton.
In 1998, the UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions,
whose mandate includes countries’ use of the death penalty, reiterated that the US reservation
should be considered void. In the report of his 1997 mission to the USA, the Special Rapporteur
wrote that the use of the death penalty against juvenile offenders in the USA violates international
law and called for the practice to be discontinued. A matter of weeks after his report was
presented to the UN Commission on Human Rights in Geneva, two juvenile offenders, Joseph
Cannon and Robert Carter, were executed in Texas.
The two executions followed a clear signal from within federal political circles that
neither the Special Rapporteur's mission nor his subsequent report had to be taken seriously. The
Chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee had characterized the mission as "a perfect
example of why the United Nations is looked upon with such disdain by the American people" and
urged the US Ambassador to the UN to "reverse all cooperation with this absurd UN charade."
The Ambassador was reported to have replied that the Special Rapporteur's report would only
"gather dust". On publication of the report, the Republican National Committee Chairman called
on the US administration to "publicly renounce" it and ensure that none of the US debts to the UN
were paid until the report was "formally withdrawn and apologized for."
Children and the death penalty
"My personal pain has been learning how much my kids suffer... Of my nine-year-old wishing
his mother had enough money to get me out. Of my 17-year-old daughter wanting to know what
I remembered and like about her. My 11-year-old son's courageous stance against the insults,
fights and isolation due to his father's crime."
Nelson Mitchell, death row, Georgia, November 1997.
The federal government is the authority ultimately responsible for ensuring that all US
Amnesty International AMR 51/058/1998 USA On the Wrong Side of History - Children and the Death Penalty in the USA
officials comply with their international obligations. The fact that it has set 18 as the minimum
age of eligibility for federal death row does not absolve it from its responsibility to ensure that
state governments do the same. The US Constitution expressly establishes that powers to sign and
ratify treaties reside with the federal authorities and not with the individual states. Furthermore,
there is a long-standing principle of international jurisprudence that the nation state is the subject
of international law, regardless of whether its system is unitary, decentralized or federal, and is
responsible for ensuring that all government authorities in the country abide by international law.
However, as the UN Special Rapporteur noted in his 1998 report on the USA, "a serious gap
exists between federal and state governments, concerning implementation of international
obligations undertaken by the United States Government." It is the responsibility of the federal
government to remedy this.
In Nevada on 31 July 1998, the state Supreme Court voted that the US reservation to
Article 6(5) of the ICCPR was valid and that the death sentence against Michael Domingues was
legal. It reached this conclusion by looking to other US states rather than by examining
international opinion or practice: "Many of our sister jurisdictions have laws authorizing the
death penalty for criminal offenders under the age of eighteen, and such laws have withstood
Constitutional scrutiny." It ignored the fact that a majority US jurisdictions do not allow the
death penalty to be used for crimes committed by under 18-year-olds, either because they have
legislated to exempt such offenders from the death penalty, or because they do not allow it against
anyone of any age. In 1998, 14 states and two federal jurisdictions (civilian and military) have
legislation enforcing 18 as the minimum age, and 12 US states and the District of Columbia do
not allow the death penalty at all [ California, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Kansas, Maryland,
Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Tennessee and Washington have a
minimum age of 18. Alaska, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan,
Minnesota, North Dakota, Rhode Island, Vermont, West Virginia, and Wisconsin do not have the death
penalty.]. Twenty-four states allow for the use of the death penalty against those under 18, 15 of
which had juvenile offenders on death row in June [ The 24 states are (minimum age, either by statute
or (US or state Supreme) court ruling, in brackets): Alabama (16), Arizona (16), Arkansas (16),
Delaware (16), Florida (16), Georgia (17), Idaho (16), Indiana (16), Kentucky (16), Louisiana (16),
Mississippi (16), Missouri (16), Montana (16), Nevada (16), New Hampshire (17), North Carolina
(17), Oklahoma (16), Pennsylvania (16), South Carolina (16), South Dakota (16), Texas (17), Utah
(16), Virginia (16), Wyoming (16). States in bold had juvenile offenders on death row in June 1998.].
The Nevada Supreme Court also ignored the recognized principle of international law that
states may not invoke domestic laws to avoid complying with their commitments under
international treaties, expressly provided by the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties. In his
dissenting opinion, Chief Justice Springer wrote that international treaties ordinarily become the
“supreme law of the land", pointing out that under the Court's majority interpretation of the
ICCPR, "the United States, at least with regard to executing children, is a 'party' to the treaty,
while at the same time rejecting one of its most vital terms."
The Court denied Michael Domingues’ appeal and he remains on death row. A few days
later Nevada prosecutors announced that they would be seeking the death penalty against
Kenshawn Maxey, a 17-year-old accused of double murder during a robbery in Las Vegas in May
1998. His trial was scheduled for 16 November.
Ignoring the Convention on the Rights of the Child
Amnesty International AMR 51/058/1998 USA On the Wrong Side of History - Children and the Death Penalty in the USA
The US authorities are also choosing to ignore a more recent international standard which
protects juvenile offenders from the death penalty. Article 37(a) of the Convention on the Rights
of the Child (CRC) states that "neither capital punishment nor life imprisonment without
possibility of release shall be imposed for offences committed by persons below eighteen years
ofage". The USA is one of only two countries in the world which have not ratified the CRC.
The other is Somalia - a collapsed state with no recognized government.
Of the 192 countries which have ratified the Convention, all have done so without specific
reservation to Article 37(a), further demonstrating the almost global acceptance of the prohibition
against the use of the death penalty against those under 18 at the time of the crime [ In the same
way as the USA takes the position that it will accept certain international standards only in so far as they
do not conflict with its own domestic laws and constitution, some Islamic states, for example Iran and
Saudi Arabia, have made the general reservation when ratifying the CRC that they only accept its
provisions to the degree that they do not conflict with Islamic law.]. Although Myanmar initially made
a reservation to Article 37(a) when it ratified the Convention, it withdrew this in 1993 after
Germany, Ireland and Portugal lodged objections.
The USA, on the other hand, made it clear during the drafting of the Convention that it
maintained its right to formulate a reservation on Article 37(a), should it ever ratify. Amnesty
International opposed this at the time, and continues to press the US government to ratify the
CRC without any such reservation. Since the USA signed the CRC in February 1995, it has
executed two juvenile offenders and sentenced over 20 others to death.
The increasingly isolated stance of the USA on this issue was emphasised by a
development in 1997 in China, which has the world's highest annual judicial death toll. Until then
the Criminal Law of China stipulated that the death penalty, with suspension of execution for two
years, could be applied to minors aged between 16 and 18. In 1996 the Committee on the Rights
of the Child, the body which oversees compliance with the CRC, had ruled that this practice was
“incompatible with the provisions of the Convention", which China had ratified in 1992. In
March 1997 the Chinese authorities amended the Criminal Law to abolish the death penalty for
offenders under 18 at the time of the crime.
It is agreed - 18 is the minimum age in capital cases
A minimum age of 18 years at the time of the capital offence was established half a century ago.
Article 68 of the Fourth Geneva Convention of 12 August 1949 Relative to the Protection of
Civilian Persons in Time of War states that "...the death penalty may not be pronounced on a
protected person who was under eighteen years of age at the time of the offence." When it
ratified the Convention in 1955, the USA made no reservation to this particular paragraph. It has
thus agreed for over four decades that, in the event of war or other armed conflict in which it may
be involved, it will protect all civilian juvenile offenders in occupied countries from the death
penalty. This is precisely the protection it refuses to offer children within its own borders in
peacetime.
Amnesty International AMR 51/058/1998 USA On the Wrong Side of History - Children and the Death Penalty in the USA
Children and the death penalty
"I was 16 when it happened... The last time I touched my brother I happened to just brush his
back where he was sitting during the trial... I was a character witness at his sentencing...
That'll probably be the last time I touch my brother before he's executed... It's been almost 12
years now, its just now sinking in... I've just now started to have the nightmares... I woke up
crying because I was dreaming of my brother's execution.. I'm paying his funeral payment right
now each month, you know, its pretty sick and depressing..."
Felicia Draughon, interview with Amnesty International, Dallas, June 1998. She was 16 when she
testified for her brother Martin's life. He remains on death row in Texas.
Since 1949 the ICCPR, CRC and various other international and regional human rights
instruments have come into force setting 18 as the minimum age at which people can become
eligible for the death penalty [ For example, the UN Safeguards Guaranteeing Protection of the Rights
of Those Facing the Death Penalty ("Persons below 18 years of age at the time of the commission of the
crime shall not be sentenced to death"). UN Economic and Social Council resolution 1984/50, adopted
25 May 1984 and endorsed by the UN General Assembly in resolution 39/118, adopted without a vote on
14 December 1984, another sign of the strong consensus among nations that this provision should be
observed.]. In 1987 the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights declared that the USA had
violated Article 1 of the American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man by executing two
juvenile offenders, James Terry Roach and Jay Pinkerton [ Inter-American Commission on Human
Rights, Report No 3/87, Case No 9647/USA ]. The Commission referred to the emerging principle of
customary international law prohibiting such executions. In the 11 years since the ruling, the
USA has executed eight more juvenile offenders, despite the fact that this "emerging" principle of
customary international law has been even further strengthened by the almost global recognition
of Article 37(a) of the CRC.
For any country to adopt a selective approach to its international human rights obligations
can serve only to undermine respect for the system as a whole and to diminish the prospect for
human rights for all. That the USA sentences to death and executes juvenile offenders in violation
of international law should be a matter of deep concern to all inside and outside the country
concerned with human progress.
AN INDECENT ATTACHMENT TO "THE OBSOLETE"
"' there is some age below which a juvenile's crimes can never be constitutionally punished
by death... our precedents require us to locate this age in light of the ‘evolving standards of
decency that mark the progress of a maturing society.'"' Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, US
Supreme Court [ Thompson v. Oklahoma (1988) with reference to Trop v. Dulles (1958)]
Rather than recognize the primacy of international law, as they should, the US authorities
continue to look to the US Supreme Court, as interpreter of the Constitution, to set the minimum
age at which people in the USA can become eligible for the death penalty. The Court has done
this via the Constitution's Eighth Amendment, which bans "cruel and unusual punishments".
Amnesty International AMR 51/058/1998 USA On the Wrong Side of History - Children and the Death Penalty in the USA
Children and the death penalty
"Concerning the claim of justice for the victim's family, I say there is no amount of retaliatory
deaths that would compensate to me the inestimable value of my daughter's life, nor would they
restore her to my arms. To say that the death of any person would be just retribution is to
insult the immeasurable worth of our loved ones who are victims. We cannot put a price on
their lives." Marietta Jaeger, 1997, whose seven-year-old daughter was kidnapped, raped and murdered.
Marietta Jaeger is a member of Murder Victims Families for Reconciliation, a US organization
comprising relatives of murder victims who campaign against the death penalty.
The Eighth Amendment was added to the US Constitution in 1791. In 1910 the Supreme
Court stated that the Amendment "is progressive and does not prohibit merely the cruel and
unusual punishments known in 1689 and 1787, but may acquire wider meaning as public
opinion becomes enlightened by humane justice" {| Weems v. United States (1910).]. In 1958 the
Court took up this theme when it said that the definition of "cruel and unusual punishments" was
not permanently fixed, but instead must draw its meaning from "the evolving standards of
decency that mark the progress ofa maturing society." In 1998 the Court's opinion of US
"decency" is such that it continues to allow US authorities to sentence to death and execute
juvenile offenders, in violation of international law.
The Court made its ruling in 1989, when five of its nine Justices voted that the execution
of offenders aged 16 or 17 at the time of their crimes did not violate the Eighth Amendment [
Stanford v. Kentucky. This ruling actually covers two cases, that of Kevin Stanford (17 at time of crime,
still on death row) and Heath Wilkins (16 at crime). The latter case was Wilkins v Missouri.}. Justice
Antonin Scalia, appointed by President Ronald Reagan 18 months earlier, wrote for the majority
opinion that US society had not formed a consensus that the execution of such offenders
constituted cruel and unusual punishment. He emphasized that the five reached their decision
after looking to US conceptions of decency - not the practice of other countries - in determining
what constituted "evolving standards of decency". The five determined that the death penalty
against 16 and 17-year-olds was acceptable to US society because not only did the laws of
various states allow for its use against such offenders, but juries and prosecutors applied those
laws.
Amnesty International AMR 51/058/1998 USA On the Wrong Side of History - Children and the Death Penalty in the USA
10
Children and the death penalty
Jose Martinez High was sentenced to death in 1978 in Georgia for his part in the kidnapping of a
man and his 11-year-old stepson, and the murder of the boy. On the way to where the killing
took place, Jose Martinez High repeatedly asked the boy "are you ready to die? Do you want to
die? Well, you're going to die." The two captives were then made to lie face down on the ground
and shot in the head. The stepfather survived.
On appeal, the Supreme Court of Georgia found that "the serious psychological abuse by
the appellant to the victim before death, especially in view of the victim's young age... supports
beyond a reasonable doubt the jury's finding of torture and depravity of mind... There is no doubt
that the kidnapping and murder were of the type universally condemned by civilized societies...".
That the crime was atrocious is not in question. What is in question is the punishment. For
the past 20 years the State of Georgia has been subjecting Jose Martinez High to a prolonged
version of the psychological cruelty that it condemned him to die for. As US Supreme Court
Justice Brennan wrote in Furman v. Georgia in 1972: "we know that mental pain is an
inseparable part of our practice of punishing criminals by death, for the prospect of pending
execution exacts a frightful toll during the inevitable long wait between the imposition of
sentence and the actual infliction of death".
The execution of juvenile offenders is now almost "universally condemned" outside of the
USA. But the Georgia authorities still plan to execute Jose Martinez High for a crime committed
when he was 17. Their belief that this punishment has a constructive role to play in dealing with
juvenile crime seems set. In August 1998, a Georgia District Attorney said he would seek the
death penalty against Santana Cicero Perkinson, a 17-year-old charged in the abduction and
murder of a 16-year-old boy earlier in the year.
Amnesty International believes that the Court was wrong to have relied on this "objective
evidence" to set a rule of constitutional law, as well as being wrong to have ignored universal
“standards of decency" reflected in international human rights instruments. For it presupposed a
society fully informed about the death penalty, and a capital justice system fully representative of
society's views in which the decision-making of legislators, prosecutors and juries was free from
prejudice and politics. However, the death penalty in the USA is, as it was in 1989, a politicized
punishment, used disproportionately against racial and ethnic minorities and the poor; the debate
over its use takes place in a highly-charged and emotional climate of opinion, with large parts of
US society ill-informed about its effectiveness and alternatives, or their country's international
obligations. In the case of juvenile offenders, many have been sentenced to death by juries which
were not in a position to fully consider the mitigating aspects of the youth and backgrounds of the
defendants. Also the Supreme Court ignored the fact that a majority of states did not allow the
death penalty to be used against those under 18 at the time of the offence. All these factors render
the basis of the Court's ruling as unreliable as if it had looked to public opinion polls. It had
rejected the latter as "too uncertain a foundation" for matters of constitutional law.
A year earlier in Thompson v. Oklahoma, the Supreme Court had voted 5-4 that the
execution of the appellant, who was 15 at the time of the crime, was unconstitutional. However,
only four of the judges found that the execution of such an offender would be cruel and unusual in
all cases. A fifth judge, Justice O'Connor, agreed with their decision to overturn William Wayne
Thompson's death sentence, but only because Oklahoma's death penalty statute set no minimum
Amnesty International AMR 51/058/1998 USA On the Wrong Side of History - Children and the Death Penalty in the USA
age limit at which the death penalty could be imposed. She found that the sentencing of a
15-year-old to death under this type of statute failed to meet the standard for special care and
deliberation required in all capital cases.
The result of this marginal ruling is that it is currently unconstitutional for someone who
commits a crime when aged 15 or younger to be executed in a state whose death penalty statute
does not specify a minimum age. Since 1988 courts in Alabama, Louisiana and Indiana have
ruled that such an execution would violate the Thompson ruling. It is conceivable, however, that
a state could introduce legislation specifying a minimum age of less than 16 for capital
defendants. If that state's appeals courts subsequently upheld a death sentence imposed on a
juvenile offender who was under 16 at the time of the crime, the question of whether it is
constitutional to execute such an offender could once again come before the US Supreme Court.
In 1996 the International Commission of Jurists reported on the US death penalty [
International Commission of Jurists. Administration of the Death Penalty in the United States]. It
noted that the USA's ratification of international standards such as the ICCPR represents "an
important milestone in the progress of a maturing US society", and means that US authorities
must no longer confine their definition of "standards of decency" to national criteria and opinion.
Instead they must look to global standards, as articulated by international human rights
instruments.
Human nights have no borders. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights spoke of the
universal dimension of humanity when it recognized that "the inherent dignity and the equal and
inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and
peace in the world". Fifty years on, it is time for the USA to take a fresh look at what constitutes
"standards of decency" today, and to redefine the Eighth Amendment ban on "cruel and unusual
punishments" in line with international standards. Nearly 90 years have passed since the US
Supreme Court said that the amendment was "not fastened to the obsolete, but may acquire
meaning as public opinion becomes more enlightened." [| Weems v. United States (1910)]. It is 40
years since the Court noted that "7 the word ‘unusual’ is to have any meaning apart from the
word ‘cruel’... the meaning should be the ordinary one, signifying something different from that
which is generally done" | Trop v. Dulles (1958).]. At the end of the 1990s, the use of the death
penalty against juvenile offenders is so unusual as to be almost unknown outside of the USA.
Its cruelty against anyone is undeniable.
It is time for US political leaders to loosen their grip on "the obsolete" and prohibit the
use of the death penalty against all juvenile offenders, as defined by international standards, as a
first step towards total abolition.
BACK TO THE FUTURE?
Old enough to kill, old enough to die - S\ogan in support of juvenile death penalty, USA, 1940s
Do an adult crime, do adult time - Slogan for harsher juvenile sentencing, California, 1998
On 16 June 1944 George Junius Stinney was executed in South Carolina. He was 14 - the
youngest person to be executed in the USA this century. Over 50 years later some US politicians
and prosecutors are calling for the death penalty to be once again applicable to 14-year-old or
even younger offenders. In doing so, they seem to be saying that US "standards of decency" on
Amnesty International AMR 51/058/1998 USA On the Wrong Side of History - Children and the Death Penalty in the USA
12
this issue could retreat deeper into the past and diverge even further from the global norm.
In 1996, over 100 years after New Mexico last executed a juvenile offender, the state
governor said at a press conference that he favoured the death penalty for juveniles as young as
13. The Governor of California has indicated personal support for the death penalty against 14-
year-old children, and in 1997 a Los Angeles District Attorney said that he favoured the death
penalty for children "no matter what their age" [ Executioner’s Myth - Los Angeles Times, 5 May
1997.]. The last execution of a juvenile offender in California was in 1923. In mid-1998 a member
of the Texas House of Representatives planned to introduce legislation under which | 1-year-olds
who commit murder could be sentenced to death. His proposal was later shelved. It is unclear if it
will be reinitiated.
Ten years after the US Supreme Court set the minimum age for death penalty eligibility
in the USA when it ruled that Oklahoma could not execute William Wayne Thompson for a
crime he committed when he was 15, prosecutors in Oklahoma are still looking to undermine the
decision. In late 1996, a District Attorney sought to pursue a death sentence in the retrial of
Adriel Simpson, who was 15 years and three months old at the time of the offence. The District
Attorney said that the "evolving standards of decency" in Oklahoma have changed since
Thompson v. Oklahoma. He argued that this is demonstrated by the change in state law in 1995
to allow prosecutors to charge 13, 14, or 15-year-olds with first degree murder and try them as
adults, without going to a juvenile court first, as was the case in 1988. In January 1997, the state
Court of Criminal Appeals intervened and stopped the prosecutor's quest for the death penalty and
Adriel Simpson was sentenced to life without parole (in breach of Article 73(a) of the Convention
on the Rights of the Child). Following the appeal court ruling, the District Attorney's Office
dropped their bid for the death penalty against another 15-year-old offender in February 1997.
However, in August 1998 a prosecutor from the same District Attorney's Office was reported to
have said that he would "research the case law" to determine whether he could seek the death
penalty against 15-year-old Dylan Shanks, charged with three murders committed on 7 August.
Amnesty International AMR 51/058/1998 USA On the Wrong Side of History - Children and the Death Penalty in the USA
Children and the death penalty
"Six months later, this teenager from a local high school came to the police and said "I know
who did this" and turned him in. It was this kid who lived a few blocks away, he was 16 when
he did it... So he wasn't eligible for the death penalty because Illinois, unlike other states,
doesn't allow juveniles to be executed...
After he was convicted and sentenced, the first question [the press] asked me was "Well,
aren't you disappointed that he didn't get the death penalty." That staggered me; that was the
first time that I spoke out against the death penalty, publicly, after my sister's murder. I said
no' - I mean she loved life, she believed in it, she valued it.... she would never want her
memorial to be the death of another human being, she would never want more bloodshed to be
the thing by which we honoured her life.
Beyond that I really feel that I wouldn't inflict on my worst enemy the grief that was
inflicted on us by him... I can't imagine saying ‘your son took my sister's life' - he had a brother
and a sister, perfectly normal kids - 'so now I'll take your son's or your brother's life as my
revenge’. I don't see the point of that except widening the circle of grief to include them.
I also don't want anything in common with him. I just think how cold he must have been
to commit the murders and I think that's the kind of mercilessness that we're showing by
executing people. You know, by saying ‘at such-and-such a time, on such-and-such a day, we're
going to end your life, we're going to strap you down to a table and inject your veins with
poison and kill you."
Jeanne Bishop, interview with Amnesty International, Chicago, 29 May 1998. Jeanne Bishop's
25-year-old pregnant sister Nancy and her husband Richard were taken captive and murdered in the
basement of their home in April 1990 by a 16-year-old boy.
It is considered unlikely that any state or federal courts would allow an offender younger
than 16 at the time of the crime to remain under sentence of death or be executed, suggesting that
the officials above are engaging in a degree of demagoguery. Their attempts to appeal to the more
punitive side of the US electorate show the extent to which the death penalty has become a
political tool in the USA, and illustrate the lack of informed debate about the reality of the death
penalty and alternatives to it. While politicians are busy competing with each other over who can
be toughest on crime, including juvenile crime, they are failing society's need to find constructive
solutions to the problem.
Other politicians have sought to lower the age for death penalty eligibility, but within the
16 to 18 age band allowed by the US Supreme Court. In 1997, members of US Congress in
Washington DC put forward a proposal to reduce from 18 to 16 the minimum age under federal
capital statutes, as part of a broader legislative package on juvenile justice. The proposal was
later shelved after opposition from human rights organizations, but it could be reinitiated. At a
press conference in New York City in July 1998, following the death in hospital of a police officer
who had been shot a few days earlier, allegedly by a 17-year-old youth, the city's Mayor called for
tougher laws for juvenile offenders. He said it would be "appropriate" in some cases to make
17-year-old murderers eligible for the death penalty. The minimum age in New York state is
currently 18. In 1996, the Georgia House of Representatives Judiciary Committee approved a bill
to reduce from 17 to 16 the age at which the death penalty could be imposed. As part of their
deliberations, the committee heard testimony from a man whose son had been killed by a
Amnesty International AMR 51/058/1998 USA On the Wrong Side of History - Children and the Death Penalty in the USA
16-year-old boy two months earlier. In his emotional testimony, the grieving father said that if the
16-year-old defendant was "man enough to kill someone, then he ought to be man enough to take
the punishment." By passing the bill onto the full legislature, the Committee encouraged the
myths that the death penalty can heal all those who lose loved ones to murder, and that it is an
effective deterrent against violent juvenile crime. The legislature did not pass the bill into law.
In 1994 Florida's Supreme Court overturned the death sentence of Jerome Allen, ruling
that the state's constitutional ban on cruel or unusual punishment forbids the execution of an
offender who was 15 at the time of the crime [ Allen v State ]. Prior to the ruling, Florida's
legislators were debating a bill to make the death penalty applicable to 14-year-olds, and in late
1993 a state prosecutor had planned to seek the death penalty for four boys aged 13, 14 and 16[
Death penalty to be sought for youths in tourist killing. Sun-Sentinel, 23 October 1993]. In September
1998, having earlier in the year heard an appeal on behalf of death row inmate Keith Brennan, the
Court was due to rule on whether it is acceptable under Florida's constitution to execute a prisoner
for a crime committed at 16. At the appeal hearing, the Assistant Attorney General argued that,
because the death penalty had been used against other 16-year-old offenders in Florida, society
supported the execution of such prisoners. Apart from Keith Brennan, three such offenders have
been sent to Florida's death row in the 1990s, two of whom have since had their death sentences
reversed. Florida has not executed a prisoner for a crime committed at 16 since 1954.
Even abolitionist jurisdictions have seen some of their political leaders supporting the
death penalty against juvenile offenders. At a press conference outside a juvenile detention centre
in Rhode Island in August 1998, for example, one of the candidates for state Attorney General
said that the case of two boys in Arkansas, recently convicted of murder committed when they
were 11 and 13, was the type in which he might recommend the death penalty. After this drew
criticism from his campaign opponents, he issued a news release to "clarify" his position saying
that he in fact did not "support" capital punishment for juvenile offenders, but believes that a case
of a 17-year-old who commits a heinous crime would "merit consideration of capital punishment”.
Rhode Island carried out its last execution in 1845, and has never executed a juvenile offender.
Many of these calls for a lowering of the age of death penalty eligibility are made in
response to particular high-profile juvenile crimes, such as the spate of school shootings which
occurred across the USA between October 1997 and May 1998. In this period, 11 pupils and a
teacher were killed by children between the ages of 11 and 17 in Mississippi, Kentucky, Arkansas
and Oregon. In Mississippi, Senate Bill 2868 was passed into law in mid-1998 following the
killing of a pupil in a 1997 school shooting in the state. While it does not lower the age of death
penalty eligibility below 16, it expands capital offences to include "murder which is perpetrated on
educational property."
In general, the pressure for the death penalty to be applicable to younger defendants is
part of the shift away from the goal of rehabilitation for juvenile offenders to a more punitive
approach. The death penalty now resides at the extreme end of what is becoming a continuum of
harsher sentencing against juveniles, including life imprisonment without the possibility of parole,
itself a violation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. In California, for example, the
minimum age for the death penalty has remained at 18, despite the governor's support for its use
against those as young as 14. However, in August 1998 there were 14 people in Californian
prisons serving sentences of life without parole for crimes committed when they were 16 or 17.
As with the death penalty, the state seems to be saying that such juvenile offenders are beyond
redemption.
Amnesty International AMR 51/058/1998 USA On the Wrong Side of History - Children and the Death Penalty in the USA
WHY PROTECT CHILDREN WHO COMMIT VIOLENT "ADULT" CRIMES?
"We should not punish our children by execution. We call them adults but they are not. They
are children... We don't kill our children."" _ Beth Davis, lawyer, Missouri, August 1998
Defence lawyer Beth Davis was pleading for the life of DeShun Washington at the sentencing
phase of his trial in Missouri on 31 August 1998. The jury had found him guilty of first-degree
murder two days earlier. DeShun Washington was 16 at the time of the crime.
Thirty-five years ago, US Supreme Court Justice Frankfurter observed that "children
have a very special place in life which law should reflect" {| May v. Anderson (1953).]. Today this
universal truth has been reflected in the almost worldwide acceptance of the principle that juvenile
offenders should be excluded from the death penalty. The need to consider the "best interests of
the child", as expressed by Article 3 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, can never be
fulfilled by sending juvenile offenders to death row or killing them [According to the UN Standard
Minimum Rules for the Administration of Juvenile Justice ("Beijing Rules"), one element of juvenile
justice should be the "protection of the young" (Rule 1.4), and its objective should be the "well-being of
the juvenile" (Rule 5.1). Juvenile justice should consider, amongst other things, the "circumstances and
the needs of the juvenile" (Rule 17.1a). The Beijing Rules were adopted by the UN General Assembly on
29 November 1985 (resolution 40/33).].
Within the USA, as elsewhere, there has been long-standing and widespread recognition
that children are different in the eyes of the law. For example, a Presidential Commission
reporting on youth crime in the 1970s observed that "/c/rimes committed by youths may be just
as harmful to victims as those committed by older persons, but they deserve less punishment
because adolescents may have less capacity to control their conduct and to think in long-range
terms than adults. Moreover, youth crime as such is not exclusively the offender's fault;
offenses by the young also represent a failure of family, school, and the social system, which
share responsibility for the development of America's youth." | Twentieth Century Fund Task
Force on Sentencing Policy Toward Young Offenders, Confronting Youth Crime 7 (1978), cited in
Eddings v. Oklahoma (1982)]. On average, it costs some two and a half million US dollars to
prosecute, keep on death row and execute a single individual. Surely this money, not to mention
the human energy involved, could be put to better use in preventive efforts to remedy the sorts of
failure referred to by the Commission.
In the early 1980s, the Section of Criminal Justice of the American Bar Association
(ABA) conducted a two-year study which concluded that the death penalty was an inappropriate
punishment for juvenile offenders and that "the spectacle of our society seeking legal vengeance
through the execution of a child should not be countenanced...". In 1983, the ABA adopted a
resolution opposing "the imposition of capital punishment upon any person for an offense
committed while under the age of 18." This was the first time that the ABA had taken a position
on any aspect of the death penalty. In 1997, it reiterated its outright opposition to the execution of
juvenile offenders when it called for a moratorium on the death penalty in the USA.
In Thompson v. Oklahoma in 1988, the US Supreme Court said that "Youth is more than
a chronological fact. It is a time and condition of life when a person may be most susceptible to
influence and to psychological damage." In 1993, the Court pointed to the greater scope for the
Amnesty International AMR 51/058/1998 USA On the Wrong Side of History - Children and the Death Penalty in the USA
16
rehabilitation of a young offender. It said that "the signature qualities of youth are transient; as
individuals mature, the impetuousness and recklessness that may dominate in younger years can
subside" [ Dorsie Lee Johnson v. Texas]. The Court described the unique mitigating aspects of
youth: "A lack of maturity and an underdeveloped sense of responsibility are found in youth
more often than in adults and are more understandable among the young. These qualities often
result in impetuous and ill-considered actions and decisions. A sentencer in a capital case must
be allowed to consider the mitigating qualities of youth in the course of its deliberations over
the appropriate sentence." However, not all capital juries have been in a position to fully consider
the defendant's youth as a mitigating factor, due to improper or ineffective guidance from
prosecutors or defence lawyers.
Children and the death penalty
In 1946, after six harsh days in police custody, 17-year-old Chicago student William Heirens was
offered a choice. Confess to three murders committed when he was 16 and 17, or face a capital
trial. His lawyers advised him that adverse and inflammatory publicity in Chicago newspapers
involved in a circulation war had jeopardized his prospects of a fair trial. The threat of the
electric chair loomed very real over the teenager as pressure on police and politicians to get a
conviction mounted. He chose to confess and plead guilty, thereby avoiding trial and the
possibility of the death penalty. On 6 September 1946 he was sentenced to three consecutive life
sentences.
William Heirens, 70 years old in November 1998, is still in prison. During the past half
century, he became the first Illinois inmate to earn a university degree. Through his efforts, the
library and educational systems in the state's prisons were greatly improved. He served as
secretary to the chaplain of the prison where he was held until recently. Over the years he has
become a competent watercolour artist. One prominent psychiatrist has stated that he is
"rehabilitated by any measure we can use."
Serious doubts have been raised about William Heirens' guilt. He has always maintained
his innocence, claiming that he had to plead guilty in 1946 in order to live. But one fact is
irrefutable: his hard work towards self-improvement while in prison and his contribution to the
lives of other inmates would not have been possible if he had been executed.
The greater scope for rehabilitation of juvenile offenders is one reason why the world has
agreed to consign their execution to history. For many people, the risk to the innocent is reason
enough to abandon the death penalty altogether.
The Supreme Court has noted that abusive and deprived childhoods, as well as age, must
be taken into account at sentencing: "...just as the chronological age of a minor is itself.a
relevant mitigating factor of great weight, so must the background and mental and emotional
development of a youthful defendant be duly considered in sentencing."| Eddings v. Oklahoma
(1982)]. This principle has also not been universally followed in capital trials. In 1991 Amnesty
International found that of 23 juvenile offenders sentenced to death, the majority came from
acutely deprived backgrounds; over half had been seriously physically or sexually abused; 10
were known to have been regularly taking drugs or alcohol from an early age; in many cases, the
parents had histories of alcoholism, mental illness or drug abuse; at least 14 of the prisoners
suffered from mental illness or brain damage; and most were of below-average intelligence
Amnesty International AMR 51/058/1998 USA On the Wrong Side of History - Children and the Death Penalty in the USA
17
[ USA: The death penalty and juvenile offenders. Al Index: AMR 51/23/91, October 1991]. The
organization's research continues to indicate that many adult and juvenile offenders on death row
had deprived or abusive childhoods. In the case of the young offenders, however, their behaviour
may be more amenable to reform: "The 30-year-old has been out of the house for 10 years. He's
had time to form a new life. Almost all teenage offenders are still living at home. The damage
done to them emotionally and mentally is not so far removed" [ Victor Streib, quoted in Dead Teen
Walking, Time magazine, 19 January 1998. ].
It is commonly agreed that the death penalty's would-be goals of either retribution or
deterrence are especially inapplicable in the case of young people. In 1989, citing the findings of
the report by its Section on Criminal Justice, the ABA said "...in light of the characteristics
associated with childhood - impulsiveness, lack of self control, poor judgement, feelings of
invincibility - the deterrent value of the juvenile death penalty is likely of little consequence..." [
Presented in the ABA's amicus curiae brief in Stanford v. Kentucky].
The goal of retribution, which presupposes exact like-for-like punishment, cannot be
achieved by killing someone who may not have been fully responsible for their actions. In
Thompson v. Oklahoma, the US Supreme Court stated that "given the lesser culpability of the
Juvenile offender, the teenager's capacity for growth, and society's fiduciary [protective]
obligations to its children" the goal of retribution is inapplicable to the execution of 15-year-old
offenders. Its refusal to apply this ruling to 16 and 17-year-olds contravenes the principle that
the state should assume the role of protector for all its children and youth. Politicians who call
for younger children to be eligible for the death penalty are putting pressure on the state to
absolve itself even further from its protective role.
On 31 August 1998 in Missouri, the jury decided that DeShun Washington should be
sentenced to life in prison without parole.
ILLUSTRATIVE CASES
Where there's life, there's hope - Paula Cooper, Indiana
"Killing her would be two wrongs and that doesn't make a right." __ Bill Pelke, March 1987
It is now more than a dozen years since Paula Cooper was sentenced to death for a murder she
committed when she was 15. Her death sentence was set aside by the Indiana Supreme Court in
1989 and she was given a 60-year prison sentence instead. She must serve half this sentence
before becoming eligible for parole. In the years since she was sentenced at the age of 16, Paula
Cooper has made substantial progress towards rehabilitation. She has obtained her high school
certificate through correspondence, and is continuing her studies via correspondence courses from
prison.
Paula Cooper's crime was atrocious - the multiple stabbing of 78-year-old Ruth Pelke at
her home. Again, this is the sort of crime which many people say is beyond rehabilitation or
forgiveness and for which the death penalty is the only possible response. Ruth Pelke's grandson,
Bill Pelke, favoured the death sentence at first. But he became convinced that his grandmother
would not have wanted the death penalty against Paula Cooper, and he realised that he did not
want it either. He began to communicate with Paula Cooper by letter and the two of them have
Amnesty International AMR 51/058/1998 USA On the Wrong Side of History - Children and the Death Penalty in the USA
18
written to each other since. He has visited her about 10 times in prison since 1994.
Paula Cooper was abused as a child. Her father beat her with belts and electric cables.
She and her older sister were forced to watch him beating and raping their mother. On one
occasion the mother attempted to kill herself and her two daughters. Paula Cooper spent periods
of time in foster homes and juvenile centres. She says that if there had been someone like Bill
Pelke in her childhood, she would never have committed murder, and that it is now her aim to help
other children from falling into crime. Bill Pelke continues to speak out against the death penalty.
Lost in a foreign land - Azikiwe Kambule, Mississippi
"Once we'd campaign for Nelson Mandela not to face the death penalty in South Africa.
Now, here, in the land of the free and the home of the brave, we have a child facing the
possibility of the death penalty."
Dennis Brutus, former South African political prisoner, 1997 [ The Wall Street Journal, 20 February
1997. Dennis Brutus, poet and former anti-apartheid activist, is now a university professor in
Pittsburgh, USA.]
Azikiwe Kambule left his native South Africa in 1994 after his mother won a scholarship to study
in Mississippi. He was 15. The following year his own country abolished the death penalty as part
of its continuing efforts to escape its history of racial and social conflict. A year after that, Azi
Kambule was facing the possibility of a death sentence in the USA.
Born and raised in the black township of Soweto, Azi Kambule missed many days of
education as a young boy because of the school boycotts in protest at apartheid. Academically he
settled well into his new school in Jackson, Mississippi, but socially he found it more difficult to
fit in. His peers made fun of his foreign accent and cultural differences. He fell in with a group
of older youths who spent little time at school.
Amnesty International AMR 51/058/1998 USA On the Wrong Side of History - Children and the Death Penalty in the USA
Children and the death penalty
"The shame of America: Do you know that the United States is the only land on earth where
human beings are burned at the stake? In four years, 1918-1921, twenty-eight people were
publicly burned by American mobs..."
These were the opening words of a full-page advertisement in The New York Times of 23
November 1922, part of a campaign by the National Association for the Advancement of
Colored People to lobby support for an anti-lynching bill in the US Senate. Over 75 years later,
the USA may yet become the world's sole perpetrator of another human rights violation - the
execution of juvenile offenders.
In its time, lynching fed on public support for its continuation and required society's
opposition to eventually outlaw it. So too with the judicial death penalty. Also like lynching, the
death penalty in the USA has a racist history. In the case of juvenile offenders, some 70 per cent
of those executed between 1642 and 1964 were black, and 24 per cent white. Nearly 90 per cent
had been convicted of crimes against whites.
Like the death penalty as a whole, the juvenile death penalty of today is not as overtly
racist as it once was. But, as with its adult relation, racial and ethnic minorities continue to make
up a disproportionate number of the juvenile offenders on death row, and race of defendant and
‘| victim can still play a role in who gets sentenced to death.
David Baldus and George Woodworth, experts on race and the US death penalty, have
written:
"Many citizens consider it insensitive and unseemly, if not immoral, for a country, with our
historical record on slavery and race discrimination, to persist in using a punishment that is
administered and controlled almost exclusively by whites and serves no demonstrated
penological function, but has a profound adverse impact, physically, psychologically, and
symbolically on its black citizens." (Acker, J.R: America's Experiment with Capital Punishment.
CAP, 1998).
On 25 January 1996 Azi Kambule, then 17, was with 21-year-old Santonio Berry when
the latter saw Pam McGill, a local black social worker, in a sports car. Azi Kambule says that
Santonio Berry decided to steal the car and forced Pam McGill at gunpoint into the passenger
seat, telling Azi Kambule to get in the back. He then drove to a wood, told Azi Kambule to wait,
took Pam McGill into the woods and shot her. Azi Kambule, who had no criminal record or
history of violence, says he was unaware that Santonio Berry intended to steal a car or commit
murder.
As the case developed, two prosecutors demonstrated the lengths to which they were
willing to go to obtain a death sentence. As the crime began in Hinds County, but the murder
actually took place in Madison County, either District Attorney could have tried the case.
However, the Hinds County official requested that the trial take place in Madison County because
"The family [of the victim] from the beginning has expressed a desire that the people charged
get the death penalty and the best way to do that is to send it to another county. The jurors in
Hinds County have a reputation for refusing to vote for the death penalty." Hinds County has a
high proportion of black residents, whereas Madison County is predominantly white. Pam
Amnesty International AMR 51/058/1998 USA On the Wrong Side of History - Children and the Death Penalty in the USA
McGill's murder had briefly united the two communities in shared outrage against the two black
youths. However, as Azi Kambule's role in the crime emerged, sympathy for him within the black
community increased.
Santonio Berry accepted a plea-bargain from the Madison County District Attorney - life
imprisonment without parole in exchange for admitting to killing Pam McGill and agreeing to
testify against his younger co-defendant. Azi Kambule refused a plea-bargain of life imprisonment
without parole, asserting his innocence of capital murder. The District Attorney continued to
press for the death penalty against Azi Kambule, despite the fact that the actual murderer had
been spared from it, and despite knowing that his pursuit of a death sentence against a juvenile
offender would violate international standards. This had been made clear to him via national and
international appeals, including one from Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Chairperson of the Truth
and Reconciliation Commission in South Africa. The Archbishop cited the Convention on the
Rights of the Child and wrote: "Azikiwe must stand trial for his part in the killing and should be
punished if found guilty but society must not compound evil by violating his rights as a minor. I
urge you as an officer concerned for justice, law and order to uphold the culture of reverence
for human rights..." The District Attorney rejected the appeals: "Jr's just a bunch of these
anti-death penalty zealots mouthing off... The death penalty is the only deterrent we have in this
country to stop these senseless murders going on...". He did not provide any evidence to back up
this claim.
In June 1997, the judge ruled that the prosecution could not seek the death penalty against
Azi Kambule when the actual killer had received a life sentence. The District Attorney could have
continued with the charge of capital murder to gain a sentence of life imprisonment without
parole. Fearful of this, Azi Kambule agreed to plead guilty to aiding a car-jacking and assisting in
the attempt to sell the stolen car in return for the capital murder charge being dropped. He was
sentenced to the maximum sentence - 35 years in prison without the possibility of parole.
Azi Kambule is in Woodville Correctional Center, a new prison owned by the Correction
Corporation of America. He had completed his high school diploma by correspondence while
awaiting trial. His parents, back in South Africa, are campaigning for him to be allowed to
pursue a university degree by correspondence, but in August 1998 they had received no reply
from the prison authorities.
Azi Kambule's own country continues to face a serious crime problem, but the
government there is resisting reactionary calls for a return to executions. In June 1998, Deputy
President Thabo Mbeki said: "We think the death penalty is wrong and will help entrench a
culture of barbarity in this country. I am quite certain that the government is not going to take
on itself the position of an official murderer." After a bomb attack against the US-owned
Planet Hollywood restaurant in Cape Town in August 1998, President Mandela rejected calls for
the death penalty, saying that it had never been shown to be a deterrent and that "that type of
vengeance does not help us, to kill people merely because they have killed others."
Wrong on all counts? - Shareef Cousin, Louisiana
"To sit here in the shadows of death, surrounded by death on each side of me is very hard to
deal with... almost every day I think of killing myself, but I'm too scared to die'' Shareef
Cousin, 1997 [ From letters to his sister Tonya Cropper, sent from death row, 1997.]
Amnesty International AMR 51/058/1998 USA On the Wrong Side of History - Children and the Death Penalty in the USA
On the evening of 2 March 1995, Michael Gerardi and Connie Babin left a restaurant in New
Orleans. As they walked to their car, they noticed three males watching them, one of whom
confronted Michael Gerardi. As Connie Babin ran towards the restaurant for help, she looked
back to see the assailant fire his gun pointblank into her friend's face.
Three weeks later, 16-year-old Shareef Cousin was arrested and charged with the
murder. From the moment of his arrest, he maintained his innocence. At jury selection for his trial
in January 1996, the prosecution moved to exclude jurors whose "sympathy" towards a child of
16 would diminish their ability to vote for death.
The prosecution's case hinged on Connie Babin's account of the murder. She repeatedly
stated her absolute certainty to the jury that Shareef Cousin was the perpetrator. The defence
questioned the reliability of her testimony, producing a police report from the night of the killing
which stated that she had said that she had "not got a good look at the perpetrators, and probably
could not identify them." There was no physical evidence linking Shareef Cousin to the shooting.
James Rowell, 16, was meant to testify that Shareef Cousin had told him that he had shot
Michael Gerardi. However, when questioned in court, James Rowell said that he had never had
such a conversation and had only said what his lawyer and the police told him to say in order to
receive favourable treatment on the armed robbery charges he was facing.
Shareef Cousin was playing basketball on the evening of the murder. There was some
dispute about the exact timing of the game, but several alibis testified that Shareef Cousin could
not have committed the murder, including the basketball coach who said that he had given the boy
a lift home, dropping him off after the time of the crime.
On 26 January, the jury found Shareef Cousin guilty of first-degree murder. While his
estranged father turned up too late to testify as a character witness at the sentencing on 30
January, Michael Gerardi's father made an emotionally powerful "victim impact statement", in
which he told of the pain of losing his son. The jury decided that Shareef Cousin should die.
After the trial, an anonymous source sent the defence team a tape of a statement that
Connie Babin had made to investigators a few days after the murder, but which had not been
made known at the trial. On the tape, asked if she could identify the killer, she replied "7 don't
know, it was dark, and I didn't have my contact [lenses] or my glasses so I'm coming at this from
a disadvantage" and that she could see only "outlines and shapes and things".
Children and the death penalty
"This is a kid. I swear to God, when Shareef was first arrested, he called me up collect, he
goes, 'Tonya, can you go to school and get my assignments because I don't want to be late with
my lessons...'"
"[After the appeal] Shareef called me... My daughter was there and I said "guess what?
Your uncle Shareef got a new trial." And she says - she was five - she says "Mummy, does that
mean they not gonna kill him?" And that's when it hit home..."
Tonya Cropper, sister of Shareef Cousin, June 1998
The defence said that the prosecution had hidden key alibi witnesses. Three of Shareef
Amnesty International AMR 51/058/1998 USA On the Wrong Side of History - Children and the Death Penalty in the USA
Cousin's basketball teammates were waiting outside the courtroom during one of the last days of
the trial, ready to testify that he was with them in the coach's car around the time of the murder.
However, prosecution staff took the boys to their office and they were never heard in court. The
Assistant District Attorney said that the boys had been moved for their own comfort as it was hot
where they were waiting. On questioning, he admitted that the trial took place in January, a cold
time of year.
The judge denied the request for a new trial and on 2 July 1996 confirmed the death
sentence. Shareef Cousin was sent to Louisiana State Prison in Angola, becoming the youngest
death row inmate in the USA. On appeal in April 1998, the state Supreme Court ruled that the
prosecutor had made improper use of James Rowell's alleged pre-trial statements. Because this
may have influenced the jury, the court overturned the conviction and death sentence and
remanded Shareef Cousin for retrial. He is currently in Orleans Parish Prison in New Orleans.
His new trial is scheduled for late 1998 at which the state will again seek the death penalty, in
violation of international human rights law.
Was the state also wrong in who it convicted? If so, it would not be the first time that a
person has been wrongly convicted and sentenced to death in the USA. In 1998, Curtis Kyles
became the 75th such person to be released since 1973. He had been subjected to five capital trials
by the same District Attorney's Office which prosecuted Shareef Cousin. The US Supreme Court
eventually ruled that the verdict against Curtis Kyles was unsafe as the prosecution had withheld
crucial evidence about the unreliability of eyewitness testimony and important information about a
paid informant who may have been the actual murderer [ For further information see Fatal Flaws:
Innocence and the Death Penalty in the USA (AI Index: AMR 51/69/98, to be issued in November 1998).
].
A mind to kill - Sean Sellers, Oklahoma
"He's only 17, but when he picked up that .357 he became a man... And when he picked up
that .44 Special, he became a man again."' District Attorney, trial of Sean Richard Sellers |
While the District Attorney was technically correct to say that Sean Sellers was 17 (at the trial), his
words were somewhat misleading as Sean Sellers was 16 when the crimes were committed. ]
In 1986 a prosecutor used these words to argue to a jury that Sean Sellers should die for his
"adult" crimes. Twelve years later, a federal appeals court noted that a serious mental condition
may have led the 16-year-old Sean Sellers to commit those crimes. Yet the Oklahoma state
authorities still intend to kill him.
Sean Sellers was sentenced to death in 1986 for the 1985 murder of Robert Bower, a
store owner, and of his own mother and stepfather in 1986. On 4 February 1998 a US Court of
Appeals for the 10th Circuit denied his latest appeal, despite acknowledging the "significant
evidence that the person facing death... is not the person who committed the crime." [US Court of
Appeals for the 10th Circuit, 4 February 1998 ( Sellers v. Ward )]. The court had just reviewed expert
testimony that Sean Sellers has Multiple Personality Disorder (MPD), a mental condition in which
"alter" personalities manifest themselves in the sufferer.
This testimony states that: (a) a quantitative electroencephalogram test (QEEG) disclosed
that Sean Sellers has brain damage as a result of a head injury suffered as a child; (b) the QEEG
Amnesty International AMR 51/058/1998 USA On the Wrong Side of History - Children and the Death Penalty in the USA
dramatically changed with each of Sean Sellers’ alter states, indicating the presence of at least
three alter personalities; (c) an Evoked Potential Test (EPT), which relies upon biological signals
from the body and cannot be falsified by the patient, confirmed the QEEG; (d) two doctors,
separately, spoke to two of Sean Sellers' alter personalities, named "Danny" and "The Controller";
(e) Sean Sellers suffered from MPD at the time of the killings; (f) one of the alter personalities,
which is unlikely to have understood the difference between right and wrong, "must have been in
executive control of [Sellers'] person or body" at those times; (g) there was only limited
awareness of MPD in the mental health community at the time of the trial, when tests for it had
not yet been developed; (h) MPD is a “hidden disease" which generally takes seven years to
confirm.
The Court admitted that, if believed by a jury, this evidence of the culpability of an alter
personality "renders the person known as Sean Sellers actually innocent". However, it said that,
as a federal habeas corpus court, it was restricted to ruling whether a sentence violates the
Constitution, rather than to correcting errors of fact. The Court ruled that it could not act unless
Sean Seller's claim of innocence was so great that no reasonable juror would convict. It noted
that, although the psychiatric evidence was "clear, strong and supportive", it had not been
cross-examined in a courtroom, and also lay people (ie jurors) could be expected to be sceptical
about MPD. The Court said that it was therefore not able to conclude that not one juror would
vote to convict. Stating that it was "not unmoved by the Petitioner's dilemma", the Court denied
the appeal, noting that Sean Sellers had recourse to executive clemency.
Children and the death penalty
"To condemn me to death solves nothing! To be condemned is to say my life has no positive
value, I'm beyond correction or rehabilitation. That's not true." Jerry Mooney, juvenile
offender, H-Unit, Oklahoma, quoted in Buried Alive, SPIN magazine, October 1998.
Jerry Mooney, Sean Sellers, and Scott Hain are on death row for crimes committed when they
were not yet 18 years old. All three are held in H-Unit, Oklahoma State Penitentiary. Their
sentences and incarceration in H-Unit are an affront to the widely accepted principles that
rehabilitation and the "best interests of the child" should be uppermost in the minds of officials
dealing with young offenders. Built entirely of concrete and sited so that the living
accommodation is effectively underground, H-Unit is an electronically controlled facility designed
to minimize contact between inmates and prison staff. Prisoners are confined for 23 hours a day
in windowless cells allowing virtually no natural light and no natural air. Amnesty International
has found that the conditions under which death row inmates are held in H-Unit amount to cruel,
inhuman or degrading treatment.
Jerry Mooney, convicted in 1995 of a murder committed when he was 16, had a disturbed and
abused childhood, and suffered brain injury.
Sean Sellers' earlier state appeals had been exhausted after the Oklahoma Court of
Criminal Appeals ruled in 1995 that his right to raise the claim of MPD had been waived because
it could, and therefore should, have been raised at the time of the trial. It said that the evidence
thus did not fall under the category of "newly discovered" which could have allowed for a
successful appeal. This ruling, apparently unsupported by any expert evidence, contradicts the
undisputed testimony that it was not possible to raise the MPD claim at Sean Sellers' trial because
Amnesty International AMR 51/058/1998 USA On the Wrong Side of History - Children and the Death Penalty in the USA
the clinical tests for discovering and confirming the presence of MPD had not yet been developed.
The experts also provided evidence that it usually takes several years and several incorrect
diagnoses to establish that a person suffers from MPD.
At the original trial in 1986, a psychiatrist had testified that Sean Sellers was "legally |
unconscious" at the time of all three killings and therefore incapable of forming the intent required
of first-degree murder. To rebut this, the prosecution provided testimony from a doctor, who was |
unable to rule out the possibility that the psychiatrist was correct in his assessment. In 1987,
another psychiatrist found Sean Sellers to be chronically psychotic, exhibiting symptoms of |
paranoid schizophrenia, and suffering from hallucinations, delusional beliefs, peculiar acts of
self-mutilation and obsessions with God, Satan, good and evil.
At the sentencing phase, the judge did not allow the defence to introduce expert testimony
that juveniles are developmentally different to adults, on the grounds that all jurors would know
this anyway. Nor did the judge allow expert testimony that the length of a life sentence in
Oklahoma meant at least 15 years in prison without parole. The defence had wished to counteract
recent newspaper articles suggesting that life imprisonment meant release in under half that time.
Sean Sellers had a disturbed childhood. His mother was 16 when he was born, and his
parents divorced three or four years later. As a small boy he was often left in the care of relatives
while his mother was away with his stepfather, a truck driver. An uncle made him wear nappies
because he still wet the bed at the age of 12 and 13. If he wet the bed two nights in a row, the
uncle would make him wear soiled nappies on his head all day as punishment. He was exposed to
violence from an early age. His stepfather and mother both carried guns and knives with them.
An uncle who took him hunting tried to teach him to step on an animal's head and pull on its legs
to kill it. None of this detail was presented to the trial jury as mitigating evidence.
The authorities continue to expose Sean Sellers to brutality by keeping him under
sentence of death. They are breaking international law, and ignoring international standards
which see the death penalty as an inappropriate punishment for the mentally impaired. They are
also planning to rewrite Oklahoma's history of capital punishment; no juvenile offender has ever
been executed in the state.
Time for mercy - Kevin Hughes, Pennsylvania
"The drugs they gave Kevin for the trial made him quiet and less moody, but he was even less
able to understand... It was like having a trial with a three-year-old child. We could not
understand how they could try someone so out of touch." Affidavit of aunt of Kevin Hughes
On 1 March 1979, the body of nine-year-old Rochelle Graham was found in a building in
Philadelphia. She had been raped and strangled. This appalling crime went unresolved until 11
January 1980, when Kevin Hughes was arrested after another young girl identified him to police
as the person who had sexually and physically assaulted her a few days before. Noting similarities
in the crimes, the police questioned Kevin Hughes about Rochelle Graham. He eventually
confessed to her murder, committed when he was 16.
At the time of his arrest there were signs that Kevin Hughes was suffering from mental
health problems, when he indicated to police that "voices" had made him commit the murder. In
Amnesty International AMR 51/058/1998 USA On the Wrong Side of History - Children and the Death Penalty in the USA
25
the next few months, the severity of these problems was noted by mental health professionals at
the prison where he was held in pre-trial detention and at a psychiatric hospital where he was sent
in August 1980. However, he was found competent to stand trial by two doctors, one of whom
found signs of schizophrenia, but believed that it was under control because of the anti-psychotic
drug, Thorazine, he was taking. A third psychiatrist found Kevin Hughes not competent to stand
trial, as he was "profoundly disturbed" and suffering from a delusional belief that "all he has to do
is to tell his story to the judge and he will be sent home." The judge ruled that the trial could
proceed, but ordered, at the prosecutor's request, that Kevin Hughes be kept on Thorazine
throughout the proceedings.
At the sentencing phase, the jury was not properly instructed to consider Kevin Hughes'
youth in mitigation, and the jurors never heard evidence of Kevin Hughes' abusive and neglected
childhood, or his mental illness. According to later affidavits from relatives, his mother was a
diagnosed schizophrenic. She was alcoholic and a drug-abuser, who drank heavily when pregnant
with Kevin. He never knew his father. He and his five siblings were fathered by five different
men. The family was very poor; the children would often go hungry and miss school because
their mother was drunk or absent. She attempted suicide several times and Kevin tried to
overdose with her once. She was involved with many men, many of whom were violent and
abusive both to her and the children. She would often have sex in front of the children and try to
involve them, and the children witnessed their mother being physically violated. Kevin Hughes
was especially targeted for abuse because he was mentally slow. According to relatives, Kevin
was sexually abused by at least one man who told him that men should forcibly subdue women.
Children and the death penalty
Gary Graham is a juvenile offender who has been on death row in Texas since 1981 for a murder
he says he did not commit.
In late 1994 two leading US experts on the death penalty wrote to the Houston Post,
pointing out the nsk of executing the innocent and mentioning the case of Gary Graham. A
reader wrote back: "...As a defender of the death penalty, I have no problem in admitting
innocent people can be executed and couldn't care less what happens to Gary Graham... There
is a war going on in our own country -against crime and thugs like Graham. It is sad that
innocent people get killed in war, but that is the way it is..."
Such views can only be encouraged by a political leadership which refuses to see the death
penalty as a human nights violation or the execution of juvenile offenders as a violation of
international law. Some politicians' simplistic responses to violent crime, echoed in this letter,
help perpetuate the myth that the death penalty can offer constructive solutions to the problem.
His relatives have testified that as a child, Kevin Hughes would suffer from radical mood
swings, hear voices, and often be out of touch with reality. His elder brother says that Kevin "
believed that he had magical powers and that there was some kind of magic that protected him.
This was especially strange to listen to, because it was obvious from all the bad things he went
through that nothing had ever protected him." Kevin Hughes' mental health problems have
continued on death row. He has been diagnosed as suffering from paranoid schizophrenia, brain
damage, and a subaverage IQ.
In arguing for a death sentence, the trial prosecutor pointed out that Kevin Hughes had
been calm and taken notes during the proceedings. His current attorneys and his family say that
this "calmness" was the result of the Thorazine that he was being given, and that the "notes" were
Amnesty International AMR 51/058/1998 USA On the Wrong Side of History - Children and the Death Penalty in the USA
26
childish scribblings and nursery rhymes. The prosecutor also argued that the jurors would have to
"go beyond being human" and "go beyond being rational" to "show him mercy". On 24 March
1981, the jury sentenced Kevin Hughes to death. He remains on death row. A ruling on his latest
appeal is expected in late 1998 or early 1999.
It was 1916 when Pennsylvania last executed a juvenile offender. It is time now to give
Kevin Hughes back his human rights and grant him clemency.
Brutal lives, brutal deaths - Joseph Cannon and Robert Carter, Texas
"I want people to know I have repented for what I have done, and if I could do something,
anything, to change what has been, I would... I am very ashamed to die this way."' Joseph
John Cannon, executed 22 April 1998
"I'm going to a better place. I hope the victim's family will forgive me, because I didn't mean
to hurt or kill no one.'' Final statement of Robert Anthony Carter, executed 18 May 1998
Within a period of 27 days in 1998, two men were killed in Texas for crimes committed when they
were 17. They shared a common death - strapped down in the same execution chamber and
injected with the same lethal chemicals. Their childhoods were similar; their home as adults was
Ellis Unit 1 in Huntsville, a prison block whose very existence denies the possibility of
rehabilitation.
Joseph Cannon killed Anne Walsh in 1977, the year that the USA signed the International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and resumed executions. His life up to the time he
committed his shocking crime had been one of abuse and deprivation.
When he was four, Joseph Cannon was hit by a truck and suffered a fractured skull. This
left him hyperactive and with a speech impediment; he could not speak clearly until he was six. He
had learning disabilities and was unable to function in the classroom. He was expelled from
school in first grade (age 6-7) and received no other formal education. He turned to glue sniffing
and solvent abuse and, aged 10, was diagnosed as suffering from organic brain damage as a
result. He was later diagnosed as schizophrenic. He also suffered from severe depression, and at
the age of 15 he attempted suicide. He was severely sexually abused by his stepfather when he
was seven and eight, and regularly sexually assaulted by his grandfather between the ages of 10
and 17.
He was thrown out of his home by his stepfather. He broke into an apartment and stayed
there until he was arrested for burglary. The lawyer appointed to represent him on the burglary
charge arranged for his release on parole, and invited him to stay with his sister, Anne Walsh,
which he did for about a week. Then, on 30 September 1977, having swallowed some 25 "pills"
and drunk a large quantity of whisky, he shot Anne Walsh, fled in the family's car, crashed it and
was arrested. He confessed, but could not explain his actions. "I go crazy sometimes... J had no
grudge or any reason to kill Anne; in fact she went out of her way to be nice to me." He was
sentenced to death.
Tests revealed that Joseph Cannon had an JQ of just 79 (borderline mentally retarded). In
1989 a doctor concluded that the prognosis of "future dangerousness" presented to the trial jury,
Amnesty International AMR 51/058/1998 USA On the Wrong Side of History - Children and the Death Penalty in the USA
and medical testimony that Joseph Cannon could not be managed anywhere, were "wholly
inconsistent with scientifically established knowledge and procedure". One psychologist
considered Joseph Cannon's case "exceptional" in terms of the brutality and abuse he had been
subjected to as a child. Indeed, Joseph Cannon thrived better on death row, where he learned to
read and write, than he ever did in his home environment. His IQ, aptitude and self-image all
improved in prison.
On 22 April 1998, Joseph Cannon was led to the death chamber, the threat he had lived
with for more than half of his life. As the lethal solution began to flow, the needle blew out of his
arm. Witnesses to the execution were ushered out, while the needle was reinserted. A few minutes
later they returned to watch him be put to death. His mother collapsed after seeing her son killed
and had to be taken to hospital. One of Anne Walsh's sons, who had lost his own mother in such
violent circumstances 21 years earlier and who witnessed the execution, told reporters: "Job well
done. End of story."
Children and the death penalty
"Earlier this week, I spoke to a group of young people ina classroom. I decided to explain to
them what had happened. I told them that I was there because a group of people had decided
that my husband had killed one of their brothers and so they took him prisoner. Then they set up
this device, they decided on a day, they invited people to watch, they brought him into this little
room, and they strapped him down. And then they attached electrodes to his body and then they
sent a current through those electrodes over and over again until flames leapt from the top of
his head, and smoke came out of his ears. Then when they were sure he was dead, some of them
celebrated their revenge.
And the kids, they were crying.
And my daughter, sometimes when she has a hard time with things in life - she was 15
when they did this to her father - and sometimes now when she has troubles, she goes and gets
his pyjamas and puts them on and she sits down in a quiet place and she meditates and prays
for her father to come...
The people that did this - I told the children -were the State of Florida. And they were
very shocked. The kids still had some questions about the death penalty, but not one of them
could say that that sounded like the right thing to do..."
Sonia Jacobs, June 1998. She and her husband, Jesse Tafero, were convicted of killing a state
trooper and sentenced to death in 1976. She was released in 1992 after a court ruled that she had
been wrongly convicted. This came too late to save Jesse Tafero, convicted on similarly flawed
evidence. His sentence had been carried out in 1990 in a horribly botched electrocution.
But it is not the end of the story. Certainly not in Texas, which in June 1998 accounted
for 26 of the 70 juvenile offenders on death row in the USA. Of the 11 such offenders executed
nationwide since 1985, seven were put to death in Texas. Joseph Cannon was the first juvenile
offender executed in the USA since 1993. His execution, together with the killing of Robert
Carter which was to follow a little under a month later, served as a profound reminder as to why
the world is abandoning this most calculated of human rights violations.
Amnesty International AMR 51/058/1998 USA On the Wrong Side of History - Children and the Death Penalty in the USA
Robert Carter, one of six children in one of the poorest families of an impoverished
Houston neighbourhood, was abused throughout his childhood. His mother and stepfather would
whip and beat the children with wooden switches, belts and electric cords. At the age of five he
was hit on the head with a brick; on another occasion a dinner plate his mother threw at him
smashed on his head. At the age of 10 he was hit so hard on the head with a baseball bat that the
bat broke. He received no medical attention for any of these injuries. In an incident shortly before
the murder for which he was eventually to die, Robert Carter was shot in the head by his brother,
the bullet lodging near his temple. He afterwards suffered seizures and fainting spells.
On 24 June 1981, 18-year-old Sylvia Reyes was shot and killed during a robbery at a
petrol station where she worked. Robert Carter, a brain damaged 17-year-old, was arrested, held
incommunicado, and confessed to the murder, after waiving his right to have a lawyer present.
At his trial, the prosecution took one day to present its entire case. It stated that Robert
Carter had been approached by three people who solicited him to commit a robbery on the spur of
the moment and gave him a gun. The prosecution stated that Robert Carter had accidently shot
Sylvia Reyes as he attempted to uncock the gun. After the defence failed to offer any evidence in
rebuttal, Robert Carter was convicted of capital murder. At the sentencing, during which the
prosecutor told the jury that life imprisonment would be like a "slap on the wnst", the jury was
not invited to consider as mitigating evidence Robert Carter's age at the time of the crime; the fact
that he was mentally retarded (in 1986 he was found to have an IQ of 74), brain damaged and had
suffered brutal physical abuse as a child; or that this was his first offence. The jurors took 10
minutes to decide that Robert Carter should die.
Sixteen years later, on 18 May 1998, the adult Robert Carter was taken to a room,
strapped down, and killed. His death compounded the violent tragedy of Sylvia Reyes' killing, a
crime for which Robert Carter had come to display deep remorse, as Amnesty International
delegates were to witness when they met him a few months before he was executed.
He had spent the last afternoon of his life talking to the prison chaplain, who related the
next day that "Robert was very calm, very peaceful...He was very polite and very gentle. He'd
changed a lot. He was a man truly filled with remorse for what had taken place." His spiritual
advisor who also visited him on 18 May said that "one of the saddest things to [Robert] was that
even with his death that night, it would not be enough. He was so sorry."
What did the killing of Robert Carter and Joseph Cannon achieve? Deterrence is no
longer advanced as a serious argument for the death penalty in the USA, and in any event has long
been seen as far less applicable to juvenile crimes. Nor can the goal of retribution be justified;
given the two men's youth and limited intelligence at the time of their crimes, neither can be
considered to have been fully responsible for their actions, rendering their lethal like-for-like
punishment disproportionate in the extreme.
Like many on death row, Robert Carter and Joseph Cannon, came from brutalizing and
deprived backgrounds. Their killing offended basic notions of humanity and denied their progress
towards rehabilitation, the widely accepted goal for juvenile offenders.
Their executions not only violated international law, but appear to have been acts of
simple vengeance.
Amnesty International AMR 51/058/1998 USA On the Wrong Side of History - Children and the Death Penalty in the USA
A STEP IN THE RIGHTS DIRECTION
"It is the mark of a good action that it appears inevitable in retrospect.'' Robert Louis
g pp 14
Stevenson
In the USA and many other countries, violent crime is a serious problem. Such crimes have tragic
and lasting ramifications for the families and loved ones of the victims. As an organization
dedicated to the victims of human rights violations, Amnesty International would never seek to
excuse or belittle these crimes. But the death penalty is a calculated denial of the right to life and
the right not to be subjected to cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment, basic rights to which all
human beings are entitled, no matter who they are or what they have done.
The current use of the death penalty in the USA is driven by anger and fear about violent
crime, desire for retributive justice, and by elected officials unwilling to risk their careers by
supporting alternatives. Fear of violent crime, whether juvenile or adult, can make many citizens
feel that abandoning the death penalty would be a leap into the dark. Yet it is no longer a step into
the unknown; the experience of very many countries has shown that there are alternatives to the
death penalty and that there is no descent into social disorder following abolition. For example,
the murder rate in Canada dropped by 34 per cent in the 20 years that followed abolition in 1976.
There is an overwhelming international legal and moral consensus against any nation
executing juvenile offenders. However heinous the crime, the sentencing to death and execution of
a young person denies the possibility of rehabilitation, cannot be justified on grounds of
retribution or deterrence, and is contrary to contemporary standards of justice and humane
treatment in every corner of the world. As the world marks 50 years of the Universal Declaration
of Human Rights, ending the death penalty against juvenile offenders would be a particularly
appropriate step for the US government to take towards total abolition and towards meeting its
promise of nghts for all.
Amnesty International urges the US government to take this step now.
RECOMMENDATIONS
Amnesty International urges the US federal authorities to:
- withdraw their reservation to article 6(5) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights;
- ratify the Convention on the Rights of the Child, without reservation:
- take all necessary steps to ensure that state authorities comply with these international standards
as they affect juvenile offenders and the death penalty, including by ensuring that life
imprisonment without possibility of parole is not instituted as an alternative for crimes committed
by those under 18;
Amnesty International urges the authorities in the 24 states which currently allow for the use
Amnesty International AMR 51/058/1998 USA On the Wrong Side of History - Children and the Death Penalty in the USA
30 .
of the death penalty for defendants who were under 18 at the time of crime, to:
- establish an immediate moratorium on the execution of juvenile offenders pending the adoption
of legislation imposing a minimum age of 18 at the time of the crime in capital trials.
Source: Amnesty International, International Secretariat,
1 Easton Street, WC1X 8DJ, London, United Kingdom
Amnesty international AMR 51/058/1998 USA On the Wrong Side of History - Children and the Death Penalty in the USA
, 1ST STORY of Level 1 printed in FULL format.
Copyright 1998 The Daily Oklahoman
THE DAILY OKLAHOMAN
December 3, 1998, Thursday CITY EDITION
SECTION: NEWS; Pg. 8
LENGTH: 271 words
HEADLINE: Execution Date Set For Killer
BYLINE: Paul English, Capitol Bureau
BODY:
The state Court of CriminetAppeals has set a Feb. 4 execution
date for triple-murdergé“Sean Sellerp of Oklahoma City, Attorney
General Drew Edmondson Wednesday.
"We foresee no obstacles to the carrying out of this execution,
but we will be ready to respond should Sellers request a stay,"
Edmondson said.
Immediately after the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear
Sellers' appeal Monday, Edmondson asked the state court to set the
execution date in 60 days.
"I am pleased that the court responded favorably and quickly to
our request," he said.
Sellers shot and killed his mother and stepfather March 5, 1986,
as they lay sleeping that night in their far northwest Oklahoma
City residence. Sellers was 16 years old at the time.
Six months earlier, Sellers had fatally shot a convenience store
clerk.
In October 1986, an Oklahoma County jury convicted Sellers of
all three murders, and he was sentenced to death.
He has claimed without success to be the victim of a multiple
personality disorder.
"Sean Sellers committed three coldly calculated murders,"
Edmondson said.
"After more than 12 years and numerous court reviews, the death
sentences he rightly received will finally be carried out."
After killing store clerk Robert Paul Bower, 32, Sellers told a
friend he wanted "to see what it feels like to kill somebody."
He shot his stepfather, Paul Bellofatto, once in the head with
Bellofatto's .33-caliber Magnum revolver, then turned the gun on
his mother, Vonda, shooting her twice in the head.
THE DAILY OKLAHOMAN December 3, 1998, Thursday
He later laughed about the murders and staged finding their
bodies.
LOAD-DATE: December 3, 1998
2ND STORY of Level 1 printed in FULL format.
Copyright 1998 The Daily Oklahoman
THE DAILY OKLAHOMAN
December 1, 1998, Tuesday CITY EDITION
SECTION: NEWS; Pg. 1
LENGTH: 711 words
HEADLINE: Supreme Court Turns Down Sellers' Appeal
BYLINE: Paul English, Capitol Bureau
BODY :
= S. Supreme Court on Monday refused to hear the appeal of
(sean Select who was 16 years old when he killed his mother,
@€pfather and an Oklahoma City store clerk.
Oklahoma Attorney General Drew Edmondson immediately asked the
state Court of Criminal Appeals to set an execution date in 60 days
for Sellers, now 29.
If the execution is carried out, Edmondson said, "He will be, as
far as I know, the first person in recent history to be executed in
this country who committed their offense at the age of 16."
The Supreme Court stepped in to prevent Oklahoma from executing
a juvenile in 1988.
In that case, William Wayne Thompson had been sentenced to die
for helping kill his former brother-in-law and throwing his body
into the Washita River. Thompson was 15 years old at the time of
the killing.
The Supreme Court said that a 15-year-old was too young to be
sentenced to death.
In another Oklahoma murder case, the high court overturned the
death sentence of Monty Lee Eddings, who was 16 years old when he
killed Oklahoma Highway Patrol trooper Larry Crabtree in 1977.
The justices said the trial judge hadn't considered all
mitigating circumstances, Eddings' emotional problems and his
unhappy home life before assessing the death penalty.
Returned for reconsideration of the sentencing stage, the state
Court of Criminal Appeals sent it back to the trial judge. The
judge heard more evidence and again imposed the death penalty.
The state appellate court later cited a technical error and
commuted Eddings' sentence to life in prison. Although the state
court's opinion did not refer to juveniles, Judge Ed Parks wrote a
special concurrence to the opinion.
THE DAILY OKLAHOMAN December 1, 1998, Tuesday
Parks said the state has a juvenile system designed to reform
and rehabilitate juvenile lawbreakers.
"It is not excusing the crime to modify the sentence to life,"
Parks wrote. "Life imprisonment, under the circumstances, is
punishment enough for this child."
The Supreme Court has not ruled against the execution of
16-year-olds.
Edmondson said Sellers' crimes were extraordinary.
"He killed in a rather cold-blooded fashion his mother and his
stepfather and also was found to have killed a convenience store
clerk," he said.
Sellers told a friend that he killed the clerk "just to see what
it felt like to kill someone," Edmondson said.
"He evidenced the fact that he was a very cold-blooded killer,
even at that age, and the jury found that allowing him not to be
executed would pose a threat to the rest of society," he said.
Robert Paul Bower, 35, was shot to death at a far northwest
Oklahoma City convenience store Sept. 8, 1985.
Six months later, Sellers shot his mother and stepfather, Vonda
and Paul Bellofatto, as they slept.
In October 1995, the Supreme Court declined to hear Sellers'
argument that multiple personality disorder made him commit the
killings.
Sellers had claimed in his defense and later in a book that
Satanism led him to kill.
He said that he was diagnosed with multiple personality disorder
after his trial. Sellers said that should be viewed as new
evidence, and therefore he should get another trial.
"Some of the personalities do not know the difference between
right and wrong, and it was one of those latter personalities who
committed the crimes for which (Sellers) was convicted," his appeal
stated.
The state argued that Sellers had tried an insanity defense at
trial and that calling it multiple personality disorder was just a
change in name, not new evidence.
A three-judge panel of the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in
Denver said last February that Sellers may be "factually innocent"
of the murders.
The judges' opinion spoke of "uncontroverted clinical evidence"
that Sellers suffers from multiple personality disorder, which has
THE DAILY OKLAHOMAN December 1, 1998, Tuesday
been used successfully in insanity defenses.
But the panel rejected Sellers' appeal, saying innocence alone
is not sufficient to grant federal relief. It also is necessary to
prove that the defendant's constitutional rights were violated in
the state trial, they said.
The judges suggested Sellers seek executive clemency from Gov.
Frank Keating. Keating immediately rejected the idea.
LOAD-DATE: December 1, 1998
1ST STORY of Level 1 printed in FULL format.
Copyright 1998 Agence France Presse
Agence France Presse
December 10, 1998 16:21 GMT
SECTION: Domestic, non-Washington, general news item
LENGTH: 296 words
HEADLINE: US executes ex-Vietnamese refugee believed insane
DATELINE: CHICAGO, Dec 10
BODY:
A former Vietnamese refugee convicted of three murders but thought to be
insane was executed in Oklahoma early Thursday despite protests by death penalty
opponents, prison officials said.
Tuan Nguyen was put to death by lethal injection at 12:18 a.m. (0518 GMT) at
Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester on his 39th birthday, assistant warden
Danny Alexander told AFP.
Alexander said a few protesters demonstrated outside the prison's gate.
The execution came hours after the US Supreme Court denied several requests
for last-minute stays of execution from Nguyen's lawyers on grounds of insanity.
Amnesty International had argued that Nguyen's mental health had so
substantially deteriorated that he might not understand his punishment.
Tuan Nguyen, who arrived in this country as a refugee at age 15, received a
life sentence for the 1982 stabbing death of his estranged US-born wife, Donna,
and two death sentences for killing two children in her care, Amanda White, 3,
and Joseph White, 6.
Three other inmates are set to be executed in Oklahoma in the next few weeks,
the Oklahoma Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty said.
John Duvall, 47, is set to die next Thursday for the 1986 stabbing death of
his estranged wife, Karla.
Convicted killer John Castro, a Native American, is to be put to death on
January 7, and Sean Sellers -- who was 16 when he murdered his mother, his
stepfather d a convenience store clerk -- is slated to die on Februar
Sellers, now 29, was diagnosed with multiple personalities after his
conviction. He is expected to ask for a clemency hearing. If he gets approval
from the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board, the decision then goes to Governor
Frank Keating, who has said he would not grant clemency.
ga
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
Robert Peebles, 03:06 AM 12/5/199, Sean Sellers
X-PH: V4.4@postoffice.onu.edu
From: Robert Peebles <Robert@dpio.org>
Reply-To: "Robert@dpio.org" <Robert@dpio.org>
To: "'v-streib@onu.edu'" <v-streib@onu.edu>
Subject: Sean Sellers
Date: Sat, 5 Dec 1998 03:06:18 -0600
Organization: Death Penalty Institute of Oklahoma
X-Mailer: Microsoft Internet E-mail/MAPI - 8.0.0.4211
Dear Dr. Streib,
Due to your excellent work on the death penalty for juveniles, I wanted to
ensure you were aware of the case of Sean Sellers. An article from our web
site (www.dpio.org) regarding Sean is reproduced below.
Sincerely,
Robert
Robert Peebles/Michelle Gambino
Death Penalty Institute of Oklahoma
email: Robert@dpio.org
email: Michelle@dpio.org
web: www.dpio.org
phone: 918.455.2849
"An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind." -- Gandhi
Sean Sellers to be Executed February 4, 1999
Sean Sellers, 29, was sentenced to death for the March 5, 1986, murder of
his mother and step-father, Vonda and Paul Bellafatto, as well as the
September 8, 1985, shooting death of Robert Paul Bower. His execution date
has been set for February 4.
Sellers was 16 at the time of the crimes. Since the reinstatement of
capital punishment in the US, no one under the age of 17 has been executed.
Sellers' public defender was provided with only $750 to spend on any expert
witnesses' fees, as well as their travel costs, expenses and lodging.
During the appeals process, it was discovered that Sellers suffered from
Multiple Personality Disorder or MPD (now known as Dissociative Identity
Disorder) at the time of the murders.
The state of Oklahoma has a legal procedure that calls for post-trial
consideration of newly discovered evidence under certain standards.
According to Sellers attorney, Steve Presson, Sellers' case overwhelmingly
met those standards. The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals (OCCA) refused
to consider the evidence.
The Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals was shocked at OCCA's refusal, and wrote
that OCCA made several errors in Sellers' case. However, due to the limited
nature of federal habeas corpus relief, the Tenth Circuit Court would not
intervene. The Tenth Circuit Court did issue what amounted to an invitation
for executive clemency and for the state courts to reconsider Sellers' case
in light of the MPD and the mistakes the state courts made.
On the same day the Tenth Circuit issued its decision, Governor Frank
Keating stated he would not clemency to Sellers. This occurred even though
a clemency hearing had not yet taken place.
During Sellers' incarceration, he is reported to have worked extremely hard
to get a Christian message out to other youths. Based on his experiences,
he warns them of the dangers of experimenting with the occult and
rebellious behavior.
Steve Presson asks that letters addressed to the Oklahoma Board of Pardon
and Parole, as well as to Governor Frank Keating, ask for clemency for Sean
Printed for Victor Streib <v-streib@onu.edu>
4
Robert Peebles, 03:06 AM 12/5/199, Sean Sellers
Sellers. According to Presson, "the letters do not need to be fancy, typed
or even grammatically correct. We'd just like some show of the huge support
Sean has from the public." Letters for Sean should be sent to Presson at PO
Box 5392, Norman, OK 73070.
Printed for Victor Streib <v-streib@onu.edu>
rfreer@amnesty.org, Re: a question
To: rfreer@amnesty.org
From: Victor Streib <v-streib@onu.edu>
Subject: Re: a question
Cc:
Bcc:
Attached:
Dear Rob:
Yes, the last execution in the U.S. for a crime committed at age 16 was Shockley.
Vic Streib
At 01:52 PM 12/1/1998 +0000, you wrote:
>
>
>Dear Professor Streib,
>
>Could you confirm that the last time someone was executed in the USA for an
>offence committed at 16 was Leonard M. Shockley in Maryland in 1959. I
>got this from your 1987 book, but would appreciate if you could tell me if
>any other cases have come to your attention since then.
>
> n I ask this is that I am preparing for the possibility
>Se ¥yn Oklahoma getting an execution date in the next few days,
ably for the first week of February.
>
>We will also probably be doing some action for Gary Graham, currently
>scheduled to die on 11 January.
>
>Many thanks
>
>Rob Freer (campaigner, USA team, AI, London)
>
>ps. I enclose a copy of my recent paper on juveniles and the DP in the
>USA. I am not sure if my colleague Piers Bannister already gave you a copy
>when you met in Chicago. If so just ignore the enclosed.
>
>(See attached file: JUVLAY.TXT)
>
>Attachment Converted: "c:\eudora\attach\JUVLAY.TXT"
>
Printed for Victor Streib <v-streib@onu.edu> 1
4TH STORY of Level 1 printed in FULL format.
Copyright 1998 The Sunday Oklahoman
THE SUNDAY OKLAHOMAN
February 15, 1998, Sunday CITY EDITION
SECTION: NEWS; Pg. 1
LENGTH: 1028 words
HEADLINE: Court Rejects Appeal Killer's Multiple Personality Claim Too Late
BYLINE: Anthony Thornton, Ed Godfrey, Staff Writers
BODY:
If the experts who examined him are right, n Seller as at
least three alternate personalities, each with distinct traits.
There's "Danny," the shy young boy; "Ninja," who's uncomfortable
wearing handcuffs; and a personality that Sellers refers to simply
as "The Controller."
Which of them killed Sellers' parents and a convenience store
clerk 12 years ago, the defense experts can't say. But this much
they swear to: It wasn't Sellers.
Their beliefs convinced a three-judge panel of a federal appeals
court that Sellers, 28, may be "factually innocent" of the three
murders. Sellers is facing a death sentence.
The judges' Feb. 4 opinion spoke of "uncontroverted evidence"
that Sellers suffers from multiple personality disorder, which has
been used successfully as part of insanity defenses.
Despite their seemingly compassionate language, the panel of the
10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver rejected Sellers'
latest appeal.
Sellers' attorneys, Steve Presson and Robert W. Jackson, wanted
the 10th Circuit Court to overturn earlier court rulings that the
multiple-personality defense was invalid because it wasn't raised
at trial.
The judges said it wasn't within their discretion to undo those
rulings. Instead, the panel suggested that Sellers seek
executive clemency. Gov. Frank Keating quickly said he has no
such intentions.
Presson, citing Keating's refusal to take another look at the
case, said, "This is a classic case of what's wrong with the
appeals process in Oklahoma."
The attorney argued that Sellers is in this catch-22 situation:
The courts say the disorder should have been raised at trial, long
before anyone knew Sellers suffered from it.
ee ee ee ee
PAGE
THE SUNDAY OKLAHOMAN February 15, 1998, Sunday
His trial defense was that he had been drawn into Satanism and
the underworld of a role-play game called "Dungeons and Dragons."
Jurors didn't buy it. They sentenced him to death for killing
his mother and stepfather, Vonda and Paul Bellofatto, in 1986 and
the separate murder of convenience store clerk Robert Paul Bower.
All three slayings occurred in far northwest Oklahoma City.
Sellers told a friend he shot Bower on Sept. 8, 1985, just to
see how it felt to kill someone.
The 10th Circuit, citing a previous ruling in the case of a
Texas murderer, said Sellers' claim of innocence based on new
evidence can succeed only if "no reasonable juror would have found
the defendant guilty had that evidence been produced at trial."
Although Sellers presented "substantial credible evidence" of
his illness, the judges said, ultimately he didn't meet that
threshold.
The attorneys' attempt to save Sellers' life is based largely on
affidavits from a psychiatrist, a neurologist and a psychologist,
all of whom examined Sellers in 1992.
Each concluded that Sellers has at least three alternate
personalities.
That may well be, Assistant Attorney General Bill Humes said.
But the exams took place 6 1/2 years after the deaths of Sellers'
parents.
"There is no basis for the claim that he suffered from it at the
time of the murders," Humes said.
That was one of four reasons U.S. District Judge David Russell
cited when he denied Sellers' appeal in January 1997.
His other concerns, based on his readings of the experts'
findings, were:
- The experts didn't say whether the host personality was aware
of, or could control, the alter personalities.
- There was no basis for their opinions that an alter
personality was in control at the time of the murders.
- Even if Sellers' main personality didn't commit the murders,
the one in control before, during and after the slayings knew
the difference between right and wrong and was cognizant of his
actions.
Sellers took elaborate steps to avoid suspicion in all three
murders. Humes considers that a damaging blow to the
multiple-personality defense.
THE SUNDAY OKLAHOMAN February 15, 1998, Sunday
Although Sellers, as a maximum-security inmate, is "far removed"
from the environment that brings out his disorder, Presson said the
three experts observed the personality changes, nevertheless.
"In my opinion, these changes offer incontrovertible evidence
that the patient does have multiple personality disorder," wrote
Dr. Jonathan Walker, a neurologist from Lancaster, Texas.
At least one of the experts was hired by the Unending Love
ministry, which came to Sellers' defense after his purported
conversion to Christianity.
Humes and the 10th Circuit Court noted that the experts have
never been cross-examined, nor has Sellers been observed in prison
by a state-hired expert.
Russell ruled against Sellers' request for an evidentiary
hearing. Humes said his office has no interest in paying its own
expert to examine Sellers.
"They have refused to allow us to put them on (the stand) so
they could be cross-examined," Presson countered.
"That's like refusing to allow the people to get in the
lifeboats and then complaining about the number of casualties when
the ship sinks," he said.
The defense experts said the results of brain-mapping tests
prove Sellers couldn't possibly have faked having the disorder.
His attorneys said Sellers' brain showed physiological changes
as the different personalities appeared.
"That's really the basis for the belief" that Sellers has
multiple personality disorder, Jackson said.
Humes isn't convinced. He thinks the disorder has gained so much
attention in recent years, Sellers could have faked it without
thoroughly studying its symptoms.
Although pleased with the Denver court's ruling, Humes said he
is concerned with its finding that Sellers may be "factually
innocent."
He thinks the court intended to use the term "legally innocent,"
a common legal term used in cases where a defendant uses an
insanity defense.
Presson said his client was devastated by the 10th Circuit
Court's ruling. Although Sellers has two appeals left, "he's
basically saying his goodbyes," the attorney said.
Presson said he will seek a rehearing by the three-judge panel
and by all 12 judges of the 10th Circuit. If those are denied,
Sellers' final appeal would be to the U.S. Supreme Court.
PAGE
4
5TH STORY of Level 1 printed in FULL format.
Copyright 1998 The Daily Oklahoman
THE DAILY OKLAHOMAN
February 5, 1998, Thursday CITY EDITION
|
PAGE 6
SECTION: NEWS; Pg. 1
|
LENGTH: 1043 words
HEADLINE: Panel Admits Sellers May Have Disorder, Denies Appeal
BYLINE: This story was written from reports by special correspondent Robert E.
Boczkiewicz and staff writers Ed Godfrey and Anthony Thornton.
DATELINE: DENVER
BODY :
While acknowledging the possibility of his "factual
innocence," a federal appeals court Wednesday denied one of the
final appeals of three-time killer Sean Sellers.
Judges of the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said they are
"troubled by the extent of uncontroverted clinical evidence"
proving Sellers suffers from multiple personality disorder "and
that the offenses were committed by an alter' personality."
Nevertheless, the three-judge panel said Sellers has failed to
establish grounds for relief in federal court.
Sellers was convicted of the 1986 execution-style murders of his
mother and stepfather and 1985 separate killing of a convenience
store clerk, all when he was 16. All three killings occurred in far
northwest Oklahoma City.
"Even though his illness is such that he may be able to prove
his factual innocence of those crimes, we believe he must be left
to the avenue of executive clemency to pursue that claim," the
three judges said unanimously.
Gov. Frank Keating said he does not intend to grant clemency.
"His crimes were heinous and atrocious, and he should receive
the punishment that the jury recommended," Keating said.
The judges said Sellers' appeal is "supported by significant
evidence the person facing death for three murders is not the
person who committed the crime." Even if "the person known as Sean
Sellers (is) actually innocent" because an alter personality
committed the murders, the judges said their hands are tied by the
law.
They explained that innocence alone is not sufficient to grant
federal relief. It also is necessary to prove that the defendant's
constitutional rights were violated in the state trial, they said.
PAGE
THE DAILY OKLAHOMAN February 5, 1998, Thursday
"Although (Sellers) indeed finds himself in a judicially created
Catch 22,' " the judges wrote, "the dilemma is not one we can
reach through the limited access provided by our jurisdiction."
Sellers told a friend he shot store clerk Robert Paul Bower to
see what it felt like to kill somebody, prosecutors said. Bower,
35, was killed Sept. 8, 1985, inside a Circle K at NW 122 and
Council Road.
Six months later, he killed his mother and stepfather, Vonda and
Paul Bellofatto, as they slept.
His trial lawyer argued that Sellers was so addicted to the game
Dungeons and Dragons that he had no control over his actions.
In his appeal, Sellers, 28, argued that evidence of a childhood
brain injury and his multiple personality disorder were not
discovered until after his conviction. The disorder is a "hidden
disease" that usually takes seven years to confirm, the judges
wrote.
The 10th Circuit said a claim of innocence based on the
personality disorder isn't for them to consider, "no matter how
convincing the evidence."
They said the evidence of psychiatric experts after Sellers'
convictions "is clear, strong and supportive," but it had not been
subjected to cross-examination.
Thursday's decision upheld U.S. District Judge David L. Russell
in Oklahoma City, who had ruled that Sellers was not entitled to
federal relief. Upon learning of the ruling, Attorney General Drew
Edmondson said, "We believe Mr. Sellers was lawfully and properly
convicted, and we're gratified that the conviction was upheld."
Edmondson said he hadn't read the 28-page ruling. He declined to
discuss the judges' apparent concern over the personality-disorder
issue. Sellers now will appeal for a rehearing before the entire
10th Circuit court. If that is denied, his final appeal would be to
the U.S. Supreme Court.
"We're still a number of months away from finality," Edmondson
said.
Public defender Bob Ravitz, who represented Sellers at trial,
said state law allowed him to pay $ 750 for an expert witness. A
psychologist was hired, but Sellers needed a thorough psychiatric
evaluation, he said.
"We weren't able to hire a psychiatrist for that kind of money,"
Ravitz said. "We knew the kid was really (mentally) sick, but we
didn't know the degree of his sickness."
Ravitz believes if jurors had known Sellers suffered from
multiple personalities, they would have spared his life, since he
THE DAILY OKLAHOMAN February 5, 1998, Thursday
was 16.
"An Oklahoma jury would have given him a life sentence if we
could have shown multiple personality disorder," Ravitz said.
Oklahoma County District Attorney Bob Macy said Sellers
contended at trial. he was under the influence of Satan when he
committed the crimes. There was no testimony about Sellers having
another personality, Macy said.
"I've been familiar with this case since the day the killings
happened," Macy said Wednesday. "This is the first time I've heard
any mention of multiple personality disorder."
Macy doesn't believe Sellers has multiple personalities and said
he would be "very strongly opposed" to clemency.
Sellers was the youngest person sent to death row by Macy.
"There was nothing to indicate multiple personalities were
involved," Macy said. "He knew what he was doing. This was a very
intelligent young man who planned his crimes.
"He never displayed any remorse of any kind. He never once
demonstrated any remorse over killing his own mother and
stepfather. He killed a stranger just to find out how it felt."
Sellers has said he became a born-again Christian after his
parents' death.
The panel rejected Sellers' other arguments:
- That Oklahoma's law about how a convicted person may be a
"continuing threat" is so vague that it should not be used in
determining whether the death penalty is justified.
- That the trial judge was wrong to exclude testimony about why
juveniles should not be executed.
- That the trial judge unconstitutionally limited Sellers'
lawyers' questioning of prospective jurors about the death penalty.
- That the trial judge violated his rights by limiting a defense
lawyer in cross-examining a prosecution witness.
- That jurors should have been allowed to hear that a person
sentenced to life imprisonment cannot be considered for parole for
15 years.
- That the prosecutor made comments during closing argument that
violated Sellers' rights.
- That Sellers did not have effective defense counsel.
” PAGE
10TH STORY of Level 1 printed in FULL format.
Copyright 1997 The Tulsa World
TULSA WORLD
September 17, 1997 Wednesday FINAL HOME EDITION
SECTION: ENTERTAINMENT; Pg. D3; PREVIEW
LENGTH: 714 words
HEADLINE: Death-Row Inmate To Launch Comic Book
BYLINE: John Wooley, World Entertainment Writer
BODY:
Concert Defcon 4, science-fiction and comic-book convention
When 11 a.m. Friday, 9 a.m. Saturday, 10 a.m. Sunday (Sept. 21)
Where Adam's Mark Hotel, 100 E. Second St.
Tickets $ 15 (at the door, one day only), $ 20 (in advance,
all three days), $ 25 (at the door, all three days), ages 7 and
under admitted free. tickets available at Wizard's Asylum Comics &
Games.
Among the items on sale at Defcon 4 next weekend will be new
issues of independent comic books, each of them reflecting the
hopes of their creators that, somehow, they'll buck the odds and
not only survive but prosper -- that they'll find a readership that
appreciates and even admires what's between those garishly colored,
action-packed, covers.
Perhaps no first-time comics creator hopes to find a market more
fervently than an Sellers comic-book fan, ex-satanist and
death-row inmate a e lahoma State Penitentary in McAlester.
His reasons, though, have more to do with the spiritual than the
commercial.
Sellers was 17 in 1986, when he was convicted of the murders of
his mother, stepfather and a convenience-store clerk in Oklahoma
City. During his trial, the defense argued that Sellers was acting
under the influence of satanism when he committed the killings. His
attorney noted that Sellers had "almost an obsession" with
Satanism. After being convicted, however, Sellers renounced
Satanism and began expressing his newfound Christian faith
nationally, appearing on such programs as "The Oprah Winfrey Show"
and Geraldo Rivera's satanism special.
A decade later, as Tulsa's Mood Comics prepares to debut the
first issue of Sellers' new comic "Donjonhoefen," Sellers' faith
remains evident. In a recent press release, he described
"Donjonhoefen" -- a combination of Old English words meaning
"dungeon" and "haven" -- as a "Christian comic book," but added:
"People can get turned off by that. They hear the words’ 'Christian
music' or 'Christian art' or 'Christian comic' and they
15
~ PAGE
TULSA WORLD September 17, 1997 Wednesday
automatically think it is second-rate and not worth their time. I'm
a writer and I'm going to draw upon the experiences, truths and
beliefs I have learned in my life like any other writer. A lot of
comics are done by atheists and their characters say there is no
God. But you don't call those atheist comics. This is basically a
superhero comic. "
In the first issue of "Donjonhoefen," Sellers' story and art
tell of a superhero team called Lightforce, and the group's battles
with a terrorist and a giant robot. At one point, the Lighforce
leader, a character named Quarrel, explains to a rebellious member
of the team that, according to the release, "the meaning and
purpose for her life all begin with God. "
The comic's title is also the name of the city in which the
action occurs.
"The city is a metaphor for the point in our lives when people
make decisions that turn their lives into something bad -- likea
dungeon, or good -- like a haven," he writes.
"When I was 16, I made some horrible choices that destroyed
lives. "he continues. "I wasn't trying to do that, but it turned
out that way because I refused to see the truth until it was too
late. Now I want to show others that truth with the talents God has
given me. "
Like any comics creator, Sellers hopes that "Donjonhoefen" will
have a long and successful run. But if it doesn't, the reason might
not be something as benign as market response.
"This is my last chance to do this," writes Sellers. "This is my
childhood dream coming true or being permanently aborted. My
appeals are nearly over, and if I don't get my case overturned and
off death row, Oklahoma is going to execute me soon. I'm going to
say all I can with these first six issues or so, because that may
be all I get to say. "
Those not attending Defcon can order "Donjonhoefen" No. 1 by
mail from Mood Comics, P.O. Box 691168, Tulsa, Okla. 74169-1168.
Cost is $ 3.25, plus $ 1 shipping and handling.
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
LOAD-DATE: October 25, 1997
16
8TH STORY of Level 1 printed in FULL format.
Content and programming copyright (c) 1997 American
Broadcasting Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. No quotes
from the materials contained herein may be used in any media
without attribution to American Broadcasting Companies, Inc.
This transcript may not be reproduced in whole or in part
without prior permission. For further information please
contact ABC's Office of the General Counsel. Transcribed by
Federal Document Clearing House, Inc. under license from
American Broadcasting Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
ABC NEWS
SHOW: WORLD NEWS TONIGHT WITH PETER JENNINGS (6:30 pm ET)
NOVEMBER 11, 1997
Transcript # 97111107-3j04
TYPE: PACKAGE
SECTION: NEWS
LENGTH: 538 words
HEADLINE: CHILDREN'S FASCINATION WITH THE OCCULT
BYLINE: ERIN HAYES, PETER JENNINGS
HIGHLIGHT:
OCCULT-RELATED CRIMES BECOMING MORE VIOLENT
BODY :
PETER JENNINGS: This fascination with the devil among children is quite
terrifying to parents and the police. Here's ABC's Erin Hayes.
ERIN HAYES, ABC News: (voice-over) Sean Sellers is an death row for murdering
his mother and stepfather when he was 16. It happened after he became deeply
involved in the occult, in a belief system that worshipped evil and death.
EAN SELLERS, tonvicted Killer: And I made decisions based upon that belief
sy : says if someone hurts you, you hurt them back worse. If someone is
in your way, you move them out of your way, whatever it takes.
ERIN HAYES: (voice-over) He says he became lost in the occult.
SEAN SELLERS: The more times that I drank blood and all this other nonsense, I
just began to lose touch with reality until I didn't know where I was, what was
going on.
ERIN HAYES: (voice-over) Sellers is no longer involved in the occult but worries
about kids who still write to him today who are.
SEAN SELLERS: Not one of them had anything that give them a sense of belonging.
WORLD NEWS TONIGHT WITH PETER JENNINGS, NOVEMBER 11, 1997
ERIN HAYES: (voice-over) A sense of belonging. Instead, the occult's emphasis
on isolation, death and power can be a dangerous catalyst for kids who are
already troubled. That's what investigators think happened in the Pearl,
Mississippi, shootings and in other places around the country.
In Orlando, Florida, where teenagers in a vampire cult are accused in a double
murder. In Johnson City, Tennessee, three teens are charged with killing an
entire family. And in Iowa this summer, a group of teenagers dabbling in the
occult attempted suicide.
Det. SUSAN RESTEAU (ph), Indiana Police: One child, maybe more advanced than the
next.
ERIN HAYES: (voice-over) Susan Resteau is an Indiana police detective worried
about the increasing seriousness of kids' involvement in the occult. All of
this was confiscated from children.
SUSAN RESTEAU: You can order through a lot of the different mail-order catalogs.
ERIN HAYES: (on camera) So a parent might not have any idea?
SUSAN RESTEAU: Very much not.
ERIN HAYES: (voice-over) And there are now also dozens of occult sites on the
Internet, many of them violent.
(on camera) In fact, many law enforcement officials believe occult-related
crimes by children are becoming more violent. But there is no way to know for
sure because statistics don't show when the occult is involved. It is a touchy
area for police.
KEN LANNING, FBI: In a constitutional society like we live in, where we have
freedom of religion, law enforcement has to be extremely careful about how we
intervene and what we do in these cases.
ERIN HAYES: (voice-over) Sean Sellers thinks parents should be the first to
intervene.
SEAN SELLERS: If you really communicate with your children, you'll know if
something's wrong.
ERIN HAYES: (voice-over) If someone had pulled him away from the occult early
on, he believes his life might be very different. Erin Hayes, ABC News,
Chicago.
PETER JENNINGS: When we come back, looking up...
(voice-over) ...a very special Veterans Day in Washington state.
(Commercial Break)
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
PAGE 17
2ND STORY of Level 1 printed in FULL format.
Copyright 1998 The Daily Oklahoman
THE DAILY OKLAHOMAN
August 4, 1998, Tuesday CITY EDITION
SECTION: NEWS; Pg. 1
LENGTH: 255 words
HEADLINE: Execution Tonight
BODY:
Shortly after midnight tonight, Stephen Edward Wood is set to become the 94th
inmate executed in Oklahoma since statehood, and the 11th since the method was
changed to lethal injection.
Wood, 38, will die for the 1994 slaying of former Presbyterian minister
Robert Bruce Brigden, a convicted child molester. Both were inmates at the
Oklahoma State Reformatory in Granite.
Wood will become the fourth inmate since 1995 to be executed after a
voluntary waiver of all remaining appeals. The others were Thomas Grasso, Scott
Dawn Carpenter and Michael Edward Long.
Executions by Lethal Injection: 10, since 1990.
Executions in the Electric Chair: 82, all between 1915 and 1966.
Execution by Hanging: One, in 1936, of a federal inmate convicted of
kidnapping.
Oklahoma's Current Death Row Population
- 148 men, all housed at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester
- 3 women, all housed at the Mabel Bassett Correctional Center in Oklahoma
City.
Those in Final Stages of Appeal
- Tuan Nguyen, convicted of slashing the throats of his wife and the two
children she was watching in 1982.
- John Castro Sr., convicted in the 1983 stabbing death of a Ponca City
fast-food restaurant employee.
- John Duvall, convicted of killing his estranged wife in Duncan in 1986.
- Sean Sellers,
int
store clerk.
icted of killing his mother and stepfather as they slept
Ma City home in 1986, and of the 1985 slaying of a convenience
- Scotty Lee Moore, convicted of killing an Oklahoma City motel clerk in
1983.
tcapitol@ionet.net, Re: Sean Sellers
To: tcapitol@ionet.net
From: Victor Streib <v-streib@onu.edu>
Subject: Re: Sean Sellers
Cc:
Bec:
Attached: y
Dear Ms. Hoberock:
Sorry I didn't check my e-mail until this morning. Maybe this is still of some use to
you.
The last offender executed in the United States for a crime committed at age 16 was
Leonard M. Shockley, executed in Maryland on April 10, 1959. If Sellers is executed in 1999,
this would make it forty years.
Research indicates that Oklahoma has executed two juvenile offenders in its history,
but they were over 100 years ago. Probably the best known execution of an Oklahoma juvenile
offender was carried out on June 26, 1885, in Fort Smith, Arkansas. This was James Arcene, a
full-blooded Cherokee living in Indian Territory near what is now Tahlequah, Oklahoma. At
age 10, Arcene (along with William Parchmeal) robbed and killed Henry Fiegel on November 25,
1872. They escaped arrest for many years, with Arcene being arrested on March 30, 1884, for
selling whiskey on the reservation. Arcene and Parchmeal were tried in the federal district
court in Fort Smith, Arkansas, and hanged together at Fort Smith on June 26, 1885. Although
Arcene was only age 10 at the crime, he was age 23 when hanged for that crime.
My records indicate that Oklahoma may never have executed a juvenile offender since
receiving statehood. I do have some questions about George Oliver, electrocuted in Oklahoma
on August 25, 1933, for a murder in Murray County. Records indicate that he was only 18 when
executed, so he may have been 16 or 17 when the crime occurred.
Hope this information is of use to you.
Vic Streib
Northern Law
At 06:17 PM 11/30/1998 -0800, you wrote:
>Mr. Streib: I am working on a story about an Oklahoma execution. The
>Oklahoma Attorney General today asked the Court of Criminal Appeals to
>set an execution date for Sean Sellers, who killed three people when he
>was 16. Will he be the first person put to death for a crime he
>committed when 16? Your research indicates several were put to death for
>crimes they committed when they were 17. I am a reporter with the Tulsa
>World's Capitol Bureau. If you check your e-mail, please call ASAP as my
>deadline is 6 p.m. Monday and it is 4:45 p.m. I apologize for the
>latenes of this. Thanks. Barbara Hoberock 405-528-2465
>
>
Printed for Victor Streib <v-streib@onu.edu> 1
po bpp sal a
“£6/9) WLY pony
Friends of Sean Sellers
Donjonhoefen by
Sean Sellers, an epic
Christian comic.
Introduction
Who | Am
Letters and
Statements
Almost Empty -
The Legal Case
http://www.seansellers.com/
This page is a lighthouse for sean...
Payt for Yean...
Click here
Sean Sellers is a 29-year-old death row inmate in Oklahoma. Sean's life
soon be presented here, in this lighthouse dedicated to helping others, e:
today's youth. God will lead this Foundation for His purposes. YOU MA
sean email by clicking on the "E" icon below. or you may contact the FRI
SEAN SELLERS..
A general purpose CHAT ROOM IS AVAILABLE AS WELL for users of tl
page...[NOTE: The chat room is not owned, operated, or connected in ar
way to the Friends of Sean Sellers, but is provided as a link for public dis
purposes only. The chat room is available for conversations concerning <
subject. ]
1 of 2 1/5/99 11:53 AM
Friends of Sean Sellers http://www.seansellers.com/
a
Please join us in a vigil for Sean by emailing us and giving us your legal |
the name of the community where you live. Please use the subject heade
Kimberly Frazier (Tulsa OK) Karen Hooper (Italy)
Bob Lambert (Oklahoma City OK) John P. Kennedy (Muskogee
Sarah Meyer (Boulder CO) Rev. James D. Cotter (Sapul|
Laura Golden (Boulder CO) Cory Ferguson (Oklahoma Ci
John Esters (Plano TX) Brian Golden (Boulder CO)
Helen Hartounian (Kansas City MO) Jan Skaggs (Tulsa OK)
Leslie N. Schaefer (Sikeston MO) Susan S. Green (Chicakamat
Cheryl & Dennis Graff (Oklahoma City Russell Schmidt (Alamogordc
OK) John David Whitson (Oklahoi
Bob Edwards (El Sobrante CA) OK)
Steve Presson (Norman OK)
Tracie Lamourie (CANADA)
Dave Parkinson (CANADA)
Canadian Coalition Against the Death
Penalty
The Poetry Church
If you have some suggestions or questions concerning this web page, please email us.
2 of 2 1/5/99 11:53 AM
as
Who I Am
1 of 3
http://seansellers.hypermart.net/whoiam.html
Who I Am
If you know who I am you've probably heard and read a lot of things
about me.
Over the years some of my friends have copied articles and web site
spots and sent them to me. More often than not, I've been absolutely
enraged to read what most people have written about me. Everyone
seems to be an expert on Sean Sellers, from the cop who claims I'm a
serial killer, to the first Satanist that says I'm a hero, to the second who
says I'm a bad representative of Satanism, to the third who says I never
was a "'true" Satanist, to the first Christian who says I'm sincere but
should still be executed, to the second who says I'm just trying to make
people think that I am a Christian, etc. etc. etc.. And it goes on and on I
tell ya.
The thing is-- not ONE of these people who speak so authoritatively
about me KNOWS me. A couple of them might have met me once( and I |
mean a couple) but they don't "KNOW" me. Whatever they write about
me, the fact is, they're not really writing about ME. They're writing
about their own little personal IMAGE of me. Those images are as false
and contrived as idols are that represent God. They are not "ME".
A lot of what is printed about me is done with a predetermined purpose.
Often just for money. That was a big surprise to me, and it still gives me
a sinking feeling inside. I first realized it when I found that a group was
making me some kind of poster child in their campaign to oppose the
role playing game Dungeons & Dragons. I don't like the D&D, I have
some strong opinions about it, but these people were making Dungeons
& Dragons the reason I was in prison, and that just wasn't true. They
were using me to support their OWN cause. They were writing about
me with a specific agenda in mind, and creating an image of me to fit
that agenda.
But they were only the first. Many followed. Once I received an
underground magazine from some guy who was promoting the occult. It
was a fanzine full of Satanic metal bands, an interview and artwork
from Richard Ramirez, a cartoon of a child holding a sign reading
"Free Jeffrey Dahmer". The whole thing read like a groupie publication |
for some band, with Satanic killers as the stars. This guy wanted me to
do an interview. He was a big fan of mine he thought I was so cool for
having killed three people. I asked him what he'd been reading about
me. He told me about some crime books I was in. Apparently there's a
market for gore.
Some publisher had put me in some books along with other killers. They
showed pictures of my crimes and talked about my evil deeds. Again,
they were just using me to support their own agenda. They never said a
word about my renouncement of the occult, and when I told this guy I
1/5/99 11:39 AM
Who I Am
2 of 3
http://seansellers.hypermart.net/whoiam.html
was a Christian I never heard from him again. He was just like they
were. He was seeking to use me to promote his agenda, and use an
"IMAGE" of me to do it. He wasn't really interested in "ME".
Christians have done it too. I did an interview with a minister once, for
a video about Satanism. He also wrote a book on the subject, dedicated
the book to me, and sent me a copy. When I read the book however , I
came to the account of our interview, and it was all wrong. I mean ALL
wrong. Not one single thing was right. Not the way it happened, not the
quote-- nothing. I called him and asked about that. He confessed that
not only had someone ELSE ghost written the book for him, but he
hadn't even read it. You see, Satanism was the big interest in the
Church then, and the subject was a moneymaker.
I was his poster child for the project. He wasn't interested in me beyond
that. As long as there was my name, face, and some image of me that
benefited his project he was satisfied.
After years of this I've actually gotten used to it. I expect it now. Every
time I pick up something about me I prepare to read something that
skews it to whatever agenda the writer is using . The one about me being |
a serial killer was particularly fitting. The man who wrote it seemed to
be desperately lifting up my name because the one shining moment in
his career as a Police Detective was when he arrested me. And if he
could make me a serial killer that elevated him even higher.
Many people have profited by writing about me. Two women wrote an
unauthorized biography, for example. It was such a construed work of
fiction they nearly got sued by my girlfriend whom they included in it.
Apparently they read the facts of the case, talked to me twice, and when
I said no, they decided to simply make up the parts they didn't know. It
earned them a paycheck or two though.
Others use me for their own political causes. The district attorney who
prosecuted me, Bob Macy, seems to go out of his way to sabotage
anything good I might do. His political cause is to declare criminals all
bad. Evil. Animals. If Sean Sellers is shown as a kid who did something
evil, but is now trying to make up for it, then his cause is harmed. Thus
he's said things like, "Sean Sellers was a Satanist" when it served his
purpose, and "'a Christian" when it served his purpose. He'd be a
Buddhist tomorrow if it benefitted him.
I'd like to say I take things like that in stride-- water off a duck's back,
but I don't All this stuff really bothers me. I want people to know who I
really am not some image portrayed to them as me. I want them to
know about the bad and the good. I accept judgment and condemnation
from anyone if they form those opinions from seeing the true me. I don't
expect everyone to like me, nor for everyone to hate me. If Bob Macy
said,"I don't care who Sean Sellers becomes, he still killed three people
and I want him executed for it, " I'd respect his honesty, and
understand it. You see, I'm not trying to present an image for my OWN
1/5/99 11:39 AM
Who I Am
3 of 3
http://seansellers.hypermart.net/whoiam.html
agenda here.
A part of who I am is what I did when I was 16. But that's only a part.
One part. The rest of what I have done before--and-- since then, are also
parts of who I am. The real me is the totality of them all, and that's who
I want people to see when they hear the name Sean Sellers.
This is who I am.
Sean Sellers
24 August 1998
1/5/99 11:39 AM
ae “woscowy
‘e tying ballisti 2 .
“put that these was no,
war zone. Gcne
‘their place were stores
Cal che ; Fire
“= broke out I ve morn-
>=ing on a Sovi-+t nuclear-
ze opwered: submarine.
: -Rortheast ‘of Bermuda’
and killed thee people, —
.-Tags sald Ssturday. It
» gaid the craft was car-
‘missiles,
oy ange of nuclear explo-
ie - sion or contasnination.
+: The three-yaragraph
es “See FIRE, Page 2-A
were
ternvon shopp ors 3 and busy merchants, In
with boarded-up
. Windows and sandbagged doors, .
* National Guardsmen assembled near
‘the city hall aud prepared to take orders,
| Everyone was preparing for the flood
they hoped wo 1d never come.
Jenks, on th2 southwest edge of Tulsa, Is
- surrounded bv a levy built to protect it
from the rain tlood waters of the Arkansas
River, Volunteers paced that levy Satur-
(gay. With hi ‘ied faces, they watched the
—Fire |
rise. The
how fast.
Saturday af-
any chances.
By Nolan Clay
- Oklahoma’s youngest killers rarely
make it to Death Row.
And since statehood, no murderer
has been executed in Oklahoma for a
crime he committed before his 18th
birthday.
But it is now more likely Oklahoma
will eventually put to death ‘a kid”
who kills.
Last week, an Oklahoma County ju-
ry chose the death penalty for Sean
Sellers, who was 16 when he killed his
parents in March and a convenience
_ store clerk in September 1985.
And the state Court of Criminal Ap-
only question was how far and
The Jenks City Council recommended
voluntary evacuation of the town at 6:15
am, Saturday. By 4:30 p.m, they changed
that to mandatory evacuation as police
drove through the streets with sirens blar-
ing. City and Corps of Engineers officials
sald they were hoping the city wouldn’t
flood, but the city council wasn’t taking
Townspeople were left optimistic.
“We're moving out,” said Joyce Smith
THE Summon yY ORLA Hey AL’, LO- b-
‘Soviet th ~©State’s Youngest Killers Earn
friend move.
peals Aug. 29 upheld the death sen-
tence of William Wayne Thompson,
who was 15 in January 1983 when he
helped kill a former brother-in-law,
and throw the body into the Washita
River,
Tt ruled, in a repeat of a 1980 deci-
sion, “that once a minor is certified to
stand trial as an adult, he may also,
without violating the Constitution, be
punished as an adult.” A rehearing
was denied Sept. 24.
Thompson, now 19, is the only one
of 66 inmates now on Death Row who
got there for killing when they were
younger than 18. Sellers, now 17, will
_be the second.
Report
who drove off with a
Back in town, many of the remaining . yay’ g
residents were furiously filling sandbags.
“These are for my house,
Larry McClure,
truckload of sandbags.
City officials said shelters had been set
up at Eastside Elementary School, the Ok-
mulgee High School gym and First Pres-
byterian Church in Okmulgee, the First
Presbyterian Church, First Baptist
Church and American Legion in Sapulpa
and Glenpool High pchoo!.
" said mailman
, A,/ A
There are 16 other murderers now
serving life sentences in Oklahoma
prisons who were 18 or younger when
they arrived, Department of Correc-
tions records show.
Assistant public defender Bob Ra-
vitz, who defended Sellers, said, “I
think society is wrong to seek the
death penalty, especially on a 16-
year-old. And I think the courts will
some day say, ‘For 16-year-olds, and
for all people, death is wrong.’ ”
The U.S. Supreme Court, in an Okla-:
homa case, had the opportunity in
1982 to decide the constitutionality of
imposing the death penalty on a 16-
year-old. It did not, ruling instead on
‘Seats on Death Row
af — AP PLaverphoo
Conlin Cox and his son, ‘John, watch as’ water
_ from the Caney River riseg, fowards thelr ‘ in
Bartlesville.
: i"
technical etadnds that the judge
should have considered more evi-
dence in deciding punishment. |)
The appeal:was that of Monty Lee
Eddings, who was 16 when he gunned
down an Oklahoma Highway Patrol
trooper Aprils, 1977. He eventually
ended up with a life sentence in 1984
after further legal procedures. |
In Oklahayga, it is rare that the
death penalty is sought against
youths; it is. rarer still that a jury
agrees. i al
One nationally recognized expert
asserts, ‘The Oklahoma attitude
about the death penalty for juyeniles
is clear: The ‘Legislature may have
See KILLERS, Page 2-A i
th
ter in the Caney Kiver
was beginning to re-
cede, a Corps of En-
gineer spokesman sald.
Though the Corps ree
port wasn’t confirmed,
National Guardsmen
said the water's rise
was slowing markedly
at 5:30 p.m., said John
Tanner, of the Bartles-
ville Civil Defense.
Tanner said the water
_ level would probably
crest at 28 or 29 feet
Saturday evening. The
flood-stage on the Caney
River is 13 feet.
Police, who said they
did not believe the wa-
ter was receding yet,
continued to evacuate
people from their homes
Saturday and prepared
to continue through the
night.
Six hundred to 800
homes were under wa-
ter Saturday evening,
said Civil Defense Di-
rector Jim Willaford.
Many people waited to
leave their homes until
~ jt was too late for them
percent, of th:
square tniles that 1
up the Bartlesville
Tanner said,
On Saturday, ©
engineers reduced
amount of wate
leased into the}
from the Copan an
Jah reservoirs by 2!
cent, arca enginee:
Cyrus said.
Even with the
crease, the Caney :
was predicted to
at 28 feet, 15 feet ;
the flood stage, °
ford said.
Because the v
was being rele
more slowly, it wo1
released over a |
period of time,
ford said. “The
could be around fo
or six days,” he sa:
_ As police contin:
move more people
their homes by boi
four-wheel drive
cles, Red Cross of!
prepared to open
ond shelter dow:
Saturday evening
See WATER, Pag
Describes Loss of Secret Base
is: sever 40s to mid-50s.
‘Si"The state can expect occasional
Mi “Tight rain aid a few thundersiorms
. “today. Highs will be the in low 60s to
“> \mid-70s with lows ranging from the
=~ Page 14-A
|
Ok lahoma Report
BIN Dune: an, a veteran northeast-
4}. ern Oklahon.a dairy farmer, milks his
~~. cows twice & day, then pours it all out.
las one of rine Oklahoma dairymen
. < whose herd.: remain under quaran-
> tine, — Page 18-A
Budgetary Storm Ahead
“Radar Billy,” as he is known in
Woodward, staffs the town’s severe
storm center radar, phoning what he
and volunteers see to the National
Weather Service. But Bill Wyatt’s fac-
ing a storm he can’t read on his
town's new radar, — Page 19-A
Editorial
A monumental challenge facing
Congress is finding a way out of the
morass of policy failures in a work-
ahle TS faryn nolicy —— Page 22-A
By Ray Robinson
For three months in
the late 1960s, the U.S.
Embassy in Laos was
the beneficiary of a
steady stream of intelli-
gence indicating that
Communist troops were
about to mount a major
attack against a secret
and politically sensitive
Air Force installation
“manned by 16 techni-
cians working under ci-
vilian cover.
. But the work at the
TF. $s ~ os
overrun,
When the attack final-
ly came, U.S. officials
waited too long and 11
of the men were lost,
dealing a major setback
to America’s first effort
at conducting a secret
war.
Those are the conclu-
sions of a recently de-
classified Air Force re-
port concerning the fall
on March 11, 1968 of a
. Tadar station atop a
peak in northern Laos
known as. Phou Pha 1 Thi,
: bd | oe ¥
18 years after the at-
tack — the Air Force
had released little in-
was on the men’s death
certificates and the ci-
tations their families
were given in 1983.
Sheep Dipping
Those documents in-
dicated that in an ap- |
parent effort to circum- |
vent a 1962 neutrality
agreement in Laos, the
men had been assigned ''
to the radar station in
tha onic
f civilian em-:
‘the CIA, served first as
a navigational aid for
AUS. aircraft.
formation beyond what —
‘But second, ang more
‘important from a mili-
tary standpoint,!'if con-
‘tained a sophisticated
_ radar system known to
the Air Force as TSQ-81,
‘or Commando {lub,
which was capable of
guiding U.S. bombers to
targets in North Viet-
nam in all sorts of
| Weather. |
Air Force documents
“state that the operation
wae daciqnad on
Vc nny:
Survivor Details
Bloody Attack
By Ray Robinsou i
It was at 5:15 a.m. on March 11, 1968, acc
to an official Air Force report, that U.S, Am
dor William H. Sullivan decided to evacui
sieged Air Force technicians 5,500 feet abc
Plain des Jarres on Phou Pha Thi in Laos.
At that point — 11 hours into the attack -
Stanley J. Sliz lay wounded in.a stone grot
the mangled corpse of a young airman besic
‘A short time later, another airman died
wee ITV ny 3 fata iB a ightina 4s
Section A THE SUNDAY OKLAHOMAN
From Page 1-A
authorized it but the people almost
| always refuse to sentence their
children to death.”
Law professor Victor L. Streib of-
Cleveland State University also sug-
| gests resistance in Oklahoma is
greater than the 35 other states al-
lowing the death penalty,
Streib said juveniles account for
approximately 3 percent of the 2,150
death penalties imposed nationwide
during the last nine years. That com-
pares to only 1 percent in Oklahoma.
Streib, author of the forthcoming
book “The Death Penalty for Juve-
niles,” wrote about Oklahoma's expe-
rience in a paper specially prepared
for Sellers’ defense attorneys.
Nationwide, since 1915, only 155 of
the 5,619 executions involved those
who were younger than 18 at the time
of the crime, Streib said in the paper.
In Oklahoma, the youngest to die
was George Oliver, executed Aug, 25,.
1933, for a crime he did while 18,
Streib said. Oklahoma’s last execu-
tion was on Aug. 10, 1966.
In Oklahoma County, Sellers would
not have faced the death penalty had
he only killed one time, District At-
Flood
From Page 1-A
— Staff Photo by Paul Hellstern
t pulling her weicht, zoo officials say.
Vt Doing
Loo Says
'©> The two males, Roger and OKSEA, knocked out two
ed to worked together in an act in Acapul- half of the homes in Dover, population, 570, re- neighborhoods mostly in northwest and southern
©. €0, Mexico, before they came to Okla- ceived flood damage. Bartlesville.
nsid- homa City. “She had not worked with Meanwhile, state and federal officials gathered everal houses in low-lying areas were up to.
lphin them before.” Owens said. in Bartlesville to view the fland damage ard Ain oo ever at Mouses in low-lying areas w
flood Stage, keeping many residents of Coyle away
from their homes late Saturday. Flood waters four
feet deep covered the town’s business district.
The flooding Cimarron also tore two huge chunks
of U.S. 81 between Kingfisher and Dover and
bridges in Logan County. About
\
torney Robert Macy said.
“It is the combination of the two
that required the death penalty. When
a young man goes out and kills a gro-
cery store clerk and does it for the
thrill of killing and does it without
remorse, that’s bad. But again, (Sell-
ers) being 16, I probably would not
have sought the death penalty,” Macy
said.
Because Sellers later killed his par-
ents “at that point I felt that this case
was of the magnitude that the death
penalty was the only appropriate pun-
ishment,” Macy said.
One juror, Gary W. Rowlett, said,
“We thought he was more mature
than 16 years old, with all the draw-
ings and all the writings and everyth-
ing else. .. He was a very smart
young man.” ;
Three years ago, another Oklahoma
County jury chose a life sentence for
John Edward DeVooght III, who was
15 when he raped and murdered a 6-
year-old Oklahoma City girl.
Jurors later cited DeVooght's age
for their decision against the death
penalty. oO
In Tulsa, chief prosecutor ‘l'om Gil-
lert said of one murder case, “Had it
wanted a built-in pcol.”
“Hey, I ain't leaving,” Grigsby said. “I always
“I’m going to stay put. I’ve got my electricity
turned off and everything up in the attic,” Grigsby ©
said. “I never thought it would get this deep.” .
Water from the Caney Spread over an estimated
60 to 70 square miles in the county, inundating
. if
not been for his age, certainly there
would have been a strong consider-
ation” of the death penalty. cree!
He and District Attorney David
Moss instead decided not to seek the
death penalty against Jason Davis,
accused of a brutal slaying at age 14,
Davis, now }5, allegedly attacked Vel-
ma Lorrene Andes, 71, in her Tulsa,
apartment July 17 and beat her he ud
six or more times against a toilet. he
died July 24. mY
The death penalty is sought in Tul-.
sa County only two or three times a,
year for all murder cases, Gillert
noted. pa
ak
However, given the “right bad seed,
with the right atrocity,” it might be
appropriate to ask a jury to consider:
the death penalty against a youth un-.
der 18, he said. fed
The death penalty is being sought '
against Elk City babysitter Robert.
James Ward, whose trial starts Oct. .
14, two days before his 17th birthday.
He is accused of shooting to death two |
children, ages 4 and 2, who were un- i
der his care Feb, 14. an
District Attorney James P, Garrett '
said one basis for his decision to seek’
the death penalty was evidence the
j {
‘ Wy
evacuate | if the water
killing was. “heinous, atrocious or
cruel.” The: 4-year-old boy was shot
four times in the head, he said.
Garrett said if he hadn't filed a bill”
of particulars, the legal document al-
leging reasons for the death penalty,
the jury couldn’t consider that pun-,
ishment. |,
“This wag one of those cases that,
Should be co
said. id
In the recently decided Thompson
case, appellate public defender E. Al-
vin Schay said, “Both in this country:
and internationally, there has been ao.
movement away from the execution )
children.”
In the briéf to the Oklahoma Court
of Criminal Appeals, Schay also had.
little hope of success in later appeals. -
“This court in all probability is the
‘court of last resort’ for Wayne
Thompson,” Schay wrote. .
Assistant state attorney general
William H. Li:ker wrote, “We contend
that the death penalty does not be;
come cruel or unusual simply because
the defendant is below the age of 18,
and that any arbitrary age limit for’
offenders who may be punished by
death is a matter that is better left to.
the Legislature,”
} «
au *
bubbled in the driveway .
reached the foundation of her house,
she said.
“If we get more rain, I don't think we'll make it,”
The National Weather Service said the stubborn.
storm system that sat over the Rockies and pulled -
tropical moisture into Oklahoma all last week was -
breaking apart Saturday, and the forecast called
for an end to the rain by Monday, fat
Charles Miller said he want tn cloan in enita nf
nsidered by the jury,” he
+ oe Seale
i pment alee ny
2ND STORY of Level 1 printed in FULL format.
Copyright 1999 The Dallas Morning News
The Dallas Morning News
January 3, 1999, Sunday HOME FINAL EDITION
SECTION: TEXAS & SOUTHWEST; Pg. 33A
LENGTH: 1179 words
HEADLINE: Condemned man spins Web of words, support;
Killer's site run by friends angers victims' kin
SOURCE: Staff Writer of The Dallas Morning News
BYLINE: David Snyder |
BODY
Sean Sellers uld be dead in about a month.
But with a few keystrokes, you can summon up his life's work long after he's
gone.
If Mr. Sellers is executed on Feb. 4 as planned, the "Friends of Sean
Sellers" Web site will continue to grow, even after its producer stops
producing.
The Web site details his crimes, his confessions and his daily musings on
everything from prison food to God - in his own words and available to anyone
with a computer and access to the Internet and the address www.seansellers.com.
As Mr. Sellers' final bid for clemency approaches, the Web site has churned
up emotions, dialogue and dissonance between his supporters and family members
of the three people he shot to death.
Supporters say that he's "changed the lives" of hundreds around the world
simply through his ability to communicate and that the Web site augments his
ability to help troubled youths.
Others are more skeptical - particularly
those who knew Mr. Sellers before he became something of a death-row
philosopher.
"It's amazing to me that a convicted murderer has the right to be heard and
that he seeks out the media," said Noelle Bellofatto, Mr. Sellers' stepsister.
Her father, Paul Bellofatto, was one of Mr. Sellers' three victims. "People need
to know that my father is not just a name in a murder case. This is not a man
that deserved to die in cold blood."
Prison officials say there's nothing they can do to shut down the Web site
or to keep it from growing. Mr. Sellers doesn't have a computer; he sends the
Web site's contents via regular mail to friends on the outside, who post the
materials on the Internet.
PAGE 5
THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS, January 3, 1999
"We can't control what they [inmates] mail out," said Jerry Massie,
spokesman for the Oklahoma Department of Corrections. "It's really more an issue
of what people do with the mail once it gets out."
Even before his Internet appearance, Mr. Sellers was at one time probably
the most widely known killer in Oklahoma - and because he was 16 when he was
sent to death row, he was also one of the state's most controversial inmates.
A book - Devil Child by Vickie L. Dawkins and Nina Downey Higgens - was
written about his crimes.
Mr. Sellers, 29, is scheduled to be executed for the 1985 slaying of a
convenience store clerk, Robert Paul Bower, and the 1986 murder of Mr. Sellers'
mother, Vonda Bellofatto, and Mr. Bellofatto, the stepfather, while they slept
in their Oklahoma City duplex.
Mr. Sellers' Web site writings, which may be the death-row inmate's final
act of self-expression, are the latest in a long line of written works. No
matter what people think about Mr. Sellers and the three murders he committed,
they seem to moved and impressed by his way with words.
Convicted at 16, he was a self-described Satanist. He says he performed
Satanic rituals, including drinking blood, before shooting his victims. In the
13 years that he's been on death row at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary at
McAlester, he says he's converted to Christianity, educated himself and had
poetry published.
The Web site's creator says that only a small portion of Mr. Sellers' work
is on display; she will continue adding to it for quite some time. In addition
to about a dozen short poems, the Web site features Mr. Sellers' journal,
updated daily.
While Web sites devoted to death-row inmates are increasingly common, Mr.
Sellers' is different. There are no overt pleas for clemency. And unlike sites
established by organizations opposed to capital punishment, there's hardly a
mention of the pending execution. There is, however, a bounty of vivid
descriptions of life in prison.
"You matter greatly'
"You must believe strongly in what you do," Mr. Sellers writes in a Dec. 13
journal entry. "You must hold on to the belief that what you are doing is
immensely important and that you matter greatly in the world. . . . You must
believe that your days are spent doing something well WORTH the doing, and do it
with all your might."
The Web site includes a short list of "Friends of Sean Sellers," and an
image of the Sellers family crest. There's a link to a chat room, which people
identifying themselves as Bellofatto family members recently jammed with
protests and condemnation of the Web site.
"When you read the confession [on the Web site], that tells the whole
story," said Tom Bellofatto, brother of victim Paul Bellofatto. "As for the rest
of the things that are there, they're either half-truths or outright lies."
. PAGE 6
THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS, January 3, 1999
In an interview, conducted through his attorney, Mr. Sellers said he
conceived of the Web site as a means to preserve his works and, therefore, to
some degree, his life.
"When I die, I would like everything I've done to be recorded and left
behind somehow so that people can see it," he said. "I would like some way for
my life to continue to make a difference."
His friends took it from there.
"I'm just trying to say to people that he's a person," said Sarah Meyer, 27,
a friend who established the site at Mr. Sellers' request in August. "It's not
about the death penalty. It's not about crime and punishment in America.
It's not for everybody, but it is what it is. It is what he is."
Ms. Meyer "met" Mr. Sellers 10 years ago by writing to him after she learned
about his case. Since then, the two have corresponded regularly through the
mail. Ms. Meyer says Mr. Sellers has accumulated hundreds of friends all over
the world during his time on Oklahoma's death row.
So in August, she launched the Web site, a place where all of the inmate's
friends can see his work and share their thoughts.
Additional sites
There are other Web sites, too.
In one of several Sellers-related sites, Ron Mitchell, an Oklahoma City
detective who investigated the Sellers killings, describes the condemned man as
"a classic killer" who "thrives on "Power.' " He points out that Mr. Sellers
never confessed his crimes to police but confessed them to the likes of
talk-show hosts Geraldo Rivera and Sally Jesse Raphael after his conviction.
"I think we caught him before he had the opportunity to do anything else,"
Mr. Mitchell said. "The things he did were terrible, and nothing can change
that."
Mr. Sellers maintains that others have used his image and words to forward
their own agenda. He attracted the attention of evangelists, who have broadcast
interviews with him on television and radio.
From prison Mr. Sellers, working through the Web site, has created a network
of backers that has prompted many youths to write letters on his behalf to the
Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board.
"Sean's life has not only changed my life," one of the letters reads, "but I
have personally seen it touch hundreds of others."
Last-minute pardons are exceedingly rare in Oklahoma. Still, Mr. Sellers'
attorney, Steve Presson, said he has hopes that his client's life will be
spared.
"The point of all this is that people do change," said Mr. Presson, who said
Mr. Sellers is working on several novels. "Not only is he no threat [to
society], but he is a benefit."
THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS, January 3, 1999
GRAPHIC: PHOTO(S): (Courtesy photo) Sean Sellers was 16 when he was sent to
death row in Oklahoma. He said he was a Satanist, drinking blood before shooting
his victims. In his 13 years awaiting execution, he has become a Christian and
educated himself, he said.
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
LOAD-DATE: January 4, 1999
PAGE 2
1ST STORY of Level 1 printed in FULL format.
Copyright 1999 Times Mirror Company
Los Angeles Times
January 29, 1999, Friday, Home Edition
SECTION: Part A; Page 1; National Desk
LENGTH: 1014 words
HEADLINE: POPE'S APPEAL FOR MERCY SAVES MURDERER'S LIFE
BYLINE: STEPHANIE SIMON, TIMES STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ST. LOUIS
BODY:
Acceding to a plea for mercy from Pope John Paul II, Missouri Gov. Mel
Carnahan on Thursday granted clemency to a triple murderer due to be executed
next month, saying he would spare the convict's life simply because the pope had
asked him to.
Legal experts called the decision unprecedented.
"I know of no other request for commutation that was even largely, let alone
solely, granted because of a papal request," said Victor Streib, a leading
scholar on capital punishment and dean of Ohio Northern University Law School.
"Religious opposition to the death penalty is nothing new, but usually, it's not
sufficient."
Surprised by Carnahan's decision, death penalty opponents hoped that it would
spark a movement to abolish state executions--or at least give political cover
to other governors who might want to show mercy.
Advocates of capital punishment, meanwhile, complained that Carnahan had
subverted the judicial process by treating clemency as a favor to a religious
leader.
What's more, they said, Darrell Mease had no good claim to clemency--having
confessed to ambushing and shotgunning his former drug partner, the man's wife
and their disabled grandson. Mease later claimed the confession had been
coerced.
"It raises real due process questions when a guy is convicted by a jury and
every court upholds his death sentence and the governor, for no apparent reason,
commutes the sentence," Missouri state Sen. Steve Ehlmann said.
But legal scholars said Carnahan's decision, while unusual, was not
unconstitutional and would set no precedent for other death row inmates.
Governors in most states retain the absolute power to pardon; they need not give
any explanation whatsoever.
Los Angeles Times January 29, 1999, Friday,
"What's unusual here is the seemingly blatant influence of a religious figure
in a purely secular decision," said Erwin Chemerinsky, a law professor at USC.
"We might criticize it from a political standpoint, but that doesn't make it
illegal," Chemerinsky added. " And the fact that one person had his sentence
commuted does not mean that any other person has the right to have his sentence
commuted."
In commuting the death sentence of Mease, 52--whose attorney called the
clemency a "miracle"--Carnahan said he was acting out of "a deep and abiding
respect for the pontiff and all he represents." That respect, however, did not
prompt a complete conversion: Carnahan, a Democrat, said he still supports
capital punishment.
Indeed, Carnahan has allowed 26 executions to go forward in his six years as
governor. He has granted clemency just once, to a convicted murderer who was
diagnosed with mental impairments that made him incapable of understanding his
death sentence.
He has turned aside at least one papal request for mercy in the past,
refusing to block the execution of a man convicted of killing a state trooper.
And just this month, he denied clemency to a man convicted of two murders in
California and one in St. Louis, even though appeals were still pending on the
California convictions.
But Mease's case was different.
Different not because there were doubts about his guilt, not because he had
reformed himself in prison, not because his mental state was shaky or his trial
had been unfair.
Mease's case was different because of a scheduling quirk.
He was originally scheduled to die this week. Then the state Supreme Court
postponed the execution until Feb. 10. The court did not explain the move, but
most analysts figured the justices wanted to avoid executing Mease while the
Holy Father was visiting St. Louis.
Publicity about the postponement brought Mease's case to the pope's
attention. The pontiff spoke out strongly against the death penalty in general
during a Mass before 100,000 people in St. Louis Wednesday morning. And at a
brief meeting with Carnahan--a Baptist--John Paul requested mercy for Mease in
particular.
"The governor was quite moved," Carnahan spokesman Chris Sifford said.
A preliminary staff review of Mease's case had not turned up any sound
arguments for clemency, "and the bottom line was, he probably would have been
executed" if John Paul had not intervened, Sifford said.
"The fact that the pope was here in St. Louis, the fact that he had a
face-to-face meeting with the governor, that probably made the difference,"
Sifford added.
Los Angeles Times January 29, 1999, Friday,
While he acknowledged that the governor would likely be flooded with "me-too"
requests for clemency, Sifford said Carnahan did not view the Mease case as an
index by which all others should be measured. Rather, the governor considered it
a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to honor the pope's request after he had
honored St. Louis with a visit.
Mease still must serve life in prison without the possibility of parole, but
his lawyer described him as "awe-struck" at his reprieve.
However Jim Justus, a prosecutor in the case against Mease, said he still
feels Mease deserves to be executed. "I'm disappointed with the governor's
decision," Justus said, "but I respect it."
Although Carnahan explicitly acknowledged the pope's influence, legal
analysts said the decision did not breach the constitutional firewall between
church and state.
"As long as Carnahan is not favoring one religion over another or endorsing
any particular religion, I don't think it's a problem," said Joerg Knipprath, a
law professor at Southwestern University in Los Angeles.
Carnahan's decision pleased the Vatican, where the pope issued a statement
expressing "great satisfaction for this gesture of great humanity."
But it brought immediate fire from political opponents of the governor, who
plans to run for the U.S. Senate in 2000. "This guy Mease was saved by the
calendar," complained Ehlmann, the Republican floor leader of the Missouri
Senate.
If Carnahan was so moved by the pope's condemnation of the death penalty,
Ehlmann said, "the appropriate thing to do would be to start a dialogue on the
issue, rather than simply picking the next person on death row" for clemency.
Times staff writer Richard Boudreaux in Rome contributed to this story.
GRAPHIC: PHOTO: Pope John Paul II greets Missouri Gov. Mel Carnahan and his
wife, Jean. PHOTOGRAPHER: Associated Press
LANGUAGE: English
LOAD-DATE: January 29, 1999
2ND STORY of Level 1 printed in FULL format.
Copyright 1999 Globe Newspaper Company
The Boston Globe
January 27, 1999, Wednesday ,City Edition
SECTION: NATIONAL/FOREIGN; Pg. A3
LENGTH: 889 words
HEADLINE: Coming execution stirs outrage
BYLINE: By Louise D. Palmer, Globe Correspondent
BODY:
WASHINGTON - Sean Sellers had thick dark-blond hair, peach fuzz on his chin,
and, his doctors said, a psychotic world of voices and personalities raging
inside his 16-year-old brain when he was sentenced to die.
But neither his status as a juvenile nor his mental illness, diagnosed
later, was enough to save him from the death penalty, which an Oklahoma jury
handed up 12 years ago in connection with the brutal murder of his mother,
stepfather, and a convenience store clerk.
Now, his final day is approaching: On Feb. 4, Sellers is scheduled to be
executed by lethal injection. Attention to juvenile death-penalty cases is
likely to intensify today, as Sellers goes before the Oklahoma Board of Pardon
and Parole to beg for his life. His case has been publicized across Europe.
If he loses his appeal, Sellers would be the first person since the death
penalty was reinstated in 1976 to be executed for a crime committed at age 16.
Sellers is one of 74 people who have been tried in adult courts and
sentenced to death for crimes committed at the age of 16 or 17. (The total
number of individuals on death row in the United States is roughly 3,400.)
The United States is almost alone in the world in allowing minors to be
executed for their crimes. As a result, the Sellers case has ignited a firestorm
of international protest by anti-death penalty activists who say the practice
has been condemned by dozens of countries and forbidden by the United Nations
Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Amnesty International USA has issued an alert and moblized its international
base to make calls and send letters protesting the execution.
The case also has attracted the attention of juvenile justice advocates, who
say the execution of people as young and as mentally impaired as Sellers at the
time of his crime is inhumane.
The execution of minors in the United States began with the death of Thomas
Granger in Plymouth Colony, Mass., in 1642, according to Victor L. Streib, dean
of Ohio Northern University School of Law. In the intervening years, 355 persons
have been condemned to death for juvenile crimes. This amounts to almost 2
percent of the 19,200 American executions on record.
PAGE 6
The Boston Globe, January 27, 1999
Of the 38 states that permit the death penalty, 12 states have applied the
sentence to minors who, according to a 1988 Supreme Court ruling, must be at
least 16 years old. Of those, Texas executes by far the largest number - 37
percent.
Juveniles receiving the death penalty are mostly black, while their victims
are mostly white, according to Streib's analysis.
"We want cooperation from other countries on human rights and we can't act
alone on the issue," said Richard C. Dieter, executive director of the
Washington-based Death Penalty Information Center. "And yet, the rest of the
world is virtually unanimous in saying the execution of juveniles is wrong."
"The juvenile death penalty interests people who want to up the price and
punishment of juvenile homicide, but everything we know indicates that it
doesn't work," Streib said.
Research has found that adolescents believe they are immortal, do not read
the headlines and do not care what prosecutors say, Streib said.
Whether or not the death penalty acts as a deterrent to crime, however, is
irrelevant to the majority of Americans, who support capital punishment.
"In order to believe the worst criminal sanction should be used, you must
believe the death penalty is a morally justifiable punishment for the most
heinous crimes," said Dudley Sharp, vice president of Justice For All, a
Houston-based criminal justice reform and victims-rights group.
Sharp added, "For some, the death penalty is the only punishment, even
though the punishment can never equal the crime."
Alberta Bowers lost a son - and her two grandchildren a father - when Sean
Sellers pumped three bullets into the body of 36-year-old convenience store
clerk Robert Bowers 12 years ago.
"I'm just beside myself," Bowers said from her home in North Canton, Ohio,
the day before Sellers' clemency hearing. "My mind would be at ease if we didn't
have to worry about him getting out anymore. I hate to see anyone put to death
and I don't even believe in it, but still, that man took three lives and it's
just not right."
But Sellers' defenders, including psychiatrist Dorothy 0. Lewis of the New
York University School of Medicine, say he was only given $750 by the state to
call experts to prove that he was, as a minor, developmentally different than an
adult and that he had a severe mental impairment.
In fact, the psychological testing for a disorder Sellers was later
diagnosed with had not been developed by the time Sellers was sentenced. Sellers
was subjected to extreme physical and sexual abuse so traumatic that he
developed dissociative identity disorder, according to Lewis, who examined
Sellers on behalf of his defense team in the early 1990s.
Lewis came into contact with Sellers while doing research for a study of
juveniles sentenced to death. Most of the subjects in her study had major brain
damage, and half suffered from psychotic disorders.
The Boston Globe, January 27, 1999
Sellers claims to have rehabilitated himself. He has become a prolific
artist, poet, and author of a Christian cartoon series distributed on the World
Wide Web from his seat on death row.
GRAPHIC: PHOTO, If he loses his appeal, Sean Sellers (above) would be the first
person since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976 to be eecuted for a crime
committed at age 16. / 1986 AP FILE PHOTO
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
LOAD-DATE: January 27, 1999
2ND STORY of Level 1 printed in FULL format.
Copyright 1999 Globe Newspaper Company
The Boston Globe
January 27, 1999, Wednesday ,City Edition
SECTION: NATIONAL/FOREIGN; Pg. A3
LENGTH: 889 words
HEADLINE: Coming execution stirs outrage
BYLINE: By Louise D. Palmer, Globe Correspondent
BODY:
WASHINGTON - Sean Sellers had thick dark-blond hair, peach fuzz on his chin,
and, his doctors said, a psychotic world of voices and personalities raging
inside his 16-year-old brain when he was sentenced to die.
But neither his status as a juvenile nor his mental illness, diagnosed
later, was enough to save him from the death penalty, which an Oklahoma jury
handed up 12 years ago in connection with the brutal murder of his mother,
stepfather, and a convenience store clerk.
Now, his final day is approaching: On Feb. 4, Sellers is scheduled to be
executed by lethal injection. Attention to juvenile death-penalty cases is
likely to intensify today, as Sellers goes before the Oklahoma Board of Pardon
and Parole to beg for his life. His case has been publicized across Europe.
If he loses his appeal, Sellers would be the first person since the death
penalty was reinstated in 1976 to be executed for a crime committed at age 16.
Sellers is one of 74 people who have been tried in adult courts and
sentenced to death for crimes committed at the age of 16 or 17. (The total
number of individuals on death row in the United States is roughly 3,400.)
The United States is almost alone in the world in allowing minors to be
executed for their crimes. As a result, the Sellers case has ignited a firestorm
of international protest by anti-death penalty activists who say the practice
has been condemned by dozens of countries and forbidden by the United Nations
Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Amnesty International USA has issued an alert and moblized its international
base to make calls and send letters protesting the execution.
The case also has attracted the attention of juvenile justice advocates, who
say the execution of people as young and as mentally impaired as Sellers at the
time of his crime is inhumane.
The execution of minors in the United States began with the death of Thomas
Granger in Plymouth Colony, Mass., in 1642, according to Victor L. Streib, dean
of Ohio Northern University School of Law. In the intervening years, 355 persons
have been condemned to death for juvenile crimes. This amounts to almost 2
percent of the 19,200 American executions on record.
° PAGE 5
The Boston Globe, January 27, 1999
Of the 38 states that permit the death penalty, 12 states have applied the
sentence to minors who, according to a 1988 Supreme Court ruling, must be at
least 16 years old. Of those, Texas executes by far the largest number - 37
percent.
Juveniles receiving the death penalty are mostly black, while their victims
are mostly white, according to Streib's analysis.
"We want cooperation from other countries on human rights and we can't act
alone on the issue," said Richard C. Dieter, executive director of the
Washington-based Death Penalty Information Center. "And yet, the rest of the
world is virtually unanimous in saying the execution of juveniles is wrong."
"The juvenile death penalty interests people who want to up the price and
punishment of juvenile homicide, but everything we know indicates that it
doesn't work," Streib said.
Research has found that adolescents believe they are immortal, do not read
the headlines and do not care what prosecutors say, Streib said.
Whether or not the death penalty acts as a deterrent to crime, however, is
irrelevant to the majority of Americans, who support capital punishment.
"In order to believe the worst criminal sanction should be used, you must
believe the death penalty is a morally justifiable punishment for the most
heinous crimes," said Dudley Sharp, vice president of Justice For All, a
Houston-based criminal justice reform and victims-rights group.
Sharp added, "For some, the death penalty is the only punishment, even
though the punishment can never equal the crime."
Alberta Bowers lost a son - and her two grandchildren a father - when Sean
Sellers pumped three bullets into the body of 36-year-old convenience store
clerk Robert Bowers 12 years ago.
"I'm just beside myself," Bowers said from her home in North Canton, Ohio,
the day before Sellers' clemency hearing. "My mind would be at ease if we didn't
have to worry about him getting out anymore. I hate to see anyone put to death
and I don't even believe in it, but still, that man took three lives and it's
just not right."
But Sellers' defenders, including psychiatrist Dorothy 0. Lewis of the New
York University School of Medicine, say he was only given $750 by the state to
call experts to prove that he was, as a minor, developmentally different than an
adult and that he had a severe mental impairment.
In fact, the psychological testing for a disorder Sellers was later
diagnosed with had not been developed by the time Sellers was sentenced. Sellers
was subjected to extreme physical and sexual abuse so traumatic that he
developed dissociative identity disorder, according to Lewis, who examined
Sellers on behalf of his defense team in the early 1990s.
Lewis came into contact with Sellers while doing research for a study of
juveniles sentenced to death. Most of the subjects in her study had major brain
damage, and half suffered from psychotic disorders.
PAGE 6
The Boston Globe, January 27, 1999
Sellers claims to have rehabilitated himself. He has become a prolific
artist, poet, and author of a Christian cartoon series distributed on the World
Wide Web from his seat on death row.
GRAPHIC: PHOTO, If he loses his appeal, Sean Sellers (above) would be the first
person since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976 to be eecuted for a crime
committed at age 16. / 1986 AP FILE PHOTO
|
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
LOAD-DATE: January 27, 1999
|
1ST STORY of Level 1 printed in FULL format.
Copyright 1999 Agence France Presse
Agence France Presse
January 27, 1999 23:00 GMT
SECTION: Domestic, non-Washington, general news item
LENGTH: 291 words
HEADLINE: Oklahoma death row inmate ple murders committed at 16
DATELINE: WASHINGTON, Jan 26
BODY:
A death row inmate scheduled to be executed next month for murders committed
when he was 16 will plead Wednesday for clemency, said an Oklahoma pardons board
source Tuesday.
Sean Sellers, 29, who has exhausted all legal recourses, "himself can speak
to the board," Board President Terry Jenks told AFP.
Unless the board acts to commute Sellers' sentence, he will be executed on
February 4 for killing a grocer in September 1985 and his mother and stepfather
in March 1986.
According to his lawyers, Sellers, who was 16 when he committed the murders,
had multiple personality disorders and a severely troubled childhood during
which his family moved 30 times.
Sellers would be the youngest (at the time he committed the crimes) murderer
executed in the United States in 40 years.
In prison, where he draws comic strips, Sellers found religion and has made
several videos warning of the dangers of drugs and satanic cults, and writes a
prison journal his friends have published on the Internet.
The five-member pardons board, which has not pardoned any candidate for
execution in recent years, will vote Wednesday at the end of a two-hour meeting,
of which one hour is reserved for Sellers's defense.
The case, decried by Amnesty International and other anti-death penalty
organizations, is likely to revive the death penalty debate in the United
States.
Amnesty International says that the United States is one of the few countries
-- including Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Yemen -- recently to execute people for
crimes committed when they were minors.
Currently some 70 people are on death row in the United States for crimes
committed when they were 16 or 17, according to anti-death penalty
organizations.
bd/gar/dkb
- PAGE 3
Agence France Presse, January 27, 1999
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
LOAD-DATE: January 26, 1999
PAGE 7
3RD STORY of Level 1 printed in FULL format.
Copyright 1999 Bristol United Press
Bath Chronicle
January 26, 1999
EDITION: BATH CHRONICLE
SECTION: Letters, Pg.21
LENGTH: 84 words
HEADLINE: Too young to die;
Letter
BYLINE: KATHERINE TYKLKO Bath Amnesty Group
BODY:
ON A wet and windy night at the turn of the millennium, the splendid Bath
Royal Literary and Scientific Institution was crowded with Bath citizens seeking
the abolition of the death penalty for 16-year- olds.
Was this 1899? No, last Tuesday. If anyone wishes to ask for clemency for
the US death-row prisoner Sean Sellers, who was 16 and allegedly mentally ill
when convicted of murder, then please pop into the abbey and sign Amnesty
International's petition.
Bloomfield Avenue,
Bath
LANGUAGE: English
LOAD-DATE: January 26, 1999
ee eae.
PAGE 8
4TH STORY of Level 1 printed in FULL format.
Copyright 1999 Midland Independent Newspapers plc
Birmingham Post
January 26, 1999, Tuesday
SECTION: Pg. 9
LENGTH: 891 words
HEADLINE: EX-SATANIST WHO KILLED AT 16 FACES EXECUTION
BODY:
Sean Sellers is set to become the first American in four decades to be put
to death for a crime committed when he was barely old enough to drive. The
former satanist's February 4 execution date for the murders of his mother, his
stepfather and a convenience store clerk, has rekindled the debate over how
young is too young to pay the ultimate price for taking a life. "This issue of
executing juveniles has been controversial. It's controversial in the
international forum, and the US stands alone in insisting on these executions,"
said Mr Richard Deiter, executive director of the National Death Penalty
Information Centre, an anti-capital punishment organisation in Washington, DC.
"It's been 40 years since we crossed that line." Sellers, aged 29, who is being
held in Oklahoma City, was 16 when he carried out the murders. The last time
anyone died for crimes committed at that age was April 10, 1959, when Maryland
executed Leonard M Shockley. Since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976, 12
people have been put to death for crimes committed at age 17. Across the US,
death rows now hold 16 offenders who murdered when they were aged 16 and 54 more
who committed their crimes at 17. Age will be an issue when Sellers goes before
the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board for a clemency hearing this week. His
supporters say he should not die for crimes committed as a teenager. They also
point to a diagnosis of multiple personality disorder made after Sellers'
conviction.
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
LOAD-DATE: January 26, 1999
PAGE 9
5TH STORY of Level 1 printed in FULL format.
Copyright 1999 Deutsche Presse-Agentur
Deutsche Presse-Agentur
January 26, 1999, Tuesday, BC Cycle
04:47 Central European Time
SECTION: International News
LENGTH: 700 words
HEADLINE: FEATURE: When children kill - planned execution raises controversy
BYLINE: By Gabriele Chwallek, dpa
DATELINE: Washington
BODY:
Sean Sellers is 29. He will probably not live to see his 30th birthday on
May 18. This young man, whose round face lends him a gentle and friendly
appearance, lives in a death row cell in McAlester, Oklahoma.
He is scheduled for execution on February 4 for murdering his mother, his
step-father and a store employee, unless the state authorities or the governor
decide to show mercy. That's not likely.
More than 500 people have been executed in the United States since the death
penalty was reintroduced in 1976. What makes the Sellers' case particularly
spectacular is that he would be the first American in 40 years to be executed
for a crime he committed when he was just 16 years old.
However, that's not the only reason why death penalty opponents have
launched a large-scale campaign to save him. According to a psychiatric
evaluation made in 1992, Sellers is a schizophrenic with multiple personalities.
Even the appeals court agreed in 1998 that Sellers' argument that he was
severely psychologically disturbed at the time of the crime is everying but
frivolous. On the contrary, it thought the argument was well founded and based
on scientific evidence.
"The petitioner's claims are supported by significant evidence that the
person facing death for three murders is not the person who committed the
crimes," the court said. And because the accused's mental problems was not an
issue in his 1986 trial but brought up later, it was not up to the court to
revise a jury verdict.
Amnesty International has called on death penalty opponents from around the
world to speak out on Sellers' behalf and make their views known to the state's
governor and the reviewing authorities.
There is a global consensus that the death penalty may not be carried out
against people who were children at the time of their crimes, Amnesty said,
adding that only five countries are known to have executed people who were 16 or
less at the time of their crime in the last decade.
Deutsche Presse-Agentur, January 26, 1999
What Sean did was terrible and abhorent, said Richard Dieter, director of
the Death Penalty Information Center in Washington.
"(In the United States) we consider the age of 18 as a marking line for
maturation," said Dieter. "Before that point young people are not allowed to
drink in public or to vote. But on the other hand we are saying that Sean has to
pay like an adult with his life for a terrible mistake he did as a child. That
can't be right."
The victims' families take a very different point of view. They find it
incomprehensible that such a fuss should be made over a triple murderer. What
makes them particularly angry is that the defence is basing its appeal on his
schizophrenia. This is no more than the lastest move of a manipulative,
narcissistic socipath who still refused to take responsibility for his actions,
the relatives claim.
Sellers is erudite. In prison, he has become something of an artist with the
paintbrush. A book of his poems and a religious text accompanied by comics he
drew have already been published.
His goal, the convict said in one of several television interviews, was to
give his life more meaning. Friends have set up a Web site on the Internet,
where Sellers can express his thoughts and warn young people not act as he did.
Recently, he has received more than 500 letters a month. Will they help him?
Probably not. Oklahoma's Republican Governor Frank Keating has said in the past
that Sellers need not hope for mercy from him.
To this day, the young man has said, he has no idea what possessed him to
act as he did when he committed the murders in 1985. Eyewitnesses and
psychologists said he was emotionally disturbed and divorced from reality, a
member of a satanic cult.
After three sleepless nights, he heard voices which told him to shoot his
mother and step-father, his defence lawyers have argued. Only after he was
arrested, was he linked to the murder, six months earlier, of a shop sales
assistant.
The victims' families want to attend the execution. Brian Henniger from the
National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty is asking for clemency: "Sean
was a troubled kid and no one noticed when it mattered." dpa ma
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
LOAD-DATE: January 26, 1999
PAGE 11
6TH STORY of Level 1 printed in FULL format.
Copyright 1999 MGN Ltd.
The Mirror
January 26, 1999, Tuesday
SECTION: NEWS; Pg. 18
LENGTH: 50 words
HEADLINE: AROUND THE WORLD: DEVIL MAN TO BE EXECUTED
BODY:
A DEVIL-WORSHIPPING killer is to be executed for
when he was 16.
Sean Sellers, 29, will become the first American
for a crime carried out at such a young age. In 1985
a year later killed his mother and stepfather.
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
LOAD-DATE: January 26, 1999
three murders committed
in 40 years to be executed
he killed a shop worker and
4TH STORY of Level 1 printed in FULL format.
Copyright 1999 The Sunday Oklahoman
THE SUNDAY OKLAHOMAN
January 24, 1999, Sunday CITY EDITION
SECTION: NEWS; Pg. 1
LENGTH: 2009 words
HEADLINE: Facing Death, Inmate Trying to Raise Doubt
BYLINE: Anthony Thornton, Staff Writer
BODY:
At trial, he used a satanism defense. On appeal, he claimed a
psychological disorder had skewed his reality.
Neither tactic worked.
His final hope: a plea of a Christian conversion and the
possibility he is "factually innocent."
Sean Sellers, 29, is 11 days and a clemency hearing away from
being executed for the shooting deaths of his mother, stepfather
and a convenience store clerk.
If carried out, his execution would make modern history. Of the
509 inmates executed in this country since the death penalty's
reinstatement in 1977, none was younger than Sellers at the time of
the crime.
Sellers was 16 when he walked into the bedroom of Paul and Vonda
Bellofatto and, wearing only his underwear, shot them to death as
they slept. Six months earlier, he had killed convenience store
clerk Robert Paul Bower, 32. Both crimes occurred in far northwest
Oklahoma City.
No death row inmate has obtained a clemency recommendation from
Oklahoma's five-member Pardon and Parole Board since the state
resumed executing inmates in 1990. Only one condemned man got as
many as two "yes" votes.
But the board has three new members, and their first hearing
Wednesday will feature the highest stakes imaginable: voting on
whether a changed man lives or dies.
Gov. Frank Keating, a strong believer in the death penalty,
appointed two of the new members: Langston University professor
Currie Ballard of Coyle and former legislator Flint Breckenridge of
Tulsa.
Keating spokesman Dan Mahoney said the Sellers case wasn't
discussed during the appointment process. However, applicants'
views on the death penalty were a major consideration.
THE SUNDAY OKLAHOMAN January 24, 1999, Sunday
"He wants to appoint people who believe in the death penalty,
because he does," Mahoney said.
Even if a parole board majority votes to commute Sellers'
sentence, Keating has the final say.
"The courts have upheld the conviction and sentence on Mr.
Sellers. If the pardon and parole board recommends clemency, then
the governor will take a look at it. But he doesn't have a lot of
sympathy for murderers," Mahoney said.
The issue of Sellers' age and mental condition at the time of
the crimes has created more international attention than any of
Oklahoma's previous 14 executions by lethal injection. Television
reporters and documentary crews from England, France and the
Netherlands will attend his clemency hearing, said J.D. Daniels,
the parole board's deputy director.
"We've gotten more attention for this than for anyone else, even
Stafford," Daniels said, referring to mass murderer Roger Dale
Stafford, executed in 1995.
So many people are expected that Sellers' clemency hearing
Wednesday has been moved to a large prison chapel next to the
Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester. Stafford's was the last
hearing held there. Since then, as executions have become almost
routine, such hearings have been held in a small meeting room at
the penitentiary.
Why the interest? Probably because "no other country" supports
executions of people who committed their crimes as juveniles, said
Richard Dieter, executive director of the Death Penalty Information
Center.
"In the world community, we're sort of like Iraq," Dieter said,
regarding executions.
It's been 40 years since the United States executed someone for
a crime committed at 16 or younger.
The brother of Paul Bellofatto thinks too much is being made of
Sellers' youth.
"You're looking at a serial killer. Don't look at the age; look
at the acts," Steve Bellofatto said.
Bellofatto is coming to Oklahoma from his Georgia home for the
clemency hearing. He plans to witness the execution.
"From the time he murdered Bower until the time he killed his
mother and my brother, neither of them had a clue. They saw no
change in this boy to make them feel that he had gone over the
edge. Now, that's a pretty cold and calculating person," Bellofatto
said.
THE SUNDAY OKLAHOMAN January 24, 1999, Sunday
While overseas the issue is on Sellers' age, attention in this
country seems more focused on what he has done in prison. Sellers
has appeared on several TV talk shows to discuss his religious
conversion.
"The whole idea of the Satan-worshipping teen-ager who turns to
Christ, I think, is something that appeals to people," Assistant
Attorney General Bill Humes said.
An Internet site dedicated to Sellers touts his jailhouse
conversion in 1986 and his subsequent work to steer youths away
from the life he chose.
On his Web page, Sellers is given almost hero status. The site
features a chat line where friends of the condemned man correspond
about his fate. There's also Sellers' lengthy confession, numerous
journal entries by him and a link where his supporters are urged to
give up meat and bread during January.
"Jesus spoke in the Bible that certain types of miracles can
only come about through prayer and fasting," wrote the man who
urges the fast. The man identifies himself only as Chad E.
On another link, comic book fans can buy a 160-page, superhero
book drawn and written by Sellers.
Corrections officials are quick to point out that Sellers did
not create the Web site nor does he have Internet access. He
apparently mailed the journal entries and confession to someone who
then typed them in, Corrections Department spokesman Jerry Massie
said.
Massie said to his knowledge, no other Oklahoma inmate has his
own Web site.
In his confession, Sellers gives a detailed accounting of the
March 5, 1986, slayings of his mother and stepfather, and the Sept.
8, 1985, shooting of Bower. He also describes becoming involved in
a satanic cult a few months before Bower's death.
Sellers and his best friend, Richard Howard, a classmate at
Putnam City North High School, had discussed how it would feel to
kill someone. The night of Bower's death, the clerk at the Circle K
store, NW 122 and Council Road in Oklahoma City, had refused to
sell Howard beer.
"That had qualified him as someone we'd like to kill," Sellers
wrote.
The teens spent an hour at the store talking to Bower before
Sellers pulled a gun, shot him then laughed about it in the car,
according to the confession.
Sellers said he decided to kill his 32-year-old mother because
of a fight over his girlfriend, whom his mother didn't like.
eee.
THE SUNDAY OKLAHOMAN January 24, 1999, Sunday
Sellers said he served his mother several cups of coffee laden with
rat poison, but that didn't work.
The night of those murders, Sellers said, he took his
stepfather's .44-caliber revolver from a nightstand and waited for
them to go to bed. He crept into their bedroom after midnight and
shot them in the head. He was arrested the next day.
In his confession, Sellers consistently refers to Paul
Bellofatto, 43, as "Dad" and rues about ruining the chance of them
working together on Sellers' pickup engine.
"I see Christmas dinners that never happened. My mom with a
grandchild on her lap," he wrote.
Saying he deserves to die, Sellers apologizes in his confession
for the pain he caused and begs their forgiveness.
"When I die, I will have counted it more mercy than I deserved
to have lived the life I did."
Parole board members have received an inch-thick packet prepared
by Sellers' attorneys. The packet includes many letters from people
who say Sellers isn't the same person who committed the murders and
that his execution would serve no purpose.
The packet's cover features a painting of Jesus consoling a
scared boy. Inside are several still-lifes and self-portraits
painted by Sellers.
A letter from Sellers' step-grandfather, Carlos Lindley, credits
Sellers with starting a monthly newsletter and writing a book in
hopes of turning teen-agers away from evil.
His supporters are careful not to paint Sellers as simply a male
version of Karla Faye Tucker, the Texas death row inmate whose
Christian conversion made national news last year.
Tucker was executed, with the head of the Texas Board of
Criminal Justice saying this about her clemency plea: "The issues
here were not religious conversion or gender but rather culpability
and accountability."
Robert Jackson, one of Sellers' attorneys, said he doesn't know
enough about Tucker to draw a parallel.
"If you want to find Karla Faye Tucker as someone who changed on
death row, that comparison can be made. But I think Sean Sellers
has factors that go well beyond that," Jackson said.
Sellers' Web page proclaims itself as "a lighthouse for Sean."
In something of a mockery of that site, the homicide detective who
investigated Sellers' murders has designed an Internet tribute to
Sellers' victims. That link also features a lighthouse and states,
"The light shines brightly for the true victims in this case."
THE SUNDAY OKLAHOMAN January 24, 1999, Sunday
Steve Bellofatto has scanned Sellers' Web page, and he disputes
some of its contents, including the killer's claim that he was
physically abused by his mother and not accepted by his
stepfather's family.
"IT wouldn't buy a used car from him," Bellofatto said.
As for Sellers' well-chronicled conversion to Christianity,
Bellofatto doesn't know what to think.
"My concern with this is strictly for earthly justice. A judge
and jury of Oklahomans saw this as fit punishment for his crimes.
I'm here to affirm their judgment," he said.
Jackson said he and Sellers are "cautiously optimistic."
"We believe that if we can get the pardon and parole board to
know Sean as he is, then they will grant clemency in his case,
because he's deserving of that," Jackson said.
Commuting Sellers' sentence wouldn't be a "windfall" for other
death row inmates, Jackson said.
"You're not talking about a (Charles) Manson or someone who's
totally devoid of good. He's spent the last 13 years on death row
trying to atone for what he's done."
Oklahoma County District Attorney Bob Macy is skeptical of both
the conversion and the multiple-personality diagnosis.
"I think Sean is a very bright young man. I think he is an
excellent actor. Fully understand, he is going to do everything he
can to avoid execution. I would expect that of him," Macy said.
Macy plans to witness the execution. Although he has sent more
people to death row than any other modern Oklahoma prosecutor,
Sellers would be Macy's first to be executed.
Humes, the assistant attorney general, expects a three-prong
plea by Sellers, citing his Christian conversion, the possibility
that he may have had multiple personality disorder at the time of
the killings and an appeals court's refusal to hear new evidence.
The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver ruled last year
that there is "uncontroverted evidence" that Sellers "is not the
person who committed the crime."
Judges based that opinion on a defense expert's psychological
tests of Sellers in 1992. The psychologist, Richard Flournoy, said
Sellers suffers from multiple personality, and that one of his
alter personalities committed the killings.
Based on that diagnosis, the judges concluded that Sellers may
be "factually innocent." Nevertheless, they upheld his sentence,
Saying the claim was discovered too late to be raised on appeal.
THE SUNDAY OKLAHOMAN January 24, 1999, Sunday
For that reason, Sellers finds himself in a "judicially created
'Catch 22,'" the judges wrote.
Humes said he plans to dispute the psychologist's finding. For
instance, Sellers has never sought counseling or medicine for the
disorder in prison, Humes said.
"We have the opportunity to present some evidence that casts
doubt on that (finding), and I'm looking forward to that, because
it's something that concerns a lot of people.
"They hear these claims of multiple personality, and they fear
we're executing a person that's legally insane. And I think I can
show, with the information we have, that that's very doubtful,"
Humes said.
"I think anyone who hears the whole story that's going to be
presented at the clemency hearing will be convinced that we're
executing a person who deserves to be executed."
GRAPHIC: Photo 1: Sean Sellers, shown in this 1987 photo, is 11 days from
execution. - File Photo Photo 2: Sean Sellers, right, is seen with his mother
and stepfather about a year before Sellers killed them as they slept. - Photo
Provided by State Attorney General's Office
LOAD-DATE: January 25, 1999
3RD STORY of Level 1 printed in FULL format.
Copyright 1999 Chicago Tribune Company
Chicago Tribune
January 25, 1999 Monday, EVENING UPDATE EDITION
SECTION: NEWS; Pg. 2; ZONE: C; EVENING. People.
LENGTH: 625 words
HEADLINE: PLANNED EXECUTION OF MAN WHO KILLED AS TEEN REVIVES OLD DEBATE
BYLINE: By Jay Hughes, Associated Press.
BODY:
Three months before he turns 30, Sean Sellers is slated to become the first
American in four decades put to death for a crime committed when he was barely
old enough to drive.
The former teenage satanist's Feb. 4 execution date for the murders of his
mother, his stepfather and a convenience store clerk has revitalized the debate
over how young is too young to pay the ultimate price for taking a life.
"This issue of executing juveniles has been controversial. It's controversial
in the international forum, and the U.S. stands alone in insisting on these
executions," said Richard Deiter, executive director of the National Death
Penalty Information Center, an anti-capital punishment organization in
Washington.
Sellers was 16 years old when he killed. The last time anyone died for crimes
committed at that age was April 10, 1959, when Maryland executed Leonard M.
Shockley. Since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976, Deiter said, 12 people
have been put to death for crimes committed at age 17.
Nationwide, death rows now hold 16 offenders who murdered when they were 16
years old and 54 more who committed their crimes at age 17.
Age will be an issue when Sellers goes before the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole
Board for a clemency hearing Wednesday.
His supporters say he shouldn't die for crimes committed as a teen. They also
point to a diagnosis of multiple personality disorder made after Sellers'
conviction.
His attorney, Steve Presson, plans to base much of his argument on the
multiple personality diagnosis but agrees "the age issue is relevant here."
"We all look for why something happened, and a 16-year-old boy ravaged with
multiple personality disorder who was a good student at school and inexplicably
committed these crimes. . . . Something went wrong."
Sellers, now a Christian involved in outreach ministries from his death row
cell, once worshiped the occult. At his trial, the defense said Sellers was
addicted to the game "Dungeons & Dragons" and it dictated his actions. Police
Detective Ron Mitchell said a satanic bible, altar, writings and drawings were
found in Sellers' bedroom.
Chicago Tribune, January 25, 1999
In the 23 years since the Supreme Court restored capital punishment, the
Oklahoma parole board has never recommended clemency. Any such recommendation in
this case would have to be approved by Gov. Frank Keating, who supports the
death penalty.
Oklahoma Atty. Gen. Drew Edmondson's office will argue against clemency. He
said Sellers' age versus his sentence already had been weighed.
"The age of the defendant is properly something the jury should take into
account when deciding the death penalty," he said. "The place for different
treatment was at the trial. A good number of young people commit homicides that
are not given the death penalty."
Curiously, another Oklahoma case helped shape the Supreme Court decisions
that set 16 as the minimum age at which defendants can be condemned. William
Wayne Thompson was 15 in January 1983 when he helped beat and shoot to death his
allegedly abusive former brother-in-law, whose body was dumped into the Washita
River in southwestern Oklahoma. Thompson was sentenced to die.
The high court overturned the sentence in 1988, declaring the execution of a
15-year-old unconstitutional. Justices concluded, "It would offend civilized
standards of decency to execute a person who was less than 16 years old at the
time of his or her offense." Thompson's sentence was commuted to life in prison.
Sellers was four months past his 16th birthday when he and a friend stopped
at an Oklahoma City convenience store Sept. 8, 1985. Displaying a handgun taken
from his friend's grandfather's house, Sellers told his companion, "I want to
see what it feels like to kill somebody."
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
LOAD-DATE: January 26, 1999
5TH STORY of Level 1 printed in FULL format.
Copyright 1999 The Washington Post
The Washington Post
January 22, 1999, Friday, Final Edition
NAME: SEAN SELLERS
SECTION: A SECTION; Pg. AO3
LENGTH: 1530 words
HEADLINE: Reaching Out as Time Is Running Out; Teenage Killer of 3 Becomes
Christian Book Writer and Contributor to Web Site
BYLINE: Lois Romano, Washington Post Staff Writer
DATELINE: McCALESTER, Okla.
BODY:
Behind the thick glass partition and lime green bars, an articulate young man
is on the phone talking about the book of poems and the Christian comic book he
has had published. With his confident presence and wholesome good looks, the
29-year-old could be an aspiring writer with a bright future.
But as Sean Sellers tries to hold up the book for a visitor at the state
penitentiary here, his hands get tangled in his handcuffs, a stark reminder that
"future" is not a word in this author's lexicon.
Barring clemency from the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board or the governor,
Sellers will become the first inmate since the 1976 reinstatement of the death
penalty to be executed for a crime committed at age 16. He is scheduled to die
by lethal injection Feb. 4 for the murders of his mother, stepfather and a
convenience store clerk more than 12 years ago.
As Sellers prepares the final plea for his life, a clemency hearing next
Wednesday, his case has sparked an outcry from death penalty foes who Say it
highlights two troubling issues regarding capital punishment: the inmate's youth
at the time of the crime and his mental competency. A 1992 defense- sponsored
psychiatric evaluation concluded Sellers has multiple personality disorder. But
the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said it could not grant relief on that
issue because it had not been raised in the lower courts.
"In our country, we draw a bright line at 18 as the maturation point. We say
they are not old enough to drink or vote earlier. He couldn't even serve on his
own jury," said Richard C. Dieter of the Death Penalty Information Center in
Washington. "But we find he can be responsible for making a terrible mistake as
a child, and for that, we conclude he should be eliminated from humanity."
Amnesty International USA has flagged the Sellers case as urgent, asking
supporters around the world to write and urge the state to Spare Sellers's life.
"The Sellers case represents everything that is wrong with the juvenile death
penalty. He was clearly a troubled kid and no one noticed when it mattered,"
said Brian of the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, which is in
PAGE 12
The Washington Post, January 22, 1999
the middle of a campaign protesting capital punishment for those under 18.
Of the 508 inmates executed since 1976 -- including one Wednesday night in
Virginia -- 12 had committed their crimes at 17. Sixteen more sit on death row
for murders committed when they were 16, along with 54 who committed their
crimes at 17. The last execution for a crime committed as young as 16 was in
Maryland in 1959.
Sellers, once a self-described Satanist, said he has tried to make his life
mean something as he has waited out his fate at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary
here, 80 miles south of Tulsa. In addition to writing the Christian-theme books,
he has also made and distributed a video through a ministry, advising teens not
to take his path.
But it is unlikely any of it will matter, in part because of the heinous
nature of the Oklahoma City crimes. Sellers had told a friend that he shot the
store clerk, Robert Paul Bower, in September 1985 because he wanted to know what
it felt like to kill. He was not a suspect in that crime until six months later,
after he shot his mother and stepfather, Vonda and Paul "Lee" Bellofatto, as
they slept.
Afterward, he went to the home of a friend who helped him hide the gun, later
telling police he had spent the entire night there. The next morning he stopped
by his house and faked finding the bodies.
At his trial, the defense blamed the shootings on the occult, claiming
Sellers had become addicted to Satanism and the game "Dungeons & Dragons" and
had lost touch with reality. But the police -- and ultimately the jury --
concluded Sellers killed the Bellofattos to be free from parental supervision.
The Supreme Court, which ruled in 1988 that it was unconstitutional to
execute a defendant who committed a crime before the age of 16, refused to hear
this case in November. And while the 10th Circuit earlier expressed concern
about the diagnosis of multiple personality disorder, it nonetheless denied his
appeal.
"It firmly appears . . . petitioner's claims are not fanciful; indeed, they
are supported by significant evidence the person facing death for three murders
is not the person who committed the crime," a three-judge panel wrote. "We are
not unmoved. .. . Yet, granting him relief on these grounds is beyond the
present scope of federal habeas corpus .. . the dilemma is not one we can reach
through the limited access provided by our jurisdiction."
State officials and the victims' family scoff at talk about multiple
personalities. They see Sellers as a manipulative and narcissistic sociopath who
has never taken responsibility for his crime. The three siblings and two
children of his stepfather plan to attend Sellers' Jan. 27 clemency hearing and
witness his execution.
"There is nothing he could do or say for me not to want him dead," said Tom
Bellofatto, Lee Bellofatto's brother.
To the Bellofatto family's disgust, Sellers has always had a knack for
reaching out beyond thick prison walls to shine a spotlight on himself. At one
time he was the most notorious prisoner on death row here, appearing on
The Washington Post, January 22, 1999
"Oprah" and "Geraldo" and confessing for the first time to People magazine. Now
he has his own Web site.
Sellers contends he has tried to apologize many times to the families but it
fell on deaf ears. "The truth is that no matter what I do, it is not going to
allow me to deserve mercy in the eyes of those I have hurt," he said.
During a 90-minute interview here, Sellers expressed remorse for the crimes,
and the lives he has ruined. Yet, he said he still doesn't fully understand why
he killed.
When asked why he thought he should have his own Web page, why anyone would
care about what he had to say, he likened himself to Anne Frank and her diaries,
written by an adolescent trying to escape Nazi persecution.
"I started to wonder what she would have given the world had she lived, what
stories she would have told us," he explained. "I wondered if my life would ever
mean anything . . . and I told some friends that I would like to put together
something to keep my words alive, that would show me for who I am, not for just
what I did."
The Web site was set up by supporters, to whom he mails his musings. They
have posted his journals as well as a "confession," which offers more of a
justification for the murders than a reason. He claims, for example, that he was
physically and verbally abused by his mother, which has incensed some family
members and surprised the investigating detective.
"One of the first things you look at is the home environment," said Ron
Mitchell, an Oklahoma City homicide inspector. "People who knew him portrayed
him as a confused kid unable to express emotions. But nobody said a word about
abuse."
"They weren't there," Sellers responds.
No one will ever know for sure was going on inside Sellers's head in 1985,
when he went from being an A student and top athlete to performing Satanic
rituals in his bedroom. But his was not an idyllic childhood. Vonda was 16 when
Sean was born. His father was out of the picture by the time Sean was a toddler
and he was shuttled between relatives while his mother worked and tried to build
a new life.
Vonda eventually met and married Lee Bellofatto, a decorated Vietnam War
veteran. Both were truck drivers and would often work cross-country hauls
together, leaving the boy behind. By Sean's early teens, and after a series of
moves, the Bellofattos had stopped driving and settled in Oklahoma City.
Lee Bellofatto's family said in interviews that while Vonda may have had a
gruff manner at times, they never saw her do anything but spoil her only child.
On any given day they light up the Web chat room with their reactions to
Sellers's postings.
"I'm just appalled that he can go on the Web and write a lot of untruths and
half-truths," Lorne Bellofatto, Lee Bellofatto's son, said in an interview. "He
has had 12 years to become a skilled writer and what he has written is a
phenomenal fictionalized story. It's fantasy."
The Washington Post, January 22, 1999
Meanwhile, Sellers has amassed a following of people who have seen him on
television over the years and taken up his cause. At various times during his
incarceration, he has received as many as 600 letters a week.
But those who will have the final word apparently remain undeterred. Law
enforcement sources say that clemency from the parole board is unlikely and Gov.
Frank A. Keating (R) has already said he will not pardon Sellers. Sean Sellers,
29, the death row prisoner, left, and the Oklahoma City high school student, 16,
right, who killed his mother, stepfather and a store clerk. Sellers by Sellers
in the Oklahoma State Penitentiary. On back of his painting he wrote a poem
reading, "Colors fading, Walls are bright, Greyness now encroaches. Enter
dimmity, Walk the night, Death at last approaches. Colors fading, Brushes quiet,
A palm placed to the chest. Colors fading in silent riot, a life is laid to
rest." Sellers faces a clemency hearing next Wednesday.
|
GRAPHIC: PH,,STEVE PRESSON FOR TWP; PHM; PH
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
LOAD-DATE: January 22, 1999
PAGE 2
1ST STORY of Level 1 printed in FULL format.
Copyright 1999 Agence France Presse
Agence France Presse
January 25, 1999 14:38 GMT
SECTION: Domestic, non-Washington, general news item
LENGTH: 226 words
HEADLINE: Amnesty International urges pope to condemn US death penalty
DATELINE: WASHINGTON, Jan 25
BODY :
Amnesty International is urging Pope John Paul II to raise the issue of human
rights in the United States -- and especially the death penalty -- during his
upcoming meeting with President Bill Clinton.
Amnesty said in a statement it hopes the pope will remind Clinton and US
federal authorities "of their duty to ... abide by the country's international
obligations," which include "global ban on the use of the death penalty against
children."
Amnesty, currently in the midst of a global campaign highlighting rights
abuses in the United States, is "particularly concerned at the use of the death
penalty against juvenile offenders."
One prisoner set for execution in the coming weeks is Sean Sellers, sentenced
to die for a crime committed when he was under the age of 17, Amnesty said.
Sellers' execution "would send a brutal message into national and global
society from one of the most powerful and influential countries on earth,"
Amnesty said.
The use of the death penalty in the United States "undermines the whole
framework of international human rights standards" in place since 1948, the
group said.
Clinton and his wife Hillary will meet the pope Tuesday when the pontiff
lands in St. Louis, Missouri for a two-day visit of the United States.
The pope has met the president on three earlier occasions.
bur-ial/ch/rl
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
LOAD-DATE: January 25, 1999
Monday, January 25, 1999
KENTON TIMES — Page 7
sellers’ execution reignites
debate over age of killers
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP)
Three months before he turns
30, Sean Sellers is slated to
become the first American in four
decades put to death for a crime
committed when he was barely
old enough to drive.
The former teen-age satanist’s
Feb. 4 execution date for the
murders of his mother, his step-
father and a convenience store
clerk has revitalized the debate
over how young is too young to
pay the ultimate price for taking
a life.
“This issue of executing juve-
niles has been controversial. It's
controversial in the international
forum, and the U.S. stands alone
in insisting on these executions,”
said Richard Deiter, executive
director of the National Death
Penalty Information Center, an
anti-capital punishment organi-
zation in Washington, D.C.
“It's been 40 years since we
crossed that line.”
Sellers was 16 years old when
he killed. The last time anyone
died for crimes committed at that
age was April 10, 1959, when
Maryland executed Leonard M.
Shockley. Since the death penal-
ty was reinstated in 1976, Deiter
said, 12 people have been put to
death for crimes committed at
age 17.
Nationwide, death rows now
hold 16 offenders who murdered
when they were 16 years old and
54 more who committed their
crimes at age 17.
Age will be an issue when
Sellers goes before the Oklahoma
Pardon and Parole Board for a
clemency hearing Wednesday. |
,His supporters say he should-
n't die for crimes committed as a
teen. They also point to a diagno-
sis of multiple personality disor-
der made after Sellers’ convic-
tion. 4
His attorney, Steve Presson,
plans to base much of his argu-
ment on the multiple personality
diagnosis but agrees “the age
issue is relevant here.”
“We all look for why some-
thing happened, and a 16-year-
old boy ravaged with multiple
personality disorder who was a
good student at school and inex-
plicably committed these
crimes... Something went
wrong.”
Sellers, now a Christian
involved in outreach ministries
from his death row cell, once
worshipped the occult. At his
trial, the defense said Sellers was
addicted to the game “Dungeons
& Dragons” and it dictated his
actions.
Police Detective Ron Mitchell
said a satanic bible, altar, writ-
ings and drawings were found in
Sellers’ bedroom.
In the 23 years since the
Supreme Court restored capital
punishment, the Oklahoma
parole board has never recom-
mended clemency. Any such rec-
ommendation in this case would
have to be approved by Gov.
Frank Keating, who supports the
death penalty.
Attorney General Drew
Edmondson’s office will argue
against clemency. He = said
Sellers’ age vs. sentence had
already been weighed.
“The age of the defendant is
properly something the jury
should take into account when
deciding the death penalty,” he
said. “The place for different
treatment was at the trial. A good
number of young people commit
homicides that are not given the
death penalty.”
Curiously, another Oklahoma
case helped shape the Supreme
Court decisions that set 16 as
the minimum age at which
defendants can be condemned.
William Wayne Thompson was
15 in January 1983 when he
helped beat and shoot to death
his allegedly abusive former
brother-in-law, whose body was
dumped into the Washita River
in southwestern Oklahoma.
Thompson was sentenced to die.
The high court overturned the
sentence in 1988, declaring the
execution of a_ 15-year-old
unconstitutional. Justices con-
cluded, “It would offend civilized
standards of decency to execute
a person who was less than 16
years old at the time of his or her
offense.” Thompson’s sentence
was commuted to life in prison.
Sellers was four months past
his 16th birthday when he and a
friend stopped at an Oklahoma
City convenience store Sept. 8,
1985. Displaying a handgun
taken from his friend’s grandfa-
ther’s house, Sellers told his
companion, “I want to see what it
feels like to kill somebody.”
Inside, 32-year-old clerk
Robert Bower was raising a cup
of coffee to his lips when he was
shot once, then again.
Six months passed as police
exhausted lead after lead in
searching for Bower's killer.
On March 5, 1986, Sellers
killed again. This time, the tar-
gets were his mother, Vonda
Bellofatto, 32, and_ stepfather,
Paul Bellofatto, 43.
Dressed only in his under-
wear, Sellers crept into their bed-
room after midnight. He shot his
stepfather in the head with
Bellofatto’s .44-caliber Magnum
revolver, then shot his mother.
As Mrs. Bellofatto rose slightly,
he shot her again.
The next morning, he staged
discovering the bodies. When
police arrived, Sellers was wait-
ing with the friend who’s been
with him at the convenience
store. The same morning, police
got a call from a 13-year-old who
said she’d heard Sellers had
stabbed the clerk in September.
They initially dismissed the infor-
mation because Bower had been
shot. But as they drove the friend
home, detectives mentioned the
convenience store: homicide and
a possible link to Sellers.
“To our shock,” Mitchell said,
the friend acknowledged he had
been there and that Sellers had
killed Bower.
Edmondson said the gap
between the slayings likely went
against Sellers.
PUBLIC AI Index: AMR 51/101/98
UA 305/98 Death Penalty / Legal Concern 3 December 1998
USA (Oklahoma) Sean SELLERS, aged 29
Sean Sellers is scheduled for execution on 4 February 1999 in Oklahoma for crimes
committed when he was 16. His death sentence violates international law banning the
death penalty for crimes committed by persons under 18. The USA has not executed a
prisoner for a crime committed at 16 since 1959.
Sean Sellers was sentenced to death in 1986 for the murder of Robert Bower, a shop
owner, in 1985, and of his own mother and stepfather in 1986. In 1992 three mental
health professionals diagnosed Sean Sellers as having a childhood brain injury and
Multiple Personality Disorder (MPD), a condition in which "alter" personalities manifest
themselves in the sufferer.
In February 1998 a federal appeals court said that it was "troubled by the extent of
uncontroverted clinical evidence proving [Sean Sellers] suffers from [MPD]... and that
the offenses were committed by an "alter" personality". The court admitted that, if
accepted by a jury, this evidence "renders the person known as Sean Sellers actually
innocent". However, it said that it could not act unless Sean Sellers’s claim of
innocence was so great that no reasonable juror would convict. It ruled that, although
the psychiatric evidence was "clear, strong and supportive", it was not able to know
for sure that not one juror would vote to convict.
The court went on: "We are not unmoved by [Sean Sellers’s] dilemma. Nor are we
unconvinced that given an opportunity by a state court he could not cast doubt on the
propriety of the sentence he faces". Yet the court stated that it was beyond its power
to grant relief and it denied the appeal, noting that Sean Sellers still "apparently"
had access to executive clemency. Governor Keating reportedly responded that he would
never grant Sean Sellers clemency. International standards give all condemned prisoners
the right to seek commutation, a right that is meaningful only if their appeals are
seriously considered.
Sean Sellers’s state appeals were exhausted in 1995 when the Oklahoma Court of Criminal
Appeals ruled that his right to raise the claim of MPD had been waived because it could,
and therefore should, have been raised at trial. This ruling contradicts the undisputed
expert testimony that this claim could not have been raised at the trial because
clinical tests for MPD had not yet been developed. The experts also provided evidence
that it usually takes several years to establish that a person suffers from MPD.
Sean Sellers has been a model prisoner, apparently with no disciplinary record. He has
spent much of his adult life in H-Unit of Oklahoma State Penitentiary, where conditions
of detention amount to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment in violation of
international standards. On or around 4 December he will be transferred to solitary
confinement in a special "high-max" cell for the last 60 days of his life or until he
receives a stay of execution (for more on this 60-day policy see UA 292/98, AMR
51/93/98, 10 November). He intends to write his life story while held in this cell.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
The USA has executed nine juvenile offenders since 1990, all for murders committed when
they were 17. The five other countries known to have executed juvenile offenders in that
time - Iran, Nigeria, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Yemen - have killed nine such prisoners
between them.
2
Article 6(5) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR),
forbids the death penalty for crimes committed under 18. When the USA ratified the
ICCPR, it reserved the right to continue this human rights violation. The UN Human
Rights Committee has ruled that the US reservation to Article 6(5) is incompatible with
the object and purpose of the ICCPR and should be withdrawn.
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send telegrams/faxes/express/airmail letters in English or
your own language, in your own words (please avoid mentioning AI or general anti-death
penalty statements) :
1. expressing deep concern that Sean Sellers is scheduled for execution for crimes
committed when he was 16, and despite strong evidence that he suffers from a serious
mental disorder only diagnosed after his trial and therefore not examined in state
court;
2. noting that Sean Sellers has been an exemplary prisoner;
3. expressing sympathy for the victims of violent crime and their families;
4. urging that the Pardon and Parole Board recommend to the Governor to grant clemency;
5. expressing concern at reports that the Governor has said that he will not grant
clemency to Sean Sellers, and urging him to reconsider and to give serious consideration
to all the facts of the case.
APPEALS TO:
1. Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board (recommended actions 1-4 only)
4040 N. Lincoln Street, Suite 219, Oklahoma City, OK 73105-5221, USA
Tel: +1 405 427 8601
Fax: +1 405 427 6648
Salutation: Dear Board Members
If you are able to, please write to individual board members:
Ms Susan Bussey, PO Box 636, Norman, OK 73070, USA
Mr M. Bradley Little, PO Box 720363, Norman, OK 73070, USA
Ms. Nadine McPherson, PO Box 720356, Oklahoma City, OK 73172-0356, USA
Mr. Ray H. Page (Chairperson), PO Box 289, Spavinaw, OK 73154-0831, USA
Ms. Ruby Smith, PO Box 18831, Oklahoma City, OK 73154-0831, USA
Please copy all appeals to Board or Board members to: Steve Presson (Sean Sellers’s
lawyer), PO Box 5392, Norman, Oklahoma 73070-5392, USA. (Fax: +1 405 447 1452; e-mail:
smpresson@aol.com) (Board will meet in mid-January) .
2. Governor Frank Keating (recommended actions 1-3 & 5)
212 State Capitol, Oklahoma City, OK 73105, USA
Fax: +1 405 521 3353
E-mail: governor@oklaos£f.state.ok.us
Salutation: Dear Governor
COPIES TO: diplomatic representatives of USA accredited to your country.
If possible, please write short letters voicing your concern to:
The Editor, Daily Oklahoman, 9000 North Broadway, PO Box 25125, Oklahoma City, OK 73125,
USA. Fax: +1 405 475 3183 or +1 405 231 3513
The Editor, Tulsa World, 315 South Boulder Avenue, Tulsa, OK 74103, USA. Fax: +1 918
581 8353
PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY.
2ND STORY of Level 1 printed in FULL format.
Copyright 1999 Chicago Tribune Company
Chicago Tribune
February 4, 1999 Thursday, NORTH SPORTS FINAL EDITION
SECTION: NEWS; Pg. 3; ZONE: N
LENGTH: 1040 words
HEADLINE: DEEDS OF YOUTH AND DEATH ROW;
OKLAHOMA EXECUTES INMATE WHO MURDERED 3 PEOPLE AT AGE 16, UNDERSCORING U.S.
TREND OF DEATH SENTENCES FOR TEENS.
BYLINE: By V. Dion Haynes, Tribune Staff Writer.
DATELINE: MCALESTER, Okla.
BODY:
Gazing at the sky from his spot in the prison yard behind barbed wire and
concrete walls, \Gean Seller atched as a cloud layer slowly peeled away. "There
was nothing but blue in its place," he recently wrote. "Bright, endless blue. I
wonder if that's what dying will be like."
Such are the musings of a man who had spent 13 years on Death Row. Shortly
after midnight Thursday, Sellers was executed at McAlester State Penitentiary
for murdering his mother, stepfather and a convenience store clerk in Oklahoma
City in the mid-1980s.
Sellers, 29, became the first offender in the U.S. since 1959 to be put to
death for a crime that was committed at age 16.
Sellers, a born-again Christian who was once a self-professed satanist,
ministered to thousands of wayward youths through his autobiography, comic
books, and journal entries posted on the Internet. But on Wednesday he lost an
attempt to have a federal judge invalidate the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole
Board's recent decision denying him clemency.
His case has prompted vigils and protests throughout Oklahoma as well as an
outcry around the world about an increase in the number of young people
sentenced to die in the United States. Since 1977, when the death penalty was
reintroduced, the U.S. has executed 13 youth offenders, including Sellers, with
more than 70 on Death Row.
Most countries other than the U.S. and Somalia have stopped executing people
who commit crimes before the age of 18, adhering to a United Nations convention
on child rights. The thinking is that people under 18 are not mature enough to
bear full responsibility for their actions. Capital punishment opponents note
that since society considers 16- and 17-year-olds too young to vote, buy liquor
and smoke cigarettes, they should be too young to be put to death.
"In terms of the death penalty, I think most Americans are unaware of how
behind the times and barbaric we're seen in other countries," said Kevin Acers,
president of the Oklahoma chapter of Amnesty International and a board member
Chicago Tribune, February 4, 1999
of the Oklahoma Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty.
"The U.S. is executing more juvenile offenders than any other country in the
world," Acers said. "Holding a teenager responsible to the point of death is too
rigid and extreme and morally unacceptable."
With more children being accused of heinous crimes, prosecutors are trying
more youths under 18 as adults. Juries, moreover, increasingly have been willing
to impose the death penalty.
Four states have set 17 as the lowest age at which the death penalty may be
imposed, while 20 states have lowered it to 16. In Illinois, offenders must be
18 to be eligible for the death penalty. The effort to crack down on young
offenders is part of a get-tough-on-crime trend.
Jurors in the Sellers case felt that "the facts were so heinous that death
would be the appropriate punishment," said Richard Kirby, deputy legal counsel
for Oklahoma Gov. Frank Keating.
"People in this state are tired of this never-ending cycle of crime and
violence among young people," said Kirby, adding that a 17-year-old and another
16-year-old are on Death Row.
More than 350 people have been executed for offenses committed in their youth
since capital punishment started in colonial America in 1642, according to the
National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty. The youngest to die was a
10-year-old Cherokee Indian boy, who was hanged in 1885 for alleged robbery and
murder.
The growing interest in imposing the death penalty on young offenders has
been prompted by the escalation in juvenile arrests. Fueled by the proliferation
of gangs and the glorification of violence in music and movies, experts say,
arrests rose by 90 percent between 1986 and 1993.
The rate fell in subsequent years, but the number of juvenile arrests is
still 50 percent higher than in 1985.
Meanwhile, the number of 16- and 17-year-olds sentenced to death for youth
crimes soared 124 percent from the mid-1980s to 1998. Recent school shootings in
Kentucky, Mississippi, Arkansas and Oregon have prompted some legislators to
call for lowering the minimum age to 14 and at least one to recommend 11.
The U.S. Supreme Court, however, in a 1989 Oklahoma case, ruled
unconstitutional the execution of anyone under 16, deeming it cruel and unusual
punishment.
Capital punishment enjoys wide support in the U.S., approved in recent
opinion polls by nearly 80 percent of Americans. Support for executing juveniles
is in the 50- to 66-percent range.
Somalia, which essentially has no government, and the U.S. are the only
countries that have failed to ratify the UN Convention on the Rights of the
Child, which forbids the execution of anyone under 18.
PAGE 4
Chicago Tribune, February 4, 1999
"This gives us a credibility problem when we go to the table and try to
negotiate an end to human rights violations in other countries," said Victor
Streib, dean of the law school at Ohio Northern University in Ada, Ohio.
Last October, Virginia executed 26-year-old Dwayne Allen Wright, who was the
first offender put to death in the state in 74 years for crimes committed as a
17-year-old. Wright, who was black, had been sentenced to die for raping and
killing an Ethiopian woman.
Wright's case sparked concern by death-penalty opponents that a
disproportionate amount of offenders on Death Row are African-American or
Latino. His case also spurred complaints that an overwhelming number of them
suffer from mental deficiencies and the lingering effects of physical and sexual
abuse from childhood.
Though he was white, Sellers, like Wright, argued at a clemency hearing
recently that he should not be put to death because he had suffered physical and
sexual abuse as a child. In addition, his lawyers said, psychiatrists several
years after his sentencing diagnosed him as suffering from multiple personality
disorder.
But Sellers' main reason for seeking a reprieve was his ministry to wayward
young people.
"Sean has about 200 pounds of letters from young people all over the world
who've testified about how he has helped them," said his step-grandfather,
Carlos Lindley, 67.
"He said that if he could save or help just one person from going through
what he has gone through, then he felt his life was not wasted."
GRAPHIC: PHOTOS 2PHOTO: Sean Sellers, 29, at an Oklahoma state prison, from
which he had ministered to wayward youths through a book and entries on the
Internet. AP photo.; PHOTO: Sellers, a teen, was convicted of killing a store
clerk in 1985 and his mother and stepfather in 1986. AP file photo.
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
LOAD-DATE: February 4, 1999
1ST STORY of Level 1 printed in FULL format.
Copyright 1999 The Atlanta Constitution
The Atlanta Journal and Constitution
February 6, 1999, Saturday, ALL EDITIONS
SECTION: RELIGION FAITH & VALUES; Pg. 04c
LENGTH: 571 words
SERIES: Home
HEADLINE: Forum;
ETHICS
BODY:
Age as a factor in executions
i,
bean seriery 29, was executed this week for killing three people when he was
16. ad sought clemency in January, telling a parole board in Oklahoma
that he was now a different person. We asked our readers last week if Sellers'
age should have been a mitigating factor in deciding whether he should live or
die. Here's a sampling of responses. This lowlife killed three people. If he
doesn't give his life in return, there will be no justice. One thing that we
need to do in this country is punish those that prey on others. If we pardon
them, then we are condoning their conduct. We will be taking our country's
ethical values and throwing them out of the window. Frank Mulherin, e-mail
Murder is a terrible thing. It breaks hearts, destroys family and community,
creates misery and devastation. But murder is not unforgivable. Our God is a God
of compassion, full of mercy and abounding in steadfast love. This week's
lectionary readings include Micah 6:8: "What does the Lord require of you, but
to do justice, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?" The death
penalty has nothing to do with justice and everything to do with revenge,
poverty, racism and political rhetoric. How can we love mercy and support the
death penalty? Mercy does not mean we condone murder or don't love and care for
victims and their families. Mercy means we seek healing. Elizabeth Dede,
Atlanta
If someone commits a murder, it doesn't matter whether they are 13 or 69. The
victim is just as dead and you cannot bring them back. So all this sympathy and
consideration for juveniles is a waste of time and money. They should pay
regardless of their age. Morris Boynton, Lake City
Do we want to live in a society that kills its wayward children? The whole
concept reeks of unenlightened backwardness. To condone the executing of
children is to be no better than Iran or Iraq or other countries ruled by
fanatics no better than savages. We are America and we can find a better way. We
can do better than that. Marti Hamilton, Atlanta
Sellers should be given mercy because of his age. Even if he is locked up, his
life can be used as an example for young people to learn that they must make
better decisions in their lives. If you kill him, he will be of no use. He could
be a living example for other young people to know the terror of living a
wayward life. Jerry Washington, East Point
THIS WEEK'S ISSUE
2ND STORY of Level 1 printed in FULL format
Copyright 1999 The Federal Capital Press qf Australia
Pty Limited
The Canberra Times
February 5, 1999, Friday Edition
SECTION: Part A; Page 6
LENGTH: 413 words
HEADLINE: IN BRIEF THREAT OVER RUSHDIE VISA
BODY:
NEW DELHI: A leading Indian Muslim cleric warned yesterday of nationwide
protests and possible Hindu-Muslim violence if British writer Salman Rushdie
returned to the country of his birth after being granted a visa. |
Syed Ahmad Bukhari, deputy priest of India's best-known mosque, the medieval
Jama Masjid in New Delhi, told AFP the reported granting of a visa to Rushdie by
the ruling Hindu nationalists was a ploy to inflame religious passions.
Here is a man who is hated and reviled by Muslims the world over for his book
The Satanic Verses which is still banned in India . Why is the Government giving
him so much importance. Why is it letting him come? We are not at all happy and
we will react.154
Pinochet effort LONDON: After 11 days of complex legal arguments, lawyers for
Spain are making a final effort to persuade the House of Lords, Britain's
highest court, to uphold the arrest of former Chilean dictator General Augusto
Pinochet on charges of grave human rights abuses.
US staff stay BAGHDAD: Two American United Nations staff were still in Iraq
yesterday despite an announcement they would leave, after Iraq said it could not
guarantee their safety. They are deputy director of the World Food Program
Darlene Bisson and secretary to the chief UN envoy in Baghdad, Amal Abuabeid.
Man executed MCALESTER, Oklahoma: An Oklahoma man, Sean Sellers, 29, was
executed by lethal injection yesterday for killing his parents amd a convenience
store clerk when he was 16, officials said.
Tongan plea AUCKLAND: Tongan Prime Minister Baron Vaea has appealed to his
people to stop victimising Chinese living in the kingdom, the Government's Tonga
Chronicle reported.
In the past six months Chinese had been the victims of theft, armed robbery,
assaults and other acts of violence including being the objects of public scorn
and shouted at to go home, the paper said.
Letters returned LONDON: Sixty-four love letters written by Diana, Princess
of Wales, to James Hewitt have been returned to the former Life Guards officer,
ending the threat of a High Court battle, his solicitors said.
Bird brains LONDON: Birds can sleep without being caught by a predator
because they can, literally, stay half asleep with one eye open and the other
closed. Biologists at Indiana State University say, in the journal Nature, birds
can sleep with both eyes closed and their whole brain asleep, or rest half
3RD STORY of Level 1 printed in FULL format.
Copyright 1999 The Daily Oklahoman
THE DAILY OKLAHOMAN
February 5, 1999, Friday SUBURBAN EDITION
SECTION: NEWS; Pg. 1
LENGTH: 719 words
HEADLINE: Sellers Hellbound, Family Says Killer of 3 Executed With Hymn on His
Lips
BYLINE: Nolan Clay, Staff Writer
DATELINE: MCALESTER
BODY: ct
Steve Bellofatto Sr. doesn't believd Sean Sellerg is
in heaven.
He watched Sellers die Thursday on an execution table and heard
Sellers shout, "Here I come, Father. I'm coming home," then sing a
hymn.
But to Sellers' stepuncle, it was all an act.
"He did not take his last chance to say, 'I'm sorry for killing
my mother.'... You're not forgiven by God unless you... show you're
truly remorseful for your actions," Steve Bellofatto told The
Oklahoman
Sellers, a former Satan worshipper, was executed for three |
Oklahoma City murders. He killed convenience store clerk Robert
Bower in 1985 and his own mother, Vonda Bellofatto, and stepfather,
Paul Lee Bellofatto, in 1986. |
"T don't think the conversion is sincere, and if it's not
sincere there's only one option left. If it's not sincere... he's
going to hell. At least my religion says so," said Steve
Bellofatto, brother of Paul Bellofatto.
|
|
Prison chaplain Jim Harris - who stood by Sellers in the
execution room - sees it differently. He thinks Sellers was sincere.
"Yes, I sure do," he said. He recalled Sellers telling him, "I
know I'm right with the Lord."
Sellers' case drew international attention because of his age at
the time of the murders - just 16.
His execution proceeded routinely - the 15th in Oklahoma since
1990.
Sellers, 29, already was strapped to the execution table when
the blinds to the death chamber were raised at 12:10 a.m.
THE DAILY OKLAHOMAN February 5, 1999, Friday
He was dressed in blue prison garb and draped with a white
sheet. His glasses were off. His arms were stuck with
intravenous lines for the poisons, injected by three unseen
executioners in another room.
Sellers raised up and smiled at his seven supporters, including
girlfriend Kim Gifford, Christian singer Carman Licciardello,
attorney Steve Presson and stepgrandfather Carlos Lindley of Morris.
He spoke first to the Bellofatto family.
"All the people that are hating me right now and are here
waiting to see me die, when you wake up in the morning, you're not
going to feel any different. You're going to hate me just as much
tomorrow as tonight," he said.
"When you wake up and nothing has changed inside, reach out to
God, and He will be there for you. Reach out to God, and He will
heal you. Let Him touch your hearts. Don't hate all your lives."
Later, stepsister Noelle Bellofatto Terry said, "It made me very
angry. He took his last dig at us.... He is still as arrogant as he
was from the very beginning."
Sellers next talked to each of his supporters in turn, telling
them he loved them. "Baby girl, chin up," he said to one friend.
"You shine, girl," he said to another.
He addressed his stepgrandfather as Papa. Lindley waved back
with two fingers. "That was a peace signal," Lindley later said.
"I love you all," Sellers concluded.
He then leaned back, looked up and shouted, "Here I come,
Father. I'm coming home."
He turned to Oklahoma State Penitentiary Warden Gary Gibson and
said, "Let's do it, Gary. Let's get it on."
His last words - sung in a clear voice - were two lines froma
hymn: "Set my spirit free that I might praise Thee. Set my spirit
free that I might worship Thee."
It was quick. By 12:12 a.m. he was silent, his eyes closed. The
chaplain began reading from the Bible.
Sellers made a snoring sound at 12:15 a.m. His feet twitched,
then he was still and his face began turning dark. A doctor checked
his eyes and listened to his heart, then put the time of death at
12:17 a.m.
His supporters later held a memorial service at a McAlester
hotel. His attorney read from a handwritten will and passed out
letters.
PAGE
THE DAILY OKLAHOMAN February 5, 1999, Friday
"The one he left me is very dear and very encouraging," said
Lindley, who remembers when Sellers was born to his stepdaughter,
Vonda Bellofatto.
He believes Sellers was genuine. Supporters have attributed at
least 70,000 conversions to Christ from Sellers' book, "Web of
Darkness," and a videotape, he said.
Sellers' ashes will be spread in the woods of Colorado because
he has fond memories of his time living there, Lindley said.
Lindley said his grandson was convinced he would go to heaven.
"He said to my wife, 'I'll be up there. When you come up there,
I'll open the gate.'"
Staff writer Anthony Thornton contributed to this report.
LOAD-DATE: February 5, 1999
18
4TH STORY of Level 1 printed in FULL format.
Copyright 1999 The Daily Oklahoman
THE DAILY OKLAHOMAN
February 5, 1999, Friday CITY EDITION
SECTION: NEWS; Pg. 8
LENGTH: 597 words
HEADLINE: Keating, Archbishop Disagree Death Penalty Provokes Clash of State,
Church Leaders
BYLINE: Paul English, Capitol Bureau
BODY :
Oklahoma's Catholic governor and the church's Oklahoma City
archbishop disagreed Thursday over whether Gov. Frank Keating had
incorrectly stated the church's position on capital punishment.
Archbishop Eusebius J. Beltran said he strongly objected to
Keating's recent remarks that Pope John Paul II was wrong in saying
the church opposed the death penalty.
Beltran wrote to Keating on Jan. 23, requesting a stay of
execution for triple kilos Sellers. Yeating rejected the
request and Sellers was ex ursday.
"Gov. Keating does not speak on behalf of the church nor does he
reflect her authentic teaching," Beltran said in a letter to
archdiocese priests.
Beltran said the church "maintains that whenever nonlethal means
are sufficient to defend society against an aggressor or to protect
public order, those in civil authority are to limit themselves to
nonviolent means."
"Our Christian character is best revealed when we choose not to
destroy life," he said.
Keating said that Catholic catechism "acknowledges the necessity
of capital punishment in some cases for the protection of society."
"We may disagree about what constitutes those cases, but the
fact remains that the church has not taken a position which opposes
the death penalty in all cases and under all circumstances."
Keating said that to support capital punishment "is not to
'cheapen' life; the condemned killer has already done so.
"Capital punishment, in fact, exalts life by attaching the
ultimate temporal penalty to murder. The death penalty is man's
justice; we leave God's justice to Him, and rightly so," Keating
said.
ee eee
THE DAILY OKLAHOMAN February 5, 1999, Friday
"I fear that the church and its leaders have lost sight of the
clear distinction between the two."
The archbishop said American bishops "continue to proclaim that
every human life is to be recognized as created in the image and
likeness of God and must be respected. This even includes guilty
people who should be punished but not executed."
Beltran said it is "increasingly clear in modern society that
capital punishment is unnecessary to protect people's safety and
the public order so that cases where it may be justified are 'very
rare, if not practically nonexistent.'"
Keating said that to accurately interpret the pope's statements
and those of the bishops "one must do so in the context of the
catechism."
"That context calls for capital punishment to be used to protect
society in the rarest of cases, and that is precisely the practice
that has been followed in those states which have capital
punishment laws," Keating said.
Keating said that between 1973 and 1995, there were 330,000
murders and only 225 of the 3,300 murderers sentenced to death have
been executed.
"Rare by any standard," he said.
He did not give a source for his figures.
Keating said he is "occasionally disturbed by the statements of
some death penalty opponents who seek to claim an exclusive moral
high ground to which they refuse to admit anyone who takes a
differing view."
"Sadly, there are some within the church who do precisely this.
The responses to those who disagree with their interpretation of
the catechism are dismissive at best, condemnatory at worst."
Keating said that "unlike any other Catholics in Oklahoma," the
state's constitution requires him to state his position on the
death penalty by action and by word.
"T have done so in the past and will continue to do so in the
future. To do any less would be to abdicate my responsibilities as
governor."
LOAD-DATE: February 5, 1999
6TH STORY of Level 1 printed in FULL format.
Copyright 1999 Sun Media Corporation
The Famont os sun
February 5, 1999, Friday, Final EDITION
SECTION: NEWS, Pg. 4
LENGTH: 137 words
HEADLINE: YOUNG KILLER EXECUTED
BYLINE: SUN NEWS SERVICES
DATELINE: McALESTER, Oklahoma
BODY :
Former Satan worshipper(Sean Sellers, was executed early yesterday with Jesus
on his lips.
Sellers, 29, died at 12:17 a.m. after being injected in both arms with
poisons designed to put him to sleep, stop his breathing, then stop his heart.
Sellers sang and spoke to several of his witnesses before falling
unconscious.
He became the first U.S. murderer put to death in 40 years for crimes
committed at age 16.
Outside the prison, some 100 death-penalty opponents held lighted candles and
read the Scriptures. Some were upset that a murderer so young should die.
Sellers spent his final day in a holding cell next to the room where he was
to die by lethal injection.
Sellers died for killing an Oklahoma City convenience store clerk in
September 1985 and his own mother and stepfather six months later.
GRAPHIC: photo by AP Raquel Tilghman protests the execution of Sean Sellers.
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
LOAD-DATE: February 5, 1999
8TH STORY of Level 1 printed in FULL format.
Copyright 1999 M2 Communications Ltd.
M2 PRESSWIRE
February 5, 1999
LENGTH: 1240 words
HEADLINE: AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
USA - Midnight shame - USA executes child offender
BODY :
The execution offSean Selle shames the USA and is a further sign of its
selective contempt for the international human rights standards it so often
claims to support, Amnesty International said today.
Sean Sellers was executed by lethal injection in Oklahoma State Penitentiary
just after midnight on 4 February, for crimes committed when he was a
16-year-old boy.
International law prohibits the use of the death penalty against those under
18 at the time of the crimes. It is a principle that is now so widely accepted
that no country is exempt from it.
"The USA's repeated claims that it is the most progressive force for human
rights in the world are contradicted by its blatant flouting of the global moral
and legal consensus that killing people for their childhood crimes is wrong,"
Amnesty International said.
"By executing Sean Sellers, the US authorities have turned their clock back
40 years to the last time a US prisoner was put to death for a crime committed
at 16. This cannot be defined as a progressive act."
The Organization of American States, the UN High Commissioner for Human
Rights, Defence for Children International, the American Bar Association, and
Amnesty International were among those who appealed for the execution to be
stopped.
On 27 January, the day the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board rejected Sean
Sellers plea for clemency, Pope John Paul II challenged the USA to reject the
cruelty of the death penalty. However, Oklahoma's Governor, a Catholic, welcomed
the clemency rejection. In television interviews on 3 February he said that the
Pope was "wrong" about the death penalty.
"In the end, international law and the global moral consensus was ignored to
satisfy perceived domestic opinion," Amnesty International continued.
"In doing so the authorities have done nothing but deepen the culture of
violence in US society. It is time to seek constructive solutions to violent
crimes, including those committed by children."
The execution of Sean Sellers has confirmed the USA as the world's leading
perpetrator of the execution of people under 18 at the time of the crime. It has
now executed 10 child offenders since 1990, one more than the rest of the world
combined. The nine others killed in the USA were 17 at the time of the crime.
PAGE 23
M2 PRESSWIRE February 5, 1999
The USA has now carried out the last four executions of child offenders
known in the world, having put three such prisoners to death in 1998. Only five
other countries are known to have carried out such executions since 1990.
Sean Sellers was the 512th prisoner executed in the USA since it resumed
executions in 1977. In the past six years an average of one prisoner a week has
been put to death. So far in 1999 the pace has increased to nearly three
executions a week. Twelve people have already been killed this year, and at
least another 11 are currently facing execution in February.
Background Against the worldwide trend towards abolition of the death
penalty, the USA is not only increasing its own resort to judicial executions
but has also contributed to recent retrograde steps on capital punishment in
other countries.
The Philippines is due to execute its first prisoner in more than two
decades tomorrow, 5 February. In 1997 officials from the Philippines were
reported to have visited US execution chambers as part of their research into
adopting lethal injection as an execution method.
Similarly, in Guatemala, the lethal injection chamber was imported after a
government delegation visited the USA in 1997 to learn about executions by
lethal injection. As of February 1999, there are some 35 people awaiting
execution on Guatemala's death row.
On 29 January 1999, the Attorneys General of 12 countries of the
English-speaking Caribbean signed a statement in Trinidad advising their
governments to withdraw from the Inter-American Human Rights Convention and the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, then to re-affirm all
parts except those dealing with the death penalty.
This decision follows a meeting in early 1998 between the Attorney General
of Trinidad and Tobago and the US Attorney General. Among the topics discussed
was the problem Trinidad was having in executing prisoners as quickly as it
would like. The US Attorney General reportedly pledged her country's support in
giving any assistance Trinidad required in implementing the death penalty.
Amnesty International, International Secretariat, 1 Easton Street, WC1X 8DJ,
London, United Kingdom
xkkkkkkkKKK YOu may repost this message onto other sources provided the main
text is not altered in any way and both the header crediting Amnesty
International and this footer remain intact. Only the list subscription message
may be removed.
LANGUAGE: English
LOAD-DATE: February 7, 1999
10TH STORY of Level 1 printed in FULL format.
Copyright 1999 Newsday, Inc.
Newsday (New York, NY)
February 5, 1999, Friday, ALL EDITIONS
SECTION: NEWS; Page A24
LENGTH: 173 words
HEADLINE: A KILLER AT 16, EXECUTED AT 29
BYLINE: COMBINED NEWS SERVICES
DATELINE: McAlester, Okla.
BODY:
McAlester, Okla. - An Oklahoma man was executed by lethal injection yesterday
for killing his parents and a convenience store clerk when he was 16, officials
said.
The execution of Sean Sell 9, was protested by capital-punishment
opponents who said it was wrong to put someone to death for crimes committed
while still a juvenile.
Amnesty International sent a letter to President Bill Clinton and other
leaders on Monday asking them to stop the execution.
The organization said it was the first time since 1959 that someone was put
to death for a crime committed at age 16.
Sellers attorneys also argued that he should be freed because he was
diagnosed with multiple-personality disorder.
Sellers shot Oklahoma City convenience store clerk Robert Bower to death on
Sept. 5, 1985. On March 5, 1986, he shot and killed his parents, Vonda and Paul
Bellofatto, while they slept.
Sellers said he committed the murders because he had become a Satan
worshiper. In prison, he eventually became a Christian preacher.
GRAPHIC: Photo-Sean Sellers
LANGUAGE: English
LOAD-DATE: February 5, 1999
16TH STORY of Level 1 printed in FULL format.
Copyright 1999 News World Communications, Inc.
The Washington Times
February 5, 1999, Friday, Final Edition
SECTION: PART A; NATION; AMERICAN SCENE; Pg. Al2
LENGTH: 172 words
HEADLINE: EXECUTED IN OKLAHOMA
BYLINE: THE WASHINGTON TIMES
BODY:
SITE: State Penitentiary in McAlester yesterday at 12:17 a.m. CST.
METHOD: Injection
CRIME: icant ea was convicted of killing his mother, stepfather and
a conveniente=stOre clerk when he was 16. He shot the clerk, Robert Bower, to
death on Sept. 5, 1985. On March 5, 1986, he shot and killed his parents, Vonda
and Paul Bellofatto, while they slept. He said he committed the murders because
he had become a Satan worshiper.
APPEALS: None
LAST MEAL: Egg rolls, sweet-and-sour shrimp and batter-fried shrimp.
LAST WORDS: "All the people who are hating me right now and are here waiting
to see me die, when you wake up in the morning, you aren't going to feel any
different. Reach out to God and he will hear you. Let him touch your hearts.
Don't hate all your lives."
THE NUMBERS: Sellers was the second person executed in Oklahoma this year and
the 15th since the state resumed capital punishment in 1990. It was the first
time in 40 years an American was put to death for a crime committed at age 16.
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
LOAD-DATE: February 5, 1999
PAGE 28
18TH STORY of Level 1 printed in FULL format.
Copyright 1999 Agence.France Presse
agence France } esse
February 04, 1999 03:50 GMT
SECTION: Domestic, non-Washington, general news item
LENGTH: 329 words
HEADLINE: US executes triple murderer
DATELINE: WASHINGTON, Feb 4
BODY :
A 29-year-old man who murdered three people when he was 16 was executed by
lethal injection in Oklahoma's McAlester Prison early Thursday.
Sean Sellers,-who killed his mother and stepfather and a third person was
given the injection shortly after midnight (0600 GMT) and was pronounced dead at
12:17 a.m., said Oklahoma penitentiary system spokesman Jerry Massie.
Sellers was, at the time of his crime, the youngest person to be eventually
executed in the US in 40 years.
In his final statement, sellers told the families of his victims that his
death would not change how they felt and that they should turn to God, Massie
said.
A relative of Sellers, a few friends and two of his spiritual advisers --in
all seven people-- were among the witnesses to the execution, the spokesman
added.
Around 100 capital punishment opponents held a candlelight vigil outside the
prison, Massie said.
A few hours earlier, the US Supreme Court had turned down a last minute
appeal to stay the execution, following a similar rejection earlier Wednesday by
a federal court of appeals in Oklahoma City, Massie said.
Sellers, who became a Christian in prison and learned to paint and write,
last week pleaded for clemency before the state parole board, but the board
confirmed the sentence by a unanimous vote.
Sellers was supported in his plea for clemency by Amnesty International and
several anti death penalty groups.
On Wednesday UN human rights chief Mary Robinson had appealed to US
authorities to stop the execution. "The killing of one or more individuals
cannot be used to justify killing another," she said in a statement in Geneva.
"I know that if I die it's not going to make a difference, but if I live, I
will spend the rest of my life trying to make a difference to someone else's
life," Sellers had told the parole board, referring to the troubled teenagers to
whom he directs videotapes he makes, warning of the dangers of drugs and
devil-worship.
20TH STORY of Level 1 printed in FULL format.
Copyright 1999 Midland Independent Newspapers plc
aa Evening Mail
February 4, 1999, Thursday
SECTION: Pg. 37
LENGTH: 205 words
HEADLINE: MAN EXECUTED FOR MURDER AT 16
BODY :
TEENAGE killer Sean Sellers today became the first American in 40 years to
be executed for a crime that he committed at the age of 16.
Sellers, 29, was executed by injection for murdering his mother, stepfather
and a shop assistant.
He was declared dead at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary.
The last person executed in the United States for a crime committed at 16
was Leonard Shockley in Maryland in 1959.
Sellers was a selroclaimed Satanist when he committed the three murders.
He converted to Christianity in prison and was involved in an outreach
ministry to teenagers.
Prayer vigil
About 150 death penalty opponents held a prayer vigil outside the prison in
McAlester while 25 to 30 people in support of capital punishment gathered
nearby.
Federal courts yesterday rejected a succession of last-minute appeals filed
on Sellers' behalf. His lawyers wanted a delay so that another clemency hearing
could be held.
Sellers shot Oklahoma City shop assistant Robert Paul Bower in 1985, later
saying he did so "to see what it felt like to kill someone."
Six months later, he crept into the bedroom where his mother, Vonda
Bellofatto, and stepfather Paul Bellofatto were sleeping and shot them.
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
LOAD-DATE: February 5, 1999
vA PAGE
24TH STORY of Level 1 printed in FULL format.
Copyright 1999 The Daily Oklahoman
THE DAILY OKLAHOMAN
February 4, 1999, Thursday CITY EDITION
SECTION: NEWS; Pg. 1
LENGTH: 1574 words
HEADLINE: Sellers Executed For 3 Murders
BYLINE: Nolan Clay, Anthony Thornton, Staff Writers
DATELINE: MCALESTER
BODY:
Former Satan worshipper€Sean Sellers s executed
early today with Jesus on his s.
Sellers, 29, died at 12:17 a.m. after being injected in both
arms with poisons designed to put him to sleep, stop his breathing,
then stop his heart.
Sellers sang and spoke to his witnesses before falling
unconscious.
"Here I come, Father," Sellers said loudly. "I'm coming home."
He then turned to Warden Gary Gibson and said, "Let's do it, Gary.
Let's get it on."
Sellers then began singing, "Set my spirit free that I might
praise Thee. Set my spirit free that I might worship Thee." Those
were his last words.
Earlier, Sellers began his final statement by addressing
relatives of his stepfather. He said: "All the people that are
hating me right now and are here waiting to see me die, when you
wake up in the morning, you're not going to feel any different.
You're going to hate me just as much tomorrow as tonight.
"When you wake up and nothing has changed inside, reach out to
God and He will be there for you. Reach out to God and He will heal
you. Let Him touch your hearts. Don't hate all your lives."
He then told his seven witnesses, "I love you all."
Sellers acted almost cheerful during his statement, straining
against his straps and raising his head to look at his grim-faced
witnesses.
He was the first U.S. murderer put to death in 40 years for
crimes committed at age 16.
Outside the prison, some 100 death-penalty opponents held
lighted candles and read Scriptures. Some were impressed that
32
THE DAILY OKLAHOMAN February 4, 1999, Thursday
Sellers had preached Christianity from prison or upset that a
murderer so young should die.
Sellers spent his final day in a holding cell next to the room
where he was to die by lethal injection. He dined on Chinese food
as his last meal and spent most of the day visiting with about 10
friends he had met since entering prison in 1986.
Sellers died for killing an Oklahoma City convenience store
clerk in September 1985 and his own mother and stepfather six
months later.
His last appeal, to the U.S. Supreme Court, was turned down
about 7 p.m. Wednesday.
"Sean Sellers' case is an aberration because Sean Sellers is an
aberration. He committed multiple murders, the first one out of
some sort of curiosity," Oklahoma Attorney General Drew Edmondson
said.
The attorney general complained the world media do not
appreciate that hundreds of juvenile killers in Oklahoma never
faced the death penalty and many of their cases never left
juvenile court.
The execution drew international media interest. TV reporters
from England, France and Germany were at the Oklahoma State
Penitentiary.
Sellers had become a cause celebre in recent weeks, with
Archbishop emeritus Desmond Tutu of South Africa, the American Bar
Association and an ex-wife of rock star Mick Jagger among those
seeking clemency for him.
Most cited two main reasons for opposition: Sellers' age at the
time of the killings and a diagnosis that Sellers suffered from
multiple personality disorder.
The diagnosis, by a Texas psychiatrist working on Sellers'
behalf, came almost six years after Sellers went to prison, and
prosecutors were never required to challenge it in court.
Sellers' lead attorney, Steve Presson, argued the diagnosis
mandated a sentence commutation. He called it "a horrific legal
error" that appeals courts said they couldn't consider the
diagnosis because the issue was raised too late.
At last week's clemency hearing, Presson presented a litany of
letters from people who said Sellers' ministry had touched their
lives. Presson called him "one of the finest people I have ever
known."
However, prison officials who have monitored Sellers since his
incarceration had a different opinion of him.
THE DAILY OKLAHOMAN February 4, 1999, Thursday
Two former wardens and a former death row unit manager described
him aS a manipulator who was on his best behavior when visitors
from the Christian community were around.
Sellers' cause had been helped by an Internet site created on
his behalf. His Web page included a confession of his murders and
lengthy journal entries he had kept since November.
In his confession, Sellers said he laughed after shooting Robert
Bower, a Circle K convenience store clerk, giggling "like it was a
fantastic prank since he'd had no clue what we'd come there for." A
friend said Sellers admitted he wanted "to see what it felt like."
Bower, 35, was shot in the store at NW 122 and Council Road on
Sept. 8, 1985.
Sellers wasn't a suspect in that death until after he killed his
parents on March 5, 1986, in their northwest Oklahoma City home.
Dressed only in black underwear, he crept into their bedroom as
they slept and shot each in the head. He first shot Paul Lee
Bellofatto, 43, and then Vonda Bellofatto, 32. He shot his mother
again as she rose up.
He later said he was angry at his mother because of her
interference in his relationship with his girlfriend, a high school
dropout. He said he had performed an occult ritual beforehand and,
"There was nothing but cold hatred in me."
Sellers became the 512th person executed nationwide since the
U.S. Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1977. Of those,
only 12 were juveniles at the time of their crimes, and all of them
were 17.
The last inmate executed for a murder committed at age 16 had
been Leonard Shockley, who died in Maryland on April 10, 1959. The
U.S. Supreme Court in 1988 - ruling in an Oklahoma case - declared
it unconstitutional to execute anyone younger.
Edmondson was asked whether Sellers' death would spark more
debate on how young is too young for a murderer to be sentenced to
death. Edmondson said he hopes the debate on capital punishment
never ends, because "it is such a serious matter."
"However, that is not our role here tonight. Our role here
tonight is to see that the laws of Oklahoma are carried out," he
said.
Among those seeking clemency for Sellers was Tutu. In a letter
to Gov. Frank Keating, Tutu wrote that the U.N. Convention on the
Rights of the Child provides that "neither capital punishment nor
life imprisonment without possibility of release shall be imposed
for crimes committed by persons below 18 years of age."
In a written response Tuesday, Keating said he couldn't commute
a death sentence without a recommendation from the state Pardon and
PAGE
34
THE DAILY OKLAHOMAN February 4, 1999, Thursday
Parole Board. The board denied clemency last week.
"Myself and the majority of Oklahoma citizens support the death
penalty as it is applied in Oklahoma courts," Keating wrote. "The
law is applied fairly and equally in all cases."
As a sophomore at Putnam City North High School, Sellers drank
his own blood at satanic rituals, took a satanic bible to classes
and talked of demons flying and influencing him. In his own blood,
he wrote, "I renounce God. I renounce Christ. I will serve only
Satan. To my enemies, death."
He said he had become a Christian even before his 1986 trial. He
later began a religious ministry from prison even though his
critics considered the change an act.
"It's not some title I put upon myself, or display as a label on
my shirt. It is the heart of WHO I AM and ALL I WANT TO BE.
Christian. Christlike," he wrote in his Internet journal. "I dream
of heaven."
Bill Mason, a minister who has prayed with Sellers and was in
McAlester to protest the execution, said Sellers was being honest.
"He wants to make up for what he's done," said Mason, who wore a
picture of a young Sellers with the slogan, "Stop Killing Kids."
Sellers was not eligible to be given a life sentence without the
possibility of parole. It wasn't allowed in Oklahoma law until 1987.
One juror, Dianna Craun, said jurors chose death because they
feared Sellers would be paroled in seven to 15 years if given a
life sentence. She also said jurors thought his execution likely
would never take place because there had been none in Oklahoma in
20 years.
However, jury foreman Harold D. Niles said, "I don't recall that
being an issue. No, I don't recall that conversation."
Sellers married in prison - on Valentine's Day 1995 - but the
marriage was annulled two years later.
Seven relatives of Paul Bellofatto watched the execution. Seven
witnesses were present for Sellers.
Among those who turned down a chance to watch were Oklahoma
County District Attorney Robert Macy and retired Oklahoma County
District Judge Charles Owens.
Macy said, "I've carried out my responsibilities in the case. My
duty was to prosecute the case, get the conviction and get the
death penalty."
Owens said, "I just refereed it, and I trust I gave hima fair
trial. ... I don't have any interest in watching him die."
THE DAILY OKLAHOMAN February 4, 1999, Thursday
Sellers became the 15th murderer executed in Oklahoma since
1990. In his journal, Sellers wrote about discovering that some of
those had written their names on the same cell door before their
executions.
He also wrote of watching the movie "Dead Man Walking" three
weeks ago. Sellers said he felt little compassion for the main male
character, who "repents halfheartedly 20 minutes before his
execution, more out of fear than sorrow."
Sellers said Oklahoma's death row is filled with such people,
who "give nothing and stand for nothing. They don't think or care
about what they did."
"It's not good enough to repent the day you die," he wrote.
GRAPHIC: Photo 1: Above: Tom Gallagher holds a sign with a photo of convicted
killer Sean Sellers on Wednesday as part of a demonstration staged in front of
the Oklahoma Governor's Mansion to protest Sellers' execution early this
morning. - Staff Photo by Doug Hoke Photo 2: Members of Oklahoma State
University's Buddhism Club gather Wednesday with Stillwater residents for a
candlelight vigil for Sean Sellers. The group gathered on the OSU campus to
meditate and denounce the death penalty. Photo 3: A death penalty protester
stands against the fence at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester as he
prays Wednesday for convicted murderer Sean Sellers who was executed early today
for killing three people when he was 16. Photo 4: (Page 6, Drive
edition) Oklahoma Attorney General Drew Edmondson stands Wednesday outside the
Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester where convicted murderer Sean Sellers
was to be executed shortly after midnight Wednesday. Federal courts failed to
stop the execution of Sellers, who killed his parents and a convenience store
clerk when he was 16, Edmondson said. - AP Photos
LOAD-DATE: February 4, 1999
26TH STORY of Level 1 printed in FULL format.
Copyright 1999 The Daily Oklahoman
THE DAILY OKLAHOMAN
February 4, 1999, Thursday CITY EDITION
SECTION: NEWS; Pg. 6
LENGTH: 378 words
HEADLINE: Execution Debated As Sellers' Nears
BYLINE: Anthony Thornton, Nolan Clay, Staff Writers
BODY:
McALESTER - Relatives of murder victim Paul Lee Bellofatto hope
ean execution sends a message to teen-age killers.
"The fleeting moments of attention they receive are not worth
the price," the family said Wednesday night in a prepared statement.
"If you take another human life, you should be prepared to pay
with your own life."
Seven of Bellofatto's relatives were scheduled to witness
Sellers' execution early today.
His daughter, Noelle Bellofatto Terry, said her father "could
steal your heart away. He was my hero."
Her stepmother, Vonda Bellofatto, "was a beautiful woman in the
prime of her life, a wonderful, loving person" when Sellers killed
her, Terry said.
The family's statement said Sellers' supporters have persisted
in their "naive statements that his life is more valuable than the
lives of his three victims."
However, quoting a syndicated columnist, the relatives asked:
"Where is your sympathy for the good, the kind and the innocent?
This fixation on murderers is a sickness, a putrefaction of the
soul."
From Massachusetts, Paul Bellofatto's father, Nunzy Bellofatto,
said Sellers deserved his fate.
"He committed three crimes. What do you do with a person like
that?" he told The Oklahoman
Outside the prison, supporters and opponents of the death
penalty gathered, some for the first time.
Raquel Tilghman, 28, of Oklahoma City was protesting an
execution for the first time, holding up signs reading "Save Sean
Sellers" and "Vote Killers Out of Office."
THE DAILY OKLAHOMAN February 4, 1999, Thursday
She said Oklahoma voters should elect only candidates who oppose
the death penalty.
"This is such a fundamental Christian state. People should stop
being hypocrites," Tilghman said.
Unlike many of the opponents, the Rev. Don Brooks said his
opposition isn't related to Sellers' conversion to Christianity.
Brooks, a Catholic priest, has been present outside the prison
gates for 13 of the state's 15 executions since 1990.
Even if Sellers had remained a Satanist, he "bears the dignity
and the imprint of human life," Brooks said.
Several law officers separated about 100 protesters from a much
smaller group of death penalty supporters. The protesters formed a
circle and read Scripture by candlelight.
GRAPHIC: (Page 1): Right: Raquel Tilghman is joined by other opponents of Sean
Sellers' execution Wednesday night outside the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in
McAlester. - AP Photo
LOAD-DATE: February 4, 1999
29TH STORY of Level 1 printed in FULL format.
Copyright 1999 The Irish Times
The Jath Tine
February 4, 1999, CITY EDITION
SECTION: HOME NEWS; Pg. 4
LENGTH: 478 words
HEADLINE: Robinson in appeal to stop execution in Oklahoma today
BYLINE: By MARK BRENNOCK
BODY:
The first person in 40 years to be executed in the US for crimes committed
when just 16 years old was due to be put to death in Oklahoma this morning
despite last-minute appeals.
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mrs Mary Robinson, yesterday
appealed to the US authorities to stop the execution of convicted murderer
| TST Sellers (29) was sentenced to death in 1986 for killing his
mother, stepfather and a shop assistant when he was 16 years old.
He was due to die by lethal injection at 6.04 a.m. today, Irish time, at the
Oklahoma State Penitentiary. The Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board rejected his
lawyers' request for a stay of execution on Monday.
The state governor, Mr Frank Keating, who had power to exercise clemency,
said he would never do so. Sellers has exhausted all legal recourse and will
have been executed today unless the pardons board reconsidered its decision.
The Irish section of Amnesty International held a vigil outside the US
embassy in Dublin last night. "His death sentence violates international law
banning the death penalty for crimes committed by persons under 18 years," an
Amnesty statement said yesterday.
"The USA executed three child offenders in 1998 - the only such executions
known in the world," said Irish section director Ms Mary Lawlor. "The execution
of Sean Sellers would mean that the USA has put to death more child offenders
since 1990 than the rest of the world combined."
She said that in 1992, three mental health professionals had diagnosed Sean
Sellers as having a childhood brain injury and multiple personality disorder, a
condition in which several personalities manifest themselves.
In her statement, Mrs Robinson said that if carried out, the sentence would
"run counter to established international principles and the international
community's expressed desire for the abolition of the death penalty".
In 1984 the UN adopted safeguards providing that offenders under 18 years of
age when they committed a crime, or offenders who suffered from mental disorders
at the time, should not be sentenced to death.
Yesterday, Mrs Robinson said the US was obliged to respect the UN Convention
on the Rights of the Child, even though it has not ratified the treaty it
The Irish Times, February 4, 1999
signed in 1995. The convention forbids capital punishment for persons below 18.
She acknowledged the seriousness of Sellers's crime, but said an end to
capital punishment would help to enhance human dignity and the development of
human rights.
"Tt is in this spirit that I appeal again to the authorities of the US and
the state of Oklahoma to stop the execution of Mr Sellers. The killing of one or
more individuals cannot be used to justify killing another".
Some 70 people are on death row in the US for crimes committed when they were
16 or 17, according to anti-death penalty organisations.
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
LOAD-DATE: February 5, 1999
, PAGE 41
30TH STORY of Level 1 printed in FULL format.
Copyright 1999 Times Mirror Company
Los Angeles Times
February 4, 1999, Thursday, Home Edition
SECTION: Part A; Page 14; National Desk
LENGTH: 356 words
HEADLINE: EXECUTION IS SET FOR FORMER TEENAGE KILLER, NOW 29
BYLINE: CLAUDIA KOLKER, TIMES STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: HOUSTON
BODY :
Oklahoma inmafe Sean Selle, scheduled this morning to become the first U.S.
resident in 40 ye o die for crimes committed as a 16-year-old, never stopped
insisting he had changed from the confused Satan worshiper who murdered his
mother, stepfather and a shop clerk.
The planned execution of Sellers, now 29, has drawn international protest and
debate over the age at which a criminal should be eligible for the death
penalty. But neither the state parole board nor family members of Sellers'
victims who attended his clemency hearing last week found reason to challenge
the sentence. A motion for a new clemency hearing failed in U.S. District Court
on Wednesday.
Sixteen other inmates across the country await execution for crimes committed
when they were 16, according to the Death Penalty Information Center in
Washington.
After eating a Chinese dinner, Sellers spent Wednesday bidding farewell to
friends and relatives, his lawyer, Steve Presson, said.
Kevin Acers, president of Oklahoma City's Amnesty International chapter,
called the execution a violation of accepted moral standards throughout the
world. "Even for those who are not opposed to the death penalty in general, we
draw the line at killing people for what they did as children."
But Thomas Bellofatto, whose brother was killed by Sellers, said he supported
the execution as adamantly as he did 13 years ago.
"I can tell you that my grandson, who's 7 years old, surely understands
what's right and wrong," Bellofatto said. "So where do you want to put a cutoff
date? I think 16 is too high of an age limit."
Sellers was an avowed Satanist when he shot convenience store clerk Robert
Paul Bower in 1985 and his own mother, Vonda Bellofatto, and stepfather, Paul
Bellofatto, in 1986 in Oklahoma City. After his conviction, Sellers argued that
he had been diagnosed with multiple personality disorder.
¢ Los Angeles Times February 4, 1999, Thursday,
Former juror Dianna Craun was one of those who spoke on Sellers' behalf at
his clemency hearing. Craun said the 12 jurors had rejected a life sentence for
Sellers only because they feared he would be paroled after 15 years or less.
LANGUAGE: English
LOAD-DATE: February 4, 1999
35TH STORY of Level 1 printed in FULL format.
Copyright 1999 News World Communications, Inc.
The Washington Times
February 4, 1999, Thursday, Final Edition
SECTION: PART A; WORLD; Pg. A113
LENGTH: 576 words
HEADLINE: U.N. official urges Oklahoma not to execute murderer;
Act would violate world 'principles'
BYLINE: Betsy Pisik; THE WASHINGTON TIMES
DATELINE: NEW YORK
BODY:
NEW YORK - The top U.N. human rights official yesterday called on Oklahoma
and the federal government to spare the life of a convicted murderer, saying his
planned predawn execution today violated international norms.
Mary Robinson, the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, urged officials
to halt the lethal injection of Sean Sellers, who was sentenced for the 1986
slaying of his mother and stepfather and a convenience store clerk.
Sellers, now 29, was a troubled 16-year-old occult enthusiast when he killed
an Oklahoma City store clerk. Three months later he crept into his parents
bedroom and shot them while they slept.
Known for wearing occult symbols and drinking blood - sometimes his own - the
young Sellers was said to have been suffering from a multiple personality
disorder. He has since converted to Christianity and is active in a death-row
ministry.
"The execution of Mr. Sellers would, I believe, run counter to established
international principles and to the international community's expressed desire
for the abolition of the death penalty," said Mrs. Robinson in a statement
issued by her Geneva office.
While acknowledging sympathy for the victims and their family, Mrs. Robinson
noted that "the killing of one or more individuals cannot be used to justify
killing another."
This is not the first time the organization has tried to influence the
application of the death penalty in the United States.
In September 1997, the 53-member Human Rights Commission sent a rapporteur to
the United States to investigate the application of the death penalty.
The State Department-approved visit outraged many members of Congress, who
said the world body had no business evaluating how the United States enforced
domestic laws.
While he was in the states, investigator Waly Bacre Ndiaye asked Texas to
commute the execution of Karla Faye Tucker and urged the United States to
PAGE 44
The Washington Times February 4, 1999, Thursday, Final Edition
respect the informal international moratorium against executing women.
Tucker was convicted of killing Jerry Dean in 1983 with a pickax anda
ball-peen hammer during a burglary of his Houston apartment. Deborah Thornton,
a friend of Mr. Dean's, was also killed. Tucker was executed in February 1998.
Mr. Ndiaye later issued a scathing report alleging discriminatory sentencing
on the basis of race, education and money.
Mr. Ndiaye, a respected Senegalese human rights advocate, has since joined
the United Nations as the head of its New York human rights office.
The United Nations has no official position on the death penalty because
member states have not agreed to condemn or allow it.
However, U.N. officials have spoken out against the executions of minors,
women and the mentally disabled on many occasions.
In 1984, the U.N. Economic and Social Council adopted guidelines designed to
protect the rights of those facing the death penalty. The document expressly
prohibits capital punishment in cases where the perpetrator was a minor or
mentally impaired.
Mrs. Robinson also noted that the United States in 1995 signed the
Convention on the Rights of the Child, which also spares minors.
Washington has not yet ratified that document, which also enjoins a
government from recruiting minors for armed service.
If executed, Sellers would be the second inmate in almost 40 years to die for
murder committed when he was 16. Nationwide death rows hold 70 prisoners
convicted of crimes committed at age 17 or younger.
GRAPHIC: Photo, Mary Robinson
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
LOAD-DATE: February 4, 1999
P 36TH STORY of Level 1 printed in FULL format.
Copyright 1999 Chicago Tribune Company
Chicago Tribune
February 4, 1999 Thursday, NORTH SPORTS FINAL EDITION
SECTION: NEWS; Pg. 3; ZONE: N
LENGTH: 1040 words
HEADLINE: DEEDS OF YOUTH AND DEATH ROW;
OKLAHOMA EXECUTES INMATE WHO MURDERED 3 PEOPLE AT AGE 16, UNDERSCORING U.S.
TREND OF DEATH SENTENCES FOR TEENS.
BYLINE: By V. Dion Haynes, Tribune Staff Writer.
DATELINE: McALESTER, Okla.
BODY:
Gazing at the sky from his spot in the prison yard behind barbed wire and
concrete walls, Gean Sellers~watched as a cloud layer slowly peeled away. "There
was nothing but blue in its place," he recently wrote. "Bright, endless blue. I
wonder if that's what dying will be like."
Such are the musings of a man who had spent 13 years on Death Row. Shortly
after midnight Thursday, Sellers was executed at McAlester State Penitentiary
for murdering his mother, stepfather and a convenience store clerk in Oklahoma
City in the mid-1980s.
Sellers, 29, became the first offender in the U.S. since 1959 to be put to
death for a crime that was committed at age 16.
Sellers, a born-again Christian who was once a self-professed satanist,
ministered to thousands of wayward youths through his autobiography, comic
books, and journal entries posted on the Internet. But on Wednesday he lost an
attempt to have a federal judge invalidate the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole
Board's recent decision denying him clemency.
His case has prompted vigils and protests throughout Oklahoma as well as an
outcry around the world about an increase in the number of young people
sentenced to die in the United States. Since 1977, when the death penalty was
reintroduced, the U.S. has executed 13 youth offenders, including Sellers, with
more than 70 on Death Row.
Most countries other than the U.S. and Somalia have stopped executing people
who commit crimes before the age of 18, adhering to a United Nations convention
on child rights. The thinking is that people under 18 are not mature enough to
bear full responsibility for their actions. Capital punishment opponents note
that since society considers 16- and 17-year-olds too young to vote, buy liquor
and smoke cigarettes, they should be too young to be put to death.
"In terms of the death penalty, I think most Americans are unaware of how
behind the times and barbaric we're seen in other countries," said Kevin Acers,
president of the Oklahoma chapter of Amnesty International and a board member
Chicago Tribune, February 4, 1999
of the Oklahoma Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty.
"The U.S. is executing more juvenile offenders than any other country in the
world," Acers said. "Holding a teenager responsible to the point of death is too
rigid and extreme and morally unacceptable."
With more children being accused of heinous crimes, prosecutors are trying
more youths under 18 as adults. Juries, moreover, increasingly have been willing
to impose the death penalty.
Four states have set 17 as the lowest age at which the death penalty may be
imposed, while 20 states have lowered it to 16. In Illinois, offenders must be
18 to be eligible for the death penalty. The effort to crack down on young
offenders is part of a get-tough-on-crime trend.
Jurors in the Sellers case felt that "the facts were so heinous that death
would be the appropriate punishment," said Richard Kirby, deputy legal counsel
for Oklahoma Gov. Frank Keating.
"People in this state are tired of this never-ending cycle of crime and
violence among young people," said Kirby, adding that a 17-year-old and another
16-year-old are on Death Row.
More than 350 people have been executed for offenses committed in their youth
since capital punishment started in colonial America in 1642, according to the
National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty. The youngest to die was a
10-year-old Cherokee Indian boy, who was hanged in 1885 for alleged robbery and
murder.
The growing interest in imposing the death penalty on young offenders has
been prompted by the escalation in juvenile arrests. Fueled by the proliferation
of gangs and the glorification of violence in music and movies, experts say,
arrests rose by 90 percent between 1986 and 1993.
The rate fell in subsequent years, but the number of juvenile arrests is
still 50 percent higher than in 1985.
Meanwhile, the number of 16- and 17-year-olds sentenced to death for youth
crimes soared 124 percent from the mid-1980s to 1998. Recent school shootings in
Kentucky, Mississippi, Arkansas and Oregon have prompted some legislators to
call for lowering the minimum age to 14 and at least one to recommend 11.
The U.S. Supreme Court, however, in a 1989 Oklahoma case, ruled
unconstitutional the execution of anyone under 16, deeming it cruel and unusual
punishment.
Capital punishment enjoys wide support in the U.S., approved in recent
opinion polls by nearly 80 percent of Americans. Support for executing juveniles
is in the 50- to 66-percent range.
Somalia, which essentially has no government, and the U.S. are the only
countries that have failed to ratify the UN Convention on the Rights of the
Child, which forbids the execution of anyone under 18.
PAGE 47
“ Chicago Tribune, February 4, 1999
"This gives us a credibility problem when we go to the table and try to
negotiate an end to human rights violations in other countries," said Victor
Streib, dean of the law school at Ohio Northern University in Ada, Ohio.
Last October, Virginia executed 26-year-old Dwayne Allen Wright, who was the
first offender put to death in the state in 74 years for crimes committed as a
17-year-old. Wright, who was black, had been sentenced to die for raping and
killing an Ethiopian woman.
Wright's case sparked concern by death-penalty opponents that a
disproportionate amount of offenders on Death Row are African-American or
Latino. His case also spurred complaints that an overwhelming number of them
suffer from mental deficiencies and the lingering effects of physical and sexual
abuse from childhood.
Though he was white, Sellers, like Wright, argued at a clemency hearing
recently that he should not be put to death because he had suffered physical and
sexual abuse as a child. In addition, his lawyers said, psychiatrists several
years after his sentencing diagnosed him as suffering from multiple personality
disorder.
But Sellers' main reason for seeking a reprieve was his ministry to wayward
young people.
"Sean has about 200 pounds of letters from young people all over the world
who've testified about how he has helped them," said his step-grandfather,
Carlos Lindley, 67.
"He said that if he could save or help just one person from going through
what he has gone through, then he felt his life was not wasted."
GRAPHIC: PHOTOS 2PHOTO: Sean Sellers, 29, at an Oklahoma state prison, from
which he had ministered to wayward youths through a book and entries on the
Internet. AP photo.; PHOTO: Sellers, a teen, was convicted of killing a store
clerk in 1985 and his mother and stepfather in 1986. AP file photo.
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
LOAD-DATE: February 4, 1999
1ST STORY of Level 1 printed in FULL format.
Copyright 1997 The Tulsa World
TULSA WORLD
September 17, 1997 Wednesday FINAL HOME EDITION
SECTION: ENTERTAINMENT; Pg. D3; PREVIEW
LENGTH: 714 words
HEADLINE: Death-Row Inmate To Launch Comic Book
BYLINE: John Wooley, World Entertainment Writer
BODY:
Concert Defcon 4, science-fiction and comic-book convention
When 11 a.m. Friday, 9 a.m. Saturday, 10 a.m. Sunday (Sept. 21)
Where Adam's Mark Hotel, 100 E. Second St.
Tickets $ 15 (at the door, one day only), $ 20 (in advance,
all three days), $ 25 (at the door, all three days), ages 7 and
under admitted free. tickets available at Wizard's Asylum Comics &
Games.
Among the items on sale at Defcon 4 next weekend will be new
issues of independent comic books, each of them reflecting the
hopes of their creators that, somehow, they'll buck the odds and
not only survive but prosper -- that they'll find a readership that
appreciates and even admires what's between those garishly colored,
action-packed, covers.
Perhaps no first=time comics creator hopes to find a market more
fervently thay “Can Sellens, comic-book fan, ex-satanist and
death-row inmate a e Oklahoma State Penitentary in McAlester.
His reasons, though, have more to do with the spiritual than the
commercial.
Sellers was 17 in 1986, when he was convicted of the murders of
his mother, stepfather and a convenience-store clerk in Oklahoma
City. During his trial, the defense argued that Sellers was acting
under the influence of satanism when he committed the killings. His
attorney noted that Sellers had "almost an obsession" with
Satanism. After being convicted, however, Sellers renounced
satanism and began expressing his newfound Christian faith
nationally, appearing on such programs as "The Oprah Winfrey Show"
and Geraldo Rivera's satanism special.
A decade later, as Tulsa's Mood Comics prepares to debut the
first issue of Sellers' new comic "Donjonhoefen," Sellers' faith
remains evident. In a recent press release, he described
"Donjonhoefen" -- a combination of Old English words meaning
"dungeon" and "haven" -- as a "Christian comic book," but added:
"People can get turned off by that. They hear the words ‘Christian
music' or 'Christian art' or ‘Christian comic' and they
TULSA WORLD September 17, 1997 Wednesday
automatically think it is second-rate and not worth their time. I'm
a writer and I'm going to draw upon the experiences, truths and
beliefs I have learned in my life like any other writer. A lot of
comics are done by atheists and their characters say there is no
God. But you don't call those atheist comics. This is basically a
Superhero comic. "
In the first issue of "Donjonhoefen," Sellers' story and art
tell of a superhero team called Lightforce, and the group's battles
with a terrorist and a giant robot. At one point, the Lighforce
leader, a character named Quarrel, explains to a rebellious member
of the team that, according to the release, "the meaning and
purpose for her life all begin with God. "
The comic's title is also the name of the city in which the
action occurs.
"The city 1s a metaphor for the point in our lives when people
make decisions that turn their lives into something bad -- like a
dungeon, or good -- like a_ haven," he writes.
"When I was 16, I made some horrible choices that destroyed
lives. "he continues. "I wasn't trying to do that, but it turned
out that way because I refused to see the truth until it was too
late. Now I want to. show others that truth with the talents God has
given me. "
Like any comics creator, Sellers hopes that "Donjonhoefen" will
have a long and successful run. But if it doesn't, the reason might
not be something as benign as market response.
"This is my last chance to do this," writes Sellers. "This is my
childhood dream coming true or being permanently aborted. My
appeals are nearly over, and if I don't get my case overturned and
off death row, Oklahoma is going to execute me soon. I'm going to
say all I can with these first six issues or so, because that may
be all I get to say. "
Those not attending Defcon can order "Donjonhoefen" No. 1 by
mail from Mood Comics, P.O. Box 691168, Tulsa, Okla. 74169-1168.
Cost is $ 3.25, plus $ 1 shipping and handling.
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
LOAD-DATE: October 25, 1997
41ST STORY of Level 1 printed in FULL format.
Copyright 1999 The Daily Oklahoman
THE DAILY OKLAHOMAN
February 3, 1999, Wednesday CITY EDITION
SECTION: EDITORIAL; Pg. 4, Your Views
LENGTH: 279 words
HEADLINE: Executing Young Killer Uncivilized
BODY:
TO THE EDITOR:
The American Bar Association opposes the imposition of capital
punishment upon any person for any offense committed while under
the age of 17. The execution of €ean SelIere~would mark the first
time in 40 years that an individual in the U.S. has been executed
for a crime committed at the age of 16.
In our view, the execution of people for crimes they committed
while children is unacceptable in a civilized society, irrespective
of guilt or innocence. Internationally, the practice is virtually
unheard of; within the United States, 27 states and the District of
Columbia prohibit the imposition of the death penalty for crimes
committed while under the age of 18. As citizens, persons under the
age of 18 can't vote, serve on juries, make medical decisions for
themselves or enter into contracts. We don't permit children to
conduct these activities because we generally believe they lack a
full appreciation for the consequences of their actions.
The facts of Sellers' case are particularly troubling in this
regard. In addition to his age, Sellers has been diagnosed with a
serious mental illness, the presence of which has not been examined
in state court.
The failure of states to follow the ABA's policy against
juvenile executions has led, in part, to a call by the association
for the discontinuation of executions. The association's call for a
halt to executions has been spurred by the need for jurisdictions
to ensure that death penalty cases are administered fairly and
impartially, in accordance with due process.
Philip S. Anderson, president
American Bar Association, Chicago, Ill.
LOAD-DATE: February 3, 1999
—_*
[EMBARGOED FOR 9 October 1991]
amnesty international
UNITED STATES OF
AMERICA
The Death Penalty and Juvenile
Offenders
OCTOBER 1991 SUMMARY Al INDEX: AMR 51/23/91
This report describes the application of the death penalty in the cases of juvenile
offenders: children or adolescents who were aged under 18 at the time of the offence.
The report reviews the history, laws and practice regarding the execution of juvenile
offenders in the USA. It gives information on the cases of 23 juvenile offenders
sentenced to death in recent years, which Amnesty International has reviewed in some
detail. The report covers the period to 1 July 1991.
24 of the 36 US states with the death penalty have laws allowing the imposition
of death sentences on juveniles. In June 1989, the US Supreme Court ruled that the
execution of offenders as young as 16 was permissible under the Constitution.
More than 90 juveniles have been sentenced to death in the USA since the death
penalty was reinstated in the 1970s; all were aged between 15 and 17 at the time of the
offence. Although many have had their sentences vacated on appeal, four were executed
between 1985 and 1990 and 31 remained on death row as of 1 July 1991. Although they
represent only a small proportion of the more than 2,400 prisoners under sentence of
death in the USA, there are more juvenile offenders on death row in the USA than in
any other country known to Amnesty International.
The imposition of death sentences on juvenile offenders is in clear contravention
of international human rights standards contained in numerous international instruments
including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), the
American Convention on Human Rights (ACHR) and the United Nations (UN)
Convention on the Rights of the Child. The USA has signed but not ratified the first two
treaties. In 1984 the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) adopted a series of
The death penalty and juvenile offenders in the USA 43
NAME: SEAN RICHARD SELLERS OKLAHOMA
RACE: White DATE OF BIRTH: 18 May 1969
DATE OF CRIMES: 8 Sept 1985
+ 5 March 1986 AGE AT FIRST CRIME:16 years 3 months
DATE OF SENTENCE: — 2 October 1986 AGE AT SENTENCE: _ 17 years 4 months
CURRENT STATUS:
CRIME:
TRIAL:
Sellers’ conviction and death sentence are on direct appeal before the
Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals.
Sean Sellers was convicted of the shooting murder of Robert Bower, a
store owner in Oklahoma City, on 8 September 1985. He was also
convicted of the murder of his mother and step-father, who were shot
while asleep at their home in Oklahoma City on 5 March 1986. Sellers
had been taking amphetamines for three days before the murder of his
parents.
The three murder cases were tried together. The prosecution’s chief
witness against Sellers was his best friend, Richard Howard, who was
with him at the time of Bower’s murder and was also charged with
first-degree murder. However, the state dismissed the charge against
Howard and recommended that he be given a five-year suspended
sentence in exchange for his testimony against Sellers. There was no
forensic evidence linking Sellers to either crime. Howard testified that
Sellers told him he had killed his parents, but this was uncorroborated
by any other evidence.
Despite a dearth of evidence, the jury found that the murders were
especially heinous, atrocious or cruel and that Sellers posed a
continuing threat to society. Although the circumstances of his parents’
killing were not known, the jury also found that Sellers had caused a
great risk of death to more than one person.
At the sentencing phase of the trial the jury was not instructed that
Sellers’ age of 16 at the time of the crime was a mitigating
circumstance. Instead the jury was asked to decide whether his age was
a mitigating factor.
The jury’s two alternative sentences were life imprisonment or death.
Defence counsel sought to present evidence regarding the length of a
lite sentence in Oklahoma - to counteract newspaper stories suggesting
that life imprisonment does not mean “life.” The judge did not allow
this evidence to be introduced and the jury sentenced Sellers to death
on all three counts.
Amnesty International October 1991 Al Index: AMR 51/23/91
44
The death penalty and juvenile offenders in the USA
PSYCHIATRIC
FINDINGS:
APPEALS:
PERSONAL PROFILE:
Al Index: “UR 51/23/91
A psychiatrist for the defence testified at the trial that, if Sellers killed
his parents, he could not have known what he was doing, and was
incapable of forming an intent to kill due to insanity or
“unconsciousness” (an automaton-like state where a person, though
capable of action, is not conscious of what they are doing). His
testimony was rebutted by that of a psychologist for the state who had
examined Sellers for a juvenile certification hearing, but had not tested
him to determine whether he was sane at the time of the crimes.
In March 1987 Sellers was examined by Dr. Dorothy Lewis. She found
him to be chronically psychotic, exhibiting symptoms of paranoid
schizophrenia and other major mood disorders. His psychoses included
visual and auditory hallucinations, paranoid ideation, delusional beliefs,
peculiar acts of self-mutilation and obsessions with God, Satan, good
and evil.
In his interview with Dr. Lewis, Sellers described the satanic rituals he
practised daily in the months prior to the murder of his parents. He
kept vials of blood in the refrigerator, some of which he drank at
school. He began taking drugs, hallucinating and dreaming that he had
killed his parents. He would experience grandiose, euphoric moods and
suicidal depressions.
Among many issues raised on appeal it was argued that the trial judge
erred in not instructing the jury that it could find Sellers guilty of first-
degree manslaughter if it had doubts about his ability to form the
requisite intent tor murder. Instead the jury was given only two
options: to find Sellers guilty of first-degree murder or to set him free.
Sellers’ mother was 16 when he was born. His parents divorced when
Sellers was three or four. His childhood was troubled and turbulent and
as a small boy he was often left in the care of relatives while his
mother was away with his step-father, a truck-driver. The family
frequently moved from place to place.
As a child he was humiliated by an uncle who made him wear diapers
[nappies] because he still we" the bed at the age of 12 and 13. If he wet
the bed two nights in a row his uncle would make him wear a soiled
diaper on his head all Jay as punishment.
Sellers was also exposed to zrotesque demonstrations of violence. An
uncle who took him hunting tried to teach him to step on an animal’s
head and pull on its legs to bill it. Sellers was called a "wimp" by his
uncle and chastised by his step-father for his reluctance to perform
these violent acts. His step-‘ather and mother both carried guns and
knives with them wherever tiey went.
Amnesty International October 1991
The death penaity and juvenile offenders in the USA 45 @
«
He had a close relationship with his mother and step-father, and
performed well in school. But in his early adolescent years he became
involved in satanism and fantasy role-playing games. He became
increasingly emotionally disturbed and lived largely in a world of
unreality. He several times considered suicide.
Sean Sellers had no criminal record whatsoever prior to his indictment
for the murders. His only earlier brush with law enforcement agencies
was when he tried to steal a piece of black cloth from a store.
Amnesty International October 1991 Al Index: AMR 51/23/91
Re ae, eS gO er ee ee ae ee ce em re ye = ee ere ee eee ren
The death penalty and juvenile offenders in the USA
46
. + +
Sean Richard Sellers
~
Lo»)
yD
~
™
sc)
So)
2)
8
~
9
Cc
‘Q
~
ie]
S
o
~
s
~
~
n
ic8)
c
€
It
AMR 51/23/91
Al Index
July 21, 1987 _ *&*&
Does a child
deserve to die?
Agonizing debate over executing teens
©
Third in a four-part series on children
who kill, a problem criminal justice author-
ities say is becoming more troublesome in
our society. Today: Should there be a death
‘penalty for children?
By Elizabeth Fernandez
and Candy J. Cooper
OF THE EXAMINER STAFF
N WEDNESDAY afternoons
and Friday nights, inmates at
the Oklahoma State Penitentia-
ry browse about the law li-
brary. Wayne Thompson rare-
ly visits the stacks, though his name and
life story are inscribed repeatedly there.
“['ve already got the original copy of the
*. court opinions,” he says. “So I don’t need to
go look it up in no book.”
In a few months, 20-year-old William
‘= Wayne Thompson can add more docu-
‘ments to the bulging batch of briefs
stashed in his cell. He’ll also be supplying
more entries for the law books.
For, despite the seeming incongruity of
it, Thompson, a slender, dark-haired youth
. with an easy laugh and a fondness for rock
music and TV medical shows, will be the
focal point of a decision that will affect the
future of juvenile justice in the United
States.
- When the U.S. Supreme Court returns
” to session in October, Thompson will ask
-' the justices to resolve an agonizing prob-
lem: What’s to be done with an adolescent
’ killer? His case is expected to determine
- the constitutionality of capital punishment
a
for those younger than 18.
Currently, 25 states permit executions
., for juveniles, nine even allow it — theoreti-
- cally — for those as young as 8, the legally
accepted age of reason.
California has barred capital punish-
_ ment for those under age 18 for more than
sive to a modern civiliza-
tion, they say.
“Someone under the
age of 18 doesn’t have
the capacity to reason
like adults,” says Barry
Krisberg, director of
‘the National Council on
Crime and Delinquency,
an organization based in
San Francisco. “Chil-
dren are not just little
adults. Phey have a dif-
ferent capacity to form
judgments. They have a great capacity to
change, to reform.”
kk
In many eyes, Monty Lee Eddings typi-
fies the ability of youth to repair a frac-
tured adolescence.
Life for him stopped when he was 16.
Not for eight long years did it begin again,
on the day that his date with the state
executioner was permanently canceled.
“] want people to look at me as a human,
not as I once was,” he says from his medi-
um-security cell in Lexington, Oklahoma.
“Tm not a kid, I’m a grown adult.”
Absolution will not readily be given. Ed-
dings killed a cop.
In 1977, when he was 16 and running
away from his Missouri home, Eddings
gunned down highway trooper Larry Crab-
tree, who had stopped him on the Turner
Turnpike for erratic driving.
Diagnosed as an “anti-social personali-
ty,” tried as an adult, Eddings was given
the death penalty. The sentence was later
vacated by the U.S. Supreme Court on the
ground the lower courts failed to consider
such mitigating factors as emotional char-
acter and family history.
Released from death row where educa-
tional benefits were unavailable, Eddings
promptly quit his job as prison cook.
In four months of television instruction,
he earned a high school equivalency diplo-
ma. He’s now a college sophomore with a
KIDS
WHO
KILL
eqn
San Francisco Examiner
WILLIAM WAYNE THOMPSON, 20, FACES EXECUTION IN OKLAHOMA
Supreme Court may use his case to decide on teen executions
search into the matter has been scanty.
One study by the California Youth Au-
thority shows a lower recidivism rate for
young killers than other major criminals.
Of juvenile killers paroled in 1983, 31
percent broke parole within two years. On
the other hand, 37 percent of the juveniles
convicted of rape notched parole viola-
tions, along with 46 percent of those out on
robbery convictions.
The CYA did not detail the parole-break-
ing offenses in its report, said spokesman
Tony Cimarusti.
The youths on death row avow that if
reprieved, they'll never harm again. Some,
re
Execution
Ruraits
five. They cite this as proof of public accep-
tance of teen-age executions.
Historians note that racial bias has long
complicated the ancient law demanding
retribution. ;
Of the 281 juveniles executed in this
land since 1642, 70 percent were black.
Today, 55 percent of the young death row
inmates are black.
Today’s bias is for the victim, not against
the killer. Altogether, 89 percent of the
nation’s executions involved white victims,
says Victor Streib, a law professor at Cleve-
land State University who has compiled the
statistics on juvenile executions.
“If the victim is white, very young or
very old, then execution is more likely,” he
says.
Death row residents share another shar-
A tour-day series:
- MSUNDAY — Young kilk
16 sau
electric chair.
“He should have gotten life,” says
Roach’s attorney, David Bruck. “It was a
terrible crime and he knew it. He was
relatively happy on death row. He was ev-
erybody’s little brother.”
To other officials, torn between their
sympathy for a troubled adolescent and
their duty to protect the public, death sen-
tences should be given only in cases show-
ing premeditation.
“In California, if you commit a homicide
at the age of 16, you walk free when you're
25. That is ludicrous,” says Richard Fred-
rickson, deputy district attorney in Orange
County. “I’m still swayed by the general
feeling that juveniles are ... less culpable.
But that is not true 100 percent of the time.
And when it’s not, I would not be opposed
to the death penalty.”
Though California did not formally out-
law capital punishment for minors until
the 1920s, it rarely invoked the penalty. In
the state’s history, six teen-agers have been
executed, according to Streib’s research.
The last was in 1923. The youngest was 15.
America is alone among modern nations
in executing its young, experts say. Even
countries as unforgiving as the Soviet
Union, South Africa, and Libya do not exe-
cute juveniles, they say.
“It seems very Draconian to execute a
juvenile,” says Dorothy von Beroldingen, a
judge in San Francisco's Municipal Court.
“You're saying you're giving up on them.
With adults, you’re talking about people
who have their twigs bent. With young-
sters, there’s still some chance of straight-
boy:
telligent 17-y
Sellers killed three people, his sleeping
parents and a convenience store clerk. The
crimes were committed, he says, when he
was 16 and so deeply in the devil's clutches,
“| had written a blood pact selling my soul
to Satan.”
The world of the occult opened to him
three years earlier with the fantasy game
Dungeons and Dragons. He soon dived
‘deeper.
He’d smoke a joint, stay up all night
conducting satanic rituals in his candle-lit
room. Clad in black underwear and a black
hooded eana he wanld naue hlnnd i-4-
aqs5e7°>-
fexrscy
<-*
yr-7-
Monty Lee Eddings, who killed a cop at
16, is now working on a college degree
and could be freed by 1992
Sean Sellers, 17, says he was in
Satan’s snare when he killed his
parents and a convenience store clerk
Terry Roach, who killed two teens when
he was 17, lost his legal battle and died
last year in the electric chair
50 years. Oklahoma has no such limit.
When Thompson was 15, he and his
half-brother, Anthony Mann, then 27,
killed their brother-in-law, Charles Keene,
who they said abused their sister. They
were convicted of first-degree murder.
Today, the two brothers live in adjoin-
ing bricked-in cells in the middle of the
prison “run,” the corridor populated by
Oklahoma's 66 condemned men.
“The Supreme Court might give me a
life sentence, but they won’t set me free,”
Thompson says. “Most people anyway are
for the death penalty. That’s why it exists.”
Opinion on capital punishment for ju-
veniles is not that clear-cut, though.
The issue has stirred acrimonious de-
bate recently as more juveniles are tried as
adults and confidence in rehabilitation
wanes.
As crimes committed by the underaged
attain a never-before-seen ferocity, as 10-
and 12-year-olds slay sibling and stranger
alike, the call for get-tough sentencing is
becoming more strident.
“It's the God’s truth. Juveniles know
that no matter what they do, they will get
off,” says Kelly Chandler of the California
. group Victims for Victims. “We have to say,
see here you little juvenile, you are going to
be punished. And kids will stop ‘to think
before they pull that trigger.”
But from other corners, equally impas-
sioned voices say these youths can be
saved. To put a child to death is a barbaric
practice sanctioned by history, but repul-
double major in sociology and psychology,
and wants someday to work as a counselor.
A church in Missouri is paying his tu-
ition from its collection plates and teachers
call him a credible, B average student.
Relatives of the slain trooper say he
should have been executed.
“T was all for it when they gave him the
death penalty,” says Tony Crabtree, youn-
gest of the victim's three sons, aged 15
when his father died.
“My dad would be real upset knowing
now that Eddings got off. My dad was out
to protect the public, but the court system
wouldn't protect him. Eddings has been 10
years in prison. But that’s not good enough
in my book,” says Crabtree, now 25 and
working for the Oklahoma Highway Pa-
trol.
A sociopath can’t change overnight, he
says, warning this killer is still dangerous.
Eddings could be released in 1992. He
doubts he’ll be freed then, but is banking
on his educational accomplishments to im-
press the parole board.
“I figure it will take 15 to 20 years to get
people to feel relaxed about me,” Eddings
says. “I don’t find any glory in being a
criminal. I want to be a normal human
being.”
kk
No longer children, not quite adults,
juveniles force judges and juries to become
seers of a sort, to predict whether they are
likely to commit further violence.
Many experts believe that when re-’
leased, teen-age killers are less prone to-
_ward relapse than most other convicts, Re-
attesting to a clean record before the capi-
tal crime, complain that their sentences are
unfairly stiff.
“I shot her accidentally,” says Robert
‘Carter, 23, who killed a store clerk during a
1981 robbery, and is now on death row in
Huntsville, Texas. “We were robbing her
and the gun went off. I wanted cash. It was
a spur-of-the-moment thing. I wanted to
buy clothes and maybe go out and party.
“I wish that day hadn’t happened. It’s a
waste of my life. I’m sorry I did it. I'd like to
get out. I'd like to play pro basketball, may-
be with the Lakers or the Houston Rockets.
I shouldn’t be on death row. It’s the first
time I’m in jail. ... It doesn’t serve no
purpose killing a kid.”
Carter and 32 others live under a death
sentence for crimes committed when they
were younger than 18. Most committed
murder in conjunction with other crimes,
typically rape or robbery. Two of the 33 are
female, a ratio that has persisted for years.
Of 281 documented U.S. executions of peo-
ple who killed as juveniles, only nine in-
volved females, the last in 1912.
Altogether, the condemned juveniles
make up less than 2 percent of the total
1,901 inmates on death row.
Moreover, courts are indicating a grow-
ing reluctance to sentence juveniles to the
ultimate punishment. Eleven youths were
sentenced to die in 1982. So far in 1987, only
two have received the death sentence.
Some officials, however, point out that ju-
veniles are being sentenced to death at a
younger age. In 1983 two youths younger
, than 16 were on death row. Now there are
AL Like Vaclilii id Wilile, Vely yOulig OF
very old, then execution is more likely,” he
' Says.
Death row residents share another char-_
acteristic — poverty.
“There are no Brooke Shields on death
row,” Streib says. “You don’t get as good a
lawyer if you’re poor. And if you are well
off, you get medical treatment before you
get into a big mess.”
So far this decade, three men have been
executed for crimes they committed as ju-
veniles. Two were executed in Texas, one
in South Carolina. All were 17 when they
became killers, in their mid- to late 20s _
when they paid the ultimate penalty.
Georgia has logged the most juvenile
executions — 41. Thirty-seven of those
were black. It’s a record that shames some
Georgia residents.
“It’s a part of our history that’s not very
good,” says Atlanta Rep. Jim Martin.
Last January, Martin introduced a bill
that would prevent capital punishment for
those under 18. His legislation was spurred
by a poll showing that 75 percent of Geor-
gia citizens favor capital punishment for
adults, but 48 percent oppose it for minors.
The bill is scheduled to be voted upon next
year.
“The possibility of reform is so great for
children,” Martin says. “We as a society
should decide that we should not execute
children.”
Such language irritates many propo-
nents of the death penalty, who argue that
adolescent killers are not Boy Scouts or
Little Leaguers, not children at all excépt
perhaps by a chance of chronology.
“We don’t like to call them kids,” says
David Lee, Oklahoma's assistant attorney
general. Lee unsuccessfully argued the
state’s case against Monty Eddings and is
now handling the Wayne Thompson case.
Rehabilitation might indeed be possible
with some juveniles, he says, but others
don’t deserve the chance.
He points to Terry Roach as an example
of the death penalty being fully warranted.
In 1977, when Roach was 17, he and two
friends killed two teen-agers. His death sen-
tence sparked international debate be-
cause of his age and because he was mildly
retarded. The U.S. Supreme Court denied
his appeal for a stay of execution.
On Jan. 10, 1986, after a meal of shrimp,
hush puppies and Pepsi, Roach died on the
fic GU SiURL @ jJULIL, Slay Up al nigor
conducting satanic rituals in his candle-lit
room. Clad in black underwear and a black
hooded cape, he would pour blood into a
chalice on a makeshift altar, then chant.
He wanted “to be the most dangerous
person in the world.”
On Sept. 8, 1985, he killed clerk Robert
Bower, 35, inside a Circle K store. A friend
was with him.
“All the way home we laughed at it,
about the stupidity of the guy and how he
looked, how the blood looked,” Sellers says.
Six months later, Sellers shot his moth-
er, Vonda Bellofatto, 32, and his stepfather,
Paul Bellofatto, 43.
“I was mad at my parents,” he says.
“They said I couldn't see a girl that I liked
... | was enraged. Every night for a week I
had a dream that I killed my parents and
one day I woke up and it wasn’t a dream, it
was reality. I went to a friend’s house. He
hid the gun. I remember finding them but I
don’t remember much more until I woke
up in the city jail.”
Depicted by the defense as a “mixed-up
kid,” Sellers was given the death penalty
last October. Execution was scheduled for
Jan. 6, but a stay was approved a few weeks
beforehand.
Prosecutors call Sellers a con man, say
his newfound religious beliefs are a com-
mon prisoner ploy for sympathy.
But Sellers’ grandfather Carlos Lindley
believes the conversion is real and says he’s
forgiven Sean. He and his wife Joan are
now devoted to helping other youths
trapped in Satan’s snares.
“When it first happened, I would have
been the first to pull his damn head off,”
Lindley says. “When you get into it and
find out about Satan and mind control, you
get to be more supportive. You think,
‘Where did society go wrong?’
“I have 15 grandchildren. Sean is the
oldest. Satan had power over him. I've
vowed that I'll do everything in my power
that Satan never gets another grandchild.”
Lindley lives only a couple blocks from
the state prison and constantly speaks with
. Sellers by phone. He’s reconciled to his
grandson’s possible fate.
“If they put him to death, that’s between
Sean and God,” Lindley says. “If he gets
out, it'll be a miracle ... I say his soul
belongs to God, but his tail belongs to the
state.”
Capital punishment states, minimum ages
nso
tPA -845912
ee as ce amriainnh
THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA Y ;
: FLAINTIFF,
4 WS.
SEAN RICHARD SELLERS RICHARD T HOWARD TI INFORMATIC
IN THE NARE
ROKERT H. MACY THE DULY ELECTED,
AND FOR OKLAHOMA COUNTY,
OATH INFQRMS THE DISTRICT COURT THAT
AND BY THE
ON OR ABOUT THE STH DAY OF
MURDER IN THE FIRST DEGREE
COUNTY, OKLAHOMA, BY
ACTING JOINTLY, WILFULLY,
KILLED ROBERT FAUL
MORTAL WOUNDS WHICH CAUSED
AUTHQRITY OF THE
QUALIFIED AND ACTING DISTRICT ATTORNEY
DISTRICT NO.
BOWER BY
i al
DEFENDANTS.
STATE GF OKLAHOMA, COMES NOW
IN
STATE OF OKLAHOMA, AND ON HIS OFFICIS
“3
Vy
45 oo
SEPTEMBER, oS,
WAS FELONTOUSLY
A.D., THE CRIME OF
COMMITTED IN OKLAHOMA
SEAN RICHARD SELLERS AND RICHARD T HOWARD II Ub
UNLAWFULLY AND WITH MALICE AFQRETHOUGHT,
SHOOTING HIM WITH A HANDGUN,
HIS DEATH ON THE 8TH DAY OF SEPTEMBER,
4985, CONTRARY TO THE PROVISIONS OF SECTION 701.7 OF TITLE 21 GF Tr:
OKLAHOMA STATUTES, AND AGAINST THE FEACE AND DIGNITY OF THE STATE OF
OKLAHOMA;
eee eee ene meee woes owes ene nee ames Sane mee sone one Sane Goes aeee ane ome come cums come conn muy Gus owns enet roms sone send cane cam cone <RS Exme ——ue nee
I, . .
THE STATEMENTS SET FORTH IN THE ABOY
SHESCRTIBED AND SWORN TO BEFORE ME TH
FEATHERSTONE
tee TP BE Eb F ALDP SO
woos cong
rf 3 j 2 :
ce
ROBERT H. MACY
DISTRICT ATTORNEY, DISTRICT NO. 7
OKLAHGHA COUNTY, OKLAHOMA
eee eee er
ween eee ce mee ees eee eee ee ee ee ee EE eS OS YD OE EE SED SS SE EE EE OE COTE EE OEE OEE SN RE OEE ERY SR OR SEER cS NY en wn me
BEING DULY SHORN ON MY CATH, DECLARE T
EF TSFORMATIGN ARE TRUE.
ey ee
iS 40 DAY OF MARCH, +984. :
TOM PETUSK EY, ROT ELER
BY 0
DEPUTY
ROBE .
i: sep ror AT THI ATE iy
if T tes? PoE aL re. RF wt ae ! i?
OKLAMOMA LOUEHT ©. s
BY ou ------ eo cee
AScictanri ol. ATTORNE:
. t
pasa ©
\ /
Ss
og. lv
ap) TRAMME.. Y
ants A
OR FS
ypnahey |
INFLICTING
stay MEDICAL EXAMINER
™){ N STONEWALL
OKC », OK ¥3ii7
sare WaLLter “
244 E/ MADTZON ee
OKD , OK 73105
STEVEN GREGORY DAVIS,
3108 S RANKIN
7425 NW iOSTH /
OKC , OK 73132 '
ER NEWTON
290 M SHARTEL |
OKC , OK 73182.
L
cok uetoweus/
260 N SHARTEL
OKC », OK FROe
7
ROY GOLIGHTLY ?
20G N SHARTE!
feee Sine
OKE , OK 73102
aye TODD BAILEY
Fe eth j t
ARCATA , Gk FaGO%
BYLL WALLS
200 N SHARTEL #4448
OKC , GE 7RIOZ
vf THEE
oe bee
209 N SHA!
OK , OF
9
INFORMATION CRF-8401232
TRCTRETDISTRICT COURT, IN AND FOR OKLAHOMA COUNTY, STATE OF OKLAHGHA
... THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA )
. PLAINTIFF, )
VS. . )
SEAN RICHARD SELLERS ) INFORMAT IO
)
)
DEFENDANT.
“athe seers ye LTLE. 24 OF THE:«OKLAHOMA-. STATUTES, AND AGAINST THE PEACE AND DIGNITY
IN THE NAME AND BY THE AUTHORITY QF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA, COMES NOW
ROBERT H. MACY THE DULY ELECTED, QUALIFIED AND ACTING DISTRICT ATTORNEY IN
AND FOR OKLAHOMA COUNTY, DISTRICT NO. 7, STATE OF OKLAHOMA, AND ON HIS OFFICIAL
OATH INFORMS THE DISTRICT COURT THAT
COUNT 14: ON OR ABOUT THE 5TH DAY GF MARCH, 1786, A.D., THE CRIME OF MURDER ft?
THE FIRST DEGREE WAS FELONIQUSLY COMMITTED IN OKLAHOMA COUNTY,
OKLAHOMA, BY SEAN RICHARD SELLERS WHO WILFULLY, UNLAWFULLY AND WITH
MALICE AFORETHOUGHT, KILLED FAUL LEON BRELLOFATTO BY SHOOTING HIM WITH
A HANDGUN, INFLICTING MORTAL WOUNDS WHICH CAUSED HIS DEATH ON THE 5ST:
DAY OF MARCH, 1986, CONTRARY TO THE PROVISIONS OF SECTION 701.7 OF
TITLE 241 OF THE OKLAHOMA STATUTES, AND AGAINST THE PEACE AND DIGNITY
OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA;
COUNT .2: ON OR ABOUT THE STH DAY OF MARCH, 1986, A.D., THE CRIME OF MURDER Ti
oes THE FIRST DEGREE WAS FELONIOUSLY COMMITTED IN OKLAHOMA COUNTY,
OKLAHOMA, BY SEAN RICHARD SELLERS WHO WILFULLY, UNLAWFULLY AND WITH
MALICE AFORETHOUGHT, KILLED ¥VONDA M BELLOFATTO BY SHOOTING HER WITH A
HANDGUN, INFLICTING MORTAL WOUNDS WHICH CAUSED HER DEATH ON THE 5TH
DAY OF MARCH, 1986, CONTRARY TO THE FROVISIONS OF SECTION 701.7 OF
OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA;
ROBERT H. MACY
DISTRICT ATTORNEY, DISTRICT NO. 7
QOKLAHORA COUNTY, OKLAHOMA
Ae OE ee SS OE RE CE OO OES NE EE EE EE ET SD SN AE OE AE SE OEE mm NP nee Go eet ES mee Seey ene meme mem se
cree cece eoee eens S008 Cone eres S000 GOES Stee AOD SUES ERPS CEES SOS CLES SEED SETS CER) GUE CESS SEES SORT OEES OOEE OOS SUES Sees StCe Sued WOEE | Oe SEES TEER SUED Gene Sane SENT SERS OUET OOEE SUES FORE CRED AONE NET SES EEE ORNS SE CT AS SS SN LS SS A NS A A A A Te SS SE SS ES ee mS ne eee See Meee wees onto
I, 7 | / BEING DULY SWORN ON MY OATH, DECLARE THAT
THE STATEMENTS SET FORTH IN THE ABOV & INFORMATION ARE TRUE.
BY. oe ee ee a ee
SUBSCRIBED AND SWORM TO BEFORE ME THTS 19 DAY OF MARCH £9Re | —
TOM PETUSKEY, COURY CLERK
on a ne a a
DEPUT
ROBERY 1 tet
DISTRICT ATTORHEY, biovkify wo. 3
OKLAHOMA COUNT Y, QELAHONS
BY __------~- ~~ 2+ nn
fo ASSISTANT DISTRICT ATTORNEY
— ee ee ee
— eee _-e_— oO He
Se Oe Cae Ree mee ee Ce SE ne Oe one om ee EE SEES Set nee See ety oteD SONe SO OOS Ome CONE amet SOR Get Gune See OLE Sune ones oun seme macy auee mons Sem mmm cent met Se _—
we nee
DA NAME OF WITNESSES ~
RVYCHARD T HOWARD 1? Sf adh cet B RUSCHE ria
<'hd Tr
4225 fa Nid fTk 200 N SHARTEL Lo
FIEDNONT, OK 73072 OKE , OK 73192
ae
OFVICER B JAMES #0830
200 N SHARTEL
OKG / , OK 73102
CHARLES GOFORTH® Y
206 N SHARTEL
, OK 73402
DETECTIVE RON MITCHELL #0720
200 N SHARTEL a“
OKC , OK 73102 —
DETECTIVE ERIC MULLENIX
200 N SHARTEL y
wi , OK 73192
ROY GOLIGHTLY
200 N SHARTEL
*. , OK 731902 >. |
SNARON SUE WALKER J
7447 8 I-35 £445 —
WA , OK 73149
SYATE MEDICAL EXAMINER ©
904 N STONEWALL WO
. OKC.., , OK 73117?
arelccn FRANK CARR 20867
200 N SHARTEL /
BA , oK 73102 |
DEVECTIVE SAM SEALY 40566
200 N SHARTEL
OK 73102 |) VY
OKC ; |
ates WILLARD FAIGE
200 N SHARTEL 4
OKC , OK 73102
vebCerive ROR HORN
200 N SHARTEL L
OKC ,», OK 73192
RAY B EDWARDS
, 09000
STEPHEN SMITH
7i42,NW 415TH -
OKC ,», OK 73126
DOANIE CHRISTIAN
209 N SHARTEL
OKC » OK 73102
Y
REVERSE CERTIFICATION STUDY
Re: Sean Richard Sellers AKA Bellofatto Report By: Mary Scherer
‘CRF# 86-1231 & 86-1232 Hearing Date: 5/12/86
DOB: 5/18/69 | Judge: Buford
I. Current Offense:
Sean Sellers is currently charged with three counts of Murder I.
II. Family/Home Situation:
All personal and background information was obtained from inter-
views witn Mr. and Mrs. Blackwell, the maternal grandparents, and Sean
himself.
The juvenile was born in Corcoran, California, where he lived with
his natural parents until the age of three. Natural parents were divorced -
in 1972, and Sean and his mother moved to the home of the maternal’ grand-
parents, Jim and Genieva Blackwell, in Ravia, Oklahoma. Sean was about
four years old at the time.Sean has not had any contact with his natural
father since he was a child. Mr. Blackwell reported that Sean's father
was a talented artist wio had destroyed his life by sniffing glue.
Tne Bellofatto's were married in 1976, but had lived together prior to
tneir marriage. Sean and his parents lived in the Blackwell home for
approximately four years. Sean's mother and step-father were both truck
drivers and were often on tie road for days at a time,. _ seeing
Sean only once or twice a week. Mr. Blackwell indicated that Sean was
a fast learner, and thougn he sometimes got bored in class and would
talk too mucil, ne was never a disciplinary problem in the home or at
school. Mr. Blackwell reported that Sean's mother was very vocal and
emotional in disciplining Sean, and seemed to expect perfection from
ner son. Mr. Blackwell stated that Sean appeared to have a good re-
latioasuip witu his step-father. Mr. Bellofatto, Sean's step-father,
was an ex- Green Beret and was especially proud of Sean's accomplish-
ments in tne Civil Air Patrol.
The family moved back to California for six months and then moved
to McAlister, Oxlanoma wnen Sean was almost nine years old. They remaineu
in McAlister for around two years. Later the family moved to Piedmont,
7
| {i . iat RR ORTTT tie Coe ie
. Okanoma for two or three years. Subsequent moves by the family were to
Greeley, Colorado, back to Okmulgee, Oklahoma, back to Greeley, and
finally to Oklanoma City. While in Greeley, Colorado the last time the
family declared bankruptcy. The family had lived in Oklahoma City for
the last two years.
Sean is the only child of the marriage of of his mother and Mr.
Bellofatto. Sean has a step-brother, Lorne age 21 and a step-sister,
Noelle age 18 by Mr. Bellofatto's previous marriage. Sean's contact with
the step-siblings was relatively minimal in that they lived with their
natural motner in Elgin, Oklahoma. Sean reported that they got along |
fairly well when they were together.
Mr. Blackwell described Sean as very sensitive, a hard worker,
inquisitive, and an avid reader. Sean loved animals and at one time |
talked of studying to become a veterinarian.
Sean admitted that all the moving around had been difficult, but
as an only child he was accustomed to being alone. Sean views himself
as basically a loner with only a few close friends. When asked to
Gcescrive himself, Sean felt he was fun, a good friend, protective,
compassionate, and loving. Sean related that the happiest times in his
life were wnen he was in Colorado with his best friend. Sean stated he
felt the saddest when he perceived he had disappointed his parents
or had not lived up to their expectations of him.
>
III. Scnool distory:
Kindergarten - 3rd grade - Ravia, Oklahoma
Beginning of 4th grade - Los Angeles, California |
Completion of 4tn and 5th grades - Will Rogers Elementary, McAlister,Ok.
6th grade - Middle School - McAlister, Okla.
7th and part of the 8th grade.- Piedmont, Okla.
Completion of 8tn and part of 9th - John Evans Jr. High, Greeley, Colo.
Completion of 9th ~ Morris High School, Okmulgee, Okla. |
Start of 10th grade - Greeley Central High School, Greeley, Colo.
Completion of 10th to current - Putnam City North Hign School, Okla. City.
Sean indicated that while in Jr. High in Piedmont he participated
in footwall, track, weignt-lifting. Sean also played football while
in Colorado. Sean stated that nis current interests are in the areas
of art anu drama. Sean mentioned he also liked to write poetry and
song lyrics. Interviews were held with Sean's teachers and Principal
at Putnam North. A transcript of Sean's grades is attacned to this
report.
Sean transferred to Putnam North the second semester of 1985.
Sean experienced some adjustment problems the first year, but according
to nis teacners he appeared to ve doing better this current year. Sean
made good grades in all his classes and was neither a disciplinary
nor attendance problem. Eacn of Sean's teachers described him as being
intelligent and talented. Sean was basically a loner in class, inter-
acting with only a few classmates except in his Drama class. According
to his drama teacher Sean was extremely well liked and respected in
her class and was an exceptionally good student actor. The teachers
reported only one or two occasions of contact with the family over
Sean's pehavior at school. Sean was involved in one major incident
last year when he brought a Satanic Bible to class. After school on
that day Sean was involved in a fight with several students concerning
this issue. A conference was held with the parents and though they
were concerned with Sean's Satanic interests, they were not overly
alarmed and felt they could control the situation. Of Sean's six
teachers only two were aware of his involvement with satanic rituals.
Sean's art instructor did note that much of Sean's drawings centered
around the Ninja tneme. Overall Sean was considered a good student by
nis teachers.
Iv. Legal History .
Sean Sellers has no previous juvenile or adult record in Oklahoma
County as verified by a records check. Canadian County Court Related
and Community Services unit, which encompasses the Piedmont area, was
also notified and they have no record either of Sean Sellers.
Contact was made with the Greeley, Colorado Police Department
witn an Investigator Clinton, wno reported that Sean Sellers had been
arrested for shoplifting sometime in the summer of 1985. This matter
was hanuled in a diversionary program and no formal court appearance
was involved. Sean was arrested for taking a-bolt of black cloth from
a store.
V. Work iilstory
Sean suas had only one formai employment otner than odd jobs for
tne family. Sean worked for Mazzio's Pizza for approximately i~4
montns, beginning in November, 1985. Sean and his mother both worked
for tie same establishment. June Chadwick, manager of Mazzio's, reports
that Sean was an excellant employee, easy to train, neat in nis appear-
ance, and got along well with the other employees. Sean also seemed to
relate well with nis mother and did not take advantage of ner working
for the same place. Mrs. Chadwick reports that from all outward appear-
ances Sean got along well with his family. Sean never appeared to
apuse drugs or alcohol, and never came to work under the influence of
drugs or alconol.
VI. Personal Interests:
Sean related several major areas of interest in his life. Sean
was interested and active in Ninjit-su, having been introduced to tne
Martial Arts by nis step-father’ nephew several years ago- Sean also
was active in tne Civil Air Patrol both in Oklahoma and in Colorado.
Sean stated he was National Emergency Assistance Training (NEAT)
qualified and was a Cadet Commander while in Colorado. The most pre-
vailing influence in Sean's lifé in the past two years has been a
belief in Satanism. Sean stated that he nad always been interested
in witchcraft, voodoo, and magic and had in the past two years for-
mulated a belief in Satanism. Sean indicated he had read several books
on the subject and had on occasion attempted to persuade others to
join him in his belief. Sean reported that his Satanic interests
' caused prooplems in the family and he had attempted to curtail his
activities, but felt powerless to stop. He stated he did attempt
to keep nis beliefs more private after confrontations with his parents.
Sean reports only occasional usage of drugs or alconol. Sean
also indicated that he had never been involved in any type of formal
counseling. . ‘os
Sean stated that his goals in life are to get out of jail, get
married and have a family, help people escape from Satanism, and live
in tne country. Career goals are in the areas of art, motion picture
special effects, and animation.
Pag Bcliron s[o[%e
OURT
IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF OKLAHOMA OUNME DISTRICT C:
Cy, a AA AA COUNTY, ! OKLA.
STATE OF? OKLAHOMA ADR
| Tern R ehins's cy
THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA, ) ; ~ bp
) so BE
Plaintiff, )
)
oat ) No. CRF-86-1231
) CRF-86-1232
SEAN SELLERS,
|
Defendant. )
MOTION TO DISMISS
Comes now SEAN SELLERS, de<endant, a person under the age
of eighteen (18) years and moves the court to dismiss the above
styled cause for the following reasons:
1) He is under the age of eighteen (18) years.
2) He has never been certified to stand trial as an adult.
3) He has never been adjudicated as a delinquent child for
any crime ennumerated in 10 0.S. Supp §1104.2.
4) The provisions of 10 O.S. Supp 1979 §1101(a), §1104.2 _ .
and §1112(a) create an unconstitutional presumption that
sixteen or seventeen year old persons accused of certain
offenses ennumerated in §1104.2 are to be treated as adults in
violation of the Oklahoma Constitution and the Fifth and
Fourteenth: Amendments to the United States Constitution.
| 5) Title 10 O.S. Supp. 1979 §1104.2 violates the Oklahoma
Constitution and the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments to the
United States Constitution by shifting the burden of proof to
prove he is a child. |
6) The provisions of 10 0.S. §1104.2(c) violate defendant's
right to not incriminate himself at the certification stage of
the proceedings because defendant must discuss the offense in
order to carry his burden of proving he is a child.
7) The provisions of 10 0.5. Supp. 1979 §1101(a) and
(b) (3), §1104.2, §1109(a) and §1112(a) and the application of
said statutes deny equal protection of law in violation of the
Oklahoma Constitution and the Fourteenth Amendment to the
f
7
United States Constitution.
8) The provisions of 10 0.S. Supp. 1979 §1101(a) and
(b) (3), §1104.2, §1109(a), §1112 are unconstitutionally vague
in violation of the Oklahoma Constitution and the Fifth and
Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution.
9) The provisions of 10 0.S. Supp. 1979 §1101(a) and
(b) (3), §1104.2, 51109 (a) and §1112 (a) deny defendant due
process of law in violation of the Oklahoma Constitution and
the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States
Constitution.
10) The provisions of 10 0.S. Supp. 1979 §1101(a) and
(b) (3), §1104.2, §1109(a) and §1112(a) provide the same
essential procedure as 10 0.S. Supp. 1978 1104.2 and §1112 (b)
which were declared unconstitutional in State ex rel Coats v.
Johnson, 597 P2d 328 (Ok. Crim. 1979).
WHEREFORE, defendant prays the court grant the above
requested relief.
Respectfully submitted
Knaeinn.
KINDANNE JONES
Assistant Public Defender
ATTORNEY FOR DEFENDANT
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
This is to certify that a true and correct copy of the
above and foregoing MOTION TO DISMISS was served on the office
of the District Attorney, Oklahoma County Courthouse, Oklahoma
City, Oklahoma, this )b/“Say of April, 1986.
Kenda 0 <don a)
KINDANNE JONES
IN THE DISTRICT COURT Cr OKLAHOMA COUNTY
STATE OF OKLAHOMA
THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA, )
)
Plaintiff, )
)
-vs- ) No. CRF-86-1231
) CRF-86-1232
SEAN SELLERS, )
)
)
Accused Person
MOTION TO CERTIFY AS A CHILD
COMES NOW the accused person and moves the court to certify
him as a child pursuant to 10 O.S. 51104.2.
WHEREFORE, the accused person prays the court grant the
above requested relief.
Respectfully submitted,
Lindeints Apr 23
KINDANNE JONES //
Assistant Public Defender
ATTORNEY FOR JUVENILE
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
This is to certify that a true and correct copy of the
above and foregoing MOTION TO CERTIFY AS A CHILD was served to
Assistant District Attorney, Oklahoma County Courthouse,
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, this /‘/” “Gay of April, 1986.
KINDANNE JONES “
IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF OKLAHOMA COUNTY
STATE OF OKLAHOMA
THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA,
Plaintiff,
SEAN RICHARD SELLERS
)
)
)
)
VS. ) CRF-86-1231
)
)
aka SEAN RICHARD BELLOFATO,
)
Defendant.
BILL OF PARTICULARS
IN RE: PUNISHMENT
I, the undersigned Distriet Attorney of the Seventh Judicial District, Oklahoma
County, State of Oklahoma, do upon my official oath further state the said Court to
know and be informed, that the offense of Murder In The First Degree as charged within
the original Information, was eommitted by the said Sean Richard Sellers, named therein
and should be punished by death, due to and as a result of the following aggravating
circumstances, to-wit: |
1. | The murder was especially heinous, atrocious, or cruel.
2. The existence of a probability that the defendant would commit criminal
acts of violence that would constitute a continuing threat to society.
ROBERT H. MACY
DISTRICT ATTORNEY
BY:
WENDELL I. SMITH
Assistant District Attorney
A copy of this Bill of Particulars in Rem Punishment was served on the Defendant,
Sean Richard Sellers, this 12th day of May, 1986.
A copy of this Bill of Particulars In Rem Punishment was served on Robert A.
Ravitz, Attorney for the Defendant, this 13th day of May, 1986.
/ —WENDELL I. SMITH
Assistant District Attorney
WIS/be
IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF OKLAHOMA COUNTY
STATE OF OKLAHOMA
THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA,
Plaintiff,
SEAN RICHARD SELLERS
)
)
)
)
VS. ) CRF-86-1232
)
)
aka SEAN RICHARD BELLOFATO,
)
Defendant.
BILL OF PARTICULARS
IN RE: PUNISHMENT
I, the undersigned District Attorney of the Seventh Judicial District, Oklahoma
County, State of Oklahoma, do upon my official oath further state the said Court to
know and be informed, that the offenses of Murder In The First Degree as charged within
the original Information, were committed by the said Sean Richard Sellers, named
therein and should be punished by death, due to and as a result of the following
aggravating circumstances, to-wit:
1. The defendant knowingly created a great risk of death to more than one
person.
2. The murders were especially heinous, atrocious, or cruel.
3. The.existence of a probability that the defendant would commit criminal
acts of violence that would constitute a continuing threat to society.
ROBERT H. MACY
DISTRICT ATTORNEY
BY:
WENDELL I. SMITH
Assistant District Attorney
A copy of this Bill of Particulars in Rem Punishment was served on the Defendant,
Sean Richard Sellers, this 12th day of May, 1986.
A copy of this Bill of Particulars In Rem Punishment was served on Robert A.
Ravitz, Attorney for the Defendant, this 12th day of May, 1986.
WENDELL I. SMITH
WIS/be Assistant District Attorney
Renn _fZ 37
eg a feted xo 7
a oY Oklahoma County
State of Oklahoma
VOLUNTARY STATEMENT
DATE: Mar. 6, 1985 PLACE: OKC POLICE DEPT., HOMICIDE DETAIL ime: 7:48 p.m. 7
RELATIVE TO: HOMICIDE OF ROBERT BOWERS OCCURRING: __0215 hrs.
- (Time)
8/85 » 12237 N.Council Rd. CIRCLE K 2
(Date) (Place)
I, the undersigned, RICHARD THOMAS HOWARD, II » of _ 1225 NW 7th,
, 3
Piedmont, OK » being ]7 years of age, born at Anadarko, OK
on 7/05/68 , do hereby make the following statement to
NET F _MULLENTX..B. COOK & R. MITCHELL _, they having first identified themselves as
. POLICE OFFICERS. _, knowing that I may have an attorney in
my behalf present and that I do not have to make any statement nor incriminate myself in any
manner. J make this statement voluntarily, of my own free will, knowing that such statement
could later be used against me in any Court of law, and I declare that this statement is
made without any threat, coercion, offer of benefit, favor or offer of favor, leniency or
offer of leniency by any person or persons whomsoever, and that if I cannot afford an attorne
that one will be appointed by the Court free of charge. I also understand that I may stop
answering questions at any time that I desire, or stop the questioning for the purpose of
consulting an attorney. -
Do you understand your rights as listed above? on. °-
Are you willing to waive these rights and give a statement? Men °
Can you read and write?
Yes
Do you know a man by the name of SEAN BELLOFATTO?
Yes
Does he go by any other last names?
Yea, I know of another last name being SELLERS
In the early morning hours of Sunday, 9/08/85, did you have occasion to be with
SEAN BELLOFATTO?
Yes.
0.K. Please explain in your own words what happened on that date?
On that night TRACY, SEAN and his date’we went out messing around, and we took his
date home, then went to Circle K on the way to TRACY's house, stopped in, got
something to drink, 0.K. took TRACY home, went to my grandparent's house, waited
there for a little while, SEAN was telling me about how he wanted to kill somebody
to see what it felt like and we decided to go see jf TRACY would be awake, and when
we got in the car and got it moving, he showed me he had the gun. O.K. we decided
to stop at Circle K and get some gas, put some gas in the car, I went in to pay
and SEAN got out of the car and was messing around and I came back to the car and
SEAN says he's going in for a second, I said 0.K. and I'd pull the car up to the
door, 0.K. he was inside for a little bit, him-and the guy that worked there came
outside, went over to his car, I got out and went over there too, started to push in
the clutch, let the car roll back, started it and pulled forward, 0.K. I told him I
thought it was fine, said a couple more things to him, went and got back in my Car,
by this time SEAN and him went in the store, was at the front counter talking and
stuff, looked like SEAN was about to leave, and the guy looked like he was about
to drink something, pop or something, SEAN pulled out the gun, shot at him and missed,
they moved around, both of them, and it_looked like SEAN fired a few more shots and
then they went off where I couldn't see them. SEAN came back out, got in the car and
e 1TTe im, and we left. We went to my grandparent's
house, I got out, went inside, SEAN came behind me after a while, went back into
-—- my bedroom, he told me to come with him and put up the gun,—t- opened the briefcase
I have read or have had read to me the foregoing statement consisting of 7 pages and
the facts contained therein are true and
<
WITNESSES
Cibarad F Weuwaed TE
SIGNATURE OF PERSON GIVING STATEMENT
a
Kp Me cht
y oF STATEMENT GIVEN BY RICHARD THOMAS HOWARD, TI
SEAN put the gun in the briefcase, we shut it and went back to my bedroom.
At the beginning of the statement you mentioned the name TRACY, please tell us
who TRACY is |
At the time she was my girlfriend and now she's my wife.
You mentioned that you and SEAN were driving the car that night, whose car was it?
My car.
What kind and color is your car? \
1976 Malibu, Chevy Malibu or Malibu Chevy, firethorne red is the color.
Which Circle K did you and SEAN go that night where these events occurred.
O.K. on NW Council and 122nd St., southwest corner.
Which way does the front door of the Circle K face? -
East, faces the east.
What time did you and SEAN go to the store when the shooting occurred?
After 12:00 midnight
You mentioned a gun, whose gun was it?
My grandfather, JACK COLLIER, gun.
Is the gun kept in your grandfather's house?
At that time, yes.
Who got the gun?
SEAN
Describe the gun.
Stainless Steel .357
Where does your grandfather reside, live? At the time. .
He lives between two houses, the one in Piedmont and the apartment complex on
; Madison, 219 E. Madison.
Which residence did you go to when you got the gun?
The one in Piedmont. .
Did you know the night attendant?
I knew him but not by name, just by talking to him.
|
What did the night attendant look like? | | | |
Short, skinny, long haired, beard, glasses, and tattoos, like a hippy more or less. —
When these events occurred, did you have the same hair style?
It was a little bit different than it is now, a little bit fuller.
Did SEAN tell you why he shot the clerk?
Yes, for the way it felt, the feel of it, to see what it felt like.
PO FO FPO FO POU
State of Oklahoma, Oklahoma County, SS: .
I have read or have had read to me the foregoing statement consisting of 3 pages -
and the facts contained therein are true and correct.
COMA & Rb rs fo
SIGNATURE OF PERSON GIVING STATEMENT
WITNESSES:
gATEMENT GIVEN BY RICHARD THOMAS HOWARD. TI
me of Oklahoma, Oklahoma County, SS:
igeubscribed and sworn to before me, a notary Public, in and for the State of Oklahoma,
F Oklahoma County, this 6th day of March, Es
P; bs Hi )
~ NOTARY PUBLIC
MY COMMISSION EXPIRES: 6/01/88
e
I have read or have had read to me the foregoing statement consisting of _ pages
and the facts contained therein are true and correct.
= OBL aK
SIGNATURE OF PERSON GIVING STATEMENT -
WITNESSES:
Oklahoma County
State of Oklahoma
VOLUNTARY STATEMENT
LACE: OKC POLICE DEPT., HOMICIDE UNIT TIME: 5:52 p.m. :
JF PAUL LEON BELLOFATTO & VONDA M. BELLOFATT@®ccurRING: 3/05/86
' (Time)
7139 NW 115th, Okla City, OK >
(Place)
ge -s __ RICHARD THOMAS HOWARD, TL | , of 1227 7th St,
)
& » OK | being 17__years of age, born at Anadarko, OK
\
Adm 7/05/68 _- , do hereby make the following statement to
-@ Det. W.Paige _, they having first identified themselves as
_, knowing that I may have an attorney in
and that 1 do not have to make any statement nor incriminate myself in any
_ this statement voluntarily, of my own free will, knowing that such statement
pe used against me in any Court of law, and I declare that this statement is
cnout any threat, coercion, offer of benefit, favor or offer of favor, leniency or
er of eleniency by any person or persons whomsoever, and that if I cannot afford an attorney
chat one will be appointed by the Court free of charge. I also understand that I may stop
answering questions at any time that I desire, or stop the questioning for the purpose of
consulting an attorney.
Do you understand your rights as listed above? yk °°
Are you willing to waive these rights and give statement? Ade °
How much education have you had?
All the way through the 10th grade:
Can you read and write? | a .
Yes
Are you familiar with VONDA and PAUL BELLOFATTO?
Yes |
How do you know them? .
I was friends with their son for about 5 years.
And who is their son?
SEAN RICHARD BELLOFATTO or SELLERS.
Do you have information in reference to the homicides of VONDA and PAUL BELLOFATTO?
' Yes, |
If you would in your own words, tell me what you know.
I know that SEAN BELLOFATTO said he killed his parents and brought a gun to my house
on the 4th or Tuesday, SEAN BELLOFATTO came to my house at about between 12:00 and .
2:00 a.m. and he came to my house and knocked on the door and I_let him in _and_he came.
in and he started talking and stuff and he told me that he shot his mom and dad.
Then after a little bit he told me how he shot them.- He said that after he come home
-from work between 10:00 p.m. and 10:30 p.m., and he went home and I don't know exactly
what he did the full time, but he shot them. SEAN said he went in there with only’
his underwear on and the gun, and he got real close to his dad and shot him in the
back “of the head. tnt snot eth an and she lifted her head, he didn't say if she
lifted it in pain or like death, and shot her again. Then he turned on the light
to make sure they were both dead and I guess he turned it off and he took the gun and
he wrapped it up in a towel, took a shower, got dressed, went outside to see if anybod
had heard the gunshots, and it didn't look like they had, came back in the house and
got the gun, opened the back glass sliding door a little bit, and I guess he went
out the front door and locked it, came to my house and then after that he asked or
told that he didn't want to go to sleep right now and he decided that we were all goin
I have read or_have had read to mg.the foregoing statement consisting of ~3 pages and
the facts Atdined therein Ar rue and corr
17, ttt toni 2 CUA
pr LI [MAIS
\ luz, SIGNATURE OF PERSON GIVING STATEMENT
Ltp Ll! H Cg?
PO PO rO Pro PO rO YO
WITNESSES:
S? OF STATEMENT GIVEN By RICHARD THOMAS HOWARD, II
HOMICIDE OF PAUL LEON BELLOFATIO & VONDA M, BELLOFATIO
to go to his house and at that time 1 didn't know what to do, so I took the gun and
hid it for him, we went to sleep. He woke me up the next morning, me and TRACY my
wife, and I had kinda forgotten about it, as much as I could, and I was just gonna go
along with what he said at the time. We went to his house, we stopped at Mazzios
before we went to his house, 0.K. then we went to his house after we stopped at Mazzios,
pulled up in front of the house and SEAN got out of the car and went in as planned,
‘came out hollaring for me to come in, I went in and saw his mom and his dad dead,
or they looked like they were dead, I don't know if they were dead or not. We went
outside, SEAN was running around to the neighbor's houses, 0.K., we told somebody to
call the Police and an ambulance. I wasn't sure that they did, so I tried to call
them, but by this time the neighbor came over and said that he called, so I sat the
phone down and the neighbor asked me what was wrong and I told him what was wrong,
he wanted to go in and see what happened. I pointed out the room, looked in again and
had to leave and by..after a little bit we waited for the ambulance to show up, they
arrived, I took them in and pointed them out, went outside again and then the Fire
Dept. showed up and the Police Dept., and I started talking to an ambulance attendant
and filling out questions or giving answers, and then the Detectives came and so I
answered questions for them.
Q: Where did you hide the gun?
A: In my house. Ina vent, air vent.
Q: Did you ultimately remove that gun from the first hiding place and hide it somewhere
else? |
A: Yes. I put it in a pizza box, it was wrapped up in a towel when SEAN brought it over
there, put the gun the towel and all in the pizza box, plus a trash bag, and put it
in a trash can outside my house, my grandparent's house. 501 164th St., Piedmont, OK.
Q: Richard did you accompany Det. Pacheco and myself to that address in Piedmont and
how us where you hid the gun? . |
A: Yes. |
Q: Did you:ever actually touch metal parts of the gun? .
A: No I didn't. |
Q: Did SEAN explain to you why he opened the back glass door in his parent's bedroom?
‘A: To throw the Police off of who did it. He just said he opened the back door so the
Police would think they came in that way.
Q: Did he make any statements to you about his plans of the murders?
. A: He told me that he thought he pulled it off very well or very good.
Q: Did SEAN make any statements to you as to what he might do if he was caught by the
Police? | |
A: He told me word for word "He'd plead insanity and if he went to Jail he would practice
on his art and would PRESS pen Priest in the Satanic Church”. He told me after
he shot them, after he *shot/ We"dad I mean, this is his words word for word "He
started laughing and felt real cold, cold hearted inside”.
Q: Whose idea was it to hide the gun?
A: It was mine to hide it and his idea to dispose of it. I wanted to hide it because
I didn't know what I was gonna do yet about telling the Police and I wanted to keep
track of it. He wanted to ato, it in a lake or told me to get rid of it, whatever.
. . 4 e
I have read or have had read to me the foregoing statement consisting of ) pages
and the al ae therein are true and correct
Nn he pf dA 0 Drbstszonf?
Cog”
VR4 (oc SIGNATURE OF PERSON GIVING STATEMENT
eV OF STATEMENT GIVEN By RICHARD THOMAS HOWARD, JI
U Pe ON OFATTO £2 VONDA Mp OF ATTO
Richard if you would, tell me your whereabouts on the evening of March 4, 1985, prior
to SEAN coming to your house.
Me and my wife went to work between 5:00 and 6:00 p.m. and we statyed there until
about 11:00 or 11:15 p.m. and we went home, we first stopped by 7-11 and played a
couple of video games, we left at 11:45 p.m., it was at the 7-11 on Council, right
across the street from Burger King, right next door to Courtesy Auto Parts, then we
went home, we got home by 12:00 midnight, and laid down, ate some Pizza Rolls, watched
some TV, then TRACEY fell asleep and I was about to fall asleep, when I heard SEAN
at the back door.
State of Oklahoma, Oklahoma County, SS:
Subscribed and sworn to before me, a Notary Public, in and for said ns and State
this 6th day of March, 1986. zal
wat PUBLIC
. MY COMMISSION EXPIRES: 6/01/88
I have read or have had read to me the foregoing statement consisting of Zs pages
and the fac tained therein are true and Cdl. Lz
‘WITNESSES: yy, Liyedell L CPL. 22-2
bbl (é. Ll SIGNATURE OF PERSON GIVING STATEMENT
%
fey oh!
rey, ty }
¢
Ata rt a iter
Syl a | | i to | The State Newspaper. Since 1907 Wine i | | ye | isha
OKLAHOMA CITY, OK ee re 0 TUESDAY, APRIL 15, 1986 sett Tato ee gages eee" 36 PAGES 25¢
f Oe BOR ‘oa
A) Sean ek on . eared
why he did it or give me :: “her” head, “so he shot . tevolver owned by the
‘peal reason: or. any-’: a ‘her’ again,” Howard tes- © Bellafattos and found in
Mae. lke that,t Howard. « tifled.. She died from two a garbage can at
ee ee “gunshot, ‘wounds ( to the , Howard's home: The
Taine to ‘the tea! head, Seat Me. “elerk was ‘shot’ withia
imony,: Sellers said he |" . Their ‘deaths were dis- :397 Magnum’ owned byes
‘went. into h parontst covered alter Sellers; Howard S & earealneh is
{he expert said,
| ' From Page 1
Teen Admitted Slayings, _ ;
| ine Bellofatto,’'32,'"an
Friend Testifies at Hearing Pao
‘ their. far northwes
. _ ByNolanClay © — “He said, all of a sud- + Piedmont, testified af- lahoma City home. eae
' A teen-ager admitted den, he felt real.chilled ter a first-degree murd- eg ap
killing a store clerk “to out,” testified Richard “er charge against him ii TKS “s vin a edroom:: wearing | only/~ screaming for help, got:
See what it felt like” Thomas Howard Il. Sell. was dropped in ex- Robert P aul: Bower! ay Bs Bt ie announced 2 hi : underwear,: ‘shat a Ca! ‘neighbor to. call Do! OR ere defender hoy
_and, months later, kil- ers also reported laugh- change for his coopera- 70 Edmond, early Sept. + ‘ded: Rey eeplng paentsss.th “a lice. Sellers'then told in- . - Howard's et :
- ling his parents as they. ing after shooting his tion.
“ slept, a friend testified stepfather, he said. Sellers, 4 student at
* Monday. If caught, “he said Putnam City North High
“ Murder defendant he’d probably plead in- School before his arrest,
ichard Sellers, Sanity,” Howard testi- remains charged with
1G Tolate aard Seren i fied. three counts of first-de-
\“‘real calm and col- — The testimony Mon- murder.
stad’? inei : He is accused of kil-
lected’’ inside after day came at a prelimi- ling his mother and 4
‘sInside the Circle K stor oy , “4
fain, Ceci ox Amy npender el tone tan, SM cid |
‘SI | ‘overnight trip to find ; vas a joke; had” once.
Is parenis dead. He ; » pointed his finger.at®:
as arrested once in-. Sejjers’ parents “and;:
“vestigators became Con- °. gone, ‘Bang, Bang,’ as:if"*
*Vinced that was a ruse. yg y were. ‘Shooting. |
e. shot. his. stepfather’. A police gun expert > them?” :..* Eats
ce . t
‘death’ ‘penalty;: but.d
‘alens¢. attorneys ares) got, ;
‘Asking ‘that eee }
shooting his parents in nary hearing in Oklaho- 1a Tae rst, “and, Yshot iat his}. said the bullets’were':’. ‘Never, no, sir one
their heads, the friend ma County District ‘Stepfather, Vonda Max- y (ense request is set for 9°. ulled. oa t en alten hk - other, who then ralsed fired from A4- caliber Howard said. = 2 anes
said. Court. Howard, 17, of See HEARING, Page 2 "am! May:12. Associate vi Pulled. the’ trigger, Cas Bits soe ER eR ERLE e | We Mae
« stopped: feeling everythe
i nih ¥
Buford reserved role jit ing.'e Bengt a
i Sees evidence i: i} Sellers also described
pilnst: Seliers is! suffi-;4:' what‘it; was. like, to, Kill
‘atrial: until his parents. and. that hej:
| ; iirict Judge Manville: :
_ ml a
ipa, He Be OBS ae lanned it ‘all day, butt:
Moward told the judge? be didnt; reveal: ajrea-|
: A essed ind vas uh On. lovers, sald, Aa).
q ae i i 7 i ei
fae ue aie uA : ydid nt AY
aa The State Newspaper ‘Since 1907 ay, pen
" aS ti (yeh 5 oes ne , eee ‘ |
OKLAHOMA CITY, OK en W Sonle offeTUESDAY, MAY, 13, 1986” 32 PAGES | am"
ee nani A) Es Bh iy ian ~ ig
Te to Stand Trial « A ‘in 3 D
iby
een to Stan rial as’ dult tin 3D
ean ” By Nolan Giey cae -years from how 4s'on ‘on May 18, 1988. yh wee
ern drobth ik friend in April ah ould
"Tass dan Sen Hichatd Sete, : He is acciised Bi the er shooting, a ns, “ike. he o Milled the clerk “to see What it felt «
_cruit other youths and carry a ‘satanic joafatto, 32, ane Paul Laon Bellofatto, a My Testimony and” evidence’ ‘Monday re-
bible’ to school, was ordered Monday to ag they slept early March’5 at their far ‘vealed the extent of Sellers’ beliefs in sa- :
* face trial as an adult on charges he killed — northwest Oklahoma City home,” »tanism for the first time. °°", ay
his parents and a convenience store clerk. -Mary Sch f th tv's Juvenile
‘He also is accused of gunning down Rob-! *\ Mary Scherer of the county's uven oa
» Oklahoma County Associate District . ért Paul Bower, 35, of Edmond, éarly Sept. - Bureau testified Sellers told her he “was “
-Jiidge Manville T. Buford, saying he can- - § inside the Circle K store a how 129 dad’ di” “into satanism” but had changed since be-
‘hot ‘gamble on the safety of the public,” — Council Road. ™ yr \ ing jailed. : te
refused a defense request to certify Sell- " “He said in essence that ‘he was a_
ers, 16, a child. His defense attorney sad, “Mr. Sellers Christian conversion,” said Scherer, who
After the hearing, Assistant District At- . did not commit this crime. _ preparec a background report on Sellers :,
torney Wendell Smith handed Sellers “a Assistant public defender Bob Ravitz for the judge.
bill of particulars,” the legal notice that Said he was shocked and horrified at the ,. ; Sellers told her he had an interest in ©
the death penalty will be sought at trial, .. Tequest for the death penalty, ~ witchcratt, voodoo and magic for several
Had he been certified a juvenile and Authorities have questioned the link be- . Years, she testified. “He said in the last
convicted in juvenile court, Sellers would tween Sellers’ interest in satanism and the . couple of years he had formulated a»
“have been released when he turned 19 two _ killings since finding satanic books in his See TEEN, Page 2 BS ary coe peptahewertiaritin oi Sudelilicsl
~~ r ‘a ba a 6 fa 1 = BEBO Dip res Gtk ATES bet tho pa 8 hee po deo ae
Sie FEEL RRESREPUBGRAN GRUB S GS Ggec 25 ER ES |
SES age SEC eee poeR gives Prone SEGke SEE ESR Rac “@
aQhiig bac aege@eeceseg des yAlepe REP ge cee ea hed. £
: ” or ee ee Ds oo i “Aud “oO =f hs a, fey a
oes. Bae As = 8 BRSESS SSSR Su rea BS SSsee sae Bae: @
; ‘¥ ae si hl ~ 4” a Bee 2 Wn $8 8 «)) oe ee oo ee Beto DB BN chs
‘sie 8 sar: Pees Fletistita! gikucmee Sagelce bee Se go
“ oe Pn Be pe + Q 4.78 Ea ‘er ro vs sai be Gs es DB: ce Sete SP a.” elit SA = ge MA |
tat me “ReaGoames tt a: @) Beg bye BB tO Beehsag ee Be *
‘pe ae om o ars me a ‘2 Ba “ee, gc 8 BB ao a m= oR Cag E
gig Ga eg 8. Ay a ee B10 py. Fy ete ae q 30, Pig Og Sg Bae Bs gee ga Bag
Bate. AL: Aa ee E RSP SMR RR ERR SEA Re
PoP Reese SERSSS aa SE eek rae RB Be Sa
Bas ay Baaee =) = E er? ic) gee. ig 8 LBS 3 Osa SA Es ow A: eo ° ee
oe See i PAGER UP RES ON R Ese SB ek ee
“BESRE. G8 esas gf sesee gen8 EEE BS: § oi eee eee,
ieee a2 BGR aS eS Rov eB ko essg eRe Chee rt SE os
98 SE EF SER oss § et°3 Bye g BS poe a eh. QFB4 Shed Beat
QT eee ES EASE TG REGS AR BeBe Res no Gite BB se B.
ag sa Beare aye ROBLBBR. Bobs EBS s “BE gage G2 or 3
‘io OER Pasa tee Ra phe Sah ae . om. GE Sale. Sear
28 2s a5 = Pes" BB ee - res. Bo am ag saa nS re 6
ry Fe, .8 © Ea * vase Oa 9.4 StS 425 5 20°: oS - Suga ° =) Q
S on | 33 2 ‘ a anys A. ee gs ~! GQ a 4 po TA Er tn |
88 GS ER skochoceebe geen Sess Ga Eesk ge Be
PUBLIC DEFENDER OF OKLAHOMA COUNTY
409 COUNTY OFFICE BUILDING
320 ROBERT S. KERR AVE.
OKLAHOMA CITY, OKLAHOMA 73102
405-236-2727 EXT. 582
T. HURLEY JORDAN ROBERT A. RAVITZ
PUBLIC DEFENDER FIRST ASSISTANT PUBLIC DEFENDER
May 20, 1986
Professor Victor Streib
Cleveland-Marshall
College of Law
1801 Euclid Avenue
Cleveland, Ohio 44115
Dear Professor Streib,
Please find enclosed the materials you requested on Sean
Sellers' cases. Including the information, publicity, background
information, and statements made by Richard Howard - the co-
defendant in one case who turned states evidence in both cases -
for a five year deferred sentence for accessory after the fact -
let me know what further information will be of assistance to you.
Sean's first trial is set for September 15, 1986. At this time
we are not sure which will be going on that date. We will let you
know as soon as we find out. You will probably be testifying late
in the week of September 15 or early in the week of September 22.
Once again we will have a better idea as the time gets closer.
Thank you for the information you sent on juveniles and the death
penalty. It is very helpful. Also, thank you for your interest in
this case and your willingness to help. We will keep you informed on
the status of the case throughout the summer. Take Care.
Sincerely, .
Kindanne ©.
KINDANNE C. JONES ¥V
Assistant Public Defender
KCJ sat
CS. — Cleveland-Marshail College of Law
1801 Euclid Avenue
Cleveland, Ohio 44115
Telephone: (216) 687-2344
|
September 2, 1986
Ms, Kindanne C. Jones
Assistant Public Defender
409 County Office Building
320 Robert S. Kerr Avenue
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73102
Re: State v. Sean Sellers
Dear Ms. Jones:
Enclosed is my latest report on juveniles on death
row. Would it be helpful for me to prepare a report on
the juvenile death sentence in Oklahoma throughout his-
tory? This might be more relevant in the Sellers case
than general testimony about the national and international
scene.
Sincerely,
Veter & LO | ph
Victor L. Streib
Professor of Law
VLS : am
Enclosure
September 30, 1986
Ms Kindanne C. Jones
Assistant Public Defender
409 County Office Buildine
3293 Robert §&. Kerr Avenue
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73192
Re: State v. Sean Sellers
Dear Kindy:
Enclosed is a report I have prepared for your use in the sentencing
hearing in the Sellers case. As we discussed last night by telephone, I will
fly in to Oklahoma City late Wednesday evening, October lst, and be available
to testify at any time on Thursday, Octeber 2nd. See you then.
Sincerely,
Victor L. Streib
Professor of Law
DEATH PENALTY FOR JUVENILES IN OKLAHOMA
by
Victor L. Streib
Professor of Law
Cleveland-Marshall College of Law
Cleveland State University
Cleveland, Ohio 44115
(216) 687-2311
Prepared for use in
sentencing hearing,
STATE OF OKLAHOMA v. SEAN SELLERS
September 30, 1986
©)
Victor L. Streib
1986
The death penalty for crimes committed while under age
eighteen is a rapidly fading practice. It has already
disappeared in western European countries and industrial
democracies in general. While it has been part of the American
criminal justice system since colonial times, the clear trend in
this country is away from this practice. The State of Oklahoma
apparently has legally authorized this practice since admission
to statehood on November 16, 1907, but no persons have ever been
executed in Oklahoma for crimes committed while under the age of
eighteen.
JUVENILE DEATH SENTENCING LAWS
In 1982 the United States Supreme Court decided the case of
Eddings v. Oklahoma (455 U.S. 104). While Eddings did not decide
the constitutionality of the death penalty for juveniles, it did
establish the constitutional requirement that the youth of the
offender be given great weight as a mitigating factor in choosing
between the death penalty and other available punishments for
murder. This had been the practice of almost all jurisdictions
prior to 1982 anyway but the Court raised that practice to a
constitutional requirement.
Since Eddings, many appellate courts have addressed the
constitutionality of the death penalty for juveniles. A few have
erroneously concluded that Eddings found no constitutional bar to
this practice. (See, e.g., State v. Battle, 661 S.W.2d 487 (Mo.
1983) (en banc), cert. denied, 104 S.Ct. 2325 (1984).) This
finding, of course, was expressly avoided by the Supreme Court in
Eddings. Another group of cases has agreed that Eddings did not
settle the constitutionality issue but then went on to decide
—-2-
themselves that no constitutional bar exists. (See, e.g.,
Trimble v. State, 300 Md. 387, 478 A.2d 1143 (1984).) These
cases are not final determinations of the constitutionality issue
and generally have not given sufficient consideration to the many
factors involved.
A third group of cases has confronted the constitutionality
issue and left it undecided. (See, e.g., Cannaday v. State, 455
So.2d 713 (Miss. 1984).) However, these cases have manifested
great reluctance to endorse the death penalty for juveniles. A
fourth group of cases has considered the great weight to be given
the youth of the offender and then found it to be so compelling
that the death penalty must be reversed. (See, e.g., State v.
Valencia, 132 Ariz. 248, 645 P.2da 239 (1982) .)
The conclusion from all of these cases is that no court has
yet found the death penalty for juveniles to be unconstitutional.
However, if a court were to give thorough consideration to all of
the factors involved in this issue, it seems likely that a
finding of unconstitutionality could be made. (See, e.g.,
Streib, "The Eighth Amendment and Capital Punishment for
Juveniles," 34 CLEVE. ST. L. REV. ---- (1986).)
Of the thirty-six states which currently have valid death
penalty laws, twenty-seven have expressly established minimum
ages for imposition of that penalty. Another six states have
included express statements requiring consideration of the youth
of the offender as a mitigating factor in sentencing hearings in
death penalty cases. The other three death penalty states,
including among them Oklahoma, have made no express mention of
— F-
youth as a mitigating factor but clearly allow for it under more
general language allowing a wide range of mitigating factors. In
any event, Eddings requires that the youth of the offender be
given great weight as a mitigating factor regardless of the
presence or absence of express statutory language.
JUVENILE DEATH SENTENCING PRACTICE
Despite authorization under law for imposing the death
penalty for juvenile crimes, judges and juries have been most
reluctant to do so. This extreme reluctance is even more
apparent in Oklahoma than it has been in the other death penalty
states.
In the past nine years, approximately 2,150 death sentences
have been imposed by judges and juries in all of the death
penalty states. Of these 2,150 death sentences, approximately
seventy (3%) have been for crimes committed by juveniles. While
the data for previous periods is unavailable in any detail, it
seems apparent that this rarity of juvenile death sentences has
always existed.
The Oklahoma experience during the past nine years has been
even more striking than the national experience. of
approximately 100 total death sentences imposed, apparently only
one has been for crimes committed while under age eighteen. This
one juvenile death sentence was for Wayne Thompson, sentenced to
death on Janaury 6, 1984. Two other juvenile death sentences
were imposed in the mid-1970s, that of John Boutwell and Monty
Eddings. However, in the most recent period for which accurate
data are available, it appears that juvenile death sentences
accounted for only 1% of all Oklahoma death sentences.
—d-
Even once these very few juveniles have been sentenced to
death, the reversal rate for these juvenile death sentences has
been exceptionally high. This is indicated by data concerning
current death row populations. As of August 1, 1986, 1,765
persons were under a sentence of death. Of these 1,765 persons
on death row, only thirty-three (1.9%) were under juvenile death
sentences. The Oklahoma data are even more convincing. Of the
sixty-two persons on Oklahoma's death row, only one (1.6%) is
under a juvenile death sentence.
EXECUTIONS FOR JUVENILE DEATH SENTENCES
As rare as juvenile death sentences are, actual execution of
persons who receive such sentences is even more uncommon.
Reasonably reliable data exist for the period from 1915 to the
present. During this seventy-one year period, 5,619 persons have
been lawfully executed in the various United States
jurisdictions. Of these 5,619 executions, only 155 (2.8%) have
been executions under juvenile death sentences.
In Oklahoma, the data on executions are most revealing.
Oklahoma has executed eighty-three persons since 1915, but
Oklahoma has never executed anyone for a crime committed while
under age eighteen. This fact demonstrates in the most
convincing way possible the Oklahoma attitude toward the death
penalty for juveniles.
The youngest person ever executed in Oklahoma history was
George Oliver, executed on August 25, 1933, for a crime he
committed at age eighteen. This execution, carried out over half
a century ago, is the closest Oklahoma has ever come to the death
penalty for juveniles. Oklahoma's last execution was of thirty-
year-old Donald French on August 10, 1966, and no prisoners have
been executed under current Oklahoma laws.
CONCLUSIONS
As of September 20, 1986, the death penalty for juveniles is
apparently authorized under the laws of Oklahoma as well as many
other death penalty states. However, the total number of death
sentences actually imposed for juvenile crime nationwide has been
declining rapidly to a rate of about 3% of all death sentences
during the past decade. During the past two years, they have
dropped even further to about 1% of all death sentences. In
Oklahoma, the trend is even clearer. Oklahoma has not imposed
any juvenile death sentence in over two and one-half years.
The percentage of those on death row for juvenile crimes
nationwide has been dropping also, now well under 2%. Oklahoma
has only one person now on death row for a juvenile crime. And,
most importantly, actual executions for juvenile crimes are
extremely rare in the United States. Oklahoma has never executed
anyone for a juvenile crime in the entire history of the state.
The conclusions for the Sean Sellers case are clear. The
juvenile death penalty apparently is available to the jury under
Oklahoma law, but Oklahoma juries almost never chose to sentence
a juvenile to death. Even more significantly, those few
juveniles which have been sentenced to death were never actually
executed. The Oklahoma attitude about the death penalty for
juveniles is clear: The legislature may have authorized it but the
people almost always refuse to sentence their children to death.
—C-
ok eameten a
2 oy BGR Sarees
SS etc Se
te
nse Xdaneebcy Stan ©
bikes AU et
a me
ope
hal
Sede tom
=
estas tae
Bw
is
ob Settee esd
en
i
Sha
“=
me
5)
¥
¥
ry
4
{
OCTOBER 4, 1987
Every kid deserves one thing
IKE MOST CIVILIZED COUNTRIES, THE f
United States takes great pains through
its legal system to treat young offenders
with special care. Teenagers, it is pre- |:
sumed, are traveling through a turbulent time of |.
life, their judgment often is not mature, and |!
consequently, the penalties for their transgressions
are less severe, and focused on rehabilitation
rather than punishment. Most of the time, that is.
The American sense of justice — grounded as it is
these days more in retribution than compassion —
occasionally demands more from those young
people who cross it. Sometimes, it demands death.
America ig one of the few nations of the world that executes its own children.
Fully 275 juveniles have been put to death in our short national history. This week,
in an important and dramatic story reported from death rows around the country,
staff writer Amy Linn examines why we do it — and asks why we don’t stop.
Clearly, many of the crimes committed by minors are gruesome beyond
description — horrible acts that cause prosecutors and juries to overlook the age of
the accused. But it is precisely the viciousness of these crimes that displays how sick
these young people are — and how much they are in need of treatment. They are
deeply disturbed teenagers (themselves often victims of abuse) who must be’
granted the time to reform, the time to turn their lives around.
There is a modicum of hope for a few death-row teens; just recently, two of the
young men Amy focused on had their sentences overturned — Paul Magill in
Florida because of ineffective counsel, and Ronald Ward in Arkansas because of
errors and racial discrimination at his trial. Both could escape execution. And if the
Supreme Court, which this fall is expected to take up the issue of the death penalty
for minors, acts to bring the nation in line with the rest of the civilized world, the
other young men and women sentenced as juve- C6
niles might also win the chance every kid, good or Zed —_
bad, deserves: the chance to grow up.
FEA TU RE S
SHOULD WE KILL OUR CHILDREN?
ByAmyLinn They were teenagers when they were convicted of terrible and violent
crimes. Now they wait to pay the ultimate adult penalty. This fall, the Supreme
Court will consider the case of one death-row kid.
THE CURSE OF ROUTE 55
By Frank Rossi \t wasn'ta true curse, the medicine man insisted, though by then, no
one was listening. But it should not have been surprising that Wyandaga made a
stink when h& thought a highway was going over his ancestors. 38
THE TIMELESS ALLURE OF THE BOARDWALK
Photography by Tammy McGinley; text by Bill Kent Strolling the boardwalk — or skipping.
jogging, rollerskating or bicycling — and watching those who do have been year-
round seaside pastimes forever, it seems. And they still are. 46
ON THE COVER Mlustrarion by Sam Hundley.
D EPA RTM EN T S
PERSONALITIES Elayne Boosler: Comedian. 6
INTERVIEW Phyllis Sanders: She doesn’t broadcast the same old news. 9
THE PHILADELPHIANS 10
CROSSWORD s— Peace be with you. 50
LIFESTYLE Wearing leopard skin could endanger your meaning. 51
LIFEHOME Meddling with the masters in Center City. 52
LIFEFOOD The Greek’s philosophy at Chef Theodore restaurant. 54
FRED MANN, Editor BERT FOX, Picture Editor.
CHARLES LAYTON, Managing Editor MARY WALTON, Staff Writer
DAVID GRIFFIN, Art Director FRANK ROSSI, Staff-Writer
TOM GRALISH, Deputy Editor / Photography EARLE. DAVIS, Stoff Artist
ART CAREY, Deputy Editor VICK! VALERIO, Staff Photographer
WILLIAM B. EDDINS, Deputy Editor SALLY DOWNEY, Assistant to the Editor
AVERY ROME, Deputy Editor MARALYN LOIS POLAK, Contributing Editor
SUZANNE L. WESTON, Associate Editor JOANNA KERR, Advertising Mancger
Contents of Inquirer Magazine copyright 1987 by The Philadelphia Inquirer.
Published every Sunday at 400 N. Broad St.. Box 8263, Philadelphia 19101
a
1
.
They were teenagers when they were convicted of terrible and violent crimes.
Now they wait to pay the ultimate adult penalty. | :
This fall, the Supreme Court will consider the question:
~ SHOULD WE KILL OUR CHILDREN?
OMETIMES AT NIGHT, THE KIDS DREAM OF WALKING WITH-
out handcuffs, or seeing their families again, or maybe just being free.
They are teenagers, some only 15 years old. All of them are sentenced to
A die.
Their youth didn’t save them from the death sentence, though it would
have in a different country. But under the laws of their homeland, 15-
year-olds — even 12-year-olds — can be electrocuted or poisoned or shot
to death for certain crimes. So the kids wait in prisons and live in terror of
the wait being over. For up to 23 hours a day, they are locked in concrete
cells the size of a closet. Sunshine barely makes it through thick prison
windows; little warmth or comfort lives there, and they rarely see a
human face, other than the prisoners nearby or the guards keeping watch on them.
Razor-wire dissects the fields outside, where inmates chop the grass with scythes. The kids miss open land: They
miss seeing friends and their sisters and brothers. The feelings come out in dreams, nightmares about being chased
by someone, or reveries about getting out. And the days alone on their cots turn into weeks, the weeks into months,
-before they know it: It is 1987 now, and some of them have been in prison, waiting to die, for more than a decade.
They are teenagers, girls and boys who are scared to death. Some of them try to block out the sounds of metal gates
slamming and handcuffs and keys jingling, and sometimes, when they dare, they try to imagine what it feels like to
die in a wooden chair or on a metal gurney, the blackness hitting all at once. They’re afraid it will hurt — especially
electrocution. They hear that it burns your body and makes your blood boil, that smoke pours from your skin. When
the date comes, the adults tell them, someone will offer them a last meal and, in the morning, put a hood over their
faces so they can’t see anymore. ...
Life comes and goes through the bars of the cells. The luckier ones have friends who send them books, and pen
pals from foreign countries who campaign on their behalf.
The foreigners are fighting to save their lives — in Italy, a consortium of religious leaders and labor union
members has tried to get the Pope to intervene. And all the kids have come to the attention of such human right:
organizations as Amnesty International, which devoted an entire campaign this year to their release.
It is unconscionable, Amnesty says, for a nation to hand out death sentences to teenagers. If the kids lived in Libyz
or Haiti or the Soviet Union, they’d be treated with more compassion. If they lived in China, or Argentina, or an}
part of Western Europe — or in nearly any industrialized nation in the world — they would be sentenced to live ir
prison and given a chance to grow up, not condemned to die. What kind of society, Amnesty asks, can sanction anc
carry out the killings of more juvenile criminals than any other nation in recent history?
One country can, and did. And its kids are right now waiting, all alone, on death row, U.S.A.
continued on Page |
AMY LINN, an Inquirer staff writer, last wrote for the magazine on racial integration.
October 4, 1987
Tagen as ow Sea
av
BY ee
S38
=&E eo.
Beasts
sree x
Si 2 Qe x
A Yo =
ew
2SN3 6 4
eS 8u8 4
2, 2 88
ee Sed
“EGS
a a=)
EMAC
oe ALT, he raped and shot
32, + to death Karen Sue
ws.» Young, 25; a clerk ina
“e507: Convenience store near
Se Ocala, Fla.
a At 15, with three school
killed and then robbed
Ruth Pelke, a 78-year-old
Bible teacher.
POST-TRIBUNE INGARY.IND. = 2.
friends in Gary, Ind., she’
October 4, 1987
At 15, was convicted in
Arkansas of fatally
stabbing Audrey
Townsend, 72; Lois
. Jarvis, 75, and Chris
Simmons, 12.
CLAY CARSON
DEATH ROW
continued from Page 12
ONALD WARD IN ARKANSAS.
James Morgan and Paul Magill
in Florida. Paula Cooper in Indi-
dna. That is just a sampling of
the 32 teenagers who, because of inade-
quate representation, biased juries or
terrible crimes, wound up jailed with
adults to face the ultimate adult punish-
ment. About 55 percent of the death-row
kids are black, 45 percent are white, and
all but two are male. Six of them were just
15 years old when they arrived.
These are not the hardened, grizzled,
cold-blooded criminals one imagines be-
hind bars. Immature, disturbed — -even
psychotic — are more apt descriptions.
At the time of their arrests, most of
them weren’t old enough to pawn jewelry,
visit a bingo parlor or hang out at a pool
hall. They couldn’t buy liquor or ciga-
rettes, get married, donate blood, sign a
contract, join the Army or serve on a jury.
They couldn’t vote. They were barely old
enough to drive.
They were, however, old enough to die.
But this fall they have new hope. In its
next session, which starts tomorrow, the
Supreme Court will hear the case of
William Wayne Thompson of Oklahoma,
who at 15 helped murder his former
brother-in-law. At the hearing Nov. 9, the
defense will argue that because Thomp-
gon was so young at the time of the crime,
his death sentence is unconstitutional
and a violation of human rights —-and of
three international treaties the, United
States has signed prohibiting the execu-
tion of minors. The prosecution will
-Thompson a threat to society, mature
enough to murder, adult enough to die.
If it chooses to tackle this issue head-
on, the Supreme Court. can deliver a
decision as critical as any in recent mem-
ory. As the court itself has acknowledged,
nothing sparks debate in America like the
death penalty — and adding teenagers to
the argument only heightens the emo-
tions and magnifies the controversy.
Already, the Thompson case has mobi-
lized a flurry of campaigning against the
death penalty in general and for children
in particular. Eight different organiza-
tions filed “friends-of-the-court” briefs
on Thompson’s behalf, arguing that capi-
tal punishment for juveniles is cruel and
unusual punishment. On the other side, a
number of states will support the position
of Oklahoma, arguing that capital pun-
ishment is valid-and necessary for cruel
and heinous crimes.
What the kids have done is reprehensi-
ble. ‘Sociopathic,” prosecutors call these
killings. “Psychotic acting-out,” reply
psychiatrists, who contend that almost all
the death-row teens are poor, that some
are brain-damaged or have I1.Q.’s so low
that they qualify as borderline retarded.
Many are mentally ill. Most were high on
drugs or alcohol at the time of their crimes.
And the majority of them were physically
or sexually abused as young children.
Florida, Texas and Georgia each has
four juvenile offenders on death row,
more than any other state in the nation.
Close behind are Indiana and Louisiana,
with three each. Delaware holds no kids
on death row, but in New Jersey, Marco
Bey waits to die for the 1983 murder of a
Monmouth County woman. -He was 17 at
the time. Pennsylvania’8 Graterford
Prison houses Kevin Hughes, 16 at the
time of his crime, who raped and mur-
dered a 9-year-old girl in 1979, then set
her body on fire. (Prison officials say his
unstable psychiatric condition prevents
any interviews.)
Contrary to popular opinion, such juve-
nile crimes are not increasing. In fact, the
number of teens arrested for murder has
declined since its peak in 1974, Depart-
ment of Justice statistics show. But what
seems to have increased is the brutality of
the acts and, with it, public rage. Though
recent polls have not asked about juve-
niles specifically, most surveys show that
up to 80 percent of the public favors
capital punishment, the highest rating in
more than 30 years. (In 1966, only 42
percent supported it.)
“Law enforcement and the criminal
justice system are left holding the bag,
and everyone’s waiting for them to come
up with some magic equation to solve
these problems,” said Robert Heck, pro-
gram manager of the Department of
Justice’s office on juvenile justice and
delinquency prevention.: “But it’s fam-
ilies that are to blame. Schools, TV, drugs
are to blame. It’s the culture. It’s society.”
The cost of the problem is enormous. A
single execution can exceed $1.8 million,
more than double the cost of keeping the
criminal in prison until his natural death,
according to Jonathan Gradess, executive
director of the New York Public Defend-
ers’ Association, which conducted a six-
year study on the matter. It’s expensive
to hold inmates on death row, expensive
to pay for the physicians and extra guards
needed on execution days and, most of
all, expensive to finance the years of legal
appeals that precede the event. (When
the Kansas legislature considered a capi-
tal-punishment law this year, the $11
million price tag turned people against
the measure: “People said, ‘Wait a min-
ute, this is ridiculous,’ ” says Gradess.)
At what age a person should be eligible
for the death penalty, meanwhile, is
something few people — and equally few
state legislatures — can agree upon. Of
the 36 states with capital-punishment
laws, 25 states permit the execution of
minors. But in Indiana, the minimum age
is 16. Alabama and six other states set the
minimum age at 14. In Montana, it’s 12.
New Jersey recently banned the death
penalty for juveniles (although not retro-
activély), but in Pennsylvania and Dela-
ware, the law specifies no age limit,
meaning it’s legally possible, though
STATES’ MINIMUM AGES FOR THE DEATH PENALTY
California
Colorado Nevada
Connecticut
Illinois
Maryland
Nebraska Louisiana
New Jersey Virginia,
New Mexico
Ohio : :
Arizona
Oregon . Delaware
Tennessee Alabama Florida
Arkansas Oklahoma
Idaho Pennsylvania
Kentucky South Carolina
Georgia Missouri South Dakota
New Hampshire North Carolina Washington
Texas Utah Wyoming
‘highly unlikely, to execute a child of 7 —
the age at which common law suggests
children know the difference between
right and wrong. In Delaware, that death
would be by hanging.
The United States does not often exe-
cute young children, but it has done so in
the past.
On June 16, 1944, South Carolina put
14-year-old George Junius Stinney in the
electric chair, the boy still so tiny that the
- leather straps barely fit around him. His
head slipped from under the death hood
when the current hit, allowing the audi-
ence to see tears in his eyes. Stinney,
black, had been convicted’ of murdering
two young white girls who were picking
flowers amid the rural scrub where he
lived. Stinney’s trial lasted one day. The
all-white jury deliberated about 10 min-
utes. The 95-pound boy was executed
three months later; his attorney neglected
to file a single appeal on his behalf. To
this day, his relatives proclaim: his
innocence.
Most recently, in 1985 and 1986, two
Texans and a South Carolinian — all of
them white — were executed for crimes
committed while they were 17. One of the
condemned, James Terry Roach, was exe-
cuted for killing two South Carolina teen-
agers, despite evidence that he had a
brain disorder, was possibly mentally
retarded and had been acting “as the
dumb sidekick” of an older man. The
pleas of Mother Teresa, Jimmy Carter
and U.N. Secretary-General Javier Perez
de Cuellar failed to save the young man’s
life. The prosecutor said, “He is the
meanest person I have ever met.”
In all, 275 juveniles have been executed
in this country, about 70 percent of them
black, and 78 percent of their victims
white, according to Cleveland State Uni-
versity law professor Victor Streib, an
expert on the death penalty.
Streib will represent Wayne Thompson
before the Supreme Court. Think of the
teenagers who spend years waiting to die,
he will tell the justices. Be mindful of the
victims and the unspeakable crimes, the,
other side will urge. The justices will be
invited to take an imaginary walk down
the aisles of death row.
And this is a bit of what they’Ll see.
TARKE, FLA., IS THE HOME
of four separate prisons, a jungle of
penitence in the middle’ of the
panhandle. Razor-wire js a com-
mon backdrop in this part of the country,
and thunderstorms come calling nearly
every day at noon. Old men on corners
sell watermelon and boiled peanuts, and
“Ollie North for President” T-shirts and
‘flamingo ashtrays sell equally well at the
roadstands. The priciest hotel in Starke is
the Econo Lodge.
Florida State Prison rises up out of
Starke like a three-tiered, mint-green
version of hell. Metal detectors for visi-
tors are so fierce that the hooks on bras or
the nails in shoes set them off.
Here, James Morgan, Paul Magill and
271 other men, like many death-row
inmates across the country, live in 6-by-9-
foot cells in almost complete isolation 23
hours a day, getting out only for showers,
the occasional phone call or infirmary
visits. To see fellow prisoners, the in-
mates must hold mirrors outside their
cell. They have their own TVs, but books
come from the library only every few
weeks. Exercise in the yard is allowed
twice a week, two hours at a time. Morgan
gets rare visits when his lawyer needs to
see him. His relatives don’t keep in touch.
(Recently, Morgan was put in a holding
cell for hours, afraid the whole time that
he was about to be told of a forthcoming
execution date. In fact, a reporter had
arrived to interview him.)
INQUIRER
Variations on this theme are played out
at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary,
where Wayne Thompson waits for his
case to go to the Supreme Court; in the
Indiana Women’s Prison, where Paula
Cooper hopes her sentence will be over-
turned; and in the Tucker Maximum- —
Security Unit in Arkdnsas, where Ronald .
Ward waits to hear whether he’ll get a
new trial. For all 32 death-row teens, day-
_ to-day living requires a great deal of
faith. ;
Morgan was 17 when he arrived nearly
a decade ago.
“Basically, for the first.two years, I
didn’t do nothing but watch TV, trying to
get out of this place, I guess,” he said.
__“Basically, I was scared to death to talk to
anyone. I just laid back and watched TV
until I found out what was, what was
going on.”
li: ‘* In prison, he isn’t given any schooling,
“1 ‘way these people here think,” he says,
,, “they’re going to kill me, so what’s the use
j; of helping me?” " ~
: Thin, 6 feet tall, unerringly polite,
: Morgan is shy to the point of trembling,
and when he talks about his parents, he
| appears near tears. They died suddenly
| — she of cancer, he of a heart attack —
' while Morgan was involved in the second
of his three murder trials. (The Florida
Supreme Court granted him new trials
‘after determining that errors had been
'made in his earlier ones.) Even now
there’s a possibility that Morgan will be
granted a fourth trial because of recent
' changes in law. His attorney, Robert
* Udell, contends that Morgan was insane
at the time of the crime, but so far that
argument hasn’t been allowed in court.
Back then, “I was the most immature
person you would have ever met. About
everything I’ve done, as I look back on it,
was stupid,” Morgan says. “Sometimes it
all still seems like a nightmare. Trying,
wondering when I’m going to wake up
from it.”
ale The prison air hangs like steam from an
li jron, despite the effort of dozens of ceiling
ans to force it through the corridors.
Nothing can prepare the senses for this
|jand the rain drips down through leaks in
{ th e crumbling ceilings..One gets the im-
Jatt pression of being trapped in a submarine:
HHA 1] sound is metallic and foreboding.
I bil The death house is a short walk from
Hawhere Morgan lives, on jam-packed
iL eath-row wings P, Q, R and S. (Florida
i Meath row holds 273 inmates, more than
} Any state. Next in line is Texas, with 248,
Bi'pnd California, with 200 inmates.) The
Inmates know all about electrocutions:
‘ how it sometimes takes 14 minutes to die,
how the 2,300 volts torture the body.
Morgan has been at Starke during 17 .
executions, Starting with John Spenke-
link in 1979 and including Beauford
- White on Aug. 28.
continued on Page 20
15
\|! ‘any psychiatric care, any jobs to do. “The
dismal world. It is 102 degrees outside, .
continued from Page 15
“Tt’s not a very good feeling. Specially when
you had guys you’ve been friends with for five,
six years, and you know them as gaod as you .
know your brothers,” says Morgan..“I can’t see |
no reason in the state, or any state, killing... .-
They’re doing what everyone, what they say
everyone else done, only they’re doing it in front
of the law. That don’t make it right.”
Narrow and pale, Morgan’s face is a study in
unevenness. At times, one sees no feeling in his
eyes. Since coming to death row, he has learned
to read and write up to a fifth-grade level. But
he can’t remember the smell of the ocean, or the
. freedom to walk alone. He says he can’t even
remember the day he mowed the lawn for
Gertrude Trbovich. He was just 16, a long, long
time ago.
N JUNE 6, 1977, 16-YEAR-OLD
Morgan had a hangover. In Stuart,
along the lush Florida coast, rich
people own beach-front homes, and
pelicans dive for fish in turquoise waters. But
Morgan and his family lived in the rural part of
town, ringed by cattle farms and poverty.
Morgan’s mother was deeply religious, a woman
who wouldn’t stand drinking. His father was
sometimes violent, and very often drunk.
Morgan left home that morning about 10
o’clock. He never did put socks or shoes on. He
worked for his father, mowing lawns.
Trbovich, a 66-year-old widow, was up and
active all that morning, having gone to town
with a neighbor to get some clothes altered. By
early afternoon, she was writing letters at her
dining room table. Outside her window she
could see a scenic river.
What happened next was described at the
trial by clinical psychologist Glenn R. Caddy:
Morgan rang the doorbell and asked to use
the telephone. He felt sick and wanted to call
his dad. And Trbovich “gave him this look” —
his hair was long and straggly, he was wearing a
denim jacket, despite the leaden heat, and he
needed a bath — “the same sort of look that ‘my
mother gave my father whenever he had been
drinking.’” A bit flustered, Morgan called
home, hoping his father would let him quit
work. But his dad wasn’t there. More upset
now, Morgan asked if he could use the bath-
room. Trbovich said yes.
As Morgan walked by her, he began to believe
that Trbovich was judging him. She sat writing
on a small note pad. In the bathroom, he
became convinced she was writing to his mother
| to tell her he had been drinking. “He says, ‘I am
going to stop her,’ and he is outraged,” Caddy
testified at Morgan’s trial. “ ‘I have got to stop
this,’ he says. He runs toward her or moves
toward her with this wrench in his hand. He
beats her over the head... . He then picks up a
vase. He hits her. ... He picks up a knife at this
stage, and he begins to slash at her. He doesn’t
know how many times. He has no idea.
“He wanted to take that look off that face. He
wanted to get that look off the face.”
James Morgan was arrested eight days later
near his home. His bloody bare footprints had.
been found all over the Trbovich home; one
vivid print was left on a piece of stationery that
floated to the floor during the struggle. The
letters Trbovich wrote the day of the murder
were kept for the trial. Her last, dated Monday,
3:15 p.m., was never completed.
lives.
m The law allows the death penalty
for the James Morgans in America; the Consti-
tution provides for it, prosecutors say. Juveniles
like Morgan have proved they have no feeling
for others, and not all the money, not all the
help in the world, not sympathy or understand-
ing can guarantee that they will change. Noth-
ing can bring back the lives they’ve taken, or
heal the emotional wounds of relatives and
loved ones. ,
If we let these killers live in prison, we haven’t
done justice to society. Let them out, and they'll
murder some other innocent victim.
“You can’t really understand this until you
see what these people do to another human .
being,” says Gerard King, chief investigator for
the state attorney’s office in Ocala, Fla. King
knows about James Morgan and the other teen
murderers around the nation. And he has no
qualms about supporting the death penalty.
“When people talk to me about how a person
shouldn’t die in the electric chair, I ask them —
I always do — ‘What would you do if this was
your mother, or grandmother? Would you still
feel the same way?’ ” |
The crimes almost beg for the punishment,
prosecutors say. When Sean Sellers in Okla-
homa, 16 at the time, shot and killed his parents
one night as they lay in bed, he told a reporter
that he “turned on the light and laughed.”
When 15-year-old Paula Cooper from Indiana
went with friends to the home of Bible teacher
Ruth Pelke, 78, she stabbed the white-haired
grandmother 33 times, for $10.
“Look,” says Arthur “Cappy” Eads, presi-
dent of the Texas District and County Attorney
Association, “it’s impossible to have a society
without anger. And I don’t think there’s any-
thing wrong with it. We get offended when
someone rapes our neighbors and murders
someone in our family.”
The pain and anger these crimes cause de-
mands the knowledge that someone has paid for
them, prosecutors say, that a moral code does
exist, that the world is not governed by chaos.
“T have seen some of the most vicious crimes
committed by people who are under the age of
18, and their offenses are just as heinous and
just as ugly as if they were 47 or 57,” says Eads.
Even if the threat of capital punishment
doesn’t keep people from committing more
murders — studies on deterrence often prove
otherwise, particularly for juveniles — “it does
deter the defendant in question, and that’s
what I’m concerned about,” Eads says.
Furthermore, a juvenile death-penalty case
can travel as many as 11 different appeals
routes, so prosecutors say there is little likeli-
hood of executing someone who doesn’t deserve
the punishment. Every state puts safeguards
into its capital-punishment legislation, “bend-
ing over backwards” to protect young defend-
ants, says Amarillo District Attorney Danny
Hill. Hill put 17-year-old Johnny Frank Garrett
on death row five years ago for raping and
killing a 76-year-old nun.
And if these juveniles know the difference
between right and wrong, says Hill, if they
understand the nature of their acts — and
commit murder knowingly and intentionally —
then they’ve met the basic requirements of
- adult criminal responsibility. They must pay
_theadult price. ,
The Supreme Court should not rob individual
states of the option of meting out this penalty,
says David Lee, Oklahoma assistant attorney
general, who will argue the Wayne Thompson
case this fall. The issue should be settled by
legislatures on a state-by-state basis.
Look what these killers have done, prosecu-
tors say, look at the horror.
Gertrude Trbovich’s fingers were broken and
her wedding band smashed from raising her
hands in a hopeless effort to ward off Morgan’s
blows. He ripped her clothing and molested her,
_ then realized what he had done and, in a panic,
tried to clean up the blood and run away. He’
had stabbed Trbovich about 72 times, so many
times that the precise number could not be
established. And he left her face up on her
kitchen floor, arms outstretched, her head
caked in blood. A bread knife — the murder
weapon — lay near her, bent from the slashing
and pounding.
continued on next page
A coroner testified at Morgan’s trial that
Trbovich was alive for much of the attack. She
died of hemorrhaging.
“T don’t think we need to apologize or feel
guilty about doing what we do,” says Eads.
“There’s what’s violent and what’s necessary.
“World War Il was violent. But it was
necessary.”
EMPHIS ATTORNEY JOSEPH
Brown Jr. represents Ronald Ward,
who at 15’became the youngest
child on death row. The boy was
still in seventh grade when he was arrested for
the murder of three people in Arkansas. How
can you declare him beyond: rehabilitation?
asks. Brown. He’s no Charles Manson, no Ted
Bundy. It’s not even certain that he was guilty
of the crime.
Killing him isn’t necessary in the least.
“What this basically boils down to is ven-
geance,” Brown says. “And a society that seeks
to take vengeance out on a child is a sick society.
“You bave to remember that you're talking
about individuals who aren’t mature enough to
appreciate the consequences of their acts —
children,” Brown says. “You don’t hold children
to the same standards that you hold adults.”
Punish them. Let them live in prison for the
rest of their lives, defenders say. But don’t strap
them in the electric chair and declare the
problem solved.
“If we're playing God any time we use the
death penalty,” says David Bruck, attorney for
James Terry Roach, the man with the brain
disorder who was executed last year, “then we
do it doubly when we deal with teenagers, who
have not yet become the people they will
eventually be... the definition of immaturity.”
Even totalitarian regimes acknowledge that
adolescence is a difficult and turbulent time.
Teenagers aren't impressed with death; they
don’t think it will ever happen to them. Rebel-
lion is more important to them than rationality;
impulsiveness defines them. That’s why they
drive too fast and drink too much and take
stupid chances. That’s why their insurance
rates are astronomical, why laws don’t permit
them to vote or get married or sign contracts. In
these instances, at least, the laws protect them.
“One of the problems with juvenile behavior
is not that the juveniles are cold, calculating
and careful in their judgments, it is that they
have no judgment at all,” states the brief for
Wayne Thompson. “The death penalty totally
rejects the one sentencing goal normally
thought most appropriate for young offenders
— rehabilitation.”
More than 80 of the world’s countries have
achieved a consensus: In the name of humanity,
young people deserve the chance to grow up
before we declare them hopeless criminals.
They are not adults until they are at least 18.
Because the United States, too, sees the differ-
ence between adults and children, about 60
years ago it created a juvenile justice system.
But with certain crimes and certain kids, the
U.S. system seems to lose patience: The kids
most in need — who have been brutalized
themselves —are the ones we hate the most.
“It’s almost as if we're saying we'll put these
children to death because we don’t know what
else to do with them,” says Tanya Coke, of the
NAACP Legal Defense Fund.
And, according to the American Society for
Adolescent Psychiatry, “the very factors that
could help mitigate death sentences are often
continued on Page 35
William Pelke writes to his ©
grandmother’s killer “to
show her God’s love; I
don’t think she was raised
with very much of it.”
[hidden by the kids themselves. They are
ashamed of the abuse or want to protect
their parents, or they have hidden much
mf the abuse even from themselves.”
|, James Morgan is one of them. “I had a
Food family life,” he says.
i But “I didn’t have no dreams.” The
fgaunt young man sits handcuffed, trying
to remember the past. “If I did,” he says,
“I can’t remember none now. I never
really hoped to be anything.”
It took hours of hypnosis before Mor-
gan could recall his crime. It took years
before he could admit to attorneys and
psychiatrists what his life had been like
before the murder.
His troubles began early, according to
court testimony. By the age of 4, a time
when he couldn’t tie his shoes or ride a
two-wheel bicycle, he was regularly being
sexually molested by relatives. That year,
an older cousin introduced the frightened
child to gasoline sniffing, a potentially
lethal and emotionally devastating addic-
tion. Up to five times a day the habit
called, and the little boy would suck in
lead and toxic chemicals that made him
high, giddy — and hungover with nausea.
It was worth it, though, to escape for a
while. From ages 5 to 11, Morgan told a
psychiatrist, he was continually sodo-
mized by aii uncle who attacked him
“every chance he got.” By the time he was
a teenager, the gasoline took its toll At
15, Morgan dropped-but of ninth grade,
barely able to“read. Snakes sometimes
appeared in psychotic visions, and “I
heard the trees talking, asking why I was
doing it,” he said. Psychiatrists. later
speculated that his habit irreparably
damaged his brain. .
| “Tf you take a dog and beat it long
enough, it’s going to bite people,” says
William Touchette, attorney for Paula
_ Cooper. “‘What can we expect when our
children grow up.this way?”
The tragedy, Touchette says, is that
society allows troubled young people to
i go.unnoticed until they’ve taken a life.
' eThg. way to help the victims is not to
La
: to make sure that more Paula Cooper
aren’t.created by their parents.” . |
AULA COOPER’S PARENTS
don’t visit her. And, says one of
her supporters, the majority of
the people in her home town
“would like to fry her, and the sooner the
better.” :
But in some ways Cooper, the youngest
girl on death row, is lucky. In Italy, more
than one million people, appalled by her
sentence, are campaigning to save her.
They are determined to force the United
States to live up to its role as standard-
' kilhPaula Coopers,” Touchette says. “It’s”
x
legislators, union members and church
leaders gather signatures and write letters
in her behalf. They demonstrate regularly
at the American Embassy in Rome.
And they point out that of 11,000 legal
executions around the globe since 1980,
eight involved juvenile offenders — and
three of those took place in the United
States. The only other countries to exe-
cute its young were Pakistan, Barbados,
Bangladesh and the African nation of
Rwanda — company the United States
does not typically keep.
Cooper did something terribly wrong,
the Italians say. But no one should play
God and kill her.
“We cannot comprehend,” says one of
the hundreds of letters to Indiana Gov.
Robert Orr, “how people of a democratic,
free and independent nation — who have
fought and continue to fight with courage
and self-denial for the democracy, free-
dom and independence of other people;
who, after the atrocities of World War I
and Nazi concentration camps” had the
strength to forgive their enemies, “will
not grant one of its children a chance to
make amends.”
And protests have come from other,
even more surprising corners. A crane
operator at Bethlehem Steel in Gary,
Ind., is determinedly working to overturn
Cooper’s sentence.
He is William Pelke, the grandson of
the woman Cooper murdered.
- “Personally, I would feel terrible if she
were executed,” Pelke said in an inter-
view. At first Pelke had wanted retribu-
tion, he says, but one day last fall, while
the devout Christian was praying, a vision
came to him.
“J pictured Paula Cooper being led
away after the sentence and her tears
making dark spots on the blue dress she
was wearing. And then I pictured my
grandmother, and she had tears in her
eyes, and I didn’t think my grandmother
would have wanted Paula Cooper and her
family to go through this.”
Pelke writes to Cooper regularly. “I just
‘want to show her God’s love; I'don’t think
she was raised with very much of it.”
Paula Cooper grew up amid the gritty
steel mills of Gary. The attention she got
— cruel beatings by her stepfather —
made her a chronic runaway by the time
she was old enough to flee. When Paula
was 9, her mother tried to kill herself and
her daughters. She put them in a closed
garage and started the car. A fire depart-
ment rescue crew saved the family.
“This girl cried out for help many, many
times,” says Monica Foster, an associate
of Touchette who works with Cooper.
“She’s not abad person, she just isn’t. ’m
convinced that all it would have taken was
one kind person to pass through her life,
and this wouldn’t have happened.”
On May 14, 1985, Cooper and three
girlfriends visited the home of Bible
teacher Ruth Pelke. They planned. to
steal money so they could go to a video
arcade. They told Pelke they were inter-
ested in the Scriptures, and then one girl
hit the grandmother over the head with a
heavy vase. Cooper stabbed her repeat-
edly with a butcher knife. Another girl
later admitted holding the knife in
Pelke’s body and pinning her through to
continued on next page
ind
o
o
=-
<
& THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER, OCTO!
‘Superior Court Judge James
the floor as the woman, still alive, recited
the Lord’s Prayer.
The group left with about $10 and went.
for a joy ride in Pelke’s car. They wefe
arrested soon after.
“T am sorry for what I did,” Cooper told
C. Kim-
brough at her sentencing hearing, “... and
all I can ask you is not to take my life.’
The other three girls received prison
terms of up to 60 years. Cooper alone was
sentenced to die. ”
“J don’t have any fond memories. I
have a lot of terrible memories,” Cooper
wrote from her jail cell in August. “I miss
my dog mainly, because when I used to be
real sad, I would go outside and just talk
my dog...”
* Cooper had hoped that Kimbrough, a
lenient judge, would amend her sentence
so that she could stay alive in prison.
Sentencing Cooper was the hardest thing
he had ever done, Kimbrough had told
reporters, something he did only because
the law demanded the death penalty. J ust
30 years ago, ‘he explained at Cooper's
trial, the majority of Americans consid-
ered executions barbaric. But now “they
Double yo
aeFully Adjustable -
‘fa
-e Free consultation and desi
* Closet/Special storage sys!
e Custom garage systems
* Custom built in our factor
° Neatly, quickly installed
¢ Furniture-grade wood pr¢
CLOS
There ia a difference
Call for a free-at-home cot
Babylon F
405 Car
—~ HORS}
Ss 915/443-04€
, & THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER, OCTOBER 4, 1987
death.”
It is a troubling thing, Kimbrough had
said at trial, when young criminals are at
the mercy of national fads.
A year later, Kimbrough died in an
automobile accident, never to hear the
appeal of the sentencing that so saddened
im. 5
“Maybe in 20 years, after we have had
our fill of executions,” Kimbrough had
said, maybe then, “we will swing back th
other way.”
OR 15 YEARS, THE SUPREME
Court has been shaping and.di-
recting the course of crime_and
punishment, taking note of shift-
ing public sentiment — moving itself to a
more conservative course — and steadily
refining capital-punishment laws.
Whether killing children is constitu-
tional, though, is something the justices
have never squarely answered. In the case
of Wayne Thompson, they will have an-
other chance.
A perfect law, the justices have said,
would contain no loopholes, would not
discriminate against minorities or the
disadvantaged or poor, and would allow
no innocent or undeserving person to die.
closet usage
ngeable —eRemovable
e Steel chrome rods
e Steel hardware
we
e Custom sized drawers
e Cabinet doors ,
e Residential & commercial
ation or visit our showroom.
»ss Campus II .
t Dr. Suite E
-, PA 19044
609/482-1604
=e
fairness could ever be possi
Georgia, our history shows that “the de-
fendant of wealth and position never goes
to the electric chair or to the gallows” and
that most people executed are “poor,
young and ignorant. The wealthy and
infamous murderers like Leopold and
Loeb,” Douglas wrote, “are given prison
terms.”
It was the Furman case that had
sparked the closest examination in this
century of the constitutionality of the
death penalty. William Henry Furman,
26, an impoverished black man, was sen-
tenced- to die for murdering a white
homeowner when his pistol accidentally
‘discharged during a burglary. By a 5-4
vote, the court overturned his sentence
and ruled that capital-punishment laws,
as they then existed, did indeed constitute
cruel and unusual punishment and there-
fore violated the Eighth Amendment.
What the justices did not do, however,
was ban the death penalty entirely. And in
the wake of the Furman case, legislators
across the country scrambled to draft new
laws that the court would find permissible.
In 1976, the court ruled that capital
punishment was constitutional if it was
fairly, even-handedly and carefully ap-
plied, a ruling taken across the nation as a
‘ go-ahead for executions that temporarily
had ceased. (Six months after the deci-
sion, Gary Gilmore was killed by a Utah
firing squad.) In 1978, the justices said
that all mitigating circumstances must be
considered — the defendant’s age, back-
ground, character, past criminal record
and anything else that could prove he or
she deserved to be spared.”And in 1982,
the court overturned the death sentence
of a 16-year-old murderer whose trial
judge failed to consider the teen’s violent
family history.
Youth, wrote Justice Lewis Powell, “is
a time and condition of life when a person
may be most susceptible to influence and
to psychological damage. Our history is
replete with laws and judicial recognition
that minors, especially in their earlier
years, generally are less mature and re-
sponsible than adults. ...
“We are concerned here,” he conclud-
ed, with imposing the ultimate penalty
“upon an emotionally disturbed youth
with a disturbed child’s immaturity.”
The William Wayne Thompson case
will once more put the matter of age on
the high court’s agenda. Thompson, 15,
joined up with three men on Jan. 22,
1983, to murder Charles Keene, a man the
Thompson family purely hated. Keene
had abused Thompson’s sister, Vicky,
during and even after their marriage, and
he “beat up on me all the time,” Thomp-
son testifed at his 1983 trial.
Making up their minds to take care of
Keene once and for all, Thompson, his
older brother, Tony, ‘and two friends
forced Keene into their car, drove to the
Washita River, beat him, slit his throat,
chest and stomach and then shot him.
Thompson dumped Keene’s body in the
icy water. One month later, his decom-
posing body was found on the bottom of
the river, covered with mud, maggots and
larvae. Police took hundreds of graphic
color photographs. And much to the
e.
Indeed, wrote Justice William O. Doug-
_las in the landmark 1972 case, Furman vs.
omp-
son’s horrified jury.
Did the showing of those pictures pre-
vent Thompson from getting a fair trial?
the Supreme Court will now be asked.
And if they choose, the justices will use
Thompson for a broader, more critical
debate. They will consider, in the words
of Justice William Brennan, whether “the
deliberate extinguishment of human life
by the state is yniquely degrading to
human dignity.” And whether age should
inspire our mercy.
HE VERY MORNING OF
Paul Magill’s trial in the rape
and murder of Karen Sue
Young, 25, a Jiffy Food Store
clerk in Florida, his lawyer dropped out of
the case, and a new public defender took
over. Magill had never met the lawyer
before. On a day that he faced the death
penalty, the teenager had just 15 minutes
to consult with his new attorney. (At a
post-conviction hearing, the lawyer testi-
fied he couldn’t identify Magill or recall
trying the case.)
The sentencing wasn’t lengthy. The
prosecution played a tape of the 17-year-
old’s confession, the jury so intent “you
could have heard-a pin drop,” recalls
Gerard King, then the police captain who
investigated the case.
And the attorney, unprepared, put Ma-
gill on the stand — the only defense
witness he called. The move sealed the
young man’s fate.
“He basically convicted himself,” King
says. “He told the court everything he
had confessed to me’ — and more.”
Never mentioned at trial was the fact
that out of more than 1,300 teenagers
arrested for murder each year, only an
average of five are sentenced to death.
Never mentioned was the fact that dozens
of people rob and murder convenience
store clerks — and, terrible as the crime
is, virtually none is sentenced to death,
particularly not a teenager with no prior
felonies on his record. Why let Charles
Manson, Sirhan Sirhan or Richard Speck
live out their lives in prison and not Paul
Magill? |
“The system is incredibly irrational
and arbitrary; at its core, it’s nothing but
a crap shoot,” says Magill’s new attorney,
Michael Mello. “If you could just get the
public to meet the guys on death row and
see them as human beings, I think they
wouldn’t be so zealous about capital pun-
ishment. But they see them as subhuman.
They think they don’t count.”
Once just an average student, Magill
behind bars has taught himself the Greek
language, perfected his knowledge of the
Bible, learned to crochet. He writes ex-
haustively and has spent years in intro-
spection. He says he is grateful, in a way,
for the time in prison: It has made him
learn patience and self-restraint — quali-
ties he lacked in his teenage years.
“After my arrest,” Magill says, “I got to
a point of total emotional collapse where I
felt no purpose in life, and I felt it wasn’t
worth living or loving.... And I prayed
and asked God to guide me and take over
my life, and there was almost instantly a
lifting, a feeling that life was worth living,
that everything would be all right
continued on Page 55
continued f Page 36
and that I still could do many things that would
be worthwhile.”
Twice, Magill has faced execution dates, only
to have them postponed. He is prepared, though
unwilling, to die. If the couhtry believes so
strongly in the death penalty, in its deterrence
of crime, why, he asks, hide electrocutions in a
rom where only 20 people can see?
Magill wipes his forehead, the handcuffs
jingling softly.
“If my electrocution takes place,” he says, “I
want it to be televised.”
ONALD WARD, 15 YEARS OLD,
was taken out of his seventh-grade
choral music class and arrested in the
principal’s office of his West Memphis,
Ark., junior high school. The cops escorted the
kid with the clean record into a squad car on the
other side of the playground. He was in big
trouble, he knew. A week before his arrest, he’d
been questioned by police, his grandmother by
his side. Lena Ward, 74, didn’t hesitate before
permitting detectives to obtain Ward’s finger-
prints. She never thought of demanding a
lawyer.
Of course, it was the prints that got Ward
arrested. Dozens of them showed up in a squat
wooden cottage near the train tracks where a
12-year-old boy and his two great-aunts, both in
their 70s, were found dead in their night
- clothes, one of the women raped. The thrust of
the butcher knife had snapped their breast
bones and sliced through their hearts.
The case against Ward stank, says his attor-
ney, Joseph Brown. Evidence suggested that
drug deals were involved, that two men had
been with Ward in the murder house and that
they used the boy for a fall guy, forcing him to
help commit their crime. Ward admitted the
rape, but insisted he never murdered anyone.
The two men did it, he said. Indeed, police
couldn’t find Ward’s prints on the murder
weapon. And few could figure how a 115-pound
teenager could single-handedly subdue the vi-
cious guard dog at the scene and kill three
‘people with such practiced brutality. But no
one else gotcaught. ~
Ward didn’t stand much of a chance at trial,
Brown: says. The prosecution systematically
- prevented any blacks from joining the jury in a
rial rife with racial issues: Ward was black, all
chree victims were white. The jury deliberated
just 35 minutes before recommending “death by
lethal injection.”
Ward turned 16 on death row, his cellmate a
three-time murderer with a frontal lobotomy
and a case of skin lice.
“T think I always questions, why me?” says
the boy, who has grown five inches in prison. “I
came up with a slight reason, but I can’t think
whether that’s what it is or not. They say if you
disobey your parents, talk back ... they say
when you do something, it catch up with you.”
Ward has been trying to rehabilitate himself
behind bars. He practices, his reading and
paints “pictures that be out in the world, like
“rees, flowers and birds.” At night, in bed, he
envisions things he misses.
“The only thing I have dreamed about is
being back home, and being out of jail, and I
wake up, and I’m still in the cell. I have those
dreams almost every night.”
And he writes letters, in a slowly improving
script, to a new pen pal who worries about him
from far away. She is Paula Cooper, a girl trying
to keep from dying. They share the same
hope. D
