Back to Blog
![]() The judge will formally sentence Lee to death on Dec. Lee already faces a life sentence for his August conviction in the slaying of a woman in West Baton Rouge Parish.Īfter the jury's death penalty decision, another Lee attorney, Mike Mitchell, said: "We wish the outcome had been different, but we accept the outcome as it is. But that evil is not defeated by sticking a needle in an arm," attorney Bruce Unangst said. "I don't know what kind of evil must have descended upon that man to produce what you saw in those pictures. Lee's attorney pleaded for his client's life. In closing arguments, lead prosecutor John Sinquefield urged the jury to give Lee the death penalty, saying he was a "serial killer trying to hide behind a claim of mental retardation to escape the punishment he so richly deserves." ![]() A 2002 Supreme Court decision forbids the execution of the mentally retarded. Jurors earlier in the day heard conflicting psychiatric testimony from defense and prosecution witnesses. "I feel like they are finally, finally, finally given some moment of peace and justice," said Pace's mother Ann. Lee has been linked by DNA evidence to the deaths of seven women from 1998 to 2003, and prosecutors introduced the gruesome details of four other killings in the Pace trial. Lee, 35, was convicted Tuesday for the first-degree murder of 22-year-old Charlotte Murray Pace, who was raped and riddled with more than 80 stab wounds in a brutal struggle throughout her home in May 2002. Lee's mother and sister each shouted, "I love you," while the victim's family members gasped, cried and hugged each other. They don't wanna tell you about the DNA they took eight times," continuing his suggestions that law enforcement planted the DNA evidence that helped convict him. A jury took just over 90 minutes Thursday night to decide on the death penalty for twice-convicted killer and suspected serial slayer Derrick Todd Lee, rejecting defense claims that he is mentally retarded.Īs he was being taken from the courtroom, Lee held up the "V" sign for victory and shouted to his family, "God don't sleep.
0 Comments
Read More
Leave a Reply. |