MA Murderer's Second Death Penalty Trial Begins: Opening statements begin Tuesday in the death penalty trial of a Massachusetts man who pleaded guilty to murdering three people in a weeklong crime spree 15 years ago that spanned two states. Scott Malone of Reuters reports that Gary Lee Sampson, 56, admitted to killing two men in Massachusetts who picked him up while hitchhiking in two separate incidents and another person in New Hampshire who was taking care of a home he had broken into. Sampson was originally sentenced to death for his crimes in 2004, but the sentence was overturned in 2011 after a judge found a juror had lied about her history with domestic violence. Sampson's trial is the second death penalty trial in the state in two years; last year, Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was sentenced to death. Because Sampson has already pleaded guilty, the trial will focus solely on whether he will face the death penalty or life in prison without parole. The death penalty is banned in Massachusetts but Sampson, like Tsarnaev, was convicted of murder under federal law. Since 1988, 75 people have been sentenced to death on federal charges, and three of them have been executed.
WA Mother Charged with Injecting Children with Heroin: A Washington state mother was formally charged and jailed on Monday for injecting her children with heroin to get them to sleep. Fox News reports that Child Protective Services (CPS) removed 24-year-old Ashlee Hutt's three children -- ages six, four and two -- from her Spanaway home that she shared with her boyfriend, Matt McIver, 25, in November 2015. The home was reportedly riddled with heroin, needles and rat droppings. The youngest child's body showed signs of heroin injection, and the eldest child confirmed that Hutt and McIver mixed a white powder with water and injected it with a needle into their bodies, calling it "feel-good medicine." The six-year-old also said he was choked by McIver. Hutt and McIver face three counts each of unlawful delivery of a controlled substance to a minor, second-degree criminal mistreatment and second-degree child assault. The charges come on the same day that the Yale School of Medicine issued a report that found the number of kids who received emergency treatment for opioid drug overdoses, both accidental and deliberate, more than doubled between 1997 and 2012, the greatest increase being among children between the ages of one and four.
Manson Follower Denied Parole: Parole was denied by a California review board last week for a follower of Charles Manson, his self-described right-hand man in several brutal killings across Los Angeles. Matt Hamilton of the LA Times reports that Charles "Tex" Watson, 70, was denied parole late Thursday for his role in the 1969 massacre of five people at the home of director Roman Polanski, including eight-months pregnant actress Sharon Tate, and the killings of Rosemary and Leno LaBianca. Watson was sentenced to die in San Quentin's gas chamber but had his sentence commuted to life in prison in 1973 after the death penalty was ruled unconstitutional by the state Supreme Court. At his 2011 parole hearing, he was described as "the leader of the rampage at Polanski's home" and "the main hit man" in the family. The parole commissioners, while acknowledging Watson's efforts to reform, ultimately found him to still pose a danger to society, citing the grisly nature of the crimes and their indelible effect on the nation. Last week's decision marks the 17th time Watson has been denied parole. He will be eligible for parole again in five years.
WA Mother Charged with Injecting Children with Heroin: A Washington state mother was formally charged and jailed on Monday for injecting her children with heroin to get them to sleep. Fox News reports that Child Protective Services (CPS) removed 24-year-old Ashlee Hutt's three children -- ages six, four and two -- from her Spanaway home that she shared with her boyfriend, Matt McIver, 25, in November 2015. The home was reportedly riddled with heroin, needles and rat droppings. The youngest child's body showed signs of heroin injection, and the eldest child confirmed that Hutt and McIver mixed a white powder with water and injected it with a needle into their bodies, calling it "feel-good medicine." The six-year-old also said he was choked by McIver. Hutt and McIver face three counts each of unlawful delivery of a controlled substance to a minor, second-degree criminal mistreatment and second-degree child assault. The charges come on the same day that the Yale School of Medicine issued a report that found the number of kids who received emergency treatment for opioid drug overdoses, both accidental and deliberate, more than doubled between 1997 and 2012, the greatest increase being among children between the ages of one and four.
Manson Follower Denied Parole: Parole was denied by a California review board last week for a follower of Charles Manson, his self-described right-hand man in several brutal killings across Los Angeles. Matt Hamilton of the LA Times reports that Charles "Tex" Watson, 70, was denied parole late Thursday for his role in the 1969 massacre of five people at the home of director Roman Polanski, including eight-months pregnant actress Sharon Tate, and the killings of Rosemary and Leno LaBianca. Watson was sentenced to die in San Quentin's gas chamber but had his sentence commuted to life in prison in 1973 after the death penalty was ruled unconstitutional by the state Supreme Court. At his 2011 parole hearing, he was described as "the leader of the rampage at Polanski's home" and "the main hit man" in the family. The parole commissioners, while acknowledging Watson's efforts to reform, ultimately found him to still pose a danger to society, citing the grisly nature of the crimes and their indelible effect on the nation. Last week's decision marks the 17th time Watson has been denied parole. He will be eligible for parole again in five years.
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