Post by garyploofisinocent on May 5, 2006 18:53:44 GMT -5
Killer's execution set for May 19Robert W. Jackson III to die for ax murder of Hockessin woman
By SEAN O'SULLIVAN and ESTEBAN PARRA
The News Journal
05/03/2006
The Delaware Department of Correction is moving forward with plans to execute convicted killer Robert W. Jackson III on May 19.
The final order setting the death date was signed by Superior Court Judge Richard R. Cooch on April 5.
Appeals could delay the date, but the Delaware Attorney General's Office indicates that Jackson, 32, has largely exhausted his options.However, one of Jackson's attorneys, Thomas A. Foley, said Tuesday he is hopeful there will be a delay.
"There are a lot of irons in the fire in both state and federal courts that have not played out yet," he said.
The DOC is preparing for Jackson to receive a lethal injection between 12:01 to 3 a.m. on that date, spokeswoman Gail Stallings Minor said.
Jackson was convicted of using an ax to kill Elizabeth Girardi, 47, of Hockessin on April 3, 1992.
Jackson and another man, Anthony Lachette, had been burglarizing Girardi's Old Wilmington Road home when she arrived and surprised the men.
According to court testimony, Jackson struck Girardi with a 4.7-pound splitting ax he took from a nearby woodshed. When Jackson heard his victim moan, he struck her three more times.
Lachette pleaded guilty in 1993 to reduced charges of second-degree burglary and conspiracy and was sentenced to five years in prison and testified against Jackson.
Lachette testified that Jackson told friends, "I think there's something wrong with me -- I don't feel any remorse."
"He was real excited," Lachette told jurors. "It was like he got off on it."
Lachette was released from prison in 1996, authorities said.
After Jackson's conviction, Delaware's high court found that the sentencing phase of his trial was flawed and ordered a new one. His conviction was upheld.
In September 1995, a second jury recommended 11-1 to execute Jackson.
If the state goes ahead with the execution, Jackson will become the 15th person to be put to death in Delaware since 1992 -- that year marked Delaware's first execution since the state reinstated the death penalty in 1961, according to the DOC.
Brian D. Steckel, 36, who was executed Nov. 4, was the last person put to death in Delaware. There are currently 15 other men on Delaware's death row.
Contact Sean O'Sullivan at 324-2777 or sosullivan@delawareonline.com. Contact Esteban Parra at 324-2299 or eparra@delawareonline.com.
By SEAN O'SULLIVAN and ESTEBAN PARRA
The News Journal
05/03/2006
The Delaware Department of Correction is moving forward with plans to execute convicted killer Robert W. Jackson III on May 19.
The final order setting the death date was signed by Superior Court Judge Richard R. Cooch on April 5.
Appeals could delay the date, but the Delaware Attorney General's Office indicates that Jackson, 32, has largely exhausted his options.However, one of Jackson's attorneys, Thomas A. Foley, said Tuesday he is hopeful there will be a delay.
"There are a lot of irons in the fire in both state and federal courts that have not played out yet," he said.
The DOC is preparing for Jackson to receive a lethal injection between 12:01 to 3 a.m. on that date, spokeswoman Gail Stallings Minor said.
Jackson was convicted of using an ax to kill Elizabeth Girardi, 47, of Hockessin on April 3, 1992.
Jackson and another man, Anthony Lachette, had been burglarizing Girardi's Old Wilmington Road home when she arrived and surprised the men.
According to court testimony, Jackson struck Girardi with a 4.7-pound splitting ax he took from a nearby woodshed. When Jackson heard his victim moan, he struck her three more times.
Lachette pleaded guilty in 1993 to reduced charges of second-degree burglary and conspiracy and was sentenced to five years in prison and testified against Jackson.
Lachette testified that Jackson told friends, "I think there's something wrong with me -- I don't feel any remorse."
"He was real excited," Lachette told jurors. "It was like he got off on it."
Lachette was released from prison in 1996, authorities said.
After Jackson's conviction, Delaware's high court found that the sentencing phase of his trial was flawed and ordered a new one. His conviction was upheld.
In September 1995, a second jury recommended 11-1 to execute Jackson.
If the state goes ahead with the execution, Jackson will become the 15th person to be put to death in Delaware since 1992 -- that year marked Delaware's first execution since the state reinstated the death penalty in 1961, according to the DOC.
Brian D. Steckel, 36, who was executed Nov. 4, was the last person put to death in Delaware. There are currently 15 other men on Delaware's death row.
Contact Sean O'Sullivan at 324-2777 or sosullivan@delawareonline.com. Contact Esteban Parra at 324-2299 or eparra@delawareonline.com.