Death Penalty

By Cliff Judy (WICHITA, Kan.) Gavin Scott will serve more than 85 years in prison before he's eligible for parole for a 1996 double murder in Goddard, but he will not face the death penalty for the shooting deaths of Doug and Beth Brittain. Scott has twice been sent to death row for the killings.  Both of those death sentences were overturned, once because the judge learned a juror brought a Bible into jury deliberations. He'd been scheduled to go before a third jury next month to determine whether he should face the death penalty.

(AP) - After decades of moral arguments reaching biblical proportions, after long, twisted journeys to the nation's highest court and back, the death penalty may be abandoned by several states for a reason having nothing to do with right or wrong: Money. Turns out, it is cheaper to imprison killers for life than to execute them, according to a series of recent surveys. Tens of millions of dollars cheaper, politicians are learning, during a tumbling recession when nearly every state faces job cuts and massive deficits.

"I've been called upon to do a lot of things," Pastor Terry Fox says.  "But I've got to tell you, this is about the most unique call I've ever received. " The call was from the mother of death row inmate Michael Hooper--convicted of murdering his girlfriend and two children in Oklahoma and set to be executed on August 14th.  She wants Fox--an outspoken supporter of the death penalty--to come speak to her son and then be with her as they witness his execution. "What I've had to ask myself is, will this change my view of the death penalty?"

The man accused of shooting two people at Wichita Dollar General will not face the death penalty.  Sedgwick County Attorney Marc Bennett says he will not seek the death penalty against Marquis Marshall. Bennett will still try it as a capitol case.  That means if Marshall is convicted, he would face life in prison without the possibility of parole.  In court Thursday, Marshall was arraigned.  He stood silent and the judge entered a plea of not guilty on his behalf.

Geography Surveyed: Kansas Data Collected: 02/24/2009 Release Date: 02/24/2009 19:50 ET Sponsor: KWCH-TV Wichita 1 Asked of 500 Adults - Margin of Sampling Error for this question = ± 4.3% If Governor Sebelius accepts the nomination to become the Health and Human Services Secretary...

Gary Kleypas was convicted of Capital Murder and sentenced to death in December of 2008. Kleypas raped and killed Carrie Williams in March of 1996 in Pittsburg, Kansas. The Kansas Supreme Court reviewed his initial death sentence and overturned it in 2001. His sentencing case was taken up again in September 2008, when a jury once again recommended the death penalty. Kleypas was on parole for a 1977 murder in Missouri at the time of Williams' murder.

by Cliff Judy (WINFIELD, Kan.) After more than two years of wondering the fate of their daughter's killer, Brian and Cindy Sanderholm know Justin Thurber will face the death penalty.  On Friday morning, a judge officially sentenced Thurber to death. A jury convicted Thurber of capital murder in February for killing 19-year-old Jodi Sanderholm.  The Arkansas City teen disappeared in January 2007.  Prosecutors say she suffered for hours at the hands of Thurber before he strangled her.  Sanderholm's body was found in a wildlife area near the Kansas/Oklahoma border beaten and sexually assaulted.

Barton County authorities have scheduled the murder trial for Adam Longoria. Longoria is charged in the 2010 murder of 14 year-old Alicia Debolt.His trial is now scheduled to begin March 26, 2012 in Great Bent. Prosecutors have decided not to seek the death penalty.

Eyewitness News wanted to know how Kansans feel about lethal injection.  In a FactFinder 12 Scientific Survey, SurveyUSA interviewed 500 adults in Kansas. Here are their responses: 1   The Eighth Amendment to the United States constitution bans the use of cruel and unusual punishment. In general, do you think the death penalty is cruel and unusual punishment? 49% More Than Once a Day 13% Yes 83% No 4% Not Sure Margin of Sampling Error for this question = ± 3.3% 2   Now, specifically thinking about the lethal injection method of the death penalty that is used in Kansas -- do you think THAT is cruel and unusual punishment.

by Cliff Judy (WICHITA, Kan.) Elgin Robinson's capital murder trial will go ahead as scheduled.  Thursday morning, a judge denied his attorney's motions to declare the Kansas death penalty unconstitutional and dismiss a charge of capital murder. Robinson is charged with hiring another man to kill pregnant Wichita teen Chelsea Brooks.  Brooks, 14, was nine months pregnant with Robinson's unborn child when she disappeared in June 2006.  Prosecutors say he hired Ted Burnett to strangle the girl for a combination of cash and drugs.