In a flat voice that offered no hint of his thoughts or feelings, Daniel J. Best Jr. shielded himself from a possible death sentence Thursday by admitting he bludgeoned his elderly grandparents to death with a hammer at their Sand Lake home. He was arrested in November 1997 in Oregon. Best stood with his attorney, Mark Harris of the state Capital Defender's Office, and offered few details about the killings other than in response to questions from McGrath. He provided no new insight into why he killed his grandparents. According to a statement attributed to Best given to Oregon State Police, Best said he killed his grandparents at their home, where he had sometimes lived in the years since his father's death, to get the car and some money to leave town.
People die hard.
Ralph and Blanche Best were killed on a Friday, and Ralph Best Jr. found their bodies the following Monday. Daniel Best was found in Oregon on Wednesday, Nov. 26. Rensselaer County District Attorney Kenneth Bruno said the plea bargain provides a just ending to the case because it assures that Best will remain in prison until he is close to 70 years old, and it spares the Best family the pain of adrawn-out trial. Ralph Best Jr. and his family declined comment. In December, the state Court of Appeals ruled that allowing defendants to plead guilty to capital murder charges to avoid possible execution penalized suspects who invoke their constitutional right to a jury trial.