Opinion ID: 2299781
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 14

Heading: Albert Carrow Fains

Text: Arthur Williams was confined to a wheelchair, so he lived with a home health aide, Ella Johnson. Williams was known to keep large amounts of cash in the apartment and gave people money to run errands for him. On March 14, 1984, Johnson left Williams alone so that she could care for another patient. Early that evening, Lisa Daniels visited Williams. Albert Fains, who lived next door to Williams, went to Williams' apartment about fifteen minutes later. Williams gave Fains money to buy cigarettes, sandwiches, and marijuana. Fains, Williams, and Daniels spent the evening in Williams' apartment. Fains was the first to leave the apartment, but was later seen returning to the apartment in the middle of the night. When Johnson returned to the apartment, she found Williams' dead body on the floor with a knife in his back. A plastic bag had been pulled over Williams' head. The cause of death was later determined to be a contusion of the brain caused by three fractures on the right side of the skull, a wound on the bridge of the nose, and eight wounds on the side of the head. The wounds corresponded to the shape of the head of a hammer. A search of Fains's apartment revealed a blood stained pair of pants and Williams' wrist watch. Fains was twenty-six at the time of the murder. He is a high school graduate. He had been unemployed for four to five years preceding the crime. Fains used marijuana, but had never been treated for drug abuse. He was diagnosed as having an adjustment disorder with depressed mood and avoidance personality. Fains was convicted of knowing murder, robbery, felony murder, and possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose. On the murder count, Fains was sentenced to life imprisonment with a thirty-year parole bar. He was sentenced to fifteen years for the robbery count, concurrent to the murder conviction. The remaining convictions were merged. The AOC classifies this case as having aggravating factor, c(4)(g), contemporaneous felony, and mitigating factor, c(5)(h), the catch-all factor.