Opinion ID: 1934777
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Application of Precedent-Seeking Approach

Text: We begin application of the precedent-seeking approach by identifying the cases that we will use. They consist of those cases that appear in the AOC's tables for kidnapping of non-strangers with particular violence or terror, kidnapping of strangers with particular violence or terror, contract-murder principals, contract killers, and other non-robbery pecuniary-advantage killers. Martini Report tbl. 7, groups H(2), H(1), I(2), I(1), I(3). The total number of cases is eighteen. Ibid. By comparing Martini to those other eighteen defendants in the traditional manner of review, we seek to determine the existence of any aberration in defendant's sentencing. Bey IV, supra, 137 N.J. at 369, 645 A. 2d 685. We note, as we did in Bey IV, supra, that even closely-similar cases do not require identical verdicts to be proportionate, in light of the different defendants, juries, facts, and legal issues involved. Ibid. Precedent-seeking review reveals no disproportionality in Martini's sentence.
Defendant argues that his case is most like murders involving premeditated robbery or kidnapping arising from a pecuniary motive. He takes pains to distinguish himself from contract principals and contract killers. He argues that such murders are fatal precondition crimes, that is, crimes in which the killing is either itself the purpose of the crime or directly required to complete the criminal scheme. In that way, for example, Martini sees himself as different from Robert Marshall, who sought to collect on his wife's life-insurance policies. Marshall's plan obviously required the death of his wife. Similarly, defendant sees himself as distinguishable from hitmen who seek to impress organized-crime figures through their willingness to kill. The basis of defendant's distinction is that the completion of his crime, the collection of ransom, did not depend on the death of his victim. He argues that crimes such as his are necessarily less blameworthy than the so-called fatal precondition crimes. That distinction, defendant argues, minimizes his deathworthiness. We disagree. We reject defendant's fatal precondition argument. We do not accept the proposition that one who, with intent to kill, commits a crime such as robbery or rape is always less culpable than one who commits a fatal precondition crime. Moreover, defendant's arguments to the contrary notwithstanding, defendant's implied promise to Mrs. Flax to release her husband once she paid the ransom does not establish his intent to do so. Because Martini took no steps to hide his identity from Irving Flax, the likelihood that defendant entertained any thought of freeing his victim is remote indeed. Thus, we cannot find that fatal-precondition crimes are always more blameworthy than all other murders in which the killing arguably was not essential to the crime. Again, our decision in that regard simply recognizes the reality that, the dissent notwithstanding, we may not assume that other things [are] equal. Post at 106, 651 A. 2d at 1000. We will, of course, consider as an element of blameworthiness the necessity of the victim's death in the defendant's plan. However, we refuse to restrict ourselves to such absolute, artificial constructions that ignore the nuances of individual cases. We reject as well defendant's arguments that one who purposefully and knowingly murders a single victim is less deathworthy than one who murders more than one victim. We cannot say that a murderer who kills one person through torture is necessarily less culpable than a murderer who kills more than one person quickly. Nor do we accept defendant's arguments that one who kidnaps for ransom is never more culpable than one who commits other types of kidnapping, or that the length of premeditation does not affect a defendant's level of culpability. Finally, we reject defendant's request to treat all cases not prosecuted capitally as non-deathworthy. As we stated in Koedatich, supra, a prosecutor may elect not to prosecute a case capitally for reasons unrelated to the deathworthiness of the case. 112 N.J. at 256, 548 A. 2d 939. In the absence of proof of the actual reasons, we will not speculate either way about decisions concerning deathworthiness. See Marshall II, supra, 130 N.J. at 202-04, 613 A. 2d 1059. The State argues that juries are not required to return identical verdicts even in closely-similar cases. Therefore, it continues, proportionality should be limited to a search for the influence of impermissible factors in the decision to sentence a given defendant capitally. Those propositions are essentially correct. In proportionality review, we seek to ensure that the defendant has not been singled out for capital punishment unfairly. Marshall II, supra, 130 N.J. at 159, 181, 613 A. 2d 1059. The dissent also characterizes as irrational[] our acceptance of different results even in closely-similar cases, even though each case involves different facts, defendants, juries and legal issues. Post at 99, 651 A. 2d at 996; compare supra at 51, 651 A. 2d at 973 (discussing treatment of closely-similar cases). The dissent bases that description on the importance of the issue at stake: the life of the defendant. Post at 100, 651 A. 2d at 997. Our dissenting colleague argues that admit[ting] the uniqueness of every case makes review unmanageable. Post at 100, 651 A. 2d at 997. We disagree. That every case is unique makes proportionality review difficult but not impossible. Moreover, to treat capital cases as interchangeable would rob defendants of the thorough, searching review to which they are statutorily entitled. The State also contends that the jury's failure to find a mitigating factor should be accorded great weight. Although proportionality review is not a proceeding in which this Court should second-guess the penalty jury's findings, we are required in comparative-culpability review to weigh all evidence that is objectively present in the record and that is rooted in traditional sentencing guidelines. Therefore, in precedent-seeking review, we consider mitigating evidence even though the jury found it insufficient to establish a statutory mitigating factor. Bey IV, supra, 137 N.J. at 367-69, 645 A. 2d 685.
We base our summaries on published opinions or, if the cases are unpublished, on the discussion of those cases contained in the AOC's Detailed Narrative Summaries.
Nelson Jalil Jalil, a thirty-two-year-old male, planned for five months to kill his pregnant, twenty-two-year-old wife because of frequent arguments between them. He decided to carry out his plan on November 23, 1987. He asked his wife to accompany him that evening when he went to clean an office. At 4 a.m. on November 24, he began arguing with his wife, handcuffed her hands behind her back, beat her back and face, and strangled her. Both his and his wife's clothes and shoes were bloody, as was the interior of the car. The victim's face was swollen, bruised, and bloody. Jalil covered his wife's body with a blanket and drove to two jobs, leaving the body in his car while he worked. On November 25, at about 1:30 a.m., defendant dumped his wife's body in a deserted area of a junkyard, where a worker at the yard discovered it later that morning. Jalil confessed to having killed his wife. Charged with purposeful and knowing murder, unlawful possession of a weapon, and kidnapping, he pleaded guilty to aggravated manslaughter and kidnapping. The court sentenced him to a thirty-year term with a fifteen-year parole disqualifier for manslaughter and a consecutive twenty-year term with a five-year parole bar for the kidnapping. Jalil came to the United States in 1971, dropped out of high school at the tenth grade when his ability to speak English became sufficient to allow him to work, and was a maintenance worker at an office, a hospital, and a race track. He is in poor physical health, suffers from depression and anxiety, and has no prior record. Gary Mayron On March 26, 1986, twenty-two-year-old Mayron met his seventeen-year-old female victim at an arcade. They left in Mayron's truck, bought a six-pack of beer, and went to a motel, where they engaged in sex. Shortly thereafter, Mayron strangled the victim with his belt. After the victim lost consciousness, the belt broke. Mayron dressed her, placed her in his truck, and drove to a secluded area, where the victim regained consciousness and pleaded for her life. Defendant said that he was not going to hurt her but was going to teach her a lesson about promiscuity. He then shoved her down, hit her head with a rock, dragged her down a hill, and punched and kicked her. The victim tried to defend herself with a stick, but defendant overpowered her and left her face-down in water. Defendant then went to a bar to wash his hands and shoes. After Mayron told his girlfriend about the assault, she called the police. On being arrested, Mayron first denied but then confessed to the killing, claiming that he had not intended to kill his victim and that he thought that she was still alive when he left her. He was found guilty of knowing and purposeful murder and of kidnapping. At the penalty trial, the jury found both aggravating factors that the State had asserted: c(4)(c), extreme suffering, and c(4)(g), murder in the course of a kidnapping. Defense experts testified that when Mayron combined sex and alcohol, he experienced violent, psychotic episodes. Mayron's sister and biological mother testified that he had spent much of his childhood in foster care. The jury found mitigating factors c(5)(a), emotional disturbance; c(5)(d), mental disease, defect, or intoxication; and c(5)(h), the catchall factor. It rejected mitigating factor c(5)(c), age. Because one juror could not agree on the imposition of a death sentence, Mayron received a life term with a thirty-year parole bar for the murder and a consecutive thirty-year period of parole ineligibility for the kidnapping. Mayron previously had been charged with rape and assault with a deadly weapon, and had been convicted of the assault charge. He had also been convicted of aggravated assault. He had been graduated from high school, had enlisted in the Army, and had received a dishonorable discharge for committing an aggravated assault. He had consumed beer every day since age eighteen, had been committed to the Vroom Building at Trenton Psychiatric Hospital, and had been in treatment programs for both alcohol and cocaine abuse. Clifton McKenzie On January 9, 1985, McKenzie, age twenty nine, met the twenty-six-year-old victim at her place of employment, went with her to her apartment, and held her there against her will, while repeatedly assaulting her physically and sexually. When her family arrived at her apartment on January 12, 1985, McKenzie fled through a back window. The victim's family took her to the police station to file a report. She was supposed to return to sign a complaint, but disappeared before doing so. On February 9, 1985, a motel manager notified police that the staff was unable to awaken one of the guests. Police and a first-aid squad responded and transported the occupant, McKenzie, to the hospital for drug-overdose treatment. Police then searched McKenzie's car and found the victim's body in the trunk. An autopsy showed that she had died of oxygen deprivation or exposure or both. McKenzie told police that he and the victim had been riding in his car and had begun arguing, that he had covered her nose and mouth with his hand until she lapsed into an unconscious state, and that he then had placed her in his trunk. Over the next two days, he had checked on his victim, noticing that she had become cold and was shrinking. He was convicted of knowing and purposeful murder, felony murder, and kidnapping. The State served notice of aggravating factors c(4)(f), murder to escape detection, and c(4)(g), contemporaneous felony. The jury found only c(4)(g). It also found mitigating factors c(5)(d), mental disease, defect, or intoxication; c(5)(f), no prior criminal history; and c(5)(h), the catchall factor. It rejected mitigating factor c(5)(c), age. It did not find that the aggravating factor outweighed the mitigating factors. McKenzie received a life term with a thirty-year parole disqualifier for the knowing and purposeful murder and a consecutive fifteen-year term for the kidnapping. The sentencing court merged the felony-murder conviction into the knowing-and-purposeful-murder conviction. Defendant had completed one semester of college but had dropped out to work full time. He was a heroin addict and had been through two treatment programs and a mental-health evaluation at Menlo Park Diagnostic Center. He had several convictions, including burglary, disorderly-persons offenses, and forgery. Gilberto Valdez On September 22, 1988, the victim told a codefendant where that codefendant could obtain some battery chargers. The chargers turned out to be defective. When the victim returned, Valdez and the two codefendants were drinking. The three defendants beat the victim, then dragged him by a tie wrapped around his neck to some railroad tracks. There, they tied him with a hose, continued beating him, and stripped him. Valdez hit the victim with a steel object and stabbed him. The victim died of the beating and of strangulation. Charged with felony murder, aggravated manslaughter, kidnapping, possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, and unlawful possession of a weapon, Valdez pleaded guilty to aggravated manslaughter and received a twenty-five-year term. One codefendant received a thirty-five-year term for felony murder, and the other pleaded guilty to kidnapping. Valdez was homeless at the time of the offense. He was unemployed, having formerly worked as a mechanic and as a stonemason. He enjoyed good mental and physical health, and denied using drugs other than alcohol. Ricky Watkins Watkins was a codefendant of Valdez. Watkins was the defendant who wrapped the tie around the victim's neck and dragged him to the railroad tracks. Watkins was charged with felony murder, aggravated manslaughter, kidnapping, possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, and unlawful possession of a weapon. A jury convicted him of all counts, and the court imposed a thirty-five-year term with a thirty-year parole bar for the felony-murder conviction and an eight-year concurrent term for the aggravated assault. The court merged the other counts into the felony-murder conviction. Watkins is an eleventh-grade drop-out who at the time of the offense lived in a trailer house inside a warehouse where he worked as a forklift operator. He had no mental-health problems but suffered from dizziness, was addicted to cocaine, and had convictions for burglary, larceny, resisting arrest, and invasion of privacy.
Jamie Barone On August 21, 1987, the victim left her place of employment to meet a friend at a mall. She never returned. Fifty-two days later her body was found in a wooded area several miles from the mall. She had died of a fractured skull caused by bludgeoning that had separated her skull from her body. The victim's car was discovered in Barone's possession in another state. Barone had also used several of the victim's credit cards. Police investigation revealed that Barone had been shopping at the mall from which the victim had disappeared. An eyewitness had seen the victim with Barone at the mall. Barone denied any involvement in the abduction, and claimed that someone had given him a ride in the car and then had given him the car and the victim's wallet. The defendant was convicted of knowing and purposeful murder, kidnapping, robbery, unlawful possession of a weapon, and felony murder. At the penalty trial, the jury found aggravating factors c(4)(f), murder to escape detection, and c(4)(g), contemporaneous felony. The jury also found mitigating factors c(5)(c), age, and c(5)(f), the catchall factor. It rejected c(5)(a), extreme mental or emotional disturbance. Because the jury was unable to reach a decision in the weighing process, the trial court sentenced Barone to a life term with a thirty-year parole bar. He also received a thirty-year term with a fifteen-year period of parole ineligibility for kidnapping, consecutive to the murder sentence, and a twenty-year term with a ten-year parole bar for the robbery, consecutive to the kidnapping term. The court merged the felony-murder conviction into the purposeful-and-knowing-murder conviction. Barone, age twenty-six, had been in the Army, where he had earned college credits. He had no significant history of drug abuse but admitted to prior crack use. He was previously convicted of grand larceny, possession of a stolen motorcycle, driving without a license, two burglaries, and auto theft.
Francis Brand In 1988, Brand, thirty-two years old, began importuning Randy Burroughs, Brand's long-time high-school friend, to kill Brand's brother Arthur. Arthur was selling drugs from out of the home and abusing his family. He also sold drugs to another brother, Joey. Brand promised Burroughs ever-increasing amounts of money for the murder, and also asked at least two others persons to commit the killing. In October 1988, Burroughs agreed to kill Arthur, but was unable to carry out the murder. Later, on July 4, 1989, Burroughs attempted to break up a fight between Arthur and Joey, in the course of which Burroughs and Arthur fought. The next week, on July 11, 1989, at 3:00 a.m., Burroughs, carrying a shotgun, entered the Brands' house through an unlocked door and went into the bedroom where Arthur slept. As Arthur began to rise, Burroughs said, You got to stop hurting people, and you're done. He then shot Arthur twice. Burroughs and defendant met later and also during the day without discussing payment. That night Burroughs returned to the Brands' home. He told the police, who were present at the crime scene, that he had stopped by only to pick up a hat that he had left there the previous day. Questioned by police the following day, Burroughs admitted to the killing, told police that the shotgun was in his attic, and implicated Francis. Francis Brand denied any involvement in the killing of his brother, expressed remorse over his death, and claimed that Burroughs had acted solely out of anger over the fight on July 4. A jury convicted him of murder and conspiracy to commit murder. The case was not presented as a capital case, although the State could have asserted aggravating factor c(4)(e) and Francis could have presented mitigating factors c(5)(a), c(5)(f), and c(5)(h). Brand had no criminal record. Although he dropped out of high school in the twelfth grade, he later received his diploma. Unemployed at the time of his arrest, he had previously worked sporadically as a janitor. He is single, has no children, no history of drug abuse, and denies any mental illness. William Engel and Herbert Engel This case is reported as State v. Engel, 249 N.J. Super. 336, 592 A. 2d 572 (App.Div. 1991), certif. denied, 130 N.J. 393, 614 A. 2d 616 (1991). The State tried the defendants together, seeking the death penalty. William, married to the victim, Xiomara Engel, suspected his wife of infidelity. He hired a private investigator, who found no evidence of infidelity, but that finding did not overcome William's jealousy. He often confronted his wife with his groundless suspicions, abusing her both verbally and physically. Xiomara's aunt and mother witnessed two beatings, during which William claimed that Xiomara deserved to be killed. The marriage ended in an annulment, but William continued to harass Xiomara and sought to prevent her from obtaining employment to ensure that she did not meet other men. He also began calling Andres Diaz, for whom Xiomara had worked as a secretary and with whom Xiomara had developed a relationship, to pose unwarranted and insinuating questions. On December 13, 1984, Xiomara agreed to meet William at his office preparatory to a shopping trip for their daughter's Christmas presents. Dropping off her children and her grandfather at her apartment, she explained to her grandfather, who was to babysit for the children, that she was on her way to meet with William. That evening, William called twice to tell the grandfather that Xiomara had failed to keep the appointment. At 8:00 that night, police responded to a burglar alarm at William's place of business. They saw Herbert Engel's car in the parking lot. William Engel responded to the officers' knocks, assured them that everything was in order, and quickly closed the door. Suspicious, the officers remained at the scene. When William reappeared, the officers ordered him to open the door. William, appearing nervous, came outside and shut the door. He answered the officers' questions in an evasive manner, but because the policemen recognized William as the owner of the building, they did not detain him or otherwise pursue the matter. The next day, Xiomara's oldest daughter told Xiomara's mother that the victim had never returned, and later that morning William called to say that Xiomara had failed to appear for their shopping trip. When the mother said that she was going to call the police, William suggested that she wait until he could accompany her to the police station that afternoon. When by 11:00 p.m. William had failed to arrive, the mother, accompanied by Diaz, went to the police without William. As part of their search for Xiomara, police interviewed William at his home, during which he chain-smoked and appeared very nervous. He repeated his claim that he had not seen the victim on the night of December 13. On December 14 South Carolina police discovered a body in a burned station wagon. The license plates had been removed, but police were able to trace the car's ownership to Xiomara and to identify her body through her dental records. For reasons not stated in the record, police arrested James McFadden. In return for the State's promise to waive capital prosecution and to recommend that sentences run concurrently, McFadden revealed that Xiomara had been murdered, explained his role in the killing, and implicated both William and Herbert. In early December 1984, McFadden had been hired by Herbert as a salesman, although they had never agreed on a salary. Shortly after hiring McFadden, Herbert invited McFadden to meet him at a restaurant, where he introduced William to McFadden as his cousin and told McFadden that William had a girlfriend who was harassing him. When Herbert said that William would pay $25,000 to have her killed, McFadden did not respond. At Herbert's request, they met again several days later. Herbert repeated the offer, and McFadden agreed to commit the murder. They were to meet at William's warehouse the following Thursday. McFadden arrived, carrying a briefcase in which he had placed a wire cord that he had removed from the back of a refrigerator. When Herbert learned that McFadden was not carrying a gun, he opened his own briefcase to reveal a revolver. Herbert directed McFadden to strangle the victim when she arrived with William, who was to pretend to turn on the light, after which McFadden was to transport the body to the Engels' grandparents' home in South Carolina. McFadden was told to place the body in a hole and cover it with acid, and to have the car crushed. For purposes of disposing of the body in acid, Herbert gave McFadden a pair of elbow-length, thick rubber gloves. He then gave McFadden $1300 in cash and told him to hide in the bathroom. William entered with Xiomara. He fumbled with the light switch, claimed that it did not work, and walked past the bathroom to get a flashlight. As Xiomara followed, McFadden jumped out and pulled the cord around her neck. When she fell to the floor, McFadden strangled her. During the four-minute-long ordeal, William watched, smoked a cigarette, and called his former wife a bitch. After Xiomara expired, McFadden backed her station-wagon into the garage and with William's help threw the body into the car. William went outside while McFadden covered the body. When he returned to the garage, William was nervous and said that the police were outside. After William dealt with the police, McFadden left, driving Xiomara's station-wagon. After picking up an acquaintance, Lewis Pee Wee Wright, he drove with Wright to South Carolina. Wright, uninformed of the drive's purpose, discovered the body during the trip. On arrival in South Carolina, Wright burned the car, after which the two men celebrated the occasion at a bar. On their return to New Jersey, Herbert gave McFadden $5000. When Herbert later discovered that Wright had accompanied McFadden on the trip, he instructed McFadden to kill Wright, paying him another $1000. At trial, William and Herbert were convicted of murder and conspiracy to commit murder. The jury found that the defendants had paid to have the murder committed. At the penalty phase, the jury did not find that the aggravating factor c(4)(e), hiring a killer, outweighed mitigating factors c(5)(a), extreme mental or emotional distress, c(5)(e), duress, c(5)(f), no prior criminal record, and c(5)(f), the catchall factor, wherefore the court sentenced them to a life term with a thirty-year period of parole ineligibility. Robert Marshall Reported as State v. Marshall, 123 N.J. 1, 586 A. 2d 85 (1991) ( Marshall I ), proportionality aff'd, Marshall II, supra, 130 N.J. 109, 613 A. 2d 1059. Marshall, a fifty-four-year-old insurance agent, began having an extra-marital affair with Sarann Krausharr in June 1983. As early as the following December, the defendant mentioned to Krausharr the prospect of killing his wife, Maria. Although Marshall was wealthy, he lived beyond his means and was indebted to the extent of more than $168,000. He increased the amount of insurance on Maria's life to about $1,400,000 while neglecting his own policies. Marshall also paid Billy Wayne McKinnon, a former Louisiana sheriff's officer, $5000 to meet him in New Jersey. When they met in Atlantic City on June 18, 1984, Marshall offered McKinnon $65,000 to kill Maria. He promised McKinnon $10,000 in advance and $50,000 from the insurance proceeds. He gave McKinnon $7000 and a picture of Maria, assuring him that he, Marshall, would not be suspected because he was an outstanding citizen. He instructed McKinnon to kill Maria that evening. McKinnon did not make an attempt to carry out the murder, but instead returned to Louisiana. After a second meeting on July 19, 1984, ended without an attempt on Maria's life, Marshall offered McKinnon an extra $15,000 if McKinnon would kill Maria before Labor Day. On September 6, 1984, they met again, selected a spot on the Garden State Parkway at which McKinnon would kill Maria, and made plans to make the murder look like a robbery. After spending that evening at Atlantic City with Maria, Marshall drove his car to the Parkway's Oyster Creek picnic area as planned. While Maria lay sleeping in the car, Marshall got out on the pretext of fixing a flat tire. He then allowed himself to be hit on the head as part of the staged robbery. Maria was shot twice in the back and died instantly. Marshall's telephone records led police to McKinnon, who turned State's evidence. McKinnon identified Larry Thompson, a Louisiana man, as the gunman. The police investigation also disclosed Marshall's financial straits and the life insurance policies that he had taken out on Maria. A jury convicted Marshall of conspiracy to commit murder and of murder by hire. At his penalty trial, the jury found aggravating factor c(4)(e), procuring murder by payment, and mitigating factors c(5)(f), no prior record, and c(5)(h), the catchall factor. Based on the jury's finding that the aggravating factors outweighed the mitigating factors, the trial court sentenced Marshall to death. We affirmed both his conviction and the proportionality of his sentence.
Randy Burroughs Burroughs' case is set out as part of the discussion of Francis Brand in subsection iii, supra at 59-60, 651 A. 2d at 976-977. Burroughs was charged with conspiracy, murder, felony murder, burglary, and possession of a weapon for unlawful purposes. He pleaded guilty to murder, and the other charges were dismissed. The court sentenced Burroughs to a thirty-year term with a thirty-year period of parole ineligibility. Burroughs was graduated from high school, having taken special-education classes. He has had several jobs but has not held any of them for longer than six months. He is single and has three children by three different women. He has no history of drug abuse. His record shows one conviction for terroristic threats, which resulted in a fine. James D. Clausell This case is reported in part as State v. Clausell, 121 N.J. 298, 580 A. 2d 221 (1990). The victim, Edward Atwood, filed a complaint in municipal court against his neighbor, Roland Bartlett, for intentional cruelty in failing to provide his dog with water and for leaving excrement in the dog's kennel for excessive periods of time. Bartlett was acquitted of the intentional-cruelty charge but was fined for failing to clean the dog's kennel. On August 12, 1984, Atwood was at a basketball game with his grandparents when two men arrived at the door of his house at 10:45 p.m. Atwood's wife did not recognize them, and when she told them that her husband was not home, they left. Atwood returned with his grandparents shortly after midnight, whereupon the men returned and knocked. When Atwood opened the door, his wife, grandparents, and daughter Tanya were close by. His son Darrell sat at the top of the stairs. The first man, Dwayne Wright, asked for Ed, to which Atwood replied that they had the wrong guy. As Atwood tried to close the door, Wright stepped out of the way and Clausell fired two shots from his .357 Magnum handgun. The first shot killed Atwood. The second shot narrowly missed Tanya. An anonymous tip identified Clausell and Grant as the killers and Jennifer Schall as the driver of the getaway car. Clausell and Wright were tried together for own-conduct knowing and purposeful murder, conspiracy to commit murder, five counts of aggravated assault, possession of a weapon with unlawful intent, and possession of a handgun without a permit. Paul Grant, a friend of Wright, testified that Roland Bartlett's son, Anthony, had approached him about killing someone for $5000. He also testified that Clausell had received a phone call, had stated that they were going to receive $2000 apiece for murdering someone that evening, and had armed himself with a .357 Magnum. Schall, testifying under a grant of immunity, stated that Clausell and Wright had embarked on an attempt to collect some drug money and perhaps to beat up the debtor. She also testified that she had heard two gunshots, after which the two men had run back to the car and they drove off. She dropped them off at a club allegedly owned by Bartlett, where they expected to be paid. The trial court dismissed the conspiracy charge. The jury convicted Clausell of purposeful or knowing murder, finding that he had fired the gun, and also convicted him of three of the five aggravated-assault charges and the two weapons charges. The jury found Wright guilty of the same charges, but because it did not find that he had fired the gun, he was not subject to death-penalty proceedings. Wright received a life term with a thirty-year parole bar for the murder, and consecutive sentences totaling six years and three months for the other charges. At the penalty trial for Clausell, the jury found aggravating factors c(4)(b), that Clausell had knowingly or purposely subjected someone other than his victim to a grave risk of death, and c(4)(d), commission of murder for payment. It found mitigating factors c(5)(c), age; c(5)(f), no prior record; and c(5)(h), the catchall factor. It also found that each aggravating factor outweighed all the mitigating factors beyond a reasonable doubt. The court sentenced Clausell to death. It also sentenced him to a custodial term for the other convictions. We reversed defendant's death sentence, 121 N.J. 298, 580 A. 2d 221 (1990), because the trial court had failed to instruct the jury that Clausell could be convicted of capital murder only if he purposefully or knowingly had caused the death of Atwood, as opposed to purposely or knowingly causing serious bodily injury that resulted in death, a Gerald error. See Gerald, supra, 113 N.J. 40, 549 A. 2d 792. On remand, defendant was not sentenced capitally. Roland Bartlett was convicted and sentenced to a life term with a thirty-year parole bar. Clausell, a tenth-grade dropout, used cocaine daily. After Atwood's murder, but before Clausell's arrest for that murder, Clausell had been arrested for shooting another man in the leg three times. He had suffered a head injury as a child, resulting in severe headaches. Anthony DiFrisco Reported at 118 N.J. 253, 571 A. 2d 914 (1990) ( DiFrisco I) (affirming conviction but reversing death sentence), and at 137 N.J. 434, 645 A. 2d 734 (1994) ( DiFrisco II) (upholding death sentence but postponing proportionality review). At age twenty four, DiFrisco met Anthony Franciotti when the two were serving time in prison. After both had been released, Franciotti, who distributed drugs, became convinced that Edward Potcher, an owner of a pizzeria, intended to inform the police of Franciotti's activities. He therefore asked DiFrisco to kill Potcher in return for the cancellation of a $500 drug debt and for $2500 cash. DiFrisco agreed. In early August 1986, Franciotti gave DiFrisco a $700 down payment, and on August 12 took DiFrisco to a bar, where they had some drinks and used marijuana. At about 7:30 p.m., Franciotti drove to the pizzeria. DiFrisco claimed also to have used heroin. He walked into the pizza shop, where he saw a man behind the counter who matched the description given by Franciotti. While DiFrisco was talking to the man, a delivery boy entered. To stall for time, DiFrisco ordered a slice of pizza and a soda. After the boy left, DiFrisco ordered a second soda. When Potcher turned to get the soda, DiFrisco shot him with a .32 caliber revolver four times in the head and once in the arm. The fatal entry wounds were in the face, forehead, ear, and the top of the head. DiFrisco returned to Franciotti's car and they drove away. The next day, Franciotti paid the remainder of the fee. Police had no leads. Eight months later, New York City police arrested DiFrisco for various traffic violations, car theft, and reckless endangerment. Because DiFrisco was on probation, a conviction would have caused him to return to prison. He asked the arresting officer if he could do anything to avoid incarceration. The officer told him that revealing any major crimes would help. When DiFrisco inquired whether the assailant or the principal in a contract murder was more culpable, the officer replied that the principal was. DiFrisco subsequently confessed to the Potcher murder, although he did not know the victim's name or address. Because the prosecution had nothing other than DiFrisco's allegations, the assistant prosecutor suggested that DiFrisco place a call to Franciotti, to induce Franciotti to make incriminating statements on tape about the murder. After being informed by the prosecutor about the meaning of aggravating and mitigating factors in a capital case and after consulting with a public defender, DiFrisco agreed to make the call. However, DiFrisco's father told him not to cooperate without the advice of paid counsel. The assistant prosecutor told him that after his arrest was made public, DiFrisco would not be given a chance to cooperate. He decided not to make the call and asked to be returned to jail. After DiFrisco was charged with capital murder, the State alleged aggravating factors c(4)(c), outrageously wanton or vile murder; c(4)(d), murder for pecuniary gain; and c(4)(f), murder to escape detection. DiFrisco pleaded guilty, admitted that his intention had been to kill Potcher, and waived his right to a jury for his penalty trial. The trial court found aggravating factors c(4)(d) and c(4)(f). Of the five mitigating factors submitted, c(5)(c), age; c(5)(d), mental disease, defect, or intoxication; c(5)(f), no significant prior criminal history; c(5)(g), substantial assistance to the State; and c(5)(h), the catchall factor, the court found only c(5)(g), substantial assistance. It sentenced DiFrisco to death. This Court affirmed the defendant's murder conviction but reversed his death sentence for lack of corroborating evidence of his confession that he had been hired by Franciotti to kill Potcher. On remand of the sentencing proceedings the defendant elected to have a jury trial. The State alleged aggravating factors c(4)(d) and c(4)(f), and defendant again alleged mitigating factors c(5)(a), c(5)(d), and c(5)(h). All jurors found that DiFrisco had committed the murder for payment, but only eleven found that he had committed it to avoid detection of another crime. However, the jury found beyond a reasonable doubt that the aggravating factor outweighed all the mitigating factors that it had found, and accordingly the trial court again sentenced DiFrisco to death. We upheld that second capital sentence, 137 N.J. 434, 645 A. 2d 734 (1994). DiFrisco was addicted to heroin and cocaine. He has two prior adult convictions, for burglary and for criminal trespass. Miguel Melendez Melendez came to the United States from Cuba in 1980, fleeing criminal convictions and military service there. He lived for a time with Lazaro Trimino. Trimino had contacts with Pedro Gerome, who offered Trimino $5000 and a vacation in Miami if Trimino killed or hired someone to kill a certain person in Jersey City. Trimino hired someone, and Gerome gave that person a gun, but the person was arrested for possessing the gun. Trimino then asked Melendez, who agreed to perform the killing as proof of his friendship with Trimino. Trimino instructed Melendez to wait in the victim's apartment building and, to confirm the victim's identity, to inquire about a car that the victim was selling. As the victim returned to his apartment from shopping with his ten-year-old daughter, Melendez approached him and asked in Spanish about the car. The victim replied that he had already sold the car. Melendez then asked him for money. Replying that he had none, the victim walked away. The daughter then heard two shots and turned around to see her father fall to the ground. He was later pronounced dead. When police arrived at the scene, the daughter gave them a description of Melendez. A former political prisoner in Cuba and the head of a club of such former prisoners, the victim was survived by his wife and two daughters. Through information provided by an informant, police were able to tape a telephone conversation in which Melendez admitted having been paid for killing someone in Jersey City. When arrested, Melendez waived his rights and gave a statement in which he acknowledged that he had committed the killing, after which he and Trimino had fled to Puerto Rico. Melendez and Trimino were charged with conspiracy to commit murder, purposeful and knowing murder, possession of a handgun for unlawful purposes, and unlawful possession of a handgun. A jury convicted Melendez on all counts. At the penalty trial, the jury found aggravating factor c(4)(d), murder for pecuniary gain. The defense asserted mitigating factors c(5)(a), extreme mental or emotional disturbance; c(5)(d), mental disease, defect, or intoxication; c(5)(g), assistance to the State in another prosecution; and c(5)(h), the catchall factor. The jury found only c(5)(g) and c(5)(h). Because the jury was unable to agree on the weighing of the factors, the trial court sentenced Melendez to life with a thirty-year term of parole ineligibility, merged the conspiracy conviction into the murder conviction, gave Melendez a consecutive ten-year sentence with a three-and-one-half-year parole disqualifier for possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, and merged the unlawful-possession conviction into the possession-for-an-unlawful-purpose conviction. Trimino pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit murder and received a ten-year term. Gerome has fled the country. Michael Rose Michael Rose met Zoran Cveticanin, who wanted his step-mother, Kathryn, killed to prevent her from inheriting the estate of her husband, the defendant's father, Vlado. Zoran also convinced fifteen-year-old Edwin Quinton to take part in the scheme. Quinton lived next to the Glassboro store operated by Vlado and Kathryn. Zoran had talked about having Kathryn killed since the day that he and Quinton had met a couple of months before. About a month before the murder, Zoran gave Quinton keys to the store and told Quinton that Rose was going to kill Kathryn. He asked Quinton to lock the door behind Rose and to act as a lookout. On the morning of July 20, 1983, Zoran gave Quinton sixty dollars and told him that the murder was to take place that day. Around noon, Zoran called Quinton from Philadelphia to say that Rose would arrive around 2:00 p.m. Rose met Quinton, told him that he would probably strangle Kathryn, and asked Quinton to enter the store to see if she was alone. Quinton did so, returned, and reported that Kathryn was indeed alone, after which Rose waited about five minutes and then entered the store. Quinton then went home. Inside the store, Rose used two knives, a tackhammer, a stick, a hacksaw, and a sump pump to kill the pregnant Kathryn. He stabbed her eighty-three times and inflicted several blunt-force wounds. When Quinton returned to the store later, he saw the body lying in blood. Thereafter he returned the keys to Zoran. Several days later, Zoran and his sister gave Rose $540 of the promised $1000 and directed him to dispose of his bloodstained clothes. Rose was arrested and charged with purposeful and knowing murder and with conspiracy to commit murder. At trial, he testified in his defense that he had gone to the store only to warn Kathryn that Zoran was going to kill her, whereupon she had attacked Rose with a knife. Rose claimed to have killed the victim in self defense in the course of the ensuing struggle. The State's expert stated that the bloodstains established that when struck, the victim had been backing away from her assailant and that thirty-six to thirty-eight of the eighty-three stab wounds were defensive wounds. A jury convicted Rose on both charges. At the penalty trial, the State sought to prove aggravating factors c(4)(c), outrageously wanton or vile murder, and c(4)(d), murder for pecuniary gain. The defense urged mitigating factors c(5)(d), diminished capacity to appreciate wrongfulness; c(5)(e), duress; c(5)(f), no significant prior criminal record; c(5)(g), substantial assistance; and c(5)(h), the catchall factor. The penalty jury found aggravating factor c(4)(c) and mitigating factors c(5)(e), c(5)(f), c(5)(g), and c(5)(h). The verdict sheet wrongly required unanimity of mitigating factors. However, the jury was unable to reach a decision in the weighing process, so the trial court sentenced Rose to life with a thirty-year parole disqualifier for the murder conviction and a consecutive ten-year term with a five-year parole-ineligibility period for the conspiracy conviction. Defendant who has an I.Q. of sixty-eight, dropped out of school at the tenth grade to start working. At the time of the murder, he was collecting workers' compensation. He is separated from his common-law wife and has two children. He was a member of his church's choir. He claims to have developed memory loss due to alcohol and cocaine abuse. He also reports physical problems such as dizziness and nosebleeds from being assaulted in prison. Zoran Cveticanin fled with his sister to the former Yugoslavia, where he was convicted of murder and sentenced to thirty years hard labor.
Walter Williams Williams was a thirty-six-year-old married policeman and Vietnam veteran. He lived with his wife and three daughters in a house owned by his wife and her mother. While on police duty at a high-school function in 1979, Williams met a young woman with whom he began an affair. After reading a book on poison, he purchased cyanide and hydrochloric acid in July 1984, falsely claiming that he would use them for official police business. Later, after falsifying a divorce decree and related papers, the defendant married his mistress on November 23, 1984. He began spending nights at the girl's parents' house, telling his actual wife that he was spending nights at a V.A. hospital to receive treatment for wartime exposure to Agent Orange. Mrs. Williams became suspicious that Williams was having an affair. On January 31, 1985, Williams stopped by his wife's house. Having learned that the young woman had been in his car when Williams had been involved in an accident, Williams' wife asked him about it and indicated that they would discuss the matter later. Williams departed. After dinner that evening, Mrs. Williams passed out. Williams, on duty, came to the house and took her to the hospital. He did not appear upset. At the hospital, Mrs. Williams died of cyanide poisoning, the symptoms of which include headaches, an acrid taste in the mouth, difficulty breathing, and nausea. The next morning Williams moved back into the house. He wanted Mrs. Williams' body cremated. Over his objections, the authorities performed an autopsy, which revealed a lethal dose of potassium cyanide in the victim's organs. On February 11, 1985, Williams learned that Mrs. Williams' will left her house to the daughters and only one dollar to him. One daughter heard him say that he knew that this would happen, that he wouldn't get anything. About two weeks later, another daughter found a second will that left the estate to Williams. On March 7, 1985, Mrs. Williams' mother became ill. She too died after exhibiting the same symptoms as her daughter had displayed. The next day, Williams showed the second will to his sister-in-law and her husband. They called the police. On July 18, 1985, the police arrested Williams. A search of the house revealed a bottle of potassium cyanide with Williams' handwriting on the label in the attic under some insulation. On May 6, 1986, he was charged with official misconduct, forgery, perjury, purposeful and knowing murder, and bigamy. The State served notice of aggravating factors c(4)(d), pecuniary motive, and c(4)(f), murder to escape detection. The defense argued mitigating factors c(5)(c), age; c(5)(f), no significant prior criminal history; and c(5)(h), the catchall factor. The jury found aggravating factor c(4)(f) and mitigating factors c(5)(f) and c(5)(h). It found the mitigating factors to be in equal balance with the aggravating factor, so the trial court sentenced Williams to a life term with a thirty-year parole bar for the murder, to a consecutive five-year term with a two-year parole bar for the official misconduct, to three concurrent five-year terms for the three forgery convictions, and to a concurrent six-month term for bigamy. Williams is a Vietnam veteran who claims to have earned a masters degree in behavioral science, although the university from which he claims to have been graduated has no record of his enrollment. He has an associate's degree in criminal justice. Williams has no history of drug or alcohol abuse and no prior criminal history. He was a trustee at his church. He claims to experience flashbacks relating to his service in Vietnam and to have received outpatient counseling through the Veterans' Administration.
As discussed above, supra at 48-49, 651 A. 2d at 971-972, when evaluating defendant's culpability, we consider a three-part model of criminal culpability that looks, first, to defendant's moral blameworthiness; second, to the degree of victimization; and third, to defendant's character. See Bey IV, supra, 137 N.J. at 366, 645 A. 2d 685; Marshall II, supra, 130 N.J. at 155, 613 A. 2d 1059. To evaluate those three factors we weigh the elements set forth in the chart in Marshall II, supra, 130 N.J. at 155, 613 A. 2d 1059. Application of the separate elements that bear on moral blameworthiness as identified in the Marshall chart, 130 N.J. at 155, 613 A. 2d 1059, leads to the conclusion that Martini's moral blameworthiness is great. His motive was pecuniary, that is, defendant committed the crime simply to obtain first $100,000 and then $25,000 in ransom. His crime was meticulously planned and carefully premeditated. Defendant lacks any justification or excuse, such as provocation. The jury rejected his evidence of mental disease, defect, or disturbance, although defendant claims that that rejection was improper  a contention that we do not accept. Martini's acute awareness of the effect of the crime on nondecedent victims was also clear. His attempt to obtain ransom depended on his ability to terrorize Flax's family, and he threatened to kill not only Irving Flax but Mrs. Flax as well. Only six jurors found his age, fifty-eight at the time of the crime, to be a mitigating factor. Finally, his role in planning the murder was a major one. Those considerations all establish defendant's moral blameworthiness, and their combined effect is extreme. The second category to consider is the degree of victimization. The two components of victimization listed in Marshall II, supra, 130 N.J. at 155, 613 A. 2d 1059, are the violence and brutality of the murder and the injury to nondecedent victims. Defendant emphasizes that he did not physically torture his victim, and points out that the manner in which he murdered his victim led to a quick and painless death. He also argues that although he terrified Mrs. Flax, his calls were designed to give her hope that he would release her husband unharmed; moreover, he contends that for this Court to accord great weight to the effect of his actions on Flax's family violates our prohibition against victim-impact evidence. Although we recognize that Martini did not physically torture Flax and that other defendants have inflicted pain on their victims, we conclude nevertheless that the degree of victimization was substantial. Defendant's scheme depended on terror, a circumstance that can, like physical abuse, create a high degree of victimization. Moreover, because Martini's victimization of Mrs. Flax was essential to the completion of his crime, our consideration of her having been victimized does not run afoul of our prohibition against victim-impact evidence, which is designed to preclude the introduction of immaterial inflammatory testimony. The third of the group of factors set out in Marshall II focuses on the character of the defendant. In that connection we note first that Martini has pleaded guilty to a double homicide in Arizona, is awaiting trial for murder in Pennsylvania, and is a suspect in four other killings. Because the jury heard neither of his prior record nor evidence of unrelated acts of violence, however, we do not consider that information. Second, although defendant confessed to the instant kidnapping and killing and told Afdahl to do the same, the trial court did not permit the jury to consider factor c(5)(g), which treats as a mitigating circumstance a defendant's substantial cooperation in the prosecution of another person for murder. Because we are free to go beyond a jury's conclusion in respect of a mitigating factor, we have examined the evidence of Martini's cooperation with authorities and have concluded that although defendant did confess and hence cooperated with the authorities in one respect, his confession was designed to create the illusion that his actions had been a product of poor mental health. Third, his showing of remorse is limited to apologizing to his own family. Fourth, Martini was fifty-eight years old when he committed his crime in 1989; therefore his capacity for rehabilitation suffers obvious limitations. Finally, defendant argues that the jury failed to give proper credit to his mitigating evidence. Only six jurors found mitigating factor c(5)(c), age, and no juror found mitigating factor c(5)(d), diminished capacity to appreciate wrongfulness due to mental disease, defect, or intoxication. We can hardly conclude that the evidence compelled affirmative findings in respect of those factors, and we are not persuaded that we should substitute our own judgment for that of the jury.
Defendant argues that his case is not distinguishable from the other five non-stranger-kidnapping cases, each of which resulted in a life sentence. Defendant correctly notes that each victim in those cases suffered a high level of victimization. The State asserts that only Nelson Jalil's case involved extended premeditation and that juries in those other cases found mitigating circumstances not present in defendant's case. The determinative factors in Martini's case are the pecuniary motive and the extreme victimization of victim's family. Defendant's is the only kidnapping case involving a demand for ransom. Likewise, his is the only case in which terrorizing a family member was necessary for completion of the criminal scheme. We conclude that those elements create a different and greater kind of culpability than is present in the other non-stranger-kidnapping cases. Accordingly, we find no disproportionality in defendant's death sentence when compared to the life sentences imposed in the other non-stranger-kidnapping cases. In that group of cases, defendant also offers for comparison James Koedatich, Richard Biegenwald, and Marko Bey. We do not include those defendants because each of their cases involved submission of aggravating factor c(4)(a), prior murder, to the jury. That factor creates one of the highest degrees of blameworthiness. See Bey IV, supra, 137 N.J. at 367, 645 A. 2d 685; see also id. at 352, 645 A. 2d 685 (discussing effect prior murder conviction). Accordingly, we cannot compare Martini, who at the time of his trial had pleaded guilty to the Arizona double homicide, and whose Pennsylvania murder charge remains unresolved, to defendants whose prior murders had been revealed to the jury. Jamie Barone is the sole defendant in the stranger-kidnapping category. Defendant argues that he is less culpable than Barone because Barone, although protesting his innocence, failed to show any remorse. He also claims that Barone is more deathworthy because of the greater level of victimization present in his case. The State responds that Barone's crime was one of opportunity, not of premeditation, and that the case did not involve the same level of terror for the victim and her family as Martini's case did. The State tried Barone's case as a capital prosecution, but the jury was unable to reach a unanimous decision in the penalty phase. Because juries must consider each case individually, we cannot expect the same result even in similar cases. See Bey IV, supra, 137 N.J. at 369, 645 A. 2d 685. Accordingly, even if those factually-dissimilar cases have similar levels of culpability, that circumstance does not require the conclusion that the jury in defendant's case acted aberrantly in sentencing him to death. The next group of cases contains the contract principals, Brand, the Engel brothers, and Marshall. Defendant characterizes the murders involved in their cases as fatal precondition murders, from which he argues that killings such as his can never be as blameworthy as a fatal precondition murder. We reject that argument. See discussion supra at 52-53, 651 A. 2d at 973. Of those cases, only Marshall received the death penalty. Brand did not have a pecuniary interest in his brother's death, but instead wanted to stop his brother's drug sales and abuse of his family. The State did not present Brand's case as a capital prosecution. The State sought the death penalty in its case against William and Herbert Engel, but the jury did not find beyond a reasonable doubt that the aggravating circumstances outweighed the mitigating circumstances. We cannot say that Martini's moral blameworthiness, egregiously accentuated by his ransom motive, is so much less than that of Brand or of the Engel brothers, whose murder of Xiomara stemmed from William's jealousy, as to render defendant's death sentence disproportionate. Likewise, his level of victimization  terrorizing both Flax and Flax's family  is no less than that of the defendants in the contract-principal cases. Martini therefore has failed to demonstrate that his character, when compared to that of other defendants in this group, warrants a finding that his sentence is disproportionate. In comparing Martini's case to the remaining cases, which involve contract killing and other pecuniary motives, we also perceive no aberration in defendant's sentence. Burroughs did not kill solely out of a pecuniary motive and did not visit extensive victimization on Arthur Brand. Clausell did receive a capital sentence but that sentence was reversed for a Gerald error. On retrial, he was not sentenced capitally. DiFrisco received a death sentence that this Court reversed, and on trial was again sentenced capitally. The juries in both Melendez's and Rose's cases were unable to reach verdicts in the penalty phase. In the last pecuniary-advantage case, Williams, the jury found that the aggravating and mitigating factors weighed equally. In view of those cases, the imposition of the death penalty does not offend principles of proportionality, given the terrorizing of Flax and his family and Martini's ransom motive, Martini's moral blameworthiness, his degree of victimization, and his character. The comparison of defendant's case to similar cases under the traditional, precedent-seeking review reveals no basis on which to disturb defendant's sentence.