Opinion ID: 2299402
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 9

Heading: Pecuniary-Motive Principal Killers: I-2

Text: Francis Brand hired Randy Burroughs to kill Brand's abusive, drug dealer brother for $2000. See supra at 228-29, 731 A. 2d at 1094-95, for a more detailed description of the crime. Brand denied any involvement in the killing, but expressed remorse at his brother's death. He claimed that Burroughs had acted solely out of anger over an altercation with the victim. A jury convicted Brand of murder and conspiracy to commit murder. The case was not prosecuted as a capital case even though the State could have asserted aggravating factor c(4)(e), procuring murder for payment, and Francis could have presented mitigating factors c(5)(a), extreme mental or emotional disturbance; c(5)(f), no prior record; and c(5)(h), the catchall factor. Brand did not have a criminal record. He dropped out of high school in the twelfth grade, but later received his diploma. Unemployed at the time of his arrest, he had earlier worked sporadically as a janitor. He was single, had no history of drug abuse, and denied any mental illness. B) Herbert and William Engel The State tried Herbert and William Engel together, and sought the death penalty. William, married to the victim, Xiomara Engel, suspected his wife of infidelity. Although a private investigator hired by William found no evidence that his wife was unfaithful, William remained suspicious and jealous. He often confronted his wife with his 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 would not meet other men. He also began making harassing phone calls to Andres Diaz, for whom Xiomara had worked as a secretary and with whom Xiomara had developed a relationship. On December 13, 1984, Xiomara agreed to meet William at his office in order to go on a joint shopping trip for their daughter's Christmas presents. Xiomara dropped off her children and her grandfather at her apartment, explaining that she was on her way to meet William. That evening, William called twice to tell the grandfather that Xiomara had failed to keep the appointment. At 8:00 p.m. police responded to a burglar alarm at William's place of business. They saw a car belonging to Herbert Engel, William's brother, in the parking lot. William 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 came back, the officers ordered him to open the door, but 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 Xiomara 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 go with her to the police station that afternoon. When William failed to arrive by 11:00 p.m., Xiomara's mother, accompanied by Diaz, went to the police without William. Subsequently, as part of their search for Xiomara, the police interviewed William at his home, during which he chain-smoked and again appeared nervous. He repeated his claim that he had not seen the victim on the night of December 13. On December 14, the South Carolina police discovered a body in a burned station wagon. The license plates had been removed, but the 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, the police arrested James McFadden. In return for the State's promise to waive capital prosecution and to recommend that any 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 he was hired, McFadden was invited by Herbert to meet him at a restaurant. There, Herbert introduced his cousin William to McFadden and told McFadden that William had a girlfriend who was harassing him. When Herbert said that William would pay $25,000 to have the girlfriend 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 that held 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 in which he had a revolver. Herbert directed McFadden to strangle the victim when she arrived with William who would pretend to turn on the light. After the killing, 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. Herbert gave McFadden a pair of elbow-length, thick rubber gloves to use in disposing of the body. He then gave McFadden $1300 in cash and told him to hide in the bathroom. William entered the office with Xiomara as planned. 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 ordeal, William watched, smoked a cigarette, and called his former wife a bitch. After Xiomara died, 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 William returned to the garage, he was nervous and said that the police were outside. After William dealt with the police, McFadden left, driving Xiomara's station wagon. McFadden picked up Lewis Pee Wee Wright, an employee of Engel's who had agreed to accompany McFadden on the ride, and drove to South Carolina. Wright, uninformed of the drive's purpose, discovered the body during the trip. On their arrival in South Carolina, Wright burned the car, after which the two men celebrated the occasion at a bar. When they returned to New Jersey, Herbert gave McFadden $5000. Later, Herbert discovered that Wright had accompanied McFadden on the trip. Herbert instructed McFadden to kill Wright and paid McFadden another $1000. McFadden did not agree to this second murder, but he assured Herbert that he would take ... care of things. At trial, McFadden testified against William and Herbert. Pursuant to his agreement with the prosecutor, McFadden's testimony was given in exchange for the State's promise not to seek the death penalty against him and to recommend that any sentences imposed run concurrently. McFadden was found guilty of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum parole ineligibility of thirty years. At the time of the murder, Herbert Engel was the father of two sons and a daughter. He had no prior criminal record and attended church regularly. At the time of the penalty trial, Herbert was thirty-eight years old and William was forty years old. William had two sons from his first marriage and a daughter from his marriage to the victim. He had graduated from high school and attended two years of college. He was a successful businessman who owned two large homes and was involved in many charitable organizations, attended church regularly, and had no prior record. William and Herbert were convicted of murder and conspiracy to commit murder. The jury found that they had paid to have the murder committed. At the penalty phase, the Engels' father recalled the day his own father was killed in a Nazi concentration camp and noted that this day may be rougher than that one. The father and his brother testified that both William and Herbert had three children who needed the guidance of their fathers. The sons wrote: Please don't kill them, please let them live. The jury found the aggravating factor c(4)(e), hiring a killer, and mitigating factors c(5)(a), extreme mental or emotional distress; c(5)(e), duress; c(5)(f); no prior criminal record; and c(5)(h), the catchall factor. The jury further found the aggravating factor did not outweigh the mitigating factors, and the court sentenced William and Herbert each to a life term with a thirty-year period of parole ineligibility. The Appellate Division affirmed the convictions and sentences. 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). After the Engels' sentencing, McFadden recanted his testimony that Herbert and William had conspired with him to kill the victim and that they had paid him to do the killing. He sought a vacatur of his guilty plea on the grounds that it was not entered voluntarily. McFadden claimed he accidentally killed Xiomara by hitting her in the head with a rock during a burglary attempt at the warehouse. Herbert and William moved for a new trial, but McFadden later repudiated his recantation. The brothers' motion for a new trial was denied, and on remand McFadden was resentenced to life imprisonment with a thirty-year period of parole ineligibility. C) Robert Marshall Robert Marshall, a fifty-four-year-old insurance agent, began having an extramarital affair with Sarann Kraushaar in June 1983. Although Marshall had substantial financial resources, he lived beyond his means and accumulated debts in excess of $168,000. At the time of Maria Marshall's death, her husband maintained insurance policies on her life totaling over one million dollars. Several of those policies were acquired just months before the homicide, and Marshall and the decedent were examined for an additional policy on the morning preceding her death. As early as December 1983 Marshall mentioned to Kraushaar the idea of killing his wife. In May 1984, Marshall met codefendant Robert Cumber at a party. Cumber introduced him to codefendant Billy Wayne McKinnon, a former sheriff's officer from Louisiana. Marshall arranged to meet with McKinnon on June 18, 1994, at which time Marshall told McKinnon that he wanted Maria killed, and that he wanted the murder to take place that night. McKinnon asked for $100,000, but accepted Marshall's offer of $65,000. Marshall had already paid McKinnon $5,000 to investigate his wife and planned to advance an additional $10,000. The remaining $50,000 would come from anticipated insurance proceeds. McKinnon did not kill Maria that night. Marshall called him the following morning to inquire why the murder did not take place and McKinnon said he needed to return to Shreveport, Louisiana, to obtain the appropriate weapon. After McKinnon's trip to Louisiana, Marshall and McKinnon met on July 19, 1984. Marshall had devised a plan whereby he would stop at an all-night restaurant with his wife. When he left the car to use the bathroom, McKinnon was to kill Maria. Again McKinnon did not kill Maria, this time because police officers were parked at the restaurant and Marshall failed to arrive at the appointed hour. Subsequently, Marshall placed many calls to McKinnon complaining that he had not carried out the plan. Using Cumber as an intermediary, he offered McKinnon an additional $15,000 to murder Maria before Labor Day. Marshall and McKinnon met once more on September 6, 1984. They drove southbound on the Garden State Parkway to select a site for the homicide. After rejecting two locations, McKinnon agreed to use the Oyster Creek Picnic Area. The men formulated a scheme designed to look like a robbery gone awry. They agreed that on his way back from Atlantic City, Marshall would park in the picnic area claiming car trouble. Then, the perpetrator, alleged by McKinnon to be codefendant Larry Thompson, would hit Marshall over the head and fatally shoot Maria. Maria was murdered that evening according to plan. She had been shot twice in the back from close range. Marshall's wallet was found on the ground by the car which had a slashed tire. Marshall, Cumber, McKinnon and Thompson were all charged with conspiracy and murder. Marshall was charged with procuring the murder-for-hire, Cumber and McKinnon were charged as accomplices, and Thompson was charged with own-conduct purposeful-or-knowing murder. McKinnon confessed. He testified for the prosecution at Marshall's trial and pled guilty to conspiracy. He received only a five-year prison sentence. Cumber was found guilty on all counts and sentenced to thirty years imprisonment without parole. Thompson, who was tried with Marshall, was acquitted of all charges. At the time of the murder, Marshall was the father of three sons. He and Maria had been together since college. Marshall was an insurance broker, had a good reputation in the community, and was involved in many charitable organizations. The guilt phase jury convicted Marshall of conspiracy and capital murder. At the penalty phase, the jury found aggravating factor c(4)(e), murder procured by payment, and mitigating factor c(5)(f), no significant criminal history; and c(5)(h), the catchall mitigating factor. Finding that the aggravating factor outweighed the mitigating factors, the jury sentenced Marshall to death. This Court affirmed the conviction and sentence on direct appeal, State v. Marshall, 123 N.J. 1, 586 A. 2d 85 (1991) ( Marshall I ), and proportionality review, Marshall II, supra. D) Celestine Payne 2 At the urging of Celestine Payne, who was the beneficiary of a $25,000 insurance policy on the life of the victim, Charles Pinchom killed the victim. The details of the murder are described supra at 240-41, 731 A. 2d at 1101. The investigation of this crime led to the discovery of evidence implicating Payne in the murder of her husband, see supra at 226-28, 731 A. 2d at 1094, and in the attempted murder of still another victim, see supra at 227, 731 A. 2d at 1094. At the time of the murder, Payne was forty-four years old. She lived with two of her four children and supported herself on the life insurance money she collected after she killed her husband. For her crimes, a grand jury charged her with two counts of murder and conspiracy to commit murder, one count of attempted murder, three counts of hindering apprehension, two counts of forgery, and two counts of possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose. She pled guilty to all charges on May 28, 1997. On each murder conviction, the court sentenced Payne to concurrent terms of life imprisonment with a thirty-year period of parole ineligibility. The AOC coded as present aggravating factor c(4)(e), procured by payment, and mitigating factors c(5)(d), diminished capacity; c(5)(f), no significant criminal history; and the c(5)(h) catch-all factor. HANDLER, J., dissenting. Proportionality review of death sentences in New Jersey has become crude and imprecise. It allows for the possibility that the Court may find a sentence proportionate based upon comparison to the sentences of a designated group of defendants; yet that review may have overlooked comparison to a number of individuals most like defendant, perhaps even more culpable. We consciously accept that risk, as we accept that we may sacrifice a perfectly individualistic assessment of a defendant's death sentence in the interest of uniformity. See State v. Ramseur, 106 N.J. 123, 330, 524 A. 2d 188 (1987) (noting that dual aims of uniformity and individualization create an inherent paradox in the process); see also id. at 347, 351, 524 A. 2d 188 (Handler, J., dissenting) (noting that premises of uniformity and individuality underlying proportionality review are fundamentally inconsistent and irreconcilable). The present case demonstrates how the risks of classification that we generally accept as necessary elements of the review may be exploited. The procedural framework designed to protect the rights of capital defendants has been manipulated to defendant's disfavor. John Chew was classified as death-eligible solely on the ground that he murdered for insurance proceeds; a classification which, I maintain, was contrary to the intent of N.J.S.A. 2C:11-3c. Having sentenced Chew as a member of a group of pecuniary gain killers from which he should have been set apart, the Court presently fails to compare Chew to the death-eligible defendants with whom he has the most in common those who murdered loved ones, relatives, or friends for insurance proceeds or inheritance. Comparison with these defendants, none of whom were death-sentenced, shows that Chew's sentence is arbitrary. For this reason, and because I maintain that evidence of the risk of race discrimination in the imposition of this State's death penalty mandates that we discontinue capital punishment, see State v. Loftin, 157 N.J. 253, 373-412, 724 A. 2d 129 (1999) (Handler, J., dissenting) ( Loftin II ); see also State v. Harvey, 159 N.J. 277, 361-74, 731 A. 2d 1121 (1999) (Handler, J., dissenting) ( Harvey III ); accord State v. Cooper, 159 N.J. 55, 163-64, 731 A. 2d 1000 (1999) (Handler, J., dissenting) ( Cooper II ), defendant's death sentence must be vacated. Therefore, I dissent.