Opinion ID: 2299781
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 34

Heading: Thomas Wolfe

Text: On September 23, 1990, Thomas Wolfe had been drinking and using drugs throughout the day. He went to the home of a seventy-two-year-old female and broke in through a rear window. Wolfe was surprised by the woman, and a struggle ensued. Wolfe slashed the woman's throat three times. The woman also suffered numerous puncture wounds to her back. A neighbor found the woman's body lying in a pool of blood and covered by a blanket. An autopsy determined that the woman bled to death. Wolfe's mother, stepfather, and brother gave statements to the county prosecutor in which they stated that Wolfe had come home with blood on his clothes and confessed that he broke into the woman's home and killed her. Subsequently, Wolfe surrendered to the police. Wolfe was charged with purposeful-or-knowing murder, murder in the commission of a crime, burglary, robbery, possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, and unlawful possession of a weapon. He was convicted on all counts. In the penalty phase, the jury found aggravating factor c(4)(g), contemporaneous felony, and mitigating factors, c(5)(c), the defendant's age; c(5)(d) mental disease, defect, or intoxication; c(5)(f), no significant prior record; and c(5)(h), the catch-all. The jury could not unanimously agree on a sentence and, thus, defendant was sentenced to life imprisonment with a thirty-year parole bar for murder, a consecutive ten-year term for burglary, and twenty years with a seven-year parole bar for robbery to run consecutive to the life sentence and concurrent to the sentence for burglary. At the time of the murder, Wolfe was twenty-two years old, living with his parents, and unemployed. As a school age child, Wolfe was classified as emotionally disturbed and was placed in special education classes. Wolfe dropped out of school in the eleventh grade and had training in heating/air conditioning repair. Wolfe had an extensive history of drug abuse, for which he repeatedly received treatment. At the penalty trial, several people testified that Wolfe was a good person and that drugs and alcohol had ruined him. Wolfe also testified that he hated himself for letting his life get out of control and for not having the power to stop taking drugs. He also expressed remorse for killing the woman.