Opinion ID: 2156968
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: business-robbery murders: f-2 (agreed upon cases)

Text: (1) CARL CULLEY Armed with an automatic shotgun and wearing a ski mask and gloves, Culley drove into a gas station in the wee hours of the morning. He intended to rob the station, but he changed his mind after the lone attendant filled his tank. Culley told the attendant that he did not have money to pay for the gasoline, and the attendant responded that he would call the police unless Culley left his car at the gas station. Culley attempted to scare the attendant by pointing the gun at him. Culley claimed the attendant grabbed the barrel of the gun and was shot when the gun accidentally fired. Culley then got out of his car and shot the attendant in the back. The attendant died from the gunshots. In his confession, Culley admitted that he intended to kill the attendant with the second shot to prevent the attendant from identifying him. At the time of the offense, Culley was nineteen years old. He was enrolled in college and had worked as a landscaper and maintenance man. He had a prior conviction for theft and criminal mischief. He claimed that he was sexually abused when he was a child. Culley was prosecuted noncapitally. A jury convicted him of murder, felony murder, and weapons offenses. The judge sentenced him to thirty years imprisonment during which he would not be eligible for parole. According to the AOC's coding, the c(4)(f) (escape detection) and c(4)(g) (felony murder) aggravating factors and the c(5)(c)(age) and c(5)(h) (catch-all) mitigating factors were present in this case. (2) RICHARD FEASTER 1 Armed with a sawed-off shotgun he had purchased two weeks earlier, Feaster and Michael Mills one evening drove to the Family Texaco in Deptford. Feaster placed the sawed-off shotgun against the face of Keith Donaghy, the only attendant working at the time. Feaster then fired the fatal shot, which literally blew out Donaghy's teeth and destroyed his brain. He subsequently stole $191.32 from Donaghy's pants pocket. No physical evidence linked Feaster to the crime; however, he made inculpatory statements to several people. Feaster told a jailhouse informant that he shot a man in the head at point-blank range in order to see what it felt like to kill before enlisting in the Marines. Feaster was twenty-two years old and had a high-school diploma. He was unemployed but he had worked in construction jobs. He had suffered brain injuries that hindered his impulse control. He also had borderline intelligence. His alcoholic father abused him and his mother. Feaster had prior convictions for marijuana possession and simple assault. The same month he killed Donaghy, Feaster committed another robbery-murder at a different gas station in Deptford. Despite the defense's vigorous attacks on the State's witnesses' credibility, the jury convicted Feaster of purposeful-or-knowing murder by his own conduct, felony murder, robbery, and weapons offenses. At the penalty phase, the jury found the c(4)(g) (felony murder) and c(5)(h) (catch-all) factors present and rejected the c(5)(c)(age) mitigating factor. The jury sentenced Feaster to death. The court sentenced him to a consecutive twenty-year prison sentence with a ten-year parole disqualifier for the robbery conviction. (3) TIM HARRIS Harris and co-defendant Laquam Lassiter followed Robert Lee Rose and Audrey Williamson into a store in Newark. Pointing a revolver at Rose's head, Harris demanded money. Rose handed Harris a ten-dollar bill, but Harris ordered him to relinquish additional cash. Rose gave Harris another $140. Harris then pointed his gun at Williamson and said: Give it up, bitch. She gave him forty dollars but resisted his demands for more money. Frightened, Williamson began to run behind the store counter. Harris lethally shot her in the head. Lassiter took $230 from Williamson. Harris told Lassiter that he shot Williamson because she did not give him all of her money. Harris, who turned nineteen the month he murdered Williamson, had no prior adult record but an extensive juvenile record. He had no psychiatric problems and claimed to have no history of substance abuse. He dropped out of high school after tenth grade and did not work afterward. Harris confessed to the murder, but repudiated the confession at trial. The prosecutor tried Harris non-capitally. The jury convicted him of murder, robbery, aggravated assault, conspiracy to commit robbery, and weapons offenses. The court sentenced him to an aggregate prison term of life imprisonment plus twenty years with a forty-year parole disqualifier. The AOC coded as present the c(4)(g) (felony murder) aggravating factor and the c(5)(c)(age), c(5)(f) (no prior record), and c(5)(h) (catch-all) mitigating factors. (4) CRAIG HART Craig Hart, who was twenty-five years old, got into a taxicab at 5:30 in the morning. He told the driver that he was going to rob him and ordered the driver to lie face-down in the front seat of the taxi. Hart shot the driver twice in the back of the head. After firing the fatal gunshots, Hart stole the driver's cash, credit card, wallet, and watch. Four weeks later, Hart confessed to the robbery-murder after he was arrested for committing another robbery. Hart was an unemployed high-school graduate who had worked as a mailroom clerk and cabinet maker. He had no prior criminal history. He abused cocaine and marijuana but appeared to have no psychological problems. Although Hart pled guilty to purposeful-or-knowing murder and armed robbery, the State prosecuted him capitally. The jury, believing that Hart was intoxicated when he committed the robbery-murder, found the c(4)(g) (felony murder) aggravating factor and the c(5)(a) (extreme emotional disturbance), c(5)(c)(age), c(5)(d) (diminished capacity), c(5)(f) (no prior record), and c(5)(h) (catch-all) mitigating factors. The court sentenced Hart to life imprisonment for the murder and a consecutive twenty-year prison term for the robbery. Hart's aggregate parole ineligibility equaled forty years. (5) JACINTO HIGHTOWER 1A & 1B In the early afternoon, Hightower walked into the Cumberland Farms convenience store in Willingboro. Hightower put Pampers on the store counter and asked Cynthia Barlieb, the store clerk, for a carton of cigarettes. While she was retrieving the cigarettes, Hightower changed the sign on the store's front door from open to closed. He returned to the counter, pulled out a gun, and ordered Barlieb to open the cash register. She declined, and he shot her in the chest. She continued to refuse to open the register, and he shot her in the neck. Hightower tried to open the register himself and became frustrated by his inability to do so. When he felt Barlieb grab his leg, he shot her in the head. Hightower dragged her lifeless body into the freezer, turned off the lights, and left the store. When he committed the murder, Hightower was twenty-one years old and on leave from the United States Army. Disciplinary problems induced him to drop out of high school in tenth grade, but he later earned a GED. Various psychiatric experts had diagnosed him with dysthymic disorder (depressive neurosis), episodic drug and alcohol abuse, borderline personality disorder, narcissistic personality disorder, and antisocial personality disorder. A brain defect caused the antisocial personality disorder. His mother had mild affective disorder, experienced mood swings, and had difficulty with impulse control. When Hightower was young, other boys sodomized him; nonetheless, his mother did not seek medical attention for him. Hightower's mother was often absent for long periods of time, frequently immersed in extramarital affairs, and told her children that she hated them because they deprived her of freedom. He was raised in an abusive and dysfunctional environment. A jury convicted Hightower of murder, felony murder, armed robbery, and weapons offenses. He asked to be sentenced to death, and the jury obliged. The jury found the c(4)(c) (torture or depravity), c(4)(f) (escape detection), and c(4)(g) (felony murder) aggravating factors and the c(5)(f) (no prior record) and c(5)(h) (catch-all) mitigating factors. This Court affirmed the convictions but reversed the death sentence because the trial court erroneously instructed the jury that unanimity was required for mitigating factors. State v. Hightower, 120 N.J. 378, 577 A. 2d 99 (1990). The State retried Hightower, and the second jury also sentenced him to death. The jury found the c(4)(f) (escape detection) and c(4)(g) (felony murder) aggravating factors and the c(5)(c)(age), c(5)(f) (no prior record), and c(5)(h) (catch-all) mitigating factors. Because the trial court improperly removed a juror during deliberations, this Court again reversed Hightower's death sentence. State v. Hightower, 146 N.J. 239, 680 A. 2d 649 (1996). The State has not yet retried him. (6) ROGER HOYTE 1, 2 & 3 In a period of two and one-half weeks, Hoyte murdered three taxicab drivers in the Newark area. For the first two killings, he and co-defendants Andres Torres and Larry Mayo called for a taxicab. When the taxi arrived, Hoyte got into the back seat of the cab and mortally shot the driver in the head. They drove the cab, took each driver's money (and the second victim's watch), removed his shoes, and discarded his body. These killings occurred three days apart. Only Hoyte and Torres participated in the third murder, which they committed nearly two weeks after the second homicide. The driver survived the gunshot wound Hoyte had inflicted in the back of his head, but Hoyte shot him twice more and stabbed him in the neck. Torres drove the taxi, and they took the victim's money and shoes before dumping his dead body in a garbage can. They removed each victim's shoes so the police could not trace the fingerprints they had left on the shoes to them. Hoyte used the same .22-caliber handgun in all three homicides. They stole the gun during a burglary of Premier Aluminum Company, Hoyte's former employer, one month before the murders. Two days after the last killing, Hoyte sold the gun for fifty dollars. Mayo's girlfriend implicated Hoyte and Torres in the well-publicized taxicab-driver murders. After being arrested, Hoyte confessed and told the police officers of his and his co-defendants' involvement in the crimes. Hoyte also inculpated Mayo and two other men in an unsolved taxicab-driver murder that had occurred two years earlier. Hoyte was a twenty-two-year-old, unemployed high-school graduate who used heroin, cocaine, and marijuana every day for the three years preceding the murders. He had a prior arrest for unlawful possession of a weapon that was dismissed pursuant to his participation in pre-trial intervention. Hoyte pleaded guilty to three counts each of capital murder, felony murder, robbery, carjacking, unlawful possession of a weapon, possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, and conspiracy to commit robbery. He also pleaded guilty to one count each of burglary and theft. At the penalty phase, for each victim the jury found that the State had proven the c(4)(g) (felony murder) but rejected the c(4)(f) (escape detection) aggravating factor. The jury found the presence of the c(5)(c)(age), c(5)(f) (no prior record), c(5)(g) (assistance to the State), and c(5)(h) (catch-all) mitigating factors for each victim. With respect to each murder, the jury could not unanimously agree on the proper sentence. The court sentenced Hoyte to three consecutive life sentences and a ninety-year aggregate parole-ineligibility period. (7) ANTHONY INMAN Inman, who was twenty-two years old, and his co-defendant Wayne Harvey were looking to rob drug dealers when they discovered an apparently less dangerous target. They saw a grocery store open and decided to rob it. They went inside after a customer left the store. Inman pulled out a .45-caliber handgun and ordered that the victim, a co-owner of the store, give money to Harvey, who was aiming his nine-millimeter handgun at the victim. The victim reached for his gun, and Inman shot him twice in the chest. The victim yelled to the other co-owner: They're killing me! Run! The co-owner did not take the victim's advice. He ran into the front of the store and shot Inman twice. Inman and Harvey fled. Inman was under the influence of drugs and alcohol when he committed the robbery and homicide. Except for being a heroin addict, Inman had no physical or psychological problems. He was unemployed. He had prior convictions for theft as well as drug and weapons offenses. Inman pleaded guilty to aggravated manslaughter, conspiracy, robbery, and weapons offenses. The court sentenced him to thirty years imprisonment with a fifteen-year parole bar for the aggravated manslaughter conviction and a consecutive ten-year prison term and a five-year parole disqualifier for the robbery conviction. His aggregate sentence was forty years imprisonment, twenty years of which he would be ineligible for parole. The AOC coded as present the c(4)(g) (felony murder), c(5)(d) (diminished capacity), and c(5)(h) (catch-all) factors. (8) DAVID RUSSO After his car broke down on the New Jersey Turnpike, Russo went to a gas station in Swedesboro. He returned a week or two later. Both times he went to the gas station, he was friendly and engaged the gas-station attendants and auto mechanics in conversation. Thus, they were surprised when Russo suddenly brandished a nine-millimeter handgun and announced a stick-up the evening of his second visit to the station. He ordered Joseph Iovanisci, Dino Rossi, and Ann Kiley to walk from the office to the parts room, where he made them lie on the floor. Then, Russo shot all of them from point-blank range. Iovanisci died from a gunshot wound to the head, and Kiley was seriously brain damaged. Russo did not seriously injure Rossi despite shooting him twice. Russo confessed after police officers apprehended him. He was intoxicated when he committed the crime and had a history of heroin and cocaine addiction and alcoholism. He also has suffered from depression. He enlisted in the Air Force while in eleventh grade and remained in the Air Force until his apprehension. Russo, who was twenty-nine years old, had a GED. His prior record consisted of a weapons offense and getting court martialed for a drug offense. After his arrest, Russo behaved exemplarily in jail. A jury convicted Russo of capital murder, felony murder, two counts of attempted murder, four counts of aggravated assault, armed robbery, and possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose. At the ensuing penalty phase, the jury found present the c(4)(b) (grave risk of death to others) and c(4)(g) (felony murder) aggravating factors but rejected the c(4)(f) (escape detection) aggravating factor. The jury found the c(5)(a) (extreme emotional disturbance), c(5)(c)(age), c(5)(d) (diminished capacity), c(5)(f) (no prior record), and c(5)(h) (catch-all) mitigating factor. The jury unanimously concluded that the aggravating factors failed to outweigh the mitigating factors. The court sentenced Russo to an aggregate term of life imprisonment plus forty years with a fifty-year parole disqualifier. (9) ABDEL JABER SALEH Saleh agreed to buy 5000 videocassettes for $7500 from Michael Rehani. Saleh drove a rented U-Haul to Rehani's place of business in Hackensack. Saleh strangled Rehani and hit him over the head with a crowbar. Saleh dragged Rehani, who was unconscious, into his own office, bound and gagged him, doused him with charcoal fluid, and set him afire. Rehani was still alive when Saleh began burning him. While the fire burned, Saleh loaded the U-Haul with the 5000 videocassettes he was supposed to have purchased. Saleh drove to Old Bridge, where he placed the 5000 tapes in a storage area he had rented in his wife's name. Rehani's friends found Rehani burning. They put out the fire, but Rehani had died by the time firefighters arrived at the scene. The medical examiner concluded that the strangulation, head blows, and burns were each capable of causing death by themselves. Saleh drove to Youngstown, Ohio, where he caught a flight to Los Angeles. One week after committing the murder, Saleh walked into a police station in Los Angeles. Saleh said that he had witnessed 2 Latino men commit the murder and the men forced Saleh at gunpoint to drive away. The subsequent investigation revealed that Saleh was the perpetrator. Saleh was twenty-two years old. He was married and had a two-year-old daughter. He worked as a machine operator for his father-in-law's company. He had no mental health or substance abuse problems. He had no prior criminal record. A jury convicted Saleh of capital murder, felony murder, aggravated arson, and robbery. The jury could not agree on whether to sentence Saleh to death. The jury found the c(4)(f) (escape detection), c(4)(g) (felony murder), c(5)(f) (no prior record), and c(5)(h) (catch-all) factors and rejected the c(4)(c) (torture or depravity) and c(5)(c)(age) factors. The court sentenced Saleh to life imprisonment plus thirty years with a forty-five year parole bar. (10) FREDERICK SIMMONS At approximately 2:10 a.m., Simmons and co-defendant John Poteat walked into the Firehouse Tavern, a bar in Wildwood, and intended to rob it. When Poteat ordered a case of beer, the bartender, Michael James, thought something was strange and tried to flee. Poteat struck James over the head with a club. James implored Poteat to take money and leave him alone, but Poteat threatened to kill James. Poteat continued beating him, and James attempted to defend himself. Robert Conners, the only customer in the bar, attempted to intervene in the altercation. Simmons interceded before Conners could help James. Simmons grabbed Conners and threw him into a wall and then into the bathroom, where Simmons slammed Conners's head into the sink. The blow broke the sink in half and knocked it of its mooring. Simmons then threw Conners into the ground, stomped on his neck, stabbed him five times, and stomped on his head. As Conners was dying from the stab wounds, Simmons rinsed off his knife with hot water and a paper towel. Simmons left the hot water running and left the bathroom. Simmons, careful not to leave fingerprints, went outside where Poteat and James were fighting. Simmons kicked James in the head while Poteat beat him. Simmons and Poteat subsequently fled. Simmons discarded the knife as he ran away from the Firehouse Tavern. James survived but had a fractured skull and other injuries. After his arrest, Simmons initially proclaimed his innocence but ultimately confessed. Simmons admitted that he killed Conners because Conners could identify him. Simmons was a thirty-five-year-old homeless and unemployed widower. He had previously worked as a short-order cook. He had a prior shoplifting conviction. He was an alcoholic and cocaine addict and had ingested large quantities of beer and cocaine prior to committing the crimes. Simmons functioned at an intellectual level slightly above mental retardation. He suffered from depression and several personality disorders. Poteat had approached him with the suggestion that they commit robberies. A jury convicted Simmons of capital murder, felony murder, conspiracy to commit robbery, robbery, attempted murder, aggravated assault, hindering apprehension, and weapons offenses. The jury could not agree on the appropriate sentence. The jury found the c(4)(f) (escape detection) and c(4)(g) (felony murder) aggravating factors and the c(5)(a) (extreme emotional disturbance), c(5)(c)(age), and c(5)(h) (catch-all) mitigating factors. The jury rejected the c(5)(d) (diminished capacity) mitigating factor. The court sentenced Simmons to life imprisonment plus forty-four years with a thirty-eight year parole disqualifier. (11) RAFAEL SLAUGHTER One night at 11 p.m., Slaughter, who was twenty-two years old, went into a fast-food restaurant. He walked up to the counter, but before he ordered food he went to each side of the restaurant and looked out the window. An employee found this behavior suspicious. Slaughter left the restaurant after ordering his food. He returned three hours later, when the restaurant employees were preparing to close for the evening. Slaughter approached an eighteen-year-old male employee, who was taking out the trash behind the restaurant. Slaughter put a gun to his back and ordered him to walk inside the restaurant. Slaughter asked him for the combination to the safe, but the employee told Slaughter that he did not know the combination. Slaughter then shot him twice in the back from point-blank range. The victim bled profusely, lost consciousness twelve minutes after the shooting, and died shortly thereafter. Slaughter had also ordered two female employees to the ground, but he did not shoot them. After the shooting, Slaughter left the restaurant without any money. Slaughter's parents were young and not ready for marriage when he was born. They did not have enough time for him, and they gave his brother preferential treatment. He did not have any substance abuse or emotional problems. He was helpful to his relatives when they needed a hand with chores, babysitting, or other matters. In connection with the murder, a jury convicted Slaughter of capital murder, felony murder, and weapons offenses. In the penalty phase, the jury found the c(4)(g) (felony murder), c(5)(c)(age), and c(5)(h) (catch-all) factors present and decided not to sentence Slaughter to death. On the murder conviction, the court sentenced him to thirty years imprisonment during which he would be ineligible for parole. The court also sentenced him to two consecutive ten-year prison terms for two auto thefts Slaughter committed the day of the murder. (12) COREY WASHINGTON Washington, John Bultran, and Jerome White planned to rob a check-cashing establishment. Washington had previously sold drugs to the clerk working at the store. Bultran also knew the clerk, who was twenty-five years old, and surmised that the perpetrators would have no problem getting behind the counter. When they approached the store, they observed that the front door was locked. Instead of knocking on the door or ringing a doorbell, Bultran and White fired gunshots into the floor. Their tactic worked, and the clerk opened the door. The three perpetrators made the clerk open the safe. They ordered him and his sixty-eight-year-old co-worker to lie on the floor while they removed the cash. Before they left, Washington shot the younger clerk in the head, and Bultran shot the older clerk in the head. The younger clerk died, but the older clerk survived. Washington was nineteen years old. He dropped out of high school and had some experience working as a laborer. He had no history of substance abuse or mental illness. He had a prior conviction for assault and weapons offenses. Washington averted a death sentence by pleading guilty to purposeful-or-knowing murder. The court sentenced him to thirty years imprisonment with no parole eligibility. The AOC coded as present the c(4)(f) (escape detection), c(4)(g) (felony murder), c(5)(c)(age), and c(5)(h) (catch-all) factors. (13) RONALD WHEALER On December 16, 1983, Wheeler went to work seeking his Christmas bonus from his employer's daughter, who was the office manager. When she refused, he grabbed her pocketbook. An altercation ensued, and the office manager suffered several bruises. Wheeler then got a knife and stabbed her thirteen times. Wheeler inflicted stab wounds to her chest, neck, abdomen, back, and legs. The victim also had defensive wounds on her hands. Wheeler stole her pocketbook, her pay, and the company's petty cash. The victim suffered physical pain before dying. Wheeler was a twenty-three year old high-school dropout who worked as a plumber's helper. A childhood injury caused him to have a permanent large bump on his head. He had no mental illness or drug addiction. He had no prior convictions and one arrest for marijuana possession that was subsequently dismissed. Wheeler pleaded guilty to felony murder, and the court sentenced him to forty years imprisonment with a thirty-year parole bar. The AOC coded as present the c(4)(c) (torture or depravity) and c(4)(g) (felony murder) aggravating factors and the c(5)(f) (no prior record) and c(5)(h) (catch-all) mitigating factors. (14) CHARLES WILLIAMS After eating a meal at McDonald's, Williams walked up to the counter and pulled out a .38 caliber handgun. Williams demanded money from the restaurant manager and ordered two other employees to lie down on top of each other. Williams accompanied the manager as he emptied out the cash registers in the front counter and drive-through area. Williams then ordered the three employees into the back of the restaurant. He ordered the manager to remove money from the safe and the other employees to lie face down. He then made the manager lie down next to them. Williams shot the manager and one other employee in the head. The third employee escaped from the store although Williams fired shots at him as he ran away. The manager died. The other employee whom Williams shot survived but sustained severe brain damage that permanently disabled him. Williams was twenty-eight years old when he committed the offenses. With several prior convictions for robbery, burglary, theft, assault, and resisting arrest, Williams has spent all but ninety-three days of his adult life imprisoned. School authorities placed him in a Special Service School because he was classified as emotionally disturbed. He abused cocaine, marijuana, and alcohol, but he never received substance abuse treatment. When he was a child, Williams's parents, who were both drug addicts and alcoholics, abused and neglected him. From the time Williams turned ten years old, his father would order him drinks at neighborhood bars. His father, who was described as a womanizer and a pimp, forced Williams and his father's paramour to engage in various sex acts. Williams's father sexually abused Williams's sister and once sexually abused Williams. His father also was violently abusive toward Williams's mother, who had numerous black eyes, once had fractured ribs, and once needed treatment at a hospital. Williams's father broke Williams's ribs when Williams was nine because he had accidentally spilled his father's cocaine. Williams's mother was a prostitute and often left her children home alone while cavorting with other men. During these periods of abandonment, Williams would provide food for himself and his siblings by stealing from a local supermarket. Williams's mother suffered several emotional breakdowns, and she often called her children little fuckers. A jury convicted Williams of capital murder, felony murder, two counts of attempted murder, three counts of robbery, two counts of aggravated assault, and four counts of weapons offenses. The jury could not agree on the appropriate penalty. The jury found the c(4)(f) (escape detection) and c(4)(g) (felony murder) aggravating factors but rejected the c(4)(b) (grave risk of death to others) aggravating factor. The jury also found the c(5)(h) (catch-all) mitigating factor. The court imposed an aggregate sentence of life imprisonment plus ninety-five years with a seventy-eight-and-one-half year parole disqualifier.