Virginia

Robert Gleason – White, age 39-40 

Sentenced in Wise County, Virginia

By: a judge (Defendant waived right to jury)

Date of crime: July 2010, May 2009

Victim: Aaron Cooper, 26, Harvey Watson, 63

Prosecution’s case/defense response: Gleason, already serving life for first degree murder, hogtied, beat, and strangled his cell mate, Watson.  Gleason, acting as his own attorney, argued in his trial that he would kill again if he did not receive the death penalty.  While waiting for his sentence, Gleason strangled Cooper in a separate cage with a noose.  Gleason, again acting as his own attorney, spent his trial proving that he was sane so that he could get the death penalty.  The prosecution brought testimony from guards that Gleason had the power and connections to hurt them outside the prison and was the only prisoner to ever kill an inmate in a separate cage.

Sources: 2/11/11 AP Alert – Legal 21:29:14, Bristol Herald Courier (VA) 9/1/11 (Pg. Unavail. Online) (2011 WLNR 17341898), Bristol Herald Courier (VA) 9/2/11 (Pg. Unavail. Online) (2011 WLNR 17405564).

Mark Lawlor – White, age 42

Sentenced in Fairfax County, Virginia

By: a judge upon jury recommendation

Date of crime: September 2008

Victim: Genevieve Orange, 29

Prosecution’s case/defense response:  Lawlor broke into Orange’s apartment, dealt 30 blows to her head with a claw hammer and frying pan, and raped her as she was dying.  The defense admitted to the killing but argued that his intoxication from beer and crack precluded him from the mental state necessary for capital murder.  They then revealed Lawlor’s life story replete with accounts of his molestation and rape by many perpetrators and constant abuse from his parents.  The prosecution highlighted his criminal record including abduction and vehicular manslaughter as well as the brutality of the crime as aggravating circumstances.

Sources: Washington Post (D.C.) 2/24/11 B5 (2011 WLNR 3619984), Roanoke Times & World News (VA) 3/17/11 A1 (2011 WLNR 5263297), Washington Post (D.C.) 6/24/11 B1 (2011 WLNR 12583427).

Alfredo Prieto – Latino, age 22

Sentenced in Fairfax County, Virginia

By: a jury

Date of crime: December 1988

Victims: Rachael Raver, 22, Warren Fulton III, 22

Prosecution’s case/defense response:  Prieto raped and murdered a university student and murdered her boyfriend.  DNA evidence discovered during his conviction of a separate rape and murder in California linked him to a series of murders and sexual assaults in Virginia and California.  The defense argued that Prieto’s traumatic upbringing during a civil war in El Salvador and gang violence as a teen in California mitigated his case.

Sources: AP Alert – VA 1/13/12 21:20:38, The Washington Post 9/6/10 (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/09/05/AR2010090503155.html)