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Trial starts for man who faces death penalty in Officer Chuck Cassidy's fatal shooting


On Pa.'s death row

Eleven people are on death row for killing Pennsylvania law officers, either on duty or off duty. Six of those condemned inmates are from Philadelphia:

* Mumia Abu-Jamal, 55, for the shooting murder of Officer Daniel Faulkner on Dec. 9, 1981. (Last year a federal appeals court upheld his conviction but threw out his death sentence. Prosecutors have asked the U.S. Supreme Court to reinstate the sentence and are awaiting a decision.)

Time on death row: 26 years and six months.

* Leslie Beasley, 58, for the shooting murder of Officer Ernest Davis on July 16, 1980, and the shooting murder of Keith Singleton on April 13, 1980.

Time on death row: 28 years and seven months.

* Edward Bracey, 46, for the shooting death of rookie Officer Daniel R. Boyle on Feb. 4, 1991.

Time on death row: 17 years and eight months.

* Ronald Gibson, 42, for the tavern murders of Officer Frederick Dukes and Vernae Nixon on Dec. 24, 1990.

Time on death row: 14 years and nine months.

* Bortella Borgela Philisten, 36, for the fatal shooting of Officer Robert Hayes on June 16, 1993. During the traffic stop, he also shot and critically wounded Officer John Marynowitz.

Time on death row: 14 years and nine months.

* Christopher Roney, 39, for the shooting death of Officer Lauretha Vaird during a Jan. 2, 1996, bank robbery.

Time on death row: 12 years and eight months.

- Mensah M. Dean

 

Comments   
Posted 09:14 AM, 11/12/2009
Chuck2000
These murderers are way overdue for their execution. As far as Mumia goes, I could watch his death and feel nothing, just like he feels for murdering Danny Faulkner in cold blood.
Posted 09:24 AM, 11/12/2009
Mark Glaeser
This is amazing. Can anyone explain the delay? Can anyone explain why Philly represents about 12% of the state population, yet has 6 out of 11 spots on death row? Are non-Philadelphians being executed at a faster rate?
Posted 09:39 AM, 11/12/2009
psyrus
These criminals should have been executed long ago. Imagine how much money we are wasting each year on them.
Posted 09:56 AM, 11/12/2009
Phillygrlatheart
Why are tax payers still footing the bill for these criminals..its called a death penalty for a reason...maybe we should have a timeline in place for when the execution should take place by! Kill them already they sure didnt care about how fast they killed their victims!!
Comment removed.
Posted 10:29 AM, 11/12/2009
donnybrook
if they execute mumia, people may smash store windows and steal television sets.
Posted 02:12 PM, 11/12/2009
Eilex826
Oh come on Mumia was framed and everyone knows it. Anytime there's an issue between a black suspect and a white cop it's always the white cops fault regardless if he gets shot in the back. He pulled the trigger, put the gun in Mumia's hand and turned around quick enough so it would hit him in the back. Such a shame that family has had to deal with this for the past 28 years. He should have been executed years ago. But it just goes to show you how "racist" the city is. Remember a few years back when a black guy named Donta Dawson was shot by an officer? He was stoned out of his mind and not responding to officers numerous requests to show his hands in the darkened car on a darkened street corner...the officer shot Dawson who later died and then was subjected twice to criminal charges that judges kept tossing out (thankfully). Mr. Dawson made a sudden move that the officers felt threatened the likelihood of THEM returning home at night and took action. A difficult decision to make but the right one. Every officer who risks his life to serve the publc should know that them returning home to their family's is more important than any suspect doing the same...
Posted 05:00 PM, 11/12/2009
Ramon
Yeah, seriously, Fast Eddie has some warrants to sign here.
Posted 06:13 PM, 11/12/2009
MrsDamian
Well, living on death row is daily hell, so at least we know these murderers aren't exactly living it up at the Hilton. But really, how would you feel if your kid was in the wrong place at the wrong time and convicted of a murder he didn't commit? I'm not saying any of these particular guys are innocent, but there's always a "what if". Think long and hard. Plenty of innocent people have been convicted and even executed-and plenty of disgusting criminals roam free. Our justice system is one of the best, but it is not perfect. Also it's indisputable that death sentences aren't "fairly" handed out. If twisted Jeffrey Dahmer was sentenced to life in prison, how can we justify executing, well, anyone?
Posted 08:46 PM, 11/12/2009
viccola
Death penalty is more expensive than life in prison. All you people who complain about sending your tax dollars to public service programs should be against it. What's up?
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