Prosecution to seek death penalty in Rudolph case

[DealMonkey]

So we're going to execute the murderer who killed "murderers?" Does this even make sense anymore?

CNN.com

Prosecution to seek death penalty in Rudolph case

(CNN) -- Federal prosecutors in Alabama announced Thursday they will seek the death penalty against accused bomber Eric Robert Rudolph, saying he intentionally and maliciously killed a Birmingham police officer and wounded a nurse in the 1998 bombing of a family planning clinic.

"After a careful review of the evidence in this case, the attorney general has authorized this office to seek the death penalty," said U.S. Attorney Alice Martin. "This is an important step toward seeking justice in this case."

Rudolph, 37, who was arrested last May in North Carolina after more than five years on the run, is charged in Birmingham with setting off an explosive device at the family planning clinic in January 1998. A Birmingham police officer, Robert Sanderson, was killed by the blast and a nurse at the clinic was seriously wounded.

He also faces charges in Atlanta, Georgia, for the Centennial Olympic Park bombing during the 1996 Olympics and for two 1997 bombings at an abortion clinic and a gay nightclub.

Rudolph is awaiting trial in the Jefferson County, Alabama, jail.

In Thursday's motion, prosecutors said, "The United States will seek the sentence of death for this offense (because) the malicious damage, by means of an explosive, to a building and property used in an activity affecting interstate and foreign commerce" resulted in the death of Sanderson and the injury of the nurse.

Federal prosecutors in Alabama want Rudolph to go on trial in June of next year, but defense attorneys have requested more time.

The defense has said there are only two defense counsels, assisted by two other attorneys, to prepare for the Birmingham trial, and with more than 15,000 interviews turned over by the government, "it is totally unrealistic" to be prepared by June.

The defense has requested hundreds of interviews conducted after the Atlanta bombings by the FBI, including the file on security guard Richard Jewell, who was initially investigated for the Olympic bombing.

The prosecution has said in addition to the 15,000 interviews done by the FBI, it also has turned over to the defense 40 binders of photos and memoranda, and that it expects to turn over all evidence relating to the Atlanta case by the end of this year.

Following one of the largest manhunts in the nation's history, Rudolph was captured on May 31 in Murphy, North Carolina, in an anti-climatic fashion: A 21-year-old rookie cop spotted him going through a trash bin behind a store and apprehended him.

 

[CADsortaGUY]

Sure - It's called(atleast to some) murdering the murderer who murdered the murderers.

This guy was a nutjob - live by the sword die by the sword IMO.

CkG

 

[CrazyHelloDeli]

Would you rather we "Rehabilitate" him and set him free so he can do it again? Alfonso Rodriguez Jr anyone?

GRAND FORKS, North Dakota (AP) -- Investigators put the search for a missing University of North Dakota student on indefinite hold Saturday after two weeks of scouring the fields and rural roads across two states turned up no sign of her.

Police Capt. Mike Kirby said authorities had no plans to resume the search for Dru Sjodin unless something new developed in the case. Instead, they were concentrating on the evidence collected so far in her apparent kidnapping and trying to piece together clues to her whereabouts.

"I would never say never on a possible search," Kirby said Saturday. "But as of now, there is nothing organized."

A convicted rapist released from prison earlier this year is charged with kidnapping Sjodin, 22, from the parking lot of the Grand Forks shopping mall where she was working on November 22. Alfonso Rodriguez Jr., 50, remained in jail Saturday and is not talking with authorities, his lawyer said.

No police briefings were planned for Saturday or Sunday, Kirby said.

"We feel bad saying the same thing all the time," Kirby said. "But right now there is nothing new."

Kirby said police would have more to say when evidence in the case is made public. Prosecutors have dropped their objection to unsealing the files, saying the decision on releasing the information now rests with the defense.

Rodriguez's public defender, David Dusek, said he would respond early next week to the motion to unseal the documents. Several media organizations filed the motion last week.

Interviewed on MSNBC, Dusek said Rodriguez told him that he had nothing to do with Sjodin's disappearance and does not know where she is.

"He came out and actually said 'I did not kidnap her,"' Dusek said.

The search for Sjodin and the case against Rodriguez are "on parallel tracks," Sgt. Mike Hedlund said.

"Our main focus at the moment is to try to find Dru," he said. "The investigation of course is very correlated to that because where he went, she went."

Rodriguez, released from prison in May after serving 23 years for attempted kidnapping and assault, was classified by the state of Minnesota as the most dangerous type of sex offender. He faces a preliminary hearing February 4 and arraignment February 6 in connection with Sjodin's disappearance.

 

[DealMonkey]

No. Life in prison would be sufficient.