Otis McKane (left) was
charged in killing a San Antonio police officer, Benjamin Marconi (inset) in
2016.
[PHOTO SOURCE: https://nypost.com/2021/08/07/otis-mckane-convicted-of-killing-texas-cop-benjamin-marconi/] |
"There are certain
circumstances in which the death penalty is essential to our respect for life.
If we do not in our law send the message to everybody that by calculatedly,
coldly taking a human life in a way that assaults the structures of law in a
society or shows a cold-blooded and studied disregard for the value of that
life, if we are not willing to implement the death penalty in those
circumstances, then we are actually sending a message of contempt for human
life. We are encouraging people to believe that that step is not in fact a
terminal step, when they fatefully and fatally decide to move against the life
of another human being. So I think that there are circumstances under which it
is essential, in fact, that we have and apply the death penalty in order to
send a clear moral message to people throughout our society that we will not
tolerate that kind of disrespect for life." – Alan Keyes
On this date, August 6, 2021, Texas Cop Killer, Otis McKane, was sentenced to death in Texas. He fatally shot a San Antonio police officer, Benjamin Marconi twice in the head in 2016. I agree with Donald Trump when he once stated that cop killers should be executed.
“We
believe that criminals who murder police officers should immediately, but with
trial, get the death penalty. But quickly. The trial should go fast. It’s got
to be fair, but it’s got to go fast.” - Donald Trump
Thoughts
about what President Trump had to say? MORE: https://bit.ly/2WQxmUb [PHOTO
SOURCE: https://www.facebook.com/Fox32Chicago/photos/a.381939098796/10158000654798797/?type=3&theater] |
Texas
cop killer gets death sentence after San Antonio detective's execution-style
slaying
McKane killed Marconi, 50, in front of
witnesses while the detective was writing a ticket during an overtime shift, a
report said
Fox
News Flash top headlines are here. Check out what's clicking on Foxnews.com.
A Texas man who fatally
shot a San Antonio police officer twice in the head in 2016 was sentenced to
death on Friday.
Otis McKane, 36, was found guilty of capital
murder July 26 in the execution-style slaying of Detective Benjamin
Marconi.
McKane
claimed that Marconi, a 20-year veteran, was a random target of his anger but
prosecutors said the defendant had been stalking the detective and planning his
"heinous and unspeakable" murder, according to the San Antonio
Express-News.
Detective Benjamin Edward Marconi
San Antonio Police Department, Texas End of Watch Sunday, November 20, 2016 [PHOTO SOURCE: https://www.odmp.org/officer/23035-detective-benjamin-edward-marconi] |
The Bexar County jury deliberated for 7 and a half hours Friday before recommending the sentence. It took less than 30 minutes for the jury to find him guilty, according to the Express-News.
McKane
killed Marconi, 50, on a busy street in front of witnesses while the detective
was writing a ticket during an overtime shift, the Express-News reported. The
murder was caught on security-camera video.
Attacked bailiff in court
Extra
sheriff's deputies surrounded McKane during the sentencing Friday after he
attacked a bailiff on July 26 when jurors found him guilty. The jury could
have recommended a sentence of life imprisonment without parole.
An appeal of the conviction and sentence is automatic.
McKane
has an extensive record dating back to his teen years.
Marconi’s family in a statement thanked the prosecutors and district attorney,
the Express-News
reported.
"From
the bottom of our hearts, we are extremely proud of all the hard work you put
into bringing justice for Ben and finding closure for our family," the
statement said. "And finally, to Detective Benjamin Edward Marconi—THANK
YOU for making our lives better, and the lives of everyone you touched. You are
eternally missed and we will NEVER forget you—rest easy sweet Ben."
INTERNET SOURCE: https://www.foxnews.com/us/texas-cop-killer-death-sentence-san-antonio-detective-execution-style
Detective
Benjamin Marconi released a statement after Otis McKane was sentenced to death.
[PHOTO SOURCE: https://twitter.com/ksatnews/status/1423839551710191617] |
Criminals who kill police officers deserve the death
penalty. Period. The Defend our Defenders act I introduced with @TomCottonAR
will make sure cop killers
face the harshest possible punishment for their crimes.
Emotions run high in court as relatives of slain SAPD detective Benjamin Marconi, convicted murderer Otis McKane testify
Jurors in
capital murder trial hear from Marconi’s stepdaughter, brother, McKane’s
mother, teenage brother
Published: August 4, 2021 7:52 pm
Updated: August 4, 2021 7:58 pm
SAN ANTONIO – Editor’s note: KSAT is livestreaming the entire trial of Otis McKane here. Get a daily recap like this one sent to your inbox by signing up for the free Open Court newsletter.
Attorneys for the state and the defense on Wednesday presented character witnesses who delivered emotional and tearful testimony in the punishment phase of the Otis McKane trial.
McKane was found guilty of capital murder last week for the execution-style shooting of San Antonio Police Det. Benjamin Marconi in November 2016.
Among the witnesses who testified for the state was Jacy Reeves, Marconi’s stepdaughter.
“He was always there for me,”
Reeves said to jurors about Marconi, who married her mother when she was 4 and
then got divorced in her early 20s.
“Our relationship never changed” after the divorce, Reeves said, adding that Marconi told her, “I want you to be my daughter forever.”
Reeves recalled the day that she found out about Marconi’s death.
“I’ll never forget that day,” she told jurors.
Reeves said that she and her then-fiance were watching a football game when she got some text messages about an SAPD officer being shot. Moments later, she received a phone call from an officer saying she needed to go to Brooke Army Medical Center.
“About 10 minutes in, my mom called me and told me that he had not made it,” Reeves said in tears. Reeves said when she arrived at the hospital, she ran in looking for her brother, Dane, who had just been informed about the shooting.
The two and other family members then went into the emergency room where Marconi was being treated.
“We were in shock that we were seeing a pillar of our family laying on the table,” she said.
Reeves said that she received
counseling after Marconi’s death because it “takes a toll on your mental
health. We went to therapy to find coping mechanisms to deal with it.”
After Reeves testified, Tom Marconi, the officer’s brother, told jurors about his sibling and how the slaying affected their family.
Tom Marconi said that his brother was a true role model who had a true passion for helping others. Tom Marconi also talked about the moment he heard his brother had been killed.
“I couldn’t believe
what I was seeing. My brother murdered. I probably blacked out quite a bit from
all the trauma,” Marconi told jurors.
Tom Marconi said his brother’s death “affected the family in a lot of different ways,” and he’s missed out on babies who have been born since his passing.
He also told jurors that his brother had a special relationship with his sisters that “they needed. It was something that I couldn’t do, but (only) Ben could do.”
Such an extreme act of
pure evil can only be met by the most extreme of responses - and that can only
be death. All my life I've been against the death penalty. I genuinely never
thought I'd say this, but I am now convinced that the monster who executed this
young woman in cold blood should, in turn, be killed as punishment for his
crime. - John
Stevens, Baron Stevens of Kirkwhelpington
After the state rested its case, the defense called its first witness, Reginald Alderman, a high school classmate and best friend of McKane.
Alderman told jurors that he and McKane met at Fox Tech High School, where the two played sports. He described McKane as someone who was “very outgoing, somebody who filled the room with joy, laughter.”
Alderman described how McKane “was the man of the house” and because his mother worked long hours, he often had to cook meals for his two younger sisters.
Alderman said that McKane wanted to be a big part of his son’s life because his father walked out of his life. He said that Saharia Hill, McKane’s ex-girlfriend and the mother of their son, often prevented McKane from seeing the toddler.
“She wouldn’t let him in the house, wouldn’t let him see his kid. It was tearing him apart,” Alderman said.
Sandra McKane, the defendant’s mother, also testified how the problems her son had with Hill regarding their son’s visitation rights affected him.
“He was upset,” she said. “He just wanted to see his son, take care of him.”
Sandra McKane told jurors about working long hours and how the absence of Otis’ father affected him. She said that she noticed behavior and personality changes in her son and was asked by the prosecution whether she knew he was smoking synthetic marijuana. She replied, “Yes, he would in a room, talking to himself.”
Sandra McKane testified that on the day of the slaying, she was getting phone calls from people saying that pictures being shown on TV news were of her son and his car.
She cried and started breathing heavily when the defense talked about McKane’s arrest.
Defense attorney Joel Perez asked
her, “Do you love Otis?”
“I love my son” Sandra McKane replied. “I don’t want him to get the death penalty.”
Otis McKane was crying when the final defense witness testified -- his young teenage brother.
The young sibling called his older brother a “third guardian” and said that he taught him all he knows about sports.
The young teenager told jurors that his older brother told him to pay attention in school, “don’t go to the other side” and “stay on the right path.”
The teen said that he was an A student in elementary school, but then his grades dropped to Cs in middle school because the “situation with this kind of threw me off,” referring to his brother’s legal troubles.
The teen said that his brother often tells him, “Don’t do the things that he did” and to hang around “positive people.”
The trial resumes at 9 a.m. Thursday in the 379th District Court with Judge Ron Rangel presiding.
The jury is expected to deliberate McKane’s punishment Friday. They only have two choices -- death by lethal injection or life in prison without parole.
https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=157802809769050&id=101692122046786
[PHOTO SOURCE: https://web.facebook.com/policesupporter/photos/a.1550418498508985.1073741827.1536119343272234/1870277663189732/?type=3&theater] |
‘Why didn’t he go after me?’
Psychiatrists talk to jury that will decide San Antonio cop killer’s punishment
Elizabeth Zavala
Updated: Aug. 5, 2021 7:18 p.m.
A psychiatrist testifying for the state said convicted cop killer Otis McKane is a sociopath. That collided Thursday with the theory of the defense’s expert that he isn’t one, culminating in a grilling by prosecutors over what to call McKane’s violent outburst in court a week earlier.
Testifying for the defense, forensic psychiatrist Jaye Douglas Crowder called McKane’s attack on a court bailiff 44 seconds after he was found guilty of capital murder for killing a police officer “disconcerting and disturbing,” but stopped short of saying it means he poses a future threat.
The clashing testimony matters because the jury still has to decide whether to sentence McKane to death. Closing arguments in the punishment phase of the trial are set for Friday.
“He has had opportunities to harm (law enforcement officers.) In this case he did it, but he had just received the guilty verdict,” Crowder said. “It was disturbing to him, but beyond that provocation and delivery of the verdict, it may or may not mean anything in the future.”
McKane, 36, killed San Antonio police Detective Benjamin Marconi, 50. Moments after the jury left the room after finding him guilty, McKane sprang from his chair and elbowed a bailiff in the face. A dozen deputies wrestled him to the floor.
Marconi, a 20-year SAPD veteran, was working overtime on Sunday, Nov. 20, 2016, and sitting in his patrol vehicle, writing a traffic citation, when McKane walked up and shot him twice in the head.
Testimony established McKane was angry that he did not get help from law enforcement when he tried to file a visitation violation against his ex-girlfriend to see his son. McKane has said he lashed out at the first police officer he saw.
Jurors, well into more than 10 hours of testimony over two days by psychiatrists presenting dueling analyses — one saying McKane poses a future threat, the other saying he does not — appeared confused and bored Thursday, twisting in their chairs.
Crowder disputed the assessment of the state’s witness, forensic psychiatrist Michael Arambula, who testified Wednesday that McKane was a sociopath who remains a danger to the community because he displayed all seven of the criteria for antisocial personality disorder.
“The fact that the criteria is being met does not mean it a predicative of future danger,” Crowder told the jury.
Questioned by defense attorney Joel Perez, Crowder said he heard Arambula’s testimony and assessment of McKane and “didn’t agree with all of it.”
Crowder said McKane’s problems stemmed from growing up in a poor neighborhood, a juvenile criminal record that started at 13 when he got a butcher knife and chased after a cousin over a hamburger, not being able to hold a job, and drug use that consisted of cocaine, marijuana, and K2 spice, a synthetic cannabinoid. Crowder said cannabis addiction and K2 could cause psychosis.
If the death penalty was
not imposed then "wrong really has finally totally triumphed over right
and all civilised society, all we hold dear, is the loser." - John
Stevens, Baron Stevens of Kirkwhelpington
[PHOTO SOURCE: https://quozio.com/quote/hwwv7bcchftj/1092/if-the-death-penalty-was-not-imposed-then-wrong-really-has] |
The exchange between Crowder and prosecutor Mario Del Prado became animated over the issue of whether McKane would be a future danger to anyone, specifically law enforcement, if he was sentenced to life in prison without parole, the jury’s only other choice.
Crowder said McKane’s reaction to the verdict, lashing out at the bailiff, was because “the stakes were high” and Del Prado was “trying to kill him” by seeking the death penalty.
“Then why didn’t he go after me?” Del Prado asked.
“That was the person nearest him,” Crowder said. “The reading of the verdict, a realization of what that means, all together led to this.”
Crowder acknowledged McKane’s distrust of law enforcement, which he said the two discussed in their interviews. Still, he could not assess that he posed a future danger.
Questioned again by Perez, Crowder was asked if any of the studies he used of inmates on death row to assess McKane pointed to any concern.
“There is risk, but does it reach probability? The studies say it doesn’t,” Crowder said.
Both the state and defense rested their cases
Thursday afternoon.
INTERNET
SOURCE: https://www.expressnews.com/news/local/article/Otis-McKane-San-Antonio-cop-killer-trial-16368178.php
https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=157804616435536&id=101692122046786
Otis
McKane who was convicted of murdering SAPD Det. Benjamin Marconi will receive
the death penalty.
[PHOTO SOURCE: https://twitter.com/ksatnews/status/1423827972381888512] |
Jury sentences Otis McKane to the death penalty for the shooting death of SAPD Det. Benjamin Marconi
The only other option for the jury was life in prison
Published:
Updated:
Jurors
deliberated for about 7.5 hours Friday before determining punishment for Otis
McKane. It is the first death penalty issued in Bexar County in 5 years.
The
Marconi family released the following statement via SAPD regarding the trial:
“With the ending of this emotional trial we would like to take a moment to thank several parties involved.
Thank you to District Attorney Joe Gonzales and his entire office. To Tamara Strauch, Mario Del Prado, and Jessica Schulze — from the bottom of our hearts, we are extremely proud of all the hard work you put into bringing justice for Ben and finding closure for our family. To Judge Rangel, the 379th court staff, and the jury who served on this trial — your professionalism went above and beyond expectations. Thank you to the City of San Antonio and Bexar County + City of Floresville and Wilson County — y’all have our hearts! You have stood beside our family for the past 4.5 years and we are eternally grateful for the outpouring kindness and support you have shown. Thank you for allowing our family to grieve peacefully through this trauma. Thank you to the San Antonio Police Department and Bexar County Sheriff’s Department—you’re family and you forever will be. We love each and every one of you like our own.Thank you to The 100 Club, C.O.P.S., and SAPOA, your unwavering presence during these last few years and throughout the trial has been honorable and infinitely appreciated.
Thank you to the many friends and family who attended the trial, we are deeply humbled for the amount of love, prayer, and grace we felt through each and every one of you.
And finally, to Detective Benjamin Edward Marconi—THANK YOU for making our lives better, and the lives of everyone you touched. You are eternally missed and we will NEVER forget you—rest easy sweet Ben.”
On
July 26, the jury found McKane guilty of capital murder for the
execution-style killing of Det. Benjamin Marconi in his patrol car in front of
Public Safety Headquarters. Moments after the verdict was read in the
courtroom, McKane elbowed a bailiff in the jaw who was attempting to detain
him.
The guilt/innocence phase of the trial lasted 11 days over a
three-week period. The prosecution called on 55 witnesses to help present its
case, while the defense only called one witness, who testified for about 15
minutes.
The
punishment phase lasted seven days, with the prosecution presenting 15
witnesses and the defense calling on six witnesses.
The
trial marked the first death penalty case in more than five years in Bexar
County and was the biggest criminal trial in the county since jury trials
reopened from the COVID-19 pandemic.
INTERNET SOURCE: https://www.ksat.com/news/local/2021/08/07/jury-sentences-otis-mckane-to-the-death-penalty-for-the-shooting-death-of-sapd-det-benjamin-marconi/
A criminal on death row
has a chance to prepare his death, make a will, and make his last statements,
etc. while some victims can never do it. There are many other crimes where people
are injured by stabbing, rape, theft, etc. To some degree at least, the victims
right to freedom and pursuit of happiness is violated. - J. Edgar Hoover
[PHOTO SOURCE: https://quozio.com/quote/j2kbsh2mzxrv/1170/a-criminal-on-death-row-has-a-chance-to-prepare-his-death] |
RELATED LINKS:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting_of_Benjamin_Marconi
https://www.odmp.org/officer/23035-detective-benjamin-edward-marconi
https://nypost.com/2021/08/07/otis-mckane-convicted-of-killing-texas-cop-benjamin-marconi/
1. Punishment phase begins for convicted cop killer Otis McKane
https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=152176326998365&id=101692122046786
2. SAN ANTONIO (AP) — A Texas man elbowed a bailiff attempting to handcuff him after the defendant was convicted of killing a San Antonio police detective.
https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=152712773611387&id=101692122046786
https://www.wfla.com/video/video-cop-killer-attacks-bailiff-after-being-convicted-of-murder/
3. Sentencing continues in trial of Otis McKane in the death of SAPD Det. Benjamin Marconi.
https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=156498446566153&id=101692122046786
4.
Otis McKane will soon learn his fate for killing SAPD Det.
Benjamin Marconi
https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=157809403101724&id=101692122046786
5.
Life or death: jury deliberating fate of Otis McKane for
killing San Antonio officer
https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=158106643072000&id=101692122046786
OTHER LINKS:
Western
Command First Instance Military Court sentences army members to death, life in
prison for “supporting TPLF’s agenda”
https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=158433929705938&id=101692122046786
William Francis Kemmler (May 9, 1860 – August 6, 1890) of Buffalo, New York, was a convicted murderer and the first person in the world to be legally executed using an electric chair.
PHOTO: https://www.facebook.com/Samurai-Police-1109-101692122046786/photos/157847929764538
http://soldierexecutionerprolifer2008.blogspot.com/2016/08/the-electric-chair.html
Mass Shooters:
El Paso Walmart shooting 2nd anniversary: loss,
anxiety linger
What we know about the trial of suspected El Paso
Walmart shooter Patrick Crusius
https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=157786669770664&id=101692122046786
On August 3, 2019, a mass shooting occurred at a Walmart store in El Paso, Texas, United States. A gunman shot and killed 23 people and injured 23 others. The Federal Bureau of Investigation is investigating the shooting as an act of domestic terrorism and a hate crime. The shooting has been described as the deadliest attack on Latinos in modern American history.
https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=2029073120577382&id=1299628893521812
Arraignment postponed in movie theater killing of TikTok star
https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=157784299770901&id=101692122046786
IN LOVING MEMORY OF RYLEE GOODRICH AND ANTHONY BARAJAS (DIED ON JULY 26 & 31, 2021)
https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=2027598164058211&id=1299628893521812
Unit 1012 USA Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/3350621811720081/permalink/4152638601518394
No comments:
Post a Comment