Jury to begin deciding DiMeo's fate: dead or alive
BRIDGEPORT -- The evidence is over.
A Superior Court jury of six men and six women will begin to decide Monday whether Christopher DiMeo should get the death penalty for the Feb. 2, 2005 murders of Fairfield jewelers Tim and Kim Donnelly.
It took the same jury only four hours to decide the 29-year-old DiMeo was guilty of the crime. It's expected to take them a lot longer to decide whether he should live or die.
Both prosecutors and defense lawyers rested their respective cases late Wednesday afternoon.
The final witness was Yale University forensic psychiatrist Dr. Paul Amble, who had been hired recently by the prosecution to evaluate DiMeo.
Yale psychiatrist Dr. Howard Zonana had earlier testified for the defense that because of his extensive heroin use and poor upbringing DiMeo had no control of his actions when he fatally shot the Donnellys in their Post Road store.
Under questioning by Senior Assistant State's Attorney Joseph Corradino, Amble testified he agreed with just about everything Zonana had found with the exception of his final conclusion.
"This explanation is no more likely than many other possibilities, including the explanation that prior to entering the store he intended to shoot to death anyone who would attempt to thwart his plan including someone trying to grab his gun or attempting to dial 911," he said.
Last week Amble interviewed DiMeo for several hours. And although DiMeo told police he had blacked out during the crime he told the psychiatrist he recalled what happened.
"He recalls that both Mr. and Mrs. Donnelly screamed loudly and were moving their hands," Amble related. DiMeo told the psychiatrist: "I remember shooting him (Tim Donnelly) there was no accident¦ when I shot him I intended to shoot him, it's a thing that happened real fast. I panicked."
Amble continued that DiMeo recalled shooting Kim Donnelly but not specifically each shot. And he said DiMeo scoffed when he opined that DiMeo may have killed Kim Donnelly because she was a potential witness against him, pointing out that he hadn't killed William Burke who saw him inside the Donnelly store after the murders.
Under cross examination by DiMeo's lawyer, Michael Courtney, agreed that DiMeo had been very cooperative during the interview but he added he believes DiMeo was keeping information from him.
"He understood how much he needed to give me," Amble said. The witness did agreed with Courtney that DiMeo expressed remorse for his actions.
"I think Mr. DiMeo, if he had to do it again wouldn't do it. He talks about how horrible it was for the people who died."
The jury will reconvene Monday morning to hear final arguments from the lawyers and the instruction on the law from Judge Robert Devlin before beginning its deliberations.
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