Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast
Results 1 to 10 of 18

Thread: Craig Alan Wall, Sr. - Florida Death Row

  1. #1
    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2010
    Posts
    33,217

    Craig Alan Wall, Sr. - Florida Death Row


    Laura Taft






    Man charged with murdering son, then girlfriend in Clearwater has new approach

    LARGO — Craig Wall appeared in court Friday morning but this time he did not offer to plead guilty to murdering his girlfriend Laura Taft.

    During a hearing last month, Wall said he was willing to plead guilty to murdering Taft, but wouldn't plead guilty to murdering his baby son, Craig Wall Jr.

    In that hearing, Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Judge Richard Luce refused to accept the plea, saying he needed to wait until he was assigned an attorney.

    At Friday's hearing, attorney William Bennett appeared with Wall, who did not make any comments. Afterward, Bennett said he could not reveal whether Wall still wished to plead guilty, but he made no moves to do so during the hearing. The next hearing was set for Aug. 27.

    Wall was considered a suspect in the death of his son at the time he was released on $1,000 bail in February on a misdemeanor charge of violating a domestic violence injunction that Taft had against him. After being released from jail, he killed Taft, 29, in her Clearwater apartment, police say.

    Wall, 35, has been charged with two counts of murder, and prosecutors intend to seek the death penalty.

    http://www.tampabay.com/news/courts/criminal/craig-wall-charged-with-murdering-son-girlfriend-appears-in-court/1101665

  2. #2
    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2010
    Posts
    33,217
    Double-murder suspect had long history of violence

    A man accused of murdering his son and ex-girlfriend has had problems since he was a child.

    According to Bay News 9's partner paper, the St. Petersburg Times, a doctor declared that 35-year-old Craig Wall was dangerous and recommended psychotherapy back in 1985, when he was 10 years old.

    In the report, the doctor warned that, if Wall did not get help, he would make headlines one day.

    Prosecutors said Wall killed Laura Taft in February, days after being released from jail for violating a domestic violence injunction. He was also a suspect in the death of his 5-week-old baby, which happened two weeks before Taft's death.

    A USF specialist said Wall exhibits the traits of a psychopath. Dr. Michael Bengtson said it appears as though Wall doesn't feel remorse for his actions, and that he probably lacked the capable to feel such things when he was born.

    Wall remains in jail awaiting trial. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.

    http://www.baynews9.com/article/news/2010/july/127366/Doublemurder-suspect-had-long-history-of-violence

  3. #3
    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2010
    Posts
    33,217
    Clearwater murder suspect building a case that he didn't kill his infant son

    LARGO — Less than an hour after 29-year-old Laura Taft was stabbed to death in her Clearwater apartment last year, her estranged boyfriend, Craig Wall, called his mother and told her he did it, authorities said.

    At his first pre-trial hearing, Wall told the judge he did it.

    And in an exclusive jailhouse interview this week with the St. Petersburg Times, Wall again professed his guilt.

    But Wall, who has been jailed since Taft's death on Feb. 17, 2010, insists he is not responsible for the other death he's charged with: that of their infant son, who died 11 days before Taft. Wall is facing first-degree murder charges for both deaths.

    To bolster his claim, Wall, 36, points to a report by a neuropathologist that says the brain injury that led to the baby's death happened a week before he was hospitalized.

    Craig Wall Jr. died Feb. 6, 2010, a day after he was rushed to the hospital with brain swelling and fractured ribs. It was Wall, caring for the 5-week-old baby alone at home, who called 911.

    In a report dated April 1, 2010, a board-certified neuropathologist from the District 10 Medical Examiner's Office in Winter Haven said his examination of the baby's brain showed the injury happened about a week before he was hospitalized on Feb. 5.

    "The subdural hematoma described is not recent and demonstrated microscopic evidence of organization. Based upon its microscopic appearance, I would estimate its age to be, perhaps, about a week old," reads the report by Dr. Stephen J. Nelson. "Clearly, this organizing subdural hematoma is older than the single one-day hospitalization the child endured."

    Nelson, who finished his report more than a month after Wall was indicted, said this week that he was able to determine the injury predated the hospitalization by examining cells that move to the area where the brain is bleeding and try to surround it and "resorb it" after a traumatic brain injury.

    It's the characteristics of those cells — for instance their thickness — that helped him estimate when the injury occurred. Nelson's findings are now attached to the report of the baby's autopsy by the Pinellas-Pasco Medical Examiner's Office.

    Wall argues that the fact that the brain injury happened several days before the baby was hospitalized means any number of people could be responsible for his death.

    "I don't know what happened to him. I wasn't there," Wall said this week.

    But prosecutors, who have filed an intent to seek the death penalty, say the report doesn't change their position that Wall caused the injury that ultimately ended the child's life.

    "So there may have been more than one incident of injury, but based on the statement of how the child was presenting prior to that day by witnesses who had seen the child, and based on Wall's statements as well, it's not going to change the theory of the prosecution," said Pinellas-Pasco Assistant State Attorney Kendall Davidson, one of two prosecutors assigned to the case.

    Before she was killed, Taft told detectives she hadn't noticed anything unusual about the baby's health in the days leading up to his death. But she said Wall had told her of two instances when the baby had vomited during that time frame.

    Wall told detectives the baby threw up several times after he was circumcised on Feb. 3, two days before he went into cardiac arrest. Vomiting can signal the early stages of brain trauma.

    The baby also had fractured ribs. Wall told investigators he didn't know how to perform CPR on infants and squeezed the baby's torso while trying to resuscitate him. He says it's possible the fractures happened then.

    Wall says he was so despondent after his son's death that he wanted to die. He left a video message for Taft on a digital camera, part of which was paraphrased in a search warrant as "he was sorry that he did something to the baby and that he did not mean to make the baby cry."

    That portion of the video was redacted before it was released to the Times. But in other portions, Wall repeatedly says he "didn't do it."

    At the time, Clearwater police said they did not feel the statement about being "sorry" amounted to a confession. Nor was it, Wall said.

    "He's my son. Obviously, if he's in my care I'm going to feel responsible," he said.

    The statement, Wall said, "was taken out of context."

    Wall said it should be clear he had nothing to hide regarding his son's death, because he called 911 and made himself available to investigators.

    "You don't think if I did something I wouldn't have taken off?" he said. "Why did I stay?"

    Eleven days after the infant died, Taft was found dead on her doorstep. Police said Wall kicked in her sliding glass door and stabbed her in the chest. Witnesses said they saw Wall fleeing the scene.

    A few hours later, deputies in Sumter County found Wall passed out behind the wheel of his blood-stained car.

    http://www.tampabay.com/news/courts/...nt-son/1182783

  4. #4
    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2010
    Posts
    33,217
    Accused of murder and facing death penalty, Pinellas man acts as own attorney

    Craig Wall is a man accused of 2 murders, a man facing the death penalty, a man who has decided he'll act as his own attorney in trial next week.

    So in a preparatory court hearing on Friday, Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Judge Philip J. Federico asked Wall if he understood the purpose of voir dire, or questioning potential jurors.

    "Picking some idiots to sit over there," Wall said, motioning toward the jury box.

    "That's not exactly the traditional description, but we'll go from there," Federico deadpanned.

    Not much is traditional in the case of Wall, who is accused of killing his 5-week-old son in Clearwater in 2010, and stabbing his girlfriend Laura Taft, 29, to death less than 2 weeks later.

    Wall, 39, has previously said in court that he would be willing to plead guilty to killing Taft, and get the death penalty as long as charges are dropped against him in the case involving his son.

    Unlike most jailed defendants, who have the opportunity to dress up in nice clothes during trial, Wall has decided to appear in his jail scrubs instead. Wall, who has a shaved head and a bushy beard that ends in a braid, will have the right to question potential jurors directly when the trial starts next week.

    Meanwhile, Taft's mother, Rhonda Lyon-Buttita, who has attended virtually every court hearing over the past four years, said she also will be in court.

    From the beginning, the 2 tragic killings have led to serious legal questions.

    Wall has lived a badly a troubled life. He was profiled in this newspaper in 1988 as "a boy out of control," at age 12. His mother told a reporter she feared that if she grounded him, "I might not wake up."

    He was sent to a halfway house, and to the notorious Arthur G. Dozier School for Boys in Marianna, and spent 14 years in various Florida prisons for robbery with a deadly weapon and armed burglary. He acquired multiple tattoos, including "RAHOWA," an acronym for Racial Holy War.

    He met Laura Taft in Largo shortly after getting out of prison. Their baby, Craig Wall Jr., who was called "CJ," was born shortly after Christmas 2009.

    The boy was killed 5 weeks later. He had suffered broken ribs and brain trauma, and went into cardiac arrest.

    Court records make it clear that Clearwater police considered Wall a suspect almost immediately and that they thought the injuries occurred while in his care. He was not immediately charged with murder. When Wall did get arrested a few days later for something else, the fact that he was a suspect in his baby's death - stated clearly on an arrest affidavit - was never mentioned in court.

    3 days after getting out of jail, he was still not charged with his son's murder. Police say that's when he crashed through a sliding glass door and stabbed Taft to death.

    Pinellas-Pasco State Attorney Bernie McCabe later said he was "dumbfounded" at how his office handled the case, and reassigned one of his prosecutors.

    And Wall himself apparently was alluding to this in one of his comments in Friday's hearing.

    "I've attempted to take responsibility and they won't let me. They won't let me because Bernie almost lost his ... job in 2010 because I killed her."

    He claimed prosecutors have a vendetta against him.

    At that, Federico warned Wall he will not be allowed to espouse such theories when he is questioning potential jurors, or explain that he has offered to be executed.

    "There's no legal basis for saying 'I want the death penalty, so you should impose it,' " Federico told him.

    The judge said he hoped Wall would be able to restrain himself from future outbursts.

    "You don't have impulse control to be able to stop yourself from talking out when you want to talk out, and I fear that the same thing's going to happen in front of a jury," Federico said.

    Representing yourself in a case that could lead to your execution might sound so crazy that no one would ever attempt it. Yet some do.

    "Whereas once it was practically unknown, now we are seeing it with a disturbing frequency," said J. Marion Moorman, the retired public defender for the 10th Judicial Circuit, who is not involved in Wall's case.

    Moorman said that when people defend themselves, the courts must first make sure they are mentally competent. They also must understand some basics of the legal system, such as the fact that they can choose to testify or not, to call witnesses to the stand or not.

    Wall has been evaluated and declared mentally fit for trial.

    At Friday's hearing, Wall complained about prosecutors' tactics. He complained that he had not been able to subpoena witnesses, and said evidence in the case was being provided to him at the last minute.

    Federico spent more than an hour on the hearing, and asked Wall if there was anything else that needed to be addressed.

    "Clearly you won't want to address reality here, you want to ... just screw me," Wall shot back.

    Jury selection begins Monday morning.

    (Source: The Tampa Bay Times)
    An uninformed opponent is a dangerous opponent.

    "Y'all be makin shit up" ~ Markeith Loyd

  5. #5
    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2010
    Posts
    33,217
    Pinellas man won't represent himself in death penalty case after all

    Craig Wall, who is facing the death penalty, originally wanted to represent himself this week on charges that he killed his girlfriend and their baby in 2010. On Monday, he said he wants lawyers to take over his case after all.

    The change means Wall's trial will be delayed until October.

    Wall had two experienced attorneys serving as "standby counsel," meaning they were available to assist him but not officially his attorneys. But because of Wall's change of heart, they now are in charge of his defense.

    One of those attorneys, Bjorn Brunvand, said Monday he needed more time to prepare because there are numerous legal tasks he would have done during the past two months if he had been officially handling the case.

    Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Judge Philip J. Federico said he was reluctant to delay the case, but felt there was no alternative.

    Wall is accused of killing his five-week old son in 2010. Then, several days later, he stabbed his girlfriend Laura Taft to death, prosecutors say.

    "It'll be almost five years," said Taft's mother, Rhonda Lyon-Buttita. "It's unfortunate but we've got to go with what they think is right."

    Taft's father John Bredeson said he was angry at Wall "manipulating the system. That's all this is, is him playing games."

    http://www.tampabay.com/news/courts/...er-all/2173929
    An uninformed opponent is a dangerous opponent.

    "Y'all be makin shit up" ~ Markeith Loyd

  6. #6
    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2010
    Posts
    33,217
    Accused murderer stands up in court and tells judge he's guilty, asks for the death penalty

    The man accused of murdering his girlfriend five years ago in Pinellas County admitted in court Friday that he did and he wants to be sentenced to death.

    In a bizarre exchange with the judge, Craig Wall changed his plea to guilty for murdering his girlfriend, Laura Taft.

    He pleaded no contest to the murder of their baby.

    It's a case that rattled the Tampa Bay area in 2010, partly because the system failed Taft, the victim. She filed a domestic violence injunction against Wall, and despite him being a suspect in their baby's death, he got out on bail.

    The prosecutor on the case failed to mention that detail, or that he’d recently served 14 years in prison.

    Three days later, he stabbed her to death.

    After Friday's guilty plea, the victim's family breathed a sigh of relief.

    "I just feel like my daughter's looking down on us and saying, 'Mom, we're almost done.' She did not deserve this. She did not deserve to die," said Rhonda Lyon-Buttita, Taft's mother.

    It's been a long time coming for the family, dealing with delay after delay in this case.

    "Thank goodness it's over. Thank goodness it's done," said John Bredeson, the victim's father. "Hopefully the penalty phase will go just about as easy, but we'll see what happens. It's been a long five years. I would have liked to have it concluded a little sooner but when push came to shove, the game could no longer be played. So he got what he could get. He got justice."

    Wall has been known for his erratic behavior in court.

    He carried on a long conversation with the judge, showing that he has researched case law and knows the system well.

    At one point the judge asked if he was on drugs.

    "I wish," Wall said.

    A doctor previously testified that the defendant is competent to make the decisions.

    http://www.abcactionnews.com/news/re...-death-penalty
    An uninformed opponent is a dangerous opponent.

    "Y'all be makin shit up" ~ Markeith Loyd

  7. #7
    Administrator Helen's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2013
    Location
    Toronto, Ontario, Canada
    Posts
    20,875
    Craig Wall: Accused murderer who asked for death to learn fate in sentencing phase

    CLEARWATER, Fla. - A Pinellas County judge will take the next step Monday morning toward the death penalty for a man who asked to die.

    Earlier this month, Craig Wall pleaded guilty to murdering his girlfriend five years ago. He pleaded no contest to killing their baby.

    This shook up the Tampa Bay community because the system failed the victim, Laura Taft.

    Taft filed a domestic violence injunction against Wall, and even though he was a suspect in their baby's death, Wall got out on bail.

    The prosecutor on the case also failed to mention Wall had recently served 14 years in prison.

    Three days after he was released, police say wall stabbed Taft to death.

    Monday will be the beginning of the death penalty phase.

    Taft's family has said this will be justice served.

    Wall has been known for his erratic behavior in court.

    ABC Action News will be inside today and will let you know what happens.

    http://www.abcactionnews.com/news/re...ntencing-phase
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

  8. #8
    Administrator Helen's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2013
    Location
    Toronto, Ontario, Canada
    Posts
    20,875
    Man accused in death of wife, son insists on death penalty

    CLEARWATER — Craig Wall is insisting on his own execution but he isn’t making the penalty phase easy on the court.

    Wall, 39, entered a no contest plea earlier this month in the 2010 deaths of his then-girlfriend Laura Taft and their infant son, Craig Wall, Jr. Wall has primarily been representing himself and is seeking the death penalty.

    In court Monday, Wall said he wants to “captain his own ship” by putting on his own defense because he will be sitting in “Old Sparky” by himself, referring to the electric chair. Florida once used that method of execution but switched to lethal injection.

    A representative from the Florida Capital Resource Center, a group that aims to provide aid to defendants facing the death penalty, filed a motion to delay proceedings so special counsel can be appointed to prepare mitigating factors in Wall’s case.

    Wall dismissed the offer of help. He accused the representative and others who involve themselves in his case as being “foaming at the mouth, rabid-dog liberals” who have attempted to hijack the court and don’t think he can make his own decisions.

    “This is my case. This is my life,” Wall said. “All choices are mine alone to make.”

    Wall was arrested Feb. 14, 2010, for violating a domestic violence injunction filed by Taft. The arrest affidavit requested Wall be held without bail because he was a suspect in the death of the couple’s son. Instead, Wall was granted $1,000 bond and released. Three days later, authorities say, he stabbed Taft to death.

    The infant had died as a result of aggravated child abuse while in Wall’s care, Assistant State Attorney Kendall Davidson said.

    Taft’s death was cold, calculated and premeditated, and a stab wound through her heart means she would have been fully aware of her impending death at the time, Davidson said in court Monday.

    Wall chose to use a knife in Taft’s killing because it was personal, Davidson said.

    Members of Taft’s family were in the audience Monday, buttons pinned to their chests displaying a photo of Laura Taft and her son.

    While Wall said repeatedly that he wants and deserves the death penalty, he questioned the truthfulness of several witnesses.

    Circuit Judge Phillip Federico forced Wall to drop his line of questioning with a state witness who spent some time with Wall after his arrest. Wall asked the man if he liked to tell lies, called him a criminal and said the man’s son was a heavy drug user.

    “I’m not going to have that, I’m not doing it,” Federico said before dismissing the witness.

    Federico told Wall he had been getting away with behavior that would not be tolerated by a lawyer, such as offering testimony while questioning witnesses, telling them their version of events were untrue, and interrupting prosecutors and witnesses out of turn.

    The pentlay phase of the proceedings is scheduled to resume Tuesday morning.

    http://tbo.com/news/crime/man-accuse...alty-20150223/
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

  9. #9
    Administrator Helen's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2013
    Location
    Toronto, Ontario, Canada
    Posts
    20,875
    Craig Wall defends himself in sentencing phase, wants death penalty

    LARGO -- The man convicted of killing his girlfriend and baby continued to represent himself during the sentencing phase of the murder trial.

    Craig Wall, 39, was found guilty last week of killing his 5-week-old son in Clearwater and stabbing his girlfriend Laura Taft, 29, to death less than two weeks later.

    On Tuesday, Judge Phil Federico began proceedings, reminding Wall of proper questioning protocol curing cross-examination. Federico said Wall often gave testimony instead of asking questions.

    The prosecution wrapped up its presentation, bringing two more witnesses to the stand. The first witness was Dr. Sally Smith, a pediatrician who examined Wall's son, C.J. Wall objected when the witness gave her name.

    Smith described the baby's injuries.

    "That pattern of a hemorrhage on a CAT scan is almost always the result of abusive head trauma, where there's a problem of most likely violent shaking, but can be related to high-forced impact to the head," she said.

    However, Wall argued some of the bruises didn't match what experts say caused the baby's death.

    "If I used my fingers, literally my fingers would be indented in his chest," Wall said. "There is no injury like that, is there?"

    "He did not have bruising in the center of his sternum," Smith said.

    The cross-examination lasted two hours, causing Federico to comment at one point.

    "No lawyer would cross examine this doctor for 120 minutes on the subjects that you went over," he said. "I did that because I wanted to give you a full opportunity and as I said and have observed throughout this, the questions are repetitive and over the same topics, over and over again."

    Clearwater Police Detective Kerri Spaulding took the stand next. She testified about an interview she conducted with Wall after the baby's death.

    Wall played video from that interview during his cross examination.

    Wall has asked for the death penalty. He will start presenting his case Wednesday.

    http://www.baynews9.com/content/news...defends_h.html
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

  10. #10
    Administrator Helen's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2013
    Location
    Toronto, Ontario, Canada
    Posts
    20,875
    Craig Wall shows home videos, calls witnesses during sentencing

    CLEARWATER -- Convicted double-murderer Craig Wall continued presenting evidence in the sentencing phase of his murder trial, which wrapped up Friday.

    Wall was convicted last week of killing both his girlfriend, Laura Taft, and the couple's 5-week-old son. He has been representing himself in the penalty phase of the trial.

    On Friday, Wall presented more home videos and called more witnesses in the sentencing phase of his murder trial Friday. He showed home video of the birth of Craig Wall Jr., which he described as the single happiest moment of his life.

    "I love my family, I try to provide for them and give them a safe home," Wall said. "I did not kill my son."

    However, Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Jon Thogmartin testified injuries causing the 5-week-old baby's death were abusive in nature.

    "This is an inflicted injury by a person," he said.

    Wall asked Dr. Thogmartin if his son would have experienced any pain. The doctor said he couldn't say.

    "I don't know what happened to my son," Wall said. "I want to know and these people can't tell me. I asked the Chief Medical Examiner, he can't tell me."

    Wall also called a friend to the stand and a pet store manager, where Wall says he purchased his dog.

    Wall has admitted to killing his girlfriend and wants the death penalty.

    "It's something I deserve," said Wall. "You're supposed to protect females and children, you're not supposed to kill them."

    Taft's parents have been in the courtroom everyday.

    "These people have a right to watch me die," said Wall.

    "All I have is this scumbag life right here, you understand," said Wall. "All I have is this, so I can't give them back their daughter but I can give them peace of mind.

    "I'm gonna choose 'Old Sparky' because I think it would give them more pleasure to watch me at least look like I'm suffering."

    As part of the sentencing phase, Wall was required to present mitigating factors - reasons why he should not get the death penalty. Judge Phil Federico appointed independent special counsel to review whether any other factors need to be included. A status hearing is scheduled for April 10.

    Ultimately, Judge Federico will decide if Wall will get the death penalty. That decision could take weeks, or even months.

    http://www.baynews9.com/content/news...shows_hom.html
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •