Summary of Offense:
Sean Smith was convicted and sentenced to death for the murder of Grazyna Mlynarczyk. On October 29, 1996, Mlynarczyk was found dead her bedroom by her boyfriend, Zdzislaw Raminiski. Mlynarczyk was naked from the waist down and had been shot in the head. The morning of Mlynarczyk’s murder, she had told Zdzislaw that she had a doctor’s appointment and would call him afterwards. Mlynarczyk never called, and Zdzislaw was not able to contact her by phone. At this time, Zdzislaw went to Mlynarczyk’s residence and entered using his key. Zdzislaw found Mlynarczyk, naked from the waist down, lying in her bedroom and moved her to the bed. He noted that she was cold and covered in blood. Smith then called the police. Firefighters responded to Zdzislaw’s call and determined that Mlynarczyk was dead.
Officers secured items from the scene, including a lotion bottle, a woman’s undergarment, a pillow with a gun shot entering one side and exiting the other, two AmSouth Bank envelopes holding a total of $1,200, a shoe box holding $1,000 and a wallet holding $58. The officers also canvassed the area for possible witnesses. The police contacted Smith during the canvassing because he lived in an apartment close to Mylnarczyk’s, but he told police that he had been working and did not know about the incident. A medical examiner determined that Mlynarcyk was shot at close range through the pillow. According to the medical examiner, there was semen in Mlynarczyk’s vaginal area; furthermore, Mlynarczyk had a tear to the labia majora caused by trauma to the vagina, which was associated with nonconsensual sex. The DNA of the semen collected from Mlynarczyk’s body matched the DNA obtained from Smith’s blood sample. Furthermore, a trial expert, using statistical analysis, determined that Smith’s DNA profile would be found in 1 out of 101 billion African Americans. Finally, Smith’s fingerprints were matched to the lotion bottle secured by the police from Mlynarczyk’s home.
Smith was sentenced to death in Orange County on December 18, 1998.
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