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Thread: John Emzar Sexton, Jr. - Florida Death Row

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    John Emzar Sexton, Jr. - Florida Death Row






    Pasco murder 'sounds like a Stephen King novel'

    Authorities say John Sexton, who did yard work for Parlato, murdered and mutilated her in 2010, turning her home into the most horrific crime scene that Pasco deputies had seen in years. They have not suggested what the motive might have been. But as Sexton's trial for 1st-degree murder began Tuesday, Assistant State Attorney Mike Halkitis said jurors would have plenty of evidence to consider.

    "This defendant consciously intended to kill," Halkitis said, "and did so." The state is seeking the death penalty if Sexton, 49, is convicted.

    Halkitis described how neighbors saw Sexton in a window of Parlato's home on the night of Sept. 22, 2010. He explained how the next day, a friend found Parloto's face beaten so badly it was unrecognizable.

    "You're going to hear a story that sounds like a Stephen King novel," he said.

    He talked about how Parlato never smoked, but cigarette butts were found all around the home - even in the corner of a trash bag and the washing machine. And knives were found in different places, too, Halkitis said. One with some sort of sticky substance on it was found atop a piece of antique furniture.

    Finley said the crime scene showed there was a struggle and then an attempt to clean up. Photos showed a toppled chair and pine cones that spilled from a fallen basket. There was blood in the bathroom and on the doors of the washer and dryer.

    Sexton's boots also had impact stains from Parlato's blood, Finley said.

    Defense attorney Stephen Fisher asked Finley how he knew the stains didn't happen earlier in the day. Finley said the stains from accidentally cutting yourself are discernibly different from impact stains in a violent attack.

    The neighbors, Devilyn Saunders and David Carlin, testified that they saw Sexton in the window of Parlato's home on the night of the killing. Saunders said she was asleep and heard a thud so loud it woke her up and alarmed her dogs. They went outside but didn't call deputies because Parlato was a night owl.

    But Carlin jotted down the license plate of Sexton's truck, which was parked outside.

    Dustin Anderson, another defense attorney, questioned whether the evidence would prove his client was responsible, beyond a reasonable doubt.

    "Look for contradictions in the evidence," he told jurors. "At the end of this case, I'm going to ask that you find a verdict of not guilty."

    (Source: The Tampa Bay Times)
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    Jurors deliberating in Pasco murder of 94-year-old woman

    Jurors are deliberating the fate of John Sexton, the man accused of bludgeoning, stabbing and mutilating 94-year-old Ann Parlato in her Port Richey home.

    In his closing arguments Friday morning, Assistant State Attorney Mike Halkitis described the evidence in the grisly 2010 murder. He talked about Parlato's next-door neighbors heard a loud noise after midnight, saw Sexton in the window of Parlato's home and wrote down the tag number of his truck.

    "If we had nothing more that would be sufficient to prove that defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt," said Halkitis, who plans to seek the death penalty if Sexton, 49, is convicted of first-degree murder.

    He talked about Sexton's alibi that night. Sexton, who did yard work for Parlato, told detectives he went to her house around sundown to ask for more maintenance work. He said he went to a bar for 10 minutes and then drove around and drank a beer, and got home at 10:30. When detectives questioned him hours after Parlato's body was found, he asked his wife Catherine what time he got home. She told detectives it was 2 a.m.

    Why did he have to go to Parlato's house that night? Halkitis asked. Why couldn't he wait until the next time he got there to cut grass?

    "If we stopped right there," he said, "there's sufficient proof."

    He got into the physical evidence. The blood stains on Sexton's clothes and DNA found under Sexton's cuticles and fingernails, all matching Parlato. The cigarette butt in Parlato's trash can with Sexton's DNA.

    "This guy's not a rocket scientist," Halkitis said. "If he was a rocket scientist he would've closed the blinds. He wouldn't have left cigarette butts around the house."

    Defense attorney Dustin Anderson brought up the same pieces of evidence one by one and said there were inconsistencies and inaccuracies. He said the DNA evidence from Sexton's clothes was compromised because the evidence was mishandled when it was put into a plastic bag and into the trunk of a hot car. He said Parlato's DNA could have gotten on Sexton's hands when he was doing her lawn and she fell, and he picked her up.

    "We know she was prone to falling," he said.

    He said Parlato could have found Sexton's cigarette butt in the yard and put it in the garbage can herself. As for the neighbors, Anderson said they didn't mention the front end damage to Sexton's truck when telling police about it, and neighbor Devilyn Saunders couldn't pick Sexton out of a photo pack.

    For the state's final rebuttal, Assistant State Attorney Chris Labruzzo grabbed boxes of evidence and placed them by the podium. He put on a pair of plastic gloves. He held up the bloody shirt.

    "Let's look at this," he said. "Let's really look at this."

    He held up the shorts and pointed out the areas marked by forensic investigators.

    Then he talked about the cigarette ash found throughout the home, and about how Parlato had asthma and would never allow someone to smoke in the house.

    "We know exactly one person was in that house smoking," he said. "We know there's cigarette ash all around the house. The killer smoked. The killer in this case is John Sexton."

    He said there was no sense to the crime, and it wasn't the job of the state to prove a motive. They didn't have to explain why he did it, but just show beyond a reasonable doubt that he did.

    "You can't apply logic to an illogical situation," he said. "Not only was this an illogical situation it was completely irrational."

    http://www.tampabay.com/news/courts/...-woman/2116214
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    Pasco man found guilty in murder of 94-year-old woman

    A Pasco jury took five hours Friday to find John Sexton Jr. guilty of first-degree murder for the grisly slaying of an elderly woman who hired him to mow her lawn.

    Wearing a grey suit and leg shackles, Sexton faced the jury as each member confirmed the verdict. He showed no emotion.

    Circuit Judge Mary Handsel sent the jurors home for the weekend, ordering them not to discuss the trial. The penalty phase starts Tuesday.

    The state is seeking the death penalty against Sexton, 49, for the rape and murder of 94-year-old Ann Parlato on Sept. 22, 2010. The Port Richey woman was brutally beaten at her home. She was raped with an object and her body was mutilated and set afire.

    Assistant State Attorney Michael Halkitis said Sexton hated Parlato. “You don’t hit a 94-year-old lady that many times unless you want to kill her,” he said.

    The evidence was compelling and abundant.

    Police quickly closed in on Sexton, the victim’s yard man, after her body was discovered the following day, nude and covered with a sheet. Three neighbors testified they had seen him through the kitchen window the night of the murder and recognized him. Police found knives in the kitchen sink, along with a white ceramic vase that was used to bludgeon the woman beyond recognition.

    Another witness noticed his truck parked in Parlato’s driveway and wrote down his license tag number.

    Finally, when detectives arrived at Sexton's Port Richey home, about a mile away from the murder scene, they found him wearing a gray USF T-shirt, khaki shorts and flip flops. The shirt and shorts were stained with Parlato’s blood. A pair of Sexton's work boots found inside his home was also drenched in blood.

    They found Parlato’s DNA under Sexton’s fingernails and cuticles.

    “The person who committed this crime is capable of disastrous stupidity,” Halkitis said. “He was literally covered in her DNA.”

    Police also found a cigarette butt with Sexton’s DNA in Parlato’s trash.

    Sexton never took the stand.

    Defense attorney Dustin Anderson offered numerous explanations in an effort to create reasonable doubt. He speculated that Sexton tossed the cigarette butt in Parlato’s yard while he was mowing the grass, and that the victim herself picked it up and threw it away.

    The police couldn’t prove the DNA under Sexton’s fingernails came from blood. “He could have very easily shook her hand,” he said, “or picked her up if she fell - we heard testimony she was prone to fall - and got her DNA on him.”

    Anderson also accused the police of mishandling evidence and attempting to conceal the fact that a fingerprint analyst initially found evidence inconclusive – only later to change her report.

    “She covered her original findings with white-out,” Anderson said. “Why? Because they aren’t confident in the evidence they had.”

    He pointed to a knife that was found on the floor next to Parlato’s body. Forensics experts found traces of DNA on the handle belonging to neither Sexton nor Parlato.

    “We know two things,” he said. “That person was a man, and that person was not John Sexton. Simply put, the murderer used that knife. And simply put, the murderer is not John Sexton.”

    The jury of eight men and four women began deliberations at noon and paused only long enough to be escorted outside for a smoke break. They will return Tuesday for the sentencing phase of the trial.

    Catherine Sexton, who testified for the defense, will ask the jury to spare her husband’s life. She said she still loves him and believes he is innocent.

    A Pasco jury has not issued a death sentence since 2011.

    http://tbo.com/pasco-county/pasco-ma...an-b82480620z1
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    Sentencing postponed in John Sexton death penalty case

    The sentencing of John Sexton, who could face the death penalty for beating to death a 94-year-old woman, has been postponed.

    Sexton, 49, was convicted Friday of 1st-degree murder for the 2010 death of Ann Parlato in her Port Richey home. The trial was slated to head into a sentencing phase today, when both sides could call additional witnesses and jurors would decide whether to recommend the death penalty. But a family member of Stephen Fisher, one of Sexton's attorneys, was involved in an accident, and he would be unavailable for today's proceedings. Assistant Regional Counsel Byron Hileman said Fisher was important to this phase of the case, and Sexton said he'd feel "insecure about the case" without Fisher there.

    Circuit Judge Mary Handsel said because of the high-profile nature of the case, she wanted to proceed with an abundance of caution. She granted the defense's request for a continuance and set the sentencing for May 6.

    (Source: The Tampa Bay Times)
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    Jurors weigh life and death for Pasco man convicted in brutal slaying

    Jurors on Monday heard about John Sexton's difficult life: the trauma of childhood abuse and losing his brother, his struggle with mental illness and alcoholism, the long-term exposure to toxic chemicals that may have harmed his brain.

    Sexton was a damaged man before he brutally murdered 94-year-old Ann Parlato in her Port Richey home in September 2010, the defense argued. Defense attorney Byron Hileman urged jurors to consider those factors in weighing whether Sexton should live or die.

    "Nobody in their right mind could deny what a horrible crime this is," Hileman told jurors. "That's not even debatable. But the cause is important. It is your duty to weigh the factors carefully. That's how Florida law attempts to determine when the death penalty is appropriate."

    Prosecutors are seeking death for Sexton, 49, who was convicted last month of first-degree murder in one of the most gruesome crimes that Pasco deputies could remember. Parlato's face was crushed beyond recognition, her ribs broken, her spine dislocated. Her injuries indicated she had been sexually assaulted before her death, and stabbed and burned afterward.

    Sexton did lawn maintenance work for Parlato, a kind-hearted widow loved visiting with friends and cooking for neighbors.

    In the death penalty phase of the case, jurors listen to evidence and then recommend whether Sexton should get life in prison or death. The case then goes to a judge, who does not have to follow the jury's recommendation but is required to give it great weight.

    Before the jurors even entered the courtroom, the defense asked for another continuance because one of Sexton's attorneys was absent due to a medical emergency. When that motion was denied, Hileman asked withdraw from the case, citing his own ethical concerns that he could not provide an adequate defense.

    Circuit Judge Mary Handsel denied that motion as well. Sexton also asked that his lawyers be dismissed on similar grounds.

    "I don't think I'm getting adequate defense in this matter," Sexton said.

    Handsel denied Sexton's motion, and the jury was brought in.

    Hileman outlined the mitigating factors he believed should make the death penalty less likely, including Sexton's diagnosis of bipolar disorder and chronic alcoholism.

    Sexton was abused as a child by his parents, Hileman said, and his 14-year-old brother Dewey was accidentally shot and killed in 1983, when Sexton was 19. A neighbor had pulled the trigger as the boys were playing with the gun, Hileman said, and the trauma haunted Sexton for years to come.

    By outward appearances, Sexton had a normal life for awhile, his attorney said. He got married and divorced and married again. He was caring for his children. He was also a talented artist, Hileman said, and worked as a producer of video programs.

    "He was a man with some skill and a good record of employment," Hileman said. But a decline began and he couldn't keep a job. He lost his kids and his alcoholism progressed.

    There was a turning point: the death of his mother in 1997.

    "Then his life began to unravel," Hileman said.

    Sexton, who started a waterproofing company with a friend, was also exposed to harsh chemicals that may have affected his brain, his attorney said.

    "He was exposed to industrial solvents without safety equipment," Hileman said, adding that long term exposure is toxic to the brain, and over the long term could create brain damage.

    Assistant State Attorney Mike Halkitis said the state will rely on evidence presented in the first part of the trial.

    The penalty phase of the trial is expected to continue through the rest of the day and possibly into Tuesday.

    http://www.tampabay.com/news/courts/...laying/2119427
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    "Y'all be makin shit up" ~ Markeith Loyd

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    Pasco jury recommends death for John Sexton in 2010 murder

    Jurors voted 10-2 to recommend the death penalty for John Sexton, the man convicted of brutally murdering 94-year-old Ann Parlato in her Port Richey home.

    The panel deliberated for an hour and a half on Tuesday after hearing more than a day's worth of testimony and arguments on Sexton's fate. Sexton, 49, was convicted last month of first-degree murder and faced either life without parole or death.

    Circuit Judge Mary Handsel will make the final decision, and she must give the jury's recommendation great weight. That hearing is scheduled for Aug. 2.

    Assistant State Attorney Mike Halkitis spent the majority of his closing slicing through the testimony given by witnesses called by the defense on Monday.

    "On April 19 of this year you folks found the defendant guilty of one of the most despicable acts one human being can commit to another human being," he said, "and that is first-degree murder."

    He wanted to remind the jury of the heinous and atrocious nature of the case, he said. The jury is charged with making a recommendation to the judge, and by law, the judge is required to give it great weight.

    A lot of the testimony from expert witnesses in the penalty phase gave the impression of a troubled upbringing and problems with alcohol, and a diagnosis of bipolar disorder.

    He reminded the jury Sexton entered the home lawfully, and he beat Parlato so badly that her face bones broke. That he tried to cover up the evidence, and raped and mutilated her.

    He talked about the mitigating factors presented by the defense that should make the death penalty less likely.

    "He is a good inmate. What does that show us?" Halkitis asked. "What does that mitigate? That he's in solitary and nothing happens?"

    He brought up how expert witnesses, Dr. Valerie McClain, a psychologist, and Dr. Michael Maher, a psychiatrist, were paid to find evidence that favors Sexton, and how they painted a picture of a mentally ill man with brain damage from industrial toxins, alcoholism and bipolar disorder. Halkitis countered this by mentioning all the times Sexton was hospitalized.

    "There are four instances where he's placed in a setting and evaluated by more time than the (witnesses) combined and they don't find bipolar or toxic poisoning or brain damage," he said. "And maybe that's because they're not paid $240 an hour. Maybe they don't work for the defense team."

    He asked how McClane could only interview Sexton for a short time and make that diagnosis, and how she didn't discuss any facts in the case with him.

    "Use your common sense and ask yourselves," he said to the jury, "how Dr. McClane could interview him for an hour and say he was suffering from extreme mental disturbance at the time of the crime."

    Halkitis reminded the jury how Sexton drove to the house, parked, committed the crime and then took steps to clean up and remove evidence. He reminded the jury how smoked cigarettes were found around the house.

    "I'm surprised these guys didn't come in here and say he had a nicotine addiction," he said, "and that's why he committed this crime."

    In his rebuttal, attorney for the defense Byron Hileman reminded the jury about the weight of the proceedings.

    "You have to literally decide to recommend either that Mr. John Sexton die or be imprisoned for the rest of his life," he said. "That decision should not be based on emotion or anger or vengeance. It should be based upon the law of Florida and the constitution."

    He brought up the aggravating factor that Parlato's death was unusually cruel and heinous and atrocious, and said that needed to be proven beyond a reasonable doubt. While the crime was indeed terrible, he said, some of Parlato's injuries were sustained after her death. He offered that she didn't suffer cruel punishment, because of that fact.

    "Nobody knows the exact order of the events," he said, "but it is fairly clear that this lady was almost immediately rendered unconscious."

    The other aggravating factors were the fact that Parlato was so advanced in age and vulnerable, and that Sexton somehow raped her. Hileman argued how anyone at such an advanced age would be vulnerable, and reminded the jury to remember the burden of proof.

    "The law values human life and we use the death penalty only in the worst of the worst cases," he said.

    As for Halkitis' assertion about the witnesses being "x amount" for their work, Hileman told the jury how everyone, even Halkitis, is paid for his or her work.

    He then suggested, as was suggested by McClane on Monday, that Sexton would do well in a controlled environment like prison.

    "The law of Florida never requires you to impose the death penalty," he said. "You're entitled to vote for mercy."

    http://www.tampabay.com/news/courts/...murder/2119633
    An uninformed opponent is a dangerous opponent.

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

  7. #7
    Juror 4
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    I was one of the jurors and found that the state did a great job in presenting the evidence and the facts of the case. They proved everything beynd a reasonable doubt which left us with no other choice than to find him guilty.... As far as the recommendation for the death penalty, we went down the list of instructions provided to us by the judge.... I will be in court on 8/2 to see if our recommendation is carried out... If it is, I'd also like to witness the execution when it happens... I believe that we the jury provided justice based on the evidence and facts in the case....

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    Thanks Juror 4! Did the 2 jurors that opted against the death penalty give reason?
    An uninformed opponent is a dangerous opponent.

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

  9. #9
    Juror 4
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    No, we didn't ask because it didn't have to be unanamous.... Even though, we found that all of the aggrivating factors were met. Under FL law, we were not required to recommend the death penalty... Which is what I believe the 2 had decided... We each wrote our decision on a piece of paper so as not be influenced by another juror...
    Last edited by Juror 4; 05-07-2013 at 05:25 PM. Reason: spelling errors

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    I didn't think about not having to be unanimous. How many options were y'all given during the guilt phase?
    An uninformed opponent is a dangerous opponent.

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

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