Mauricio Silva
Facts of the Crime:
Silva was originally sentenced to death in Los Angeles County on August 11, 1986 for shooting to death two 16-year-old runaways, Walter P. Sanders and Monique Michelle Hilton, and strangling and stabbing his 17-year-old half-sister, Martha Kiztler on May 22, 1984. Silva was born with "gigantism," which enlarges features and can spur uncontrollable rages. In May 2001, the California Supreme Court found that the prosecutor had improperly used peremptory challenges to dismiss five prospective Latino jurors. "His true IQ falls within the range of 74-83," according to a 1999 test. His death sentence was thus reversed.
Silva was re-sentenced to death in Los Angeles County on August 17, 2007.
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