Post by MXB on May 2, 2008 17:17:44 GMT -5
Serial killer Daniel Siebert dies of pancreatic cancer on Alabama's Death Row
Daughter of New Jersey victim says justice not served
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
STAN DIEL
News staff writer
Serial killer Daniel Siebert, who was convicted of five Alabama murders and who confessed to more than a dozen killings nationwide, died in prison Tuesday. The 53-year-old, who had pancreatic cancer, had been on Death Row for 21 years.
Department of Corrections spokesman Brian Corbett said a formal investigation will determine the cause of death, but "Siebert died of apparent natural causes while suffering from terminal cancer." He died in the medical unit at Holman Correctional Facility near Atmore, not far from the state's execution chamber.
The family of one of his victims, who had hoped he would be executed before dying of natural causes, expressed disappointment.
"He lost his life in a more humane way than any of his victims," said Beth Guay, the daughter of Beatrice McDougall, whom Siebert confessed to killing in Atlantic City in 1986.
Siebert had come within a day of being executed on Oct. 24, but was granted a stay by the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta pending the outcome of a Kentucky case before the U.S. Supreme Court.
In that case, Kentucky inmates argued that lethal injection was cruel and unusual punishment, in violation of the 8th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, leading to what amounted to a national moratorium on the death penalty until the case could be decided. The court upheld lethal injection in a ruling on the case last week, but the delay was enough to allow Siebert to die of natural causes.
Siebert also had sued arguing that drugs he was taking for pancreatic cancer could react poorly with drugs used for lethal injection, causing him undue pain. The court had not ruled on that suit.
Siebert was convicted of five Alabama murders and has confessed to as many as 13 killings nationwide. He was sentenced to death for the Feb. 19, 1986, strangulation killing of his girlfriend, Sherri Weathers, 24, and her two sons, 5-year-old Chad and 4-year-old Joey. Weathers was a student at the Alabama Institute for Deaf and Blind in Talladega.
Siebert also was sentenced to death for the murder of Linda Jarman, a resident of Weathers' apartment complex. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced separately, to life in prison, for killing Linda Faye Odum, 32, also of Talladega.
Police said he strangled to death all five of his Alabama victims over a period of a few hours. Siebert also pleaded guilty in Nevada to manslaughter, and was sentenced to 10 years in prison. Authorities have said he confessed to a number of other killings - the exact number is unclear - from California to New Jersey.
Siebert gained another measure of notoriety from behind bars, where he managed to produce artwork that was sometimes sold on Internet sites specializing in memorabilia related to serial killers.
Siebert's art for sale on the Web - including a sketch of a man holding a severed head - helped inspire a bill before the state legislature that would make it harder for anyone to profit from artwork produced by inmates. The bill has yet to pass the state Senate, but is expected to come to a vote later this year. Siebert also was cited as inspiration for a similar bill expected to come before Congress within the next year.
Though he confessed, Siebert was not convicted of murdering McDougall, who was stabbed and strangled on March 8, 1986.
In a prepared statement, Guay and her siblings, Kurt and Dawn Weise, said they had been frustrated for 22 years as Siebert manipulated the system and avoided execution.
"We are not vindictive nor do we rejoice today," they said. "We will just simply move on the best way we can knowing that Daniel Lee Siebert will never receive the humane execution that he surely was due."
Daughter of New Jersey victim says justice not served
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
STAN DIEL
News staff writer
Serial killer Daniel Siebert, who was convicted of five Alabama murders and who confessed to more than a dozen killings nationwide, died in prison Tuesday. The 53-year-old, who had pancreatic cancer, had been on Death Row for 21 years.
Department of Corrections spokesman Brian Corbett said a formal investigation will determine the cause of death, but "Siebert died of apparent natural causes while suffering from terminal cancer." He died in the medical unit at Holman Correctional Facility near Atmore, not far from the state's execution chamber.
The family of one of his victims, who had hoped he would be executed before dying of natural causes, expressed disappointment.
"He lost his life in a more humane way than any of his victims," said Beth Guay, the daughter of Beatrice McDougall, whom Siebert confessed to killing in Atlantic City in 1986.
Siebert had come within a day of being executed on Oct. 24, but was granted a stay by the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta pending the outcome of a Kentucky case before the U.S. Supreme Court.
In that case, Kentucky inmates argued that lethal injection was cruel and unusual punishment, in violation of the 8th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, leading to what amounted to a national moratorium on the death penalty until the case could be decided. The court upheld lethal injection in a ruling on the case last week, but the delay was enough to allow Siebert to die of natural causes.
Siebert also had sued arguing that drugs he was taking for pancreatic cancer could react poorly with drugs used for lethal injection, causing him undue pain. The court had not ruled on that suit.
Siebert was convicted of five Alabama murders and has confessed to as many as 13 killings nationwide. He was sentenced to death for the Feb. 19, 1986, strangulation killing of his girlfriend, Sherri Weathers, 24, and her two sons, 5-year-old Chad and 4-year-old Joey. Weathers was a student at the Alabama Institute for Deaf and Blind in Talladega.
Siebert also was sentenced to death for the murder of Linda Jarman, a resident of Weathers' apartment complex. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced separately, to life in prison, for killing Linda Faye Odum, 32, also of Talladega.
Police said he strangled to death all five of his Alabama victims over a period of a few hours. Siebert also pleaded guilty in Nevada to manslaughter, and was sentenced to 10 years in prison. Authorities have said he confessed to a number of other killings - the exact number is unclear - from California to New Jersey.
Siebert gained another measure of notoriety from behind bars, where he managed to produce artwork that was sometimes sold on Internet sites specializing in memorabilia related to serial killers.
Siebert's art for sale on the Web - including a sketch of a man holding a severed head - helped inspire a bill before the state legislature that would make it harder for anyone to profit from artwork produced by inmates. The bill has yet to pass the state Senate, but is expected to come to a vote later this year. Siebert also was cited as inspiration for a similar bill expected to come before Congress within the next year.
Though he confessed, Siebert was not convicted of murdering McDougall, who was stabbed and strangled on March 8, 1986.
In a prepared statement, Guay and her siblings, Kurt and Dawn Weise, said they had been frustrated for 22 years as Siebert manipulated the system and avoided execution.
"We are not vindictive nor do we rejoice today," they said. "We will just simply move on the best way we can knowing that Daniel Lee Siebert will never receive the humane execution that he surely was due."