USA
Idaho Murder Trial: Prosecution Wants Death Penalty
The defendant enters the courtroom for his arraignment in Latah County District Court. photo
© Zach Wilkinson/Pool The Moscow-Pullman Daily News/AP/dpa
A man breaks into an apartment and stabs four students to death – whether he knew them or acted indiscriminately has not yet been clarified. At the beginning of the trial, the US public prosecutor’s office demands the maximum penalty.
The suspect in the murder of four students killed in the US state of Idaho should receive the death penalty if found guilty, according to the prosecution. The public prosecutor’s office informed the responsible court yesterday about this intention. The suspect in criminology doctoral student is charged with murder in four cases, among other things. The crimes committed in November last year attracted a lot of attention in the USA – also because the motive is completely unclear.
The 28-year-old is suspected of stabbing four students at the University of Idaho in an apartment. The college is located in the Northwest of the USA, near the border between the states of Washington and Idaho. It is still unclear whether there was a connection between the victims and the suspect – or whether the four were killed indiscriminately. The act caused fear and terror on campus at the time.
The suspect remained silent on the charges at a hearing in May. As a result, after reading the charges in the Moscow City Courtroom, the judge pleaded not guilty on the suspect’s behalf. In the United States, judges have the right to enter a not-guilty plea for a defendant who refuses to plead guilty to the charge. This is to ensure that the process can continue.
The prosecution then had 60 days to decide whether to seek the death penalty. Now prosecutors listed five aggravating circumstances justifying a death penalty, including that a defendant had shown a “proneness to murder” that would likely pose a “persistent threat to society.” The suspect, who was pursuing a doctorate in criminal law and criminology from nearby Washington State University, was arrested late last year at his childhood home in the northeastern US state of Pennsylvania.