XPost: alt.gossip.celebrities, alt.politics.democrats.d, sac.general   
   XPost: alt.rush-limbaugh   
   From: henry@boats.com   
      
   BARTOW — The State Attorney’s Office will seek the death penalty   
   against Tony “T.J.” Wiggins, who’s accused in the July triple   
   homicide of three longtime friends in Frostproof.   
      
   Prosecutors filed a notice in Circuit Court on Tuesday stating   
   their intention, citing two reasons for that decision:   
      
   • If Wiggins is convicted in all three killings, each one would   
   serve as a previous conviction of a capital felony for the other   
   two.   
      
   • The killings were committed to avoid or prevent arrest or to   
   escape custody.   
      
   More:Frostproof triple homicide arrests: 'This is evil in the   
   flesh,' Polk Sheriff Grady Judd says   
      
   Dottie Payton, whose 28-year-old son, Brandon Rollins, was among   
   those who died that night, said Wednesday she’s relieved.   
      
   “It doesn’t bring back my son or the other boys,” she said, “but   
   it’s a start to get this going in the right direction. Why let   
   him sit in jail and breathe free air when our boys never get to   
   breathe free air again.”   
      
   Rollins, along with Keven Springfield, 30, and Damion Tillman,   
   23, was gunned down July 17 within minutes of meeting at   
   Frostproof’s Lake Streety for some night fishing. In a statement   
   to Polk County Sheriff’s Office detectives, Wiggins’ younger   
   brother, known as Robert, said he was there when his brother   
   pulled up on the three men, walked over to Springfield and   
   accused him of stealing his truck. Wiggins, 26, then opened fire   
   on the three men, who were still in or near their trucks.   
      
   More:Frostproof triple homicide: Wiggins indicted on 1st-degree   
   murder charges in killing of 3 friends   
      
   As he lay dying, Rollins called his father, Cyril, who raced to   
   Lake Streety Road to help them. He spoke with his son briefly,   
   then left to call 911, reports stated. He had forgotten his   
   cellphone when he left to help his son, according to reports.   
      
   More:Judge: No bail for Lake Streety Road gunman TJ Wiggins,   
   alleged killer in Frostproof triple homicide   
      
   Wiggins, of Frostproof, was arrested three days later after a   
   store receipt in Tillman’s truck led detectives to a   
   surveillance video at a nearby Dollar General, reports stated.   
   Tillman and Wiggins could be seen talking in the video, and a   
   store clerk told detectives Tillman had mentioned he was meeting   
   Springfield to go fishing.   
      
   More:Frostproof triple homicide: Wiggins indicted on 1st-degree   
   murder charges in killing of 3 friends   
      
   Further investigation led to Robert Wiggins’ statement about the   
   shooting, according to Sheriff’s Office reports.   
      
   The grand jury indicted Tony Wiggins last month, formally   
   charging him with three counts of first-degree murder, one count   
   of tampering with evidence and one count of possession of a   
   firearm by a convicted felon.   
      
   Robert Wiggins, 21, told detectives his brother had tossed the   
   handgun out the window after the killings, and that information   
   led to the tampering charge.   
      
   The younger Wiggins and his brother’s girlfriend, Mary Clare   
   Whittemore, 27, are both charged with three counts of accessory   
   after the fact to a capital felony, each of which carries up to   
   30 years in prison if they’re convicted. He’s being held without   
   bail and she remains in custody under $45,000 bail, jail records   
   show.   
      
   The court filing came one day before an online petition asking   
   prosecutors to pursue a death sentence reached its goal of 1,000   
   signatures.   
      
   Erin Peralta said she initiated the petition on Change.org to   
   support the families of those who were killed and to seek   
   justice for them.   
      
   “T.J. Wiggins already has a very violent history,” she said,   
   “and to carry out the horrific murders like he did, and it was   
   so brutal, we wanted to get the ultimate justice for our guys.”   
      
   She said the group still intends to pass the petition along to   
   prosecutors, even though the decision has been made to pursue   
   the death penalty.   
      
   “When it comes time for his sentencing,” she said, “to me, this   
   is more support for them to present to the judge for the death   
   penalty.”   
      
   In any death penalty case, prosecutors are restricted to 16   
   statutory reasons for seeking death, including the killing of a   
   child or an on-duty law enforcement officer, a killing that is   
   heinous, atrocious or cruel, or a killing for pecuniary gain.   
   There is no limit to how many of the 16 reasons prosecutors can   
   argue.   
      
   More:Frostproof triple homicide: Reward goes unpaid in slaying   
   of 3 friends, Heartland Crime Stoppers says   
      
   Defense lawyers have a broad scope of reasons for seeking a   
   mandatory life sentence — the only sentencing alternative for a   
   first-degree murder conviction.   
      
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)