|
(Continued from page 15)
has suffered from mental illness as well as alcohol and drug issues for much of his life and his life should be spared.
• She said that the night before the killing, McVay mixed alcohol with a DXM-based cough syrup, which can cause hallucinations. McVay said he awoke briefly at 3 a.m. to find spiritual entities surrounding him and awoke again hours later to find them still there, telling him to follow through on his plan, she told jurors.
• "That was the sign he was going to get the transportation and the final stuff he needed before going to Washington, D.C.," Eggert told the jury.
• Richard Dieter, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center, earlier this month said the death penalty is traditionally reserved for the worst of the worst, and it's rare for a state to seek the punishment of death after finding someone guilty but mentally ill.
• "I just don't know of any cases in which you have (such) a verdict, and then the state still seeks the death penalty," he said.
• Dieter said the guilty but mentally ill verdict gained popularity in a dozen states as part of the public outcry over John Hinckley being found not guilty by reason of insanity in 1982 in the attempted assassination of President Ronald Reagan.
• The jury on Monday deliberated for a little more than five hours. After the verdict was announced, McGowan said the jury "made a brave decision."
• "I think they made the correct decision," McGowan said.
• McVay's defense team did not speak to the media after the hearing. Some of them wept after the verdict was read, news outlets reported.
• Three other individuals are on death row in South Dakota: Rodney Berget, Charles Rhines and Briley Piper.
•
De Smet, South Dakota donations fund new complex
NORA HERTEL, Associated Press
• PIERRE, S.D. (AP) -- Laura Ingalls Wilder's little town on the prairie, De Smet, South Dakota, has solidified plans to build a nearly 23,000 square foot community center.
• More than 80 percent of the town's population of about 1,100 donated to the multimillion dollar project. The facility will serve as a theatre, events center and sports complex for the school district and city, knows as the prairie home base of Wilder, a children's author and pioneer.
• De Smet Development Corp. Director Rita Anderson said she and her committee presented the project to the city council last week, still short thousands of dollars.
• "We actually raised the last $25,000 during the meeting," she said with a laugh. (Continued on page 17)
|
|
