Post by Anja Nieser on Sept 14, 2006 12:02:18 GMT -5
Duffey execution date set
A former Peckville man convicted of the 1984 murder of Kathy Kurimchak may
be executed in November.
An execution warrant for Steven Duffey was signed Tuesday by Gov. Ed
Rendell.
Mr. Duffey was arrested in February 1984, just 2 days after Miss
Kurimchak, 20, was stabbed more than 30 times in a restroom of Genetti
Manor in thingyson City. Miss Kurimchak worked at Genetti's, as did Mr.
Duffey. He had been released from prison only 2 months before, after
serving 3 years on for rape, according to testimony at subsequent
hearings.
At his trial in February 1985, investigators read a confession given by
Mr. Duffey. In it, Mr. Duffey said he robbed the banquet facility of $5
and stabbed Miss Kurimchak to prevent her from calling police.
After Mr. Duffey was sentenced to death by electrocution in August 1986,
appeals postponed his execution. His last scheduled execution date was
Dec. 5, 1994, but he won an 11th-hour stay from the U.S. Middle District
Court on Dec. 6, 1994. Since then, Mr. Duffey and his attorneys have filed
appeals regarding only the death penalty sentence.
The most recent of those appeals was filed in 2002, claiming in part that
Mr. Duffey had ineffective counsel for the penalty phase of his trial and
that the judge made an error in his penalty-phase jury instructions. In
December 2005, the state Supreme Court affirmed Mr. Duffey's sentence.
The signed warrant of execution sets Nov. 7 as the day Mr. Duffey will be
put to death, but former District Attorney Ernie Preate Jr., who
prosecuted Mr. Duffey, said he does not believe Mr. Duffey has exhausted
all appeals.
"I'm sure it's not the end of the legal issues they can raise," Mr. Preate
said. "They have to renew the death warrant every so often."
When Mr. Duffey was sentenced to death, Mr. Preate described him as "a man
who was possessed to destroy a human life." He called the death penalty in
this case "a proper and just dessert," according to published accounts.
Since then, Mr. Preate has had a change of heart about the death penalty.
He served 11 months in prison after pleading guilty to federal mail-fraud
charges in 1995. He was the state's attorney general when he was indicted
on allegations that he failed to include money raised from video poker
operators in this area on campaign finance reports he sent to the state.
Now, Mr. Preate says he doesn't believe the death penalty is "effective."
"I think we as a society could be doing better focusing on life without
parole," he said Wednesday. Not everyone involved in the case feels that
way. Amy Shwed, a former assistant district attorney who represented the
office on Mr. Duffey's appeals, hadn't heard about Mr. Duffey's new date
of execution but said, "it's about time." In addition to handling portions
of the case, she also worked with Miss Kurimchak at Genetti Manor around
the time of the murder. Ms. Shwed said she was sorry that neither of Miss
Kurimchak's parents lived to see Mr. Duffey executed.
"Kathy was a great person, always in a good mood, always got everyone else
in a great mood," Ms. Shwed said. "She was engaged and looking forward to
starting a family. And all that was taken away by Mr. Duffey."
Miss Kurimchak's family could not be reached for comment Wednesday.
If Mr. Duffey's execution happens as scheduled, it will be the 1st in the
state since 1999, according to Susan McNaughton, spokeswoman for the
state's Department of Corrections. Mr. Duffey, now 45, is an inmate at the
State Correctional Institution at Greene, which houses most of the state's
capital case inmates.
(source: The Scranton Times-Tribune)
A former Peckville man convicted of the 1984 murder of Kathy Kurimchak may
be executed in November.
An execution warrant for Steven Duffey was signed Tuesday by Gov. Ed
Rendell.
Mr. Duffey was arrested in February 1984, just 2 days after Miss
Kurimchak, 20, was stabbed more than 30 times in a restroom of Genetti
Manor in thingyson City. Miss Kurimchak worked at Genetti's, as did Mr.
Duffey. He had been released from prison only 2 months before, after
serving 3 years on for rape, according to testimony at subsequent
hearings.
At his trial in February 1985, investigators read a confession given by
Mr. Duffey. In it, Mr. Duffey said he robbed the banquet facility of $5
and stabbed Miss Kurimchak to prevent her from calling police.
After Mr. Duffey was sentenced to death by electrocution in August 1986,
appeals postponed his execution. His last scheduled execution date was
Dec. 5, 1994, but he won an 11th-hour stay from the U.S. Middle District
Court on Dec. 6, 1994. Since then, Mr. Duffey and his attorneys have filed
appeals regarding only the death penalty sentence.
The most recent of those appeals was filed in 2002, claiming in part that
Mr. Duffey had ineffective counsel for the penalty phase of his trial and
that the judge made an error in his penalty-phase jury instructions. In
December 2005, the state Supreme Court affirmed Mr. Duffey's sentence.
The signed warrant of execution sets Nov. 7 as the day Mr. Duffey will be
put to death, but former District Attorney Ernie Preate Jr., who
prosecuted Mr. Duffey, said he does not believe Mr. Duffey has exhausted
all appeals.
"I'm sure it's not the end of the legal issues they can raise," Mr. Preate
said. "They have to renew the death warrant every so often."
When Mr. Duffey was sentenced to death, Mr. Preate described him as "a man
who was possessed to destroy a human life." He called the death penalty in
this case "a proper and just dessert," according to published accounts.
Since then, Mr. Preate has had a change of heart about the death penalty.
He served 11 months in prison after pleading guilty to federal mail-fraud
charges in 1995. He was the state's attorney general when he was indicted
on allegations that he failed to include money raised from video poker
operators in this area on campaign finance reports he sent to the state.
Now, Mr. Preate says he doesn't believe the death penalty is "effective."
"I think we as a society could be doing better focusing on life without
parole," he said Wednesday. Not everyone involved in the case feels that
way. Amy Shwed, a former assistant district attorney who represented the
office on Mr. Duffey's appeals, hadn't heard about Mr. Duffey's new date
of execution but said, "it's about time." In addition to handling portions
of the case, she also worked with Miss Kurimchak at Genetti Manor around
the time of the murder. Ms. Shwed said she was sorry that neither of Miss
Kurimchak's parents lived to see Mr. Duffey executed.
"Kathy was a great person, always in a good mood, always got everyone else
in a great mood," Ms. Shwed said. "She was engaged and looking forward to
starting a family. And all that was taken away by Mr. Duffey."
Miss Kurimchak's family could not be reached for comment Wednesday.
If Mr. Duffey's execution happens as scheduled, it will be the 1st in the
state since 1999, according to Susan McNaughton, spokeswoman for the
state's Department of Corrections. Mr. Duffey, now 45, is an inmate at the
State Correctional Institution at Greene, which houses most of the state's
capital case inmates.
(source: The Scranton Times-Tribune)