Trial for a Paradise Cove survivor starts.

[Pile of Dead Kids]

Prosecutors say Christopher Sutton left a sliding door open to allow Kopp to get into the house the night of the shootings, and went out with his girlfriend to eat and catch a movie.

 :rofl:  :tup:

[Ursus]

There are three pieces of video news coverage accessible at the article link:

• Anatomy Of Susan Sutton's Murder
• Dad Testifies Against Son
• Sobbing Son Takes Stand

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NBC·Miami
Accused Son Admits Parents "Deserved to Pay"
Testimony continues in murder plot against Sutton's parents

By TODD WRIGHT
First Published: Jul 19, 2010 3:00 PM EDT · Updated 9:53 PM EDT, Mon, Jul 19, 2010

The Coral Gables man accused of ordering a hit on his wealthy parents told a Miami-Dade jury that his mom and dad deserved to pay for sending him to a strict boarding school just months before the attack.

Christopher Sutton, facing questions from prosecutors, admitted he told his former fiance that he would get revenge for what his parents did to him. Prosecutors claim that revenge would come in the form of a hit ordered on John and Susan Sutton as they lay asleep in bed.

In 2003, the parents sent their son to a school in Samoa designed for troubled teens against his will.  Prosecutors say Christopher Sutton never got over his anger and in August 2004, he had his friend Garret Kopp shoot both his parents.

Susan Sutton died after being shot six times. John Sutton survived the attack but is permanently blind after being shot in the face.

"Didn't you repeatedly tell Julia Driscol that your parents deserved to pay for taking those years from your life?" asked prosecutor Carin Kahgan.

"Yes," replied Sutton.

It was Sutton's second day of testimony. On Friday, he cried while being questioned about his troubled teen years when he was sent away.

Defense attorneys allege Kopp was a drug addict who wanted to rob the Suttons, but ended up having to shoot them after being surprised they were in the house.

Kopp has already been sentenced to 30 years for the shooting, but avoided the death penalty in exchange for his testimony against his former friend.


© 2010 NBC Universal, Inc.

[Ursus]

Video news coverage at the link...

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CBS4.com
Jul 19, 2010 6:06 pm US/Eastern

Closing Arguments In Murder Plot Set For Tuesday
Christopher Sutton Is Accused Of Masterminding A Plot To Murder Parents

Reporting: Gary Nelson

MIAMI (CBS4) — Testimony has concluded in the trial of Christopher Sutton. He is charged with with master-minding the shooting that killed his mother, Susan, and left his father, John, wounded and blinded for life in their opulent Coral Gables home.

Monday afternoon, prosecutors called Sutton's sister, Melissa, to the stand to help bolster their claim the gunman entered the house through a malfunctioning sliding glass that those in the Sutton family knew about and Sutton told the gunman about.

Melissa testified that the family had used the door to "break-in" to the house when they accidentally locked themselves out.

Prosecutors also used the afternoon rebuttal case to call the sister of murder victim Susan Sutton, Christopher's mother. Mary Maier testified that Christopher spoke hatefully of his mother, even in the days following her murder and before his arrest by police.

The state also re-called Christopher's father, John Sutton, to the stand. The elder Sutton talked about a condo he put his son up in the Grove and recalled having breakfast with him there just weeks before the shootings.

Monday morning, Sutton denied ever saying that his parents had to "pay" for how they had treated him or that he wanted them dead. He also said he never said he would hire someone to kill them or do it himself.

Sutton's version contradicts earlier testimony from his former girlfriend, Julie Driscoll. She testified that Sutton said his parents should die for what they did to him and he could hire someone to do it or do it himself.

Sutton also said he refused to give a detailed statement to police when they questioned him following the murders because he did not want to give them information about his drug dealing. He also testified he never had dealings with the confessed triggerman, Garrett Kopp, except when the two got together for drug deals.

During his testimony Friday, Sutton broke down in tears while he talked about the tough reform school his parents sent him to. His defense team has argued that the shootings were part of a botched burglary in which Kopp acted alone.

Smith said he wasn't the uncontrollable kid that he's been made out to be by the state. But, he said he had typical issues for kids.

Sutton wept as he testified in his own defense Friday. The father he allegedly tried to have killed listened, unmoved. Sutton broke down as he recalled the Pacific Island boot camp his parents sent him to when he was 16.

Sutton said he was angry and resentful over being sent away to the boot camp-style school. He also said he came to recognize that he had behavioral problems that needed help. "I was in denial," Sutton said while crying.

Prosecutors say Christopher Sutton arranged to have his parents murdered because he hated them for sending him to reform school, and wanted to inherit their wealth.

The defense also tried to raise doubt in the prosecution's case by calling a Miami-Dade homicide detective who acknowledged that investigators thought business enemies might have been behind the shooting and murder. Lt. Rosanna Cordero-Stutz said John Sutton, an attorney, told police that he thought he and his wife may have been targeted by someone from whom he had won a big court settlement.

The parents got a court order to keep their son in the reform school beyond his 18th birthday. "We were not satisfied that he was following the rules of the program, or that we could handle him on his return," Sutton testified.

"We wasted 30 months of his life," John Sutton quoted his son as saying after he returned from the school on the Pacific island of Samoa. "That was his phrase: 'You wasted my life there.'"

The elder Sutton says he has tried to "make the best of what happened, although there's not much best about it."

The gunman allegedly hired by Christopher Sutton testified against him last week. Garrett Kopp, who has pleaded guilty and is serving a 30-year sentence, said he entered the Sutton home on the night of August 22, 2004 with the intention of shooting and killing them as part of a plot devised by Sutton.

Prosecutors say Christopher Sutton left a sliding door open to allow Kopp to get into the house the night of the shootings, and went out with his girlfriend to eat and catch a movie.

The judge in the case sent the jury home for the day. Closing arguments will begin first thing Tuesday morning.


© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc.

[Ursus]

Video news coverage at the link...

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CBS4.com
Jul 20, 2010 8:04 pm US/Eastern

Jury Adjourns For Night In Murder For Hire Trial
Christopher Sutton Is Accused Of Masterminding A Plot To Murder His Parents

Reporting: Gary Nelson

MIAMI (CBS4) — A jury deciding if a young man is guilty of master-minding the shooting that killed his mother Susan and left his father, John, wounded and blinded for life while they were in their Coral Gables home has sent word it wants to retire for the night.

The jury started to deliberate just before 4 p.m. Tuesday after a full day of closing arguments.

Prosecutors staked their case on Sutton's motive being greed, and anger over being sent away to a reform school when he was younger.

"What motive did Christopher Sutton have to want both his parents dead? Money," said assistant state attorney Carin Kahgan. "That man, the defendant, had profound anger, hatred, and greed. His parents were worth nothing more to him than a means to get money."

"The only person in this room with the motive to murder John and Susan Sutton is the defendant, Christopher Sutton," Assistant State Attorney Kathleen Hoague said.

Kahgan recounted the testimony of Sutton's former girlfriend, Julie Driscoll, who said he told her "over and over" about his desire to kill his parents. "He went over how much money they had. He said his parents deserved to die. You heard her say that," Kahgan told jurors.

Defense attorney Bruce Fleisher cast the case differently, saying the confessed killer worked alone in a botched, drug-crazed robbery.

"We want you to judge your verdicts on the facts of the case," Fleisher said. "We want you to judge your verdict on what happened in this case."

Fleisher said the confessed gunman Kopp, after being told by police that he was facing the death penalty, lied about Kopp's involvement to keep from going to the electric chair.

"He sat here and he told you exactly what happened. He gave Christopher up to save himself," he said. "Is there enough evidence in this case to convict my client? The answer is no," Fleisher said.

Fleisher said Julie Driscoll's story was elicited by cops who threatened her with murder charges if she didn't incriminate Sutton. "They coerced her; they forced her. They threatened her for 14 hours before she gave them what they wanted to hear."

Monday, prosecutors called Sutton's sister, Melissa, to the stand to help bolster their claim the gunman entered the house through a malfunctioning sliding glass that those in the Sutton family knew about and Sutton told the gunman about.

Melissa testified that the family had used the door to "break-in" to the house when they accidentally locked themselves out.

Prosecutors also used the afternoon rebuttal case to call the sister of murder victim Susan Sutton, Christopher's mother. Mary Maier testified that Christopher spoke hatefully of his mother, even in the days following her murder and before his arrest by police.

The state also re-called Christopher's father, John Sutton, to the stand. The elder Sutton talked about a condo he put his son up in the Grove and recalled having breakfast with him there just weeks before the shootings.

Monday morning, Sutton denied ever saying that his parents had to "pay" for how they had treated him or that he wanted them dead. He also said he never said he would hire someone to kill them or do it himself.

Sutton's version contradicts earlier testimony from his former girlfriend, Julie Driscoll. She testified that Sutton said his parents should die for what they did to him and he could hire someone to do it or do it himself.

Sutton also said he refused to give a detailed statement to police when they questioned him following the murders because he did not want to give them information about his drug dealing. He also testified he never had dealings with the confessed triggerman, Garrett Kopp, except when the two got together for drug deals.

The defense also tried to raise doubt in the prosecution's case by calling a Miami-Dade homicide detective who acknowledged that investigators thought business enemies might have been behind the shooting and murder. Lt. Rosanna Cordero-Stutz said John Sutton, an attorney, told police that he thought he and his wife may have been targeted by someone from whom he had won a big court settlement.

The gunman allegedly hired by Christopher Sutton testified against him last week. Garrett Kopp, who has pleaded guilty and is serving a 30-year sentence, said he entered the Sutton home on the night of August 22, 2004 with the intention of shooting and killing them as part of a plot devised by Sutton.

Prosecutors say Christopher Sutton left a sliding door open to allow Kopp to get into the house the night of the shootings, and went out with his girlfriend to eat and catch a movie.


© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc.

[Ursus]

Comments left for the above article, "Jury Adjourns For Night In Murder For Hire Trial" (by Gary Nelson; Jul 20, 2010; CBS4.com):


By shotta2k3 posted Tue Jul 20 2010 22:22:25

the jury will convict him by week's end. This is my expert analysis. What a pitiful story.

© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc.

[Ursus]

There were a few articles from the Miami Herald that were forwarded to the following article (the original having been yanked), which appears to be a brief summary prior to the more in-depth version published the following day.

Twenty pics, mostly court room scenes and closeups, at the link (Adobe Flash Player)...

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The Miami Herald
Posted on Wednesday, 07.21.10

Christopher Sutton guilty in attack on parents

BY DAVID OVALLE
[email protected]


The testimony of Christopher Sutton -- accused of sending a hit man to murder his parents in their Coral Gables house in August 2004 -- was a fitting set-up for Tuesday's closing arguments. MARICE COHN BAND / MIAMI HERALD STAFF

Christopher Sutton is guilty of hatching a plot to murder his wealthy parents inside their Coral Gables home in August 2004, jurors decided Wednesday.

Sutton, 31, was convicted of first-degree murder and attempted murder charges in the shootings of John and Susan Sutton.

In the attack, Susan Sutton was killed, while John Sutton, a civil attorney, was blinded.

Prosecutors say Sutton, wanting his parent's wealth and still smarting about being sent to an abusive reform school in Samoa, hired a pal to shoot his parents inside their Orduna Drive house.

The gunman, Garrett Kopp, pleaded guilty, agreed to spend 30 years in prison and testified against Sutton at trial.

Sutton's defense attorney argued that Kopp was a drug-addled burglar who broke into the house on his own looking for a drug stash belonging to Sutton.


Copyright 2010 Miami Herald Media Co.

[Ursus]

Given that the original article had to do with the jurors hearing closing arguments (replaced by The Miami Herald before I had a chance to see it), the first comments were made before the verdict was in.

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Comments left for the above article, "Christopher Sutton guilty in attack on parents" (by David Ovalle, 07.21.10, The Miami Herald):


TheOriginalMiddlePath wrote on 07/21/2010 09:39:54 AM:

This is an unspeakably sad case.

holmesrip2 wrote on 07/21/2010 12:06:57 PM:

It seems to me that the photo above might be misleading.

Chris Sutton, the defendant, is seen crying. The implication I drew from the photo, is that he is upset about either: 1) his mother's death, or 2) his father having been blinded, or even, 3) his having been "falsely" accused.

Instead, it appears Chris Sutton is crying for himself, as having been sent to a Samoan boarding school, years ago, an event which it is alleged was a primary motive behind Chris Suttons attempting to murder his parents, who sent him to the boarding school.

holmesrip2 wrote on 07/21/2010 12:12:54 PM:

The criminal justice system walks a tightrope, for all of us, whether we are victims, plaintiffs, or defendants!

There are consequences for failure, for all parties.

The cumulative evidence, of various witnesses, most of all the father, suggests to me that Christopher Sutton is guilty. No justice is perfect, but that is my impression.

holmesrip2 wrote on 07/21/2010 12:15:27 PM:

Were I on the jury, I would vote to convict, and pray I am right.

nmfish wrote on 07/21/2010 12:53:55 PM:

If there needs to be a reasonable doubt for him to be found not guilty, he should be found not guilty. There is plenty of resonable doubt. There isn't any evidence that connects him to the crime. He was a sociopath before this happened and I wouldn't want to put him back into the general population of society but the justice system works the way it does for a reason.

lagordita wrote on 07/21/2010 12:59:31 PM:

An eye (literally) for any eye.

raulcarbonell wrote on 07/21/2010 01:11:38 PM:

Shoot him in the head like he had done to his mom.

BHarrison wrote on 07/21/2010 01:23:54 PM:

Based upon what I've seen and read in the news reports, there doesn't seem to be very much for the jury to deliberate, except for what his punishment should be. This guy is somewhat of a banner child against the potential problems of adopting a child. A defense attorney's obligation is to get the best possible "justice or punishment" that they can for their client ... not to get him off with a lot of fabricated lies. Let's see what the juries verdict turns out to be. At the very least, sociopaths need to be confined in institutions. The "tough love' approach certainly didn't apear to work with him.

BHarrison wrote on 07/21/2010 01:25:38 PM:

Replying to lagordita (07/21/2010 12:59:31 PM):
"An eye (literally) for any eye.":

Gosh, are YOU a Muslim? Personally, I believe in capital punishment; but your comment appears to be more out of the Muslim religion, huh?[/list]
lagordita wrote on 07/21/2010 04:42:22 PM:

Replying to BHarrison (07/21/2010 01:25:38 PM):
"Gosh, are YOU a Muslim? Personally, I believe in capital punishment; but your comment appears to be more out of the Muslim religion, huh?":

What's it to YOU?[/list]
dsa61 wrote on 07/21/2010 08:13:06 PM:

Good call, citizens.

jehanne wrote on 07/21/2010 08:20:11 PM:

Christopher Sutton did not kill his parents because he was adopted or because they adopted him. Another high profile parent killing was the Menendez brother's and they were not adopted.

"An eye for an eye" is from the law of Moses in the Old Testament.

Ignignokt wrote on 07/21/2010 08:27:59 PM:

That was very undude of Mr Sutton .
Yet another disturbing social trend .

resalazar73 wrote on 07/21/2010 08:54:52 PM:

Replying to BHarrison (07/21/2010 01:25:38 PM):
"Gosh, are YOU a Muslim? Personally, I believe in capital punishment; but your comment appears to be more out of the Muslim religion, huh?":

"An eye for eye" is also in the Christian Bible. Don't be so closed minded. Or just stupid.[/list]
avernus1 wrote on 07/21/2010 09:35:30 PM:

The picture they have up there of this loser in the courtroom... well that expression on his face is pretty much the one he is going to have for the next 25 years as he becomes someone else's b**ch in jail.

swampsista wrote on 07/21/2010 09:48:13 PM:

How did the killer know about the "drug stash?" I don't think the average person would have known, say randomly or just walking down the street--so I think it is a safe bet that the son had something to do this and was rightfully found guilty.

swampsista wrote on 07/21/2010 09:52:33 PM:

To original middle path: aren't all matricide and patricide cases sad? Isn't ALL murder sad? What are you really trying to say? That you know more than the judge, the attorneys and the jury?

stevenleonard wrote on 07/21/2010 10:25:35 PM:

So the drama unfolds... will he get the death penalty? You decide. Stay tuned next week to the mh for the horrific season finalie.

gruis wrote on 07/21/2010 10:41:33 PM:

Replying to swampsista (07/21/2010 09:48:13 PM):
"How did the killer know about the "drug stash?" I don't think the average person would have known, say randomly or just walking down the street--so I think it is a safe bet that the son had something to do this and was rightfully found guilty.":

You sir are a true genius[/list]
mung wrote on 07/21/2010 11:18:14 PM:

Replying to BHarrison (07/21/2010 01:25:38 PM):
"Gosh, are YOU a Muslim? Personally, I believe in capital punishment; but your comment appears to be more out of the Muslim religion, huh?":

Eye for an eye is a phrase in several mitzvot in the Torah, so Judaism, Christianity and Islam all adopted it (though it is later repudiated in the Gospels).[/list]
chicorichmondheights wrote on 07/22/2010 02:41:14 AM:

well, there you have it ...you can convict anybody of anything in this town except cops.

dee65 wrote on 07/22/2010 09:59:48 AM:

Replying to BHarrison (07/21/2010 01:23:54 PM):
"Based upon what I've seen and read in the news reports, there doesn't seem to be very much for the jury to deliberate, except for what his punishment should be. This guy is somewhat of a banner child against the potential problems of adopting a child. A defense attorney's obligation is to get the...":

So he should also be the banner child against having children PERIOD. How many biological children have done the same? Many, so his being adopted has nothing to do with him killing his parents. The Menendez brothers weren't adopted so that argument is null. What is a valid point is that when you have children whether biological or adopted its the luck of the draw and all we as parents can do is pray that the upbringing we give them will make them productive citizens of the world and not sociopaths.[/list]
dee65 wrote on 07/22/2010 10:02:13 AM:

Replying to BHarrison (07/21/2010 01:23:54 PM):
"Based upon what I've seen and read in the news reports, there doesn't seem to be very much for the jury to deliberate, except for what his punishment should be. This guy is somewhat of a banner child against the potential problems of adopting a child. A defense attorney's obligation is to get the...":

Uhm have you ever read the Bible?[/list]
dee65 wrote on 07/22/2010 10:08:04 AM:

Replying to chicorichmondheights (07/22/2010 02:41:14 AM):
"well, there you have it ...you can convict anybody of anything in this town except cops.":

Huh? This isn't just ANYTHING, he murdered his MOTHER and his FATHER was left blind, what does that have to do with cops? If you have something against cops don't bring it up in a thread that has nothing to do with abuse of authority. He committed/instigated a CRIME and now he will pay that's all that needs to be said.[/list]
byemiami wrote on 07/22/2010 06:48:50 PM:

Replying to chicorichmondheights (07/22/2010 02:41:14 AM):
"well, there you have it ...you can convict anybody of anything in this town except cops.":

What the hell is a cop hater like you doing making pathetic remarks on this topic. You are probably an ex con who probably,like Chritopher,blames everyone else for your miserable existance.[/list]


Copyright 2010 Miami Herald Media Co.

[Ursus]

Video news coverage at the link...

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CBS4.com
Jul 21, 2010 11:40 pm US/Eastern

Man Found Guilty In Parents' Murder For Hire Plot
Christopher Sutton Masterminded A Plot To Murder His Parents
His Father Said This Is A "Lose-lose" Situation

Reporting: Gary Nelson


Christopher Sutton cries on the stand, accused of master-minding the shooting that killed his mother, Susan, and left his father, John, wounded and blinded for life. CBS

MIAMI (CBS4) — A Miami-Dade jury has found Christopher Sutton guilty of plotting a 2004 murder that left his mother dead and his father blind in their Coral Gables house.

Wednesday night the jury found the 31-year-old man guilty of first degree murder and attempted murder charges.

The jury appeared to be in no rush to judgment. On Tuesday they asked to hear the call Sutton's father John made to 911 the night he and his wife were shot in their beds. The 911 call was the first exhibit entered into evidence during the 2 week trial.

The jury started to deliberate just before 4 p.m. Tuesday after a full day of closing arguments. They deliberated for about 4 hours before going home for the night.

Christopher's father John Sutton was upset but satisfied that justice was served.

"This is unfortunately a lose-lose situation, but at least it's completed," Sutton told the media after the verdict was read.

Sutton believes his son has stolen his faith in the past, and had been planning to kill him for nine years in the past. He said his son previously tried loosening the wheel on his car.

"This is a series of plans and schemes that came together and all fell into that particular awful night, five years and 11 months ago," he said.

Christopher Sutton declined to address the court after the verdict, or even look at his father while the elder Sutton spoke.

"I am convinced that justice in this system will always prevail, and prevailed here," said his father.

Christopher's sister Melissa also thanked the court while sobbing: "Thank you for ending all of this; it needs to be over."

But the loudest sob came from the father of the hit man, Mitch Kopp: "I am so sorry my son had anything to do with this."

And despite the tragedy his family life has become, John Sutton forgives: "Mr. Kopp Sr. did not do it, he did not do the shooting, probably as I did, he did the best he could with what he had."

Prosecutors staked their case on Sutton's motive being greed, and anger over being sent away to a reform school when he was younger.

"What motive did Christopher Sutton have to want both his parents dead? Money," said assistant state attorney Carin Kahgan. "That man, the defendant, had profound anger, hatred, and greed. His parents were worth nothing more to him than a means to get money."

"The only person in this room with the motive to murder John and Susan Sutton is the defendant, Christopher Sutton," Assistant State Attorney Kathleen Hoague said.

Kahgan recounted the testimony of Sutton's former girlfriend, Julie Driscoll, who said he told her "over and over" about his desire to kill his parents. "He went over how much money they had. He said his parents deserved to die. You heard him say that," Kahgan told jurors.

Defense attorney Bruce Fleisher cast the case differently, saying the confessed killer worked alone in a botched, drug-crazed robbery.

"We want you to judge your verdicts on the facts of the case," Fleisher said. "We want you to judge your verdict on what happened in this case."

Fleisher said the confessed gunman, Garrett Kopp, lied about his involvement to keep from going to the electric chair.

"He sat here and he told you exactly what happened. He gave Christopher up to save himself," he said. "Is there enough evidence in this case to convict my client? The answer is no," Fleisher said.

Fleisher said Julie Driscoll's story was elicited by cops who threatened her with murder charges if she didn't incriminate Sutton. "They coerced her; they forced her. They threatened her for 14 hours before she gave them what they wanted to hear."

The defense also tried to raise doubt in the prosecution's case by calling a Miami-Dade homicide detective who acknowledged that investigators thought business enemies might have been behind the shooting and murder.

Lt. Rosanna Cordero-Stutz said John Sutton, an attorney, told police that he thought he and his wife may have been targeted by someone from whom he had won a big court settlement.

The gunman allegedly hired by Christopher Sutton testified against him last week. Garrett Kopp, who has pleaded guilty and is serving a 30-year sentence, said he entered the Sutton home on the night of August 22, 2004 with the intention of shooting and killing them as part of a plot devised by Sutton.

Prosecutors say Christopher Sutton left a sliding door open to allow Kopp to get into the house the night of the shootings, and went out with his girlfriend to eat and catch a movie.

Sutton has received three life sentences without the possibility of parole, even though according to his defense attorney, he plans to appeal.

CBS4's Gary Nelson and Natalia Zea contributed to this report.


© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc.

[Pile of Dead Kids]

"This is unfortunately a lose-lose situation, but at least it's completed," Sutton told the media after the verdict was read.

Every fucking time this guy opens his mouth...

Okay! Let's recap!

You sent your son to torture camp for 30 months, he sent a hit man to kill you and your wife, your wife is fucking buried and you're permanently blind, and all you'll say about it is that it's a lose-lose situation?!

I'd imagine that more of his brain must have been damaged than just his vision. But he sounds so much like some of the various other trolls on this board that he probably really did start this way. There's no person in there. These program parents are just shells. Whatever spark of consciousness he used to have decided to go on permanent vacation long, long ago.

[Ursus]

Video news coverage at the link...

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7NEWS - WSVN.com
Son found guilty in murder plot trial
Posted:  07/22/10 at 6:05 am EDT · Last Updated:  07/22/10 at 7:07 am EDT

MIAMI (WSVN) -- A South Florida jury has found a man accused of hiring a hit on his parents guilty.

"As to count one, guilty of first degree murder as charged in the indictment," Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Stanford Blake announced in court. "Guilty of attempted first degree murder. Guilty of attempted first degree felony murder. Guilty of burglary with assault."

On Wednesday, a jury found Christopher Sutton guilty of the attack that claimed his mother's life and seriously injured his father.

Blinded by the bullet blamed on his own son, John Sutton addressed the court. "We're now at five years, 11 months," he said as he talked about the time that has passed since the murder of his wife.

Tuesday morning, prosecutors rested their case in the weeks-long trial.

In August 2004, at the Coral Gables home of Christopher Sutton's parents, his mother Susan Sutton was shot to death while his father, civil lawyer John Sutton, took a bullet to the head that left him blind. Prosecutors said the younger Sutton hatched the murder plot with Garret Kopp, who, according to police, entered the couple's home to kill the parents.

Kopp accepted a plea deal with the state that would see him spend 30 years in jail in exchange for testimony against Sutton, who faces first degree and attempted murder charges. Prosecutors claim Sutton wanted revenge against his parents because they sent him to an abusive boarding school in Samoa when he was younger. The defense argues Kopp acted alone in search of money while in a drug-induced haze when he broke into the home.

During her closing arguments, prosecutor Carin Kahgan said, "Garret Kopp is not here to get Citizen of the Year award. He is a confessed killer. That does not mean that you reject his testimony automatically, especially in view of the fact that the physical evidence in this case supports exactly what Garret Kopp said happened in that house."

During his final statements to the jury, defense attorney Bruce Fleischer, said, "This is a high profile case, which involved the Coral Gables Police Department and the Miami-Dade Police Department. They needed to solve this murder and this attempted murder. The police in this case convinced John Sutton that his son was guilty of this crime based upon the testimony of Garret Kopp and based upon the testimony of Juliette Driscoll and the statements that they made to the police."

Driscoll was the defendant's former fiancé. Her testimony that Sutton told her he wanted revenge for his stint at the boarding school, along with Kopp's testimony, were key to the prosecution's case.


Copyright 2010 by Sunbeam Television Corp.

[Ursus]

Here's the previously mentioned more in-depth article from The Miami Herald; (same) twenty pics at the link (Adobe Flash Player):

-------------- • -------------- • --------------

The Miami Herald
Posted on Thursday, 07.22.10

Christopher Sutton found guilty in plot to murder parents
Miami-Dade jurors convicted Christopher Sutton of hatching the murder plot that left his mother dead and his father blind. He will spend the rest of his life in prison.

BY DAVID OVALLE
[email protected]

Minutes after John R. Sutton's adopted son was convicted of masterminding the bloody attack that left Sutton blind and his wife dead, a reporter asked if he still considered Christopher Sutton his son.

He paused, saying finally: "I cannot answer that question.''

At the same time, jailers whisked Christopher Sutton from the courtroom. He passed within a few yards of his father, never giving him so much as a glance.

The heart-wrenching scene capped an emotional three-week trial that left family, jurors and even the judge choked up.

After 10 hours of deliberations over two days, jurors convicted Sutton, 31, on charges of first-degree murder and attempted murder. Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Stanford Blake immediately sentenced Sutton to three life terms.

Sutton did not address the court or shed a tear.

Prosecutors say Sutton, wanting his parent's wealth and still smarting about being sent to an abusive reform school in Samoa, hired a pal to shoot his parents inside their Coral Gables house in August 2004.

As Judge Blake read the guilty verdicts, two jurors cried. So did Melissa Sutton, Sutton's sister. Both were adopted by the Suttons as newborns.

Even Blake, a family court judge who returned to the criminal courthouse to try the case, teared up as he imposed the sentence.

During trial, prosecutors Carin Kahgan and Kathleen Hoague painted Sutton as a brat who dealt drugs, spoke openly of hating his parents, and pushed pal Garrett Kopp into shooting his well-heeled parents.

"We put on a tremendous amount of evidence,'' Kahgan said after the conviction.

The state's winning theory: that Sutton believed he deserved his father's wealth after his parents shipped him off to the Samoan Paradise Cove program, where he spent 29 months in the mid '90s.

Testifying in his own defense, Sutton cried when recounting his arrival at Paradise Cove. Jurors heard that boys there were hogtied, left in cages, forced into hard labor and deprived of food. But Sutton testified that the program eased up after a while, and he came to appreciate his time there.

For prosecutors, hired gunman Kopp was the key witness. He previously pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and accepted a 30-year prison term.

On the stand, Kopp told how he committed the shootings and said he was hired by Sutton, who gave him a gun, showed him how to break into the house and gave the green-light on Aug. 22, 2004.

Mitchell Kopp, his father, who was key in convincing his son to cooperate with prosecutors, stayed for the verdict Wednesday and tearfully shook Melissa Sutton's hand after the verdict.

"Both the families lost a son,'' he said afterward.

Sutton's defense attorney, Bruce Fleisher, had argued that Kopp was a drug-addled burglar who broke into the house on his own looking for a drug stash belonging to Sutton. Jurors did not buy it.

Fleisher said Christopher Sutton thanked him for his work in representing him. "He was upset. He had tears in his eyes. I think everyone had tears in their eyes.''

John Sutton stood up in court but did not directly rip into his son. Instead, with the boom of a seasoned lawyer, he praised Fleisher's professionalism and hailed the prosecutors for putting his son away.

"The state has never seen better,'' said of the prosecutors.

In the hallway afterward, Sutton said he believed the shooting was a "scheme hatched over a long time,'' and insisted he and his wife did their best to educate their adopted son.

"Those other people that went to Samoa, they didn't kill people,'' he said.


Copyright 2010 Miami Herald Media Co.

[Ursus]

Comments left for the above article, "Christopher Sutton found guilty in plot to murder parents" (by David Ovalle, 07.22.10, The Miami Herald):


nancydavisl wrote on 07/22/2010 08:13:16 AM:

What a lousy excuse for a human being.....A Samoan school made him do this ? Please.......how about hard core pond scum that he is......

ramundo wrote on 07/22/2010 09:52:21 AM:

The s.o.b. should be lethally injected and we will be done with him. There's no place on earth for someone that would kill their parents.

gowani wrote on 07/22/2010 11:18:24 AM:

We must all remain responsible for our actions, however provoked we may have been. On the other hand, severe abuse can be regarded as an explantion even if not an excuse. Being hogtied, left in cages, forced into hard labor and being deprived of food qualifies as cruel and unusual punishment. It also qualifies as torture and would be deemed unacceptable even in our most severe centres of incarceration, including Gitmo.
Of course what Sutton did was inexcusable and he must pay for it. But that does not diminish the fact that what his parents did to him was also inexcusable, albeit to a lesser degree. In the end the quesiton remains: Would Sutton have killed his parents if they had never sent him to the 'Samoan paradise'? Nobody will ever know, but the odds are in favor of saying it would probably not have happened.

nmfish wrote on 07/22/2010 12:23:58 PM:

A couple of things that were not mentioned but I'm sure were contributing factors to Chris's resentment and anger towards his parents were the gang rapes in Samoa and the fact that his father tried to prevent his release upon his 18th birthday. It's a program for kids but even after he became a legal adult, they didn't want anything to do with him.

originalrat2 wrote on 07/22/2010 02:03:57 PM:

gowani, It's people like you who make creatures like this flourish. You make excuses for everything they do except put the blame right where it belongs, on their backs. What his parents did was forced upon them by this creature who wouldn't do anything in an acceptable manner. Upon returning he was still incorrigable and just wanted to live the high life off his parents and use drugs. Well guess what, if he didn't have his mom killed and dad almost killed he would have been doing home invasions and eventually killed someone himself. If we are to swallow your explanation than every serviceman who has been in a war would be considered to be a candidiate to kill relatives and loved ones due to what they experienced and saw. No, gwani, it's more likely your type of pity as misplaced as it is, help caused this. It's not your fault Christopher, we made this happen because we are so mean, Waaaaaaaaa.

axl wrote on 07/22/2010 07:58:12 PM:

If ever there was a poster child for abortion rather than adoption, it is Christopher Sutton.

anr1929 wrote on 07/23/2010 00:14:23 AM:

Replying to nmfish (07/22/2010 12:23:58 PM):
"A couple of things that were not mentioned but I'm sure were contributing factors to Chris's resentment and anger towards his parents were the gang rapes in Samoa and the fact that his father tried to prevent his release upon his 18th birthday. It's a program for kids but even after he became a...":

No wonder his father tried to prevent his return to the US. Look what happened: mother dead and father blind.[/list]
HenrikKnudsen wrote on 07/23/2010 06:42:34 PM:

Those other people did not kill their parents, but a huge part of them are not alive today because they could not go on in life.

It seems based on statistic that if you want to increase the mortality rate among your children, relatives or simple passers by, then choose a residential program. What about some federal regulation? Some might remember the TV-show "Brat Camp" about a wilderness program in Oregon. This very program was shut down last year because a boy died there.

The camp in Samoa was closed with the help of the consulate out there. The organization which ran the camp in Samoa has got schools shut down in the Czech republic, Mexico (several times), Nevada and Costa Rica. Another school was fined because they ran a kind of diploma mill up in New York.

Residential solutions are deathly and it is time to make laws. If we consider this conviction right then we are talking of a very sick person and if I had a child which was in need of help I would very much like to have abusive treatment programs eliminated so I not by error ends up creating my own death sentence.

HenrikKnudsen wrote on 07/23/2010 06:51:36 PM:

I have to add. Over in Texas they just put the needle into a man who had been attending a school run by the same organization which ran the Samoan camp. He went down for killing at least 3 persons.

On Facebook / Myspace you can find tons of stories about alumnis from these school who went into drugs for some time after leaving the school regardless of the fact that they didn't do drugs before.

Something with their therapy went terrible wrong. Time Magazine published some research that people who receive therapy with drug users can end up wanting to do drugs if the therapy are not done with outmost care. The executed guy from Texas was drug user. Sutton is named to be drug user. Is there a pattern?

bromah wrote on 07/23/2010 07:00:19 PM:

Knowing all parties involved Sutton was a pot head but not a user of hard core drugs in any way. Kopp however was a heavy user of anything he could get his hands on. Chris did not hate his family in any way beyond how you or I feel when aggravated by our parents. His father is a vindictive man however and probably blames him for bringing that dark day to their house.

I do not feel that the conviction was justice done but instead has destroyed the life of a person I don't mind calling a friend.

Ask yourself this question. If you were capable of killing your parents, going as far as to higher someone to do so. If your hitman botched a murder, then lost the gun to the police why wouldn't you simply erase the individual. If Sutton was the man they had made him out to be how did that boy Kopp survive long enough to get to testify against you? Especially with 6 months available to do it.

bromah wrote on 07/23/2010 07:04:03 PM:

Replying to originalrat2 (07/22/2010 02:03:57 PM):
"gowani, It's people like you who make creatures like this flourish. You make excuses for everything they do except put the blame right where it belongs, on their backs. What his parents did was forced upon them by this creature who wouldn't do anything in an acceptable manner. Upon returning he...":

sorry sir you know nothing of the particulars. perhaps you should actually read the details of this case before commenting. while you are at it go and read about paradise cove, the place that would feed teenagers nothing but bowls of rice, hog tie them and leave them in a shed in the sun if they misbehaved or would beat a person into submission. forced exercise is nothing to what they actually did there.[/list]
o3o2 wrote on 07/26/2010 01:31:35 AM:

Replying to gowani (07/22/2010 11:18:24 AM):
"We must all remain responsible for our actions, however provoked we may have been. On the other hand, severe abuse can be regarded as an explantion even if not an excuse. Being hogtied, left in cages, forced into hard labor and being deprived of food qualifies as cruel and unusual punishment. It...":

You seem to avoid the fact that Christopher must have done something to get put into this Paradise Cove programme in Samoa. Were his parents at their wits end with him and had found no other solution to his behaviour? Behaviour that presumably got him placed into Paradise Cove? He sounds like a bad egg that could not get out of his own way to help himself.[/list]


Copyright 2010 Miami Herald Media Co.

[Anne Bonney]

My comment in blue

Here's the previously mentioned more in-depth article from The Miami Herald; (same) twenty pics at the link (Adobe Flash Player):

-------------- • -------------- • --------------

The Miami Herald
Posted on Thursday, 07.22.10

Christopher Sutton found guilty in plot to murder parents
Miami-Dade jurors convicted Christopher Sutton of hatching the murder plot that left his mother dead and his father blind. He will spend the rest of his life in prison.

BY DAVID OVALLE
[email protected]

Minutes after John R. Sutton's adopted son was convicted of masterminding the bloody attack that left Sutton blind and his wife dead, a reporter asked if he still considered Christopher Sutton his son.

He paused, saying finally: "I cannot answer that question.''

At the same time, jailers whisked Christopher Sutton from the courtroom. He passed within a few yards of his father, never giving him so much as a glance.

The heart-wrenching scene capped an emotional three-week trial that left family, jurors and even the judge choked up.

After 10 hours of deliberations over two days, jurors convicted Sutton, 31, on charges of first-degree murder and attempted murder. Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Stanford Blake immediately sentenced Sutton to three life terms.

Sutton did not address the court or shed a tear.

Prosecutors say Sutton, wanting his parent's wealth and still smarting about being sent to an abusive reform school in Samoa, hired a pal to shoot his parents inside their Coral Gables house in August 2004.

As Judge Blake read the guilty verdicts, two jurors cried. So did Melissa Sutton, Sutton's sister. Both were adopted by the Suttons as newborns.

Even Blake, a family court judge who returned to the criminal courthouse to try the case, teared up as he imposed the sentence.

During trial, prosecutors Carin Kahgan and Kathleen Hoague painted Sutton as a brat who dealt drugs, spoke openly of hating his parents, and pushed pal Garrett Kopp into shooting his well-heeled parents.

"We put on a tremendous amount of evidence,'' Kahgan said after the conviction.

The state's winning theory: that Sutton believed he deserved his father's wealth after his parents shipped him off to the Samoan Paradise Cove program, where he spent 29 months in the mid '90s.

Testifying in his own defense, Sutton cried when recounting his arrival at Paradise Cove. Jurors heard that boys there were hogtied, left in cages, forced into hard labor and deprived of food. But Sutton testified that the program eased up after a while, and he came to appreciate his time there.  The kid was hogtied and stuck in a cage, but "came to appreciate his time there".  Sound familiar?  Stockholm Syndrome???

For prosecutors, hired gunman Kopp was the key witness. He previously pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and accepted a 30-year prison term.

On the stand, Kopp told how he committed the shootings and said he was hired by Sutton, who gave him a gun, showed him how to break into the house and gave the green-light on Aug. 22, 2004.

Mitchell Kopp, his father, who was key in convincing his son to cooperate with prosecutors, stayed for the verdict Wednesday and tearfully shook Melissa Sutton's hand after the verdict.

"Both the families lost a son,'' he said afterward.

Sutton's defense attorney, Bruce Fleisher, had argued that Kopp was a drug-addled burglar who broke into the house on his own looking for a drug stash belonging to Sutton. Jurors did not buy it.

Fleisher said Christopher Sutton thanked him for his work in representing him. "He was upset. He had tears in his eyes. I think everyone had tears in their eyes.''

John Sutton stood up in court but did not directly rip into his son. Instead, with the boom of a seasoned lawyer, he praised Fleisher's professionalism and hailed the prosecutors for putting his son away.

"The state has never seen better,'' said of the prosecutors.

In the hallway afterward, Sutton said he believed the shooting was a "scheme hatched over a long time,'' and insisted he and his wife did their best to educate their adopted son.

"Those other people that went to Samoa, they didn't kill people,'' he said.


Copyright 2010 Miami Herald Media Co.

[DannyB II]

My comment in blue

Here's the previously mentioned more in-depth article from The Miami Herald; (same) twenty pics at the link (Adobe Flash Player):

-------------- • -------------- • --------------

The Miami Herald
Posted on Thursday, 07.22.10

Christopher Sutton found guilty in plot to murder parents
Miami-Dade jurors convicted Christopher Sutton of hatching the murder plot that left his mother dead and his father blind. He will spend the rest of his life in prison.

BY DAVID OVALLE
[email protected]

Minutes after John R. Sutton's adopted son was convicted of masterminding the bloody attack that left Sutton blind and his wife dead, a reporter asked if he still considered Christopher Sutton his son.

He paused, saying finally: "I cannot answer that question.''

At the same time, jailers whisked Christopher Sutton from the courtroom. He passed within a few yards of his father, never giving him so much as a glance.

The heart-wrenching scene capped an emotional three-week trial that left family, jurors and even the judge choked up.

After 10 hours of deliberations over two days, jurors convicted Sutton, 31, on charges of first-degree murder and attempted murder. Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Stanford Blake immediately sentenced Sutton to three life terms.

Sutton did not address the court or shed a tear.

Prosecutors say Sutton, wanting his parent's wealth and still smarting about being sent to an abusive reform school in Samoa, hired a pal to shoot his parents inside their Coral Gables house in August 2004.

As Judge Blake read the guilty verdicts, two jurors cried. So did Melissa Sutton, Sutton's sister. Both were adopted by the Suttons as newborns.

Even Blake, a family court judge who returned to the criminal courthouse to try the case, teared up as he imposed the sentence.

During trial, prosecutors Carin Kahgan and Kathleen Hoague painted Sutton as a brat who dealt drugs, spoke openly of hating his parents, and pushed pal Garrett Kopp into shooting his well-heeled parents.

"We put on a tremendous amount of evidence,'' Kahgan said after the conviction.

The state's winning theory: that Sutton believed he deserved his father's wealth after his parents shipped him off to the Samoan Paradise Cove program, where he spent 29 months in the mid '90s.

Testifying in his own defense, Sutton cried when recounting his arrival at Paradise Cove. Jurors heard that boys there were hogtied, left in cages, forced into hard labor and deprived of food. But Sutton testified that the program eased up after a while, and he came to appreciate his time there.  The kid was hogtied and stuck in a cage, but "came to appreciate his time there".  Sound familiar?  Stockholm Syndrome???

For prosecutors, hired gunman Kopp was the key witness. He previously pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and accepted a 30-year prison term.

On the stand, Kopp told how he committed the shootings and said he was hired by Sutton, who gave him a gun, showed him how to break into the house and gave the green-light on Aug. 22, 2004.

Mitchell Kopp, his father, who was key in convincing his son to cooperate with prosecutors, stayed for the verdict Wednesday and tearfully shook Melissa Sutton's hand after the verdict.

"Both the families lost a son,'' he said afterward.

Sutton's defense attorney, Bruce Fleisher, had argued that Kopp was a drug-addled burglar who broke into the house on his own looking for a drug stash belonging to Sutton. Jurors did not buy it.

Fleisher said Christopher Sutton thanked him for his work in representing him. "He was upset. He had tears in his eyes. I think everyone had tears in their eyes.''

John Sutton stood up in court but did not directly rip into his son. Instead, with the boom of a seasoned lawyer, he praised Fleisher's professionalism and hailed the prosecutors for putting his son away.

"The state has never seen better,'' said of the prosecutors.

In the hallway afterward, Sutton said he believed the shooting was a "scheme hatched over a long time,'' and insisted he and his wife did their best to educate their adopted son.

"Those other people that went to Samoa, they didn't kill people,'' he said.


Copyright 2010 Miami Herald Media Co.

Or maybe he made it all up and realized half way into the conversation that the program for his "sick psychopathic ass" wasn't that bad at all.
 "Stockholm Syndrome" ya riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight. "The program made me do it".
How about some people are just, "bad to the bone".

[Ursus]

Testifying in his own defense, Sutton cried when recounting his arrival at Paradise Cove. Jurors heard that boys there were hogtied, left in cages, forced into hard labor and deprived of food. But Sutton testified that the program eased up after a while, and he came to appreciate his time there.

The kid was hogtied and stuck in a cage, but "came to appreciate his time there".  Sound familiar?  Stockholm Syndrome???

Or maybe he made it all up and realized half way into the conversation that the program for his "sick psychopathic ass" wasn't that bad at all.
 "Stockholm Syndrome" ya riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight. "The program made me do it".
How about some people are just, "bad to the bone".

Perhaps. And perhaps it was a defense strategy, to minimize the alleged acrimony Christopher Sutton had for his parents. It's not like many lay folk, who have never been to one of these places, are likely to ever understand that kind of anger ... regardless of what the end result may be.