Treatment Abuse, Behavior Modification, Thought Reform > World Wide Association of Specialty Programs and Schools (WWASPS)
Trial for a Paradise Cove survivor starts.
Pile of Dead Kids:
--- Quote ---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.
--- End quote ---
: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.
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