Judge Denies Release For OKC Doctor Who Killed 9-Year-Old Son

News9.com

OKLAHOMA CITY -- A judge has ruled an Oklahoma City doctor found not guilty by reason of insanity in the murder of his son is too much of a danger to the public to be released from a mental institution.

Judge Donald Deason issued his decision Tuesday after a hearing in an Oklahoma County District courtroom. He determined Dr. Stephen Wolf is still a danger to the public peace or safety because he's suffering from mental illness.

Wolf stabbed his 9-year-old son, Tommy, to death in November 2009. He was found not guilty by reason of insanity and confined to the Oklahoma Forensic Center in Vinita. The center's director of psychology recommended in July that Wolf be given a conditional release.

7/24/11 Related Story: Psychiatrist Recommends OKC Doctor Be Released

The recommendation shocked many people, including the doctor's wife, Mary Wolf. The doctor also attacked her the night he killed the couple's son. She's now filing for divorce. Mary Wolf wrote a letter to the judge, asking him to keep her estranged husband in the mental facility. She says he's offered her no support since the killing, and is mainly concerned with himself.

7/26/11 Related Story: Wife Of OKC Doctor Who Killed Son Pleads To Keep Him Locked Up

Judge Deason says he read the original report from the psychologist that recommended Wolf's release. He says he also read two more reports from mental health experts. One did not offer a recommendation on Wolf's release, and the other determined he was too mentally ill to leave the facility.

Judge Deason says he wanted to treat Wolf fairly, but he never thought releasing him would be appropriate. The judge says Wolf requires more treatment and should remain in the custody of Oklahoma's Department of Mental Health.

View the original article here

Judge Strikes Down Defense Motions in Pennsylvania Capital Murder, Dismemberment Crime

Monroe County President Judge Ronald Vican denied Thursday three pre-trial defense motions by public defender William Sayers, who is defending Charles Hicks in the murder case of Deanna Null.

Because the state believes that there were "aggravating circumstances" in the killing, the prosecution is seeking the death penalty.

The murder of 33-year-old Deanna Null made national headlines when body parts were found by a Pennsylvania state road crew. Police officers sent to investigate soon realized that the remains found by the road crew weren't the only ones dumped.

A search of the area radial to the intersections of Route 80 and Route 380 found that eight bags containing body parts had been strewn over a 15 mile-wide area, according to Mahalo.com. After several days of searching the area, law enforcement authorities felt they had located most of the homicide victim but could not find the hands.

The murder victim's hands had been cut off in an attempt to impair law enforcement ability to identify the victim. The hands were discovered several weeks later in the Tobyhanna, Penn., home occupied by Hicks, then an employee of Tobyhanna Army Depot.

The hands were wrapped in newspaper and hidden in the wall space of Hicks' home, according to The Times Leader. Null's severed head was found alongside the highway about 200 yards from where Hicks lived.

One of the pre-trial motions denied by Vican was an unusual request that Hicks' mother join the defense team. A member of the defense team could not then serve as a witness for the prosecution, which is expected to call Hicks' mother to the stand.

Sayer also requested that the prosecution turn over records of Hicks' previous arrests. The prosecution team objected. For one thing, prosecutors had already turned over the records, they said. For another, Hicks' prior arrest record would be inadmissible in court.

A defense request to introduce an autopsy report by forensic pathologist Sarah Funke was also denied. The pathologist who prepared the report couldn't appear due to a medical condition, Sayers said.

While the defense attorney claimed the forensic pathologist had medical problems which prevented her testimony, Vican suggested that Sayer work out some other way to obtain the testimony of the expert witness.

Vican denied the motion to present the autopsy report without the person who produced it. Otherwise, the prosecution would not be able to cross-examine or otherwise determine the accuracy of the report.

The importance of Funke's autopsy report to Hicks' defense attorney is that it undermines the prosecution's death penalty case. The prosecution has charged Hicks with capital murder because it believes he tortured Nulls before killing her.

The grisly autopsy report indicates that the body was dismembered only after the victim was dead and that "aggravating circumstances" did not apply. Whether or not a jury believes that will determine whether Hicks, if convicted, would be sentenced to death.

According to a Monroe County Court Administrator, jury selection for Hicks' capital murder trial is set to begin September 12.

Anthony Ventre is a freelance writer who has written for weekly and daily newspapers and several online publications. He is a frequent contributor to Yahoo with news pertaining to Pennsylvania.

View the original article here

Judge Gives Pregnant Mom Of 3 Kids Killed In Del City Fire Another Chance

News9.com

OKLAHOMA CITY -- An Oklahoma County judge refused to revoke the bond for a Del City mother charged in the deaths of her three children.

Kailey, Krystal and Christopher Dunham died in an RV fire in January.  Their parents, Stephanie and Christopher Dunham, were charged with three counts of child neglect.

Prosecutors say Stephanie Dunham violated the terms and conditions of her bond release.  She appeared in an Oklahoma County courtroom Thursday afternoon. 

According to court papers, Dunham left her home to make a car payment on June 6. Under the conditions of her bond, Dunham is only allowed to go to court, the doctor, drug treatment and conditional bond release offices. Prosecutors say Dunham had repeatedly been told she could not go make her car payment and that she would have to get someone else to do it for her.

Prosecutors say Dunham continues to violate the terms of her GPS monitoring even though the conditions have been explained to her several times.

The judge decided Thursday to give Dunham another chance and refused to revoke her bond.  Dunham, who is pregnant, is due to give birth in a week.

Related Story: 3/9/11 Police Called To Del City Home 30 Times Before Children Died In RV Fire

View the original article here