COMMONWEALTH of Pennsylvania, v Paul David CREWS Free Essay Example, 1750 words

Commonwealth Of Pennsylvania, V Paul David Crews In the morning of September 13, 1990, two hikers, Geoffrey Hood and Molly LaRue, were murdered. The woman tied, raped, and stabbed, resulting to her death. Her boyfriend, shot three times. The suspect Paul David Crews was arrested week later and subsequently charged with the murders. There were a number of witnesses who presented themselves to testify. The first witnesses testified seeing the suspect visit a library seeking a map of the terrain where the couple was murdered while other witnesses testified the suspect seeking directions of the trail that coincidentally was the same with those of the murdered couple. These witnesses openly shared their knowledge to the relevant authorities. Some even vividly testified of seeing the suspect wearing the hiking gear belonging to the male victim along with other objects. A ballistics expert also testified that the handgun possessed by the suspect upon his arrest was the murder weapon which. An FBI DNA expert, after caring out his unique duty came to a conclusion thus testifying that the suspects DNA patterns matched with those obtained from semen samples the female victims vagina. We will write a custom essay sample on COMMONWEALTH of Pennsylvania, v Paul David CREWS or any topic specifically for you Only $17.96 $11.86/pageorder now The jury which comprises of carefully selected individuals of varying personalities and background unanimously passed a verdict of first degree murder (PLJ, 2012). A physician for the prosecution testified on the medical evidence upon his professional analysis that prior to being killed the female victims hands had been bound together. The defense presented their evidence claiming that the suspect had no neither criminal nor gross misconduct records from the police and his employer. Also presented by the defense was a psychiatrist who testified that the suspect suffered from an organic aggressive syndrome and also had a schizoid personality which he claimed due to the consumption of alcohol and cocaine it was aggravated resulting to his actions. It was also said that the suspect was under extreme mental or emotional disturbance thus his capacity to control his behavior was substantially impaired. The jury found all the aggravating circumstances lea ding to the murders, was to be considered as a great risk to the community thus the verdict of death. The jury found that every element of the crime committed to be beyond a reasonable doubt. The jury stated that the evidence presented overwhelmingly established suspects guilt. Thus their guilty for murder in the first degree verdict and the court sentenced the murder suspect to two consecutive death sentences (PLJ, 2008).