As students return to campus, they will also return to buzzabout accused serial killer Derrick Todd Lee.
On Aug. 10, a West Baton Rouge Parish jury convicted Lee ofsecond-degree murder in the death of Geralyn DeSoto of Addis.
DeSoto was stabbed to death in her home in January 2002.
Assistant public defender Tommy Thompson defended Lee in theseven-day Port Allen, La. trial, but was unable to provide strongenough evidence to refute the prosecution’s case.
Special prosecutor Tony Clayton presented DNA evidence obtainedfrom underneath DeSoto’s fingernails.
An analyst from Reliagene Technologies, Inc., a DNA testingcenter in New Orleans, testified that through a specificY-chromosome test, 99.8 percent of the black male population couldbe excluded as the person whose DNA investigators found underDeSoto’s fingernails.
Prosecutors also presented a pocket knife and a pair of bootswhich they claimed belonged to Lee.
Lee’s 15-year-old son, Derrick Todd Lee, Jr., testified that theknife investigators found in his father’s reposed car belonged tohis father. A pathologist also testified that the blade of theknife matched the width and depth of DeSoto’s stab wounds.
On Aug. 6, Lee told Judge Robin Free he wanted to fire Thompsonbecause he “wasn’t getting a fair deal.”
Lee said Thompson had spent no more than an hour with him duringvisits at the West Baton Rouge Parish Prison.
Free told Lee he could not fire a public defender, and advisedLee not to defend himself.
One week after the jury announced its 11-to-1 guilty verdict,Free sentenced Lee to the mandatory sentence of life in prisonwithout parole on Aug. 16.
Lee’s next trial for the murder of recent MBA recipientCharlotte Murray Pace is scheduled for Sept. 13 in Baton Rouge.
Pace was found stabbed in her Sharlo Avenue home on May 31,2002.
John Sinquefield, first assistant district attorney, willprosecute the Baton Rouge case against Lee and is seeking the deathpenalty.
Sinquefield said he does not think there should be any reasonfor the judge to postpone the Pace trial.
But Sinquefield said it may be challenging to find an impartialjury due to the large amount of publicity surrounding themurders.
“The verdict of guilty could make it more difficult to select ajury, and the large amount of publicity could cause the exclusionof some jurors in my pool,” said Sinquefield.
But Sinquefield said he thinks the court can find 13 jurors toensure a fair trial for Lee.
The court subpoenaed 1,000 jurors, a number Sinquefield said isfar above average.
Pace’s mother, Ann Pace, said she would like to see the trial inEast Baton Rouge Parish because it is the venue where the crime wascommitted and the parish should have the authority to resolveit.
“It’s ludicrous to think [the court] can find a jury that hasn’theard of [the case],” Pace said. “But they need a jury that is ableto be absolutely impartial and listen to all the evidence.”
Ann Pace said she thinks the jury in the DeSoto trial probablyhad heard of the murder, but acted impartially and truly listenedto the case.
Pace said she has no doubt in her mind Lee killed her daughterbecause she understands the DNA evidence.
Authorities have said they have DNA evidence obtained from underPace’s fingernails linking Lee to the rape and murder. Authoritieshave also collected semen extracted from her vagina.
“My biggest fear is that there will be a juror or jurors who donot understand the DNA or refuse to except the DNA,” Pace said.
To receive a death sentence, a jury must come to a unanimousdecision.
Pace said she wants to see Lee sentenced to death, but does notthink it will bring closure.
“I don’t think losing Murray is something that will ever behealed truly,” Pace said. “It’s such a little bit of justice. Howdoes one death make up for seven?”