Phoenix, AZ — Joseph Wood was condemned to die after being convicted of two rather nasty murders.   I won’t comment on his innocence because I don’t know.    It seems on its face Wood’s two murder convictions was not the subject of controversy. We will never know what demons drove Wood’s violence or if there were any very real excusable brain malfunctions behind his mad acts.   We can only guess. I won’t argue that some hopelessly evil people on our earth don’t deserve to live.   I absolutely encourage people to use guns and other deadly weapons in self-defense and the defense of others.   The concept of killing these people decades later is an  entirely  different matter.  Arizona used secret drugs obtained from a clandestine source to kill Wood.   Wood’s lawyers demanded to know about the drugs and their effectiveness, but were rebuffed throughout the entire appeal process.   This was happening in a nation where its gove...

Phoenix, AZ—The Circus has folded up its tents and vacated the surroundings of the Maricopa County Superior Court Building complex that hosted, “The Greatest Show on Earth.” If that sounds inappropriate that’s because it was just that.   That Jodi Arias trial was something of a perverted Roman Holliday. Jodi Arias was involved in a somewhat routine domestic disaster that left her young boyfriend Travis Alexander dead.  We now know that Arias killed him but the exact circumstances are shrouded in lies and mystery.  Lies from the mouths of frightened suspects usually flow like water at Niagara Falls.  Was the killing justified?  We can only guess.  Domestic homicide often unleashes massive rage because of so many factors unique to our most intimate relationships. Women defending themselves from attack by men have little choice but to use deadly weapons because there is usually a serious disparity of force between men and women.  Alex...

Florence, AZ —Currently there are 121 men and three women on Death Row in Arizona.   The killing here substantially exceeds larger states like Texas for per capita executions.   There has been a number of exonerations here and  certainly  more are expected. The State of Arizona like several others has cut off TV news from access to any inmate for any reason.  Inmates can write letters but letters don’t make watchable TV and prison officials know this.  A huge percentage of inmates are illiterate and can't even write a simple letter. Prison officials try and justify this by suggesting that crime victims become traumatized whenever inmates appear on TV.   That’s hogwash unless of course some "victim" falsely accused and obtained a conviction against an innocent person.  Yes, that does happen far more often than we will admit. The media does not like wasting time listening to inmates whine about their troubles.  They on...

Phoenix, AZ—Mark Henry Milke has legally changed his name to Arizona Milke .  It’s understandable, he’s got a very troubled past.  He is an ex-convict and drug addict that happens to be the father of four-year old Christopher Milke .  James Styers and Roger Scott murdered Young Christopher Milke in December of 1989. If Debra Milke is guilty of any wrongdoing it was by being smitten as a young adult by this smooth older con man.  Mark Milke had that bad boy image and young Debra was delusional that she could meet the challenge to somehow change and tame him.  Mark Milke was a sometime carpet installer when he was not in jail, prison or simply idle because of alcoholism, mental illness or his drug addiction.  Milke has a long documented history of domestic violence with numerous women.  The Orders of Protection, mental commitments and criminal cases were once all available at the Maricopa County Court Clerks records.  Later ...

Florence, AZ —The small red brick Death House at the prison was the scene of a lethal injection execution today. Robert Moormann , 63 was as defective and frightening as any killer went to his death asking for forgiveness. Moormann a Catholic made peace with God taking communion before he was killed. The executioner used a single drug because the other two were unavailable. That will not be sitting well with the courts that warned they might intervene in this flawed process. In 1972 Moormann, was convicted and given a sentence of nine years to life for kidnapping and sexually assaulting an eight year-old girl. He was paroled and soon had his parole revoked. Incredibly officials allowed him to leave the prison in 1984 for 72 hours on a "compassionate furlough." Mooremann spent that time at a motel across the street from the prison with his 74-year-old mother who was also his life-long sex partner. He apparently had an argument with his mother that ended when he beat, suff...