Penalty phase underway for ex-marine who used sledgehammer to beat 13 y.o.boy to death,in CT,we learn that he was fascinated by famous serial killers
Joe1orbit
Our youthful sledgehammer child killer below, Todd Rizzo, does not qualify as
being a serial or mass killer, but this news item still gets posted to both my
Mailing List and alt-true-crime, thanks to Todd revealing to us his
appreciation and admiration of serial killers.
Like many victim-creations of your diseased society, Todd, a native of
Connecticut, decided to see whether he could develop a taste for LEGAL murder,
by joining the armed forces of amerikkka, where he had ANY possible sense of
genuine morality and respect for life that he MAY have still had, STRIPPED from
him via the marine corp's brutal brainwashing techniques. Not long after
getting dishonerably discharged after being caught smoking marijuana, Todd
decided to turn his profound rage and hate into reality, and cathartically GIVE
to you humans and your society, what you malevolently chose to give him. He
lured a 13 year old boy into his home, then used a SLEDGEHAMMER to beat the boy
to death, in a totally unprovoked, but ACCURATELY reflective attack, in which
18 year old Todd finally claimed the vengeance he was entitled to.
Todd has already been convicted of this murder, and the penalty phase of the
trial is now underway. Prosecutors are seeking the legal murder of this created
victim, who was enslaved to creators who raised him in a home that was "unfit
for normal human habitation. Even though 18 year old Todd only managed to claim
one victim, in terms of murder, the FASCINATING update below informs us that he
was absolutely a student and scholar of serial murder, and felt a great kinship
with serial killers.
A former marine who served with Todd took the witness stand on Wednesday,
telling the jury that Todd had told him that he intended to become FAMOUS by
committing MURDER. Well, killing ONE 13 year old boy is not quite enough to
gain you TRUE fame, Todd. But at least you gave it a shot. Todd NEVER denied
having killed 13 year old Stanley, instead proudly admitting it and telling
police he only killed the boy because he wanted to "see what it felt like to
kill a person". In reality of course, he wanted to see whether his own RAGE and
HATE would be cathartically eased, and he could feel PLEASURE and satisfaction,
by claiming homicidal vengeance against fellow humans.
We do get some details of Todd's confession to the police, in which he
absolutely aligns himself with several famous serial killers, talking about
them and expressing his fascination with them. In a WRITTEN letter to his
former marine buddy, sent two weeks AFTER this murder, Todd declares: " “Just
add me on to your long list of famous killers, like Jeffery (sic) Dahmer, John
Gacy, Henry Lucas, and so on. You should’ve seen it. I was on the entire front
page of my paper and on many other papers and all over the news!” It is GREAT
to see a societal victim so full of self-confidence and pleasure and
self-acceptance, even while in custody and knowing that he faced a likely LIFE
prison sentence, if not his own legal murder. And remember, he was only 18
years old at this time. Todd certainly did KNOW his serial killers, naming
three of the real biggies, Dahmer, Gacy, & Lucas, in his letter. Although Henry
Lee has had many of his prolific victim count claims discredited.
It is true that Todd CANNOT legitimately compare himself to prolific serial
killers. He only claimed ONE victim. But he HAS earned some very real fame, in
his own right, especially in the local CT area. If he FEELS himself to have
accomplished a feat equal to Gacy & Dahmer, and that makes him feel proud and
happy, I think that's great. I'm certainly not interested in belaboring the
VALID point that Todd COULD have embarked upon a much more impressive rampage,
be it serial or mass, and claimed a lot more victims.
Here we see what a wonderful INFLUENCE on other enraged societal victims,
famous serial & mass killers can be. I bet that Todd was FASCINATED with
Jeffrey Dahmer, followed that case and trial VERY closely, since he was just
coming into his mature years, aged 11 or so, when Jeffrey's remarkable sereial
slaughter tale broke.
If you'd like to view a photo of Todd in court, still looking pretty
clean-cut and "marinish" as well as a photo of his 13 year old victim, just
point your web browser to:
http://www.msnbc.com/local/WVIT/164305.asp
I certainly HOPE that the jury does not allow themselves to be brainwashed
and coerced into viewing Todd as a demon, and imposing a legal murder sentence
upon him, when it is CRYSTAL clear that he was and is a profoundly victimized
child-creation of society, who simply REFLECTED back at his creators the
justifiable rage and hate that was instilled within him, throughout the course
of his first 18 years of life.
Todd is showing no emotion in court, choosing to let his past actions speak
for themselves. The arguments by BOTH the defense and the prosecution,
regarding the issue of legal murder in this case, both demonstrate the perverse
malevolence and irrationality of how your diseased society operates. The
defense lawyer, in focusing on his claim that Todd is "Not totally evil, not
evil enough to deserve to have a DP sentence imposed upon him", demonstrates
his understanding that NO juror would EVER be interested in or willing to
ACCEPT the TRUTH, which is that Todd is a complete VICTIM of society, and
anyone who even THINKS of committing a legal murder upon him, is far more EVIL
than Todd, or any other INDIVIDUAL societal victim turned justified
vengeance-seeking predator, could ever hope to be.
The prosecutor of course, has a much easier job, since he KNOWS that the jury
consists of bloodthirsty societal slaves and devotees. He doesn't even feel the
need to bother with truth or facts, he simply engages in a NAKED emotional
appeal to the jury to unleash their bloodlust, by telling them things like:
"Todd Rizzo didn’t just want to just see what it was like to kill. He wanted to
feel what it was like to kill. He wanted to feel the blood on his face and arms
and he wanted to hear the cries of his victim.” Well of COURSE he did! As he
had every right to FEEL, based upon the brutalization that the prosecutor's OWN
society had inflicted upon Todd, BEGINNING the cycle of violence and abuse that
Todd had every RIGHT to END, as his True Reality dictated.
Stay Strong, Todd!
Take care, JOE
The following two news articles both appear courtesy of The WVIT-TV, local
Hartford, Connecticut NBC-TV affiliate station web site:
Sledgehammer killer bragged of murder in letter
WATERBURY, Conn., June 17 - Ex-Marine Todd Rizzo told a barracks buddy he
wanted to be famous, and he wanted to do it through murder. Now, a Waterbury
Superior Court jury is being asked to decide whether Rizzo should die for
living out that fantasy.
Lance Cpl. John Fleischer, who met Rizzo at Camp Lejune, North Carolina, and
then served with him in Hawaii, told jurors Wednesday that when their sergeant
asked for a list of ten goals, #2 on Rizzo’s list was to kill someone. Rizzo
made that statement in June of 1997, about three months before he was “less
than honorably” discharged from the U.S. Marine Corps for smoking marijuana,
Fleischer said. That September, Rizzo was charged in the murder of 13-year-old
Stanley Edwards.
On Tuesday, Fleischer told the court of his last conversation with Rizzo,
who had decided that he wanted to get out of the Marines so he ate marijuana
and tested positive for drugs following a urinalysis. Rizzo served in the
Marines for about 10 months of the 4-year tour of duty for which he enrolled.
“What were Mr. Rizzo’s last words to you?” Waterbury State’s Attorney John
Connelly asked Tuesday.
“I’ll be famous,” Fleischer answered. “I said, ‘Yeah, me too.’ He said,
‘I’ll be famous before you.’“
Prosecutors called Fleischer as a witness during the penalty phase of
Rizzo’s capital felony trial, where closing arguments were scheduled to begin
Thursday morning. The case will then go to the jury, which must decide whether
the 20-year-old Rizzo should be sentenced to death or life in prison with the
possibility of parole.
Rizzo told police he lured the boy to his Waterbury home and struck him
in the head 13 times with a 3-pound sledgehammer. Rizzo, who has pleaded guilty
to capital felony and murder, has said that he killed the boy simply to see
what it felt like.
During a pre-trial hearing, Assistant State’s Attorney Maureen Keegan read
from Rizzo’s confession, in which he revealed he was fascinated with serial
killers and lured the Edwards boy into his yard with the promise of hunting for
snakes. While the boy was peering into the tall grass with a flashlight, Rizzo
pulled the sledgehammer out of his pants and struck Edwards with it. Rizzo told
police how he straddled the boy and hit him over and over as Edwards pleaded
with him to stop.
Nevertheless, Judge William Holden barred prosecutors from introducing to
the jury a letter Rizzo wrote to Fleischer two weeks after his arrest, bragging
of the killing. “Just add me on to your long list of famous killers, like
Jeffery (sic) Dahmer, John Gacy, Henry Lucas, and so on,” Rizzo wrote in the
two-page note, dated October 10th, 1997. “You should’ve seen it. I was on the
entire front page of my paper and on many other papers and all over the news!”
Connelly had argued the letter, which was mailed with newspaper clippings
of the crime, is evidence Rizzo should be sentenced to death. Defense attorney
Ronald Gold had argued the letter was not relevant.
Gold was expected to argue Thursday that there were mitigating factors
that may have led Rizzo to murder. In a document filed with the court, Gold
listed nearly 20 reasons why Rizzo’s life should be spared.
He said Rizzo was immature and impulsive when he committed the murder, but
the slaying was a “tragic aberration” in the life of a man who held steady jobs
and hosted church events. He cited Rizzo’s academic success at Warren Kaynor
Regional Vocational Technical School, where he excelled in the culinary
program.
Gold also said Rizzo was raised in a home that is “unfit for normal human
habitation” and subject to hazing and sexual harassment by older students at
the vo-tech school. Rizzo did not testify during the hearing.
------------------------------------------------------------
Jury ready to decide penalty in sledgehammer murder case
WATERBURY, Conn., June 17 - State’s Attorney John Connelly has placed three men
on death row. On Thursday, he made a case for a fourth. Connelly and his
colleagues tried to convince a Superior Court jury that 20-year-old ex-Marine
Todd Rizzo deserves to die by lethal injection for the 1997 sledgehammer
slaying of a 13-year-old neighbor. “The death penalty is not about vengeance.
It’s not about deterrence. It’s about justice,” Connelly said.
Rizzo has pleaded guilty to capital felony, admitting he lured Stanley Edwards
into his yard under the guise of hunting snakes. When the boy turned his back,
Rizzo beat him 13 times with a 3-pound sledgehammer, admittedly to see what it
felt like to kill someone.
The jury is being asked to decide whether Rizzo should die for the murder
or if there is enough mitigating circumstances to sentence him to life in
prison. Judge William Holden instructed the panel on the charges late Thursday
afternoon. Prosecutors didn’t expect deliberations to begin in earnest until
late Friday morning.
The case is the first to test Connecticut’s new criteria for the death
penalty, Connelly said. Under a 1995 law, the jurors must decide whether
aggravating circumstances outweigh any mitigating factors when determining
punishment. The aggravating factors must show the victim died in a cruel,
heinous or depraved way. Under the former standard, jurors needed just one
mitigating circumstance, such as abuse as a child or mental illness, to avoid
imposing a sentence of death.
Rizzo’s attorney Ronald Gold argued enough mitigating circumstances exist
to spare his client’s life. He conceded in final arguments the crime was
horrible and Rizzo deserves to be punished severely. “He should rot in jail,”
said Gold. “He should think about the evil he’s done for the rest of his life.”
Gold said the murder was a tragic aberration in the life of a man who held
steady jobs and hosted church events. He also cited Rizzo’s academic success at
Warren Kaynor Regional Vocational Technical School, where he excelled in the
culinary program. He asked the jury to consider that Rizzo owned up to the
September 30th, 1997 murder and cooperated with police.
Gold also said Rizzo was raised in a home that is “unfit for normal human
habitation” and was subject to hazing and sexual harassment by older students
at the vo-tech school. “The question is, is Todd Rizzo so evil in causing this
crime without any redeeming value that he should be eliminated from the face of
this earth? Is he so evil that locking him up for the rest of his life is not
sufficient?” Gold asked.
But Connelly reminded the jurors that Rizzo did not plead guilty until two
years after the killing. “They’re just trying to make you feel sorry for Todd
Rizzo,” he said. As Connelly rebutted the claims, calling them “nonsense,” an
impassive Rizzo cast his gaze downward.
The manner of death, prosecutors contend, points to the heinous nature of
the crime. Rizzo chose to use a sledgehammer and continued to beat Stanley,
ignoring the boy’s cries to stop. Rizzo did not choose a gun or a knife for a
quicker death.
“Todd Rizzo didn’t just want to just see what it was like to kill,” said
Assistant State’s Attorney Maureen Keegan. “He wanted to feel what it was like
to kill. He wanted to feel the blood on his face and arms and he wanted to hear
the cries of his victim.”
Rizzo did not testify during the three-week hearing, an d none of Rizzo’s
relatives sat in the courtroom. Defense attorney Gold said it was further
evidence Rizzo was raised in an environment where no one cared about him.
Meanwhile, Stanley’s mother, Jeanne Edwards, one of his two older sisters
and his grandmother sat quietly through most of the proceedings, occasionally
bristling at some of the defense claims. Mrs. Edwards pinned a photo of her son
to her shirt but was asked to remove it before final arguments began.
On Wednesday, jurors heard the testimony from one of Rizzo’s barracks
buddies who said Rizzo told him he wanted to gain fame through the notoriety of
murder. Lance Cpl. John Fleischer, who met Rizzo at Camp Lejeune, North
Carolina, and then served with him in Hawaii, testified when their sergeant
asked for a list of 10 goals, #2 on Rizzo’s list was to kill someone.
Rizzo made that statement in June of 1997, about three months before he
was “less than honorably” discharged from the U.S. Marine Corps for testing
positive for marijuana, Fleischer said. Edwards was killed September 30th, 1997
and Rizzo was charged shortly after.
On Tuesday, Fleischer told the court of his last conversation with Rizzo,
who had decided that he wanted to get out of the Marines so he ate marijuana
and tested positive for drugs following a urinalysis. Rizzo served in the
Marines for about 10 months of the 4-year tour of duty for which he enrolled.
“What were Mr. Rizzo’s last words to you?” Waterbury State’s Attorney John
Connelly asked.
“I’ll be famous,” Fleischer answered. “I said, ‘Yeah, me too.’ He said,
‘I’ll be famous before you.’“
On Wednesday, Judge Holden barred prosecutors from introducing to the jury
a letter Rizzo wrote to Fleischer two weeks after his arrest, bragging of the
killing. “Just add me on to your long list of famous killers, like Jeffery
(sic) Dahmer, John Gacy, Henry Lucas, and so on,” Rizzo wrote in the two-page
note, dated October 10th, 1997. “You should’ve seen it. I was on the entire
front page of my paper and on many other papers and all over the news!”
Connelly had argued the letter, which was mailed with newspaper clippings
of the crime, is evidence Rizzo should be sentenced to death. Gold had argued
the letter was not relevant.
(Associated Press Writer Susanne Youmans contributed to this story.)
----------------------------------------------------------
The following appears courtesy of the 6/18/99 online edition of The Hartford
Courant newspaper:
Boy Also Pleaded For Mercy, Jurors In Death Penalty Case Told
By TRISH WILLINGHAM
This story ran in the Courant June 18, 1999
WATERBURY - In closing arguments Thursday, State's Attorney John Connelly said
it is an ``awesome task'' to ask jurors to sentence Todd Rizzo to death for
bludgeoning a 13-year-old boy with a sledgehammer.
But he said ``the death penalty is not about vengeance. It's not about
deterrence. It's about justice.''
Jurors in Rizzo's three-week-long penalty hearing in Waterbury Superior Court
will begin deliberating today. And if they return a death sentence, Rizzo, 20,
would become the fourth killer put on death row by Connelly.
Jurors on Thursday were handed a complicated set of instructions to use in
their deliberations. They will weigh the mitigating factors presented by
Rizzo's defense against the one aggravating factor presented by the prosecution
- that Rizzo's crime was carried out in an especially ``cruel, heinous and
depraved'' manner so as to cause extreme pain and torture to his victim,
Stanley Edwards.
Defense attorney Ron Gold presented 19 mitigating factors that he said should
spare Rizzo's life.
Jeanne Edwards, Stanley's mother, shifted in her seat and rolled her eyes in
disgust as Gold labeled Rizzo a victim, saying he was a ``conundrum . . . a
puzzle,'' whose evil side came out in the end, even though he had done many
good things in his life.
``But the question is, is Todd Rizzo so evil and without any redeeming values
that he should be eliminated from the face of this earth?'' Gold asked jurors.
``Is he so evil that locking him up for the rest of his life is not sufficient
punishment?''
Rizzo's action was out of character, Gold argued, and a ``tragic aberration''
considering the model life Rizzo led, holding down jobs and baking brownies for
his church's social hour.
And he grew up in a troubled home, Gold reminded jurors, lacked guidance from
parents who didn't care about him, was influenced by violent movies and books
about serial killers, and lived in a ``filthy, deplorable environment unfit for
human habitation.''
But Connelly told jurors that the portrait the defense painted of Rizzo is an
edited version. He said the defense is playing a ``blame game'' trying to make
jurors feel sorry for the killer.
``The defense wants you to be merciful to Todd Rizzo and spare his life,''
Connelly told jurors. ``Remember one thing - there's another person in this
case who asked for mercy, and what happened when he asked for mercy? [Rizzo]
sat on him like a horse and hit him a bunch of times in the head.''
Keegan said Rizzo's choice of murder weapon shows that he intended to torture
Stanley.
Instead of shooting Stanley in the head once with a gun or slitting his throat
across a major artery or feeding him brownies laced with poison, Rizzo chose to
pound Stanley 13 times, shattering the boy's skull so badly that pieces of it
fell away, Keegan told jurors.
-----------------------------------------------------------
The following appears courtesy of today's Associated Press news wire:
Jury receives Waterbury death penalty case
WATERBURY, Conn. (AP) Todd Rizzo's own attorney says the man should ''rot in
jail'' for beating to death a 13-year-old neighbor with a sledgehammer.
But defense attorney Ronald Gold said Rizzo does not deserve the death penalty
for the slaying.
Rizzo, 20, has pleaded guilty to capital felony murder, admitting he lured
Stanley Edwards into his yard under the guise of hunting snakes and then, when
the boy turned his back, beat him 13 times with a 3-pound sledgehammer. He told
police he wanted to see what it felt like to kill someone.
''The question is, is Todd Rizzo so evil in causing this crime, so without any
redeeming value that he should be eliminated from the face of this earth?''
Gold asked a Superior Court jury in closing arguments Thursday.
The jury's other option is to recommend a sentence of life in prison without
the possibility of parole for the Sept. 30, 1997 slaying. Deliberations began
about 10:30 a.m. today.
Gold argued there are mitigating circumstances that should spare Rizzo's life.
He said Rizzo had held steady jobs and hosted church events and excelled in the
culinary program at Warren Kaynor Regional Vocational Technical School.
He asked the jury to consider that Rizzo owned up to the murder and cooperated
with police.
Gold also said Rizzo was raised in a home that is ''unfit for normal human
habitation'' and was subject to hazing and sexual harassment by older students
at the vo-tech school.
But Waterbury State's Attorney John Connelly and his colleagues argued the
slaying was committed in a heinous, cruel and depraved manner. Rizzo chose to
use a sledgehammer, not a gun or a knife for a quicker death. He continued to
beat Stanley, ignoring the boy's cries to stop.
''Todd Rizzo didn't just want to just see what it was like to kill,'' said
Assistant State's Attorney Maureen Keegan. ''He wanted to feel what it was like
to kill. He wanted to feel the blood on his face and arms and he wanted to hear
the cries of his victim.''
Connelly said Rizzo's home life was no worse than thousands of other children
who do not resort to violence. He also said it took nearly two years for Rizzo
to take responsibility for the crime by pleading guilty.
''They're just trying to make you feel sorry for Todd Rizzo,'' he said. ''The
death penalty is not about vengeance. It's not about deterrence. It's about
justice.''
The case is the first to test Connecticut's new criteria for the death penalty,
Connelly said.
Under a 1995 law, the jurors must decide whether aggravating circumstances
outweigh any mitigating factors when determining punishment. The aggravating
factors must show the victim died in a cruel, heinous or depraved way.
Under the former standard, jurors needed just one mitigating circumstance, such
as abuse as a child or mental illness, to avoid imposing a death sentence.
Rizzo, who did not testify during the three-week hearing that saw 33 others
take the stand, sat impassively with his eyes cast downward as prosecutors
argued their case.
Stanley's mother, Jeanne Edwards, an older sister and grandmother sat quietly
through most of the proceedings, occasionally bristling at some of the defense
claims. His father died in 1995 of cancer.
Mrs. Edwards pinned a photo of her son to her shirt but was asked to remove it
before final arguments began.
None of Rizzo's relatives sat in the courtroom. Defense attorney Gold said it
was further evidence Rizzo was raised in an environment where no one cared
about him.
AP-ES-06-18-99
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