Murder suspect's sanity to be decided
Lady Libra
Defendant asked for capital charge
12/14/02
By Steve Cannizaro
St. Bernard/Plaquemines bureau/The Times-Picayune
A sanity hearing has been set for a murder defendant who recently wrote
letters to a judge and the district attorney insisting on a more serious
charge than the second-degree murder count on which he was indicted.
A Feb. 3 hearing has been set for George Schaefer III, 24, postponing his
trial, which was scheduled to begin Wednesday in state District Judge Kirk
Vaughn's court, according to court documents.
Two psychiatrists will examine Schaefer and report to the court on whether
they feel he is mentally competent to stand trial.
Schaefer is accused of killing his companion, New Orleans bar owner Lee
Edward Fetherston, 39, in what Schaefer has said was an argument over sex.
Schaefer led authorities to Fetherston's body in a wooded area in Arabi in
November 2000.
His attorney, Sal Cusimano, sought the sanity hearing. Cusimano couldn't be
reached for comment Friday.
Schaefer stated in letters to Vaughn and District Attorney Jack Rowley that
he should be facing first-degree capital murder charges instead of
second-degree murder.
A conviction for first-degree murder could carry the death penalty, while a
second-degree murder conviction means a life sentence without parole.
Schaefer said in the letter to Vaughn that Fetherston was "murdered in
pre-meditated cold blood" and said he is prepared to "make a true and
accurate confession of what honestly took place in the days leading to and
the night" Fetherston was shot twice in the chest and once in the head.
Schaefer said he could show authorities where the murder weapon is hidden in
St. Bernard Parish. But Schaefer said he would turn over the evidence
against himself only in exchange for what he called small favors from the
prosecution, which weren't detailed in letters.
Schaefer remains in the Louisiana State Penitentiary at
Angola, serving a 10-year sentence on a cocaine conviction in New Orleans.
He was returned to St. Bernard Parish this week to consult with Cusimano.
After receiving the letters, Rowley said he wasn't biting on the offer by
Schaefer. "I don't know what his angle is and I'm not interested in finding
out," Rowley said in November.
Rowley also said a first-degree murder charge doesn't fit the facts of the
case under state law.
Until now, Schaefer, while admitting he shot Fetherston, has claimed
self-defense, saying the shooting took place in a struggle after an argument
about sex in which he claimed the dead man produced the gun. Fetherston's
friends have said he never carried a gun.
Cusimano said in an August hearing that his client acted in self-defense.
Fetherston was a co-owner of two French Quarter bars, the Corner Pocket and
the Double Play, authorities said. He lived in an apartment above the Corner
Pocket, 940 St. Louis St., where Schaefer, who is from St. Bernard Parish,
was a frequent guest, authorities said.
. . . . . . .
Steve Cannizaro can be reached at scann...@timespicayune.com or at
(504) -826-3834.