NIGGERIAN GETS 21 YRS IN ATTEMPTED MURDER
sheets3inthwind
Ikechukwu C.
Nwaekwe pleads guilty to the 1998 shootings of his ex-girlfriend
and her mother
Wednesday, April 12, 2000
By Clifton R. Chestnut
of The Oregonian staff
OREGON CITY -- A Nigerian national who
shot and seriously wounded his ex-girlfriend and her mother has
been sentenced to more than 21 years in prison for attempted
aggravated murder and second-degree kidnapping.
Ikechukwu C.
Nwaekwe, 26, avoided trial Monday in Clackamas County Circuit
Court when he pleaded guilty to shooting Sarah Zimmerman, now
19, and her mother, Kathleen Nesslin, 42, in December 1998 at
their Milwaukie home.
Nwaekwe also was found guilty of
second-degree kidnapping in a stipulated-facts trial before
Circuit Judge Robert Herndon. The kidnapping charge stemmed from
a September 1998 crash in which Nwaekwe deliberately drove off
Interstate 205 in an attempt to kill Zimmerman, a passenger in
the car, said Linda Beloof, a deputy district attorney.
U.S.
immigration officials have placed a hold on Nwaekwe, who will be
deported to Nigeria after his prison sentence, Beloof said.
Nwaekwe was studying computer science at Portland State
University and had an international student visa when he met
Zimmerman at a Portland nightclub several months before the
freeway crash.
In the hours leading up to the crash, Nwaekwe
and Zimmerman argued after Zimmerman said she wanted to end the
relationship, according to prosecutors and police reports.
Nwaekwe was driving a rented 1998 Acura south on Interstate 205
when he veered across several lanes of traffic and into an
embankment near the Interstate 5 interchange.
As the car lay on
its side, Nwaekwe began to strangle Zimmerman, Beloof said.
Zimmerman pulled away when paramedics and passers-by stopped to
help them.
Neither was seriously injured in the crash, police
said. Nwaekwe was arrested hours after the accident and booked
on attempted murder, assault and kidnapping charges. He posted
bail and was released pending trial.
Shooting incident in 1998
About 1 a.m. on Dec. 8, 1998, Nwaekwe entered Zimmerman's
apartment and held her at gunpoint for several hours, Beloof
said. Nwaekwe told Zimmerman that he was upset and blamed her
for causing the September accident, according to prosecutors.
Zimmerman later persuaded Nwaekwe to leave the apartment, which
was connected to her mother's property.
Nwaekwe returned about
5 a.m. while Nesslin was talking with 9-1-1 dispatchers. He shot
Nesslin in the chest at close range with a .357-caliber Magnum,
prosecutors said.
Nwaekwe then shot Zimmerman in the face and
hand, Beloof said. Nwaekwe eluded authorities until the next
day, when two Clackamas County sheriff's deputies spotted him in
the Westmoreland neighborhood in Southeast Portland. They shot
at Nwaekwe, and one deputy hit him in the back, Beloof said.
The deputies were cleared by a Multnomah County grand jury.
Nwaekwe was hospitalized and held on attempted aggravated murder
charges.
An initial defense attorney in the case had planned an
insanity defense, Beloof said. An Oregon State Hospital
psychological examination showed Nwaekwe was despondent because
of the pending trial but found that he did not appear to be
suffering from a mental disease or defect.
James Bernstein, the
most recent defense attorney, eventually withdrew the insanity
defense.
Zimmerman, who had been studying pharmacology at
Apollo College in Southeast Portland, said Tuesday that she was
pleased with sentence. She faces at least two more surgeries to
repair bones in her hand and reconstructive surgery on her face.
"I'm satisfied as long as he's deported right after" his prison
sentence, Zimmerman said.
* Sent from RemarQ http://www.remarq.com The Internet's Discussion Network *
The fastest and easiest way to search and participate in Usenet - Free!