The Murder in a Child's Mind - Softcover

Marcoli, Rita

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1490746404 ISBN 13: 9781490746401

Publisher: Trafford, 2014

Synopsis

Guilty was the cry of the gavel in the courtroom that April day of 1995. A slender redheaded girl hung her head and was escorted out of the courtroom in handcuffs. Still, it was hard to see from my side, as an investigative reporter, how a judge could give a juvenile seventy-three and a half years in prison. In the next few months, I really wanted to dig further in what happened in this case.

About this title

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

The Murder in a Child's Mind

By Rita Marcoli

Trafford Publishing

Copyright © 2014 Rita Marcoli
All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-1-4907-4640-1

Contents

Introduction, vii, 
Chapter 1 The History of a Murderer, 1, 
Chapter 2 Facts of the Case, 4, 
Chapter 3 The Confession, 6, 
Chapter 4 The Investigation, 7, 
Chapter 5 Criminal Proceedings, 9, 
Chapter 6 Grounds for Relief, 13, 
Chapter 7 Constitutional Rights, 18, 
Chapter 8 Misconduct, 26, 
Chapter 9 Judgment and Sentence, 32, 
Chapter 10 Reporter's Image, 34, 
Chapter 11 Opinion of a Reporter, 36, 
Chapter 12 Conclusion, 38, 
Chapter 13 On Laws, 41, 
Chapter 14 Crime and Punishment, 43, 

CHAPTER 1

The History of a Murderer

Anna Lucas was born to an alcoholic mother and a detached, uninvolved father. As a child, Anna suffered the effects of fetal alcohol syndrome, which led to lifelong learning disabilities, difficulty reading, and a series of mental health and behavioral problems. Tragically, Anna's chronic health and emotional problems ultimately led to her act under the substantial domination of her friends when she was coerced into participating in the tragic murder of Fred and Wilma Burns, the eighty-year-old grandparents of her friend, Lory Sanchez.

Anna was diagnosed with learning disabilities from a young age. The earliest educational records that are available documents that, as a young girl, Anna suffered from hyperactivity, impulsive behavior, and signs of emotional disturbance, which were consistent with the characteristics of the young children of alcoholics who live in a poor childhood environment. As a child, Anna also exhibited signs and symptoms that were consistent with fetal alcohol syndrome, including attention deficit disorder and severe academic problems. Finally, Anna was diagnosed with a cumulative series of learning disabilities, which included a diagnosis that she was marginally mentally retarded.

Anna began to be formally assessed for psychological problems beginning at the age of four. Exacerbating the organic disabilities created at birth, Anna also suffered from a chaotic home environment. Her father abandoned the family when she was sexually molested by a family member and later by a babysitter, and by the time she was nine years old, Anna was diagnosed as suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder caused by a severely disruptive social environment.

Anna first came to the attention of juvenile justice authorities at the age of eleven. By that time, Anna had been drinking and smoking marijuana for almost a year. When she was eleven, juvenile authorities noted that Anna suffered from a profound sense of abandonment and lacked any significant parental figure in her life aside from her grandmother. Anna then began a series of ineffective court-ordered placements in various foster care homes and other therapeutic group homes. At the age of thirteen, Anna was admitted into the Upper Heights Psychiatric Hospital where she exhibited signs of depression, oppositional behavior, conduct disorders, and a tendency to be explosive, impulsive, volatile, and sexually provocative. A multitude of medical professionals concluded that all these mental health problems were consistent for a child who had been sexually abused and experienced other childhood traumas.

A few months before the slaying of the Burnses, Anna was released from a residential treatment center. Even though her mother's home was previously considered an unfit placement, Anna was nevertheless returned to her mother's home in Show Low, Arizona, after her release from the treatment center.

At first Anna tried to address her mental problems. She regularly attended high school and participated in all faith therapy programs to address her dysfunctional family issues. Sadly, however, Anna's efforts at reform were unsuccessful, and she ultimately returned to a group of friends who were involved with drugs, alcohol, and gangs.

Around January 1994, Anna resumed the destructive behavior, which led to her previous juvenile placements. Anna began drinking and smoking marijuana daily, and she used cocaine as often as four times a month. In addition Anna returned to her sexually compulsive and destructive behaviors with young men who were involved with street gangs.

Friends of Anna who knew her before the offense involving the Burnses readily described her as a quiet and shy person who was usually a follower who quickly succumbed to the bad influence of others. For example, Anna's friend from high school, Earl Davis, recalls that many times he easily convinced Anna to skip school with him. Anna's friends also recall that, when Anna dated Lory Sanchez, she was often coerced by him into performing unsafe and inappropriate acts. For example, Earl Davis recalls that, when Anna dated Lory Sanchez, he seemed to dominate her by telling her what to do and persistently attempted to control her. As Earl Davis described their relationship, it was as if Anna was a Stepford wife. In fact, at one point Anna was "ranked into" Lory Sanchez's gang, the Three Points, by being forced to have sex with Lory Sanchez.

By February 1994, Anna had been dating Lory Sanchez for approximately one month. At that time, Lory Sanchez lived with his grandparents, Fred and Wilma Burns, at 21530 Apple Valley Circle in Show Low.

CHAPTER 2

Facts of the Case

On February 12, 1994, Lucas, Sanchez, and Kline gathered at Lory Sanchez's home to drink. Sanchez crawled out of his bedroom window, went into his grandparents' garage, and brought back two twelve-pack beers. Later, Sanchez snuck in a bottle of Tanqueray gin, and together the group took slugs from the bottle until it was empty.

At about ten thirty in the evening of February 12, Lucas, Sanchez, and Kline walked his sister home. At that time, the three were intoxicated. When they returned home, they noticed that Sanchez grandmother, Wilma Burns, had cleaned up some of the empty beer cans in Sanchez's room. Nevertheless, the trio continued drinking the beer cans that were hidden under Lory Sanchez's dresser.

After the three resumed drinking in Lory Sanchez's bedroom, Wilma Burns entered the room and began yelling at the three teens. Wilma Burns ordered David Kline and Ms. Lucas to leave her house, and they complied with this request. As they were leaving with Lory Sanchez, they heard him shouting at his grandmother, "I'm going to kill you, bitch! I'm going to fucking kill you!" Lory Sanchez, Kline, and Lucas left Wilma Burns's house and began wandering around the backstreets of the neighborhood. Shortly after 11:00 p.m., Lory Sanchez resolved to apologize to his grandmother to regain admittance to his house. Once Lory had apologized to his grandparents and reentered the house, he let Kline and Lucas enter his room through an open window.

When Lucas and Kline returned to Sanchez's room, they began to drink more beer and gin. While they were drinking, Lory Sanchez told Lucas and Kline that he wished his grandparents were dead. Lory Sanchez then left his room and returned shortly with two kitchen knives and said, "Let's kill them." Lory began to stab the bed with the knife and told Kline and Lucas that the quickest way to kill someone was to stab them through the heart or the jugular vein. At that point, David Kline said to Lory Sanchez "Give me one" to Lory, and Lory handed him a knife. Sanchez suggested that the group stab his grandfather first because he was asleep. The three went to Fred Burns's room, and Kline began stabbing Lory's still-sleeping grandfather. Lucas joined the assault, stabbing Fred Burns in the hip. After stabbing Mr. Burns, Lucas ran out after Mrs. Burns. Mrs. Burns turned to reach for the phone, but Lucas stabbed her twice in the back. While Lucas was struggling with Mrs. Burns, Kline came up from behind and stabbed Mrs. Burns in the neck.

Fred Burns was stabbed to death and received fifty-eight stab wounds to the head, upper body, and abdomen while he slept. Wilma Burns was stabbed six times, with fatal wounds to her neck and thorax. It is believed that she was stabbed from behind while attempting to phone for help. They made sure she was never able to make that call. The couple's granddaughter reported finding their bodies. Two knives were missing from the kitchen's butcher block.

After the stabbing, Lory Sanchez suggested that the trio leave the house through his grandparents' 1986 Honda Accord. Lory Sanchez recovered Mr. Burns's wallet and searched through a drawer for the car keys. Lory Sanchez was also able to take several credit cards from Mrs. Burns's purse. The group also left the residence with Lucas driving. However, shortly after leaving the house, Lucas had to pull over because she became ill and had to vomit.

Once she regained her composure, Lucas drove Lory Sanchez and Kline around Show Low. The group drove over a bridge spanning the river, and Kline threw the two knives used in the slaying into the river. The group decided to drive to the home of a longtime friend, Ms. Becky. Ms. Becky had developed a practice of regularly allowing her friend Ms. Lucas to contact her at any hour and to enter her home to visit by going through the window of her bedroom whenever they felt the need.

CHAPTER 3

The Confession

Ms. Becky was asleep in the early morning of February 13 when she was awakened by Lucas. Lucas was accompanied by Sanchez and Kline. Although Ms. Becky had never met either Sanchez or Kline, she knew that Sanchez had been dating Lucas since her family moved there. Once Lucas entered Ms. Becky's room, she began shaking and acting scared, and she asked to use the bathroom.

After a short period, Lucas, Sanchez, and Kline settled on the edge of Ms. Becky's bed. Lucas began to explain that she had done something wrong. Lucas told Ms. Becky that the group had been drinking heavily when they decided to stab Lory Sanchez's grandparents. According to Lucas, the group had drunk a case of cheap beer and some gin when Lory had an argument with his grandparents, and "that's when it happened."

After Lucas had confessed to Ms. Becky, Ms. Becky explained that the group could not stay at her house. However, before leaving, Sanchez and Kline used Ms. Becky's bathroom to clean themselves. The group then left Ms. Becky's house, and Ms. Becky went back to bed without calling the police because she simply did not believe that what Lucas told her was true.

Finally, Lucas, Sanchez, and Kline returned to Lucas's house. There Lucas changed her clothes and tried to eat something and rested.

Members of the Show Low police department learned about the murder of the Burnses shortly after noon on February 13, 1994. Tragically, the bodies were discovered by the Burnses' granddaughter, Lory Sanchez's younger sister. Chillingly, Sanchez discovered the bodies of her grandparents after she returned home from school.

CHAPTER 4

The Investigation

In investigating the crime scene at the Burnses' home, Show Low Public Safety officers discovered that several empty beer cans and an empty bottle of gin were scattered throughout Lory Sanchez's bedroom. The police also learned that the Burnses' car was missing and that the contents of Wilma Burns's purse had been dumped out onto Lory Sanchez's bed and that the couple's credit cards and money were taken from the home. Finally, during their investigation, the officers located a chef's knife collection that was missing two knives.

At about three thirty in the afternoon of February 13, 1994, Lucas called her friend Candy and asked her if she and her friends could come to Candy's house. Sanchez, Kline, and Lucas then went to Candy's house just before 4:00 p.m. When they arrived, Candy recalled that the group looked like ghosts. According to Candy, all three were dressed in sweats and had pale faces, and it clearly looked like Lucas had been crying.

After completing the initial investigation of the crime scene, Show Low Public Safety officers began to search for Lory Sanchez, Kline, and Lucas. Officers ultimately went to Candy's home, and they located the three.

About twenty minutes after Lory Sanchez, David Kline, and Anna Lucas arrived at Candy's house, Detectives Ross and Baca arrived at Candy's home. Candy advised them that Lory Sanchez was inside the home. Detectives Ross and Baca quickly entered Candy's bedroom, found Lory and David, and then immediately took them into custody. Lucas was talking to Candy's mother and her sister in the kitchen when Candy's mother approached the police and told them that Anna wanted to speak to them.

When Detectives Ross and Baca confronted Lucas in the garage of the home, Lucas offered an immediate confession in the presence of Candy's mother and her sister, Karen. According to witnesses, Lucas said something like, "It was us who did it." Lucas was arrested.

After Lucas arrived at the Show Low Police Station, officers again questioned her about the offense. Although Lucas was nervous, tired, and highly emotional, she apparently waived her rights to remain silent to the assistance of counsel or to the presence of her mother, and she ultimately confessed to participating in the murders of Fred and Wilma Burns. Lucas signed a wavier of rights form even though she told the officers that she could not read.

The murder of the Burnses ignited a firestorm of publicity and public outrage. The slayings were the subject of consistent front page news articles in Tucson and surrounding city newspapers, and each phase of the case was regularly broadcast on three major television networks' affiliate news programs.

CHAPTER 5

Criminal Proceedings

The state of Arizona originally began criminal proceedings against Lucas pursuant to the Arizona Children's Code. A preliminary inquiry was held at the Phoenix Juvenile Detention Facility on February 15, 1994, by Mary Hackler, a probation and parole officer employed by the Arizona Children, Youth, and Family Department. However, the state chose not to file a petition in the children's court division of the district court, as required by the Children's Code, and instead filed a criminal complaint in the Magistrate Court of Apache County, charging Lucas with murder, conspiracy, robbery, unlawful taking of a motor vehicle, and tampering with evidence. Being a sixteen-year-old, Anna Lucas appeared before Magistrate Court Judge James Carver on February 15 and entered a not-guilty plea.

On February 16, 1994, a grand jury indicted Anna for two counts of murder and other criminal charges contained in the original criminal complaint. Anna was arraigned on the charges contained in the grand jury indictment on February 21, 1994. After being indicted, Anna's family retained Sandra Barnhart to represent Anna in defending the first-degree murder charges. At the time, Ms. Barnhart had never previously represented anyone charged with murder and had only limited experience in the defense of complex felony cases.

Ms. Barnhart did not immediately file any pretrial motions and instead filed a motion for an extension of time to file pretrial motions. Subsequently Ms. Barnhart joined in the pretrial motions filed on May 23, 1994. Ms. Barnhart also gave notice of her intention to offer a defense based on Anna's inability to form the specific intent required to support a charge of murder.

In their motion to dismiss, the defendants argued that the Children's Code provided the juvenile court with exclusive jurisdiction of all proceedings involving a child under the age of eighteen. The defendants also alleged that even if the district courts had jurisdiction under the Criminal Code, because the defendants were allegedly serious youthful offenders who were charged with first-degree murder, the children's court still retained jurisdiction of the other charged offenses. The district court denied the motion to dismiss on June 2, 1994, and the Arizona Court of Appeals denied the defendant's interlocutory appeal.

As the lawyer for Anna, Sandra tried to suppress statements Anna made to members of the police department and said that she was not properly advised of her rights and did not knowingly and intelligently waive her constitutional right to remain silent. The courts still denied her.

Prior to trial, Anna was evaluated by Dr. Suzan Long, a forensic psychologist with extensive experience in court-ordered competency evaluation, to determine whether Anna suffered from any kind of mental disease or defect, which may have provided a defense to the charge of murder. As a result of this psychological evaluation, Dr. Long concluded that Anna did not have all the judgment facilities and abilities of other fully functioning people her age and that she often acted without any forethought of the consequences of her actions. Dr. Long noted that Anna had problems recognizing the difference between reality and fantasy and had gaps in her memory, which raised serious questions about Anna's sanity. Finally, Dr. Long concluded that Anna did not have the cognitive control to regulate her actions on the night of February 12, 2014, especially in light of her intoxication.

The state filed a motion for an independent psychological evaluation on June 30, 1994. Dr. Joan Rose then evaluated Lucas in December 1994 and concluded that Lucas was incapable of forming the specific intent required to support a conviction for first-degree murder.

On August 4, 1994, the parties entered a stipulated agreement to change venue, and the case was transferred to Tucson, Arizona. In December, the court granted the joint motion to sever the defendants for trial.

Throughout the pretrial proceedings, Lory Sanchez, David Kline, and Lucas were jointly charged with murder. However, on December 9, 1994, the state interviewed David Kline with the hope of negotiating a plea agreement that could reduce David's sentence if David cooperated in the prosecutions against Lucas and Lory. By the end of December, the state and David Kline had reached a plea agreement, which provided that David Kline would receive a twenty-nine-year sentence if David's testimony resulted in the conviction of both Lory and Anna.

(Continues...)

Excerpted from The Murder in a Child's Mind by Rita Marcoli. Copyright © 2014 Rita Marcoli. Excerpted by permission of Trafford Publishing.
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Edition details

• Publisher: Trafford
• Publication date: 2014
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1490746404
• ISBN 13: 9781490746401
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 54