deathpenaltynews.blogspot.com

Is it taking too long for people to get to this room?

​Robert Moorman, who sat on Arizona's death row for nearly three decades, was executed yesterday for chopping up his adoptive mother.

Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne responded by saying there was "no rational reason" for it to take that long.

"We have been working hard to help reform a system in which delays between verdict and execution are so long," Horne said. "Families need to see justice done in a timely manner."

That's actually the second time Horne's brought up the need to streamline the process, as he also brought it up after the state executed its last 20-year death-row resident, kid-killing child molester Richard Bible.

His method of changing the process thus far has apparently consisted of barking at the moon, since there are still more than 20 death-row inmates who've been waiting there more than 20 years.

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deathpenaltynews.blogspot.com

If you've been sentenced to die in this room, you may want to pick up a new hobby to entertain yourself for the next few decades.

​Attorney General Tom Horne acknowledges "[j]ustice was carried out" today against Brian Moorman, who was executed this morning for chopping up his adoptive mother.

He's also wondering why exactly it took until 2012 to execute a guy who hacked up mom in 1984.

As we've previously noted, Arizona spent an estimated $586,000 in 2010 housing the 24 convicted murderers who've been waiting to be juiced for more than two decades.

After Moorman's execution today, there are still more than 20 inmates with more than 20 years on death row -- at a rate of $66.90 per day to house, feed, and care for a single inmate in the Browning Unit of the Eyman Prison, where death-row inmates are housed, as of the Department of Corrections' most recent report.

"There has never been any doubt as to Moorman's guilt for this heinous crime," Horne says in a statement from his office. "While Moorman was offered a 72 hour compassionate leave to visit his adoptive mother, he bound, gagged, strangled and stabbed her to death. He then dismembered her body and attempted to dispose of the parts by passing them off as animal remains or simply putting them into trash containers. There is no rational reason for justice to have been delayed [28] years."

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AZDOC

Robert Moormann

​Robert Moorman, who sat on Arizona's death row for nearly three decades, was executed today at the state prison in Florence.

Moorman, 63, was originally in prison for a kidnapping conviction out of Coconino County in 1972.

During that prison stint, Moorman was granted a 72-hour "compassionate furlough" from the prison so he could spend time with his adoptive mother.

He ended up chopping her into pieces, flushing her fingers down the toilet, and distributing the rest of her remains into a few dumpsters around Florence.

Moorman was Arizona's longest-serving death row inmate, and none of his many appeals of his death sentence went in his favor.

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AZDOC

Robert Moorman, Arizona's longest-serving Death Row inmate, finally has a date with death.

​After nearly three decades on Death Row, convicted killer Robert Moorman finally has a date with death.

In November, the Arizona Supreme Court issued an execution warrant for Moorman. This morning, the Court set a date: February 29.

Moorman was first sent to prison on a kidnapping conviction out of Coconino County in 1972. While incarcerated, Moorman was granted a "compassionate furlough" from the Arizona State Prison Complex in Florence so he could spend time with his adoptive mother.

The two stayed at the Blue Mist Motel across the street from the prison. During the visit, Moorman bound and gagged the woman before strangling and fatally stabbing her.

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"Baseline Killer" Mark Goudeau now has a court-imposed date with death to look forward to.

​"Baseline Killer" Mark Goudeau learned his fate this afternoon when a jury sentenced him to death for a murderous crime spree that terrorized Valley residents for nearly a year.

Goudeau was convicted of nine counts of murder last month following a five-month trial. Today, a jury sentenced him to death on each of the nine murder counts.

"A terrible scourge on our community has now been held accountable for his crimes," Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery says. "I appreciate the diligent work of this jury and the time they have devoted to hear the case and arrive at a verdict. It is now the charge of the criminal justice system to see that the sentences for death are carried out as expeditiously as possible."

See our most-recent cover story on the "Baseline Killer" here.

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AZDOC

Robert Moorman chopped his adoptive mother up into pieces and scattered the remains in dumpsters near the Florence Prison, where he was an inmate at the time.

​The Arizona Supreme Court today will consider whether to issue an execution warrant for a man convicted of murdering his adoptive mother back in 1984. After murdering her, he chopped her body up into several pieces, and scattered them in dumpsters near the Florence Prison -- where he was an inmate at the time.

Robert Henry Moorman was first sent to prison on a kidnapping conviction out of Coconino County in 1972. While incarcerated, Moorman was granted a "compassionate furlough" from the prison so he could spend time with his adoptive mother.

The two stayed at the Blue Mist Motel across the street from the prison, where Moorman bound and gagged the woman before strangling and fatally stabbing her. Then he chopped her body up into several pieces and disposed of it in dumpsters throughout Florence. Twenty-six years later, Moorman hasn't been executed, making him Arizona's longest serving death row inmate -- and costing taxpayers about $24,000 a year for food and housing alone (what Moorman's cost the state in legal expenses is not included in the $24,000. More on that here).

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"Baseline Killer" Mark Goudeau wants a jury to show him mercy.

​Convicted "Baseline Killer" Mark Goudeau yesterday addressed the jury that will ultimately decide whether he lives or dies. The killer of nine -- who terrorized Phoenix residents for nearly a year -- asked for mercy.

Goudeau was convicted of 67 felonies last month, including nine murders. He already is serving a 438-year prison sentence for attacking two sisters in Phoenix in 2005.

See New Times' cover story on the "Baseline Killer" case, Waiting for Goudeau, here.

Goudeau, however, claims he's not the monster prosecutors painted him as during his trial, and that his life should be spared.  

"They assassinated my character. They painted me as a monster," Goudeau told jurors. "I am no monster. Mark Goudeau is no monster. I am no monster."

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Baseline Killer Mark Goudeau is one step closer to his (presumed) execution.

​The jury has reached a verdict in the "aggravation phase" of Baseline Killer Mark Goudeau's trial, finding that aggravating factors in the case were proven -- which means the man who terrorized the streets of Phoenix for nearly a year could face the death penalty.

The trial now heads to the penalty phase, where Goudeau's defense team can present "testimony and evidence to try to show by a preponderance of the evidence that mitigating factors exist that are sufficiently substantial to call for leniency," Maricopa Superior Court spokeswoman Karen Arra says.

In other words, Goudeau's attorney's can tell sob stories about Goudeau to the jury in an attempt to get them to spare his life.

Goudeau, however, told Judge Warren Granville that he didn't want to be in the courtroom for the penalty phase of his trial, and Arra tells New Times he wasn't present for today's ruling.

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Baseline Killer Mark Goudeau is a prime candidate for the death penalty.

​Regardless of your opinion of the death penalty, it exists because of guys like convicted Baseline Killer Mark Goudeau.

Goudeau was convicted yesterday of 67 serious felonies -- nine of which were murder raps -- stemming from a year-long crime spree in 2005 and 2006.

Tomorrow, Goudeau's trial will enter the sentencing phase. The death penalty is on the table -- and is presumably the sentence Goudeau will receive.

As our colleague Paul Rubin pointed out yesterday, Wednesday's phase of Goudeau's trial is the so-called "aggravation phase," during which "prosecutors can, among other things, pull out almost all the stops, and show the jury how the murders (nine in this case) and the myriad other crimes Goudeau has been found guilty of committing have affected so many lives."

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Arizona Department of Corrections

Steven James

​The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals yesterday tossed out the death sentence of convicted murderer Steven James, who was sentenced to die for the brutal 1981 murder of a man he targeted for being gay.

The reason: the Court feels James had ineffective counsel during the sentencing phase of his trial.

See our story on James -- and the Court's written opinion -- here.

In the Court's written opinion, Judge William A. Fletcher wrote the following: 
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