cause do upon our oaths having heretofore found the defendant glen burton ake guilty of murder in the first degree for the death of richard barry douglass, to affix punishment at life in the state penitentiary. no death penalty. this time the jury spared his life. he would come off death row. the jury came back and sentenced ake to life for each of the murders and to 200 years each for the shootings of the children. but wait a minute. stephen hatch who did not fire a weapon faced execution, but ake, the triggerman, got life. brooks was floored. as i heard the decision read, what was going through my mind was that i can just see my parents dying and knowing that they would never be fully
parents seemed to be drifting, too, deflected and scattered and confusing. a u.s. supreme court ruling on the death penalty in a far-off case in florida led to hatch s death sentence being vacated twice. and therefore, more uncertainty for the douglass kids, more legal hearings. if this case doesn t fit the aggravating circumstances that it was especially heinous, atrocious, or cruel, i can t imagine a case that would. his sentence reinstated, stephen hatch went back to death row. and meanwhile, glen ake, the triggerman, had been filing appeals from a nearby cell. in february of 1985, six years after the douglasses were murdered, the united states supreme court ruled in ake vs. oklahoma that he deserved a new trial. prosecutors had failed to provide a psychiatrist at state expense. kathy stoker was the d.a.
sentenced ake to life for each of the murders and to 200 years each for the shootings of the children. but wait a minute. stephen hatch who did not fire a weapon faced execution, but ake, the triggerman, got life. brooks was floored. as i heard the decision read, what was going through my mind was that i can just see my parents dying and knowing that they would never they would never be fully avenged. that they died, that this person took their life and yet he s going to be allowed to continue living at our expense. as brooks saw it, after all this time, all the suffering, his parent, his, his sister s, glen ake had plain cheated the excuser. that day after sentencing, the shellshocked brooks escaped into a hallway followed by sheriff s deputies escorting glen ake back to a prison cell.
atrocious, or cruel, i can t imagine a case that would. his sentence reinstated, stephen hatch went back to death row. and meanwhile, glen ake, the triggerman, had been filing appeals from a nearby cell. in february of 1985, six years after the douglassses were murdered, the united states supreme court ruled in ake vs. oklahoma that he deserved a new trial. prosecutors had failed to provide a psychiatrist at state expense. kathy stoker was the d.a. i contacted brooks and leslie and indicated that we would have to retrial ake. i m sure they just thought, will this ever end? that was exactly the stunned siblings reaction. once again they opened their psychic and emotional wounds for inspection by the court. and this is the thing that is so
i remember when the verdicts were read in the courtroom, this was an audible gasp. we the jury empaneled and sworn in the above entitled cause do upon our oaths having heretofore found the defendant glen burton ake guilty of murder in the first degree for the death of richard barry douglass, to afix punishment at life in the state penitentiary. no death penalty. this time the jury spared his life. he would come off death row. the jury came back and sentenced ake to life for each of the murders and to 200 years each for the shootings of the children. but wait a minute. stephen hatch who did not fire a weapon faced execution, but ake, the triggerman, got life. brooks was floored. as i heard the decision read, what was going through my mind