Because of the brutality of the crime, that was an overriding factor for the jury in deciding for death for Mr. Morales, and the governor supported that decision. |
He actually told them ahead of time. He actually practiced with one of them with a belt, how he was going to do it. He admitted sitting behind her (Winchell), choking her with a belt until it broke. |
I have not seen any remorsefulness on his part. All I have seen is viscous and awful stuff. |
In those cases, the victims were shot. They died without being tortured. Terri, she was kidnapped and strangled and beat on the head. She was dragged across the road. While she was unconscious, she was raped and probably beat some more. He then went back and stabbed her four times. It's one of the most brutal crimes, and the jury found she suffered extreme torture. |
The crime he did was just brutal and horrible and wicked and all those things. Plus, he had three prior felonies. |
They seem to forget that there were two other witnesses who said Michael Morales admitted to killing her. |