Font Resize
MARTINEZ — Jurors deliberated for just over an hour Thursday before choosing the death penalty for Edward Wycoff, a Sacramento County truck driver who says he had a right to kill his sister and brother-in-law for "screwing up his family."
"Dead man walking," Wycoff shouted as bailiffs escorted him out of the courtroom in chains. He made no visible reaction when the verdict was read, although he had joked continuously while acing as his own attorney at trial.
The jury last week convicted Wycoff, 40, of two counts of first-degree murder for killing Paul and Julie Rogers with a knife and wheelbarrow handle in a pre-dawn ambush at their El Cerrito home Jan. 31, 2006. Jurors were then tasked to decide whether Wycoff should receive life in prison without the possibility of parole or be executed for his crimes.
"It was an unusual trial in that I never had a defendant be so bold about the reasons they committed the crimes," veteran prosecutor Mark Peterson, who argued for the death penalty, said outside the courtroom. "He is a frightening individual in the sense that if he believes something is morally right, he's going to take action."
Wycoff spent hours at trial explaining why he thought Julie Rogers, 47, and her husband Paul, 48, were "evil" and how they "victimized" him. They were rich, liberal attorneys trying to cheat him out of his late father's house. They were poor parents. They were constantly disrespecting him, such as the
Ironically, the couple, who were well-regarded in the community, never spoke poorly of Wycoff, a close friend testified. The Rogers were always caring and patient toward him, even though he could be very difficult. The couple was against the death penalty, their 21-year-old son, Eric, said, as is most of the Rogers family.
"I'm disappointed," said Eric Rogers, who fought to testify that Wycoff is mentally ill and should not be executed. "I wish death wasn't on the table so it wasn't a decision (jurors) would have to make."
Testimony during the penalty phase gave glimpses into Wycoff's life before the murders. At 40, he has never had a girlfriend and had no real yearning for marriage or children, though he planned on raising the Rogers' orphans himself. He spent most of his adult life in solitude on the road as a long-haul truck driver. He reads at a sixth-grade level, but has an extensive library with titles such as, "The Vigilante's Handbook" and "Techniques of Silent Killing." He's killed 17 cats, including those of his neighbors, to protect other wildlife. He hates liberals, most homosexuals and single parents. He hates enough to kill people who feed stray cats, litter or vandalize his neighborhood.
Wycoff testified that he "could be a serial killer," if not for his "good morals." He wants to be, and should be famous, he said.
Wycoff appears to have special contempt for attorneys, his victims' profession. Before he won permission to defend himself, he threatened to "blow up the Public Defender's Office" to get them off his case, he testified. At closing arguments, he tried to intimidate Peterson, his "persecutor," and told jurors that he would be staring them down when the verdict was read.
"The jury deserved a more dignified and thoughtful trial then they got," said attorney David Briggs, who served as Wycoff's legal adviser. "They never heard an articulate plea on behalf of Mr. Wycoff, and there was clearly additional evidence that they didn't hear about.
"(Wycoff) mentioned several psychiatrists and psychologists that he saw, the jury never heard anything from any of them."
Wycoff chose to be sentenced Dec. 8, his 41st birthday.
