WARREN Suspect awaits penalty in husband, wife killing
Sentence deliberations are due Monday, court officials said.
By PEGGY SINKOVICH
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- A 22-year-old Youngstown man will soon learn if he will face the death penalty for killing an elderly Hubbard woman.
Judge Andrew Logan of Trumbull County Common Pleas Court told jurors moments after they found Mark Worley guilty Wednesday of the murder of Charles London and the aggravated murder of Dorothy London that they will begin deliberating Worley's fate Monday.
Instructions to jury: Judge Logan instructed jurors to return to the courtroom at 9 a.m. Monday to hear why defense attorneys believe Worley's life should be spared. When attorneys are done presenting their case, the jury will begin deliberating Worley's punishment, the judge said.
Because Worley was found guilty of the aggravated murder of Dorothy London and the death penalty specifications that the murder happened while he committed aggravated burglary and kidnapping, he is eligible for the death penalty. The jury, however, also can recommend that Worley spend the rest of his life in prison without the possibility of parole or life in prison with parole eligibility after 25 or 30 years.
Worley also was facing an aggravated murder charge in the death of Charles London, but the jury found him innocent of that. The jury did find Worley guilty of a lesser charge of murder. Worley could face life in prison with the possibility of parole after 25 years on that charge.
Jurors deliberated six hours before returning the verdicts. The panel also found Worley guilty of charges of aggravated burglary, aggravated robbery and kidnapping.
Defense's contention: Attys. James Gentile and Lou DeFabio, who represent Worley, said during closing statements that Worley never intended to kill anyone.
"The prosecution wants you to believe that Mark had a preconceived plan to kill, but there is not one bit of evidence that corroborates that," DeFabio said. He noted that Worley went to the Hubbard Township home of Dorothy and Charles London on Dec. 15 with Scott Burrows to rob the elderly couple.
Gentile said it was Burrows who decided to kill the couple.
Worley and Burrows, 20, of Hubbard Township, were indicted in the Dec. 15, 1999, killings of London, 75, and his wife, 74. The pair also were indicted on charges of aggravated robbery.
Police said Worley and Burrows took the couple's two vehicles and other items, including firearms, that were in the Londons' Hubbard Township home.
Burrows convicted: Burrows was convicted of aggravated murder, kidnapping and aggravated robbery. He was sentenced to two life terms in prison without the possibility of parole.
Prosecutor Dennis Watkins told the jury that Worley did take part in both murders and should be held accountable.
"They could have just robbed the couple and they could have gone in there with masks on, but they didn't," Watkins said. "They were on a mission of death from the word go."
Watkins said Burrows and Worley had discussed robbing the Londons for several weeks. The Londons were Burrows' former next-door neighbors.
Prosecutors said that the two went to the London home Dec. 15 and told London they needed help fixing their truck, which was off Mount Everett Road. London drove the two to the area.
London was robbed and killed there, Watkins said. The two young men then put London's body in the trunk and went back to the Londons' home. Prosecutors said the two killed Mrs. London, then stole several items from the home.