TRUMBULL COUNTY MURDER Jurors mull death sentence, prison

The convicted killer apologized and told the jurors that he wants to be able to watch his daughter grow up.
By PEGGY SINKOVICH
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- Jurors are expected to begin deliberating today the fate of a 30-year-old man convicted of killing a Howland Township man.
The jurors will decide if they should recommend that Nathaniel Jackson be sentenced to death or receive life in prison without parole, or a 25- or 30-year sentence.
If the jury recommends death, Judge John Stuard can reduce it to a prison sentence.
If the jury recommends a prison sentence, the judge cannot elevate the penalty to death.
Jackson was convicted last Friday in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court of aggravated murder, burglary and robbery, with firearms specifications.
Jackson, 30, of South Pearl Street, Youngstown, and Donna Roberts, 57, of Howland, were charged with killing Robert Fingerhut in his Fonderlac Drive Southeast residence Dec. 11, 2001.
Fingerhut owned the Greyhound bus terminals in Warren and Youngstown.
Roberts and Fingerhut were divorced but were living together. She is scheduled to go on trial in April.
Penalty phase begins
The penalty phase of the trial began Thursday.
The jurors listened to the defense say why they believe Jackson should not be sentenced to death.
Defense attorneys Anthony Consoldane and Tom Wright of the Ohio Public Defender's Commission called numerous relatives to testify on Jackson's behalf, including the defendant's 8-year-old daughter.
The girl told jurors that she wanted to be able to visit her father.
Jackson also addressed the jurors and gave a brief unsworn statement.
He apologized for his actions and asked that he be allowed to watch his daughter grow up.
Psychologist's comments
Dr. Sandra McPherson, a Cleveland psychologist, told jurors that Jackson had trouble in school and was suspended when he was in third grade. She said his IQ is 84, which is low.
She also said that Jackson had a "rough childhood." She said documents from his school show that his mother wrote a letter to teachers asking that her son be excused because he was shot at and had to give a police report.
Jackson's mother, however, testified that she did not recall writing the letter and felt that Jackson did well in school.
During the trial, Prosecutor Dennis Watkins produced numerous letters written by Jackson to Roberts, which he said showed the two were planning Fingerhut's murder and Jackson was waiting at the home for Fingerhut to arrive.
Watkins said the letters showed Jackson and Roberts kept in touch while Jackson was an inmate in Lorain Correctional Institution.
Jackson was released from prison Dec. 9 after serving one year on a conviction out of Mahoning County on two counts of receiving stolen property.
sinkovich@vindy.com