Man who shot 6 dead appeals death penalty

Man who shot 6 dead

appeals death penalty

Prosecutors said the killer chose victims because of their religious or ethnic background.

PITTSBURGH (AP) — A man on death row for a racially motivated shooting spree that eventually left six people dead contends that jurors should have heard more evidence about his mental illness in deciding whether he should be sentenced to death or to life in prison.

Richard Baumhammers, 42, was an unemployed immigration attorney living in his parents’ home in the Pittsburgh suburb of Mount Lebanon on April 28, 2000, when he shot his Jewish neighbor, two Indian men, two men of Asian descent and a black man.

He was sentenced to death for five of the murders. The sixth victim, who had been left paralyzed, died a year ago of complications from complications from pneumonia. Prosecutors maintained that Baumhammers, who is white, selected his victims because of their religious or ethnic background.

Baumhammers’ attorney, Thomas Farrell, told the state Supreme Court on Wednesday that the trial court erred when it allowed only part of a taped phone conversation between his client and his parents to be played for the jury.

At the time of the call, Baumhammers was in jail and his mother chastised him after learning that he had given other prisoners newspaper articles about the Confederate flag and a cross burning after signing them.

She also called him a racist, but later, acknowledging that the call was being taped, his parents described him as “crazy.” Whether Baumhammers was a racist or mentally ill was key for the jury, Farrell said.

Justice Max Baer asked whether Baumhammers could be both. Farrell said he could, and that his client’s racist views could stem from his mental illness.

“I think it’s unfortunate that this case was tried as it’s an either-or,” Farrell said.

Farrell also said jurors in the sentencing phase should have been able to hear a doctor’s testimony about Baumhammers’ mental illness. Francesco Nepa, an assistant Allegheny County district attorney, said the doctor testified during the guilt phase that Baumhammers was paranoid-schizophrenic.

Baumhammers is serving at least 112 additional years in prison for 20 other convictions, including ethnic intimidation.