'Craigslist killer' among 2 death row inmates requesting resentencing

Man convicted of killing 2 people with hammer also wants resentencing

Left to right: David Sparre, Raymond Bright
Left to right: David Sparre, Raymond Bright

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – A lawyer for the so-called "Craigslist killer," David Kelsey Sparre, who was convicted of killing a 21-year-old Jacksonville woman he met on the website for sex, is asking for her client's death sentence to be overturned.

Sparre's new counsel, Stacy Biggart, told the Supreme Court her client was represented by incompetent attorneys during his original trial. She argued even though Sparre had at least five lawyers, he got quantity, not quality.

"Mr. Sparre had one death-qualified lawyer who can not take capital cases anymore. He had four other additional lawyers who all jumped on his case, so they could get death qualified," Biggart said. "There was confusion at the evidentiary hearing over who was actually lead, who was fourth chair, who was third chair. This was not a well-oiled machine."

Lawyers missed deadlines. The state called those missed deadlines "harmless error."

Sparre was convicted in the July 2010 killing of Tiara Pool, a Navy wife whose husband was on deployment at the time. Sparre stabbed her 89 times in what he admitted was a thrill killing.

Raymond Bright requests 3rd resentencing

Attorneys for a 63-year-old man convicted of killing two people with a hammer in 2008 are also asking for a third sentencing hearing.

The lawyers said Raymond Bright deserves another chance at life because the trial court discounted arguments that Bright suffered from post-traumatic stress, which resulted from childhood abuse.

Judges seemed skeptical. The state argued the crimes were so horrific, a death sentence was appropriate.

"The defendant took a hammer and bludgeoned both Derrick King and Randall Brown to death," said Assistant Attorney General Lisa Hopkins. "The medical examiner testified that Derrick King suffered more than 38 injuries to his head and 20 to his extremities. He had injuries consistent with defensive wounds and also testified that Mr. Brown had over 20 injuries."

Prosecutors said the victims were killed in what was described as a drug-related dispute.

The court took the case under advisement. Rulings can take one to six months or more for a decision to be made.