Trial
Hitner pleaded guilty to first-degree murder, and in May 1971 was sentenced to 30 years, with 5 stayed based on his having testified at trial against Comeau, who was convicted and given 30 years. Debra Mattingly, for her part, was sent to a juvenile institution in Florida, after being found mentally incompetent to stand trial in adult court. She was later deprived of any interest in her father's estate as a result of a legal suit filed against her by her brother. Truax, who claimed she had been horrified by these events (notwithstanding testimony that she had talked about being a "witch" at the time and had been an accessory), escaped prosecution, after testifying at trial against Comeau. Hitner later claimed to have embraced Christianity, and attributed his behavior in a statement at sentencing to his experience as a killer in Vietnam, combined with his abuse of LSD, which had made him think he was killing a Viet Cong, as part of a mindset that had given him a depraved indifference to human life.
Read more about this topic: Richard Mattingly Murder Case
Famous quotes containing the word trial:
“A trial cannot be conducted by announcing the general culpability of a civilization. Only the actual deeds which, at least, stank in the nostrils of the entire world were brought to judgment.”
—Albert Camus (1913–1960)
“You may talk about Free Love, if you please, but we are to have the right to vote. To-day we are fined, imprisoned, and hanged, without a jury trial by our peers. You shall not cheat us by getting us off to talk about something else. When we get the suffrage, then you may taunt us with anything you please, and we will then talk about it as long as you please.”
—Lucy Stone (1818–1893)
“In government offices which are sensitive to the vehemence and passion of mass sentiment public men have no sure tenure. They are in effect perpetual office seekers, always on trial for their political lives, always required to court their restless constituents.”
—Walter Lippmann (1889–1974)