Cates trial nh

Jaimie, now 12, survived by pretending to be dead, then staggered, covered in blood, to a kitchen phone to call police. A doctor testified she would have died of a punctured lung if she had lost consciousness before summoning help.

Blows that cut off portions of Jaimie's left foot, split open her head and struck her face with enough force to break her jaw had to have come from a heavy and sharp weapon such as a machete, several doctors testified. During the trial, defense attorney Jonathan Cohen assailed the credibility of three co-defendants who brokered plea deals and testified against Spader. He suggested they, not Spader, were involved in the attacks. The jury found Spader guilty of both premeditated murder and intentional murder during the commission of a burglary.

It also found him guilty of attempted murder, conspiracy to commit both murder and burglary, and tampering with a witness.

It makes for a difficult task for any juror. The attorney general and the defense lawyers agree that the man or woman is insane and the judge declares a sentence. Phillips killed his grandfather, Franklin Phillips, with an ax and set his house on fire in December Most cases of men and women pleading not guilty by reason of insanity that went to trial in New Hampshire have led to convictions. Sheila LaBarre, of Exeter, attempted an insanity defense in , but was declared sane and convicted of murdering two men and disposing of their bodies on her farm.

Robert Tulloch also tried pleading the insanity defense for his role in the Dartmouth murders in Etna in , but he, too, was convicted. Gary Place was convicted of first-degree murder in after strangling and stabbing his wife in Concord, despite pleading not guilty by reason of insanity.

Now he does not travel because his daughter, who is now years-old, needs him to be home and that he needs to be with her. Cates said he and his wife, Kimberly, were married in Jaimie is their only child. He told the court she was very close with her mother. His voice broke with emotion when he was asked to identify pictures of his wife and daughter.

He was also shown items that were stolen from his home the night of attack — jewelry boxes, a necklace and his old wallet. The prosecutor also asked him if he had given murder defendant Steven Spader permission to be in the Cates home that night. David Cates said no.