Jun 2, 2009 10:57 am US/Eastern
Death Row's Marek Fights For Life In Broward Court
Marek's Execution Had Been Scheduled For May 13th
Justices Stayed Execution In Order To Hear New Evidence
Marek Was Convicted Of Kidnapping, Raping & Strangling A Woman In 1993.
FORT LAUDERDALE (CBS4) ―
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The Supreme Court issued a stay of execution for John Marek in order to hear new evidence in the case.
CBS
It's the second day of an evidentiary hearing for convicted killer Richard Marek, who is fighting for his life in a Broward Circuit courtroom.
Marek was scheduled to die by lethal injection at Florida State Prison last month, but was granted a stay of execution so his lawyers could present new evidence that Marek did not kill Adella Simmons more than two decades ago.
Three prison inmates testified in court Monday that Marek's co-defendant, Raymond Wigley, confessed to being the actual killer in the 1983 murder that led to Marek's death sentence. All three inmates were previous cellmates of Wigley's.
One of the inmates, Jesse Bannerman, said Wigley told him he had murdered before and would do it again.
"He told me how he did this out of fear, that she would be able to identify him later on, and he said that he had no other choice," Bannerman testified.
In 1983, Marek and Wigley were convicted of kidnapping, raping and strangling Adella Marie Simmons after her car broke down on Florida's Turnpike. Marek and Wigley stopped and persuaded Simmons to ride with them to a service station. They instead took her to a beach about 60 miles away where she was strangled with a bandanna after being sexually assaulted. Her body was found in a lifeguard shack on Dania Beach.
When they were caught by police, Wigley confessed, but said it was Marek who strangled Simmons.
Wigley was sentenced to life in prison and Marek received the death penalty. Marek has been on death row for 25 years. Wigley, meantime, died in prison in 2000. Ironically, he was strangled by a fellow inmate.
Prosecutors argue now that the bandanna used to strangle Simmons belonged to Marek and Wigley might have been exaggerating his role to gain credibility in prison.
Marek's lawyers will continue presenting evidence Tuesday.
Circuit Judge Jeffrey Levenson is expected to decide within the next three weeks whether Marek should get a new trial, have his sentence reduced, or uphold the sentence of capital punishment.
CBS4'S Carey Codd contributed to this report.
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