Capturing emotions from an ax murderers court drama

May 30, 2008
Brian Anthony Hernandez, Cleveland Plain Dealer, Ohio  

Hey gang,

When I was assigned to cover the death penalty sentencing hearings of a Cleveland man who used an ax to kill a couple while they slept, I tried hard to encompass in my stories the FACTUAL truths and the EMOTIONAL truths of the trial from the first hearing to the verdict. Many journalists struggle with the latter, only providing facts and not much more.

Emotions drive good storytelling and incite readers to respond to what we write. My series of three stories in the Cleveland Plain Dealer following this court drama incited more reader responses than any story or series I've written. The day after the verdict, readers responded in masses, filling up my work phone voicemail, my e-mail inbox and comment sections on the Web versions of these stories. Many complemented me on my "well-written stories" - one even said he expects to see my writing on "Dateline" soon - but many just needed a forum to react to what they called a "corrupt justice system."

All of this reminds me of the impact journalism and newspapers have in our society.

Here are the results of my efforts (feel free to comment: bhernand@plaind.com):

Headline: Death penalty hearing upsets victims' family
Subhead: 'See if he makes it to the elevator alive'

Richard Messina Jr. didn't want to wait Tuesday for a three-judge panel to decide if his father's killer should be sentenced to death.

"The best way to deal with this is to let him walk out of the courtroom without security and see if he makes it to the elevator alive," Messina said after the first day of a hearing to decide a punishment for Carlos Christopher.

Christopher, 20, of Cleveland, robbed and beat Richard Messina Sr. and Sandra Cover to death with an ax last summer in the couple's South Euclid home. A panel of three Cuyahoga County Common Pleas judges convicted Christopher last week of aggravated murder. They reconvened Tuesday to hear arguments on why he deserved to live.

Continue reading story here: http://www.cleveland.com/plaindealer/stories/index.ssf?/base/iscri/1211974208101560.xml&coll=2

Headline: Capturing emotions from an ax murderer's court drama

Carlos Christopher glanced at the families of the couple he brutally beat to death with an ax, then slouched in his chair at the witness stand Wednesday morning.

He looked away from their menacing stares as he prepared to offer an apology for his crimes.

"I want to say I'm sorry for causing so much trouble and pain," he said.

Many of the victims' relatives sobbed during the statement, and Richard Messina Jr., one of the victim's children, turned red in the face and dropped his head in his hands.

Continue reading story here: http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2008/05/carlos_christopher_apologizes.html

Headline: Ax murderer spared death penalty

Carlos Christopher found mercy in a Cuyahoga County courtroom Wednesday, but not forgiveness.

A three-judge panel spared him from a death sentence for robbing and killing a South Euclid couple in their home.

But the 20-year-old Christopher must spend the rest of his life in prison, with no hope for parole.

The decision brought a measure of relief to some of the victims' family members. Others left bitter.

Christopher used an ax to murder Richard Messina Sr. and Sandra Cover on July 29 while they slept.

"God may forgive him, but my family will not," Cover's sister Brenda Gregory told the judges before they sent Christopher to prison. "He will never see the light of freedom again, and I thank you for that."

Richard Messina Jr. told the judges he was disappointed with the decision.

"My dad wasn't given mercy," he said, breathing heavily. "While his adopted mother will get to visit him in jail, we get to visit a grave."

Continue reading story here: http://www.cleveland.com/plaindealer/stories/index.ssf?/base/cuyahoga/1212049911154220.xml&coll=2

 

Brian Anthony Hernandez
Brian Anthony Hernandez will be a fifth-year senior news-editorial major next fall, at which time he'll be the editor in chief of the Daily Nebraskan. Hernandez is a reporting intern at the Cleveland Plain Dealer. Brian also has worked stints for the New York Times and Scottsbluff Star-Herald. He also has interned at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Des Moines Register and Lincoln Journal Star as a reporter, copy editor and page designer. Email Me, View All Brian's Entries