Slain woman's relatives stand by death penalty
Toolbox
By Alan J. Keays Herald Staff - Published: May 12, 2005
As foes of the death penalty gear up to protest at the upcoming trial of Donald Fell, the family of the North Clarendon woman he is charged with killing is not wavering in their support of capital punishment in the case.
Fell, 25, is facing the possibility of the death penalty for his alleged role in the Nov. 27, 2000, killing of Tressa King, 53, of North Clarendon. Jury selection in the case is currently under way in U.S. District Court in Burlington and the trial is set to begin once a jury is seated.
Activists from several organizations, including the Vermont chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, announced this week they are planning a noontime vigil on May 18 outside the federal courthouse as a first step in expressing their death penalty opposition.
King's family members said they would ask supporters of the death penalty in the case to show up and let their voices be heard, too.
"I think that anyone who knew my mother or at least thinks that justice in this case is the death penalty, we would like them to please show up," Lori Hibbard of Rutland, King's daughter, said Wednesday. "Any way we could get support for our side would be nice to have."
The trial is expected to start sometime between mid-June and early July, after a 12-member jury and additional alternates are selected. The trial would be the first in Vermont carrying the possibility of the death penalty in nearly 50 years.
If the jury convicts Fell of the charges that carry the death penalty, a second "death penalty phase" will take place. At the end of that phase, the same jurors will be asked whether Fell should be executed for his crime.
Hibbard is one of several King family members who traveled to Burlington to attend the numerous court hearings in the case over the past four years leading up to the jury selection process.
She said she doesn't plan to hide from those outside the courthouse opposing the death penalty at the vigil next week.
"We're going to walk out front of the courthouse like we normally do. I'm not going to hide or go out the back door. This is America. They are entitled to their opinion," Hibbard said of the potential death penalty protesters. "Everybody has their own opinion and they are free to voice it … I want to be doing the same thing on the opposite side."
She added that reports of protests against the death penalty haven't caused her to waver in her support for capital punishment in the case.
Hibbard talked about the brutal nature of the crime, during which her mother was begging for her life as she was beaten to death in upstate New York.
"I don't support the death penalty in all cases. I think it should be used in some cases," Hibbard said. "I think in this case justice is the death penalty."
Karen Worcester of East Wallingford, Hibbard's sister and King's daughter, agreed.
"I am certainly for the death penalty, but not in all cases," Worcester said Wednesday. "I think in this case, it's justice. There is no question in our mind for what he did, this would be the only justice."
Worcester said her family doesn't intend to confront those outside the courthouse opposing the death penalty. But, they won't change her opinion on the death penalty.
"It's freedom of speech. They have a right to do it," Worcester said of the protesters. "Sometimes I feel until something like this happens to you, you never know who you would react … If they sat in our shoes for a day and saw what happened and knew what happened they might feel differently about it."
The potential for the death penalty stems from Fell's alleged killing spree that led to the death of the three people, including Fell's own mother and another man in Rutland.
Federal prosecutors have taken jurisdiction in King's case because Fell and the late Robert Lee allegedly carjacked and kidnapped King as she arrived to work in Rutland early on the morning of Nov. 27, 2000, driving her across state lines into New York, and beating her to death as she pleaded for her life.
Fell and Lee were arrested three days later driving in King's car in Arkansas. Fell has been jailed since his arrest. Lee hanged himself in a prison cell in September 2001.
U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft in 2002 rejected a plea deal that would have spared Fell's life.
The deal would have required Fell to plead guilty to charges of kidnapping with death resulting in exchange for a lifetime jail sentence with no chance for parole.
Several of King's family members sent letters and copies of petitions supporting the death penalty in Vermont to Ashcroft to help sway him to seek Fell's execution.
Contact Alan J. Keays at alan.keays@rutlandherald.com.
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