24th December, 2010
A jury has sentenced a father and son to death for planting a bomb inside an Oregon bank which killed two police officers and maimed a third, the Daily Mail reports.
In a three-month trial, prosecutors portrayed Bruce and Joshua Turnidge as bigoted men who hated authorities, were desperate for money and feared that newly elected President Barack Obama would take away their guns.
They were convicted on 8 December on 18 counts each of aggravated murder and other charges in the December 2008 bombing at a bank in Woodburn.
Father and son maintained their innocence and turned on each other during the trial, pointing the finger at the other for building and planting the bomb.
Prosecuters urged jurors to sentence the men to death to prevent them from endangering prison staff or preaching their hatred for authorities to young inmates who could later be released.
As convicted police killers, the Turnidges will be popular in prison, they claimed.
Witnesses testified that Bruce Turnidge, 59, had previously hatched detailed plans to kill people he did not like and once fantasised about killing then President Bill Clinton.
Courtland Geyer, prosecuting, said the a death sentence would mean ‘safety from crimes that lurk inside the mind of Bruce Turnidge’.
Joshua Turnidge, 34, was portrayed as selfish and hostile to jail staff.
Sergeant Megan Gonzalez said he drew a swastika over a U.S. flag on a postcard showing the jail facility and wrote ‘pigs for sale!’, ‘human rights?’ and ‘gas chamber’ on it before trying to post it.
The court heard that father and son exulted in the Oklahoma City bombing, and the older man viewed Timothy McVeigh as a hero.
Defence lawyers said the men would want to behave well in prison so they could continue seeing visitors.
Evelyn Knight, Bruce Turnidge’s mother, testified that a death sentence would be devastating for Joshua’s 12-year-old daughter, who is now in the custody of her grandparents.
Steven Gorham, defending, added: “No child should be left without a parent. Not the survivors’ children, not Joshua Turnidge’s children.â€
The men were convicted after prosecuters argued that the Turnidges had fantasies of building bombs, robbing banks and starting an anti-government militia.
They came up with the bank robbery plan because they needed money to keep their struggling biodiesel company afloat. Witnesses said the Bruce Turnidge wanted to live in a tent city with people who shared his political beliefs, but could not get money to build an arms stockpile for a militia.
He did not give evidence, and family members denied he hated police or held extremist political views.
Joshua Turnidge said he had bought two mobile phones and materials used to build the bomb, but was unaware his father planned to use them to rob a bank.
He claimed he only realised what was happening after hearing his father muttering that no one was supposed to get hurt.
The death sentence will be automatically appealed to the Oregon Supreme Court, starting a judicial review that could last decades.
Since 1962, only two condemned inmates have been executed in Oregon – both of whom gave up their appeals.
The state has 34 men on death row, including some who were sentenced more than 20 years ago.
