One of two men linked to the 1999 slayings of three Pizza Hut employees now has two more natural-life sentences tacked onto the life sentence he is already serving.
Pima County Superior Court Judge Frank Dawley decided Friday that Kajornsak "Tom" Prasertphong did not deserve a chance at parole, after taking into consideration the facts of the case, listening to the victims' family members and reading a six-inch-thick binder filled with doctors' reports and other mitigation evidence presented by Prasertphong's attorneys.
Prasertphong used his opportunity to speak to cast aspersions on his newest attorney and to profess his innocence.
He said he only went to the Pizza Hut because he had a craving for hot wings.
"For the record, I am not the shooter, nor did I have a gun on me," Prasertphong said. "My intention was to eat, pay and leave."
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Prasertphong and Christopher "Bo" Huerstel were accused of fatally shooting Robert Curry, 44, Melissa Moniz, 20, and James Bloxham, 17, during a robbery attempt at an East Side Pizza Hut.
Prasertphong, 19 at the time of the slayings, and Huerstel, then 17, were convicted and sentenced to death for killing Moniz and Bloxham, and to life without parole in Curry's death.
Huerstel's conviction was overturned and his second trial ended with an acquittal for first-degree murder. Prosecutors hope to convict him of second-degree murder at his next trial early next year.
Prasertphong's death sentences were overturned when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that juries, not judges, should render sentences in death-penalty cases.
Prosecutors decided not to seek the death penalty for Prasertphong again, leaving Dawley only two options — life with or without the possibility of parole.
During both his trials, Huerstel testified that he was in the restroom when he heard gunshots. When he came out, Huerstel said, Prasertphong was trying to snap Moniz's neck, having already shot her, Curry and Bloxham.
Prasertphong told detectives Huerstel started shooting everyone while he, Prasertphong, was in the bathroom. He admitted he tried to break Moniz's neck, because she was still breathing. Huerstel, he said, then shot her twice more.
Four of the victims' relatives spoke to Dawley before he pronounced sentence — Jim Spaulding, Moniz's stepfather; Michelle Convie, her aunt; and Dan and Barbara Bloxham, Bloxham's parents.
Both Spaulding and Convie spoke of the deep pain Prasertphong has caused their family.
Convie told Prasertphong, "I want you to live the rest of your life remembering your hands around her neck." Dan Bloxham spoke of his son's love of animals and his dream of becoming a pilot or aircraft mechanic. Barbara Bloxham told Prasertphong she wants him to wake up every day knowing he's a nobody.
Contact Kim Smith at 573-4241 or kimsmith@azstarnet .com.
