After deliberating just four hours, a Pima County jury sentenced a 33-year-old man to death for murdering his sister and her fiancé eight years ago.
According to prosecutors, Shad Armstrong dug a large grave for Farrah Armstrong, 22, and Frank Williams, 25, outside a Three Points trailer, prepared some dropcloths inside the trailer and then shot them twice each with a shotgun.
Armstrong feared he'd go to prison for the rest of his life if his sister turned him in to Oklahoma authorities on parole-violation and burglary charges. He was arrested in Odessa, Texas, seven months after the slayings.
Armstrong showed no visible reaction to the verdict, but Williams' mother, Julie Williams, began to cry quietly and Frank Williams' son, Brenden, 12, broke into smiles.
"You never know what a jury is going to do and I had to prepare for every direction they could go," Julie Williams said. "I think this is as close to justice as we're going to get."
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It was the second time Williams was forced to sit through a penalty phase in the case.
A jury originally convicted Armstrong in December 2000, and a judge sentenced him to death.
But the U.S. Supreme Court later decided that jurors, not judges, should decide the sentences in capital-murder cases.
As a result, a new penalty hearing had to be scheduled.
Last week, the jurors ruled Armstrong should be eligible for the death penalty because he killed more than one person at the same time.
This week, they had to choose whether Armstrong should die by lethal injection or receive a life sentence.
When she attended the first trial, Williams said she was still somewhat numb. This trial was definitely tougher for her.
"I never get to bury Frank. Every time I do, the justice system digs him up again," Williams said.
Defense attorney Dan Cooper said he believes he and fellow attorney Julie Duvall have "numerous excellent issues" for an appeal, which is automatic in capital cases.
"These cases are very hard, very emotional and very difficult for everybody involved, but we very strongly believe Mr. Armstrong should not get the death penalty," Cooper said. "
Cooper and Duvall tried to convince jurors that Armstrong wasn't nurtured as a young child and a "chaotic and dysfunctional" childhood caused him to suffer from profound emotional difficulties.
While not an excuse, the defense attorneys argued his problems make him less culpable for his actions.
Williams told the jury Tuesday that since the murders, she feels as though she's living on one side of a glass wall. She can hear and see what's going on, but she can't participate.
The week she found out she was pregnant with her son, Williams said her mother was involved in a horrific car crash, her husband lost his hand in an industrial accident, her daughter was kidnapped by her ex-husband, her car went up in flames and she was forced to move.
She always thought that week would be the worst of her life — until her son was murdered by Armstrong.
Frank Williams lived life to the fullest, wanting to experience everything, Williams said. He had a great sense of humor and a special bond with animals and he adored Brenden, his son.
She is now Brenden's only family, Williams said.
"I can teach him to be a good person, but I can't teach him to be a man: That's what fathers are for," Williams told the jury.
