Jury Grants Edwards’ Death Sentence Wish

Thomas F. Edwards apparently got his wish without even asking Thursday: a Superior Court jury fixed his punishment at death for the murder of a 12-year-old girl in the Cleveland National Forest four years ago.

Acting as his own attorney, Edwards asked only one minor question of a prosecution witness, rested his case without presenting a defense and declined to make a closing argument to jurors.

Edwards reportedly told friends that he wants to die for fatally shooting Vanessa Iberri of Lake Elsinore and wounding her 12-year-old friend, Kelly Cartier. Edwards shot the girls through the window of his pickup truck along a path near the Blue Jay Campground on Sept. 19, 1981.

Iberri was killed instantly by a bullet which struck her between the eyes. Cartier survived an operation for a bullet wound to the side of her head and was the key witness against the 41-year-old Edwards.

Admitted Shootings

Edwards was arrested in Maryland nine days later and quickly admitted the shootings but offered no explanation why he committed the crime.

He was convicted of first-degree murder three years ago, but jurors split 9 to 3 in favor of the death penalty, forcing a new penalty trial.

Edwards then fired his attorneys from the Orange County public defender’s office and asked Superior Court Judge James F. Judge to sentence him to death without a penalty trial. Judge refused but did permit Edwards to serve as his own attorney.

Edwards offered the jurors no explanation for the shooting. He reportedly told friends he thinks he deserves the death penalty.

“Thomas knows God forgives him, but he can’t forgive himself,” said Shirley Pizzuto of Garden Grove, a close friend of Edwards. “He thinks death is the only thing to set him free of his tremendous guilt.”

‘Tragic’ Decision

Deputy Public Defender Michael Giannini, who represented Edwards at the first trial, said Edwards’ decision not to fight the death penalty was “a tragedy.”

“If you look at all the factors of this man’s life, what he was going through at the time of the shootings, you get a different view of him,” Giannini said. “He should be put away for the protection of society. But the death penalty? Not in this case.”

Edwards has reportedly told friends he was despondent over the breakup of his marriage at the time he shot the two little girls. He said he had been drinking and smoking marijuana that day and doesn’t remember the actual shootings.

Giannini said he hopes to be reinstated in time to represent Edwards at his sentencing, scheduled for July 12.

Deputy Dist. Atty. John Conley said he had no qualms about seeking the death penalty against Edwards.

“I’ve had cases where I’ve chosen not to seek the death penalty, but there is no question that Edwards is really a bad person,” Conley said. “The death penalty is right for this case.”

Despite Edwards’ lack of opposition to a death verdict, Conley said jurors told him they carefully considered whether to give him the lesser sentence, considering that some kind of mental deficiency might explain the shootings. But in the end, Conley said they told him, the horror of the crime outweighed any mitigating circumstances.