Jury Deciding Sentence to See Troiani’s Poetry

A collection of jailhouse poetry by convicted murderer Laura Troiani will be presented to the jury to help it decide whether she should be sentenced to the gas chamber for the slaying of her husband three years ago.

Superior Court Judge Gilbert Nares on Wednesday allowed the admission of the poetry as evidence of Troiani’s state of mind in jail, but only after noting that the works are a “double-edged sword” that could work against her.

“The statements are entirely inconsistent and contrary to the character of the writer,” Nares said outside the presence of the jury. He added as an aside, “This isn’t exactly the greatest collection of poems I’ve seen in a long time.”

Nonetheless, the poetry will serve as the only public thoughts presented by Troiani in the course of the prolonged murder trial and penalty phase, since she has not taken the stand in her own defense.

Troiani, 26 and the mother of two small children who now live in a foster home, was convicted last month of hiring five Marines for $500 each to kill her husband of five years, so that she could collect his life insurance and continue a romance with one of the co-defendants.

She was found guilty of luring her husband, Marine Staff Sgt. Carlo Troiani, to a desolate stretch of road in Oceanside on the pretense of having car trouble. He was shot from behind and killed. The jury determined that there were special circumstances in the murder, because her husband was killed for financial gain and by lying in wait. Now, that same jury will decide whether Troiani should be executed in the gas chamber or--the only other option--be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Most of the six poems by Troiani reflect on parenting and the beauty of children and butterflies, but one apparently is a reflection on her own state of affairs.

In that poem, titled “Shattered Being,” Troiani wrote:

It’s been oh so long since someone comforted me.

Why does no one take time to care? Is it really a shame if you cry, unashamed, unafraid but feeling oh so alone?

Needing to be heard, but turned off.

Grasping for a reason, desperate, completely isolated.

Frantic, frightened, abandoned, wishing and needing to be forgiven.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Phil Walden put Nares and the defense on notice that he would argue to the jury in his closing arguments Monday that Troiani wrote the poetry in a deliberate attempt to win the jurors’ sympathy.

“It was manufactured . . . to delude the people about what the truth is” so that the jurors “would be sympathetic to her and not put her in the gas chamber,” Walden said.

He suggested that the poems were written by Troiani in a manipulative attempt to “talk to the jury” without having to take the witness stand and then face cross-examination.

Co-prosecutor Paul Pfingst further alleged that there was no clear evidence that Troiani authored the poems, even through they were in her handwriting, and that she may have been prompted or tutored by psychologists for the defense.

“We don’t know who (wrote them), when or why. We’re more skeptical than the defense,” Pfingst said.

“We’re going to suggest that this entire defense is manufactured,” Walden said, “and that Laura Troiani lied to them (jurors) the same way she lied to the Oceanside Police Department” when she initially denied any knowledge or complicity in the murder.

‘Reasons of Life’

Defense attorney Geraldine Russell characterized the prosecution’s claims as “absurd,” adding, “We’re asking the jury to see another side of the person. The prosecution only wants them to see her in the worst light.”

Pfingst countered that there has been no evidence that Troiani wrote poetry before her arrest and said her motive was self-serving. “She is perfectly entitled to write poetry while in custody,” Russell replied.

In a poem titled, “Reasons of Life” and dated Feb. 21--before her trial began--Troiani wrote:

Life is supposed to be filled with happiness, love, joy and sincerity.

A pleasure for those who know how to respect what doesn’t come easy.

Memories surrounded by warm blossoms in full bloom.

Waterfalls cascading beneath a never-ending rainbow.

Sunshine after a spring shower.

Gentle laughter, sweet to hear, ringing thru-out (sic) the quiet horizon.

This is the reason the heart continues to beat,

For we know without the beauty we share, life would only be a forgotten tear, that slowly falls from sadness;

Instead of a completed portrait covered in the brighter colors resembling a perfect ending!

In “Children” she wrote:

God gives children as presents to nurture and love.

Children bring happiness and cheer you up at times of gloom.

Children make an empty house into a home.

Children are full of life and know how to love.

Children bring the kid out of adults and keep us young.

Children bring happiness and warmth.

Children make a rainy day sunny.

Children are special.

Children are angels sent from heaven.

In “Daddy,” she wrote, “Daddys are a special breed of humans . . . A daddy is your true friend, your best friend . . . A daddy is someone to love and honor.”

Troiani’s father abandoned her and her family when she was 7 years old because he was disillusioned and frustrated with the family’s home life, according to trial testimony.

In “Mothers,” Troiani wrote, “God put special things on earth, and one is Mothers. Mothers are rare, genuine, and very hard to understand. Mothers place themselves at the bottom of priority lists.”

Nares and attorneys for both sides will spend today outside the jury’s presence to write final jury instructions. The prosecution called no witnesses on its behalf during the penalty phase, saying instead that it would ask the jurors to recall the testimony of those witnesses who appeared during the guilt phase of the trial.

Closing arguments are scheduled to be given Monday morning, and the question of whether Troiani should be put to death may go to the jury by noon Monday.