NATION : Death Sentence Voided for Woman Who Killed Bible Teacher at Age 15
Paula R. Cooper, convicted of a murder committed when she was 15, cannot be executed, the Indiana Supreme Court ruled today in a case that has drawn international attention.
The court unanimously upheld Cooper’s conviction in the 1985 stabbing death of an elderly Bible teacher but said she should be sentenced to 60 years in prison.
Cooper has become a figurehead for the international campaign against capital punishment, and in 1987 Pope John Paul II appealed for mercy on her behalf.
The court based its decision on a 1987 change in Indiana law raising the minimum age for a death penalty defendant from 10 to 16 and on a 1988 U.S. Supreme Court decision barring executions of juveniles under 16 at the time of the crime. But the court said, “This is a difficult conclusion to reach because of the gruesome nature of Cooper’s acts.”
Cooper pleaded guilty to the stabbing death of Ruth E. Pelke, 78, a retired Bible teacher in Gary. According to court records, Pelke was stabbed 33 times after Cooper and three friends broke into her home to get money and jewelry. The three other young women received prison terms ranging from 25 to 60 years.
Cooper, now 18, will be eligible to apply for parole after serving half of the 60-year sentence.
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