Salvi Convicted of 2 Abortion Clinic Murders

A jury rejected the insanity defense of John C. Salvi on Monday, finding the 24-year-old hairdresser guilty of first-degree murder in the slayings of two abortion clinic workers.

Salvi was automatically sentenced to two consecutive life terms in prison plus 100 years for murdering Shannon Lowney, 25, and Leanne Nichols, 38, and assaults against five other people during attacks he staged in rapid succession on two Brookline, Mass., abortion clinics on Dec. 30, 1994. Under Massachusetts law, which does not have a death penalty, he will not be eligible for parole.

The shootings, which shocked the nation and inflamed the bitter debate over abortion, left a residue of sorrow and anger more than 14 months later in Superior Court in suburban Dedham where the trial was held.

Several members of the jury wept and Patricia Shea, the forewoman, had to be supported by a bailiff, as she whispered, “Guilty,” to the first of the charges against Salvi. Later, she apologized and responded, “Yes,” in a firmer voice as the clerk asked whether he was guilty.

Salvi’s mother sat sobbing, supported in her husband’s arms. But her only son showed no emotion when the jury of six men and six women, concluding a six-week trial, found him guilty of murder “with extreme atrocity and cruelty.”

As Shea spoke and later, as the jury was polled, Salvi stood quietly, staring vacantly. Sometimes, he bowed his head.

Ruth Nichols, whose daughter was slain, spoke directly to the defendant before the sentence was officially imposed.

“Her last words were screaming, ‘No, no, no,’ as you pumped 10 bullets into her body,” Nichols said. “You shot her in the back and that’s cowardly. You were a little man with a big gun.

“Now you go to prison. Without hesitation, I hope you have sheer misery every day of your life. I hope and request that every Dec. 30, they put you in solitary confinement.”

David Keene, who was Shannon Lowney’s fiance, tearfully said, “The life I had is gone. The most caring, loving person I ever met is no longer with me. I cannot express to you in words what that feels like.”

Salvi also spoke to the court following the verdict.

“I do have quite a few statements and speeches I’d like to address the general population about,” he told Judge Barbara Dortch-Okara, requesting the opportunity to be interviewed so he could reach the public. The judge said that would be up to prison officials.

The jury rejected testimony from 29 witnesses that Salvi was a delusional paranoid schizophrenic and was insane when he committed the killings. Defense lawyers acknowledged he was the shooter.

The defense argued that Salvi believed he was protecting Catholics in the world against a massive conspiracy that included members of the Ku Klux Klan, the Mafia and the Freemasons.

These views were spelled out to the jury during a rambling two-hour videotaped interview with a defense psychiatrist, who also testified that Salvi suffered from hallucinations and delusions during the shootings and the months leading up to the slayings.

Prosecutors argued that Salvi had odd beliefs, but that the case really added up to premeditated murder.

Testifying for the prosecution, Joel Haycock, a state psychologist, argued that Salvi had purposely avoided discussing the murders during interviews and was “quite capable of putting people on” when it came to mental illness.

That theme was reinforced when prosecutor John Kivlan delivered his closing argument to the jury.

Kivlan said that while Salvi had strange beliefs, “every terrorist who commits an atrocious murder has strange beliefs.”

“Should we excuse them all?” Kivlan asked, stressing that the murders were carried out at point-blank range “with deliberate cruelty.”

Witnesses testified that Salvi screamed, “This is what you get! You should pray the rosary,” as he shot Nichols 10 times.

More than 400 exhibits and the testimony of 111 witnesses were presented to the jury during the trial.

Kivlan showed that Salvi purchased a .22-caliber Sturm Ruger semiautomatic rifle and customized it with a folding stock and pistol grip. Near his home in Hampton, N.H., Salvi purchased 1,000 hollow-tip bullets, designed to maximize injuries to human victims.

Salvi’s lead defense attorney, J. W. Carney Jr., indicated he would appeal the verdict based in part on the judge’s refusal to allow Salvi to testify. In the closing moments of the trial, Carney had asserted Salvi’s right to testify, but the lawyer tried to limit the areas in which the prosecution could cross-examine him, so the judge turned him down.

Carney said the judge rejected the request in her chambers because she believed Salvi merely would talk about his belief in a worldwide anti-Catholic conspiracy.

“She said if he could not be expected to testify relevantly, he would not be allowed to take the stand,” the defense lawyer told reporters.

Under Massachusetts law, appeal is automatic for a conviction of first-degree murder.

Salvi was charged with slaying Nichols, a receptionist at Preterm Health Services, and Lowney, a receptionist at Planned Parenthood, and wounding five other people in incidents that occurred within minutes at the clinics.

Melissa Kogut, executive director of Mass NARAL, the state chapter of the National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League, said: “We are relieved about the jury’s verdict today. It feels like the end of a chapter. And it also sends a strong message that no matter what a person’s personal views about abortion, there is not a license to kill or intimidate women and their doctors.”

Although the prosecution presented evidence that Salvi had attended meetings of abortion opponents and had many antiabortion pamphlets, the trial never showed that Salvi had any links to the organized antiabortion movement.

Kogut said the shootings had prompted some of those on both sides of the issue in Massachusetts to search for ways to carry on the debate in a less-charged way.

“There’s been a discussion on both sides of the issue about the topic of rhetoric. I think it’s important to continue that discussion,” she said.

Madeleine McComish, president of Massachusetts Citizens for Life, agreed that there had been a softening of language in the abortion debate spurred by the Salvi killings.

“It’s been a painful time for everybody. I think both sides have been trying very hard to be considerate,” she said.

“The first thing I said on that terrible day, that I don’t care what this person says, he was not pro-life,” she said. “Anyone who deliberately takes the life of another human being is not pro-life. And that’s exactly the way it is. He may be ill, but he’s not pro-life.”

Laidler reported from Boston and Goldman from New York.