Latvian Embassy Asks Leniency for Killer
The Latvian Embassy has asked a judge to spare the life of a man convicted of killing five people of various ethnic groups in a hate-driven shooting rampage.
Richard Baumhammers, 36, who has dual U.S. and Latvian citizenship, was convicted in May in the April 2000 killings.
Allegheny County Judge Jeffrey Manning, who is scheduled to sentence Baumhammers this week, received a letter from the Latvian Embassy asking that Baumhammers not be sentenced to die, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reported. But the judge has no discretion in the case. In Pennsylvania, a jury’s sentencing verdict in a capital case is binding.
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