Connecticut Debates a Death Wish

Five times in six days, Michael Bruce Ross was minutes away from death by lethal injection. Execution postponements are routine while death row inmates appeal their fates.

But Ross stands out because he refused to pursue legal avenues that might prolong his life. The 45-year-old serial killer has said -- over and over -- that he wants to die.

The delays have roiled this state, where polls show most residents support capital punishment.

“If they put this to a vote of the people of Connecticut, 80% to 90% would say: ‘Execute him now,’ ” said Gene Smith, owner of Judy’s Country Store in Stafford.

“He killed people. He killed eight people,” Smith said. “I think what they should do is put it out to bid on who would like to give him the lethal injection. I’d be right up there.”

Most of Ross’ victims, who ranged in age from 14 to 25, had been raped before they were killed.

Ross, a Cornell University graduate who confessed to murdering eight young women in Connecticut and New York in the early 1980s, fired the public defense lawyers who wanted to fight his death sentence. He bypassed appeals that might have kept him alive another 10 years or more. He even planned his funeral, hoping it would take place in the spring, when the weather would be better for mourners.

But a federal judge Monday stopped the clock on what was scheduled to be New England’s first execution in 45 years. U.S. District Judge Robert N. Chatigny said he was troubled by previously overlooked evidence that suggested Ross was not mentally competent. Chatigny said material indicating that Ross was suffering from despair brought on by harsh death row living conditions had not been properly investigated.

“I see this happening, and I can’t live with it myself,” Chatigny said in a telephone conference Friday with Ross’ lawyer, T.R. Paulding. Transcripts of the call were made available by the court.

In the call, Chatigny chastised Paulding for going along with Ross’ wish to die. “What you are doing is terribly, terribly wrong,” the judge said. “No matter how well motivated you are, you have a client whose competence is in serious doubt.”

Paulding did not return calls to his office for comment.

Ross was first scheduled to die Jan. 26. But a fast-paced series of court challenges put the execution on hold.

He was about an hour from execution -- at 2:01 a.m. Saturday -- when his lawyer requested a postponement, citing a “potential conflict of interest” in his representation. He did not elaborate. The execution was rescheduled for 9 p.m. Monday. But that date was canceled after Ross agreed to have his competency examined.

Now prosecutors must prove that the former insurance salesman is mentally competent, and the state must seek a new death warrant. The process could move any decision on executing Ross into March, or later if the appeals process drags out.

Connecticut Atty. Gen. Richard Blumenthal has promised to move forward with execution plans. “This state is prepared to enforce a lawful sentence and conviction, and assure justice for the victims’ families and state citizens,” he said.

Blumenthal said a hearing would take place today to determine whether Paulding would be permitted to continue as Ross’ lawyer.

The heinous nature of Ross’ crimes was one reason Kathleen Lisiewski was impatient for the execution to proceed.

“I am a proponent of the death penalty, especially in the case of serial killers,” said Lisiewski, manager of the Travelers Book Cellar in Union. Lisiewski said she advocated “a limit on the number of years that anyone can be on death row,” adding: “The emotional toll that this case is taking on everyone involved -- the victims’ families, Ross’ family and Ross himself -- is just beyond the pale.”

Pat Jones, presiding over a going-out-of-business sale at her gift shop in this town in northern Connecticut, expressed concern for the victims’ families and irritation with the process that had prolonged Ross’ life.

Ross has issued several statements in recent years, claiming he thought his death would provide solace to the families of his victims. But in a 1998 letter to a journalist, he elaborated on his motive for seeking to be executed.

“The truth is I was driven more by a desire to end my own pain than out of a noble cause,” Ross wrote. “However, I knew that I couldn’t say that publicly, so I denied my own desire to leave this world and played on the noble cause of protecting the families of my victims.”

In a letter in 2003 to some of his supporters, Ross wrote: “I now understand why 12% of the men executed in this country were men who gave up their appeals and ‘volunteered’ for execution. If I can ever get past the mandatory state appeal, I will do it myself.”

Ross has been in prison for 21 years, 18 on death row. He is one of seven people on death row in Connecticut, where no one has been executed since 1960.