Zito
guilty in officers' killings.
Jurors find Centreville
man criminally responsible, convict him on 12 counts of murder and
assault
By Randall Chase
The Associated Press
May 24, 2002, 3:00 PM EDT
SALISBURY -- A jury today found Francis Zito guilty of killing two
Eastern Shore police officers on the porch of his Centreville trailer in
February 2001.
The jury found Zito, 43, guilty on 12 counts of murder and assault. He
was found criminally responsible for the crimes.
Zito was found guilty of two counts of first-degree murder, one count of
attempted first-degree murder, three counts of first-degree assault,
three counts of second-degree assault and three counts of reckless
endangerment.
Zito showed no emotion as the verdict was read. He stood up straight and
stared at the jury.
Prosecutors said they planned to seek the death penalty in the case.
The sentencing phase of the trial was scheduled to begin Wednesday in
Wicomico County Circuit Court.
Family members and friends of Queen Anne's County Sheriff’s Deputy
Jason Schwenz and Centreville Police Officer Michael Nickerson cried and
slapped each other on the back after the verdict was read.
Among those weeping were Centreville Police Chief Ben Cohey and Queen
Anne Sheriff Charles Crossley.
Zito's lawyers had argued he was not criminally responsible for the
killings due to his illness -- diagnosed most frequently as schizo-affective
disorder bipolar type.
If the jury had found him not criminally responsible -- meaning he could
not appreciate the wrongfulness of his actions or do anything to stop
them because of his mental disorder -- Zito would have been placed in
the custody of the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. On
Thursday, lawyers gave final arguments before a packed courtroom, which
included State Trooper Corey Skidmore, who was with the officers at the
time of the shooting. Police had first gone to Zito's trailer because a
neighbor had called to complain Zito was playing loud music. According
to testimony, the officers entered Zito's porch and opened his door when
he refused to come outside.
The trial was moved to Salisbury because of pretrial publicity. The jury
sent a note Thursday to the judge, asking if it would need to consider
convicting Zito of second-degree murder or manslaughter if it were to
vote to convict Zito of first-degree murder.
The judge discussed the question with attorneys for both sides, who
agreed a first-degree murder conviction would mean the jury did not need
to consider the possibility of conviction on the lesser counts. The
judge planned to write a supplemental instruction to the jury.
In closing remarks, defense attorney Brian Shefferman explained Zito had
a long-standing paranoid delusion that people -- including the police --
are out to get him. Shefferman called a "siege mentality."
Police were "throwing gasoline on the fire" when they broke
Zito’s storm window and opened his door, Shefferman said, causing him
to respond with extreme anger borne of violent mood swings and paranoid
schizophrenia.
"For Frank Zito with his mental illness, this is his worst
nightmare," Shefferman said.
At one point in Shefferman’s statements, Zito blurted out a comment
about police "stalking and falsely arresting me. That’s what I
was up against."
Prosecutors countered Zito has manipulated the story of what happened,
claiming he was afraid police were going to steal his writings or try to
kill him.
"These excuses had one goal in mind -- that you might believe one
of them, and he might get off," said Queen Anne’s State’s
Attorney David Gregory.
In arguing for a first-degree murder conviction, Gregory described
Zito’s act as willful and premeditated, citing testimony he had
threatened to hurt the officers minutes before the shooting and gargled
with mouthwash to cover up he had been drinking alcohol.
He also recalled forensics experts' description of the killing of
Schwenz to demonstrate Zito was not merely defending himself or his
trailer. The last of several shotgun blasts hit Schwenz in the left side
of his face from three feet away, Gregory said.
"When Jason was shot lying down, he was still alive," Gregory
said. "So, in fact, Jason was executed by Zito." Copyright ©
2002, The Associated Press
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