The Twelfth Victim by Linda M. Battisti

Author:Linda M. Battisti
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Addicus Books
Published: 2014-07-15T16:00:00+00:00

STARKWEATHER’S TRIAL BEGAN on May 5, 1958, and ended May 22, 1958. This was the biggest murder case ever tried in Lincoln, Nebraska. At that time, cameras were barred in courtrooms. Outside the courthouse and inside the public corridors, the atmosphere was circus-like—filled with journalists from all over the world; they competed for space with the mobs of spectators in the hopes of catching a glimpse of the “mad-dog killer.” Starkweather had gained notoriety as one of the nation’s first spree killers. And in the eyes of much of the public and area law enforcement officials, it was too bad that Caril Fugate was not sitting on Starkweather’s lap when the switch was thrown on the electric chair.

As Starkweather sauntered into the courthouse, he grinned at the spectators and journalists as if he were walking on the red carpet at a movie premiere rather than being led in chains to his own murder trial. Journalists and photographers hollered, “Look over here, Charlie!” and “One for the camera, Charlie!” Starkweather seemed to eat up the attention. For the first time in his life, he was a “somebody,” the famous criminal he had always yearned to become. It didn’t bother him that his hands were shackled with handcuffs, locked to his belt as Sheriff Karnopp held on tightly to another chain clamped around the belt. When Starkweather entered the courtroom in handcuffs, shackles, and belt having been removed, the jury and spectators stared at him with looks ranging from fascination to horror. And through the huge pool of journalists there, the eyes of the rest of the world were inside that Lincoln, Nebraska courtroom.

The first action the defense counsel took was to change Starkweather’s plea of “not guilty” to one of “not guilty by reason of insanity.” The defense counsel alleged that Starkweather was suffering from a delusion and was legally insane at the time he killed Jensen.

Starkweather and his family were enraged by this change in plea and from that moment forward became enemies of his attorneys, who were trying to save him from the electric chair. The Starkweathers did not want the taint of insanity hanging over their family. Starkweather’s mother, Helen, stared daggers at the defense counsel every time they brought up Starkweather’s insanity as a defense for his senseless killings.

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