Gary Sampson pleaded guilty and was sentenced to death in the carjack killings of two Massachusetts men in 2003. \u00a0A\u00a0new\u00a0trial was granted in 2011 after a finding that one of the jurors at his first trial had lied about her background. \u00a0A new jury will decide his punishment: life in prison or the death penalty.<\/p>\n
Sampson’s\u00a0first victim was Philip McCloskey, a 69-year-old retiree.\u00a0 His next was\u00a0Jonathan Rizzo, a 19-year-old college student. \u00a0Both victims were bound and stabbed multiple times.<\/p>\n
Sampson has already been sentenced to a life term in New Hampshire for strangling Robert Whitney, a former city official.<\/p>\n
Sampson was prosecuted under federal law which allows the death penalty when murder is committed during a carjacking. \u00a0Massachusetts has no death penalty.<\/p>\n
Sampson\u2019s lawyers have submitted a list of mitigating factors including their claim that he is mentally ill and suffers from traumatic brain injury. \u00a0They hope to\u00a0persuade the jury to spare Sampson\u2019s life.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"