(Washington) — The perpetrator of a fatal shooting at a local American newspaper who drove him crazy will not escape prison after a jury Thursday found him criminally responsible for the crime.
After brief deliberations, the twelve jurors ruled that Jarrod Ramos, 41, could be sentenced for attacking, three years earlier, the Capital GazetteA court spokesman told AFP.
It is now up to the judge to make his verdict. He faces life imprisonment.
PHOTO MANDEL NGAN, Agence France-Presse Archives
one of Capital GazetteThe day after the attack on the newspaper in Annapolis, Maryland, on June 29, 2018. Armed with a pump, Jarrod Ramos stormed the newspaper’s editorial staff, killing five people before being arrested.
Armed with a rifle, Jarrod Ramos broke into the newsroom of the local Annapolis newspaper on June 28, 2018, an hour outside Washington. He killed five people before his arrest.
The drama, one of the worst attacks on a media outlet in the United States, sent shock waves across the country. The then US President, Donald Trump, had denounced the “horrific” attack that “shocks the conscience of our country.”
A brutal crime, amazing testimonies.
Andrea Chambley, the widow of sports journalist John McNamara who died in this bloodbath, commented, “The crime was brutal, we thank the jury for listening to the astonishing testimonies, watching the horrific videos and horrific photos.”
Jarrod Ramos, who is accused of the assassinations, pleaded guilty in 2019. But his lawyers claimed that mental disorders weakened his sentence and demanded that he be transferred to a psychiatric hospital rather than prison.
A trial was organized to decide. For three weeks, this essentially led to a battle of psychiatrists.
madness defense
Defense attorney Matthew Connell finally appealed to jurors’ common sense. “It’s hard to define mental illness,” he said in his plea, which was reported by the US media.
It’s like this when a 30-year-old lives alone in a basement, pees in bottles, doesn’t wash for weeks, and writes some kind of statement.
Defense attorney Matthew Connell
But prosecutors said he was a narcissist and acted “out of revenge and following a careful plan” after his pride was hurt by the newspaper.
Jarrod Ramos had a conflicting relationship with Capital Gazette After being sued for defamation, to no avail, and threatening her several times on the Internet.
He criticized him for an article from 2011 titled Jarrod wants to be your friendThe newspaper recounted the ordeal of a young woman he had molested online, which earned him a suspended 90-day prison sentence.
He had spent two years preparing for his attack, scouting for chess club membership and even obtaining it in anticipation of his arrest.