Serial killer Dale Hausner reminds jurors how many murders they found him guilty on two weeks ago. The statements came just before he asked them to sentence him to death. Pool photo by Pat Shannahan
Live from the courtroom: Serial Shooter Dale Hausner asked a jury today to sentence him to death in each of his six murder convictions, saying victims and their families needed it so they could begin to heal.
During a rambling, 30-minute speech to the jury, Hausner walked the fence between apologizing to victims and denying responsibility for the 80 crimes in which he was convicted. “I do not agree with your decision,” Hausner told jurors about their guilty verdicts less than an hour before the the 12-person panel was asked to begin deciding his fate. “But 12 sane and rational people didn’t believe me and believed Sam Dieteman.”
He was referring to his accomplice in many of the 2006 shootings. Dieteman testified against Hausner earlier this year as part of a plea deal he struck with prosecutors. During the testimony, Dieteman gave the jury detailed accounts about how the pair would cruise the Valley on numerous nights that summer in Hausner’s four-door silver sedan, looking for innocent victims.
Hausner spent several minutes thanking his family members for their support and asking jurors to place no blame on them. “They’re innocent victims in this as well,” Hausner said.
He also apologized to his mother and brothers who were in the courtroom for what he said would be the “black cloud” hanging over the Hausner name for decades to come. “It’s like when you think of Manson,” he said, referring to 1960s cult leader and convicted killer Charles Manson. “Well, 150 years from now when you think of Hausner, it will be the same way.”
Hausner was convicted on March 13 of six murders and 74 other crimes as part of a killing spree that lasted more than a year. The conviction followed five months of testimony in his marathon murder trial.
Hausner waived his right today to present evidence that could have convinced the jury to spare his life. His defense team had lined up friends, family members, and a forensic psychologist to speak on his behalf. However, the 36-year-old went against the advice of his attorneys and chose only to speak to the jury himself.
From the witness stand, Hausner explained that he believed it would be a waste of time to try and demonstrate the good and chartable work he did before his arrest. “There’s no amount of giving away school supplies or going to Phoenix Children’s Hospital that’s going to make up for the crimes that you guys think I did,” he said.
Hausner also spoke about his exhaustion from sitting in the defendant’s chair since testimony began in early October. He said he wanted to spare the jury another two weeks of testimony. “I’m tired,” he said. “We’re all tired. This has been ugly stuff.” He later called some of the testimony from recent months “horror that you wouldn’t read in a Stephen King novel.”
By the end of his speech, Hausner said he was ready for sentencing. “I’m willing to accept my punishment as a man, without blaming anybody,” he told the jury. “I firmly believe that to help the victims heal, that should be the death penalty.”
Maricopa County prosecutor Vince Imbordino agreed. But in his final closing argument before the jury, added a litany of other reasons to sentence the defendant to death. He told jurors that their decision should not be based on politics or ideals, but on the giving a serial killer what he deserves.
“Today, this is not about whether you agree with the death penalty,” Imbordino said. “This is about what is the appropriate punishment for this man, who has killed so many people.”
The stories of the victims who suffered at the hands of Hausner would be impossible to repeat, Imbordino said. So instead, he reminded jurors about the stories they heard throughout the trial, as well as earlier in the day when the family members of three murder victims gave statements for the court. “I would like to say today that this will be the end of the road once your verdict is rendered,” Imbordino said. “But of course, it wont be. For the people who were affected by this defendant’s actions, it won’t be the end of the road.
“Perhaps there will be some closure for some of the victims,” he said. “But I doubt it.”
The victims in the case were all caught off guard when they were shot while walking by themselves at night on the Valley streets. Hausner, said Imbordino, should be treated differently.
“I would request that you bring back the verdict of death for each murder that was committed,” the prosecutor said in closing. “This defendant should know, unlike his victims, when he’s going to die. If he’s going to survive long enough to be executed, he should know the day and the hour.”
Jurors could decide whether to sentence Hausner to death as early as Friday.