A Hole In One, Paul Weininger [top novels to read txt] 📗

Both Straub and his attorney Albert Jaxson rose and faced the jury as directed. The judge turned to the foreperson and asked her to read the verdict.

The foreperson faced Straub and said, “We the jury find the defendant Richard Straub guilty of premeditated murder in the first degree.”

Cheers broke out in the courtroom as reporters noisily bolted for the exits, causing such a commotion that the judge had to gavel the proceedings back to order.

The judge asked if all twelve jurors agreed with the verdict and called on each juror individually by their assigned number to affirm the decision. After he heard from each juror, he asked the foreperson if the jury had a recommendation as to the sentence.

“We have, Your Honor,” she replied. “For the egregious crime of murdering his twin brother, along with desecrating his body, the jury recommends a sentence that would be the highest the court can impose, including the death penalty.”

Immediately, a clatter of cheering voices broke out again, creating such a ruckus both inside and outside the courtroom the din almost drowned out Garnett’s pounding gavel, demanding order.

The entire media, press and video, ran out of the courthouse to contact their producers and editors and dictate their reports, each hoping to be the first ones with bylines in the afternoon news. As the courtroom quieted down, the judge indicated he would decide the sentence within three months and Richard Straub would remain in prison until such time as the court was prepared to announce his sentence.

Two and a half months later, all concerned parties were notified by the court clerk to return immediately to the courthouse. The judge was ready to pronounce judgment as to the penalty. At the appointed hour, the court was called to order. All available seats were occupied, leaving standing room only on both sides of the courtroom and in the hallway outside.

Judge Garnett began the proceeding. “The defendant shall rise and stand at your place.” Defense attorney Jaxson also rose on behalf of his client, with traditional respect for the court.

“After considerable thought about the evidence presented and the jury’s verdict of guilty by twelve of your peers, it is clear to this court that you, Mr. Straub, committed one of the most immoral and heinous of all sins, murdering your own brother strictly to obtain his money. You spent months planning how you would commit the murder, replace him in the synagogue, and gain control of his estate. You, sir, are an odious person, lower than scum at the bottom of a muddy pond.”

After pausing a moment for effect, the judge announced his decision. “I hereby sentence the defendant, Richard Straub, to death by lethal injection. The date of the execution is provisionally set for May 15. Until that date, you will be detained on death row in solitary confinement at the Arizona State Prison Complex in Florence, Arizona.”

“Mr. Straub,” the judge continued, “you have murdered your own flesh and blood without showing any remorse. All this just for riches! I would imagine your counsel will appeal this judgment, but this court believes you will never see the light of day again. Even if higher courts overturn the death penalty decision, this sentence represents life imprisonment without any chance of parole. You will not get less than life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. Additionally, I am sentencing you to five years in prison for each separate crime of assault with a deadly weapon on three other individuals, plus another five years for perjury. ”

The judge was quite sure the appellate court would uphold theconviction for such a cold blooded, calculated, and inhuman act of cruelty, but he was taking no chances.

After hearing the verdict, as the bailiffs handcuffed him and grabbed his arms to take him away, Straub began screaming. “I’m innocent, please, I’m innocent! I didn’t kill my brother, I didn’t murder Rabbi Bloom!”

After the verdict, a reporter assigned to interview some of the jurors outside of the courthouse was lucky enough to catch the lone holdout for a minute.

“Yes,” explained Juror Five, “I was the lone holdout because they never proved that Straub actually pulled the trigger. But after I went back over all of the indirect evidence that pointed to Straub, I changed my vote to guilty. There just wasn’t any other plausible explanation for what happened.”

The truth was he never really changed his mind; he just got tired of the seemingly interminable struggle with the other jurors and the loss of income the trial was costing all of them. Still, Juror Five got his fifteen minutes of fame, even though it didn’t last five minutes.

As the bailiffs took Straub to his cell, he struggled mightily to prevent himself from throwing up, while sobbing like a newborn baby that had just been slapped on its bottom to begin its first breath. Richard Straub had finally realized the verdict for killing his twin brother would result in his last breath. The irony was lost on him as the bailiffs dragged him away.

Among the last to leave the courthouse was Carol Jacobson, who had attended the proceedings with rapt attention. She did a joyful, girlish skip as she crossed the street to the parking lot. Looking furtively around before getting into her car, she mumbled a faint “Yes.” After starting the engine and turning on the air conditioning, she pounded the steering wheel, exclaiming, “Yes, yes, yes!”

“I never imagined it would play out like this,” she said to herself, as she recalled the time that Straub had come to work on their landscaping. She was amazed at how much Straub looked like Neil, and had showed him Bloom’s photo in the Sedona paper, inadvertently setting Straub’s whole plan into motion.

No one else knew it at the time, but Neil had responded to her worries about Jules catching them in their affair and dumping her back on the street, by assuring her that he would make her his sole beneficiary. His estate was probably worth at least