The Murder in a Child's Mind

By Rita Marcoli

Guilty was the cry of the gavel in the courtroom that April day of 1995. A slender redheaded girl hung her head and was escorted out of the courtroom in handcuffs. Still, it was hard to see from my side, as an investigative reporter, how a judge could give a juvenile seventy-three and a half years in prison. In the next few months, I really wanted to dig further in what happened in this case.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Trafford Publishing
• Release date: Sep 19, 2014
• ISBN: 9781490746418

Rita Marcoli

Writing true crime stories requires a great deal of research. " You have to dig into public records from the Albuquerque courts, which is about two hours from my home. You have to request police reports on the case as well as researching newspapers and media feed for everything you can find to help you write the story, making sure everything is correct ".    This is The Murder in a Childs Mind, 2nd publication and now on my 5th book ���� 

Book preview

The Murder

in a

Child’s Mind

Rita Marcoli

©

Copyright 2014 Rita Marcoli.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the written prior permission of the author.

Print information available on the last page.

isbn: 978-1-4907-4640-1 (sc)

isbn: 978-1-4907-4639-5 (hc)

isbn: 978-1-4907-4641-8 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2014916142

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models,

and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Trafford rev. 01/05/2016

33164.png www.trafford.com

North America & international

toll-free: 1 888 232 4444 (USA & Canada)

fax: [phone]

Contents

Introduction

Chapter 1: The History of a Murderer

Chapter 2: Facts of the Case

Chapter 3: The Confession

Chapter 4: The Investigation

Chapter 5: Criminal Proceedings

Chapter 6: Grounds for Relief

Chapter 7: Constitutional Rights

Chapter 8: Misconduct

Chapter 9: Judgment and Sentence

Chapter 10: Reporter’s Image

Chapter 11: Opinion of a Reporter

Chapter 12: Conclusion

Chapter 13: On Laws

Chapter 14: Crime and Punishment

35243.png

Introduction

G uilty was the cry of the gavel in the courtroom that April day. A slender redheaded girl hung her head and was escorted out of the courtroom in handcuffs. With all the testimony and so-called experts, it still was hard to understand from my side as an investigative reporter. How could a court judge give a sixteen-year-old girl seventy-four years of prison time? They overrode juvenile proceedings altogether.

In the next few months, I wanted to uncover more of what really happened to Ms. Lucas. I wanted to see what Ms. Lucas could do at this point in her case.

Was justice given, or was blind justice really blind? And was this young girl a pawn in someone else’s game.

Note: To protect the innocent and the not-so-innocent, the names have been changed. This is a true story of murder and our judicial system. Can you imagine how many people out there have been dealt with a sentence out of convenience or lack of thought? This is one of them. Where does the crime stop and the punishment begin?

34973.png

Chapter 1

The History of a Murderer

Anna Lucas was born to an alcoholic mother and a detached, uninvolved father. As a child, Anna suffered the effects of fetal alcohol syndrome, which led to lifelong learning disabilities, difficulty reading, and a series of mental health and behavioral problems. Tragically, Anna’s chronic health and emotional problems ultimately led to her act under the substantial domination of her friends when she was coerced into participating in the tragic murder of Fred and Wilma Burns, the eighty-year-old grandparents of her friend, Lory Sanchez.

Anna was diagnosed with learning disabilities from a young age. The earliest educational records that are available documents that, as a young girl, Anna suffered from hyperactivity, impulsive behavior, and signs of emotional disturbance, which were consistent with the characteristics of the young children of alcoholics who live in a poor childhood environment. As a child, Anna also exhibited signs and symptoms that were consistent with fetal alcohol syndrome, including attention deficit disorder and severe academic problems. Finally, Anna was diagnosed with a cumulative series of learning disabilities, which included a diagnosis that she was marginally mentally retarded.

Anna began to be formally assessed for psychological