 Richard S. Baumhammers |
A hush fell over the courtroom at 5:30 p.m. as the jurors filed into the room. Baumhammers, 35, a suspended attorney from Mt. Lebanon, stood placidly before Judge Jeffrey Manning.
Several families of the victims cried and held one another's hands as the jury foreman read the verdict: guilty on all counts.
The jurors could have returned a verdict of guilty, not guilty or not guilty by reason of insanity.
Baumhammers also was charged with ethnic intimidation, aggravated assault and other charges. He showed no reaction when the verdict was announced.
Jurors were instructed to return at 9 tomorrow morning to begin deliberations in the penalty phase. They could vote for the death penalty or sentence Baumhammers to life in prison.
Defense attorney James Wymard plans to call several witnesses for the sentencing phase who will try to persuade jurors to spare Baumhammers' life.
William Difenderfer, who represented Baumhammers during the guilt phase, would not comment after the verdict. He had argued that the defendant, who was diagnosed with delusional disorder, did not know what he was doing at the time of the killings.
Prosecutor Edward Borkowski has argued that Baumhammers knew the nature and quality of the acts and that he understood what he was doing. Borkowski argued that Baumhammers, 35, a suspended attorney from Mt. Lebanon, was a white supremacist who murdered and then later bragged about it.
Prosecutors have painted Baumhammers as a spoiled man who didn't work regularly and who indulged in escort services, alpha hydroxy peels, and trips around the world using money his parents gave him.
Baumhammers on April 28, 2000 embarked on a two-county shooting spree. The victims were Asian, Jewish, Indian and black. A sixth victim, Sandip Patel, survived but is paralyzed.
Read more details in Thursday's Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.
| The Victims | |
 Ji-Ye Sun, 34, of Churchill, managed Ya Fei Chinese Cuisine in Robinson Town Centre, who was married and had two stepchildren. Sun was a native of China.  Anita 'Nicki' Gordon, 63, of Mt. Lebanon, a graduate of Carnegie Mellon University, worked as an interior designer and helped decorate part of the synagogue, Beth El Congregation.  Anil Thakur, 31, an electrical engineer and father of two who had just days left on his visa when he was shot. Thakur was a native of India. |  Garry Lee, 22, of Beaver County, a 1996 graduate of Aliquippa High School, was planning to attend business school.  Thao Pham, 27, of Castle Shannon, a father of one, who survived a shipwreck that killed his father and others when they fled Vietnam in 1979. He worked at Ya-Fei Chinese Restaurant, where he was killed. Sandip Patel, 26, of Plum Borough, co-owner of India Grocery Store. In the last year, he has been in and out of the hospital. He was shot twice and today is a parapeligic. Patel was the only survivor. Source: Police reports, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review research
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| Shooting Timeline | |
| April 28, 2000 <!--- 1:55 p.m.: Anil Thakur, 31, a customer at India Grocers in Scott Township, is shot to death. Sandip Patel, then 25, co-owner, is shot twice. He is paralyzed from the neck down. 2:31 p.m.: Ji-Ye Sun, 34, and Thao Pham, 27, are shot to death as they worked at Ya Fei Chinese Restaurant in Robinson Township. 3 p.m.: Garry Lee, 22, a black karate student, is shot to death at the C.S. Kim Karate Studio in Center Township, Beaver County. 3:15 p.m.: Police apprehend Baumhammers | |
