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Killer's confession played in court
United Press International - August 07, 1997 13:16
%STATE %NY %KILLERGAY V%UPI P%UPI
NEW YORK, Aug. 8 (UPI) - Michael Shane Hale, charged in the brutal
slaying of his wealthy gay lover, has admitted he smashed the man's
head, suffocated him and hacked up his corpse.
A videotape of the Brooklyn man's chilling confession was shown
yesterday during a pre-trial hearing in Brooklyn Supreme Court to
determine its admissibility. Hale's attorney maintained the confession
was coerced.
On tape, the 25-year-old, who is the first to face New York's death
penalty, also recalled how he drove around Sheepshead Bay with a dying
Steffen Tanner moaning his name in the trunk.
Angry that Tanner caught him looking for hidden gold in the
shopkeeper's apartment, Hale allegedly knocked him to the ground, beat
him and dragged him to his car. While Hale fled to Kentucky, sources say
he chopped up 62-year-old Tanner's body, dismembered it with a handsaw
and tossed pieces of the corpse into various dumpsters.
In New York City's first death-penalty case, Hale agreed to plead
guilty to murder and serve at least 50 years in prison, but State
Supreme Court Judge Albert Tomei has rejected the deal.
Tomei claims the plea bargain provisions of the death penalty law are
unconstitutional, because they enable defendants to avoid execution by
pleading guilty. The judge fears this part of the statute punishes
defendants who opt for a jury trial, as guaranteed by the U.S.
Constitution, and risk conviction.
Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes has appealed the ruling.
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Copyright 1997 by United Press International.
All rights reserved.
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