FAMILY TO RELIVE LOSS, PAIN; KILLER'S PENALTY RETRIAL BRINGS GRIM MEMORIES.Byline: Kevin F. Sherry Daily News Staff Writer The family of murder victim Melinda Jean Thomas Jean Thomas was born Jeanette Mary Francis de Assisi Aloysius Narcissus Garfield Bell in Ashland, Kentucky on November 14, 1881. She earned the nickname "Traipsin' Woman" when, as a teenager in the 1890s, she defied convention to attend business school, learn stenography, and understands playing by the rules, and it understands justice. They understand the rights of the accused and the need for a fair trial. What they cannot understand is why Marine Sgt. Joseph L. Thomas may Thomas May (1595 – November 13, 1650) was a poet and historian. May was born in Mayfield, the son of Sir Thomas May. He went to Cambridge, and then to Gray's Inn, but discarded law for literature. go free a decade after he was sentenced to death for fatally bludgeoning his pregnant wife to collect $50,000 in life insurance. ``If somebody is convicted of murder and is sentenced to die, then they should carry it out,'' said Melinda's mother, Gwen Savage of Agoura Hills. But an appeals court has set aside the death sentence and ordered a new penalty phase, ruling that the judge in Joseph Thomas' monthlong trial gave confusing instructions to the jury regarding his sentencing. Depending on evidence presented in the retrial retrial n. a new trial granted upon the motion of the losing party, based on obvious error, bias or newly-discovered evidence. (See: newly-discovered evidence) , Joseph Thomas Joseph Thomas can refer to:
 This article or section may deal primarily with the U.S. and may not present a worldwide view. . Or he could be sentenced to life in prison - making him immediately eligible for parole because he has spent nearly 10 years in prison. And while coping with the fear that Joseph Thomas could go free, Savage and her family must prepare to relive re·live v. re·lived, re·liv·ing, re·lives v.tr. To undergo or experience again, especially in the imagination. v.intr. To live again. the painful trial that will take them through Melinda Thomas' final, horrible moments. ``It's like an open wound,'' said Deanna Delino, Melinda's sister, who lives in Canyon Country. ``It's like it's starting all over again.'' Convicted in killing Joseph Thomas was convicted of killing his pregnant wife in the early morning hours of Dec. 10, 1987, in their apartment at the Tustin Marine Corps Air Station. According to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. testimony, Joseph Thomas attacked his sleeping wife and repeatedly bashed her head with a tire iron as his 4-year-old daughter from his first marriage slept in another room. He was helped, prosecutors said, by former Lance Cpl. Mitchael Nelson, a friend of Joseph Thomas', who helped cover up the slaying and later testified in exchange for immunity. He testified that as Joseph Thomas struck, Melinda cried out, ``Please don't hit me. . . . Please stop hitting me. I love you. Please don't kill me.'' Car over cliff Nelson testified that he helped Joseph Thomas clean up the blood-spattered bedroom and bundle Melinda Thomas' body in the trunk of a rental car. They drove to a remote stretch of the Ortega Highway, strapped the body into the Thomases' Suzuki Samurai samurai (sä'm  rī`), knights of feudal Japan, retainers of the daimyo. This aristocratic warrior class arose during the 12th-century wars between the Taira and Minamoto clans and was and pushed it over a 200-foot cliff. Nelson then climbed into the ravine and set the gasoline-soaked wreckage on fire. Because of a note Joseph Thomas said was written by his despondent de·spon·dent adj. Feeling or expressing despondency; dejected. de·spon  dent·ly adv. wife the night she died, the Riverside County Coroner's Office ruled the death a suicide. ``Dear Joe, I know why you hate me. What's to love?'' the unsigned note read in part. ``I just don't know Don't know (DK, DKed) "Don't know the trade." A Street expression used whenever one party lacks knowledge of a trade or receives conflicting instructions from the other party. why you got to continue hurting me. . . . You care more about your friends than you do me. So I'm going to my mom's so I can have a stress-free pregnancy. You're causing me stress, and I know it's affecting my baby.'' But Melinda Thomas never made it to Savage's house. The smoldering smol·der also smoul·der intr.v. smol·dered, smol·der·ing, smol·ders 1. To burn with little smoke and no flame. 2. wreckage of her car, with her body still seat-belted inside, was found the next day by a hunter. An autopsy found traces of cocaine in Melinda Thomas' system. After her death, Joseph Thomas joined Melinda Thomas' unsuspecting family as they tried to cope with their loss. ``We thought he was grieving, too,'' Savage recalled. Family got suspicious But Savage and her relatives soon began comparing what Joseph Thomas had told them about the night Melinda Thomas died. They noted inconsistencies in his stories and alerted authorities, who arrested Joseph Thomas in April 1988. Initially, Joseph Thomas said that his 24-year-old wife's death was a suicide or an accident. Later, during his trial, he claimed that he was in another room when Nelson, his Marine buddy, killed Melinda. Another time, Joseph Thomas said he killed his wife in self-defense (Law) in protection of self, - it being permitted in law to a party on whom a grave wrong is attempted to resist the wrong, even at the peril of the life of the assailiant. - Wharton. See also: Self-defense . ``He just tried everything and anything he could,'' Delino said. But after hearing from Nelson and about 50 other prosecution witnesses, a jury of five officers and four enlisted men convicted him in November 1988 of premeditated murder Premeditated murder is the crime of wrongfully causing the death of another human being (also known as murder) after rationally considering the timing or method of doing so, in order to either increase the likelihood of success, or to evade detection or apprehension. for financial gain. He was sentenced to death and transferred to Death Row at Fort Leavenworth Fort Leavenworth (lĕv`ənwûrth'), U.S. military post, 6,000 acres (2,430 hectares), on the Missouri River, NE Kans., NW of Leavenworth; est. 1827 by Col. Henry Leavenworth to protect travelers on the Santa Fe Trail. The oldest U.S. , Kan., while his case was automatically appealed. And now, while awaiting the start of the retrial this June, Joseph Thomas is in the brig at Camp Pendleton in San Diego San Diego (săn dēā`gō), city (1990 pop. 1,110,549), seat of San Diego co., S Calif., on San Diego Bay; inc. 1850. San Diego includes the unincorporated communities of La Jolla and Spring Valley. Coronado is across the bay. County. As soon as Joseph Thomas was convicted, Savage went to the Westlake Village cemetery where her daughter's ashes are interred and had the marker changed to the young woman's maiden name maiden name n. A woman's family name before she is married. Used of a surname that is replaced by a woman when she marries. Also called birth name. , Melinda Bell. Melinda's childhood Growing up, Melinda Bell collected miniature figures and liked dancing and athletics, her family said. She also experienced problems typical of many adolescents and even dropped out of high school for a few months, but she returned to graduate from Conejo Valley The Conejo Valley is a region spanning both Southeastern Ventura County and Northwest Los Angeles County in Southern California, United States. It was discovered in 1542 by Spanish explorer Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo, and eventually became part of the Rancho El Conejo land grant by High School in January 1984 with mostly A's and B's. ``She was very intelligent,'' Savage said. ``She could just accomplish anything she wanted to.'' After graduation, Melinda Bell struck out on her own and went to live with her uncle in Orange County. There - perhaps at a party, perhaps through friends - she met Joseph Thomas. ``She just fell head over heels,'' Savage said. But Melinda Bell's family was less enthusiastic about her new boyfriend. ``We saw things, subtle things,'' Savage said. ``Mentally and emotionally, he had a tendency to cut her down, to make snide remarks about whatever he could. . . . He'd do it with a smile on his face, like he was joking.'' But Melinda was in love and eloped with Joseph Thomas just three months after they met. Nine months later, she was dead. Prosecutors said that Joseph Thomas killed his wife for $50,000 in life insurance - benefits that, ironically, were denied to him when her death was ruled a suicide. ``He took out the `life insurance policy on her the day they got married,'' Savage said. The couple's marriage began to sour after just a few months, Savage said. Melinda Thomas complained that her husband drank too much and spent too much time with his friends. Still, Savage said, ``She was looking forward to having a baby,'' and was four months pregnant at the time of her death. Shortly after Melinda Thomas died, Joseph Thomas married a third time. `As long as he rots' Melinda Thomas' family doesn't necessarily want Joseph Thomas to be executed, but the military does not offer a sentence of life in prison without parole. A death sentence, regardless of whether it is ever carried out, is the only way to ensure that Joseph Thomas will never again be free, Savage said. ``As long as he rots somewhere. Whether it's in prison or in hell, I don't care
"Don't Care" is a 1994 (see 1994 in music) single by American death metal band Obituary. .'' Lt. Col. Steve Womack, staff judge advocate A legal adviser on the staff of a military command. A designated officer of the Judge Advocate General's Corps (JAGC) of the U.S. Army, Navy, Air Force, or Marine Corps. to the commanding general of the Marine Corps Air Bases Western Area, said that if Joseph Thomas is sentenced to life in prison, the federal military correction system would make him eligible for parole after 10 years - the decade he's already served. Womack noted that parole likely wouldn't come for at least 25 or 30 years, if at all, given the gruesomeness of the case. The last military execution was in 1961, said Janet Wray, a public affairs Those public information, command information, and community relations activities directed toward both the external and internal publics with interest in the Department of Defense. Also called PA. See also command information; community relations; public information. officer at Fort Leavenworth. Joseph Thomas' transfer to Camp Pendleton now leaves eight murderers on military Death Row: four from the Army, three from the Marines and one from the Air Force. All are in various stages of appeal. When a military person is sentenced to be executed, the case must be reviewed by several levels of appellate panels before the defendant can appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. If the defendant loses all of the appeals, the service secretary, the Secretary of Defense and, finally, the president must give their approval before the execution can be carried out. Melinda Thomas' family understands the elaborate and lengthy process that protects the rights of Joseph Thomas and others like him, but they are bitter at the path his case has taken. ``Her sentence won't ever be set aside,'' Savage said. ``He can get a second chance. She can't.'' CAPTION(S): 3 Photos PHOTO (1--Color) Victim's sister Deanna Delino, left, and mother, Gwen Savage face the possibility of the murderer going free. Terri Thuente/Daily News (2--Color) Melinda Bell Killed in 1987 (3--Color) Joseph Thomas Could go free |
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