MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (AP, WLTX) -- Jurors have handed down a second death sentenced for a 42-year-old man already on South Carolina's death row. Jurors convicted Stephen Stanko Monday of murder and armed robbery in the April 2005 shooting death of 74-year-old Henry Turner. The elderly man was found dead in his home. Stanko is already on death row for killing his live-in girlfriend in 2005, and sexually abusing a teen girl the same day. Stanko's attorneys claimed he has a defect in his frontal lobe that prevents him from knowing right from wrong.
However, during closing arguments, the solicitor's office argued there was absolutely no excuse for the grown man's actions. Solicitor Greg Hembree referred to the defendant as "evil" and said he had given up his right to live.
In his defense, Stanko was apologetic in an address geared towards Turner's family for the grief he has put them through.
11/19/2009 5:13:25 PM
