Posted on 09/24/2008 3:56:44 PM PDT by csvset
Oakland -- A convicted rapist and murderer fatally stabbed his wife and slashed two of her relatives in Oakland on his 55th birthday last year, a prosecutor told jurors Monday.
Jesus Jihad, now 56, stabbed his wife, Aisha Hendricks, 35, numerous times at the apartment they shared on the 2300 block of 92nd Avenue in East Oakland, said Deputy District Attorney Casey Bates. Police have said Jihad laughed during the attack July 8, 2007.
"Consciously, callous, cold-blooded. Those are the three words to characterize the actions of Mr. Jihad," Bates said in his opening statement in Alameda County Superior Court in Oakland.
Authorities have not determined a specific motive for the slaying, but Jihad was angry that his in-laws had apparently threatened him with a gun and slashed the tires on his car, Bates said. The couple were married for about two years.
The prosecutor showed graphic pictures of Hendricks' body, pocked with stab wounds, as well as photos of Bowers being taken to a hospital on a stretcher. When police arrived, Bowers had only a faint pulse and "was on the edge of death," Bates said.
Jihad, whose given name is Jesse Crisp, is serving as his own attorney. He had planned to give an opening statement but decided against it after consulting with Albert Wax, an attorney acting in an advisory role.
Jihad was convicted of murder in 1974 for shooting a sailor in Alameda. If convicted of murdering Hendricks, he could face life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Alternatively, he could be eligible for a sentence of 25 years to life under California's "three strikes" law because of a rape conviction stemming from a 1993 attack in Berkeley. He is a registered sex offender.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
The state of California justice system is hosed up. They let a convicted killer and rapist out of jail to commit yet more crime.
throw away the key
I imagine he became a prison Muslim and learned much of his anger there.
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