DELICIOUS!
SPROCKETS German Television
I'm as happy as a little girl
Posted on 01/08/2003 2:51:31 PM PST by Diddle E. Squat
FORT WORTH - A man who beat his elderly mother to death, sliced her open and ate some of her heart was sentenced today to 30 years in prison.
Joseph Frank "Joey" Cala II pleaded guilty Monday to murder in the 2001 death of Lydia M. Cala, 79, a retired teacher who volunteered for her church and the county registrar's office.
After a three-hour hearing today, state District Judge George Gallagher chose the maximum of the 20- to 30-year sentence range contained in a plea agreement.
"My goal is to make sure Mr. Cala is never allowed out again," said Alan Levy, a Tarrant County assistant district attorney. "I thought 30 years, at his age, would accomplish that."
Cala, 41, will be eligible for parole in 15 years. He could have faced life in prison if convicted without the plea agreement.
His attorney, Robert Ford, said Cala had a 20-year history of mental illness and deserved a shorter sentence. Ford had filed a motion to present an insanity defense if the case went to trial.
"What he did was horrible, and though it was intentional, it was done, I believe, under a psychotic state," Ford said.
The victim's daughter, Lydia Loggins, testified that she went to her mother's house in Hurst, a Fort Worth suburb, the evening of Oct. 15, 2001, after neighbors called and said windows had been shattered from inside the house.
Loggins said she did not enter the house because she was afraid of her brother, so she called authorities.
Officer Kevin Meador testified that when he looked through a bedroom window, he saw a naked, bloody man standing over what he later learned was a woman's mutilated body. Another officer saw Cala eat what appeared to be an organ, according to police reports.
Meador and other officers said they went inside and heard Joey Cala saying that he worshipped the devil. When officers took him into custody, he told them they had interrupted his sacrifice.
The house had been ransacked, and police found Lydia Cala's will on a chair. Loggins later told officers that her brother wanted to inherit their mother's money. The size of Lydia Cala's estate was not disclosed. She lived in a modest, one-story house.
Dr. Daniel Konzelmann, a deputy Tarrant County medical examiner, testified that she died of blunt-force trauma to her head and chest.
The 76-pound woman, less than 5 feet tall, had a broken nose, teeth, collar bone, ribs and multiple bruises and cuts likely caused by fists or feet rather than an object, the medical examiner said. Konzelmann said he saw no defensive wounds.
"I don't know how long she was able to struggle, based on her size," he said.
After she died, her chest and abdomen were cut open and some organs were removed, Konzelmann testified. Part of her heart contained teeth marks, he said.
Cala had been living with his mother since he was paroled from a drunken-driving conviction in December 2000. He also served time for drug possession and aggravated assault of a public servant, according to Tarrant County criminal court records.
Dr. Kelly Goodness, a forensic psychologist, said Cala appeared to suffer from schizophrenia and had been on medication. She did not interview Cala but reviewed his records.
After sentencing, Loggins said her family still has not healed.
"Joey has ruined our family. As far as I'm concerned, he should never get out of jail," she said. "He's my brother, and I love him, but it's going to take me a long time to find forgiveness."
Quite.
This is the stuff dreams are made of for District Attorneys....
Meega, Nala Kweesta!
DELICIOUS!
SPROCKETS German Television
I'm as happy as a little girl
Why keep this creep alive longer than 10 minutes past his conviction? Sick!
Or do they only defend women who murder their children?
The D.A. probably didn't have much of a choice since the killer ate all of the evidence.
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