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Philip Carl
JABLONSKI
California's
Supreme Court has upheld the
conviction and death sentence of a
man who in 1991 murdered his mother-in-law
and his wife -- who had married him
while he was in prison for murdering
a previous wife in 1978.
Phillip Carl
Jablonski, now 60, mutilated and
shot to death Carol Spadoni, 46, and
her mother, Eva Petersen, 72, in
April 1991 in their Sanchez Street
home in Burlingame. The state's
highest court unanimously rejected a
host of arguments in his automatic
appeal.
Among other
evidence found in Jablonski's car at
his arrest was a tape recording in
his voice describing the murders and
his sexual assault upon Petersen.
The tape also described two other
murders: Fathyma Vann, 38, in Indio
a day before the Burlingame slayings;
and Margie Rogers, 58, during a
truck-stop robbery in Utah a day
before his capture in Kansas.
Spadoni had
answered Jablonski's personal ad in
a newspaper and married him in 1982
while he served time on a second-degree
murder conviction for having slain
his wife, Melinda Kimball, in July
1978 near Palm Springs. But by the
time Jablonski got out of prison in
September 1990, Spadoni had come to
fear him and did not want him near
her.
Jablonski even
now has ads placed on several Web
sites seeking male or female pen
pals. On a German site, he describes
himself as "very understanding and
loving" and someone who has "been
described as a gentle giant."
Prosecutors
brought to trial evidence showing
his history of violence against
women stretched at least back to his
first marriage in 1968, committing a
series of assaults and rapes against
his wives, lovers and other women.
He claimed he suffered as a result
of traumas he experienced in
childhood and during his military
service in Vietnam. A jury in 1994
decided Jablonski was legally sane
at the time of the murders and
recommended he be put to death.
The direct,
automatic appeal decided Monday
exists only within his trial's
parameters, seeking reversible
error. But Jablonski in August filed
a separate habeas corpus case: a
reinvestigation of the whole case in
which new evidence can be brought in
or existing evidence can be recast.
Jablonski also can file habeas
petitions to the federal courts.
S.C. Upholds
Death Sentence in Killing of Bay Area Women
Expert’s
Reference to Defendant as ‘Serial Killer’ Not Unfair, Justices Rule
Unanimously
By Kenneth Ofgang -
Tuesday, January 24, 2006
The California Supreme Court
yesterday unanimously upheld the death sentence of a Northern
California man convicted of killing his wife and mother-in-law and
linked to the brutal sexual assaults and murders of three other
women.
The high court rejected Phillip
Carl Jablonski’s claim that San Mateo Superior Court Judge John G.
Schwartz deprived him of a fair trial by allowing a prosecution
mental health expert to testify that he was a “serial killer,” a
phrase that Jablonski’s lawyer had no legal meaning and was used
only to cause prejudice.
Justice Carlos Moreno, writing
for the high court, said the testimony was admissible to help jurors
understand how Jablonski, whose attorneys unsuccessfully challenged
his competence and later his sanity, could have engaged in psychotic,
bizarre anti-social behavior, yet still understand the difference
between right and wrong.
Prosecutors said Jablonski killed
his wife Carol Spadoni and her mother Eva Petersen after Spadoni—who
married Jablonski while he was serving time at San Quentin nine
years earlier—told his parole officer she was scared of Jablonski
and did not want him coming back to San Mateo County to live with
her.
Case in Mitigation
The defense presented witnesses
in the penalty phase to testify to the difficulty of Jablonski’s
upbringing and the constant physical abuse he and other family
members suffered at the hands of a gun-toting, alcoholic father .
Jurors convicted Jablonski of two
counts of first degree murder, with special circumstances of
multiple murder, murder in the commission or attempted commission of
rape and sodomy, and prior murder.
On appeal, the defense attacked
the testimony of Dr. George Wilkinson, a court-appointed
psychiatrist who testified that he interviewed the defendant on five
occasions and reviewed extensive background material.
Wilkinson testified that
Jablonski suffered from posttraumatic stress disorder, “transient”
psychotic episodes triggered by “overpowering aggressive or sexual
feelings” that “cannot be expressed,” and had a passive/aggressive
personality with “intense feelings of inadequacy” and that he was a
sexual sadist. Wilkinson also concluded that defendant engaged in
malingering behavior and attacked the defense contention that he was
schizophrenic.
Wilkinson said that based on a
study of over 300 murderers, he concluded that Jablonski was a
serial killer, which he defined as someone who has the need to kill
in order to release internal tensions. That, the doctor testified,
was the reason he made the tape recording and made notes about the
murders in his address book.
Flight After Crime
While a serial killer may or may
not be insane, Wilkinson said, Jablonski understood the nature of
his actions. The doctor cited the defendant’s awareness that he had
to be alone when he confronted the victims and his flight after the
crime.
Wilkinson added that there was
nothing to indicate that, even though he knew his conduct was
legally wrong, the defendant believed he was morally justified in
murdering the victims.
“Defendant cites no authority for
the proposition that the only expert evidence admissible on the
issue of a defendant’s sanity must be confined to classifications of
mental disease or disorder found in the Diagnostic and Statistical
Manual of Mental Disorders,” the justice wrote. “As Dr. Wilkinson
testified, the phenomenon of serial murderers has been the subject
of professional interest in the psychiatric community, and his
testimony regarding the behavior of serial murderers and its
relation to defendant’s conduct as it bore on the question of his
sanity was undoubtedly relevant to that issue.”
As to prejudice, Moreno wrote:
Phillip Carl Jablonski
I ask your indulgence male
and female and promise to be brief as possible, allow me to
introduce myself as Death Row Teddy.
I am 58 years old. My DOB is
January 3rd 1946.
I have been on death row for
11 years. (Aug.1994)
I am seeking for a female/male
Teddy Bear.
I lost once my heart
scarcely used by one careless owner.
As I saw it last it was
thubbing in your direction.
Caucasian male - seeking an
open minded male/female for unconditional correspondence on mature
and honest level, that has a caring heart to create a special
friendship build from the heart.
Why choose me?
I am a professional artist,
photography, amateur poet, writer, masseur, college educated, not a
rude person, like to party, travel. My home town is Joshua Tree, CA.
I am very understanding and loving. I believe in giving a second
chance. People describe me as a gentle giant.
I love cats, dogs, parrots,
horses and teddy bears.
What I like in a friend? I
like it if you like to travel, party. Someone who is mature and
wants a honest friendship. Someone who is able to discuss personal
issues on a mature level and is not scared of Frank discussion.
What I miss the most:
Traveling, photography male and female company, giving massages,
partying, walking in the rain, romantic walks on the beach, romantic
candle light dinners, cuddling in front of a roaring fire, soft
music.
Lets share our thoughts and
feelings (good or bad) lets learn about one another freely and watch
our friendship bloom like a rose and be strong as a castle wall
which can’t be broken.
A loving heart is worse more
then a mountain of gold.
Love communicates on any subject or issue.
Write me please you won’t be disappointed.
Don’t let my situation stop
you from writing me. Pick up your pen and pay me a visit.