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Date of Sentence: 02/23/94
Circumstances of Offense:
On 02/23/94, Jason James Mahn
was convicted on two counts of first-degree murder and one count of
armed robbery. He was sentenced to death for both murders and 17 years
for armed robbery.
In
1974, Mahn’s parents divorced in Wisconsin when Mahn was just a
toddler. After the divorce, Mahn had no further contact with his
father, Michael Mahn.
When Mahn turned 18, he moved from Texas to
Pensacola, Florida, to live with his father, his father’s long-time
girlfriend, Debra Shanko, and her teenage son, Anthony Shanko. The
intent of the move was for Mahn and his father to develop a father-son
relationship.
On
04/01/93, Mahn’s father bought a car for Mahn, but later had to sell it
because he could not afford to pay the car’s repair bills. After Mahn
got off work that evening, the car was taken from Mahn and delivered to
a new owner. At approximately 9:30 p.m., Mahn’s father left the
house to go to the Carousel Lounge.
Mahn’s father returned home at approximately 1:00 a.m. on 04/02/93. He
immediately noticed that Debra’s car was gone, the garage door was open,
and the front door of the house was unlocked and slightly open.
Mr. Mahn entered the house and discovered blood stains on the floor and
walls, and Debra’s body lying across the hallway. Mr. Mahn found
Anthony alive in his bedroom, but severely injured from multiple stab
wounds. Anthony informed Mr. Mahn that Debra was dead and that it was
Mahn who was responsible. As he was being placed in an ambulance,
Anthony told a police officer that Mahn was his assailant.
Anthony was
immediately prepared for surgery at the hospital, but died of cardiac
arrest. According to medical examiners, Anthony’s autopsy revealed six
stab wounds, with one fatal blow to the chest. Debra, however,
essentially bled to death.
Police arrested Mahn in Oklahoma and he confessed to the murders,
explaining that he acted out of hate for and frustration with his
father. Mahn also stated that he had used drugs at the time of the
offenses.
Mahn told police officers that the murders commenced around
11:00 p.m. that evening. He walked into Anthony’s bedroom and stabbed
him with a kitchen knife. Debra rushed into the room as Anthony’s
screams were heard and Mahn also stabbed her.
Mahn attempted to flee in
Mr. Mahn’s car, but could not find the keys. Debra, who was still
alive, told Mahn to take her car and leave. Mahn fled in Debra’s car
after smashing the window open. He took $400 with him that he found in
her bank bag in a drawer.
Additional Information:
Mahn was acquitted of two other charges, cruelty to animals and criminal
mischief.
Trial Summary:
04/27/93 Indicted as follows:
Count I: First-Degree
Murder (Debra Shanko)
Count II: First-Degree
Murder (Anthony Shanko)
Count III: Armed
Robbery
11/16/93 Jury returned guilty verdicts on all counts of the
indictment
11/17/93 Jury recommended death by a vote of 8-4
02/23/94
Sentenced as follows:
Count I: First-Degree
Murder – Death
Count II: First-Degree
Murder – Death
Count III: Armed Robbery – 17
years
02/22/02 Trial court found Mahn incompetent to proceed
04/22/04
Competence hearing held and Mahn still found incompetent to proceed with
trial
03/30/05 Found
competent to proceed
Case Information:
On 03/28/94, Mahn filed a Direct
Appeal to the Florida Supreme Court. Mahn raised 12 issues. First, he
claimed the trial court erred in permitting restraint of the appellant
during portions of the trial by use of a remotely activated electric
stun device. Second, Mahn argued the trial court erred in submitting
the charge of robbery to the jury based on insufficient evidence.
Third, he claimed the trial court erred in finding that the murders were
cold, calculated, and premeditated. Fourth, he claimed the trial court
erred in finding the murders heinous, atrocious, or cruel.
Fifth, Mahn
argued the trial court erred in relying on appellant’s 1992 prior
robbery conviction to support the “prior violent felony” aggravating
circumstance. Sixth, he claimed the trial court erred in rejecting as
statutory mitigators that the appellant suffered from an extreme mental
or emotional disturbance at the time of the murders and that the
appellant’s capacity to appreciate the criminality of his acts was
substantially impaired.
Seventh, Mahn argued the trial court erred in
failing to give sufficient weight to the appellant’s mental problems as
a nonstatutory, mitigating circumstance. Eighth, he claimed the trial
court erred in rejecting appellant’s drug and alcohol abuse as a
nonstatutory, mitigating circumstance. Ninth, Mahn argued the trial
court erred in rejecting appellant’s age of 20 years old as a statutory
or nonstatutory circumstance.
Tenth, he argued the trial court erred in
overriding the jury’s recommendation of a life sentence for the murder
of Debra Shanko. Eleventh, Mahn claimed the death sentence is a
disproportionate penalty in this case. Finally, Mahn claimed the trial
court erred in giving the standard jury instruction to define the
heinous, atrocious, or cruel aggravating circumstance.
On 04/16/98,
the Court affirmed Mahn’s first-degree murder convictions, but
remanded for a new trial for resentencing.
On
Direct Appeal,
the Florida Supreme Court affirmed Mahn’s first-degree murder
convictions, but remanded the case with directions that his sentence for
Debra Shanko’s murder be reduced to a life sentence with eligibility for
parole for 25 years. As for the murder of Anthony Shanko, the Court
reversed the sentence and remanded the case for a new penalty-phase
proceeding before a new jury.
The Court also reversed Mahn’s armed
robbery conviction and remanded the case to the trial court with
directions to enter a judgment of conviction for grand theft on that
count and to sentence Mahn accordingly.
Mahn filed a Petition for Writ of Certiorari to the 1st
District Court of Appeals on 03/29/99, which was denied on 05/13/99.
On
12/17/99, Mahn filed a 3.850 Motion to the Circuit Court, which is
currently pending.
FloridaCapitalCases.state.fl.us
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