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Allegheny County Seeking 3 Death SentencesCornelius, Baumhammers, Taylor To Stand Trial In 2001PITTSBURGH, Updated 10:28 a.m. EST January 2, 2001 -- Eight people died in barrages of bullets in two shooting sprees and an 11-year-old boy was strangled and sexually mutilated last year in the Pittsburgh area. This year, authorities plan to seek death penalties as three men charged in those crimes anticipate going to trial. "We're very conservative in the application of the death penalty," Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen Zappala said. "I think in these three cases we're being consistent. And these were horrendous crimes." On March 1, five men were shot in a shooting rampage that started at a Wilkinsburg apartment building and ended at two nearby fast-food restaurants. Ronald Taylor, 39, faces multiple charges including homicide, attempted homicide, and hate crimes in those shootings. Police say that he flew into a rage because of a broken door on his apartment, shot and killed maintenance man John Kroll, 55, and then ran to the restaurants. At a Burger King, former priest Joseph Healy, 71, was fatally shot as he drank his morning coffee. Then at a nearby McDonald's, University of Pittsburgh student Emil Sanielevici, 20, was fatally shot as he waited in the drive-through lane. Richard Clinger was shot in his van in the parking lot, and inside the restaurant, assistant manager Steven Bostard, 25, was shot. Both survived. Police say that they found anti-white writings in Taylor's apartment. They say that Taylor, who is black, sought only white victims when firing bullets in the racially diverse city. Jury selection for Taylor's trial is scheduled for May 15. His attorney, John Elash of Pittsburgh, said that he will mount an insanity defense for Taylor, who has been treated for mental illness. Elash also said that he likely would ask for the trial to be moved to another county. "Was this an act by someone who is insane? I think only an insane person would commit such an act," Elash said. Barely two months later on April 28, six people were shot in a spree that spanned suburban Pittsburgh and ended in Beaver County. Charged in those shootings is Richard S. Baumhammers, 35, a white immigration attorney who lived with his parents in Mount Lebanon. Police allege that Baumhammers hated racial and religious minorities, and targeted them in the spree. The dead include his white Jewish neighbor, Nicki Gordon, 63; Anil Thakur, 31, an Indian man shot at an Indian grocery; Ji-Ye "Jerry" Sun, 34, manager of a Chinese restaurant; Thao Q. "Tony" Pham, a Vietnamese delivery man for the restaurant; and Garry Lee, a black student at a Beaver County karate school. The lone survivor, Sandeep Patel, 25, also was shot at the Indian grocery. He remains paralyzed. Jury selection in Baumhammers' case is slated for April 9. His attorney, William Difenderfer of Pittsburgh, said that he also is planning an insanity defense for a defendant who has been treated for mental illness, but he won't ask that the case be tried outside of Allegheny County. On Sept. 25, Pittsburgh police found the body of 11-year-old Scott Drake in a vacant lot on the city's North Side, the night after his family reported him missing. The boy's genitals had been cut off, and his stomach had been sliced open. Two days later police charged Joseph Cornelius, 47, a homeless man, with the boy's killing. Authorities said that Cornelius confessed to the crime. Elash, who also represents Cornelius, disputes that his client confessed. Jury selection is slated for July 9 in Cornelius' case. "The statement reeks of reasonable doubt," Elash said. "The physical evidence doesn't exist."
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