Sept. 3
TEXAS—-3 new execution dates
The following 2009 dates have been set for executions: Jan 15 – Jose
Briseno; Feb 4 – David Martinez; Mar 10 – James Martinez…..they should
all be considered serious.
(sources: TDCJ & Rick Halperin)
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Trial begins in murder of manager at Hurst putt-putt course
When Tim Flow found his supervisor crumpled over at a Hurst amusement
center 2 years ago, he thought the man was playing a joke on him. After
all, it was just weeks before Halloween, a time of celebration at
Putt-Putt Golf & Games.
But Mr. Flow quickly realized that something was terribly wrong with his
boss, Jonas Paul Cherry who lay in a fetal position with blood oozing
from his head.
"I thought he was out there messing around," Mr. Flow testified Tuesday,
the first day of Paul David Storey's capital murder trial in Fort Worth.
"I looked over, and that's where I found him inside the clubhouse. I
turned around and saw one cabinet door open. Jonas was lying in front of
it in a fetal position with blood everywhere.
"Blood on the floor. Just blood."
Mr. Flow said he checked Mr. Cherry to see whether he was still breathing.
"He was lifeless," Mr. Flow said.
Mr. Storey, 23, is one of two men accused of fatally shooting Mr. Cherry
during a robbery on Oct. 16, 2006, as the longtime Putt-Putt employee
begged for his life. Tarrant County prosecutors have said they will seek
the death penalty.
Mr. Flow testified that he entered the business that morning and heard
what sounded like a miniature bowling game. Soon he saw a door ajar and
shattered glass on the floor.
After discovering Mr. Cherry's body near the open safe officials
determined that the business had been robbed of $150 Mr. Flow said he ran
to his truck and called Hurst police from his cellphone.
Mr. Cherry, 28, of Keller, had been shot in the back of the head and the
back of his legs, according to the Tarrant County medical examiner's
office. Several spent 9 mm shell casings and one copper jacket bullet were
found on the floor.
Mr. Cherry's wife, Suman Cherry, testified that her husband began working
at various local Putt-Putts when he was 16. She said she had married Mr.
Cherry less than a year before his death and that they had planned to have
a family.
On the day he was killed, Mr. Cherry left their home in Keller around 8:15
a.m., she said.
"He said goodbye, and I told him I loved him. He got in his car, and I
never saw him again," she said.
Mr. Storey is the 1st to go on trial in Mr. Cherry's death. Mark Porter,
22, will go to trial on a capital murder charge later this month.
"Only 2 people on Oct. 16 entered that building: Paul Storey and Mark
Porter," Assistant Tarrant County District Attorney Robert Foran told
jurors. "They planned it the night before. Two guns, two individuals. They
fired at the back of his head."
But Mr. Storey's attorney, William Ray, asked the jury to issue a verdict
based on the evidence and not emotion.
"The amount of evidence and the quality of the [crime-scene] photos and
the anger and emotion are all here in this case," Mr. Ray said. "It's a
very sad time for everyone. I'm hoping those emotions will not be
controlling."
(source: Dallas Morning News)