Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, February 12, 1992 TAG: 9202120277
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A1 EDITION: STATE
SOURCE: MONICA DAVEY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BEDFORD LENGTH: Medium
STEWART SENTENCED TO DIE
The blank expression on Kenneth Stewart's face didn't change Tuesday as a jury sentenced him to die in the electric chair for murdering his wife and their 5-month-old son.As his relatives began weeping in the row behind him when the sentence was read, Stewart pushed up his glasses on his nose.
The jury of five women and seven men deliberated for two hours and 20 minutes before concluding that Stewart would pose a danger to society in the future and that his crimes met the death penalty law's standard of "outrageous" vileness.
Stewart, 37, was convicted last week of capital murder and murder in the slayings of his estranged wife, Cindy, and their 5-month-old son, Jonathan, last Mother's Day.
As they left the Bedford County Courthouse Tuesday night, Cindy Stewart's parents smiled and said they had prayed the jury would choose the death sentence for their son-in-law.
"Absolutely," Ed Schultz said. "I believe in an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth."
"The punishment fits the crime," added the victim's mother, Ruth Schultz, who last May discovered the bodies of her daughter and grandson - each shot twice through the head.
"It was a dastardly act," Schultz said. "I'll never forget that picture."
Kenneth Stewart's mother, who sat on the opposite side of the courtroom from the Schultzes during Tuesday's hearing, did not want to talk about the sentence as she left.
She did hiss a few words - apparently directed at Ruth Schultz - as she sped off. "She will pay for this," Jelene Rauch said. "I hope she burns in hell."
Tuesday's sentencing hearing amounted to a battle between expert witnesses.
Prosecution psychologist Arthur Centor said testing of Stewart had revealed a man who had no signs of a mental or emotional disorder. In addition, Stewart was capable of telling right from wrong last May 12, the night of the murders, Centor said.
That, he said, combined with Stewart's long string of criminal convictions, made Stewart a continuing threat to society.
Prosecutor James Updike submitted records of Stewart's convictions in North Carolina and Pennsylvania for driving offenses, assaulting a police officer with a knife and for "malicious injury" to property. Four convictions for driving under the influence of alcohol were among the stack of Stewart's records.
Defense psychiatrist Robert Brown interpreted Stewart's record of alcohol and drug abuse in another light.
Stewart turned to drinking early, Brown said, as a way of coping with a childhood that included alcohol abuse by his father, physical violence between his mother and father, and sexual molestation by a neighbor.
Stewart is not insane but suffers from an "inadequate personality," Brown said.
"He lacks the ability to use good judgment at various times."
At the time of the killings, Stewart suffered a brief period of amnesia, Brown said. He was unable to recall what happened during the killings because "the events were so troubling to him," Brown said.
Stewart still does not recall what happened that afternoon, Brown said.
Stewart, who did not testify at his trial or sentencing hearing, has told authorities in the past that he wanted the death penalty. He said he deserved it for what he had done.
After the sentence Tuesday, defense attorney Webster Hogeland said he had not had enough time with his client to be sure what his "real reaction" was to the death sentence.
Hogeland and defense attorney Steve Grant did advise Stewart that a judge will not formally sentence him in the case until after another background report is written, Hogeland said.
Asked whether Stewart still wants to die, Hogeland said, "Nobody wants to die."