ST, Aug 6, 2005
Wife murdered for wanting a cuddle after sex
PANAMA CITY (FLORIDA) - A MAN who said he was angry with his wife
because she nagged him to cuddle after sex while he wanted to watch
sports on TV has been sentenced to death for killing her with a
hammer.
Christopher Offord, 30, was sentenced on Wednesday by circuit judge
Dedee Costello, who said the brutality of the killing outweighed
any mental-health issues, the News Herald of Panama City reported
on Thursday.
'The defendant struck his wife approximately 70 individual blows
after spending a happy interlude with her,' the judge said.
'Her desire to cuddle after sex does not justify the extremely
violent, brutal response of the defendant.'
Offord pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in the July 31, 2004,
death of Ms Dana Noser, 40, at his Panama City apartment.
He initially confessed to a bartender at a sports bar before being
arrested. He told investigators, in a taped interview played to the
jury, that he got annoyed when he wanted to watch a sports
programme and Ms Noser continued to ask him to return to bed with
her.
Offord has repeatedly said he wanted a death sentence.
'Prison isn't the issue,' he said in a jailhouse interview in June.
'I figure I killed her, so I deserve to die.'
A 12-member jury had unanimously recommended death. Offord's only
other option was a life jail term without parole.
All death sentences go automatically to the Florida Supreme Court
for appeal. -- ASSOCIATED PRESS
