Arena expansion plans discussed, bids due next month

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Misfit Players to present revue of Broadway songs at GAR High School

<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; The video connection wasn&#8217;t there for a long time.</p><p>U.S. District Judge A. Richard Caputo patiently waited as his staff tried to secure the video and audio hookup with the Federal Bureau of Prisons&#8217; ADX Florence facility, a super-maximum U.S. prison in Colorado.</p><p>The courtroom in the Max Rosenn Courthouse on South Main Street was not very crowded. Seated in the front row of the spectators&#8217; area were Don and Jean Williams, parents of slain Corrections Officer Eric J. Williams of Nanticoke.</p><p>Everyone was waiting for Jessie Con-ui, the man accused of killing Williams, to appear on the screen.</p><p>If convicted of Williams&#8217; murder, Con-ui, 38, could face the death penalty in the Feb. 25, 2013, murder of the 34-year-old Nanticoke native at U.S. Penitentiary Canaan.</p><p>Prosecutors claim Con-ui ambushed and then kicked Williams down a flight of stairs before pinning him down, throwing his radio aside and stabbing him more than 200 times with multiple homemade shanks.</p><p>Con-ui&#8217;s trial is scheduled to begin in July, but defense attorneys were in court Wednesday to try to get the prospect of the death sentence off the table.</p><p>The proceedings began with no video hookup, no audio hookup. All that could be heard were the arguments offered by the defense. As Don Williams would say later, it all sounded like good fodder for a classroom or a debate, but as far as this case against his son&#8217;s accused murderer, no way.</p><p>And then the TV screen behind Judge Caputo flashed and the image of Con-ui and a prison attorney appeared. Jean Williams dropped her head. Her husband stared at the screen, then he, too, looked away.</p><p>It wasn&#8217;t the first time Don and Jean had come face to face with their son&#8217;s accused killer. They had seen him before at a preliminary hearing.</p><p>Regardless, seeing Con-ui again was not pleasant for Don and Jean.</p><p>&#8220;It was very difficult to see him, &#8221; Don said. &#8220;It was extremely uncomfortable.&#8221;</p><p>The TV screen was facing directly at Don and Jean. They couldn&#8217;t look up without seeing Con-ui.</p><p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t think he could see us, but we couldn&#8217;t help but look at him,&#8221; Don said. &#8220;It felt as if we were under his glare.&#8221;</p><p>The hearing continued and Don and Jean sat and listened to defense attorneys arguing why the death penalty should not be an option, calling it ineffective and seldom actually carried out. They cited statistics and geographical trends, noting minorities were more apt to receive the death penalty.</p><p>All of the arguments meant little, if anything to Don and Jean. They stand by the law of the land. The death penalty is constitutional and should be a sentencing option and, when given, carried out.</p><p>Certainly Don and Jean have chips in the game here. Their son was brutally murdered on the job. They want their son&#8217;s killer to pay for what he did.</p><p>Back in December, the defense filed a motion that stated Con-ui would plead guilty if the &#8220;government forgoes a capital prosecution.&#8221; Also, according to the filing, Con-ui would waive his right to an appeal and &#8220;submit to the harsh conditions of confinement that have been and will continue to be imposed by the Bureau of Prisons, in essence, lifetime solitary confinement.&#8221;</p><p>Big deal. Don and Jean could care less. After Wednesday&#8217;s morning session, Don wondered what would deter other lifers from committing murder while incarcerated. What chance would other corrections&#8217; officers have if an inmate decides to kill? Another murder wouldn&#8217;t change their sentence one bit.</p><p>Prosecutor Amanda Haines argued against the defense&#8217;s claims that society was growing to reject the death penalty. She cited a recent survey that said 60 percent of Americans supported capital punishment, particularly in violent cases.</p><p>&#8220;We haven&#8217;t quite evolved to the point where we don&#8217;t want to seek it or impose it, especially in egregious cases like this,&#8221; Haines said. Then she turned to the Williams family and said, &#8220;I&#8217;m sure they think it&#8217;s quite worth it.&#8221;</p><p>On Wednesday, Don and Jean had to sit and look at the man charged with killing their son. And they listened to his brief responses to Judge Caputo&#8217;s questions.</p><p>They won&#8217;t ever see Eric again, or hear his voice. And as difficult as it was for them in that courtroom Wednesday and for how many more times they will have to go through the same experience, Don and Jean won&#8217;t stop until justice is served for their son.</p><style>
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<div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/web1_Oboyle_Bill-2-1-11.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Bill O&#8217;Boyle </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/web1_Oboyle_Bill-2-1-11.jpg</photo0><caption0>Bill O&#8217;Boyle </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/web1_williams.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">In this file photo, Donald and Jean Williams hold a portrait of their son, Eric, who was a federal corrections officer who died after an inmate allegedly attacked him on Feb. 25, 2013. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/web1_williams.jpg</photo1><caption1>In this file photo, Donald and Jean Williams hold a portrait of their son, Eric, who was a federal corrections officer who died after an inmate allegedly attacked him on Feb. 25, 2013. </caption1><photoCredit1></photoCredit1></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Bill O&#8217;Boyle</p><p>boboyle@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Bill O&#8217;Boyle at 570-991-6118 or on Twitter @TLBillOBoyle.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

In Focus: Eric Williams parents still seeking justice