web1_TTL071117.strenfel.bdy_.jpg

Happy birthday Addison Lily Strenfel!

web1_TTL071117lccc.summa_.jpg

LCCC 2017 summa cum laude graduates

<p>SCRANTON &#8212; Jessie Con-ui&#8217;s crimes have so far earned him a life spent mostly behind prison walls. Now a jury has begun determining if his latest warrants death.</p><p>Con-ui, 40, was convicted last month of murdering U.S. Penitentiary Canaan guard Eric Williams in February 2013. Williams, 34, a Nanticoke native, was beaten and stabbed to death by Con-ui, the jury found after deliberating for about a half hour on June 7.</p><p>The panel of 12 jurors on Monday began deliberations in the capital murder trial that started in late April with jury selection.</p><p>A lengthy penalty phase featuring the testimony of dozens of witnesses followed a guilt phase that lasted about a week. There, the jury found Con-ui guilty of first-degree murder, first-degree murder of a U.S. corrections officer and possessing contraband in prison.</p><p>The contraband &#8212; two homemade shanks &#8212; were what Con-ui used to stab Williams more than 200 times after kicking him down a flight of stairs inside the unit in which Williams guarded Con-ui and more than 100 other inmates.</p><p>Con-ui paused during the nearly 11-minute attack to wash a cut in a nearby shower and to take gum from Williams&#8217; pocket, a recording of the murder played to the jury showed. He sat at a table with his feet propped up and chewed the gum before returning to Williams&#8217; body where he resumed his attack.</p><p>Many of Williams&#8217; Canaan coworkers who took the stand said they barely recognized him in the aftermath.</p><p>Prosecutors argued that Con-ui, a career criminal with a previous murder conviction already to his name, deserves to die for his violent past, the brutal murder, and the impact it had on Williams&#8217; family, friends and coworkers.</p><p>In 2002, the jury heard, Con-ui murdered fellow New Mexican Mafia gang member Carlos Garcia outside an Arizona laundromat. While behind bars, he beat another inmate with a metal food tray, stabbed another fellow inmate, and threatened a guard, prosecutors said. Other plans to kill were thwarted before Con-ui could carry them out, they added.</p><p>Con-ui was to be returned to Arizona to serve out his life sentence in September 2013, about seven months after he murdered Williams. Con-ui was at Canaan serving an 11-year sentence for drug trafficking.</p><p>Con-ui&#8217;s defense team claimed sentencing Con-ui to die would only ensure another innocent family suffers. They did not present any witnesses during the guilt phase, but in the penalty phase argued Con-ui fell into a life of drugs and violence after showing signs of promise as a youth.</p><p>His attorneys asked the jury to show Con-ui mercy.</p><p>If the panel cannot unanimously agree on a death sentence, life in prison without the possibility of parole will be imposed.</p><style>
.neFileBlock {
	margin-bottom: 20px;
}
.neFileBlock p {
	margin: 0px 0px 0px 0px;
}
.neFileBlock .neFile {
	border-bottom: 1px dotted #aaa;
	padding-bottom: 5px;
	padding-top: 10px;
}
.neFileBlock .neCaption {
	font-size: 85%;
}
</style>
<div class='neFileBlock'>
<div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/web1_Eric-Williams-cmyk-3.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Williams </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/web1_Eric-Williams-cmyk-3.jpg</photo0><caption0>Williams </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/web1_Jessie-Con-Ui-2014zillaCMYK-2.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Con-ui </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/web1_Jessie-Con-Ui-2014zillaCMYK-2.jpg</photo1><caption1>Con-ui </caption1><photoCredit1></photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/web1_web1_Gavel-5.jpg">
<div class="neCaption"></div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/web1_web1_Gavel-5.jpg</photo2><caption2></caption2><photoCredit2></photoCredit2></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Joe Dolinsky</p><p>jdolinsky@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Joe Dolinsky at 570-991-6110 or on Twitter @JoeDolinskyTL</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Life or death? Deliberations underway in Con-ui capital murder case