Kathleen Briles was beaten to death in her Terra Ceia home Aug. 3, 2009 in Bradenton,
Florida. Her Killer, Delmer Smith III was sentenced to death on Tuesday May 28,
2013. Let us not forget her and the family she left behind, we will post from
some news sources.
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| Kathleen Briles |
INTERNET SOURCE:
Kathleen Brile's husband
believes Delmar Smith deserves the death penalty
State to seek death penalty during sentencing
Posted:
08/10/2012
- By: Kimberly Kuizon
PALMETTO,
Fla. - Emotions ran high as Kathleen Briles' husband and family gathered around
her grave the day after a Manatee County jury found Delmar Smith guilty of her
murder.
"I
cried my eyes out until I was dry that is what I did," said Dr.James
Briles.
During a
meeting with the press Dr.James Briles thanked everyone involved in his wife's
case.
"They
gave a voice to my wife Kathleen and it was heard," he said.
Justice
for his wife did not happen overnight.
It was
three years ago, that Dr.James Briles returned home and found his wife,
Kathleen's, body in their Terra Ceia home.
In those
three years, the one thing that he has never seen from her killer is remorse.
"What
I was really doing was watching Delmar Smith who had no emotions what so ever.
He was completely blank just as he has been through the entire process,"
he said.
While her
family now knows Smith will pay for this crime, they struggle to fill the void
caused by Kathleen's murder.
"There
is a while in my heart and I am sure there is in everyone of my sister's
hearts," said Judy Moore, Kathleen's sister.
Delmar
Smith is currently serving a life sentence for a violent home invasion case in
Sarasota. Investigators say he is also a main suspect in other home invasion
cases in Manatee and Sarasota counties.
"There
are other victims out there who may never get a chance to have their day in
court and I would like to have them consider this a victory for them as
well," said Dr.Briles.
Doctor
Briles believes Smith deserves the death penalty and the state agrees.
On
Tuesday, that state will seek the death penalty during the sentencing phase of
Smith's trial.
"I
don't think that being in the general prison population is as much of a
punishment for Delmar Smith," said
Dr.Briles.
Copyright
2012 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be
published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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|
Curtis,
Amanda and Mason Briles. Curtis' mother, Kathleen Briles, was killed before
Mason was born. PROVIDED PHOTO
|
INTERNET SOURCE: http://www.bradenton.com/2013/05/27/4542208/briles-murderer-faces-death-sentence.html
Briles' murderer faces death sentence Tuesday in Manatee County
Published: May 27, 2013
By JESSICA
DE LEON — jdeleon@bradenton.com
BRADENTON
-- Convicted killer Delmer Smith will be back in a Manatee County courtroom
where he will be sentenced Tuesday in the death of Kathleen Briles.
A jury
unanimously recommended the death penalty when Smith, 41, was convicted of
first-degree murder for Briles' death Aug. 2, 2012.
Briles
was beaten to death in her Terra Ceia home Aug. 3, 2009.
Judge
Peter Dubensky will rule on Smith's fate at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday.
Smith
appeared before Dubensky at a "Spencer hearing" in April where the
defense tried to persuade him to grant Smith life in prison without parole
rather than the death penalty. The defense claimed abnormalities in Smith's
brain affected his decision-making and made him less responsible for his crimes.
Defense
witness Ruben Gur, a clinical psychologist and professor at the University of
Pennsylvania, presented Smith's test results from magnetic resonance imaging
and positron emission tomography, a nuclear medical imaging technique that
produces a three-dimensional image of functional processes in body scans.
Gur said
the abnormalities in Smith's scans were consistent with a brain injury. He said
the abnormalities could cause him to overreact in stressful situations.
Smith did
fall off a motorcycle July 10, 2009 -- a month before murdering Briles -- but
was wearing a helmet at the time.
The
prosecution insisted Smith was competent and urged Dubensky to go with the jury
recommendation.
Dr. Helen
Mayberg, a professor of psychiatry and neurology at Emory University, testified
she found nothing abnormal with Smith's scans. She said she found a small lesion
that could have been caused by Smith's high blood pressure.
A
third-party radiologist who viewed the scans agreed the tests were normal.
Mayberg said brains vary and only 5 percent show distinct similarities if a
group of people is studied.
Smith is
already serving a life sentence for a home invasion robbery in Sarasota County.
Jessica
De Leon, law enforcement reporter, can be reached at 941-745-7049. You can
follow her on Twitter@JDeLeon1012.
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|
Dr. James Briles makes a statement to the press outside the Judicial
Center in downtown Bradenton after Delmer Smith, the man who was convicted of
killing his wife, Kathleen Briles, was sentenced to death. TIFFANY
TOMPKINS-CONDIE/Bradenton Herald
|
Delmer Smith III sentenced to death for murder of
Kathleen Briles
Published: May 28, 2013
By HERALD
STAFF REPORT
MANATEE --
Delmer Smith III on Tuesday was sentenced to death for the vicious slaying of
Terra Ceia resident Kathleen Briles.
Months
after the jury that convicted Smith of first-degree murder unanimously
recommended that Smith be executed, Judge Peter Dubensky concurred and ruled
that Smith, a career criminal, spend his remaining days waiting to be executed
by lethal injection as punishment for the Aug. 3, 2009, beating death of
Briles, the wife of Palmetto physician Dr. James Briles.
In a
statement before the sentence was announced, Smith said he was innocent of the
crime.
Briles'
death was the most violent of several home invasions that terrorized Manatee
and Sarasota counties in 2009. Although he has been tried -- and convicted --
in only two of the cases, authorities have said they consider him the suspect
in the others.
Smith,
already serving a life sentence for a home invasion and kidnapping in Sarasota,
will now take his spot on Florida's death row.
Smith was
on parole for a federal bank robbery conviction when he broke into Briles' home
and used an antique sewing machine to beat the woman to death, according to
testimony in the trial.
A jury last
August deliberated for about two hours before finding Smith guilty of
first-degree murder and armed burglary. After hearing additional testimony, the
same panel deliberated for about 30 minutes before unanimously recommending
Smith be executed for the crime.
Final
sentencing by Dubensky had been delayed as defense attorneys attempted to show
that Smith suffered from abnormalities in his brain that affected his
decision-making and made him less responsible for his crimes. Smith, they
argued, should be spared the death penalty and instead be sentenced to life in
prison without parole.
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