Saturday, August 3, 2013

IN LOVING MEMORY OF KATHLEEN BRILES (DIED: 3 AUGUST 2009)



            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.

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 This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.


Curtis, Amanda and Mason Briles. Curtis' mother, Kathleen Briles, was killed before Mason was born. PROVIDED PHOTO

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. 


 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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