Jury rules for death penalty in convicting inmate killer

Friday, March 30, 2007 |
SALEM, Ore. (AP) - A Marion County jury ruled that an Oregon State Penitentiary inmate should get the death penalty for killing another prisoner.
Gary Haugen, 45, showed no emotion when the jury announced its verdict Thursday. But as the jury left the courtroom, he and co-defendant Jason Brumwell each raised one fist and shouted an apparent white-supremacist salute.
The jury will next consider whether Brumwell should also join the more than 30 men currently on Oregon's Death Row.
The pair were found guilty earlier this month of the September 2003 murder of inmate David Polin, who had a crushed skull and 84 stab wounds.
Judge Joseph Guimond ruled that Haugen will be sentenced at a future date.
“Can't we do this now?” Haugen asked Guimond. “I don't want to waste any more of these people's time.”
Guimond declined Haugen's request because some of the victim's relatives want to be present for the sentencing and were not in court.
Haugen killed Polin while serving a life sentence for the 1981 murder of Mary Archer. Her family was in the courtroom Thursday.
“We're just glad it's over,” said Carolyn Pratt, Archer's daughter. “He won't be able to kill anyone else.”
In his final speech to the jury before they entered deliberations Wednesday, Haugen had dared them to kill him.
“Sentence me to death, because if you don't, you're suckers,” Haugen said.
The jury took six hours before reaching its decision.
Haugen made news in 1999 when he volunteered to donate half of his liver to save his dying sister in Wyoming.
Oregon prison officials allowed Haugen to undergo blood testing to determine if he was a good donor match. The testing ruled him out.
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