But Michael Bruce Ross, who has confessed to strangling eight young women and girls, will have to undergo at least one more psychiatric evaluation.

09:20 AM EST on Friday, December 10, 2004

BY KAREN LEE ZINER
Journal Staff Writer

NEW LONDON, Conn. -- Serial killer Michael Bruce Ross wants to keep his date with death on Jan. 26, and yesterday he implored a judge to allow that.

Journal photo / John Freidah

Edwin Sheely, father of murder victim Leslie Shelly, speaks with reporters in New London, Conn., yesterday after a competency hearing for serial killer Michael Ross.

But New London Superior Court Judge Patrick Clifford ordered that Ross undergo one more psychiatric evaluation before being allowed to die by lethal injection. The judge did not order the execution postponed.

Clifford set a hearing date for Dec. 28, and said he had asked forensic psychiatrist Dr. Michael Norko to evaluate Ross, prepare a report and testify. Norko previously testified to Ross's competency in 1995.

The judge also set a hearing date for next Wednesday on motions filed by Ross' former public defenders, who are seeking a stay of execution until the court determines whether Ross is competent to waive legal challenges.

When Clifford announced his decision, Ross shook his head, dropped his head onto his hands, then wiped away tears with a white handkerchief.

"I want to bring this to a conclusion," said Ross, 45, an Ivy League graduate who is on death row and has confessed to killing six young women and teenage girls from Connecticut in the 1980s, five of whom he raped. He has also confessed to raping and strangling two other women in New York, nearly strangling a North Carolina woman, and committing numerous other rapes and assaults.

His execution would be the first in New England since 1960.

"I am hoping that January 26 will be a signpost that they [the victims' family members] can say, 'That was the day I began letting go of the anger,' " Ross said. " . . . I know a lot of people disagree with that, but I don't think that's irrational. I hope this court will accept that."

Clifford questioned Ross for more than half an hour. In a crisp, tan prison suit, his hair pulled back into a curled ponytail, Ross articulated his knowledge of case law -- particularly as it relates to the death penalty.

Clifford asked, "Have you decided any potential appeals or collateral relief you might have since this motion for consideration was filed?"

Ross replied, "I'm aware there are a number of issues that can be raised. . . . I think they still hold out hope that I'll change my mind . . ."

Ross also said he was aware of a recent petition filed with the U.S. Supreme Court by his former public defenders -- whom he said he had fired -- and added, "I'm quite surprised they were allowed to do that."

Clifford said, "You do not wish to file any other appeals?"

"No," said Ross, shaking his head.

Hartford Courant file photo

Michael Ross, shown in 1995, is schedules to be executed on Jan. 26.

After that discussion, Clifford said Ross "appears competent, he's educated, articulate, insightful -- in sum, it certainly appears he is able to make a rational choice."

"But I'm unsure whether right now, he is suffering some kind of mental disorder. I believe I need an expert to evaluate him, file a report, and testify to that," said Clifford. He said that in anticipation of that, he had contacted Norko.

Connecticut Gov. M. Jodi Rell said this week that she would not grant Ross a reprieve, and will veto any proposed legislation to repeal the death penalty.

T.R. Paulding Jr., Ross' standby counsel, told the court he knew that "[Ross' decision] is a decision that many many people disagree with or don't understand. But it's very well thought out."

Paulding said he believes Ross is telling the truth when he says he wants to die to spare his victims' families further grief. And, he added, "I'm as confident as anyone that the exam will show that he's competent," and the execution will go forward as scheduled.

"He is trying to do the right thing," said Paulding. "Clearly, with Michael Ross, there are traits of goodness. There are traits of Christianity."

Edwin Shelly, whose daughter Leslie was 14 when Ross kidnapped and killed her and her friend April Brunais on Easter Sunday in 1984, said, "I agree with him. If he wants to die, let him die."

Shelly said he plans to witness the execution. "Oh yes," Shelly said, "and I want him to know I'm standing just on the other side of the window."

Michael Malchik, a retired Connecticut State Police homicide detective who caught Ross and elicited his confession, said he strongly advocates the death penalty in this case.

"I realize we have to be very careful with the death penalty, but we're working on the 21st year of Michael Ross," said Malchik.

"He's been convicted and sentenced to death by two different juries. It's bordering on ludicrous." Malchik said he believes that Ross "is very manipulative . . . he's running a game on us."

Much has changed since Ross was first sentenced to death in 1984.

The electric chair that originally was supposed to deliver Ross' fatal jolt has been replaced by a chemical cocktail, delivered through the defendant's veins while he's strapped to a gurney.

New technology allows Ross to have his own Web page on the Internet, which includes some of the numerous articles he has written on the death penalty.

In one article, "On God's Death Row," Ross wrote, ". . . I will know, to within a few minutes, the exact day and time that I will die. I will know the exact day and time that I will meet Christ. And while I expect that this may sound strange, this has been a great blessing to me."

Paulding told Judge Clifford that a psychologist and a psychiatrist are visiting Ross daily, in part to help him face his impending death.

Paulding said after the hearing that as Ross prepares to die, he also has "a lot of mundane things to take care of. Things like funeral arrangements, where he will be cremated, and where his ashes will be sprinkled."

With reports from The Associated Press