Michael B. Ross argues passionately for his own death. It would be New England's first execution in more than 40 years.

08:58 AM EST on Wednesday, December 29, 2004

BY KAREN LEE ZINER
Journal Staff Writer

NEW LONDON, Conn. -- Ivy League graduate Michael Bruce Ross, perhaps New England's most notorious serial killer since the Boston Strangler killed 11 women in the 1960s, wept on the stand yesterday as he once more fought to be executed as scheduled next month.

Journal photo / John Freidah

Edwin Shelly, father of 14-year-old murder victim Leslie Shelley, speaks with reporters following the competency hearing of serial killer Michael Ross in New London, Conn yesterday.

New London Superior Court Judge Patrick J. Clifford ruled that Ross is mentally competent, potentially clearing the way for Ross' execution Jan. 26. But several pending motions still stand in the way.

"It's my right. People may not agree -- you may not agree with this decision," Ross, 45, told Clifford. "For 10 years, I've been trying to do this. I don't think I'm crazy. It's something I have the right to do."

Taking the stand publicly for what was apparently the first time since his arrest in 1984 (he previously testified on the stand at a closed hearing, and from his seat at the defense table), Ross frequently lost his composure as he argued that he has the right to forgo any appeals that would postpone his death.

He also accused others who are trying to block that execution of using him for their own agendas.

Ross said he believes he is making the right moral choice to help end the suffering of his victims' family members. "I understand why they hurt," Ross said. "I've been trying for 10 years to stop this. Hopefully in 28 days I'll be able to stop it, and that's my goal."

Ross, who grew up on an egg farm 10 miles west of the Rhode Island line, has admitted killing eight women in Connecticut and New York, and sexually assaulting most of them. He is on death row for killing four young women in eastern Connecticut in the 1980s. His execution would be the first in New England in more than 40 years.

Clifford based his ruling on yesterday's testimony by forensic psychiatrist Michael Norko, of Whiting Forensic Institute, who conducted a court-ordered competency evaluation of Ross. He also based it on Ross' testimony and that of his standby counsel, T.R. Paulding, and on the judge's own observations yesterday and on Dec. 9, when the hearing began.

Ross said he believed he should have received a life sentence because his diagnosed mental disorder -- sexual sadism -- represents a mitigating factor. But although he said he thinks he could win an appeal and persuade the courts to overturn his death sentence and order a third penalty hearing, a jury would still sentence him to death.

"If they were to sign a life sentence, I'd take it. I would try to do good -- get transferred to a mental-health unit. I could help people with depression" -- a topic Ross told the judge he is well-acquainted with.

"But to me, the cost isn't worth it," Ross said. "It's not worth dragging this out 10 or 15 years . . . "

Ross said, " . . . They do these things to say I'm incompetent, and it just makes me angry. I'm not incompetent, and they know that. And then they say I'm trying to use the machinery of the state" to in effect commit state-assisted suicide. "They know damn well it's not the truth. They have an agenda."

Ross added, "I'm opposed to the death penalty, so this is hard."

Norko testified that Ross, besides suffering from sexual sadism, has narcissistic tendencies and a personality disorder, and is prone to depression and anxiety attacks.

ALTHOUGH ROSS TRIED to commit suicide three times while in prison, Norko said Ross is not suicidal now. Norko said Ross understands his legal options, and is able to explain his rationale for deciding not to pusue any appeals.

"His analysis of those options is they might have merit to them . . . but he believes his pursuit of those activities would be the morally wrong thing to do," said Norko.

Clifford said, "Today's hearing only strengthens my position. Intellectually, Mr. Ross functions, obviously, at a high level. Mr. Ross has excellent understanding" of the legal proceedings, particularly with regard to the death penalty, "and he is aware of his legal options and the consequences of not pursuing them."

Although Ross clearly suffers from mental disorders, the judge said those disorders do not affect Ross's ability to make a rational decision in this case.

The ruling makes Ross "knowingly eligible for death by lethal injection, set to be inflicted upon this defendant on January 26th," Clifford said.

The judge added, "Mr. Ross, you can change your mind up until the moment" before execution. Ross said "No," then, "Thank you, your honor."

Paulding said he expected Clifford to rule as he did, and said of his client, "I think at this point, he's being ratified. He's being told he has the right to do what he wants to do."

But Paulding added, "It's not over."

The Connecticut Public Defenders' Office has filed motions with the U.S. Supreme Court and a court in Rockville, Conn., opposing Ross's decision to proceed as his own attorney (with Paulding as standby counsel).

The public defenders have requested a stay of execution until a special judicial master determines whether Connecticut's death penalty statute is racially, ethnically or geographically biased in a pending post-conviction case.

Given that Clifford recently ruled that the Connecticut Public Defenders' Office has no standing to continue representing Ross over his objections, Paulding said, "I think at this point, it's very clear the public defenders are pursuing their own agenda."

A separate "next-friend" motion that seeks a stay of execution has been filed on behalf of Ross' father. Hearings are scheduled on two of those motions on Monday, Paulding said.

Asked about his client's emotionality on the stand, Paulding said, "He's a human being about to be executed in a month -- I think what he exhibited is perfectly normal."

Edwin Shelley, father of Leslie Shelly, who was 14 when Ross strangled her and her friend April Brunais, 15, said he has no sympathy for Ross, but said he believes it's possible Ross has remorse.

"I hope he gets his wish, because his wish is my wish -- that he die," Shelley said. "Whether he has remorse or not -- that's between him and God."

Ross has been on death row since he was sentenced to death in 1987 for the 1983-84 murders of Shelley, Brunais, Wendy Baribeault, 17, and Robin Dawn Stavinsky, 19, all of Connecticut.

Ross had previously received a 120-year sentence in 1985 for the sexual assault-murders of Tammy Williams, 17, and Deborah Taylor, 24, also of Connecticut.

Ross has also confessed to killing a fellow student at Cornell before he graduated in 1982; and another New York woman; choking a North Carolina woman and leaving her for dead; assaulting an off-duty Ohio police officer in her home, and assaulting a 15-year-old girl in Ohio who managed to get away.

With reports from The Associated Press.