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Denied Clemency
Title: Death-Row Man
Denied Clemency
Source: Associated Press, 1/28/99
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Death-Row Man Denied Clemency
.c The Associated Press
By ROCHELLE HINES
McALESTER, Okla. (AP) -- An Oklahoma parole board
has rejected clemency for a condemned man who killed his mother, stepfather
and a grocery store clerk when he was 16 years old.
Sean Sellers, 29, pleaded with the board Wednesday,
saying he was deluded by Satanism at the time of the murders.
``I'm begging you for mercy,'' he said. ``I can't
imagine what I could say today to cause you to have mercy on me. The only
thing I know to do is try to show my heart.''
The board unanimously rejected the application, and
Sellers is scheduled to be executed Feb. 4 -- the first time anyone would
die for crimes committed at the age of 16 since 1959, when Maryland executed
Leonard M. Shockley.
Sellers was four months past his 16th birthday when
he shot and killed store clerk Robert Bower, 32, on Sept. 8, 1985. Sellers
had told a companion, ``I want to see what it feels like to kill somebody.''
On March 5, 1986, Sellers shot and killed his mother,
Vonda Bellofatto, 32, and stepfather, Paul Bellofatto, 43, in their bedroom
shortly after midnight.
Sellers, now a Christian involved in outreach ministries
from his death row cell, once worshipped the occult. At his trial, the
defense said Sellers was addicted to the game ``Dungeons & Dragons''
and it dictated his actions.
Steve Bellofatto, one of Sellers' uncles, said his
nephew was old enough to appreciate what he was doing at the time of the
killings.
``He was old enough to drive a car, a 4,000-pound
death machine,'' he said. ``But he's not old enough to know shooting your
mother in the face is wrong? Give me a break.''
AP-NY-01-28-99 0740EST
Copyright 1998 The Associated Press.
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