Suzanne Basso
Suzanne Basso | |
---|---|
Born |
Suzanne Margaret Burns May 15, 1954 Schenectady, New York, U.S. |
Died |
February 5, 2014 59) Huntsville, Texas, U.S. | (aged
Other names | Suzanne Margaret Anne Cassandra Lynne Theresa Marie Veronica Sue Burns-Standlinslowski,[1][2] Sue Peek, Suzanne O'Malley[3] |
Occupation | Apartment complex security guard, seamstress[4] |
Criminal penalty | Death sentence |
Criminal status | Executed at the Huntsville Unit of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice |
Spouse(s) |
James O'Malley (born James David Peek)[3] Carmine Basso (common law)[5] |
Children |
Christianna Hardy (born 1973 as Mary Anne Margaret Peek) James David "J.D." O'Malley, Jr. (born 1974 as Harold John Peek)[3] |
Motive | Life insurance proceeds |
Conviction(s) | Capital murder |
Suzanne Margaret "Sue" Basso (née Burns; May 15, 1954 – February 5, 2014) was an American woman who was one of six co-defendants convicted in the August 1998 murder of Louis "Buddy" Musso, a mentally disabled man, who was tortured and murdered for his life insurance money.[6] She was sentenced to death in October 1999. Basso was executed by lethal injection on February 5, 2014.[7] Prior to her execution, Basso had been held at the Mountain View Unit in Gatesville, Texas, where all of Texas's female death row inmates are incarcerated.[6] At the time of this crime, Basso lived in Jacinto City, Texas, a Houston suburb.[2][8]
Victim
Buddy Musso had been married previously and had a son with his wife. She died of cancer in 1980. In 1997 Musso was living in an assisted living house in Cliffside Park, New Jersey, near New York City, and he worked as a bagger at a ShopRite. In 1997, at age 58, he met Suzanne Basso, who was 43 at the time, at a church bazaar near his house. They started a long-distance relationship and he planned to move to Texas with Basso. He moved to the Houston area on June 14, 1998.[9]
Basso's life
Basso was born on May 15, 1954 to a family from Schenectady, New York. She was one of eight children born to Florence (née Garrow) and John Richard Burns. Florence was the elder sister of spree killer Robert Garrow. Of the three girls in the family, Suzanne was the youngest.[10]
She married a Marine named James Peek in the early 1970s. Her name became "Sue Peek" as a result of her marriage. Her daughter was born in 1973 and her son was born in 1974. Peek was arrested in 1982 for molesting the daughter and convicted of taking indecent liberties with a child. In the early 1990s Sue, James, and the children moved into one residence in Houston. The family changed its surname to O'Malley and adopted an Irish American identity.[10] While in Houston she sometimes worked as a security guard in an apartment complex.[11]
In 1993 Suzanne became romantically involved with a New Jersey man named Carmine Basso, who owned a company called Latin Security and Investigations Corp. She never divorced her husband and therefore was unable to marry Basso. Basso moved into the residence. James Peek stayed in the house for a period before moving to another residence in Houston. Despite being unable to marry Basso, Sue Peek changed her surname to Basso and began referring to Basso as her husband. Carmine Basso died in 1997.[11]
Murder
The perpetrators forced Buddy Musso to do chores for them after he arrived at the Basso residence,[12] and he had injuries before his murder took place.[13]
Musso's murder took place sixteen days after his arrival.[14] According to James O'Malley (Basso's son and one of the conspirators) Musso was killed at the apartment of Bernice Ahrens Miller, another co-conspirator. The group beat Musso, stomped on him and burned him with cigarettes as he sat on a child's play mat. The group also used a wire brush on him. The group put him in a bathtub that was filled with kitchen cleaner and bleach. They put clothes on Musso's body before leaving it in Galena Park, Texas.[12] A jogger found the body and called police. The Galena Park Police Department ruled that Musso's death was due to "multiple blunt impact trauma."[14]
The perpetrators included Basso, O'Malley, Miller, Miller's children: Craig Ahrens and Hope Ahrens, and Hope Ahrens' fiancé, Terence Singleton.[12]
Trial, sentencing and death
Mary Lou Keel, the Texas district judge, established that most of the suspects would get individual trials. The trial of James O'Malley was scheduled to begin on April 13, 1999. That of Craig Ahrens was scheduled to begin later that month. Bernice Miller and Terence Singleton were to be tried together during a trial beginning in May. The trial for Hope Ahrens was scheduled for June. The final trial, that of Suzanne Basso, was scheduled for July.[15]
James O'Malley was convicted of capital murder and received a life sentence. Bernice Ahrens was convicted of murder and received 80 years in prison. Craig Ahrens was convicted of murder and received 60 years in prison. Terence Singleton was convicted of capital murder and received a life sentence.[15] The trial for Hope Ahrens resulted in a hung jury but she took a plea deal in exchange for testifying against Basso.[16] She received a 20-year sentence.[17] Suzanne Basso was convicted and sentenced to death.[18] Basso was held at the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) Mountain View Unit in Gatesville, Texas while on death row.[19]
Basso was executed on February 5, 2014, at the Huntsville Unit of the TDCJ. When asked if she had a last statement, she replied to the prison warden, "No, sir." She was pronounced dead at 6:26 p.m. CST, eleven minutes after a lethal dose of the drug pentobarbital was administered.[20]
As of 2015 the other perpetrators are incarcerated at the following prisons:
- James O'Malley: Hodge Unit[21]
- Bernice Ahrens: Hobby Unit[22]
- Craig Ahrens: Ferguson Unit[23]
- Hope Ahrens: Lockhart Unit[24]
- Terence Singleton: Ferguson Unit[25]
Statistics
As a result of the 1976 Supreme Court decision in Gregg v. Georgia, capital punishment was allowed to resume in the United States. With her execution, Basso became:[26]
- the 14th woman executed in the U.S. since 1976[27]
- the 7th murderer executed in the U.S. in 2014
- the 1,366th murderer executed in the U.S. since 1976
- the 2nd murderer executed in Texas in 2014
- the 510th murderer executed in Texas since 1976
See also
- Capital punishment in Texas
- List of offenders executed in the United States in 2014
- List of women executed in the United States since 1976
- Lists of people executed in Texas
References
- ↑ Steve McVicker (1999-05-27). "Heartburn Can Be Murder". Houston Press. Retrieved 2014-02-05.
- 1 2 Krajicek, David. "The Heiress — Sue Basso traps mentally handicapped man so she can use him as slave and kill him for insurance". Crimelibrary.com. Retrieved 2014-02-05.
- 1 2 3 A Deviant Life — Sue Basso traps mentally handicapped man so she can use him as slave and kill him for insurance. — Crime Library
- ↑ "Stomping killer competent to be executed, judge rules". Chron.com. Retrieved 2014-02-05.
- ↑ A New Squeeze — Sue Basso traps mentally handicapped man so she can use him as a slave and kill him for insurance. — Crime Library
- 1 2 "Sue Basso".
- ↑ "Woman Condemned: Suzanne Margaret Basso".
- ↑ MICHAEL GRACZYK Associated Press. "Woman Set to Be Executed in Texas for 1998 Killing". Abcnews.go.com. Retrieved 2014-02-05.
- ↑ Krajicek, David. "Falling in Love." Suzanne Basso and the Murder of Louis 'Buddy' Musso. Crime Library. Retrieved on March 3, 2014.
- 1 2 Krajicek, David. "A Deviant Life." Suzanne Basso and the Murder of Louis 'Buddy' Musso. Crime Library. Retrieved on March 3, 2014.
- 1 2 Krajicek, David. "A New Squeeze." Suzanne Basso and the Murder of Louis 'Buddy' Musso. Crime Library. Retrieved on March 3, 2014.
- 1 2 3 Krajicek, David. "Bozo Confesses." Suzanne Basso and the Murder of Louis 'Buddy' Musso. Crime Library. Retrieved on March 3, 2014.
- ↑ Krajicek, David. "Cries for Help." Suzanne Basso and the Murder of Louis 'Buddy' Musso. Crime Library. Retrieved on March 3, 2014.
- 1 2 Krajicek, David. "Suzanne Basso and the Murder of Louis 'Buddy' Musso." Suzanne Basso and the Murder of Louis 'Buddy' Musso. Crime Library. Retrieved on March 3, 2014.
- 1 2 Krajicek, David. "Fingerpointing at Trial." Suzanne Basso and the Murder of Louis 'Buddy' Musso. Crime Library. Retrieved on March 3, 2014.
- ↑ Krajicek, David. "A Hung Jury." Suzanne Basso and the Murder of Louis 'Buddy' Musso. Crime Library. Retrieved on March 3, 2014.
- ↑ Krajicek, David. "On Death Row." Suzanne Basso and the Murder of Louis 'Buddy' Musso. Crime Library. Retrieved on March 3, 2014.
- ↑ Krajicek, David. "The Jail Cell Diet." Suzanne Basso and the Murder of Louis 'Buddy' Musso. Crime Library. Retrieved on March 3, 2014.
- ↑ "Death Row Facts." Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Retrieved on May 6, 2010.
- ↑ Staff. "Texas woman executed after failed appeal". Russia Today. Retrieved 2014-02-05.
- ↑ "O'Malley, James David" (Archive). Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Retrieved on January 20, 2016.
- ↑ "Ahrens, Bernice" (Archive). Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Retrieved on December 28, 2015.
- ↑ "Ahrens, Craig" (Archive). Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Retrieved on December 28, 2015.
- ↑ "Ahrens, Hope" (Archive). Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Retrieved on December 28, 2015.
- ↑ "Singleton Terence Jermaine" (Archive). Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Retrieved on December 28, 2015.
- ↑ The Clark County Prosecuting Attorney – The Death Penalty – #1366: Suzanne Margaret Basso
- ↑ "Woman executed in Texas for 1998 torture killing". February 5, 2014. Retrieved February 6, 2014.
Further reading
Legal documents:
- "IN THE COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEALS OF TEXAS NO. 73,672 SUSAN (a.k.a. SUZANNE) MARGARET BASSO, Appellant v. THE STATE OF TEXAS APPEAL FROM HARRIS COUNTY" (Archive)
Newspaper articles: (Houston Chronicle articles are available from the Houston Public Library, accessible with a library card)
- Rendon, Ruth. "6 charged in death of mentally impaired man; police say broken ornament led to fatal beating." Houston Chronicle. August 28, 1998.
- Crocker, Ronnie and Kevin Moran. "Inquiry grows as beating-death case takes odd twist; suspect was featured in bogus wedding ad." Houston Chronicle, August 29, 1998.
- Mosk, Matthew. "A Lonely Man's Betrayal and Death." Bergen Record. August 30, 1998.
- Crocker, Ronnie and Ruth Rendon. "Suspect's life packed with eccentricities; Sue Basso, held in killing, has left a long, strange trail." Houston Chronicle. September 6, 1998.
- Rendon, Ruth. "Slaying possibly tied to insurance' victim's policy paid off extra if he died from violent crime." Houston Chronicle. September 17, 1998.
- Brewer, Steve. "Prosecutors weigh death penalty in savage beating case." Houston Chronicle. December 10, 1998.
- Brewer, Steve. "Prosecutor tells of torture, false lure of love." Houston Chronicle. April 16, 1999
- Brewer, Steve. "Defendant tries to blame mother for his role in man's death." Houston Chronicle. April 20, 1999
- Brewer, Steve. "Mother, son tried to downplay their roles in torture, killing." Houston Chronicle. May 6, 1999
- Brewer, Steve. "Mother, son sentenced for murder; jury delivers long terms in torture-slaying case." Houston Chronicle, May 11, 1999.
- Brewer, Steve. "Suspect in fatal torture case puts most of blame on others." Houston Chronicle. May 15, 1999.
- "MAN GETS LIFE IN PRISON FOR ROLE IN TORTURE SLAYING." The Buffalo News. May 21, 1999.
- Brewer, Steve. "Dispatcher says slaying suspect wasn't remorseful when confessing." Houston Chronicle. June 9, 1999.
- Brewer, Steve. "Witnesses in Basso murder trial say victim refused offers of help." Houston Chronicle. August 19, 1999.
- Brewer, Steve. "Basso admitted role in beatings, jury told." Houston Chronicle. August 20, 1999.
- Brewer, Steve. "Victim's handwritten plea for help read to jury in Basso murder trial." Houston Chronicle. August 25, 1999.
- Brewer, Steve. "Convicted murderer abuses her kids, preys on weak, jurors told." Houston Chronicle. August 31, 1999.
- Brewer, Steve. "Basso weeps at hearing death sentence; daughter cries tears of joy over punishment in mother's plot to kill." Houston Chronicle. September 2, 1999.
- McGraw, Seamus. "Cowboy Boots, a Scarf, and a Fatal Attraction: Cliffside Park Man's Killer Sentenced to Death." Bergen Record. September 3, 1999. Available at HighBeam Research.
- Brewer, Steve. "Childhood of Indignities: Basso's daughter tells of abuse by her mother." Houston Chronicle. September 5, 1999.
- Zuniga, Jo Ann. "Woman pleads guilty, gets 20 years in Musso murder." Houston Chronicle. October 29, 1999.
- Turner, Allan. "Courts reject 3 Suzanne Basso appeals as death date approaches." Houston Chronicle. Monday February 3, 2014.
- "Texas to execute woman for torture and beating death of mentally disabled man with intellect of a seven-year-old whom she had promised to marry in insurance scam." The Daily Mail. February 4, 2014.
- Graczyk, Michael. "Woman set to be executed in Texas for 1998 killing." Associated Press. February 5, 2014. Available at HighBeam Research.