Trial begins in alledged Sikh murder

[thaite]

'World is watching' trial in post-9/11 Sikh killing


Jim Walsh
The Arizona Republic
Sept. 3, 2003

Under the glow of an international spotlight, a prosecutor argued in opening statements Tuesday that rage and hatred motivated the senseless slaying of a Sikh gasoline station owner five days after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

But a defense attorney told jurors that admitted gunman Frank Roque is a mentally ill man who heard relentless voices telling him to "kill the devil" before he shot and killed Balbir Singh Sodhi.

Whether Roque, 44, is convicted and sentenced to death in the six-week trial depends largely on whether jurors believe he was insane when he pulled the trigger of a .380 semi-automatic handgun with deadly accuracy, hitting the Indian immigrant with all five shots.

After the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan and terrorist hunts in retaliation for 3,000 deaths at the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and in a western Pennsylvania field, "the whole world is watching to see what kind of punishment will they do to their own terrorist?" said Harjit Singh Sodhi, one of the victim's brothers.

Defense attorney Dan Patterson does not consider Roque a terrorist, but he said the "patriotic fervor" that followed the Sept. 11 attacks, coupled with Roque's undiagnosed mental illness, were catalysts for the murder.

In a packed courtroom and with Court TV filming the trial for a planned five-episode report, Patterson said Roque was profoundly affected by the terrorist attacks and started hearing voices.

"Frank Roque is mentally ill. He no longer hears the voices he heard on September 11, 2001," Patterson said. "They've been stilled because he is on medication."

"The voices said kill the devil," Patterson said, "not kill the Arabs, not kill the Sikhs. Kill the devil."

Deputy County Attorney Vince Imbordino said Sodhi, 49, became the unfortunate target of Roque's rage because he wore a turban as an expression of his Sikh religion.

"It's a clash of different cultures that came to a deadly end," Imbordino said. "To some extent, this case is about September 11, but I think the evidence will prove it was a flash point. It goes much deeper."

In a series of racist statements that began when the World Trade Center collapsed, Roque announced his murderous plans and told a co-worker that he had been treated rudely at a gasoline station on University Drive by "a towel head or a rag head," Imbordino said.

He told an Applebee's restaurant employee on Sept. 11, "I'm going to go out and shoot some towel heads," the prosecutor said.

Roque told the co-worker, "We should round them all up and kill them. We should kill their children, too, because they'll grow up to be like their parents," Imbordino said.

But Patterson said Roque is not a racist and never made racist statements before the Sept. 11 attacks.

"There was a patriotic fervor that developed," Patterson said. "There was a great deal of anger in our community about the terrorists."

Patterson said Roque was never diagnosed as mentally ill before the slaying of Sodhi during a 15-minute shooting spree through east Mesa, in which drive-by shootings also were committed at a Lebanese-owned gas station and an Afghan immigrant's home.

But Roque's mother was twice hospitalized for schizophrenia and there is a genetic predisposition to the disease, Patterson said. Three of four doctors who examined him found he suffers from a serious mental illness, which sheds light on his history of odd behavior, he said.

Roque ignored pleas from family members to seek mental health treatment after the Sept. 11 attacks, he said.

Sodhi immigrated from the Punjab region of India in 1989 and worked as a cab driver in the Bay Area until he opened his Chevron station at 80th Street and University Drive in early 2001.

Imbordino said Roque shot Sodhi as he spoke to a landscaper about a leaking hose.

Landscaper Luis Ledemsa testified that he was crouching when he heard a truck's skidding tires. Singh Sodhi's last words were "don't kill me" before shots rang out and the victim collapsed, he said.

[hooligan]

this trial sounds complicated, i mean if he's mentally retarded then i hope he gets a fair trial, but if he's a racist bastard i hope he gets treated like one. but if the trial's complicated, i think he's going to get off soft. rack one up for the american justice system.

-ben

[thaite]

Mentally retarded, my ass! He's just a stupid racist fuck from Apache Junction.

[mr. x]

man i bet if he does go to prison tho he'll be treated like a king

[thaite]

Prosecution may rest case Thursday in Sikh killing trial

Jim Walsh
The Arizona Republic
Sept. 10, 2003 12:00 AM

The prosecution expects to rest Thursday in the death penalty trial of a man who admits to killing a Sikh gasoline station owner five days after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Prosecutors say Frank Roque, 44, killed Balbir Singh Sodhi, 49, out of hate and made numerous racist statements after the attacks about immigrants from the Middle East or those who appeared Middle Eastern. The defense says he is mentally ill and heard voices telling him to "kill the devil."

The defense case begins Thursday with the testimony of Roque's brother, sister and daughter. It continues Monday and Tuesday with the testimony of mental health expert witnesses.

Defense attorney Dan Patterson says Roque is guilty but insane and should be sent to the state mental hospital until he is judged no longer a threat.

[AliBabaIncorporated]

Originally Posted by mr. x

man i bet if he does go to prison tho he'll be treated like a king

More likely like a queen ... plenty of black people in prison who have no particular sympathy e for white racists ...

[thaite]

Man in killing of Sikh hears voices, his sister testifies

Associated Press
Sept. 11, 2003 02:20 PM

The sister of a man accused of shooting to death an Indian immigrant in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks testified Thursday that her brother is delusional.

Frank Roque is being tried for first-degree murder in the death of Balbir Singh Sodhi, a 49-year-old Sikh who wore a turban and long beard as part of his faith. Prosecutors accuse Roque of targeting Sodhi just four days after the 2001 attacks because of the way he looked.

But on Thursday, the anniversary of the terrorist attacks, Roque's sister, Anna Keneston, testified that Roque hears voices and is delusional.
Roque's attorneys are presenting a guilty except insane defense, saying their client is mentally ill.

The trial is expected to last until the beginning of October.

[thaite]

Verdict: Guilty

Man in Sikh slaying guilty of first-degree murder

File photos
Balbir Singh Sodhi, left, and Frank Roque

Jim Walsh
The Arizona Republic
Sept. 30, 2003 12:05 PM

A jury today rejected Frank Roque's plea of insanity, finding him guilty of first-degree murder in the death of a Sikh gasoline station owner four days after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Roque, 44, had admitted to killing Balbir Singh Sodhi, 49, an Indian immigrant, but his attorney had said his client suffered from mental illness and heard voices.

The case will enter the aggravation phase on Thursday, at which jurors will determine whether Roque is eligible for the death penalty.

Roque also was found guilty on five other counts, including attempted murder and reckless endangerment, related to drive-by shootings at Middle Eastern targets that quickly followed the murder of Singh Sodhi.

Jurors were given the option to find Roque either guilty, not guilty, or guilty except insane of first-degree murder and lesser charges in the Sept. 15, 2001, slaying of Sodhi, who was killed because he wore a turban and looked Middle Eastern.

Deputy Maricopa County Attorney Vince Imbordino said during closing arguments that the shooting "is not mental illness. It's hatred, it's anger."

Roque's insanity claims amounted to "nothing, no defense," Imbordino said.

Defense attorney Dan Patterson said in his closing that all expert witnesses in the case agreed that Roque suffers from a mental disorder of some sort, even if they disagreed on their diagnosis and whether it interfered with him knowing right from wrong.

When the terrorists struck, "clearly, it was lunacy at work on a grand scale," Patterson said.

And when Roque shot Singh Sodhi, then rapidly carried out two more drive-by shootings at Middle Eastern targets, "clearly there was lunacy at work here in Mesa on a much smaller scale," Patterson told jurors.

[thaite]

Man sentenced to death for killing Sikh


Associated Press
Oct. 9, 2003 04:08 PM

A man was sentenced to death Thursday for killing an Indian immigrant during a shooting rampage four days after the Sept. 11 attacks.

Frank Silva Roque was convicted last week of first-degree murder in the death of Mesa gas station owner Balbir Singh Sodhi, who wore a turban and beard as part of his Sikh faith, and whom prosecutors said Roque mistook for a Middle Eastern man.

Roque was also convicted of attempted first-degree murder, drive-by shooting and endangerment in the Sept. 15, 2001, shootings, which also targeted a gas station with a clerk of Lebanese descent and an Afghan family's home. No one else was hurt.

Defense attorneys argued that Roque suffered from a mental illness and that the terrorist attacks triggered an episode of insanity. During the trial, attorneys used a guilty-but-insane defense, which, if successful, could have spared Roque prison time and instead forced him into a mental hospital.

Prosecutors argued that Roque had been motivated by anger and racial hatred.

[Vedic_Warrior]

I'm glad this guy got the death penalty. There's no excuse for killing innocent people....