Woman asks Las Vegas jury to spare her life after conviction in husband’s death
In a Las Vegas courtroom Wednesday, Brandy Stutzman addressed the jurors who convicted her of murder and asked them to spare her life.
She spoke for less than two minutes.
“If I could change all of this, I would absolutely,” she said. “I would give anything to have my husband back. If I could do things differently, I absolutely would. I loved him very much.”
The jury convicted Stutzman, 37, on Monday of first-degree murder and burglary charges in the November 2010 killing of her husband, Joe. Now prosecutors are seeking the death penalty
If jurors choose capital punishment, Brandy Stutzman would become the only woman on Nevada’s death row. Jurors are expected to start discussing her penalty Thursday.
The defendant said she hoped to repair “broken relationships” with her family and wanted to be part of her son’s life.
Jeremiah Merriweather previously pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and burglary in the case. Prosecutors argued that Brandy Stutzman persuaded Merriweather to kill her husband, who was stabbed 15 times and left for dead in his northern valley home.
Brandy Stutzman’s attorneys argued that Merriweather, who was 19 at the time, killed Joe Stutzman, 32, on his own because he loved her and her son, then 5.
On Wednesday, prosecutors pointed to prior domestic violence incidents between the husband and wife and said the slaying occurred because of “financial greed.”
One of the defendant’s lawyers, Lisa Rasmussen, told jurors the death penalty was not appropriate.
Prosecutors said Brandy Stutzman orchestrated at least three plans to have her husband killed and often talked about life without him among teenagers she plied with alcohol and drugs while he worked overseas as a military aircraft mechanic.
A victim advocate read a letter from Joe Stutzman’s mother, Carol Sellers, who was unable to travel to the hearing because of health concerns.
She contemplated the fact that her son was killed a short time after returning from a deployment: “Who knew he was safer in Afghanistan than in his own home?”
Contact David Ferrara at dferrara@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-1039. Follow @randompoker on Twitter.
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