Stephen Stanko

Case record: Stephen Stanko

Background

Stephen Stanko was born in 1968. He had previously been incarcerated for Assault & kidnapping in 1996 and was released from prison in 2004 after serving 8 years of the 10-year sentence. While in prison, he co-authored a book titled “Living in Prison: A History of the Correctional System With an Insider's View”.

Stanko described a fear of being labeled “a convicted felon” after his release. He wrote: “What I fear most now is that I may carry some of this total institution back into society with me”.

The offence

In 2005, Stephen Stanko killed two people and raped a teenage girl in Murrels Inlet, a small town near Georgetown County, South Carolina.

Stanko strangled Laura Ling, 43. He also shot Henry Lee Turner, 74. Stanko sexually assaulted and stabbed Ling’s teenage daughter, who survived and made the 911 call for help. Investigators found Ling’s body after a teenager, later identified as Ling’s daughter, called police from the home and said she had been raped.

Police said Turner’s murder happened a few days after Ling’s murder. Police also said Turner’s murder was only one of many crimes Stanko committed in one week.

The teenager who made the 911 call was Ling’s teenage daughter and survived.

Investigation

Following the slayings, a nationwide manhunt began. The manhunt was based on tips received after the posting of a $10,000 reward for information leading to his capture.

Investigators also found articles on Jeffrey Dahmer, Green River killer Gary Ridgway and other serial killers in Stanko’s home. A police spokesperson said: “He either was just interested in serial killers or he was becoming a serial killer.”

Arrest

After the nationwide manhunt, Stephen Stanko was arrested without incident by the U.S. Marshals Service in Augusta, Georgia on April 12, 2005.

Trial

Trial relating to Laura Ling

A Georgetown jury convicted Stanko guilty of the murder and sexual assault in August 2006. Stanko’s insanity defense failed, and after the conviction he was sentenced to death soon after.

During the appeal of the death penalty conviction, Stanko’s attorney argued that errors in the original trial resulted in his conviction because the trial judge did not allow the defense to ask potential jurors how they felt about the insanity defense and did not allow the defense to present Stanko’s age/mentality as aggravating or “mitigating” factors.

Following the conviction, he was sentenced to death.

Trial relating to Henry Lee Turner

Stanko faced another trial for the murder of 74-year-old Henry Turner, set to begin in the week of November 9, 2009. The jury convicted Stanko of the murder of Henry Lee Turner in his Conway home more than four years earlier.

Prosecutors presented their rebuttal witnesses to refute what the defense put up during the weekend.

During trial, the forensic psychologist Dr. Pamela Crawford testified that when she interviewed Stanko for 17 hours in 2006, she concluded “he has a grandiose sense of self importance, failure to conform to social norms and lack of remorse.”

Before her testimony, Crawford told 15th Circuit Court Judge Steven H. John, in the absence of the jury, that Stanko said he was in fear of his life and that’s why he had to shoot Turner. Crawford testified: “It’s clear from what he told me that not only did he remember the events, but he was asserting that he was defending himself,” and that “which sort of rules out an insanity defense in the sense that he said that, ‘I remembered it, I did this because I was trying to protect myself,’ and that’s just pretty crucial.”

John told prosecutors he wouldn’t allow the details of the conversation between Crawford and Stanko to be heard by the jury.

During closing arguments, both sides asked the jury to come up with a verdict that “will speak the truth.“

Deputy Solicitor Fran Humphries said: “Folks let me tell you something,“ and added that “he had plans, and if you can plan you will appreciate the wrongfulness of your actions and if you appreciate them then he is not insane, not by law of the State of South Carolina,“

Defense attorney Bill Diggs said: “He has a severe case of anti social personality disorder,“ and also said, “but he has a severe case of it because it manifests not only in terms of lying and stealing but killing , I mean if you think you could recognize the rightness or wrongfulness of your conduct would you do it with your family member?“

Diggs and attorney Brana Williams rested their case Sunday after working to convince jurors Stanko was insane when he killed Turner, a Florence County native, in 2005.

Sentencing

Laura Ling sentence

After the Georgetown jury convicted Stanko guilty of the murder and sexual assault in August 2006, Stanko was sentenced to death soon after his conviction.

A date of execution had been set for October 2007, but it was stayed for appeals. Court officials said Stanko would not be put to death on his set execution date Oct. 17, 2007 because the appeals process took years to complete.

If the execution took place, he would have had a choice of the Electric chair or Lethal injection.

Henry Lee Turner sentence

Stephen Stanko received his second death sentence Thursday afternoon (November 19, 2009). After deliberating for a little more than an hour, the jury sentenced him to death.

Judge Steven John allowed Stanko to address jurors with a hand-written letter during closing arguments prior to their deliberation. In his address, Stanko said: “No matter what it is I know you (the jury) will make the right decision. But do it fairly. Don’t put me in that position I am going to kill you and do the same thing that you are accusing me of.“

In the same address, Stanko said: “In going to court, I just didn’t want to hurt anybody else and that’s why I didn’t want my family here,“

After deliberations, the same jury took just 45 minutes Monday afternoon to convict Stanko of the murder of 74-year-old Henry Lee Turner in his Conway home more than four years ago. 15th Circuit Court Solicitor Greg Hembree said about Turner’s family who were at the trial since it began: “It’s the first step, in talking so briefly with them,“ and also: “you could see the relief on their faces, guilty is really what they are about, I mean they wanted to hold him accountable for his actions, for killing their dad and family member so that’s been accomplished and that’s a huge relief for them.“

Just after 3 p.m. Saturday, Stanko’s attorneys decided to move forward with an insanity defense. Diggs asked the jury to consider Stanko’s mental state during opening statements Friday. Diggs said: “I don’t want to say this, and I know it’s going to sound wrong to my client because he’s a human being, but he’s not healthy, period,“

Dr. Ruben Gur testified that Stanko had damage to his frontal lobe area which caused his brain to be abnormal, and that very few people have this problem. Gur said this caused “little regard for others.”

Neurologist Dr. Thomas Sachy testified that because Stanko has a damaged frontal lobe, it would force someone to act in an “impulsively violent or in a psychopathic manner.” Sachy backed up his statements by showing the jury Positron Emission Tomography, or PET, scan data analysis which he said clearly showed Stanko’s brain did not function the same way a normal human being’s brain did.

During cross examination, Hembree asked Sachy whether Stanko knew right from wrong during the time of the killing. Sachy responded: “He did not understand the moral difference between right and wrong,” and added: “Morals aren’t something we think about because they are something we appreciate, they are biologically determined, its how your brain works.”

Sachy told the jury he reviewed Stanko’s past medical records, including his birth records, and concluded that something “bad had happened to him during his birth.” Sachy said those records showed Stanko had “signs of brain damage and there was a threat that he might die.”

In the absence of the jury, the court heard Stanko speak for the first time when John asked him if he will testify during his trial. Stanko said he would not.

During testimony and evidence presentation Saturday, psychiatrist Bernard Albiniak told the jury Stanko “is considered a psychopath.”

Appeals

The first phase of Stanko’s appeals process began on 23 September 2007, when he appeared before the S.C. Supreme Court in a bid to overturn his death penalty conviction. Stanko’s attorney said errors in the original trial resulted in his conviction because the trial judge did not allow the defense to ask potential jurors how they felt about the insanity defense and did not allow the defense to present Stanko’s age/mentality as aggravating or “mitigating” factors.

In 2008, the Supreme Court ruled against the appeal and wouldn’t allow a new trial for Stanko.

Outcome

Stephen Stanko was on Death row at Lieber Correctional Institution in Ridgeville, South Carolina, while awaiting execution.

Other details

After his release, Stanko began doing library research for a second book, and while doing this research he befriended Laura Ling and eventually moved in with her as her boyfriend.

Stanko also had a seemingly friendly relationship with library patron, Henry Turner.

Stephen Stanko was currently on Death row at Lieber Correctional Institution in Ridgeville, South Carolina.

Stanko was the first person to be sentenced to death in Georgetown County in nearly 11 years.

Stanko faced charges in the case of Connie Price. He was charged with forgery and obtaining goods through false pretense, with the allegation that he was pretending to be Ms. Price’s attorney. Ms. Price testified at Stanko’s first murder trial.

A judge record detail said Stanko’s trial judge did not allow the defense to ask potential jurors how they felt about the insanity defense and did not allow the defense to present Stanko’s age/mentality as aggravating or “mitigating” factors.

Crime scene expert Brent Turvey took the stand Saturday and showed the jury several photographs taken at the crime scene where Turner was shot to death in his home. Photos showed the gun used, a bloody suitcase and Stanko’s business cards recovered from the truck he stole from Turner’s home. Turvey said Turner was killed with a gun that was shot through a pillow found on his bed at the crime scene.

Police said Turner’s murder was only one of many crimes Stanko committed in one week.

The CBS show “48 Hours” featured the Stanko case in January 2007.

After deliberations in the 2009 death sentence trial, Stanko received his second death sentence Thursday afternoon.

Stephen Stanko was arrested in an Augusta, Ga., shopping center.

Stanko had a handwritten letter allowed by Judge Steven John during closing arguments prior to deliberation.

In opening statements, Diggs said: “I don’t want to say this, and I know it’s going to sound wrong to my client because he’s a human being, but he’s not healthy, period,“

The record noted that Stanko’s execution date had been set for October 2007 and that it was stayed for appeals.

A nationwide search followed the Turner and Ling slayings and ended with his arrest.

Stanko’s appeal process began on 23 September 2007 and was ruled against in 2008.

Timeline

• August 2006 — A Georgetown jury convicted Stanko guilty of the murder and sexual assault of Laura Ling (43) and Stanko was sentenced to death soon after conviction.
• 23 September 2007 — Stanko appeared before the S.C.
• Oct. 17, 2007 — Stanko was not put to death because the appeals process took years to complete.
• January 2007 — The CBS show “48 Hours” featured the Stanko case.
• April 12, 2005 — Stanko was arrested without incident by the U.S. Marshals Service in Augusta, Georgia.
• 2008 — The Supreme Court ruled against Stanko’s appeal and would not allow a new trial.
• November 19, 2009 — Stanko received his second death sentence after a jury deliberated for a little more than an hour.