Tabitha Messina

Case record: Tabitha Messina

Background

Tabitha Messina was 19 at the time of her sentencing. She was from South Euclid. Tabitha Messina and Carlos Christopher were arrested days after the slayings.

Tabitha Messina had an often contentious relationship with her father, Richard Messina. She said: "I always used to push my dad to a certain limit to see how much he would take from me," Tabitha Messina said.

Between January 2005 and the murder, South Euclid police were called to Messina’s home 68 times for reasons including loud music, barking dogs, trespassing and juvenile disturbances. Tabitha Messina alleged that her father abused her, but there was no evidence to corroborate it, Assistant Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Patrick J. Thomas said.

Several members from Messina and Cover’s family filled Judge Timothy E. McMonagle’s courtroom. Those who spoke said life in prison was an insufficient punishment. Linda Moore, Cover’s sister, told Messina she deserved to die for the murder and mutilation of the couple. Cover’s mother, Joann Bartell, said life in prison was “more mercy than she showed Sandy and her father.” Bartell showed the judge a picture of Sandy Cover and said, “There are not adequate words in the English language to describe the pain, anguish and despair I feel.” Betty Montanez, Richard Messina’s sister and Tabitha’s aunt, echoed the sentiment. She said: “When you forgot to respect him, and you forgot he was your father, we forgot you were our niece,” she said. “At best, you deserve to die in prison, maybe of old age.” Montanez said the one person in her family who would have forgiven her was her father.

Clinical psychologist Dr. Sandra McPherson said Messina used to lie after getting in fights, clinical psychologist Dr. Sandra McPherson said. McPherson said Messina used to attack other children, blame someone else and then get attention by trying to fix the problem in a study read by McMonagle. Judge Timothy E. McMonagle said: “She makes things up as she goes along and she believes what she says,” McMonagle said.

The offence

Tabitha Messina and her co-defendant Carlos Christopher broke into Richard Messina's house at 1804 Donwell in South Euclid and attacked Richard Messina and his girlfriend, Sandra Cover, with an axe and a crowbar while they slept in Richard Messina's bedroom.

After the homicide, Messina and Christopher ransacked the house. They took Richard Messina's two vehicles, a Corvette and GMC Jimmy, and fled to North Carolina.

They were found sleeping in the Jimmy, which was parked in a motel parking lot in Avery County, North Carolina, two days after the homicide.

Prosecutors said Messina and Christopher attacked Richard Messina and Cover with an axe and a crowbar while they slept. The co-defendants then ransacked the house, stole Richard Messina's two vehicles and fled to North Carolina, where they were caught by police the next day.

Tabitha Messina insisted she did not plan or want to kill her father or the woman who served as her surrogate stepmother for 10 years. She said: “Never once would I think of taking the life of the man who raised me,” she said at her sentencing.

At her sentencing, Judge Timothy E. McMonagle said the evidence showed otherwise.

Investigation

South Euclid Police Department responded to 1804 Donwell Drive regarding a welfare check. Upon officers' arrival, they noted that the screen to an enclosed patio was torn and a window was broken out of an entrance door to the house. Once inside the home, officers discovered the bodies of the homeowner, 50-year-old Richard Messina, and his girlfriend, 43-year-old Sandra Cover. The South Euclid Police Department investigated the incident as a double homicide.

The South Euclid Police Department recovered a vehicle that had been taken from the home along with a weapon which was believed to have been used in the crime.

Police questioned three people Monday and then issued arrest warrants for the victim's daughter and her male firend. The South Euclid Police Department responded to 1804 Donwell Drive 68 times since January 1st, 2005 for various reasons and the address was on the department's nuisance abatement list.

Arrest

Tabitha Messina and Carlos Christopher were apprehended Monday by members of the Avery County Sheriff’s Department and Newland Police Chief Jason Brown following a call to emergency services reporting an unresponsive person in a car in the parking lot of the Parkview Motel in Linville Falls.

First responders found the pair asleep but otherwise in apparent good health. A check of the vehicle’s registration by county communications showed that the vehicle and its occupants were wanted in connection with a double homicide in South Euclid, Ohio.

South Euclid law enforcement officials confirmed via the Avery County Sheriff’s Office that Messina’s father Richard, age 50, and his girlfriend Sandra Clover, age 43, had been found beaten to death in the upstairs bedroom of their South Euclid home.

Deputy Chris Workman, Chief Deputy Dallas Pate and Lieutenant Detective Danny Phillips removed the suspects from the vehicle along with key pieces of evidence sought by Ohio authorities. Lieutenant Detective Danny Phillips said: “They were for the most part cooperative. At first they did not want to open the doors, but eventually they opened the door and came out.”

Messina and Christopher waived extradition Tuesday morning in Judge Greg Horn’s court. South Euclid police were making arrangements to take custody from Avery County within the next few days. In a press release dated July 30, Avery County Sheriff Kevin Fry said: “I am very proud of my officers and with the assistance of Newland Police. We have taken two more really bad people off the streets of Avery County. This is the second and third murder suspect arrested in about the past month by our office and though I am glad we are getting them off the streets, I just wish they would quit coming here.”

Both suspects remained in the Avery County jail awaiting extradition.

Trial

In May, a three-judge panel convicted Carlos Christopher and sentenced him to life in prison with no chance of parole.

Carlos Christopher was found guilty of Aggravated Murder for both Richard Messina and Sandra Cover on May 27, 2008, and sentenced to two life sentences to run concurrent.

A separate article stated that Common Pleas Judges Timothy McMonagle, Kenneth Callahan and Lillian Greene convicted Christopher and returned to decide his punishment. The decision spared him from a death sentence for robbing and killing a South Euclid couple in their home. Carlos Christopher was sentenced to life in prison with no hope for parole.

Before the judges, Cover’s sister Brenda Gregory told the judges: "God may forgive him, but my family will not," Cover's sister Brenda Gregory told the judges before they sent Christopher to prison. "He will never see the light of freedom again, and I thank you for that." Richard Messina Jr. told the judges he was disappointed with the decision. He said: "My dad wasn't given mercy," he said, breathing heavily. "While his adopted mother will get to visit him in jail, we get to visit a grave."

The defendant took the witness stand early Wednesday. He looked away from the families' menacing stares as he offered an apology but not an explanation for his crimes. He said: "I want to say I'm sorry for causing so much trouble and pain," he said.

Defense attorney John Pyle argued that Christopher should get life in prison with the possibility of parole. During closing statements, he said: "What we had here in this case is a windstorm, and those winds joined that tragic night and this was fueled by one word," Pyle said, referring to a racial slur he said Richard Messina Sr. uttered to Christopher hours before the homicides. "We all know this word. Not only is it a word that ridicules persons of color, it tells them they're less than human. Words hurt. And this was one of them." Pyle presented witnesses who described Christopher's tumultuous childhood and how his experiences led to these crimes.

Joann Bartell called the defense's argument rubbish. She said: "My seven kids had rough childhoods, too, but none of them turned into mass murderers," she said. "He had more help than most kids get and he threw it right back in our face."

Assistant County Prosecutor Steve Dever called the killings a bloodbath. He said he hopes the state prison system puts Christopher in the "deepest, darkest dungeon because he's a dangerous man.

Sentencing

On September 15, 2008, Messina pled guilty to two counts of aggravated murder and one count of robbery.

On October 24, 2008, Tabitha Messina was sentenced to 60 years to life in prison. Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Bill Mason announced the sentence.

Tabitha Messina will be 80 years old before she’s eligible for parole. She received 60 years to life in prison Friday for masterminding the murder of her father, Richard Messina, 50, and his girlfriend, 43-year-old Sandra Cover.

At sentencing, Tabitha Messina said: “Never once would I think of taking the life of the man who raised me,” she said at her sentencing.

Judge Timothy E. He said: “She makes things up as she goes along and she believes what she says,” McMonagle said.

Appeals

Outcome

Tabitha Messina pled guilty to two (2) counts of aggravated murder and one (1) count of robbery on September 15, 2008.

Carlos Christopher was convicted of aggravated murder for both Richard Messina and Sandra Cover on May 27, 2008, and sentenced to two life sentences to run concurrent.

Other details

Messina and Christopher broke into Richard Messina's house and attacked the couple while they slept in Richard Messina's bedroom.

After the homicide, they ransacked the house and stole Richard Messina's two vehicles, a Corvette and GMC Jimmy, and fled to North Carolina.

Messina was arrested at age 18 in one account and at age 19 in another account.