Michelle Tharp

Other details

Michelle Sue Tharp was convicted in Washington County of first-degree murder, endangering the welfare of a child, and abuse of a corpse arising from the starvation death of her dependent seven-year-old daughter, Tausha Lee Lanham.

Tharp was sentenced to death on November 14, 2000.

In addition to the death sentence, the trial court sentenced Tharp to a consecutive term of one to two years’ imprisonment on the charge of abuse of a corpse. The trial court imposed no additional sentence for endangering the welfare of a child because that sentence merged for sentencing purposes with first-degree murder.

Timeline

• April 18, 1998 — Tharp’s daughter, Tausha Lee Lanham, died; Tharp reported Tausha missing from a mall in Steubenville, Ohio.
• April 19, 1998 — Police arrested Tharp; the body was recovered some time after 4:00 a.m. in Follansbee, West Virginia.
• November 14, 2000 — Tharp was sentenced to death in Washington County.
• November 13, 2000 — Following a jury trial, Tharp was convicted of first-degree murder, endangering the welfare of a child, and abuse of a corpse.
• June 13, 2001 — Post-sentence motions were denied by the trial court.
• February 22, 2002 — The direct appeal was submitted.
• July 2, 2003 — The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania affirmed the verdict and the sentence of death (COMMONWEALTH v. THARP, 830 A.2d 519 (2003)).
• September 4, 2003 — Reargument was denied.
• Thursday, September 1, 2011 — Washington County Judge Paul Pozonsky dismissed claims by Tharp, a death row inmate convicted in 1998, that she did not receive a fair trial.
• April 27, 2010 — Attorneys for Michelle Tharp began presenting evidence they believed would prove she was wrongfully convicted and sentenced to death for starving her seven-year-old daughter to death in 1998.
• 2004 — A death warrant was signed by Gov. Ed Rendell; Tharp’s execution was stayed in federal court pending further appeals, even though the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear her request for a new trial.

Background

Tharp’s daughter, Tausha Lee Lanham, was born prematurely on August 16, 1990 and was hospitalized for the first year of her life due to her premature birth and resulting health problems. The Pennsylvania Department of Public Health provided services following her release from the hospital until March 1993. During the winter months of 1994 and 1995, Tharp’s aunt Rhonda Lanham lived with Tharp and her children and observed how Tausha was treated.

Following Tharp’s relationship with Tausha’s father ending, Tharp had a relationship with Robert Skiles, which produced a child: a daughter born on June 6, 1994. Tharp met Douglas Bittinger, Sr., and he moved in with Tharp and her now-three children in June 1996. Tharp and Bittinger had a child together: a son born on October 17, 1997.

The offence

The case involved the starvation death of Tharp’s dependent seven-year-old daughter, Tausha Lee Lanham.

At the time of her death, Tausha was described as weighing only 11.77 pounds and being 31 inches tall. Dr. James Frost, West Virginia’s Deputy Chief Medical Examiner, concluded that the cause of death was malnutrition due to starvation and the manner of death was homicide.

Witnesses testified that Tharp starved Tausha by withholding food and that Tausha was confined so she could not feed herself. Evidence described Tausha as sneaking into the pantry at night and eating cake mix, eating out of the dog’s bowl, eating bread thrown outside for birds, picking through garbage for food at Bittinger’s sister’s house, and drinking out of the commode.

Investigation

Evidence at trial included statements Tharp made to police and testimony describing the discovery and recovery of Tausha’s body.

Tharp and Douglas Bittinger, Sr. initially misled police by falsely reporting that Tausha had disappeared during a family outing to the Fort Steuben Mall in Steubenville, Ohio. After the initial investigation failed to substantiate their story, both were brought into a police station for further questioning.

Arrest

Tharp was arrested on April 19, 1998, a day after she reported Tausha missing from a mall in Steubenville, Ohio.

Trial

Charges and verdict

On November 13, 2000, following a jury trial, Tharp was convicted of:

• first-degree murder arising from the starvation death of her dependent seven-year-old daughter, Tausha Lee Lanham;
• endangering the welfare of a child; and
• abuse of a corpse.

Jurors later found one aggravating circumstance: the victim was a child under twelve years of age.

The jury also found two mitigating circumstances: that Tharp had no significant history of prior criminal convictions and the “catchall mitigator,” i.e., any other evidence of mitigation concerning the character and record of Tharp and the circumstances of her offense.

The aggravating circumstance outweighed the mitigating circumstances, and the jury returned a sentence of death.

Sentencing proceeding and imposed sentence

Following the penalty phase, the trial court formally imposed the sentence of death. The trial court also imposed a consecutive term of one to two years’ imprisonment on the charge of abuse of a corpse. The trial court imposed no additional sentence for endangering the welfare of a child because it merged for sentencing purposes with first-degree murder.

Jury deliberations

The jury delivered its verdict about 3:30 p.m. after deliberating for less than three hours.

Jury size

The jury was composed of seven men and five women.

Evidence and disputed theories

The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania described Tharp’s sufficiency challenge as arguing that the Commonwealth failed to prove that the starvation death resulted from a specific intent to kill.

Tharp argued that the evidence supported a defense of “failure to thrive” rather than willful withholding of food. The “failure to thrive” argument asserted that Tausha had a pre-existing medical condition, that Tausha’s medical records documented her health problems, and that Tharp could not afford medical care.

The Commonwealth’s position relied on testimony and circumstantial evidence describing deprivation of essential nourishment, physical restriction, and delaying or preventing opportunities for medical attention.

Appeals

Direct appeal

Tharp filed post-sentence motions, denied by the trial court on June 13, 2001.

The direct appeal raised six claims for relief.

The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania affirmed the verdict and sentence of death and held that the evidence was sufficient to support the first-degree murder conviction, rejecting Tharp’s sufficiency challenge and other claims including challenges to pretrial publicity, the admissibility of photographs and a videotape, the denial of a mistrial after jurors overheard comments by a defense witness, and the denial of relief based on a recusal argument.

The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania also conducted its statutory review of the death sentence and concluded that the sentence imposed was not a product of passion, prejudice, or any other arbitrary factor, that the evidence supported the aggravating circumstance found by the jury, and that the jury’s findings required imposition of death.

Recusal claim and song played at sentencing

Tharp argued that the trial judge erred in failing to recuse himself sua sponte because, prior to formally sentencing Tharp, the trial judge played an audio recording of the song “The Little Girl,” performed by country and western singer John Michael Montgomery, and compared the “sad little life” of the fictitious girl portrayed in the song to Tausha.

The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania addressed the issue in the course of the capital direct appeal.

The lyrics of “The Little Girl” were included verbatim as:

Her parents never took the young girl to church,
Never spoke of His name,
Never read her His word.
Two non-believers walking lost in this world,
Took their baby with them,
What a sad little girl.
Her daddy drank all day and mommy did drugs,
Never wanted to play,
Or give kisses and hugs.
She'd watch the TV and sit there on the couch,
While her mom fell asleep,
And her daddy went out.
And the drinking and the fighting, just got worse every night.
Behind their couch she'd be hiding,
Oh what a sad little life.
And like it always does,
the bad just got worse,
With every slap and every curse.
Until her daddy in a drunk rage one night,
Used a gun on her mom and then took his life.
And some people from the city, took the girl far away.
To a new mom and a new dad, kisses and hugs everyday.
Her first day of Sunday school, the teacher walked in,
And a small little girl, Stared at a picture of him.
She said I know that man, up there on that cross,
I don't know His name,
But I know he got off.
He was there in my old house, and held me close to his side,
As I hid there behind the couch,
The night that my parents died.

The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania concluded that the acts at sentencing did not warrant retroactive recusal at trial in the absence of evidence of actual bias that may have affected fairness of the trial.

Mistrial claim after overheard comments

On November 9, 2000, a defense witness, Charlene Megyesy, testified and then, during a recess, four jurors overheard Megyesy make statements regarding the case in the restroom.

The jurors’ recollections varied. Juror number 700 recalled Megyesy saying, "She's guilty. They just used me as a scapegoat.'" Juror 763 could not recall the comments exactly but remembered that Megyesy said, "she was a scapegoat" or words to that effect. Juror 625 heard Megyesy say, "They used me as a scapegoat,' and that's all." Juror number 713 recalled the witness saying, "`I feel so guilty. They just used me as a scapegoat.'"

The trial judge questioned each juror individually and each answered in the affirmative that they understood the comments did not constitute evidence, could set aside what they heard, and could render a fair and impartial verdict based solely on the evidence adduced at trial. The trial court denied appellant’s motion for a mistrial, and the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania found no abuse of discretion.

Outcome

The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania affirmed the verdict and the sentence of death.

Aftermath

On November 14, 2000, Tharp was sentenced to death, and she remained on death row.

Judge Paul Pozonsky later dismissed claims by Tharp in a post-conviction proceeding that she did not receive a fair trial, and that mitigating circumstances and psychological evidence were not presented to the jury. The judge also dismissed claims involving assertions about mental illness and sentencing disproportionality.

A death warrant was signed by Gov. Ed Rendell in 2004. Tharp’s execution was stayed in federal court pending further appeals after the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear her request for a new trial, and the stay was described as remaining in place indefinitely while she continued her appeal process.