The former federal prosecutor who sent the man to death row in the case said in response to President Biden's decision Monday to commute the sentences of nearly all federal inmates facing the death penalty, “a ruthless murderer. '' is difficult to see exempted from punishment, he said.
Brandon Council of North Carolina was sentenced to death by a federal jury on October 3, 2019, after being found guilty of robbing and murdering two women who worked at a South Carolina bank in 2017. .
Council was one of 37 convicted murderers who will spend life in prison without parole after Biden changed the classification of death sentences.
Derek Shoemake, a former South Carolina assistant district attorney and one of the federal prosecutors in the case against the council, said pursuing justice for victim Donna Major was the “highest point of his career.” “It was one of my greatest honors,” he told Fox News Digital. My heart breaks for Kathryn Skene, 59, 36, and her family following Biden's decision.
Biden announces commuting sentences of 37 federal death row inmates in final month in office
Donna Major, 59, and Kathryn (Katie) Skene, 36, were murdered in cold blood by the Brandon Council during a bank robbery in South Carolina in 2017. (Derek Shoemake)
“Donna and Katie were amazing women, amazing mothers, and beacons of light in their community. My thoughts and prayers are with their families today as they hear this news,” Shoemake said in a statement. My heart hurts when I think of them while I deal with this.”
He also extended his thoughts and prayers to the team that “worked for over a year” to get justice for Major and Skene, “so that these ruthless killers receive a sentence that reflects the horror of their senseless crimes.” He also said that he was dedicating
Brandon Council is one of 37 federal death row inmates who were spared the death penalty following President Biden's decision to commute their sentences. (DeathPenaltyInfo.org)
According to a 2017 news release from the United States Attorney's Office for the District of South Carolina (USAO-SC), on August 21, 2017, Council broke into a Crescom Bank in Conway, South Carolina, with the intent to rob a business and kill an employee. . ).
After getting inside, Council shot the bank teller, a major, multiple times with a revolver, USAO-SC said at the time. He then ran into Skene's office, where he worked as a bank manager, and shot Skene multiple times as he hid under his desk.
He stole both victims' car keys, bank cards and more than $15,000 in cash before fleeing the bank. He took one of the cars to the motel he was staying at, packed up his things and drove away.
FBI agents say bank robbery suspect Brandon Council confessed to intending to kill him
“A legally imposed sentence, 400 miles away, will be erased after a jury of South Carolina men and women spent weeks listening to evidence, deliberating, and carefully determining the appropriate penalty. It's hard to see,” Shoemake said.
He also said it was heartbreaking that the families of the victims “will have to celebrate another Christmas without their loved ones,” while the council found that among the 37 federally convicted murderers, there were “politically motivated” We are celebrating the victory.”
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Most federal death row inmates were housed at the federal prison facility in Terre Haute, Indiana. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy, File)
Shoemake said he was focused on the “legacy of love, family and faith” that Major and Skene exemplified, rather than the political debate over Biden's commutation of sentences.
“I pray for their families, as I always do, and I pray for the families of all the victims affected today,” he said.
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In a White House statement announcing the commutation on Monday, Biden condemned the killer and his “despicable acts” and said he mourned the victims and their families who suffered “unimaginable and irreparable loss.” However, he said, “We cannot step back and leave things alone.'' The new administration will resume the executions that I stopped. ”
President Biden commuted the sentences of 37 of the 40 convicted murderers on federal death row to life in prison. He left behind Tree of Life Synagogue shooter Robert Bowers (left), Charleston church shooter Dylann Roof (center), and Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev (right). (Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, from left, Charleston County Sheriff's Office, FBI, via AP)
As President Biden's term draws to a close, only three people remain on federal death row. They are Tree of Life Synagogue shooter Robert Bowers, Charleston church shooter Dylann Roof, and Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.
