Man Sentenced to Death

A jury sentenced a man to death for killing an elderly couple who were stabbed, beaten and set afire during a robbery in their home.

After less than a day of deliberations, an Atlantic County jury on Thursday ordered the execution of Brian P. Wakefield, 26, of Absecon.

Wakefield had pleaded guilty in the Jan. 18, 2001 slayings of Richard Hazard, 70, and Shirley Hazard, 65, in their Pleasantville home.

Wakefield's attorneys had argued that his upbringing in a home rife with domestic violence, drug abuse and criminal behavior had made for a difficult childhood that scarred him permanently.

Wakefield and his siblings were forced to scrounge for food when left alone for days at a time, his lawyers said. He was arrested more than two dozen times as a juvenile.

He becomes the 14th person on New Jersey's death row, but whether his sentence will ever be carried out is unclear. New Jersey reinstituted the death penalty in 1982, but has not executed anyone since that time.

Wakefield nearly got a reprieve at the start of his month-long trial when the state Supreme Court ruled that prosecutors must get permission from grand jurors before seeking capital punishment.

The ruling was handed down a day after Wakefield's penalty phase had begun, however, and the case was allowed to go forward.

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Author: NBC10/AP