Ex-Patrolman: Spare My Life for Killings

[February 26, 2008]  CANTON, Ohio (AP) -- The jury that convicted a former police officer for the murders of his pregnant lover and their unborn daughter must decide if his tearful apology should spare him execution.

Bobby Cutts Jr., 30, took the stand again Monday to plead with jurors who convicted him on Feb. 15 to spare his life. Jurors, who have now been handed the task of deciding whether to recommend the death penalty, were directed to return Tuesday to hear final statements from both sides before deliberating on the sentence.

The two appearances by Cutts on the witness stand were the emotional highlights of his trial in the death of Jessie Davis, 26, and the nearly full-term fetus at her northeast Ohio home.

Cutts, sniffling and his voice wavering at times Monday, accepted responsibility for his crimes as he appealed for his life.

"Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I'm asking you to spare my life," Cutts said in an unsworn statement, which exempted him from cross-examination by prosecutors.

Apologizing to the teary-eyed members of Davis' family sitting in the front row, Cutts said he could not express in words how he felt knowing that he had killed her and the unborn baby.

"Words cannot bring them back, nor can it erase the pain that I've caused," said Cutts, reading from handwritten notes. "If I could do anything to bring them back to you, I would."

Cutts, who spent about six minutes on the stand, said he never intended to harm Davis or their baby.

The prosecutor said he deserved to die for his crimes. "There is only one outcome in this phase of the proceedings," Assistant Stark County Prosecutor Chryssa Hartnett said.

Cutts could receive the death penalty, life in prison without parole or life with parole eligibility after 20, 25 or 30 years. If the jury recommends death, the judge can reduce the sentence to life, something that has happened just seven times in Ohio in 27 years.

Jurors found him not guilty of aggravated murder in the death of Davis but convicted him of a lesser charge of murder in her death. He was convicted of aggravated murder in the death of the fetus.

Two weeks ago, Cutts sobbed on the witness stand as he testified that he had accidentally killed Davis with an elbow blow to the throat during a disagreement and dumped her body at a park in a panic.

Prosecutors told the jury that Cutts killed Davis and the unborn baby last June at her Lake Township home to avoid making child support payments for the child.

The couple's 2 1/2-year-old son Blake, who was found home alone, gave investigators their first clues to his mother's disappearance when he said, "Mommy's crying. Mommy broke the table. Mommy's in the rug," and later, "Daddy's mad."

For more than a week, Cutts denied knowledge of his girlfriend's whereabouts as thousands searched in the area. He finally led authorities to the body, wrapped in a comforter.

Cutts, who also was convicted of abuse of a corpse, burglary and child endangering for leaving Blake Davis alone, resigned as a patrolman from the Canton police department.

[Associated Press; By THOMAS J. SHEERAN]

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