Nancy Filiault, whose sister was murdered in 2000, testified that she opposes capital punishment because the legal process further traumatizes victims’ families. At the conclusion of a Judiciary Committee hearing on legislation introduced to replace Connecticut’s death penalty with a life-without-parole sentence, Filiault said that sitting through the capital trial of the man charged with the murder was “heinous, incredibly cruel, and traumatizing.” The defendant, who confessed to the crime, was willing to plead guilty almost immediately if the state agreed to give him a sentence of life without parole. Prosecutors, however, insisted on seeking the death penalty, a decision that resulted in family members having to endure nearly four years of pre-trial preparations and weeks of trial. At the conclusion of the trial, the defendant received the same life-without-parole sentence he had originally requested. Filiault, who said she is struggling to find forgiveness for him, stated, “I am opposed to the death penalty, and I would like to see it abolished…. The judicial process does not work.”

(New Haven Advocate, February 10, 2005).

See Victims, Life Without Parole, and New Voices.

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