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WILKES-BARRE — On Monday, lawyers began to battle for the fate of Kenneth Carl Crawford III for the second time, just short of 17 years since his original sentence was imposed.

Crawford, 34, of Oklahoma, has been serving two life sentences for the 1999 murders of Diana Algar and Jose Molina at the Paradise Camp Resort in Hollenback Township.

He was 15 when the murders took place, and recent Supreme Court rulings prohibiting mandatory life sentences for juveniles opened the door for Crawford to receive a new sentence. On Monday, lawyers began attempting to convince Luzerne County Judge Fred A. Pierantoni III what that sentence should be.

First Assistant District Attorney Sam Sanguedolce, last week said prosecutors would not seek a life sentence without the possibility of parole, aiming instead for two consecutive life sentences with the possibility of parole.

In his opening statement on Monday, Sanguedolce described how Crawford and co-defendant David Lee Hanley killed Algar and Molina in an “execution style,” firing off multiple rounds into their heads from a weapon fitted with a homemade silencing device.

Crawford and Hanley were implicated in other, similar robberies while hitchhiking around the country, with Crawford using an assumed identity to avoid capture, Sanguedolce said.

“There is vast evidence this defendant is far more sophisticated than his age would indicate,” Sanguedolce said.

After Crawford was arrested, he told police he planned to shave and cut his hair to look like a 13-year-old for the jury, and then later was foiled in a plot to escape from prison, Sanguedolce said.

Crawford defense attorney Sara Jacobson painted a dramatically different portrait of her client.

While she acknowledges the horrible nature of Crawford’s crimes — “I don’t know the words to explain this kind of loss,” she said — Jacobson also asked Pierantoni to consider Crawford’s unstable upbringing, fraught with with abuse from both his biological family and foster families.

Jacobson is seeking a sentence of 25 to 50 years in prison, taking into account the 17 years Crawford has already served.

She also asked Pierantoni to consider the progress made by Crawford since his incarceration: becoming religious, earning his General Equivalency Diploma, receiving some college education. Crawford also has become close with a family who adopted him, his attorney noted.

“If this is where the story ends, it would be nothing but tragedy,” Jacobson said, asking Pierantoni to allow her client a chance at freedom.

‘Not the same person’

While Sanguedolce was asking Pierantoni to hand down a stiff sentence, one of only two witnesses called by prosecutors was calling for mercy.

Robert Algar Jr. had been married to Diana Algar for 13 years at the time of her death. He told the court that he was “devastated” when he learned of his wife’s death upon returning home from making a shipment as a truck driver.

But Algar told the court he didn’t believe Crawford was the same person.

“He has a commitment to a life of living for the Lord, and that’s something that should be taken into consideration,” Algar said. “Hope is something we should recognize, and not be taken away from someone who’s trying to be better.”

‘Had it worse than any of us’

Records suggest Crawford was bounced from foster home to foster home for years in his native Oklahoma, according to Dana Cook, a mitigation expert called by the defense.

Cook, from the Philadelphia-based Atlantic Center for Capital Representation, also interviewed Crawford’s sister, Jawana Thomas. A recording of that interview was played, in which Thomas described a chaotic childhood. Thomas claimed the siblings were first abused by Crawford’s father — her step-father — and more abuse followed during foster care.

“Ken probably had it worse than the rest of us,” Thomas said, claiming one of the foster families only allowed Crawford to drink a certain amount of water per day, and severely punished him if he wet the bed.

Thomas said she believes the problems in Crawford’s life were caused by not having a loving upbringing.

Pierantoni ordered both sides to return to the courtroom at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday. Time for the ongoing sentencing hearing has been blocked out through the end of the week, but it is expected the new sentence will be issued by Pierantoni at a later date.

Crawford
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/web1_Crawford.jpg.optimal.jpgCrawford

By Patrick Kernan

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Reach Patrick Kernan at570-991-6386 or on Twitter @PatKernan