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Jurors reject insanity defense in officer's killing

By wire services
Published October 22, 2005

PENSACOLA - A man with a history of mental illness has been convicted of first-degree murder after testifying he fatally shot a retired police officer because he believed the University of Alabama "A" on the victim's ball cap signified he was the Antichrist.

The jury also Thursday convicted Ryan Thomas Green, 22, of attempting to murder a second man and robbery with a firearm.

Pensacola police Sgt. James Hallman, 59, was shot while he was taking a walk. Earlier, Green shot house painter Christopher Phipps, who now uses a wheelchair. He also stole Phipps' car.

Jurors rejected the defense's argument that Green should be found innocent by reason of insanity for the Feb. 23, 2003, crimes.

Green testified that he had set out to take his own life but that a talking bull, religious signs, colors and symbols influenced him to shoot Hallman and Phipps.

Green's trial was delayed more than a year after he was declared mentally incompetent. He later was found competent for trial after undergoing treatment. He also had received treatment at a mental health facility before the shootings.

MIAMI - A woman who recently paid a large fine in a credit card scam has been accused of having her children's father and two other men killed to steal $200,000.

Liens Abreu, 37, and two men are charged with three counts of first-degree murder and one count of home invasion and are being held without bail, Miami-Dade County police said Thursday.

Jose Casanova, 68, Calixto Herrera, 65, and Francisco Jimenez, 65, were shot to death this month. Police said Casanova was the father of Abreu's children.

An informer led investigators to Julio Vila, 31. He told them Abreu let him and Ruben Gonzalez, 33, into the home to carry out the killings and take the money. They were later arrested. Most of the $200,000 has not been found.

Abreu last month paid a $20,000 fine to settle a credit card case brought by the Federal Trade Commission. Lewis Freeman, the court-appointed receiver in that case, said the scam netted about $15-million over a year, targeting Spanish-speaking immigrants who paid between $149 and $299 for help getting credit cards that never arrived.

[Last modified October 22, 2005, 01:13:18]