Saturday, March 27, 2010

Upper Darby, DE: Ex-boyfriend guilty in murder of Upper Darby woman

Saturday, March 27, 2010

By MARLENE DiGIACOMO
mdigiacomo@delcotimes.com

MEDIA COURTHOUSE — With a picture bearing the smiling face of Amber Jackson reflected on a screen behind him, a prosecutor Friday charged there was no phantom assailant — as the defense claimed — and that the more than 30 slashing and stabbing wounds were inflicted by her ex-boyfriend.

Assistant District Attorney Michael Dugan argued that Frederick Cleveland was motivated to kill the 20-year-old Jackson because the victim had broken off their relationship.

“If (Cleveland) couldn’t have (Amber), no one else would,” said the prosecutor.

“This case is nothing, nothing, nothing but first-degree murder.”

A jury later found Cleveland, 23, of the first block of Plumstead Avenue, Lansdowne, guilty of all charges in Jackson’s Dec. 30, 2008 stabbing death.

As the verdict was announced in the packed courtroom, there was silence. But as the defendant’s family was being ushered out, emotions erupted and there was some kind of outburst that brought sheriff’s deputies and courthouse police converging at the front of the courthouse.

The victim’s family was ushered out through another corridor.

Amber Jackson’s parents, Wayne and Michelle Jackson, kept their composure.

“Justice was served,” said the mother. “But at the end of the day our daughter is never coming home.”

First-degree murder carries a mandatory sentence of life in prison. Judge Patricia Jenkins set formal sentencing for May 3.

The jury of six men and six women deliberated 90 minutes. The panel rejected the defense’s contention that some mysterious third party also broke into the house, stabbed Cleveland once and then repeatedly and savagely stabbed Jackson.

Dugan had presented testimony during the four-day trial that Cleveland’s wound was self-inflicted — part of a murder and attempted suicide.

According to testimony, Cleveland had shattered a window and gained entrance into Jackson’s parents’ home. He was found bleeding in a stairwell off the kitchen, shortly before Amber’s body was discovered upstairs by her father.

The victim, just a day before, had moved back to her parents’ Drexel Hill home after her relationship with Cleveland soured. Her body was found in the bathroom of the family home in the 400 block of Foss Avenue.

Defense Attorney James Lyons, in his turn before the jury, contended there was reasonable doubt. He presented testimony from an expert during the trial who disputed the commonwealth’s theory of the case.

Dugan countered that the defense expert offered an opinion in the case based on evidence that he viewed more than a year after the slaying and some of the items had been compromised by chemical testing.

The prosecutor further charged that if he said the sky was blue, the defense expert would have challenged him.

He termed the defense’s claims as “incredible.”

Key testimony against the defendant was given by Upper Darby Detective Capt. George Rhoades, who said Cleveland admitted the killing when he was questioned at the hospital a day later.

Rhoades testified that during his interview with the defendant, Cleveland first denied any memory of what happened. “I don’t remember anything. I woke up in the ambulance or the hospital.”

Rhoades said, however, he pursued the matter, stating that this wasn’t his first murder investigation and added: “But this is the first murder you (Cleveland) committed.

“Without hesitation, he (Cleveland) said ‘yes it is,’” testified Rhoades.

During the trial, the prosecutor presented autopsy photos that showed some of the wounds inflicted on the victim, but he did not show them to the panel during the closing, stating they “are burned in your brain.”

Referring to testimony from Amber’s father, Wayne Jackson, who found her body, Dugan described the gruesome discovery as “every father’s worst nightmare.”

Amber’s teenage sister also told of cowering in a closet frantically trying to summon help on her cell phone the day of the Dec. 30, 2008, killing. April Jackson, now 15, testified stoically how she called her father to come quickly while also hearing her older siblings screams like something out of “scary movie.”

She testified Amber’s first words that evening were “go away Freddie” and the last were “don’t hurt (April).”

“He (Cleveland) walks into that kitchen, picks up that knife and goes up the stairs,” said Dugan. “(The killing) was deliberate — 25 plus plunges,” he said regarding the number of wounds inflicted on the victim.

Dugan said that the victim’s hand was almost severed in the brutal stabbing as she tried to ward off her assailant. He said no similar defensive wounds were suffered by Cleveland.

“Frederick Cleveland broke into (the victim’s) home, chased her down and killed her,” said the prosecutor.

Dr. Bennett Preston, who performed the autopsy and serves as assistant county medical examiner, said a tooth was also knocked out, indicating the victim was punched as well as savagely stabbed. He said her hands were sliced on the knuckles showing she put them up in a futile attempt to fight off her attacker.

“There were 26 to 28 stab wounds and five to 10 slashing wounds,” testified Preston.

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