and some of those legal actions used to attempt to legitimize his killing by the State

Missouri officials plan to execute yet one more human being, Daniel Basile, just after midnight, Wednesday morning, 14 August in the Potosi prison; he would be the 58^th human being killed by state workers since 1989. Basile was convicted of killing for pay, Elizabeth DeCaro in March 1992.

We with the Mid-Missouri FOR condemn the murder of Mrs. DeCaro; we extend our deepest sympathies to her loved ones and wish them what comfort they can attain in continuing to cope with her violent passing. Even if the evidence left no room for doubt, his possible execution would be just as reprehensible-- merely murder by another name, and an action which would further damn more people to suffer the preventable loss of their loved one.

Basile has steadfastly maintained his innocence of the murder. In all fairness, it is an anthem sung (mostly falsely) by many individuals convicted of crimes. One shouldn’t ever forgot though, that more than 100 people nationwide since the 1970’s have been set free from "death rows," having been wrongfully convicted and sentenced to die. A human system will make errors.). From my research, I certainly can’t say Daniel Basile’s innocent. But in my mind a large cloud of reasonable doubt exists as to his guilt of murdering Elizabeth DeCaro.

Guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. It’s a phrase jurors hear many times as the fundamental legal hurdle which prosecutors are expected to take a jury past to overcome a defendant’s presumed innocence. During the 1992 trial of Daniel Basile for the contract murder of Elizabeth DeCaro, that phrase seems to have drifted to the background though when jurors were faced for more than a week by the intensely grieving parents, siblings and four children who horrifically lost their loved one. Add in a prosecuting attorney, quite willing and effectively able to creatively fill in other missing details of the crime sans physical evidence… add in a couple public-defenders, well intentioned, hard-working but outmatched by the state…. add in a trial judge—who was apparently hearing her first capital murder trial and who was willing to allow great prosecutorial latitude… and it’s easy to see why jurors (already found to be "death-qualified," willing to impose a death sentence) did indeed recommend "death" for Basile in the St. Charles slaying.

On 6 March 1992, the prosecution contended Richard DeCaro dropped Basile off at his family’s house in the morning where he hid. DeCaro brought the family dog with him when he then picked up early from school his four children, Ricky (then 12 years old), Jodie (9 yrs. old), Tony (10) and Courtney (6), returned home, then along with their family dog, drove to Lake of the Ozarks, ostensibly to look over some property. Elizabeth returned home from work sometime that afternoon and later, was reputedly confronted by Basile who shot her twice with a pistol, killing her. Police responded to a call from Melanie Enklemann, her sister, who said she found her sister’s body sometime after 7:30 p.m.

Several days later police found the Blazer, which Basile and another individual had been cutting down to sell for parts. Police arrested him the following day. There’s no doubt he did conspire with DeCaro to "steal" the Blazer. Basile also did indeed assist in pulling an insurance scam, getting paid $200 by DeCaro to "steal" the family's van two months earlier. He drove the vehicle to southeast Missouri where he torched it. Basile says he was paid $250 to take the Blazer.

The Case Against Basile and its Shortcomings.

Police investigators dusted for fingerprints, gathered hair fibers and other pieces of physical evidence, yet found none of them indicating Basile had been in the house. The police investigation was compromised considerably by the entry of several people who tried mightily to save the life of DeCaro--neighbors, paramedics, firefighters and police officers-- who walked throughout the house, before the crime scene was sealed off for evidence gathering. When the lead St. Charles investigating detective entered the house he found several bloodied shoeprints (of neighbors and rescue workers) on the floor. He told Mrs. DeCaro’s sister, Melanie Enklemann to hang up the telephone she had been using and then ushered all non-health-care and investigative staff out of the house. Prosecutors contended Basile eluded detection by using gloves.

Elizabeth Burrows, did testify at his trial to seeing Basile at about 4:30 p.m., driving the family’s Blazer with personalized plates "RIK LIZ", onto the Cave Springs on-ramp for I-270, which is several miles from the DeCaro home. She picked him out of a police line-up. Two other individuals in one family testified that they too saw the Blazer with the plates driving on I-270, but approximately at 8:00 p.m. They were unable to identify the driver.

Witnesses of statements made about the contract killing plans

The state relied purely upon circumstantial evidence, especially the accounts of three individuals who say Basile told them he had committed murder and upon testimony of other people who stated Basile mentioned Richard DeCaro offered to pay him $15,000 to kill Mrs. DeCaro. Upon cross-examination, all these individuals noted Basile either said he had spurned offers from DeCaro to commit the contract killing or that he also insisted he did not kill her.

During her closing arguments of the trial, Basile’s attorney quipped that "it’s a race to the police station to get your deal" among several individuals who were facing the prospects of charges relating primarily to receiving/trafficking stolen goods. "Step right up" to secure your freedom through assisting with the prosecution of Basile for murder.

Richard Borak testified at the trial that Basile told him, the evening after the murder that "I did this lady." Under cross examination, Borak acknowledged on 19 March, 1992, telling investigators Basile never told him anything about involvment in a murder. At the time of the trial, Borak was on probation for selling marijuana. A few weeks before the trial, in March 1994, police picked up Borak at home and brought him to the St. Charles Police headquarters. While there, officers brought another man, Richard Robinson into the room and said that Borak had told him that Basile stated, "I did this lady." Borak recalled he looked at Robinson and called him a liar and told the police Basile never said anything of the sort.

During the trial cross-examination, Borak agreed with the defense attorney’s phrasing of one detective’s comments at that interview, "And if your story doesn’t match theirs, Det. Miller tells you, ‘you could be charged’?" "Correct." While not naming the charges, Borak took the comment to mean possible charges of perjury, hindering prosecution and receiving stolen property. Borak indeed did receive from Basile, a "boom box" stolen from the DeCaro home. In exchange for testifying against Basile, prosecutors agreed not to press charges against him, thus he avoided a probation violation and a seven-year prison sentence.

Craig Wells testified to being the individual who introduced Basile to DeCaro, his boss at the Old Orchard Amoco service station (DeCaro’s brother Don, owned the station. Wells had worked there for about 7 years.). Wells drove Basile to several meetings with DeCaro. Wells testified Basile told him, after their first encounter, that DeCaro asked him to "steal" the van and to kill his wife. In court, Wells said Basile told him he wouldn’t kill her eventhough "the money ($15,000) is almost too good to pass up."

Basile says he planned to have nothing more to do with DeCaro, but that feeling indebted to Wells, Basile agreed after more requests from Wells "as a personal favor", to meet again with DeCaro and ultimately to "steal" the van. Basile notes Wells had been a steady source of support for him while he was incarcerated on burglary charges, visiting him and posting money to his prison canteen account regularly. Wells had also let Basile stay for a few months with his fiancée, Gail Dorman and her two daughters in their trailer in Fenton. In January Wells passed along to Basile from DeCaro, an envelope (containing $200), the key to the van and a map to the DeCaro home.

Wells admitted to lying several times to the police beginning the day after the murder, when investigators had Richard’s co-workers fill out a questionaire. "I have no idea or clue," he responded when asked if he had any information about her death. The day of the murder, he allegedly worked for nearly 12 hours, yet there were a couple hours during the afternoon when he couldn’t be found by a co-worker. He conferred with his attorney and agreed to testify for the state against Basile in exchange for avoiding prosecution on the vehicle insurance scam. (see "The Murder Weapon" below for more incriminating information about Wells)

Doug Meyer is a "half brother" of Basile-- they have the same biological mother. He testified to seeing Richard DeCaro meet with his brother several days before Elizabeth’s death. Basile told him also that DeCaro had just paid him for a past job (Basile says at that time he was being paid $250 to "steal" the Blazer). He worked at a condominium-complex as a maintenance man; Basile worked with him on painting and other jobs there as well. Meyer testified, at Basile’s behest, he got permission to use a garage at the complex on the evening of 6 March, supposedly so Basile could repair his own car that had recently been in a wreck.

At trial, Meyer said he was shocked on 11 March to find the Blazer in the garage. A heated argument ensued Meyer said, when he realized from media reports that this was the DeCaro’s missing vehicle. In the preliminary hearing, Meyer recalled, "he continually denied being involved in the murder and that he was set up… After pushing quite a while, he (Basile) finally said,’It was her or me. I wasn’t going back to prison.’ Then immediately he turned around and said, ‘No, I did not do this... I’m a thief not a murderer." During cross-examination in the trial, Meyer noted his brother made the comment about Mrs. DeCaro in a "very flippant," joking manner, and that he stated several times to Meyer, "I didn’t do this" kill DeCaro.

A few days before the murder, Basile had also shown Meyer a handgun he had bought for $100. Meyer, who spent time in the Army, cleaned the pistol and determined that it was likely inoperable. He encouraged Basile nonetheless to return the weapon, reminding him if found in his possession he’d be in violation of his parole. Basile said he would.

Five days after the murder, Meyer and his attorney went to the police. Basile’s trial attorney commented during her closing statement, "In the middle of the (police) interview he (Meyer) stops it and talks to his lawyer because (from the police’s perspective) the Blazer is not enough…He’s only a value to them if he can make a connection to the murder. His deal isn’t going through. He could get charged." (p. 2426) Meyer ultimately agreed to testify for the state in exchange for immunity from the car theft charges.

There indeed was good reason for him to be concerned. Meyer’s fiancée Iva Hansen and Basile went to rent an acetylene torch, engine jack and other tools on Saturday, 7 March. When the police checked for physical evidence at the garage, they found the fingerprints of Meyer on many of the dismantled Blazer parts. Sue Vinson, who occupied the condominium above the garage where the Blazer was being chopped, testified Meyer came to her front door, several times on both March 7^th and 8^th,checking to be sure their activities weren’t too noisy. Meyer clearly knew much more about the Blazer than he communicated to investigators and before jurors.

Jeff Niehaus testified Basile called him around 6:30 or 7 p.m. on 6 March looking for a ride. In this conversation, "He said, ‘things went wrong. It wasn’t supposed to happen this way.’" According to Niehaus, Basile said, "’Things went down. I did what I had to do.’" Niehaus apparently asked him for no further clarification of these rather vague comments. Neither the prosecutors nor defense attorneys asked Niehaus what he took these words to mean. In another phone conversation in the week before the killing, Niehaus recalled Basile telling him he was going to be getting paid "double digits," street slang for $10,000 for an unspecified job.

Three other people testified Basile told them of DeCaro’s offers of payment for killing his wife. One was Sue Jenkins who followed Basile with her car to Cape Girardeau County and drove him back to the St. Louis area after he torched the van. She testified to overhearing a conversation between Basile and another man. "He said someone had offered him $15,000 to kill their wife," then added on further questioning, Basile "said he wouldn’t do it but he said the money would be nice." In exchange for her testimony, charges in the auto insurance scam were not filed against Jenkins.

Kenneth Robinson told the court Basile mentioned to him about the money offered from DeCaro for killing his wife. He advised Basile to distance himself from DeCaro, something that Robinson said Basile agreed to do.

Edward Giergerich, (a teacher at the technical school Basile attended) gave Basile rides to and from the campus. He said Basile told him of the offer but that Basile insisted he wouldn’t commit murder.

In court, James Torregrossa said DeCaro approached him and asked if he’d kill Elizabeth for money. Torregrossa said he wasn’t interested; appropriately, he was not charged for merely being approached about killing for hire.

Basile says he was involved in a drug deal at the time the murder happened (how convenient an alibi/excuse, a reasonable cynic would say). Another individual, he asserts dropped him off at a grocery-store parking lot in St. Charles, where the Blazer was parked for Basile, to take as planned by DeCaro, in the second vehicle-insurance scam. Investigators are continuing to try to find the individuals Basile insists could help support his version of events that day.

For a couple months prior to the death of DeCaro, Basile had been living in a trailer which belonged to Gayle Dorman, her two daughters and Dorman’s boyfriend, Craig Wells, who Basile identifies as a brother in spirit though not blood. Basile’s half brother (same biological mother) Doug Wells, was essentially adopted by Craig’s biological mother R’Neil Wells. Dorman gave conflicting accounts to the police of her knowledge of Basile’s whereabouts on 6 March 1992.

Wearing painting clothes and didn’t see him again until Saturday morning. On 2 April 1992, she recalled a similar departure time for Basile, but said he returned by himself, using Doug’s truck (which he frequently used for work)—not the Blazer, on Friday afternoon (no specific time mentioned). He took another shower. Someone came and picked him up, she recalled, though she was unsure who he went with.

State officials have never been able to find with complete certainty, the gun used in the killing of Elizabeth DeCara.

A few witnesses (Jeffrey Nichans and Ken Robinson) said Basile asked them if they knew where he could purchase a handgun a few days before the murder. At least three people, including Robinson, testified that Basile told them he wanted a gun to protect himself (all noted that he had a black eye at the time from a fight with the individual with whom he had the violent encounter). Basile contends it was a .25 caliber gun and that he gave it back to the man he bought it from. He supposed it would, especially now, be impossible to regain the gun. Basile said it was a gun that was untraceable, without a registration number. He did not want the gun to have a paper trail that could lead back to him. Gun possession is taboo for ex-felons, he noted.

His defense attorneys declined to introduce into evidence a pair of jeans of his that had been bloodied from that fight. Investigators at first suspected the blood would match Elizabeth DeCaro’s but instead they found it was the blood of the man he had fought with. Such evidence would have buttressed his assertion that the gun was obtained for his own protection.

Craig Wells, who served as intermediary between Basile and DeCaro in arranging the vehicle insurance-scam, was also was found to have a .22 caliber handgun, which had been shot apparently the same day as the murder. Ballistics report presented at the trial could not exclude the possibility that this was the murder weapon. Initally, Wells had claimed his girlfriend, Gail Dorman had fired his pistol; she quickly asserted however, she never fired his gun.

.22 caliber bullets were also found at the home of Doug Wells.

Prosecutorial Overreaching

Police officers and the St. Charles County Prosecutor Tim Braun did some creative storytelling about this case to strengthen their theories. For example, consider the 7 April, 1992 hearing to consider whether Richard DeCaro could post a bond and remain free before his murder trial. Lt. Patrick McCarick of the St. Charles Police Department claimed Basile told police Richard DeCaro drove him to the family’s home (p. 29). No report exists demonstrating such a conversation, nor was any police officer called to testify at Basile’s trial indicating that exchange occurred.

St. Charles County Prosecutor Tim Braun spoke in great detail in his closing arguments of a theoretical scenario, asserting after DeCaro dropped Basile off at his home, just after three of his children had gone to school and the fourth youngster to pre-school. Basile, Braun contended, hid in a basement tool room (which locked from the inside) from early morning until after Elizabeth returned home. Braun stressed that Basile’s purported presence in the basement—while the DeCaro children dropped by the house before leaving for Lake of the Ozarks— helped prove what a cold-blooded, uncaring person he was, willing to kill their mom. "Can you imagine sitting there for three hours waiting to perform murder?…the lying in wait killing, the circumstances of this crime outweigh any mitigating circumstances he has (issues, like youth or mental healthiness helping to explain why a person may commit a crime) not by a thousand to one… easily a million to one" The police never did however, find any physical evidence indicating Basile or any other assailant had lingered in the downstairs rooms.

The prosecutor frequently mingled his theory of the crime with information provided by witnesses, or even twisting the intention of a statement to serve the "state’s interest"— any tactic it seemed to insure the jury would find Basile guilty. In his questioning of Craig Wells he asked what Basile had said in one phone call he made to Wells the evening of 6 March, after he had driven the Blazer and learned through TV news reports of DeCaro’s death…

Wells: When he called me, he said, ‘It looks like I’ve gotten set up.’

Braun: That meant he had to the second job (kill DeCaro) after the first one; is that what that meant to you?

DiTraglia: Your Honor I will object. Calls for speculation.

Court: Sustained.

Braun: Did you know Elizabeth DeCaro was going to come forward and reveal him, as part of a divorce, that he had done the van with Rick the first time (no evidence or witness was ever presented during the course of the trial suggesting this)?

Wells: No I wasn’t aware of that.

DiTraglia: Your Honor, may we approach the bench?

(Thankfully, the judge agreed to strike the conversation from the record, but the damage had already been done, Braun had planted yet one more seed of guilt in the minds of the jurors.)

Braun, like many other prosecutors, seem quite willing to embellish a case in order to secure a conviction and/or death sentence. "This is one of the most vicious, cold-blooded, premeditated murderes that this community has ever seen... (p. 2686) Refering to an angry, threatening letter he had written years earlier while in prison, Braun created a vile image for jurors) ..he (Basile) watched her die. Mr. Evil watched her die…And he let her die while he went around the house faking up this burglary. ….He (Basile) was there (the DeCaro home) for greed….(Her) murder cries out for justice. Elizabeth DeCaro lies restlessly in her grave thirsting for justice. Eizabeth can lie more calmly now," (p. 2706) assuming (correctly) jurors would chose death for Basile.

Politics, Economics and the Trial

As is all too often the case, politics played a prominent role in this case. While the preliminary hearing occurred the 26^th and 27^th of May 1992, the trial didn’t begin until nearly two years later. Perhaps it was coincidence, but Tim Braun was running for re-election as the county prosecutor, with a primary contest set to take place a few weeks after the trial’s conclusion. A high profile case and its "successful" prosecution certainly didn’t hurt Braun political career. He was reelected.

The defense attorneys semi-succeeded in getting the trial moved out of county on a change of venue. Not surprisingly, there had been an intense amount of publicity generated about the crime; it would be immensely difficult to impanel a jury of unbiased individuals from the St. Charles area. Judge Lucy Rauch agreed. She decided to convene the court in Montgomery City, two counties to the west, and select a jury from individuals from Montgomery County. Soon after this action, Braun hired James Gregory to assist him. Coincidentally (?), Gregory had formerly been the Prosecuting Attorney of Montgomery County.

At the time he was charged Basile was indigent and dependent upon the state public defender’s system for defense of his life. It was clear Caterina DiTraglia and Beth Davis, his attorneys, put much effort into preparing for the trial and they made a spirited defense, but they were overmatched by the much more-experienced prosecution team. He did not have the luxury of following the routes of Doug Wells, Craig Wells or Richard DeCaro, go with a hired attorney to the police and try to work out a deal.

In DeCaro’s case, he was able to secure the services of Don Wolfe, a top-notch criminal attorney in private practice. During the preliminary hearing, when both DeCaro and Basile, appeared before the court, a sharp contrast was readily apparent in the manner counsels represented their clients and how they dealt with Braun (a public-defender other than his trial attorneys, initially represented him). In a different hearing on whether bond could be set for DeCaro for instance, Wolfe overcame Braun’s efforts to keep the proceeding from being recorded. A county jury also ultimately found DeCaro not guilty of planning the murder of his wife (once he tried to cash an insurance check, collecting on his wife’s death, then federal prosecutors pressed charges against him. He was ultimately sentenced to life in prison for the insurance scam and for contracting the murder of his wife).

Evidence/issues show possible involvment of others beside Basile in the murder

A mail delivery worker, Glenda Melton testified that while she was doing her rounds either on the 5^th or 6^th of March, two men in a truck, were parked on another street within the subdivision where the DeCaros lived. Melton recalled from where they were situated they had a clear view of the rear of the DeCaro home. The vehicle was stopped and then began driving very slowly, seemingly casing out the house. One man, she said, watched her as she drove her mail truck from house to house, while the other man seemed to be focusing on the DeCaro’s house. She noted that they were there between 2:15 and 2:30. The descriptions of neither men she gave to police, matched the appearance of Basile.

If Basile was the contract killer, why wouldn’t he have had received at least a significant portion of the $15,000 he was being offered to kill Elizabeth Decaro. If Basile had committed murder, why would he have left unlocked, virtually every door of the DeCaro home. Common sense would lead you to believe he’d want the crime to be unknown for as long as possible to increase the time he’d have to vacate the area. And wouldn’t he be in a hurry to flee the St. Louis area if he had just killed Elizabeth DeCaro?

This case showed a contrast in families and the upbringing of Basile and Elizabeth DeCaro (whose maiden name was VanIseghem), noted a couple witnesses for the defense during the sentencing phase. R’Neill Meyer, a childhood friend of Rosemary adopted Doug, older half-brother to Daniel. "This trial has been as much about family values as it is about the death of Elizabeth DeCaro… I’ve watched the VanIseghem family this week. They are as loving and caring and supportive as any family I have ever seen. I have watched the aunts as they stroke the hair of the little ones. I’ve seen the touching and the smiles of support among them.

Through the testimony offered by her relatives, Meyer learned, she said "Elizabeth’s life was everything that Danny’s was not. When she was loved, he was humiliated. When she was fed, he was often hungry. When she was hugged, he was hit.

"I remember the day I went to pick up Doug when he was six years old because his mother didn’t want him anymore (two years later, Rosemary decided she suddenly did want him again. Three months later she called R’Neill and asked if she’d take all three children. R’Neill declined, realizing she had her own four children to focus on raising. She tried without success to get help get them into a home for abused and neglected children, once Rosemary learned she’d be expected pay a rather puny $25 a month for child support.). She recalled, "Always burned in my memory will be the image of Danny (a little over a year old) walking away down the hallway, his little wet diaper drooping down between his legs. Even then, he walked away with that familiar sauntering gait we’ve all come to see, because rickets (likely caused by malnutrition) had bowed his little legs."

(It should be noted that Basile is not supportive of his abusive childhood being raised as an issue of concern. He believes his purported innocence is the primary matter to be putting before the public and officials. Nonetheless, it’s a reality our society must consider.)

The care of Daniel Basile as an infant, fell upon his older sister, Desiree, who was 6 years of age. She changed his diapers and fed him from a bottle, then later fixed what food she could find. "Mom wasn’t much of a shopper," she said during sentencing. There were a lot of sandwiches and Spaghettio’s, cold out a can. Rosemary was a mother AWOL, Doug Meyer (a year younger than Desiree) recalled, gone working office jobs, then holed up in her bedroom, usually reading romance novels or going out on dates. Jack Basile, the second of her five husbands, began sexually abusing Desiree when she was five. He tried to drown Doug in their bathtub, then rubbed soap in his eyes, nearly blinding him.

A few years later, she remarried Sam Tedeschi. Desiree spoke of this stepfather raping her several times weekly and keeping the kids in a constant of terror. Tedeschi was especially brutal to Daniel, according to his siblings, beating him 2-4 times a week depending on the stepfather’s mood. Daniel was forced to stand in corners or closets, sometimes all day. The children sat on the floor, they were not allowed to sit on the furniture, especially in their living room. On one occasion, Desiree remembered Daniel absent-mindedly did sit on a living-room couch. Tedeschi beat him repeatedly with a belt leaving the youth with welts across many parts of his body. As was typically the case, Rosemary watched and did not intervene.

Why did all three children live through such violence and not all turn to a lifestyle marked by crime? Desiree said what saved her in part was her mother kicking her out of the house at age 18. She was forced to live on her own, but at least it was out of the cycle of neglect and abuse she suffered with some of her ex-husbands. For Doug, he says, having R’Neil give him a few years of caring family life away from the chaos and abuse of life with Rosemary.

In her closing comments, defense attorney Beth Davis honed in (almost solely, unfortunately) on the contrasts of the families. The murder of their loved one brought the Van Iseghem family closer yet and "made them love each other more, if that is possible…You know they are survivors because Mrs. VanIseghem got up here in front of the family and told you they weren’t going to let this tear her apart…Dan’s family, fractured and fragmented as it is… is not a family of survivors… Just this week you have seen his mother leave him. She was here. Mr. Braun pointed her out to you last week. She is not here (now). She walked on him once again, ladies and gentlemen. When the going got tough, she got the hell out of Dodge…"

R’Neill Meyer added during her court statement, "I wish I could go back and change a lot of things. I wish I could have done for Danny and Desi. But we can’t go back and we can’t change things now. We can only promise ourselves to do everything in our power to stop the hurting and stop the pain."

VanIseghem family, jurors neglected to truly follow Meyer’s plea. They sentenced Daniel Basile to death. It sadly seems that state officials remain poised to again chose death—and its resulting trauma on other loved ones-- as a vehicle for healing the suffering of another family.

We of course want the governor to intervene—especially for moral grounds, because it is wrong for anyone—a person or the state—to kill. Basile’s also a man who has proven he can contribute to society, and has, while he’s been incarcerated. He has helped other prisoners try to cope with the harsh realities of prison life, working with the administration on a "suicide watch." Before he was moved to an isolation cell with the Missouri Supreme Court setting an execution date, he had been living in the honor dorm of the Potosi prison. He could have his sentence commuted to life in prison and continue to make something worthwhile of his life in prison. Sadly, we still realize that it’s probably quite unlikely Gov. Holden will intercede.

What about his innocence? There are many pieces of circumstantial evidence implicating him of murder, but little in the way of concrete proof, especially important when talking about the finality of the death penalty. There are many reasons one wants to believe him. He does have a criminal history, mainly though for nonviolent offenses-- twice he was convicted of burglary and was incarcerated for parole violations. When he was about 18, he was sentenced to 30 days in jail for assaulting a 16-year old neighbor (he says he struck back after he was hit by her).

Basile had been several months out of prison when either he or someone else contemptibly murdered Elizabeth DeCaro. It seemed just before then, Basile was getting his life in better order. He had been attending trade school to become a refrigeration technician; instructors, including one who testified at his trial, saw him as one of their most promising students. He was preparing to move into a house where he would have free room in exchange for his labor, taking care of horses at a stable nearby. He was engaged to be married to a woman who was carrying their child.

and he resorted to old patterns of criminal behavior to get money and found DeCaro’s offer of big bucks too good to pass up. I don’t really know. I do know that he has a 9-year old daughter who shouldn’t have to deal with her father being executed. There are already four young people who were made motherless with the murder of Elizabeth DeCaro. Why add yet another circle of human suffering? Basile also has friends, both in prison and outside, who would be devastated with his death. He’s an engaging, vibrant, living human being who should be allowed to live-- who has a right to live.

(The writer bases these thoughts/conclusions from readings of the 2700 page trial transcript-- minus the 1000-plus voir dire transcript-- plus readings of the preliminary-hearing transcript, the summary report from the major-case squad, various other documents plus conversations with Daniel Basile and his current attorney, Eric Butts).