James Sullivan murder trial

[Hmph]

first I've heard of the situation. it's just hard for me to understand if you have millions why be go greedy to the point where your life is destroyed.

I'm sure he wishes now he'd settled things amicably so that both walked away w/their life. I don't expect this guy to hold up in a state prison long. he'll constantly be shaken down by other prisoners for money, a target of attacks or killed if he steps out of line.

Millionaire guilty of murder
Socialite wife gunned down on doorstep of townhouse

Friday, March 10, 2006; Posted: 5:34 p.m. EST (22:34 GMT)

ATLANTA, Georgia (AP) -- A jury on Friday convicted a millionaire of murder for hiring a hit man to kill his socialite wife 19 years ago to escape a costly divorce.

The jury of three men and nine women took a little over four hours to find James Sullivan guilty of arranging the shooting death of Lita Sullivan, his 35-year-old second wife.

Except for blinking several times, Sullivan, 64, showed no reaction to the verdict.

The victim's mother, state Rep. Jo Ann McClinton, cried.

"I'm just happy and elated that finally after 19 years, the person we knew was guilty, our courts have found him guilty," McClinton said. "It's been a long time coming."

Prosecutors said Sullivan had his wife killed because he feared losing millions of dollars and a Palm Beach, Florida, mansion in the divorce.

Sullivan, a Boston native, took off on an intercontinental run around the time he was indicted on state murder charges in 1998. He was one of the FBI's most wanted fugitives until he was captured in Thailand in 2002.

Sullivan's lawyers entered a holding cell to talk with him. Afterward, defense attorney Don Samuel said he will appeal.

"It takes a lot out of you to lose a murder trial, particularly a death penalty trial," he said.

Prosecutor Clint Rucker said Sullivan's lack of emotion as the verdict was read spoke clearly: "I think it's true to form -- a leopard doesn't necessarily change his spots."

Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty. A sentencing hearing will occur later.

Lita Sullivan was shot to death on January 16, 1987, on the doorstep of her Atlanta town house by a man carrying a dozen long-stemmed pink roses.

The murder occurred the same day a hearing was scheduled to discuss property distribution in the divorce.

Sullivan was extradited to the United States in 2004 to face a second trial on charges stemming from the murder.

Federal charges that accused him of interstate use of a telephone to set up the murder were thrown out at trial in 1992. The Georgia Supreme Court ruled that double jeopardy did not prevent Sullivan from being tried again in state court.

Prosecutors said Sullivan paid trucker Phillip Harwood, $25,000 to kill his wife. Harwood, 55, is serving a 20-year sentence for manslaughter after pleading guilty and admitting he killed Mrs. Sullivan.

Harwood denied being the triggerman on the stand Monday.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/LAW/03/10/socia ... index.html

Lita Sullivan info

[MsNikaPooh]

This man has had a civil judgement against him about her death for years. They had been seperated and the divorce was almost final so I always wondered why kill her? Was it a case of if I can't have her no one will or what?

[Hmph]

well he'll get to think about it daily in jail. I'm sure he wishes now he'd have settled.

[MsNikaPooh]

I think he seriously thought he could get away with it. But the funny thing is that the hitman's girlfriend gave him the idea for a flower delivery. Why wasn't she even tried in this case. The deals the DA makes with criminals baffles my mind.

[Hmph]

yeah money does make you believe you have more power. but obviously the law had more power because his ass ran to another country to hide.

[MsNikaPooh]

They showed clips of her family speaking at the sentencing earlier couldn't stay long enough for the entire story had to get back to work but you can tell her family is still hurting after all these years. And to have to relive it all and the look on his face was not a sorry I did it but more like I'm sorry I couldn't hide forever.

[Hmph]

well he gets life in prison

http://www.cnn.com/2006/LAW/03/14/milli ... index.html

Jury spares millionaire's life
Juror: 'We wanted God to be the judge'

Tuesday, March 14, 2006; Posted: 5:49 p.m. EST (22:49 GMT)

ATLANTA, Georgia (AP) -- A millionaire who had his socialite wife killed by a hit man posing as a flower deliveryman was spared the death penalty Tuesday by a jury that decided he should get life in prison without parole.

James Sullivan was convicted last week of murder in the 1987 slaying of 35-year-old Lita Sullivan.

She was gunned down on the doorstep of her Atlanta townhouse by a man carrying a dozen long-stemmed pink roses.

Mrs. Sullivan's parents embraced after the judge immediately imposed the sentence.

The jury had the option of the death penalty, life in prison without parole or life with parole.

Juror Debra Klayman said the panel decided at the start of deliberations Tuesday that Sullivan wouldn't get death.

Instead, jurors spent more than five hours arguing whether he should ever be eligible for parole, she said.

"We thought that life imprisonment without the possibility of parole was enough," Klayman said. "We didn't want to be the judge about somebody else's life. We wanted God to be the judge."

Asking for the death penalty, prosecutor Anna Green told jurors: "For 19 years he has lived without facing any consequence, any punishment at all. Nineteen years is too long for there to be no consequence for a crime as heinous as this."

Sullivan's lawyers asked for mercy, telling jurors their guilty verdict would ensure the 64-year-old would die in prison.

During the sentencing phase, relatives, some weeping, testified that Mrs. Sullivan's slaying has caused them pain for nearly two decades.

Sullivan, once one of the FBI's most-wanted fugitives, was captured in Thailand in 2002, four years after he was indicted on murder charges.

The murder occurred the same day a hearing was scheduled to discuss property distribution in the couple's divorce.

Prosecutors said Sullivan paid Phillip Harwood, a trucker who once moved some furniture for him, $25,000 to kill his wife.

Harwood, 55, is serving a 20-year sentence for manslaughter after pleading guilty and admitting he killed Mrs. Sullivan. On the stand last week, however, he denied being the triggerman.

[MsNikaPooh]

Life is too good for him. His expression was as the media called it stoic. More like "Damn I got caught" to me. She was out of his house and almost out of his life yet he killed her. Or had her killed. To me he didn't deserve life in prison its his fault as easy as if he pulled the trigger.

[Hmph]

he will probably die in a couple of years in prison, or wish he was. between the prison rapes, or threats of it, and beatings he'll be subjected to, he'll suffer.

because he's a millionaire entering prison, the other prisoners will daily extort from him "to make his days pleasant" and if he doesn't pay (through his family), he'll be raped, beaten or killed off.

[B-Unit]

I saw a CourtTV Dominick Dunne special on this guy. talk about a creep. another one who makes Scott Peterson look like a choir boy.

he is aggressive and ruthless and walked over anyone to get his way. hope that helps him in prison when he's getting tossed around.

after marrying Lita he moved to Palm Beach, Florida and was adament about joining social clubs. but his black wife (in the 1980s ) got in the way (shall I bring up a Reparations thread? naaah not now, but thanks for the additional evidence of hatred against someone just for being black). but Sullivan's black wife would never be accepted into the affluent white society he was trying to make an impact in. so he began to treat her like dirt, and even began telling people she worked for him. and of course, had open affairs. so sistah gurl left and filed for divorce. good for her, her momma didn't raise her to be someone's trash! Lita was actually far better than James Sullivan because she was raised w/money. Sullivan hustled his way into it.

he eventually became president of the restorations committee for Palm Beach (living proof that bullshit and a little money can let you sit on top of anything, and integrity doesn't matter w/pretentious assholes).

the day his wife was killed he made plans AFTER receiving the news of the shooting to go out to dinner w/one of his hoochies.

the type of gun used in the killing was intentionally left out of public records. he's heard on a wiretapped call mentioning the name of the weapon used to kill his wife when describing how she was killed.

he lost a civil lawsuit to the parents of Lita McClinton Sullivan, but the $4 million dollar judgement was overturned on appeal on a technicality, leaving the parents of Lita w/nothing.

he did a couple of years in jail ironically because of separate traffic violations

he was married to a gold digging asian, Suki, who set off the chain that led to his final criminal trial. but she waited until it was divorce time to drop a dime on him because it would help her get more money. (doing the "skank-cough")

when initial federal charges were brought against him for conspiring to kill Lita, the case had to be dismissed because an assumption that the phone calls made from the hit men to Sullivan 40 minutes after the murder were directly related to Sullivan was considered not enough to hold a man for trial for a possible life sentence

then his ass skipped the country when faced w/criminal charges.

now finally he's where he belongs. and had the nerve to reference God after the initial federal charges were dropped.

makes ya never want to marry huh?