Friday, May 18, 2007

Jury recommends death penalty for man convicted of murder


The Associated Press

PANAMA CITY, Fla.

A jury recommended the death penalty Thursday for a man convicted of robbing, raping and killing a nurse in 1992.

The jury deliberated for two hours before reporting its 11-1 decision regarding Roderick Orme, 45. Circuit Judge Judy Pittman will make the final decision on Orme's sentence, but the jury's recommendation carries great legal weight.This was the second time a jury recommended the death sentence for Orme. A 7-5 vote by a jury in 1993 was overturned by the Florida Supreme Court in 2005. Orme's conviction was upheld, but justices decided the original jury should have heard more about Orme's bipolar disorder.

Orme was convicted of first-degree murder for the 1993 murder, rape and robbery of Lisa Redd, a Bay Medical Center nurse. Redd's body was found in a Panama City motel room.

Investigators said Orme, Redd's former boyfriend, lured her to the motel, where he raped and strangled her because she broke up with him.

Messages left for the prosecutor and defense attorney by The Associated Press were not immediately returned.

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