Hoodoo
2006-03-21 10:51:17 UTC
March 21, 2006
Man who killed family in '04 dies
State official: Death of murderer in Meridian Twp. case called suicide
Lansing State Journal
http://www.lsj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060321/NEWS01/603210328/1001/news
Thomas Eugene White, 27, convicted of murdering three family members
in August 2004 in Meridian Township, died Monday at an Ann Arbor-area
hospital, a state corrections official confirmed Monday.
Department of Corrections spokesman Russ Marlan said White was taken
March 14 from the Huron Valley Men's Complex in Ypsilanti to St.
Joseph Mercy Hospital after he was found by guards in his one-man
cell.
A Michigan State Police investigation has found White committed
suicide, Marlan said.
State police officials could not be reached for comment Monday
evening.
Marlan would not provide specifics on why White was taken from the
maximum-security prison to the hospital, where he died at 12:45 a.m.
Monday.
A Department of Corrections investigation is continuing, Marlan said.
The Wash-tenaw County medical examiner's office, which did not return
phone calls Monday, will conduct an autopsy.
White was serving a life sentence for the slayings of his mother Diane
Urbanik, 56; stepfather Tony Urbanik, 57; and half-brother Anthony,
13.
The three were killed with a samurai sword and baseball bat.
He was convicted of three counts of first-degree murder in June 2005.
His trial contained graphic autopsy photos and testimony - some of
which came from relatives and an Ingham County Jail inmate in whom
White confided. White was angry at his mother for marrying Tony
Urbanik and starting a new family, his sister, Andrea Miles,
testified.
Miles could not be reached for comment Monday.
Attorney David Merchant, who represented White during the trial and
now works as a federal public defender in Montana, said he was
saddened by the news of White's death.
"This is a sad ending to a horrible story," said Merchant, who added
he sent White several letters about appealing his guilty verdict with
no response.
"It was a pretty ugly case. Something just went horribly wrong."
Man who killed family in '04 dies
State official: Death of murderer in Meridian Twp. case called suicide
Lansing State Journal
http://www.lsj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060321/NEWS01/603210328/1001/news
Thomas Eugene White, 27, convicted of murdering three family members
in August 2004 in Meridian Township, died Monday at an Ann Arbor-area
hospital, a state corrections official confirmed Monday.
Department of Corrections spokesman Russ Marlan said White was taken
March 14 from the Huron Valley Men's Complex in Ypsilanti to St.
Joseph Mercy Hospital after he was found by guards in his one-man
cell.
A Michigan State Police investigation has found White committed
suicide, Marlan said.
State police officials could not be reached for comment Monday
evening.
Marlan would not provide specifics on why White was taken from the
maximum-security prison to the hospital, where he died at 12:45 a.m.
Monday.
A Department of Corrections investigation is continuing, Marlan said.
The Wash-tenaw County medical examiner's office, which did not return
phone calls Monday, will conduct an autopsy.
White was serving a life sentence for the slayings of his mother Diane
Urbanik, 56; stepfather Tony Urbanik, 57; and half-brother Anthony,
13.
The three were killed with a samurai sword and baseball bat.
He was convicted of three counts of first-degree murder in June 2005.
His trial contained graphic autopsy photos and testimony - some of
which came from relatives and an Ingham County Jail inmate in whom
White confided. White was angry at his mother for marrying Tony
Urbanik and starting a new family, his sister, Andrea Miles,
testified.
Miles could not be reached for comment Monday.
Attorney David Merchant, who represented White during the trial and
now works as a federal public defender in Montana, said he was
saddened by the news of White's death.
"This is a sad ending to a horrible story," said Merchant, who added
he sent White several letters about appealing his guilty verdict with
no response.
"It was a pretty ugly case. Something just went horribly wrong."
--
Paramount among the responsibilities of a free press is the duty to prevent any part of the government from deceiving the people and sending them off to distant lands to die of foreign fevers and foreign shot and shell.
-- Hugo Black
Paramount among the responsibilities of a free press is the duty to prevent any part of the government from deceiving the people and sending them off to distant lands to die of foreign fevers and foreign shot and shell.
-- Hugo Black