Death-penalty hearing for dad who killed kids; Mom had agreed to joint custody, but he slaughtered his sons anyway (Scottsdale, Arizona)

We've posted on this case before. Now we're supposed to feel sorry for poor widdle Daddy, who murdered his two young sons. All 'cause he was upset, you know, because Mom left him after she found out that he had visited 27 PROSTITUTES. So he wanted to punish HER. A$$hole doesn't begin to cover this guy. 

Still, according to prior news reports, Mom had agreed to joint custody with this piece of sh**, er, the father of her children. She tried to be selfless and generous, just like the fathers rights people keep hammering the mothers to be. To not be a "gatekeeper." And a lot of f***ing good it did her. 

We need to stop giving these violent controlling @$$holes any access to the kids. No access, no murders. Daddy's own attorneys say he was an alcoholic with mental illness and drug abuse issues. SO WHY WAS HE ALLOWED ANY VISITATION AT ALL? More freaking sicko daddy coddling at its finest. 

Daddy is identified as ANDRE LETEVE. 

http://www.azcentral.com/community/scottsdale/articles/20121104scottsdale-dad-death-penalty-hearing-begin.html

Death-penalty hearing for dad who killed kids to begin

By Laurie Merrill The Republic | azcentral.com

Mon Nov 5, 2012 12:17 AM

Jurors who convicted Andre Leteve of Scottsdale last week for fatally shooting his two sons are scheduled begin hearing evidence Monday on whether the crimes warrant the death penalty.

Leteve, 40, faces anywhere from life in prison with the possibility of parole after 35 years to the death penalty for the premeditated murders of his sons, Asher, 1, and Alec, 5 in March 2010.

Jurors are expected to be busy until Dec. 20 hearing arguments and weighing evidence relating to the severity of Leteve’s sentence.

At 10:30 a.m. Monday in Maricopa County Superior Court, jurors are scheduled to hear opening arguments on whether aggravating factors existed when he murdered his sons.

Subsequently, the defense will present witnesses and evidence they hope will convince jurors that Leteve’s life is worth saving, said Maria Schaffer, his defense attorney.

Leteve admitted killing his children, but defense attorney Greg Parzych argued that the crime was born of enormous stress and was not premeditated. In convicting Leteve of first-degree murder, instead of second-degree murder, the jury determined the crimes were premeditated.

Among evidence of premeditation were three suicide notes that Leteve left his former wife, Laurie, who was divorcing him after learning he had slept with 27 prostitutes. Prosecutors said Leteve committed the crime to punish his wife for leaving him.

“Enjoy the rest of your life without us,” one note said in part.

After shooting his sons with a .38 caliber gun he purchased the day his wife filed for divorce, Leteve tried unsuccessfully to commit suicide by shooting himself in the chin, attorneys say. He has since undergone at least 10 surgeries to repair his face, Schaffer said. She said Leteve looks little like he did before the murders.

Defense attorneys concede that jurors are likely to find at least one aggravating factor in the murders of the two children. Among aggravating factors the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office is seeking is that Leteve was an adult at the time of the offense and the victims were under 15.

The defense will ask the jury to find more than 20 mitigating factors, including that Leteve was an alcoholic who suffered from a mental illness and self-medicated with drugs, according to a defense pleading.

Leteve was a good employee, father, son and provider who suffered emotional abuse and neglect as a child, the pleading says.

Schaffer intends to call dozens of witnesses in the mitigation phase of the trial.

“We have a lot of say about his life and this is a crucial part of the case,” Schaffer said.

Schaffer two years ago defended Samuel Dieteman, who was facing the death penalty but received life in prison for his part in the “Serial Shooter” killing spree that took the lives of eight people in the Phoenix area.

On July 29, 2009, a jury sentenced Dieteman to life without parole but spared him the death penalty.