Last Friday, a jury found Antwon Whitten guilty of robbing and murdering Crystal Michelle Jacobs as she worked inside Earl's True Value Hardware in July 2003.
Today, the same Stafford jury will decide whether Whitten receives life imprisonment without parole, or the death penalty.
Arguments begin at 9:30 this morning in the penalty phase of Whitten's trial.
For Whitten to receive the death penalty, the prosecution must prove his crime was exceptionally vile and that he is a future danger. Judge John R. Alderman will make the final decision.
Today's testimony is expected to be lurid.
The defense is expected to call family members and others familiar with Whitten's past, in an attempt to convince the jury he deserves to live.
Prosecutors are expected to highlight Whitten's troubled past. Among the witnesses on tap are guards who worked at prisons where Whitten was incarcerated. On more than one occasion, prosecutors have said Whitten exposed himself to female guards.
Jacobs, a 33-year-old mother of three, was found dead inside Earl's, a popular store in southern Stafford where she worked, on July 14, 2003. She had been stabbed 16 times.
Authorities made no arrests for nearly two months, until the state forensic lab linked DNA recovered under Jacobs' fingernails to Whitten, a convicted felon.
A subsequent search of his apartment turned up an Omega Constellation ladies watch that had been stolen from the store's post office. Several drops of Jacobs' blood were found on a pair of Whitten's white tennis shoes seized from his Dumfries apartment.
To reach ROB DAVIS: 540/374-5418 rdavis@freelancestar.com
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