Bean v. State

OPINION

By the Court,

Thompson, J.:

This appeal is from a conviction of first degree murder and the sentence of death. On April 5, 1963, Tom Bean, then 18 years old, entered the apartment of Sonja McCaskie and killed her. He had never seen her before. The circumstances of the crime were unbelievably ghastly. Death was caused by strangulation. The victim had been raped, her body mutilated, dismembered and placed in a wooden chest. The following day Bean pawned a camera which he had stolen from Miss McCaskie’s apartment. This led to his apprehension on April 13, 1963. When taken into custody he…