Steven Parkus v. Paul K. Delo

BRIGHT, Senior Circuit Judge.

Steven Parkus, a mentally disturbed man raised in state institutions since age four, killed Mark Steffenhagen by strangulation while both were incarcerated in a Missouri prison. A jury convicted Parkus of first degree murder and sentenced him to death. After exhausting all avenues of relief in the Missouri courts, Parkus petitioned for federal habeas corpus relief, raising twenty sepa rate claims of error. Parkus alleged, among other things, ineffective assistance of trial counsel due to failure to investigate Parkus’ mental health history, and that the prosecutor…