Thanos v. State

MURPHY, Chief Judge.

This case is the second of two direct appeals by appellant, John Frederick Thanos, who was twice convicted of capital murder and twice sentenced to die.

I

On September 2, 1990, Thanos entered the “minimart” of a Big Red gasoline station in Essex, Maryland. There, he persuaded the station employees, sixteen-year-old Billy Winebrenner and fourteen-year-old Melody Pistorio, to accept his gold watch in exchange for ten dollars worth of gasoline and twenty dollars in cash. The following day, Thanos returned to the gas station intent on robbing and killing the teenagers. He did…