'Zeeks' to be sentenced today
May 16, 2006
DONALD Phipps, alias "Zeeks", the reputed 'area leader' of the tough Matthews Lane community in downtown Kingston, will be sentenced today in the Home Circuit Court for double murder.
Several character witnesses are expected to appear on Phipps' behalf in effort to secure him a lenient sentence from Justice Horace Marsh, who presided over the trial.
Phipps, however, may be facing the death penalty at his sentencing, having been found guilty of two counts of non-capital murder. The law allows for a person convicted of two non-capital murders to be punished in like manner as a person convicted of capital murder, which includes the death penalty.
Phipps was convicted last month for the April 2005 murders of Rodney Farquharson and Dayton 'Scotchbrite' Williams, both of Bayshore Park in Eastern Kingston.
The jury, which deliberated for just under two hours, returned the verdict that Phipps was guilty of two counts of non-capital murder.
Author: Observer Reporter
Source: Jamaica Observer
