Smyrna
First-Degree Murder and Felony Theft
On September 19, 1998, Stefanie Nicole Kucek Virdin was due to have her baby, but clouds hovered over her, because her husband, James W. Virdin, was a severe drug addict. They had been married on August 9 of the same year, and James Virdin's drug problems had become worse and worse. On her due date, she urged her husband to try to get away from drugs, and they got into a fight. James Virdin strangled his wife to death. After killing his wife, he said, he was "just riding around snorting [cocaine]."
Stefanie's mother and stepfather found her body in their second-floor apartment in Smyrna.
On September 21, 1998, Virdin confessed that he had strangled Stefanie. He said "Like everybody says, the only way you're going to quit doing drugs is if you get killed or if you kill someone else. That's exactly what my sister told me ... and that's exactly where I am now."
James Virdin was charged with first-degree murder in his wife's death, and with felony theft for stealing a 1995 Dodge Sport pickup. He said "I wanted dope real bad, and I needed a ride to Dover."
A seven-woman, five-man jury in Kent County Superior Court found Virdin guilty of first-degree murder, and Judge Henry duPont Ridgely sentenced him to spend rest of his life in prison for the murder. Judge Ridgely also sentenced Virdin to spend three days a year in solitary confinement on the anniversary of his wife's birthday and the projected birthday of his preborn child for the next thirty years.
Reference: James W. Virdin v. State of Delaware, decided September 12, 2001.
Wilmington
First-Degree Murder
Milton Taylor had a problem. His current girlfriend had told him to end all contact with his previous girlfriend or lose her. So, on March 23, 2000, Taylor strangled his pregnant ex-girlfriend Theresa "Treety" Williams with a thin cord. She was four months pregnant when Taylor murdered her, and was already the mother of four children. He beat her badly, strangled her, stabbed her in the mouth with a 13-inch-long kitchen knife, and then hid her body under a blanket with a bicycle on top of it. When Theresa's smallest children, aged two and four, were found unattended, maintenance worker Steven Butler found her body.
Police arrested Taylor two days after he murdered Theresa.
On March 31, 2001, a Superior Court jury found Taylor guilty of first-degree murder and subsequently recommended 10 to 2 execute him. Judge Fred S. Silverman followed the jury's recommendation, and sentenced Taylor to death.
Therese's four children now live with their grandparents, Tyson and Patricia Williams.
Reference: Rick Halperin's Internet Death Penalty News, April 6, 2001; Milton E. Taylor v. State of Delaware, decided April 30, 2003.
Fatal Botched Abortion and Negligence
In January of 2002, jurors awarded $2 million to the 5-year-old son of Gracealyn Harris, who died following a 1997 20-week abortion at the Delaware Women's Health Organization clinic. The jury found that abortionist Mohammad Imran was negligent and that his actions led to the death of the 19-year-old woman.
The jury of nine men and three women awarded Harris' family $2,252,000 in damages. The jury found Imran 40 percent responsible for Harris' death and the clinic 60 percent responsible. Imran will be responsible for paying the Harris family $900,800, according to the court formula.
The clinic reached an undisclosed settlement with the Harris family before trial, and will not be bound by the jury verdict, according to attorneys.
Prosecuting attorneys showed that Imran was running behind schedule and in a hurry to get back to New Jersey to see patients in his private practice. He had breached several standards of care solely for his own convenience and expedience. Dr. James L. Mollick, an obstetrician and gynecologist who practices in Pennsylvania, said Imran should have performed the second-trimester abortion in a hospital, used osmotic dilators, used a metal sounding device to assess the position of the uterine canal, and used ultrasound to help guide the abortion instruments.
In his haste, the abortionist perforated Harris' uterus and caused two lacerations on her cervix. Medical records showed that Harris began bleeding heavily immediately after the abortion. Imran returned her to the operating room and sutured one of the cervical tears, which apparently stopped her vaginal bleeding.
References: Randall Chase. "Doctor Who Performed Abortion Testifies Something Went Wrong." Associated Press, January 10, 2002; "Seasoned U.S. Abortionist Causes Mother's Death During Legal Abortion." LifeSite Daily News at http://www.lifesite.net, January 10, 2002; Randall Chase. "Jurors Shown Graphic Autopsy Photo During Closing Arguments." Associated Press, January 14, 2002; "Jurors Hear More Evidence in Delaware Botched Abortion Death." Associated Press, January 14, 2002; Steve Ertelt's Pro-Life Infonet at http://www.prolifeinfo.org, January 11, 15 and 17, 2002; "Jury Awards Son Whose Mom Died From Abortion." Associated Press, January 16, 2002; Representative John Hostettler. "Abortion Advocates: The Real Perpetrators of Violence." Pro-Life Infonet, April 21, 2002.
Attempted Murder (2 incidents)
In April 1979, at the Wilmington Medical Center, abortionists delivered alive a viable 2½ pound baby girl. On seeing that she would survive, they placed the baby in an air-tight disposal pail, from which she was rescued by nurses. The very next month, abortionists at the abortion mill delivered alive a 3 pound, 4 ounce viable baby boy and attempted to kill him, too. But he also was rescued by nurses, and both babies survived. The nurses who rescued the babies were threatened by the hospital (which had a policy against murdering viable aborted babies).
Reference: "Rescue of Aborted Babies Ignites Protest." National Right to Life News, July 1979, page 4.
Coercion and Attempted Forced Abortion
Social workers in Delaware allegedly tried to coerce a pregnant 16-year-old girl in foster care into having an abortion against her will. When their coercion failed, they threatened to take custody of the baby after it is born. The state even tried to keep the teenager from talking with her attorneys, from the American Family Association's Center for Law & Policy.
Both the girl's foster parents and natural parents are in favor of her having and keeping her baby.
References: Allie Martin. "Pregnant Delaware Teen Fighting to Save Her Baby from State." Agape Press at http://www.agapepress.org/, March 9, 2001; "Pregnant Teen Fights Against Coercive Abortion and Losing Her Baby." Steven Ertelt's Pro-Life Infonet at http://www.prolifeinfo.org/infonet.html, March 11, 2001.
Vandalism and Destruction of Property (6 incidents)
Delaware Right to Life rented six billboards from Reagan National Advertising in October 1990. The billboards featured a photograph of a beautiful unborn baby with an inoffensive pro-life message. Within two days, all six billboards were torn apart and the pictures of the unborn babies were vandalized. Obscenities and the slogan "THIS IS A PRO-CHOICE NEIGHBORHOOD" were spraypainted on the wreckage. In response to this aggressive censorship, Lou Jacquet of the newspaper Dialog wrote that "The pro-abortion movement has to destroy pro-life billboards to keep people from learning the ugly facts about what abortion involves ... One of the recurring problems facing those who favor legalized abortion is the growing body of knowledge proving beyond a doubt how vital human life already is well before actual birth occurs ... It's not the kind of information pro-abortion activists can afford to acknowledge. So they've taken to a simple solution — tearing down and spraying over billboards. Aren't these the same folks who call pro-life activists who picket abortion clinics 'uncivilized?'"
Reference: "Billboards Carry Pro-Life Message." Voices for the Unborn (Feasterville, Pennsylvania), October 1990, page 10.
Sexual Assault (9 incidents) and Harassment
Marsha Ryan told investigator that on January 31, 1994, Abortionist Allan Nachlis sexually assaulted her. When she returned for treatment February 28, he again assaulted her. Another woman claimed that Nachlis also sexually assaulted her during a November 6, 1992 examination. A national criminal history check revealed a 1987 arrest in Pittsburgh for the same offense. Barbara Martin, Gail Greeby and Denise Schreffler also testified that Nachlis had sexually molested them. Nachlis was reprimanded in New York in 1991 and convicted on sexual assault charges. He also lost his Delaware license. Nachlis had also been accused of "improper sexual contact" with a patient in Detroit during his medical residency. Eventually, he was sentenced to 2« to ten years in prison. Nachlis also repeatedly harassed his estranged wife by telephone.
References: Affidavit of Probable Cause for Police Complaint Number 0694600543; Delaware County Daily Times, February 24, 1995 March 1, 1995; Scranton Times, April 9, 1995; Reader's Digest, October 1996. Delaware County Daily Times, March 1, 1995.
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| This document was updated on June 26, 2006. |
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