AKRON, Ohio – A murder defendant who wouldn't stop smiling was removed from the courtroom before being sentenced to death for killing his former girlfriend.
During his trial, Clarence Fry laughed, smiled and at one point ate candy during testimony.
Summit County Common Pleas Judge Patricia Cosgrove repeatedly warned Fry on Tuesday to stop smirking and making disparaging remarks about his victim. When he did not comply, the judge ordered him out of the courtroom. He watched his sentence imposed through a video link.
"You're a pure psychopath in the full sense of the word," the judge told Fry. "You have no conscience."
Fry, 46, of Akron, was convicted of aggravated murder in the killing of the 41-year-old Tamila Hardison, who was stabbed in front of her grandchildren in July 2005.
Fry argued he was enraged because the woman stole things from him. He never denied stabbing her but said lesser charges were warranted because his actions were not premeditated.
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