Cunningham jury hears statements from victims' families

Larry Blieden pulled out all the stops Monday morning during opening statements as he explained to the jury why his client, Matthew Cunningham, deserved life in prison instead of the death penalty.

“This is the most daunting, most formidable procedure in a court of law in this country ... if Matthew Cunningham lives or dies,” he told the jury.

Blieden went over mitigating factors that he said should be considered when contemplating leniency, including how Cunningham’s friends considered him a kind, gentle and caring person, and that mental illness and delusion plagued the 30-year-old in 2004 just before he stabbed to death Robert Barker Jr. and Katharine Spain at the Andante apartment complex.

But it was statements by the victims’ families that caused at least three jurors to reach for tissues.

Barker’s father, Robert Barker Sr., read part of a Father’s Day card his son had sent that included a handwritten note that said in part, “My gift to you are my successes that come in the future.”

“Nobody plans on outliving their children,” Barker Sr. said of his son, a former Marine Lance Corporal who liked to cook. “I didn’t even get a chance to say goodbye.”

Barker’s mother, Pat, apologized to her son: “When you were born I promised to protect you ... I failed as a mother ... I’m sorry son,” she told the jury.

Katharine Spain’s parents didn’t attend court but asked that a statement be read in which they described how their world was changed by the death of their only daughter.

“We have lived under immense sorrow and always will. Not a day goes by we don’t think about her.”

The letter went on to say that they don’t socialize much anymore because somewhere in the conversation people always ask how many children they have and they don’t know what to say.

The jury took just four days to find Cunningham guilty of the murders, along with two other aggravated assaults and a burglary, and one day last week to determine that the crimes did meet the legal requirement to justify the death penalty.

The jury will now hear from friends and family of Cunningham, Barker and Spain before they make their final decision in the trial that began with opening statements Nov. 26.

Cunningham’s attorneys will probably focus on the mental illness that mental health professionals, for the defense and the prosecution, agree Cunningham is suffering from today.

Testimony will continue this week with family members and friends of Cunningham also testifying, setting up what appears to be an emotional few days in the downtown Phoenix courtroom of Judge Sally Duncan.

According to witnesses and evidence, Cunningham was frustrated with his life and attacked his roommate, Barker Jr., after losing his job and being told he would either need to get a new job or move out. After Cunningham stabbed Barker to death in full view of a dozen witnesses, he then chased others before coming upon Spain who had walked out of her apartment to see what the commotion was about.

After killing Spain Cunningham tried to hide in another apartment, attacking Gerardo Barrientos Olivares and his wife Maria Veronica Manriquez.

Eventually the police took Cunningham into custody.