By Ray Stern
Phoenix New Times
PHOENIX, Ariz. — An Arizona prison inmate who sliced off the penis of a seriously mentally ill inmate before killing him has been sentenced to death.
Jasper Rushing, 45, already was serving a 28-year prison sentence for the 2001 murder of his stepfather when he mutilated and beat to death his cellmate, 40-year-old Shannon Palmer, in 2010.
He was found guilty by a Maricopa County jury on June 1 after a 10-day trial. On Tuesday, a jury deliberated for four-and-a-half hours following the aggravation and penalty phases of the trial before sentencing him to die, according to County Attorney Bill Montgomery’s office.
Full story: Prison killer who severed penis of victim sentenced to death