The Morning News from Wilmington, Delaware • Page 19

Thursday, Sept. 12, 1985 The News-Journal papers A19 Convicted Continued from Al weeping and sobbing. Two of them broke down and left the courtroom. Re, 42, did not react to the verdict. As he has since the trial opened Sept.

4, Re took notes and consulted with his attorney, J. Dallas Winslow Jr. Winslow said he plans to appeal. The first-degree murder conviction carries a mandatory life sentence without parole. The weapons convictions carry a three- to 30-year penalty.

Martin did not sentence Re on Wednesday. Because of the weapon charges, Martin ordered a present ence Re was indicted in 1976 but his trial was shelved for nine years because he was repeatedly ruled men- tally incompetent. He spent most of that time at Delaware State Hospital. Investigations launched in 1984 by the News-Journal papers and later the state attorney general's office uncovered a pattern of special privileges accorded Re while at the hospital. Oberly's investigation and news accounts of Re's activities led to the March ousting of three top hospital administrators.

Two other employees also lost their jobs. Re was subsequently found competent to stand trial in April. The jury of five women and seven men soundly rejected the defense's contention that Re was suffering from extreme emotional distress when he dhot his wife five times with a pistol and once with a shotgun on June 22, 1976. Re' murdered his 24-year-old bride of less than year after he confronted her and another man at her Wilmington home. Had the jury ruled that Re was under emotional distress at the time, the conviction would have been reduced to manslaughter.

Earlier Wednesday, Martin denied Winslow's request for a mistrial, saying the lawyer's claim that a prosecution witness was prejudiced was without basis. Winslow asked for a mistrial because of the testimony of Dr. Park E. Dietz, a forensic psychiatrist. "The testimony of Dr.

Park Dietz was not relevant and should not be admissible," Winslow said. "I saw no connection between the state of Mr. Re's mind on the night of June 22, 1976, and the doctor's evaluation of him." Dietz testified Tuesday that Re was "malingering" or faking mental illness while he was housed at the hospital. Dietz, however, did not render an opinion on whether Re was suffering from extreme emotional distress on the night his wife was shot to death. The prosecution in rebuttal called Danielle Stoner, who was Griffin's best friend.

Stoner testifed that a week and half before she was slain, Griffin told her that Re had threatened her. "She Griffin said that Roger had threatened that if he couldn't have her no one would. She said he would kill her," Stoner said. She also testifed that Griffin said Re would "act like he's crazy" to avoid a murder conviction. During Wednesday's closing arguments, two different portraits of Roger Re emerged.

The prosecution sketched Re as a man determined to kill, a man who planned and carried out a murder. "The defendant is guilty of murder in killing his wife; it was terror, it was execution. Later there was manipulation; today there's going to be accountability," said Deputy Attorney General Michael Foster. "Roger Re, the executioner's saga is about to end," he said. Winslow painted Re as a man blind to the voice of reason, a man compelled to seek out the woman he loved and driven to slay her.

"His heart was hurting. He was not able to stand it and when he could not cope with it, it just went bang in the form of five gunshots and a shotgun," said Winslow. He said Re delivered the final shotgun blast because, "Someone he loved was moaning and hurting and he wanted to stop the hurt." Winslow asked the jury to find Re not guilty of first-degree murder because he was under such emotional distress that he was driven to a frenzy of mind. In rebuttal, Chief Deputy Attorney General Bartholomew J. Dal-ton told the jury, "I don't know what love is, but I know what it isn't." He grabbed the handgun and the sawed-off shotgun used by Re and said, "It's not taking these weapons and blowing your wife's brains out." The jury left the courtroom to began deliberations a little before 4:30 p.m.

They returned to the court so swiftly that even Oberly and prosecutor Dalton were taken by surprise. "I'm very pleased," said Oberly. "It was a quick verdict, but a jury has spoken after nine years." Sa rd WBOT A TUT jj! 1 Sale 4.99 twin sheet Save 20 Infants' layettewear napwear and underwear Save on all Toddletime underwear and layettewear for infants. In golorful cotton or polyester. For napwear, choose a snuggly Sleep 'N Play polyester terry sleeper with snap closures on both legs.

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Solid percale bedcoverings made expressly for JCPenney by Martex. Bedspreads, comforters, and sheets in a full size range also on sale at similar savings. Sale 6.99, reg. $11. Decorator-color pillow.

Polyester fiberfill. Standard size. Continued from Al Slape is a principal in Delaware Valley Broadcasters the station's license-holder, which is owned by individual investors nationally. While the station's advertising rate card and tentative program lineup have been circulated in Wilmington's advertising community since August, Slape also had some other pieces of programming to announce at the news conference, including a national nightly newscast that was not promoted previously. Slape also promised an expansion of locally oriented programming beyond the single five-minute newscast shown on the station's tentative lineup weekday evenings at 5:55.

He said these would include a college sports package and "meaningful public affairs programming." The Channel 61 lineup shows a program mix of movies, cartoons, game shows and syndicated series, most 15 to 20 years old. Three of those series "The Millionaire," "Marshal Dillon" and "Family Affair" are also carried in the Philadelphia market by Vineland's WSJT-TV(65). Although acknowledging the importance of being competitive in the Philadelphia market the nation's fourth largest Slape said the station's focus will be on serving the Wilmington area, Salem County, N.J., and Cecil County, Md. The station's call letters originally were WDVI-TV, Slape said, but were changed to avoid confusion with Philadelphia's WPVI-TV (6). Although WBOT appears similar to Salisbury's WBOC-TV (16), he said he felt the chance of confusion was far less "The call letters WBOT reflect that we believe our programming will bring the best of television, the best of times, to the Delaware Valley," he said.

Being on this area's cable systems would be nice, Slape said, but it is not crucial to WBOT. But he feels the station's programming package will be attractive enough that cable systems will want to pick it up. The operators of other independent stations in the market have said the carrying of their signals by a handful of major Philadelphia-area cable systems is quite important. They list among these systems Rollins Cablevision, which has 87,000 subscribers among the 142,200 New Castle County homes with television. Richard Murchison, Rollins system manager, said his operation is taking the same position as that of many other cable systems around the country neither adding nor deleting any stations until the U.S.

Supreme Court decides the National Association of Broadcasters' appeal of a lower federal court decision. That decision did away with the Federal Communications Commission "must carry" rule as of Tuesday. The rule required cable stations to carry all local stations within a 35-mile radius. Also affected by the Rollins stance is Philadelphia's Channel 57, which plans to shift the first week in October from a scrambled-signal subscription movie operation to become WGBS-TV, a regular independent commercial station. It will carry first-run, off-network syndicated programming and coverage of Philadelphia Flyers' away hockey games and Villanova University basketball and football games.

Even without immediate carriage of WBOT by Rollins, several local businesses and advertising agencies, including Shipley Associates, have expressed interest in at least giving the station a trial run with commercial buys. The rate card WBOT circulated shows the cost of running a 30-sec-ond commercial on the station ranging from $10 in the early morning to $300 for a pre-emptible spot in its five-minute newscasts. Save 20 to 25 The JCPenney bath towel Reg. $8 and $9. Other matched sizes on sale too.

Sale 5.99 All sleepwear for infants qip Levi's slack sale 01 QQ formen Sim I Men's clothing Save 20 All Jewel Tex draperies Save 35 Save 25 All Toddletime tops, bottoms All Stafford, Gentry and Daks on sale now at 25 off. Bath accessories coordinates Save 25 Save 20 Stafford Gentry Daks shirts Toddletime dresses and pant sets Save 25 Selected vinyl clutches Save 20 All car seats strollers Only $8 All men's all-weather coats Save 25 Sale prices effective through Sept. 14, 1985 Pe PRICE'S CORNER CENTER Wilmington, DE CHRISTIANA MALL Newark, DE ey 69 VISA'.