Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, May 31, 1990 TAG: 9005310391
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MONICA DAVEY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
"I'm asking just to show compassion to Joe and convert his sentence to life," said Savino, who lives in Pelham, N.Y. His 30-year-old son, Joseph Savino Jr., was sentenced to death for robbing and killing his lover in Bedford County in November 1988.
The elder Savino does not believe his son should have been found guilty of capital murder - punishable by death - in the killing. "It was a killing between lovers," as opposed to the killing of a police officer or a mass murder, he said.
Last year, Savino pleaded guilty to the bludgeoning death of Thos "Tom" McWaters, a 64-year-old man who had sent Savino letters and money while Savino was serving a prison sentence in New York.
When he got out, he moved into McWaters' Bedford County estate and the two became lovers. Savino has said he was high on cocaine and fed up with McWaters' demands for sex when "something snapped" and Savino killed McWaters.
Savino, who does not believe the death penalty serves society, requested an early execution date and got it. He said he did not want to go through the uncertain months and years waiting for appeals on death row. He will be executed June 29.
Savino's father says he feels "mostly guilt" for his son's situation. "Maybe I could have done more for him when he was growing up," he said.
In his sentencing hearing, Savino described a troubled childhood in New York. He got involved with drugs and crime at a young age. His parents split up and his mother, whom he was particularly close to, died.
Part of a large Italian Catholic family, the elder Savino says he finds some consolation in the fact that his son remains religious.
"I told him I had to ask him one question. I said, `Have you made peace with God?' Joe said, `Yes.' He's just going to have to leave it in His hands and see what happens."
Savino's father said he is frustrated by some of the bureaucracy he has had to deal with to see his son. On death row, Savino is allowed visits only with a clear wall separating him from his visitor. They talk via telephone.
This weekend, however, Savino's father and stepmother will come to Virginia this weekend and have a "contact" visit with his son. There's still a question of whether Savino's uncle and aunt will be allowed in.
Savino's father also isn't sure how to arrange to have his son's body sent to New York for burial. "I understand that they may want to perform an autopsy," he said. "I don't want them to touch his body."
The elder Savino already has buried one of his children. His daughter, Donna, died five years ago at age 24 of a drug overdose. "If they were sick . . . of cancer or something, it's somehow bearable. But the sudden thing with my daughter and now my son, it's very hard to bear."
by CNB