THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, December 24, 1995 TAG: 9512240033
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: NEWPORT NEWS DAILY PRESS
DATELINE: HAMPTON LENGTH: Short : 47 lines
Convicted murderer Matthew Erdman was given the gift of life Friday when a Hampton Circuit Court jury decided he should not die for killing a Langley Air Force Base employee in January.
The jury's decision to sentence Erdman to life in prison without parole came two days before Christmas. As their verdict was announced, Erdman made the sign of the cross and mouthed ``Thank You.''
Erdman, 31, was convicted Thursday of capital murder for killing Alecia Rutland during a Jan. 9 robbery in her Gibson Road home. He also was found guilty of robbery, and the jury recommended he serve 30 years in prison for that crime. Rutland, 42, had been a financial analyst at Langley for 20 years. She was stabbed twice in the neck and strangled with a knotted nylon rope.
Rutland's parents, John and Nancy Rutland, were visibly shaken by the jury's decision to spare Erdman's life. As the jurors filed out of the courtroom, the Rutlands' eyes never left them.
John Rutland said later that his family felt the jury had let them down. His son, Kenneth ``Pete'' Rutland, agreed, but said he thinks he understands how the jury made the choice it did.
``They have to make juries out of decent people, and decent people have hearts,'' Rutland said. ``It takes a very hard person to kill someone. But we lost. We could have lost not quite as much, but we lost everything.''
Erdman asked retired Newport News Circuit Judge Warren Stephens to sentence him Friday rather than wait for a pre-sentence report to be prepared. Stephens was filling in for Hampton Circuit Judge John D. Gray who died Dec. 10.
Before being sentenced, however, Erdman said he wanted to apologize to Rutland's family. ``This hurt me, so I know it hurt them,'' Erdman said, without looking at the Rutlands. ``I just hope there will be some way to ease their suffering.''
Prosecutors had sought the death penalty for Erdman because, they said, he will always be a threat to society.
KEYWORDS: MURDER TRIAL SENTENCING by CNB