THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, June 29, 1996 TAG: 9606290233
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: EASTON, MD. LENGTH: 49 lines
A North Carolina man who confessed to killing a Maryland state police trooper during a traffic stop last October has been sentenced to death by a jury.
A Talbot County jury deliberated for more than five hours Thursday before unanimously agreeing that Manteo resident Ivan Lovell, 25, should be executed by lethal injection for killing Trooper First Class Edward A. Plank Jr.
Judge William S. Horne also sentenced Lovell to 110 years in prison for other charges related to the events of Oct. 17.
Lovell's lawyer, Thomas Saunders, said he would appeal Thursday's decision. Saunders said Lovell was ``in a state of shock'' at the decision but ``realizes that the appeal process will go through for review.''
Earlier in the day Lori Plank asked jurors to sentence Lovell to death during an emotional stint on the witness stand and angrily addressed her husband's killer.
``You single-handedly shattered my dreams,'' Lori Plank told Lovell. ``Please tell me where the fairness is. . . . Eddie's life meant something. And to me, your life means nothing.''
At the time of his murder, Plank left behind a 7-month-old daughter in addition to his widow.
Lovell did not take the witness stand in his own defense, but chose to address the jury, pleading for his life in a 10-minute statement during which he quoted the Bible and acknowledged his fault.
He said he killed Plank because he was afraid the trooper would beat him up during the traffic stop.
Lovell, also known as Donovan Ault, shot Plank Oct. 17, 1995, after the officer pulled over him and his cousin, William Lynch of New York, for speeding on Maryland's Eastern Shore. Lynch, 21, who had been residing with Lovell in Kill Devil Hills before they made that trip, faces trial later this year on federal murder and drug charges.
The pair sped away from the scene after the shooting. But were both caught later. Troopers found about 13 pounds of cocaine and a .45-caliber handgun in their car.
Investigators believe the men were returning to North Carolina after a drug-buying trip to New York. Lovell was on parole for drug violations when he unlawfully left North Carolina and drove up the Eastern Shore. He was paroled from prison in June 1994 after serving less than a year of a 12-year sentence. by CNB