Jury Wants Death Penalty For Paternity Test Murderer

RIVERSIDE, Calif. -- A California jury recommended the death penalty Friday for a man convicted of murdering his wife and her daughter after a paternity test showed he wasn't the child's father.

A Riverside County Superior Court jury returned the penalty-phase verdict against Michael Barbar, 55, after he was convicted last month of two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of his wife, Maysam Barbar, and her 6-year-old daughter, Tamara, in November 2009.

Michael Barbar had helped raise the child since birth but became suspicious after discovering his wife had three separate affairs, prosecutors said.

He pulled Tamara out of school and swabbed her cheek for a DNA sample while eating at a McDonald's. When the paternity test showed the child was not his, Barbar spent eight days plotting the murders, district attorney spokesman John Hall said.

Barbar first strangled his wife with a computer cord as she was handcuffed and naked on the floor, prosecutors said, then went to Tamara's room and tried to strangle her as she slept. When she struggled, Barbar bashed her head into the bedpost as many as 20 times, crushing her skull, prosecutors said.

Barbar was planning to kill his wife's lover in Texas and flee to Lebanon but was stopped by police in New Mexico after authorities tracked his cellphone signal, according to evidence at the trial.

A check of his computer showed he had been searching for things like coffins and articles about well-known multiple murder cases, authorities said.

Barbar's 13-year-old daughter Tarah testified that she heard her younger sister's cries and her father marching up and down the stairs carrying garbage bags as she lay in bed the night of the killings. The next morning, she found her sister's bed covered in blood and her mother's room locked.

Sentencing is set for Nov. 16.

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Man Charged With Murdering Missing Student May Face Death Penalty

Brandon S. Lavergne, 35, is charged with murder in the May 19 disappearance of Mickey Shunick and the 1999 death of Lisa Ann Pate.

Prosecutors say they're seeking the death penalty for a registered sex offender accused of murdering two women in Louisiana.

Brandon S. Lavergne, 33, is charged with murder in the May disappearance of 22-year-old Michaela "Mickey" Shunick, as well as in the 1999 death of Lisa Ann Pate. Lavergne is also suspected of moving both bodies, according to the Associated Press.

Shunick, a 22-year-old anthropology major at the University of Lousiana, was last seen around 2 am on May 19, bicycling home after visiting a friend. Authorities believe that Shunick was murdered, though her body has not yet been found.

In July, Lavergne was arrested and charged with aggravated kidnapping and murder after police identified him as the driver of a pick-up truck that had tailed Shunick.

In surprising development, prosecutors also charged him with murdering 35-year-old Pate, who was reported missing 13 years ago and later found buried beneath boards in a field.

Now, state prosecutors say they are planning to seek the death penalty against Lavergne, according to documents submitted on Thursday. Prosecuting attorney Keith Stutes also intends to establish that the defendant has a pattern of criminal behavior, KLFY reports.

After being convicted of oral sex battery in 1999, Lavergne allegedly attempted to conceal his sex offender status on multiple occasions.

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