A Sussex County Superior Court jury recommended that...

A Sussex County Superior Court jury recommended that Linda Lou Charbonneau be executed for orchestrating the 2001 murders of her husband and ex-husband. Superior Court Judge Richard F. Stokes scheduled sentencing for June 4. If sentenced to death, Charbonneau, 56, would be the only woman facing execution in Delaware. The state has executed only 3 women in its history, the last coming in 1935. The jury last week convicted Charbonneau of masterminding the deaths of John Charbonneau, 62, in September 2001, and her husband, William Sproates III, 45, the following month. Deputy Attorney General James Adkins contended that Charbonneau plotted the murders and enlisted the help of her daughter, Mellisa Rucinski, and Rucinski's husband, Willie Brown. She wanted John Charbonneau out of the way so she could get his Bridgeville home and all its contents, then steal his Social Security income using a bank card, prosecutors said. Sproates was killed after he started asking too many questions about John Charbonneau's disappearance. John Charbonneau was Sproates' uncle. Brown admitted to police that he bludgeoned both men and pleaded guilty to 2 charges of 1st-degree murder and probably faces life in prison when he is sentenced. Rucinski pleaded guilty to one count of second-degree murder in John Charbonneau's death. She is expected to receive 25 years in prison at sentencing. 47 women were on death row nationwide as of Dec. 31. Women account for 1.4 % of the total death row population of 3,504 people. 10 women have been executed since 1976 - the last in October 2002 in Florida.