USA - Florida. Judge Dennis Murphy sentenced Victor Guzman, 40, Hispanic, to death

Miami-Dade judge Dennis Murphy sentenced Victor Guzman, 40, Hispanic, to death. He followed a jury's 7-5 recommendation (see Feb. 4). Prosecutors say Guzman targeted 80-year-old Severina Dolores Fernandez in December 2000 after seeing her fetch a newspaper outside of her home. She was later found naked and stabbed 58 times in her apartment. Guzman cut himself during the attack, leaving DNA evidence at the scene. That same DNA turned up two years later in the rape of a 12-year-old girl in Miami Beach. Guzman was finally linked to both crimes in 2004, when his DNA was entered into a state database for a probation violation.