News
New evidence of innocence
Killer's signed affidavit stating that Justin played no part in the murder
Mother Speaks against Death Penalty
By: Layla Wilder
11/22/2006
Terri Steinberg just returned to her Chantilly home after traveling throughout Virginia to tell people that she thinks her son, and everyone else, should not be on death row.
"The death penalty is going to cause pain, and you don't remedy a violent act by committing another one," said Steinberg, a keynote speaker in last month's two-week tour organized by Journey of Hope, an anti-death-penalty organization.
Steinberg joined Journey of Hope in 2002 right after her son, Justin Wolfe, now 25, received the death sentence for hiring Owen Barber, now 26, to kill Daniel Petrole, 21, in his Braemar home, because of drug debts.
Barber pleaded guilty to killing Petrole in 2001 and testified against Wolfe. Under his plea deal, Barber was sentenced to 38 years in prison.
After the murder, investigators discovered that Wolfe and Barber, Chantilly High School graduates, and Petrole, a Centreville High School graduate who lived in Bristow, were all involved in a large drug ring.
"Yes, he [Wolfe] made bad choices," his mother said.
But Steinberg said she is sure he is innocent of Petrole's murder and is trying to use his story to speak out against the "flaws of the justice system" and "to help children understand the choices they make affect themselves and their families and friends."
Wolfe was initially sentenced to be executed July 27, 2005, after making several appeals. His attorneys for the appeals argued that there were trial errors in Wolfe's first trial and that his trial attorney was unqualified.
His execution date was later stayed because his attorneys have not finished pursuing every possible appeal. Wolfe is currently on death row at Sussex I State Prison in Waverly.
Early last year, both Barber and his cellmate at Wallens Ridge State Prison in Big Stone Gap filed affidavits that Barber had actually killed Petrole on his own initiative, according to Wolfe attorney Jane Luxton, a partner at King and Spalding LLP in Washington, D.C.
Barber later withdrew his confession, but Luxton said she hopes to use the cellmate's affidavit stating that Barber confessed, as well as the complaints about previous hearings and missing evidence, to get Wolfe another hearing.
Barber's former attorney, William Pickett, said he could not comment on whether Barber really did confess earlier this year because, after Barber pleaded guilty to killing for Wolfe, his case was over and he no longer has an attorney.
"I simply don't know," Pickett said.
Luxton said there are "major questions" left unanswered in Wolfe's case.
"Can people really be comfortable with that?" said Luxton, who has taken Wolfe's case pro bono and whose firm was recently awarded the American Bar Association Death Penalty Award.
Wolfe's petition for another hearing was filed in federal district court to be reviewed by a judge, which could happen in weeks or months. If they are unsuccessful there, he and his attorneys could appeal to the federal Court of Appeals.
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