Florida murderer asks jury for death over prison where he says he was 'treated like an animal for 25 years'
A Florida man convicted of murder has reportedly asked jurors for the death penalty over further incarceration, claiming that he was "treated like an animal for 25 years" when he had been previously imprisoned.
The convict, identified as 55-year-old Scott Edward Nelson, appealed to the jury at Orange Circuit Court, in Orlando, stating "I'm a homicidal maniac" and expressed his wish to be executed.
Nelson was found guilty last month of killing 56-year-old Jennifer Fulford, of Altamonte Springs, after he kidnapped her during a robbery in 2017. Reports state that Nelson, after withdrawing money from her bank account, took her to an abandoned field where he duct-taped her entire head and stabbed her multiple times until she was dead.
Nelson's attorney, on Monday, asked the jury whether he should be behind bars for the rest of his life or face the death penalty. When the convict was asked whether he wanted to be sentenced to death, he replied, saying: "Yes."
The 55-year-old, during the trial, testified about the extreme condition he had experienced in the federal prison system, claiming he had suffered abuse. Nelson had previously been imprisoned in both 1994 and 2010 for two robberies.
While addressing Circuit Judge Keith White, Nelson said that he wanted the jury to know the effect 25 years of imprisonment has had on him and what further incarceration could do to him in future.
"I’ve been brutalized. There’s nothing you can dream up that hasn’t been done to me in federal custody," he said. "I want them to know what is going to happen if I get life in prison. This is important to me. This is the only reason I wanted to testify," the Orlando Sentinel reported.
Nelson, in one account, claimed that other inmates set off the fire alarm sprinkler system on a regular basis to flood his cell. He said that the incidents would leave him ankle-deep in water mixed with toilet feces and fire retardant.
The convict added that he was kept in a small cell in Kansas Prison without a fan in 100-degree weather. He told the jury that he was "tied like a dog" on Christmas morning when an officer dressed as Santa Claus restrained him to his bed by his ankles and feet for the amusement of prison visitors.
He also said that he was beaten unconscious and raped by a cellmate in 2015. He claimed that the incident left him positive for Hepatitis C.
"I asked for blood testing for HIV and Hepatitis C. My entire life I was negative for Hepatitis C. All of a sudden, now I’m positive for Hepatitis C, with no treatment," he said.
A psychologist hired by Nelson's team, Valerie McClain, said that he was left with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after being put in solitary confinement and the sexual assault he suffered.
"I did make the opinion at the time of the events leading up to the current offenses that he was suffering from extreme emotional disturbances," the psychologist said.
Reports state that he was noted to be a suicide risk, and was diagnosed with depression and mood disorder while he was in prison, according to the outlet. After he was released in 2017, Nelson reportedly had a colostomy bag, was suffering from hypertension, an irregular heart rate problem and Hepatitis C.
He was not taking his medication and was homeless at the time he killed Fulford.