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Church Helper Delivering Food Is Raped, Killed Byline: THE ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOENIX -- A church volunteer who went to deliver a basket of food toahungry family was tied up, raped, beaten and killed by the couple she came tohelp,police said. Elizabeth Calabrese's body was found hidden beneath cardboard boxesinthe back yard of the home of John E. Sansing, 31, and Kara K. Sansing, 28. Police say the 41-year-old mother of two went to the home Tuesdayafterthe Living Springs Assembly of God in Glendale got a call for emergency food from a manwhoidentified himself as John Sansing. Police said some of the couple's four children, who range in age from9to 12, were home at the time of the attack and reported seeing their mother helprestrainCalabrese. Sansing fled to his sister's house afterward and told her he was high on crackduringthe attack, according to police. Both Sansings were arrested Thursday and charged withfirst-degreemurder and kidnapping. John Sansing, a warehouse stocker with a longcriminalhistory, is also charged with sexual assault and aggravated assault. The Associated Press was unable to immediately reach Emmet Ronan,theSansings' attorney. Calabrese's husband, Rosario Calabrese, said he does not hatethepeople charged with the killing.
I believe they are on drugs and do not know what they are doing,''hesaid.
I know they have to pay the price before God, but I don't know what to feel.'' Calabrese's family and friends said taking food to those in needwasthe sort of thing the retired 20-year Air Force veteran loved to do.
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7-24-99---
ARIZONA:
With a solemn look on her face, Kara Sansing admitted helping her husband tie up a church worker who brought a donated box of food to their home last year.
Then she did nothing to stop him as he robbed, raped, strangled and stabbed Elizabeth "Trudy" Calabrese. The Sansings' 4 children listened in another room.
Kara Sansing agreed Friday to plead guilty to 1st-degree murder in the case. She will spend the next 25 years in prison without thepossibility of parole, according to the agreement.
"She wants the court and everybody else to know she's entering thisplea to spare her children any further pain," said her legal defender, Catherine Hughes.
Sansing, in jailhouse stripes and handcuffs, wept for a few momentsaft Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Ronald Reinstein accepted theplea. She is set for sentencing Sept. 8.
Sansing "observed portions" of the heinous murder, Hughes toldMaricopa County Superior Court Judge Ronald Reinstein.
Asked afterwards why she did nothing to stop the attack, Hughes said: "She's a battered woman. She's a typical battered woman. She wasscared
Calabrese's husband, Rosario, expressed relief after the hearing.
"I feel a little bit better (because) I don't need to go to trial," Calabrese said. "I wanted this stuff to be finished."
A religious man, he wore a T-shirt emblazoned, "Get Jesus." He saidhis faith has not faltered since the death of his wife. And he isambivalent about the death penalty.
"It doesn't matter what they get," he said.
"I don't feel we have the right to kill people, but the Bible saysit's OK," apparently referring to the reference to "an eye for an eye."
During Friday's hearing, Sansing agreed with a statement of factsthat, in part, contradicts her husband's account and could help send him to the death chamber.
In the statement, Sansing said that when she came home from work onFeb. 24, 1998, her husband told her that he had called a local church toget some free food and that he was going to rob the church worker when she arrived.
That contradicts statements John Sansing made to The Arizona Republicin January. An admitted crack addict who pleaded guilty to the murder in September, he said he never planned to rob or harm Calabrese beforeshe arrived at his house. After raping and beating her so badly, he said,he decided to kill her to end her suffering.
He is awaiting sentencing.
Kara Sansing, 29, did not respond to requests for a jailhouseinterview.
But John Sansing, who was in the county hospital, said he was proud of his wife Friday.
"Well, she done what she thought was best," he said. "I wished Icoulda been there for her. I'm proud that she made her choice and avoided the death penalty. Now, we can finally set this to go to rest."
His concern now is finding a permanent home for their children, whoare in foster care.
"We want the kids to continue to go to church."
Kara Sansing was what her adoptive mother called a "really tough kid," who ran away from an abusive home in Bangladesh only to end uphomeless and in jail at age 10 in the swill of Calcutta, India.
When she met John Sansing more than 15 years ago, they started a lifeof drug addiction and stealing to pay for their habits, according to records.
A few months before the murder, both had stopped using drugs, found religion and started going regularly to church. They fell back intodrug use shortly before the murder.
(source: The Arizona Republic)
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On a cold and rainy February day last year, Rosario Calabrese prayedfor his missing wife, Trudy.
Hours later, he learned that her butchered body had been found stuffed between a fence and a storage shed behind a home in west Phoenix.
Today, Trudy's killers, John and Kara Sansing, are to be sentenced for the torture, rape and stabbing of the church volunteer who took them a box of free food. John faces the death penalty.
Calabrese is well aware of every gruesome detail of his wife's murder, but he doesn't believe in killing anyone, even by lethal injection.
"I feel like I don't got right to kill," he said Wednesday from his home in Avondale in a heavy Sicilian accent.
Calabrese's dilemma is one that's frequently played out in court as relatives of victims argue against, or express conflicting feelings about, capital punishment.
Earlier this month in Maricopa County Superior Court, the fathers of 2 murdered honor students squared off on both sides of the issue.
Herman Simmons asked the court to sentence Bobby Purcell to death for killing his daughter, Renelyn, and her friend, Andre Bradley.
Renelyn and Andre died last year after Purcell, then 16, flashed gang signs at a group of Apollo High School students walking to a pizza parlor. He started shooting when they innocently waved back, not understanding his gestures.
Bradley's father has voiced only forgiveness for the disturbed young man. He's just a boy who does not deserve to die, said the father, who is deeply religious. He even hugged Purcell's grandmother after Purcell was sentenced to life in prison.
Yarmila Klesken has forgiven her son-in-law, Scott Falater, formurderi the daughter she named after herself.
Falater calmly told a jury earlier this year that he was sleepwalking when he stabbed his wife 44 times, then dragged her into theirbackyard pool. A jury found him guilty of 1st-degree murder.
Klesken, who lives out of state, has asked the judge to spareFalater's life for the sake of his children.
Tracy Bieghler, bureau chief of special crimes for the Maricopa County attorney's victim witness division, said she doesn't have cold, hard statistics, but she estimates that about half the families she hasdealt with oppose the death penalty.
"For some, it's religious beliefs," said Bieghler, who is a member oft board of directors of Parents of Murdered Children. "They believe,"It's not up to us. We don't have a God-given authority to kill.'
She's also watched family members become incensed when a murderer didn get a death sentence, and she has seen some change their minds as th through the grieving process.
Some focus on the crime in making a decision, she said. Did themurderer confess? Did he call 911 immediately?
Others' strong convictions falter when they learn it can take as longas 20 years for a murderer to be executed. They don't want to go through years of painful court appeals hearings, reliving the crime over and over, she said.
Bieghler herself has switched her views. After sitting through anumber of horrible homicide trials, she now supports the death penalty in certain cases.
John Sansing also is wavering. At first, he said he welcomed death.
He quickly admitted his crime after his arrest, entered a guilty plea without making any deals with prosecutors and told Superior CourtJudge Ronald Reinstein that he, Sansing, deserved to die.
In recent weeks, though, his resolve is failing.
At his presentence hearing, his mother cried as she called him his childhood nickname, Cotton Top.
His wife, Kara, also sobbed throughout the hearing and asked the judge to spare his life for their children's sake.
John said he now thinks more about his children's welfare than hisown.
"I looked up 'selfish' in the dictionary and said, 'That's me,'" hesaid from the Madison Street Jail last week. "If I go in and ask for this death penalty and seek it, what are the kids going to feel?
"If I'm spared with life (in prison), I can be there for my wife and kids."
One factor that could save his life is that he was under the influen crack cocaine the night he killed Trudy Calabrese while his 4 children listened in a nearby room.
Kara, who helped tie the victim up, is expected to get 25 years in prison, under a plea deal she made with prosecutors to testify against her husband.
Members of the Calabreses' church, Living Springs Assembly of God,also have mixed feelings about today's outcome, the Rev. Brendon Beckersaid.
"We have approached it with the congregation by saying, 'Let's justpray that justice be served,' " Becker said. "God has already answered our prayers. We prayed that they both would plead guilty to avoid lengthy trials."
Becker believes John Sansing should die. His guilt is irrefutable, he said, and there are several passages in the Old Testament that saythat a man who sheds blood intentionally shall have his blood shed.
"It's kind of clear-cut," the pastor said.
Some church members said they reversed their opposition to the death penalty after suffering through Trudy Calabrese's death.
One is Joanne Hiller, a church secretary who took the call from the Sansings asking for a food box. She said most of the congregation believes John Sansing should die.
"This is a case that meets all the requirements for the deathpenalty," said Hiller, who has become knowledgeable on state laws governing who qualifies for lethal injection.
She doesn't believe drug addiction should save Sansing's life.
"That's no excuse," Hiller said. "Just because you get drunk or high, that that doesn't take away the consequences for what you've done. You still have responsibility for your actions."
Rosario Calabrese remains torn. He struggles with his words, sighs,and turns to the Bible for answers on what he should ask for in courttoday.
His young daughter wrote a letter to the judge, asking that Sansing's life be spared.
"I personally don't believe in killing anyone. The Bible says torespect the law," Calabrese said. "Whatever the law says is fine with me.That's the judge's job. I'm just somebody who makes furniture. That's myjob."
Trudy Calabrese's brother, however, has no hesitation about what must happen today.
"I've always been a proponent of the death penalty," Ken Thommen said. "This was a horrendous crime. We as a society and our justice systemne to do the right thing."
-Arizona Republic
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2. USA: MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR MURDERING CHURCH VOLUNTEER A man who raped and killed a church volunteer after she brought a boxoffree food to his family was sentenced to death Thursday by a judge who called thecrime"shockingly evil."
John Sansing, 31, had pleaded guilty to murder, in order to ensurethathis wife, Kara, 29, would not also face the death penalty. Sansing, a former warehouse stocker withalong criminal history, admitted to murdering Trudy Calabrese, in February 1998. Mrs.Sansing,who admitted helping her husband in the attack, was sentenced to life in prison.
Ms. Calabrese, 41, had come to the Sansings' home after theLivingSprings Assembly of God Church in Glendale got a call for emergency food from a manwhoidentified himself as John Sansing. Reports indicate that Sansing struck the women from behindrepeatedlywith a stick and both Sansings who have four children tied her with electrical cords andgaggedher with a sock.
Police said Calabrese was blindfolded, her head was covered withaplastic bag and she was beaten, raped and stabbed. Her body was then dragged into the back yardandpartially covered with cardboard boxes.
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ARIZONA:
John Sansing wants to save his wife's life.
It's a normal sentiment. But most people would not call John Sansing normal.
Last February, Sansing committed one of the most shocking crimes of 1998. He beat, robbed, raped and murdered Trudy Calabrese, a church worker who'd brought food to Sansing's home for him, his wife, Kara, and their 4 children.
Yet Sansing, 31, an admitted crack addict who pleaded guilty to the murder, insisted in a jailhouse interview this week that he is neither crazy nor a violent person.
And, he said, it's not right that Kara Sansing, 27, also is facing 1st-degree murder charges.
"I'm the one that done this, not Kara," said Sansing, gesturing with handcuffed hands in a pale yellow room at the Madison Street Jail in downtown Phoenix. "The only way Kara was involved was being here."
Sansing also said that he hadn't planned to rob or harm Calabresebefore she arrived at his house. But after raping and beating her so badly,he decided to kill her to end her suffering.
"She was suffering. I wanted to end it," he said. "I wasn't playing God. I just couldn't handle seeing the condition she was in."
Now, he said he will do anything to save his wife's life. She is a "victim" of years of abuse at his hands and a drug addiction thatstart when she met him, he said.
"Kara is telling everyone she wants whatever I get," he said. "I can't allow that."
He entered a guilty plea without making a deal with prosecutors andsaid he's ready to get the death penalty if it will save his wife's life.
He said his wife should be punished for lying when she said that Calabrese had not been at their home that night. But she doesn'tdeserve more than 5 years in prison, he said.
In fact, Kara Sansing was a churchgoing, drug-free person when theymet more than 14 years ago, he said.
He got her involved in marijuana and later methamphetamine and crack cocaine. For the past four years, they have been mostly homelessbecause of drugs. They've lost everything they ever owned because of their addiction, he said.
Sansing disputes reports that Kara helped tie up Calabrese or that his children witnessed him attacking her.
"They may have seen her after I tied her up, but that's all," said Sansing, who admits he cannot remember every detail of what happenedth day.
"I was in a blackout situation," he said. "There was this figurethere. I was not really seeing or hearing."
Calabrese had gone to the Sansing home one day last February after her church, Living Springs Assembly of God, received a call from Sansing saying that his wife and kids were going through tough times andneeded food.
When Calabrese arrived later that night, she walked inside and Sansing hit her over the head.
Four days before the murder, he and his wife had gone through $2,000 worth of crack cocaine, he said. They had spent all the money they had and traded everything they could for more cash to buy drugs.
John Sansing said he had smoked a "20" -- a $20 rock of crack cocaine-- the day of the killing and wanted more.
When he called the church, he really wanted food for his kids. Butwhen Calabrese arrived, something snapped.
"I didn't plan it," he said. "It was a spur of the moment thing."
Maybe it was the jewelry Calabrese was wearing. He realized it couldbuy him more drugs. He traded her 5 rings and gold cross for more crack cocaine later that night, he said.
After being hit, Calabrese was tied up and taken into a bedroom. John then took the keys to her pickup truck and drove the truck to another location.
By the time he returned, the victim had regained consciousness. Hesaid neither Calabrese nor his wife screamed during the attack. Kara toldhim to stop but did not try to physically restrain him, he said. She knew that if she had tried, he probably would have "backhanded" her.
He later dumped his victim's body in a shed behind the house.
Still, Sansing said he's not a monster. Except for getting rough withh wife while coming down from drugs, and once assaulting furnituremovers who insulted her, he said he's never hurt anyone.
He blames his problems on drugs. He said he was paranoid anddelusional the night of the murder. And he felt "worse than horrible" while hewas killing Calabrese, he said.
"My heart was beating so fast, I thought I was dying," he said. "Myhea hurt. It felt like it was going to explode."
Once the violence started, he could not stop it, he claims.
"Once I attacked her, I had to finish it up because I was going tojail anyway," he said.
"Once you start something, you can't just stop," he added.
If only he and his wife had gotten drug counseling, maybe Calabresewou still be alive, he said.
"I wish for a miracle," he said, "that one day I could bring herback."
(source: The Arizona Republic)
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1957 - 1998 (41 years)
