NH Lawmakers Pass Bill To Expand Capital Punishment To Burglary Killings
CONCORD, N.H. (AP) -- Gov. John Lynch is expected to sign a bill, prompted by a machete and knife attack that killed a mother in her bed, to expand New Hampshire's death penalty.
The House voted 211-153 after a brief debate Wednesday in favor of the bill the bill that allows capital punishment for killings committed during burglaries of occupied buildings.
House Speaker William O'Brien sponsored the bill in response to a gruesome murder in his hometown of Mont Vernon during a home invasion.
O'Brien named the bill after Kimberly Cates, who was killed in her bed in 2009.
O'Brien's original bill called for applying the death penalty to murders during home invasions, but state law has no legal definition for home invasions bill. The Senate narrowed the bill to apply during burglaries.
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