By Adam Silverman
Free Press Staff Writer

July 29, 2006
Even through a haze of drugs and mental illness, Jacob Sexton knew his actions were wrong and realized that he might kill a person when he stormed from his basement room six years ago, knocked a neighbor off her bicycle and pummeled her to death on a quiet evening in the middle of a Winooski street.

"I understood that what I was doing had to hurt somebody," said Sexton, 24. "It wasn't intentional to the victim or anyone specifically. At the time my mind was not able to stop myself from taking those actions."

Sexton spoke before a crowded courtroom Friday afternoon as he pleaded guilty to a charge of second-degree murder for the Sept. 27, 2000, killing of Atsuko Ikeda, 37, a St. Michael's College student from Japan. The plea bargain carries with it a prison sentence of 20 years to life.

The admission resolved one of Vermont's oldest active murder cases, one that had crawled from District Court to Supreme Court and back again, all the while delayed by questions about Sexton's mental health.

The plea agreement developed as quickly as the rest of the case had been protracted. Sexton accepted the prosecution's offer Thursday. Friday's was just the second court proceeding since a Supreme Court decision restarted the case June 9.

Sexton's brief remarks were his first public comments about his actions and his mental state on the night, he once told investigators, that he decided to kill the first person he saw.

"I could picture what was happening, but I couldn't really comprehend it," he said, his voice calm and steady. "I was under a difficult mind frame."

Judge Michael Kupersmith accepted Sexton's plea and agreed to impose the sentence that prosecution and defense attorneys called fair and just. Sexton will receive credit for the six years he has been incarcerated, the judge ruled, making him eligible for release in 2020. He will be under state supervision for the remainder of his life.

A formal sentencing hearing, which, like Friday's proceeding, will take place in Vermont District Court in Burlington, was postponed until late September so Ikeda's sister can travel from Japan to address the court. Families react

Ikeda's sister, Sachiko, said in an e-mail Friday to The Burlington Free Press that the family was just beginning to grasp that the case was concluding.

"I just heard about what is going on," Sachiko Ikeda wrote in her e-mail, which she sent less than half a day after lawyers agreed on the plea deal. "As it was so sudden, I do not know what to say right now."

Sexton's parents, Jim and Anita, said the agreement with prosecutors is fair to their son and might aid the Ikeda family.

"We'll never forget them," said Jim Sexton, 49. "They'll be a part of our prayers forever. We hope that this helps them heal a little bit."

Ikeda's relatives last were in Vermont for a Supreme Court hearing in June 2004. Since then, Bobbi Perez of Winooski and her daughter, Robin Miller of Colchester -- Ikeda's former housemate -- have been the Ikedas' representatives.

Perez clutched a notebook Friday with photographs of Ikeda, her family and a memorial marker in Winooski taped to the pages. Miller called her friend "a sweet, gentle person" with so much to offer. The plea arrangement, Miller said, was fair.

"It's been too long," she said after the hearing. "I'm just glad that, finally, something's happening. We just wanted justice for Atsuko. She's never going to come back."

Miller, 36, said the crime changed her: "I've grown more cynical and more careful." Case unfolds


The brutality and randomness of Ikeda's slaying horrified the community. When Ikeda pedaled into the neighborhood, Sexton, who had moved to Lapointe Street a month before the killing, tackled her and hit her until she stopped moving. He broke his left hand in the assault.

Sexton told police he "just cracked" and decided to kill people to "gather their souls."

"Something came over me. Demons," Sexton told detectives.

Ikeda was pursuing a master's degree in teaching English as a second language. She had enrolled at St. Michael's College in 1999, largely because she believed Vermont was safer than big cities -- she had lived in San Francisco -- and because her sister had graduated from the same program in 1985.

The defense claimed for years that Sexton was insane because he had used LSD and cocaine in the weeks before the crime. The drugs, Sexton's attorneys argued, triggered an underlying mental illness. A trial judge approved that defense, but prosecutors appealed.

Justices heard the case in June 2004, and their two years of deliberation halted the proceedings. The high court eventually barred Sexton from claiming insanity caused by his voluntary use of illegal drugs. The opinion allowed Sexton to claim drug use diminished his mental capacity, a ruling that would have permitted a jury to convict him of the lesser crime of voluntary manslaughter.

The court's decision prompted the plea deal, because each side won and lost a portion of the ruling, prosecution and defense attorneys said.

As Friday's hearing ended and Sexton, wearing a red polo shirt, black pants, handcuffs and leg irons, was led back to prison, Jim Sexton walked over to Bobbi Perez and extended a hand. He towered over Perez, 60, but she said his words were reassuring.

"I said, 'I have been praying for this moment for years,' and he said, 'We have, too,'" Perez recounted. "I said, 'I will not forget your son,' and he said, 'We'll never forget Atsuko.'"

Jim Sexton placed a hand on Perez's right shoulder as she cried. Contact Adam Silverman at 660-1854 or asilverm@bfp.burlingtonfreepress.com


Sexton set to admit 2000 slaying of college student

By Adam Silverman
Free Press Staff Writer

July 28, 2006
Jacob Sexton, the man accused of killing a St. Michael's College graduate student nearly six years ago, is expected to plead guilty today to second-degree murder in exchange for a sentence of 20 years to life, his attorney confirmed Thursday.

Sexton, 24, of Winooski, previously pleaded not guilty to the same charge, which alleged he beat to death Atsuko Ikeda, a 37-year-old student from Japan who moved to Vermont because she thought the state safer than large cities.

Questions of Sexton's mental competency and an appeal to the Vermont Supreme Court that justices considered for two years before ruling June 9 repeatedly delayed the case.

Sexton told police that he had been using drugs and "snapped," deciding to kill the first person he saw on Sept. 27, 2000. He looked up just as Ikeda pedaled past on her bicycle, according to court papers.

"This is a horrible, very sad case," court-appointed defense attorney Lorin Duckman said Thursday. "The sad thing is, nothing that happens tomorrow is going to bring that girl back, and Jake's going to be in jail a long, long time. He's going to grow up in jail, and he'll be under supervision for the rest of his life."

Chittenden County State's Attorney Bob Simpson declined to comment on developments in Sexton's case. However, his office has proposed a similar deal in the past. A hearing is scheduled for 3 p.m. today in Vermont District Court in Burlington.

Duckman said at Sexton's most-recent court hearing on June 23 that his client accepts responsibility for the crime, and the only question is how long Sexton should serve in prison.

The defense contended for years that Sexton was insane because he had used LSD and cocaine in the weeks before the crime. The drug use, Sexton's attorneys have argued, triggered an underlying mental illness.

Prosecutors appealed a ruling from the trial court that allowed Sexton to use that defense. The Supreme Court's opinion, which answered one of the oldest pending questions on the docket, barred Sexton from claiming insanity caused by his voluntary use of illegal drugs.

Justices permitted Sexton to argue that his mental capacity was diminished at the time of the crime, which would allow a jury to convict him of voluntary manslaughter rather than murder.

The ruling prompted the plea deal, Duckman said. Justices prohibited the defense from using an absolute insanity defense, but approved a strategy that could have resulted in a conviction on a lesser charge and shorter incarceration.

"Now you have to balance risks," Duckman said. "Do you want to take the risk of trying for manslaughter when, if you lose, it could be increased, it could be 35 years? That's what the balance is."

Under the deal, Sexton would receive credit for the time he has served in prison. He would be eligible for release in 2020.

State law sets the punishment for second-degree murder at 20 years to life in prison, but prosecutors may argue for a longer minimum if they can prove so-called aggravating factors to a jury, while defendants may seek as little as 10 years of incarceration if they establish mitigating factors. Manslaughter carries a maximum of 15 years, but a judge could suspend the entire sentence.

Sexton and his parents accept the plea arrangement as fair, as does Duckman, the lawyer said. He praised Simpson for his handling of the case and its apparent resolution.

"He has built justice into the plea offer," the defense lawyer said. "I'm comfortable that every avenue has been not only investigated but pursued, parsed and magnified. No one wants to waste the life of a young man unnecessarily. The magnitude of the crime and the understanding of justice makes it an offer I can live with."

Ikeda's sister, Sachiko, wrote in an e-mail to The Burlington Free Press from her home in Japan that the case and its continuing circumstances are trying.

"I feel that it is very difficult to express my (and my family's) feelings with words; I am very sorry," Sachiko Ikeda wrote Thursday morning, before she received word of Sexton's plea deal. "We would like to come to the trial. Of course, we would like to come to all the hearings and conferences; however, unfortunately, it is not possible."
Contact Adam Silverman at 660-1854 or asilverm@bfp.burlingtonfreepress.com

Supreme Court denies defense of drug-induced insanity in 2000 murder case

By Adam Silverman
Free Press Staff Writer

June 10, 2006
The Vermont Supreme Court on Friday prohibited murder suspect Jacob Sexton from using insanity caused by drug use as a valid defense to his killing of a St. Michael's College graduate student in September 2000.

Sexton, 24, has pleaded not guilty to a charge of second-degree murder on accusations that he beat to death 37- year-old Atsuko Ikeda, a neighbor, as she rode her bicycle past his home on a quiet Winooski street. The case has been on hold for years as lawyers have argued primarily about Sexton's mental state the night of the crime.

Friday's ruling, a rare opinion involving only four justices, was released almost two years to the day since lawyers argued the case. It was one of the oldest cases before the court.

Awaiting trial, Sexton remains jailed without bail at the Northwest State Correctional Facility in St. Albans Town. The ruling clears the way for proceedings to resume in Vermont District Court in Burlington.

"The court accepted the state's position," said Chittenden County State's Attorney Bob Simpson. "We expect that it'll be set for trial."

Lorin Duckman, Sexton's court-appointed attorney, said Friday night the ruling was a relief after the two-year wait.

"We won part of it, and will go forward," Duckman said. "He's been willing to accept responsibility for this from the very beginning. The only question is what the penalty is for the amount of responsibilty he accepts."

The ruling


Sexton won permission three years ago from a trial court to argue he was insane at the time of the killing because he used drugs such as LSD and cocaine in the weeks prior, and that drug use triggered an "underlying mental illness." The insanity claim would have allowed Sexton to argue he was not guilty.

County prosecutors appealed the ruling, and justices overturned the lower court.

"A defendant is not excused from criminal liability for acts which result from a mental state that is self-induced through the voluntary ingestion of illegal drugs or alcohol," Chief Justice Paul Reiber wrote for the majority. "It is a fundamental tenet of our criminal code that a defendant must be held accountable for the consequences of his or her actions resulting from the voluntary ingestion of illegal drugs or alcohol."

Associate Justices Denise Johnson and Marilyn Skoglund joined in the 13-page opinion; Associate Justice John Dooley dissented.

"I refuse to join a decision that effectively denies defendants who commit offenses while mentally ill an opportunity to present to the jury an insanity defense," Dooley wrote in his sometimes scathing 18-page dissent. "Notwithstanding the brutal and senseless nature of the offense committed in this case, we must not forget that it is as much the duty of the state to protect an insane man from conviction as it is to prevent a sane man from escaping that result."

Five justices typically decide cases, but then-Chief Justice Jeffrey Amestoy, who heard the case argued June 14, 2004, has retired and did not participate in the ruling. Reduce, not excuse

One element of the ruling favors Sexton. Justices did permit him to argue at trial that his mental capacity was diminished at the time of the crime, allowing him to say he should be convicted of voluntary manslaughter rather than murder.

Prosecutors sought to bar that argument, as well.

"The law may reduce an individual's culpability in such circumstances, but will not excuse it," Reiber wrote.

The penalty for second-degree murder is 20 years in prison, though that could increase to life or decrease to 10 years if lawyers prove aggravating or mitigating factors to a jury. Manslaughter is punishable by up to 15 years in prison.

The decision, Reiber wrote, does not preclude Sexton from using the insanity defense, only from basing that argument on drug use. Prosecutors could rebut that contention, Reiber continued, by proving drugs caused the mental illness. An arbitrary crime

The brutality and randomness of Ikeda's slaying horrified the community. Sexton told police he decided the night of Sept. 27, 2000, to kill the first person he saw. When Ikeda pedaled into the neighborhood, Sexton charged from his basement apartment, tackled Ikeda and battered her until she stopped moving, according to court documents.

Sexton told police he "just cracked" and decided to kill people to "gather their souls," according to court papers.

"Something came over me. Demons," Sexton said to detectives, according to officers' sworn statements.

Sexton had moved into the apartment on Lapointe Street a month before the killing.

Ikeda was a student from Japan pursuing a master's degree in teaching English as a second language. She had enrolled at St. Michael's College in Colchester in 1999, largely because she believed Vermont was safer than big cities. Also, her sister had graduated in 1985 from the same program.

Her family members, who live in Komoro, Japan, could not be reached for comment Friday, nor could Sexton's parents. Contact Adam Silverman at 660-1854 or asilverm@bfp.burlingtonfreepress.com

Justice delayed: Supreme Court takes two years to rule in 2000 Winooski murder case

By Adam Silverman
Free Press Staff Writer

June 11, 2006
Four years had passed since the beating death of Atsuko Ikeda when lawyers walked into the Vermont Supreme Court to argue whether Jacob Sexton, the man accused of killing her, could claim he was insane.

The case was moving slowly even by the standards of a state judicial system that has developed a reputation for sluggishness, but as lawyers and family members gathered in the Montpelier courtroom that day in June 2004, nearly everyone believed the case was about to lurch forward.

Instead, after 31 minutes of oral arguments, the proceedings quietly came to a halt.

At first, the months that slipped by as the justices deliberated seemed necessary to answer a complicated legal question. Then the months turned into a year, and still there was no decision. Time marched on, and people began to forget: maybe that case had been settled years ago, thought Ikeda's neighbors and faculty at St. Michael's College, where Ikeda had been a graduate student.

Sexton sat in prison and wondered about his fate. Ikeda's family stayed in Japan and hoped for a resolution to ease their grief.

More time passed.

Sexton's became one of the oldest pending cases on the docket. Eventually, the court decided the other 17 cases from the June 2004 term.

Then, Friday, five days shy of the two-year anniversary of the Supreme Court arguments, the justices issued their ruling. The decision took longer to craft than the landmark ruling that led to the creation of civil unions.

Why the court took so long is a question left largely to speculation, but passages in the decision, analysis from experts and brief remarks by the chief justice help illuminate what occurred.

"It obviously was a very difficult decision," Chief Justice Paul Reiber said Friday. "I know people have been waiting for it for a long time." A sudden attack

Ikeda was a 37-year-old from Komoro, Japan, who followed her sister to St. Michael's College to pursue a master's degree in teaching English as a second language. Vermont appealed to Ikeda, her family has said, because she thought it safer than big cities.

She was bicycling home to her rented room on a quiet street in Winooski the night of Sept. 27, 2000. She had yet to meet a new neighbor, then-18-year-old Sexton, when she pedaled past his basement apartment a few doors down from hers.

Inside, Sexton was in a rage. He had used LSD and cocaine during the previous weeks, and he smoked marijuana to calm himself that day, according to court documents. As Sexton would tell police later, he "just cracked." He killed his cat by smashing its skull, and then decided to kill the first person he saw, according to sworn police statements describing the incident.

"Something came over me. Demons," Sexton would tell detectives later.

He looked outside as Ikeda was passing. He ran out, knocked Ikeda off her bike in the middle of Lapointe Street and beat her until she stopped moving, according to police. Sexton broke his left hand in two places.

Police arrived to find Sexton lying in the street near his victim, his arms at his sides. "Go ahead, just cuff me," he told Winooski police Lt. Rainer Sheehan. "I know I did something really bad, I'm just not sure what."

Sexton pleaded not guilty to a charge of second-degree murder Sept. 28, 2000. His sanity immediately became an issue -- legal precedent says the insane cannot be punished if they are unable to appreciate that their acts are crimes or are unable to act in accordance with the law -- and led to numerous delays on his lengthy journey through the legal system. Points of contention

Sexton was in the state's mental hospital for two years as court-appointed defense lawyers and Chittenden County prosecutors argued about insanity. The defense wanted to claim at trial that Sexton was not guilty of the slaying by reason of insanity because his drug use had triggered an "underlying mental illness." The prosecution countered that such an argument would allow voluntary intoxication to become an excuse for crimes.

Also in dispute was whether Sexton could argue that his level of intoxication created a diminished mental capacity that would make him liable only for the lesser crime of manslaughter rather than murder. Repeated hearings were held in Vermont District Court in Burlington.

At stake, essentially, was how long Sexton might serve in prison. Second-degree murder carries a sentence of 20 years, although prosecutors may argue for up to life if they prove aggravating factors to a jury, and the defense may argue for as little as 10 years if it proves mitigating factors. Manslaughter carries a maximum of 15 years, but a judge can suspend the entire sentence.

In two rulings during the spring of 2003, Judge James Crucitti allowed the defense to present its arguments at trial. Prosecutors filed an appeal with the Supreme Court, which agreed that August to hear the case. Complicated arguments

Nearly another year passed before arguments were scheduled. The state's highest court finally heard the case June 14, 2004. Ikeda's sister, Sachiko, traveled to Montpelier from her home in Komoro, Japan, to listen. On the other side of the room sat Sexton's father, James. Both said they hoped the appeal would propel the case forward.

"The only thing we are hoping is that justice will be done in the end," Sachiko said that day. "We want my sister back, but we can't have that, so we want to see he can't ever do this again to anyone else."

James Sexton sounded a similar note, saying "More than anything, we want a resolution for her family."

The complexity of the case was clear from the outset.

"What really is before this court," said Deputy Chittenden County State's Attorney Pamela Johnson, "is an issue of what is mental disease."

Justices unleashed a barrage of questions: Is there any way to tell whether drug use caused mental illness, or whether the illness existed independently? Do mental disorders have an effect on a person's decision to use drugs in the first place? Is the prosecution arguing that anybody who engages in illegal drug use can never have an insanity defense?

Then it was the defense's turn.

"They argue that you should change insanity law," Deputy Defender General Anna Saxman said, "and the exception they want you to carve out is pretty radical."

More questions: How does a suspect prove drug use led to insanity? Are defendants culpable if they knew or thought that drugs might trigger a mental illness? How could prosecutors counter such a defense?

The hearing ended with no indication from justices on how long the wait might be for a decision. Two-year hiatus


Five justices listened to the arguments that day. Two months later, one of them, the chief justice, retired from the court.

Legal scholar Cheryl Hanna thinks that might have contributed to the two-year wait, a delay she called "very unusual." With four justices left -- the chief justice's replacement would have no role in the case, nor would the jurist who resigned from the court -- a tie became possible.

"One of the things that slows a case down is when there's disagreement," said Hanna, a professor at Vermont Law School in South Royalton.

Reiber was an associate justice when he heard the Sexton case. He declined in an interview to discuss the court's ruling, citing ethical prohibitions, and was reluctant to talk about the hiatus between argument and ruling.

"I will just note that there were only four justices involved in the decision," Reiber said. He did not elaborate.

Associate Justice John Dooley suggested the case took so long to decide because other justices took too broad a look at the issues.

"This is a complex and confusing case, in part because of the complicated expert testimony and in part because of the way the majority has chosen to analyze the case," Dooley wrote in a lengthy dissent from the ruling.

Long delays in criminal cases are rare and sometimes costly, Hanna said. Evidence ages. Witnesses' memories fade.

A community craves answers, too, she said.

"The public needs a sense of closure," Hanna said. "The longer a case sits out there -- the public gets anxious about that."

Supreme Court records show that 17 cases older than 18 months were awaiting decisions Jan. 1. By comparison, 337 cases were pending that were argued less than 18 months earlier. The wait

Sexton, now 24, has grown up in prison, said his current defense attorney, Lorin Duckman, one of about four who have handled the case at various points during the past six years. Sexton entered prison an 18-year-old "kid" and now has become a man, Duckman said.

"He doesn't look the same as when this case started," Duckman said last week. "It's clear that the guy who did this is not the guy you talk to in jail."

The lull does not affect Sexton's constitutional right to a speedy trial, Duckman said, because the prime reason for the case's slow pace was an issue -- insanity -- that the defense raised. Sexton, whom Duckman declined to make available for an interview, was eager for a decision.

"He'd like to know what's going to happen with his life so he can make plans," the lawyer said. "Whether he's going to spend the next 10, 15, 20, 25 years in jail, he's handling it with a great deal of dignity."

The delay has been difficult for the families of both suspect and victim. Chittenden County State's Attorney Robert Simpson said he and Sachiko Ikeda used to exchange frequent e-mails about the proceedings. Communication has slackened recently as the case has dragged. Duckman said Sexton's father often calls to inquire what's happening.

Neither Ikeda's nor Sexton's families could be reached for comment. 'State v. Sexton'


The Supreme Court typically posts rulings to its Web site every Friday. Duckman has said for months that he checks the site at the end of every week.

Friday, he finally saw something: State v. Sexton. Three justices endorsed a 13-page decision that prohibits Sexton from claiming he is not guilty of Ikeda's killing by reason of insanity brought on by drug use. The opinion does allow Sexton to argue that manslaughter is an appropriate classification of his crime and to claim insanity so long as drugs were not the root cause.

Dooley was the lone dissenter, writing that his colleagues set a precedent that prevents certain mentally ill defendants from using an insanity defense.

Duckman said Sexton was glad to receive the partially favorable ruling.

"His tone was more one of relief than, 'Did I win or did I lose?'" Duckman said. "Everybody's heaving a sigh of relief now that we know what direction we're headed in."

The case will return to Vermont District Court in Burlington and continue its slow movement toward a plea agreement or a trial.

No new hearings had been scheduled Friday. Contact Adam Silverman at 660-1854 or asilverm@bfp.burlingtonfreepress.com