The state Supreme Court rejected an appeal by a former janitor who killed a bookkeeper over a delayed paycheck in 1993.
Jonathan Daniel D'Arcy was convicted of first degree murder by an Orange County jury in 1996 after dousing Karen Marie Laborde with gasoline and setting her on fire with a lighter.
D'Arcy's attorneys appealed his death sentence, objecting to the use of photographs of the victim's charred body during the penalty phase and questioning his ability to act as a co-counsel before trial.
Thursday, the court found the pictures could not unduly prejudice the jury during the penalty phase since D'Arcy had already been found guilty of the crime.
D'Arcy was facing hard times when he killed bookkeeper Karen Laborde, a 42-year old woman of two. He had borrowed money to get janitorial jobs as an independent contractor, but lost all but two accounts.
Around 8:30 a.m. on Feb. 2, 1993, he and a co-worker stopped by a gas station, where D'Arcy bought a dollar's worth of fuel and poured it into a sport bottle. They drove to the offices of Quintessence, the janitorial contractor where Laborde worked. After dousing her face, arms and dress with gasoline, D'Arcy shouted, "This is what you get when you hold my (expletive) money," then set her on fire. As the flames spread, D'Arcy shoved her to the ground.
Police found Laborde on the floor of the office, charred and crying, with third-degree burns on 90 percent of her body. She died eight hours later.
D'Arcy smoked a cigarette outside the office while waiting for police, telling one officer, "I'm the one you are here to arrest."
Laborde gave a death-bed declaration to police. She told police that she had D'Arcy's check for him, and would have given it to him if he'd asked. Police found a check for $159 made out to D'Arcy sitting on LaBorde's desk.
D'Arcy was sentenced to death in Orange County on April 11, 1997.
**Karen, let's give our love, hugs and thank you to Eternity Persephone for sponsoring your memorial. She is definitely our Earth angel.
Jonathan Daniel D'Arcy was convicted of first degree murder by an Orange County jury in 1996 after dousing Karen Marie Laborde with gasoline and setting her on fire with a lighter.
D'Arcy's attorneys appealed his death sentence, objecting to the use of photographs of the victim's charred body during the penalty phase and questioning his ability to act as a co-counsel before trial.
Thursday, the court found the pictures could not unduly prejudice the jury during the penalty phase since D'Arcy had already been found guilty of the crime.
D'Arcy was facing hard times when he killed bookkeeper Karen Laborde, a 42-year old woman of two. He had borrowed money to get janitorial jobs as an independent contractor, but lost all but two accounts.
Around 8:30 a.m. on Feb. 2, 1993, he and a co-worker stopped by a gas station, where D'Arcy bought a dollar's worth of fuel and poured it into a sport bottle. They drove to the offices of Quintessence, the janitorial contractor where Laborde worked. After dousing her face, arms and dress with gasoline, D'Arcy shouted, "This is what you get when you hold my (expletive) money," then set her on fire. As the flames spread, D'Arcy shoved her to the ground.
Police found Laborde on the floor of the office, charred and crying, with third-degree burns on 90 percent of her body. She died eight hours later.
D'Arcy smoked a cigarette outside the office while waiting for police, telling one officer, "I'm the one you are here to arrest."
Laborde gave a death-bed declaration to police. She told police that she had D'Arcy's check for him, and would have given it to him if he'd asked. Police found a check for $159 made out to D'Arcy sitting on LaBorde's desk.
D'Arcy was sentenced to death in Orange County on April 11, 1997.
**Karen, let's give our love, hugs and thank you to Eternity Persephone for sponsoring your memorial. She is definitely our Earth angel.
The state Supreme Court rejected an appeal by a former janitor who killed a bookkeeper over a delayed paycheck in 1993.
Jonathan Daniel D'Arcy was convicted of first degree murder by an Orange County jury in 1996 after dousing Karen Marie Laborde with gasoline and setting her on fire with a lighter.
D'Arcy's attorneys appealed his death sentence, objecting to the use of photographs of the victim's charred body during the penalty phase and questioning his ability to act as a co-counsel before trial.
Thursday, the court found the pictures could not unduly prejudice the jury during the penalty phase since D'Arcy had already been found guilty of the crime.
D'Arcy was facing hard times when he killed bookkeeper Karen Laborde, a 42-year old woman of two. He had borrowed money to get janitorial jobs as an independent contractor, but lost all but two accounts.
Around 8:30 a.m. on Feb. 2, 1993, he and a co-worker stopped by a gas station, where D'Arcy bought a dollar's worth of fuel and poured it into a sport bottle. They drove to the offices of Quintessence, the janitorial contractor where Laborde worked. After dousing her face, arms and dress with gasoline, D'Arcy shouted, "This is what you get when you hold my (expletive) money," then set her on fire. As the flames spread, D'Arcy shoved her to the ground.
Police found Laborde on the floor of the office, charred and crying, with third-degree burns on 90 percent of her body. She died eight hours later.
D'Arcy smoked a cigarette outside the office while waiting for police, telling one officer, "I'm the one you are here to arrest."
Laborde gave a death-bed declaration to police. She told police that she had D'Arcy's check for him, and would have given it to him if he'd asked. Police found a check for $159 made out to D'Arcy sitting on LaBorde's desk.
D'Arcy was sentenced to death in Orange County on April 11, 1997.
**Karen, let's give our love, hugs and thank you to Eternity Persephone for sponsoring your memorial. She is definitely our Earth angel.
Jonathan Daniel D'Arcy was convicted of first degree murder by an Orange County jury in 1996 after dousing Karen Marie Laborde with gasoline and setting her on fire with a lighter.
D'Arcy's attorneys appealed his death sentence, objecting to the use of photographs of the victim's charred body during the penalty phase and questioning his ability to act as a co-counsel before trial.
Thursday, the court found the pictures could not unduly prejudice the jury during the penalty phase since D'Arcy had already been found guilty of the crime.
D'Arcy was facing hard times when he killed bookkeeper Karen Laborde, a 42-year old woman of two. He had borrowed money to get janitorial jobs as an independent contractor, but lost all but two accounts.
Around 8:30 a.m. on Feb. 2, 1993, he and a co-worker stopped by a gas station, where D'Arcy bought a dollar's worth of fuel and poured it into a sport bottle. They drove to the offices of Quintessence, the janitorial contractor where Laborde worked. After dousing her face, arms and dress with gasoline, D'Arcy shouted, "This is what you get when you hold my (expletive) money," then set her on fire. As the flames spread, D'Arcy shoved her to the ground.
Police found Laborde on the floor of the office, charred and crying, with third-degree burns on 90 percent of her body. She died eight hours later.
D'Arcy smoked a cigarette outside the office while waiting for police, telling one officer, "I'm the one you are here to arrest."
Laborde gave a death-bed declaration to police. She told police that she had D'Arcy's check for him, and would have given it to him if he'd asked. Police found a check for $159 made out to D'Arcy sitting on LaBorde's desk.
D'Arcy was sentenced to death in Orange County on April 11, 1997.
**Karen, let's give our love, hugs and thank you to Eternity Persephone for sponsoring your memorial. She is definitely our Earth angel.
