NATION : Stark Vet Convicted of Murder
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JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A Navy sailor was convicted today of killing a young woman and her daughter, slayings he blamed on the trauma of the 1987 Iraqi attack on his ship, the Stark. Prosecutors argued that the stress suffered by Walter Thomas Taylor Jr. when the Stark was struck four years ago was no excuse for the crimes, which took place days after the ship returned to port.
But defense attorneys said in closing arguments that Taylor was temporarily insane and had a flashback that convinced him the woman was an Iraqi agent trying to kill him.
The jurors took 6 1/2 hours over two days before returning two first-degree murder convictions late this morning in the August, 1987, deaths 21-year-old Paula Smits and her 3-year-old daughter, Amanda.
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