The Washington Post
A Wicomico County (MD)jury yesterday sentenced Francis Zito to die for murdering two Eastern Shore police officers who had come to his Centreville mobile home to investigate a noise complaint.
The jury of three men and nine women deliberated for six hours before delivering the sentence.
Zito was convicted May 24 of the February 2001 murders of Queen Anne’s County sheriff’s deputy Jason Schwenz and Centreville police officer Michael Nickerson. By agreeing on a verdict of first-degree murder, the jury rejected Zito’s defense that he was not criminally responsible because of mental illness.