Custodial dad convicted in torture murder of two kids sentenced to death (Mobile, Alabama)

We've posted on custodial father JOHN DEBLASE numerous times. According to earlier media accounts, the mother of these kids lost her job and was in the process of losing her house. So she had no resources for a custody fight with the father. Once he gained custody, he cut off all communication. Very typical of abusive custodial dads.

http://www.al.com/news/mobile/index.ssf/2015/01/post_14.html

John DeBlase, father convicted of killing 2 children, sentenced to death
By Thyrie Bland on January 08, 2015 at 3:45 PM, updated January 08, 2015 at 5:48 PM

MOBILE, Alabama -- John DeBlase, the father convicted in November in the deaths of his two young children, was to sentenced Thursday to receive death by lethal injection.

Mobile County Circuit Judge Rick Stout decided to sentence DeBlase to death after DeBlased asked the judge to show him mercy during a sentencing hearing..

"I am not going to beg for mercy," DeBlase said. "I am not going to ask for mercy. I am going to ask for my life. I love my kids. I did not kill my kids."

A jury recommended sentencing DeBlase to death after his trial last year. The jury voted 10-2 in favor of the death penalty.

DeBlase, 31, was found guilty of three counts of capital murder in the 2010 deaths of Natalie DeBlase, 4, and her brother, Chase DeBlase, 3.

DeBlase's common-law wife, Heather Leavell-Keaton, 26, also is charged in the children's deaths. Her trial is scheduled for later this year.

The DeBlase children were stuffed into a suitcase, put in a closet and choked to death, the Mobile County District Attorney's Office said.

Natalie was dumped in a wooded area near Citronelle, and Chase's body was disposed of north of Vancleave, Miss. #Defense attorney Glenn Davidson asked the judge not to sentence DeBlase to the death. He said the most appropriate sentence would be life in prison without parole.

Davidson said he believes that the jury saw DeBlase as an accomplice in his children's death and saw Leavell-Keaton, 26, as the dominant figure in the case.

"She had no qualms at displaying a significant amount of hostility toward the children in front of people that she barely knew," Davidson said.

Leavell-Keaton also exerted dominance over DeBlase, Davidson said.

"You should not impose the death sentence in this case, judge," Davidson said. "It's not necessary. It's wrong. We ask that you not do it."