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since they were going to be moving into their new home the next day. Therefore, Steigler had to act on that date to murder Mr. Swertfeger and the other collateral victims.
3. The Trial and Punishment
Steigler went on trial from Oc- tober 20, 1969 until November 11, 1969. At the time, it was the longest criminal jury trial in a Delaware state court.
The first day of trial consisted of a visit to the scene of the crime. The jurors, firsthand, saw the substantial burning of the stairs, the only means of escaping from the second floor. A model of an exact replica of the Steigler home was also used as an exhibit at trial, and may have been the first piece of demonstrative evi- dence in a criminal trial. The other evidence and testimony presented at trial did not lie.
Steigler placed 10 containers of gasoline blocking any exit from the
second floor and through the first floor. He had placed a Molotov cocktail in a neighbor’s yard and he planned to retrieve it and then ignite the gasoline vapors in the home by throwing it through a window. How- ever, he heard Arlene approaching the bedroom door and had to light the fire earlier than he had planned in order to prevent that discovery and to destroy evidence of his crime.
The brunt of the fire occurred on the landing and stairway, which was the only escape from the second floor. The evidence established that Steigler had lied about his whereabouts and could not have escaped the effects of the fire where he said he was at the time of the fire. The blaze that en- gulfed the Steigler home was a flash fire that spread through the home in a minimum of 1.5 seconds.
Arlene was awoken around 2:30 a.m. by noise from downstairs. Her husband was not in his bed. Arlene opened the bedroom door and was hit by a wall of flame. She immedi- ately shut the door, but not before the fire had burned her. She imme- diately called the fire department and took refuge in the shower with a wet blanket. She called for help from the bathroom window, and Steigler helped her down safely. Their son David, who was sleeping downstairs, was able to escape.
The jurors were sequestered at the Hotel Du Pont, but once delib- erations began, they quickly reached a verdict of guilty of all four counts on November 12, 1969. On Januar y 30, 1970, a death sentence was en- tered. Steigler, however, received an unexpected reprieve from the United States Supreme Court in Furman v. Georgia, 408 U.S. 238 (1972), which held that statutes providing for capi- tal punishment that left the decision of life or death in the uncontrolled discretion of the jury violated equal
protection implicit in the Eighth Amendment’s ban on “cruel and un- usual punishments.” The Court va- cated the death sentences before it, including Steigler’s death sentence.3
In State v. Dickerson, 298 A.2d 761, 764 (Del. 1972), the Delaware Supreme Court held that “the Mercy Statute must fall under the Furman decision as being violative of the Eighth Amendment.” The Delaware Supreme Court further held that the discretionary mercy provisions could be severed from the mandatory death penalty for first degree murder, but the death penalty could not be ap- plied retroactively to cases pending at the time of Furman, which included Steigler.4
At the time, life imprisonment was 45 years, with no possibility of pro- bation or parole for life sentences. I appeared on behalf of the State and argued that Steigler should be re- sentenced to three consecutive life sentences, for each of his murdered victims, and serve the rest of his life behind bars. On June 8, 1973, Judge Christie inexplicably resentenced him to three concurrent life terms and therefore Steigler would be eligible for parole after a third of his 45-year sentence.
After serving only 12 years in jail, Herb Steigler was released on parole. Incredibly, Steigler was welcomed home by his wife and children who lived with him for the rest of his life. Christine and the Swertfegers were denied justice in the end, as discussed in my book They Had to Die That Night.
NOTES
1. 11 Del. C. § 2102(a).
2. In re Steigler, 250 A.2d 379, 383 (Del. 1969).
3. Steigler v. Delaware, 408 U.S. 939 (1972).
4. Dickerson, 298 A.2d at 764.
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