Casper Star-Tribune Online

Advanced Search

Rolle's son begs for father's life

Story Tools

Print this story

E-mail this story

Rate this story

Text Size

Share This Story:

trib.popular

By JOSHUA WOLFSON
Star-Tribune staff writer

Tuesday, September 30, 2008 2:06 AM MDT

Donald Rolle's adult son took the stand Monday and tearfully begged the jury to spare his father's life.

"I would give each and every one of you everything I have if I could just walk over and hug him right now," Daniel Rolle said.

Daniel Rolle, 26, and several other family members testified on the last day of evidence in the sentencing phase of Donald Rolle's murder trial. A jury could decide as soon as today whether Rolle should serve life behind bars or receive the death penalty.

The same jury convicted Rolle last week of the kidnapping and murder of Jennifer Randel, a 40-year-old mother of two. Her body was discovered Nov. 4 in his truck, along a remote road west of Casper. She had been beaten, stabbed and strangled in a brutal attack prosecutors say lasted hours.

"You've already heard the worse of him," Daniel Rolle told jurors. "You've seen what he has done with his life. I know he did good raising me."

Defense attorney Vaughn Neubauer asked the younger Rolle how his mother would be affected if Rolle, 47, was given a death sentence.

"My mom is very sick," he said, then paused for a moment. "I don't know how to say this. I don't want to lose my mom because my dad did something horrible. Cause she is a good person and she loves my dad."

Watching from the defense table, Donald Rolle wiped his eyes as his son spoke.

Daniel Rolle was the last of several family members to testify. Earlier, Donald Rolle's siblings described growing up in an abusive North Dakota household where the children were punished with beatings and overnight stays in a dirt cellar.

"I want to say we lived in hell," said Linda Rolle, the defendant's younger sister. "That's probably what it is like."

Linda Rolle said her mother would force the children to stand in a line, then stick a red-hot butter knife into each their mouths when she thought they were lying. Her childhood, she told the jury, affects her life every day.

"I'm 46 years old and to this day, I don't remember mom telling me she loved me," Linda Rolle said.

Reach crime reporter Joshua Wolfson at (307) 266-0582 or at josh.wolfson@trib.com.

On the Web

Visit www.trib.com/randel for daily updates on the murder trial and more information on the Jennifer Randel case.


Casper briefs		Cruel aid

Article Rating

Reader Comments

There are 4 comment(s)

Comments to this story.

trial watcher wrote on Sep 30, 2008 7:42 PM:

" this was hard to watch. i think what got me was when he said, "i escaped the cycle of violence..its possible to break the cycle and you can do that by saving my father's life" "

WHAT wrote on Oct 1, 2008 10:38 AM:

" THEY SHOULD HAVE BURNED HIM AT A STAKE! NO INJECTION! LOTS OF PEOPLE HAVE ROUGH ABUSIVE HARD LIFES AS A CHILD AND SOME EVEN HAVE SEXUAL ABUSE. DID ANY OF HIS SIBLINGS COMMIT MURDER? NO!!!!! YOU CAN'T USE HIS CHILD HOOD AS AN EXCUSE! SORRY FOR HIS SON, BUT PEOPLE HAVE TO PAY FOR THE HORRIBLE CRIMES THEY DO AND HE SHOULD HAVE BURNED! "

Amazing Grace wrote on Oct 1, 2008 7:48 PM:

" Your mom loves your dad?? Get some help. "

Mercy wrote on Oct 10, 2008 4:54 PM:

" I can't in my wildest dreams imagine people that are so cold and so harsh that they can say things such as "they should have burned him at a stake". I have had an abusive childhood, physically, mentally, emotionally and sexually abused. I can tell you all that as an adult, it DOES affect your life. It is a daily process to work through the past. The healing DOES depend on whom you associate with in your adult life. Don't judge someone when you can't walk in their shoes...YOU HAVE NO IDEA!!!! I happen to know one of Don's family members and trust me, they went through hell!! She has turned her life over to GOD and that IS what saved her life. We are NOT to be judge and jury, our day will come and, so will Don's!! His hell is being paid by living every day!! If he was put to death, he wouldn't have to thinik about what he did day after day or even think about what was done to him. May God have Mercy on all our souls!! "

Submit a Comment

We encourage your feedback and dialog, all comments will be reviewed by our Web staff before appearing on the Web site.

Please note: We provide our story commenting feature in order to solicit feedback, debate and discussion on topics of local interest. Please keep in mind that civility is a necessary component of productive conversation. All blatantly inflammatory or otherwise inappropriate comments (i.e. vulgarity, marketing, etc.) are subject to rejection and/or removal. Comments will appear if and when they are approved. Thanks for reading, and thanks for participating.