George Banks
Encyclopedia
George Emil Banks is an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 mass murder
Mass murder
Mass murder is the act of murdering a large number of people , typically at the same time or over a relatively short period of time. According to the FBI, mass murder is defined as four or more murders occurring during a particular event with no cooling-off period between the murders...

er, sentenced to death by electrocution
Electric chair
Execution by electrocution, usually performed using an electric chair, is an execution method originating in the United States in which the condemned person is strapped to a specially built wooden chair and electrocuted through electrodes placed on the body...

, but later declared by the court
Court
A court is a form of tribunal, often a governmental institution, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between parties and carry out the administration of justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in accordance with the rule of law...

 to be too psychotic to execute. Banks, a former Camp Hill prison guard
Prison officer
A prison officer , also referred to as a corrections officer , correctional officer , or detention officer , is a person charged with the responsibility of the supervision, safety and security of prisoners in a prison, jail, or similar form of secure...

, shot 13 people to death on September 25, 1982 in Wilkes-Barre City
Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania
Wilkes-Barre is a city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, the county seat of Luzerne County. It is at the center of the Wyoming Valley area and is one of the principal cities in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre metropolitan area, which had a population of 563,631 as of the 2010 Census...

 and Jenkins Township
Jenkins Township, Pennsylvania
Jenkins Township is a township within the Greater Pittston area of Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 4,584 at the 2000 census. The township is adjacent to the small city of Pittston...

, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...

, including five of his own children. Banks said he killed his children because he felt they would be tormented by the cruelty of racial views against mixed race children. Since his conviction, Banks has tried to kill himself four times and has gone on hunger strike
Hunger strike
A hunger strike is a method of non-violent resistance or pressure in which participants fast as an act of political protest, or to provoke feelings of guilt in others, usually with the objective to achieve a specific goal, such as a policy change. Most hunger strikers will take liquids but not...

s that required him to be force fed. A psychiatric report filed in the case says Banks believes he is in a spiritual fight with an Antichrist
Antichrist
The term or title antichrist, in Christian theology, refers to a leader who fulfills Biblical prophecies concerning an adversary of Christ, while resembling him in a deceptive manner...

 in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

, that Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...

 was controlled by the Islamic religion
Islam
Islam . The most common are and .   : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...

 and he has engaged in a "private war with President Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...

 and Monica Lewinsky
Monica Lewinsky
Monica Samille Lewinsky is an American woman with whom United States President Bill Clinton admitted to having had an "improper relationship" while she worked at the White House in 1995 and 1996...

".

November 29, 1990, the Pennsylvania State Legislature barred further use of the electric chair amidst debate that electrocution was cruel and unusual punishment
Cruel and unusual punishment
Cruel and unusual punishment is a phrase describing criminal punishment which is considered unacceptable due to the suffering or humiliation it inflicts on the condemned person...

 and approved lethal injection
Lethal injection
Lethal injection is the practice of injecting a person with a fatal dose of drugs for the express purpose of causing the immediate death of the subject. The main application for this procedure is capital punishment, but the term may also be applied in a broad sense to euthanasia and suicide...

. December 2, 2004, Banks received a stay of execution. May 12, 2010, Banks was declared incompetent to be executed by Luzerne County Judge Joseph Augello following a week long competency hearing held the previous month.

Victims

Killed:
  1. Sharon Mazzillo (24) - Former girlfriend of George Banks who was engaged in a custody dispute over their son, Kissmayu Banks. Gunshot wound to the chest.
  2. Kissmayu Banks (5) - The son of Sharon Mazzillo and George Banks. Gunshot wound to the face.
  3. Scott Mazzillo (7) - Nephew of Sharon Mazzillo. Kicked, hit with the rifle butt, killed with a gunshot wound to the face.
  4. Alice Mazzillo (47) - Sharon Mazzillo's mother. Shot in the face while on the phone with police.
  5. Regina Clemens (29) - Girlfriend of George Banks. Gunshot wound to the face.
  6. Montanzima Banks (6) - The daughter of Regina Clemens and George Banks. Gunshot wound to the heart.
  7. Susan Yuhas (23) - Girlfriend of George Banks, sister of Regina Clemens. Gunshot wound to the head.
  8. Boende Banks (4) - The son of Susan Yuhas and George Banks. Gunshot wound to the face.
  9. Mauritania Banks (20 months) - Daughter of Susan Yuhas and George Banks. Gunshot wound to the face.
  10. Dorothy Lyons (29) - Girlfriend of George Banks. Gunshot wound to the neck.
  11. Nancy Lyons (11) - Daughter of Dorothy Lyons. Gunshot would to the head.
  12. Foraroude Banks (1) - The son of Dorothy Lyons and George Banks. Gunshot wound to the head.
  13. Raymond F. Hall Jr. (24) - Bystander who had been attending a party across the street. Gunshot wound to the liver and kidney.


Survived:
  1. Keith Mazzillo (13) - Hid in a closet while he watched his mother Alice die due to a gunshot wound to the head.
  2. Angelo Vitale (10) - Hid under the bed where his mother Alice died.
  3. James Olsen (22) - Survived a gunshot wound to the chest.
  4. Unidentified Man that Banks car jacked at gun point.

History

On September 24, 1982 George Emil Banks went to bed at Schoolhouse Lane in Wilkes Barre Pennsylvania after taking a mixture of prescription drugs and straight gin. He awoke on September 25, 1982 when he picked up an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle and began what would turn out to be a 13 person killing spree. He began his killing spree by killing his girlfriend, former girlfriends, their families and children he had fathered with them. The ages of his victims ranged from 20 months to 47 years old. The dead were seven children and six adults.

George murdered his family in his own home first. He then dressed in military fatigues and made his way outside. Across the street, 22 year old Jimmy Olsen and 24 year old Ray Hall, Jr were exiting a home and the area when George Banks opened fire on them. It is said that he yelled that they would not tell anyone about this before he fired. Both men were struck. Mr. Olsen survived but Mr. Hall was killed. Banks drove off. He went to Heather Highlands mobile home park to the mobile home of his former girlfriend Sharon Mazzillo and their son Kissamayu. Banks forced his way in and shot Sharon. He then placed the gun to the sleeping child’s forehead and shot one shot killing the boy. Banks then killed Sharon’s mother and brother who were also in the home. Hiding in the closet was Sharon’s other brother whom Banks did not see. He was the only survivor and was able to identify Banks as the shooter.

Police discovered the victims at Heather Highlands mobile home park and made the connection between the Olsen and Hall shooting and the Heather Highlands shooting. The Schoolhouse Lane victims were then discovered. Police began search for Banks who abandoned his car and car jacked another vehicle. He abandoned that vehicle and drove around until he found a desolate area where he laid down in a grassy area and passed out.
Banks awoke and went to his mother’s house, also in Wilkes Barre. His mother is quoted as saying he was crying and smelled like liquor. It is stated that Banks told his mother that she had to take him where he wanted to go or there would be a shootout. When she asked what happened he said “It’s all over. I did it. I killed everyone.” She asked who he killed. He replied “I killed them all, Mom. I killed all the kids and girls. Regina, Sharon, them all.” Banks' mother called his home hoping that Banks was just drunk and rambling. When the police answered the phone Banks grabbed the phone and asked how the children were. The police, hoping to keep Banks on the phone, replied that they were alive. Banks screamed that they were lying and said “I know I killed them!” He hung up the phone, placed three 30-round clips and numerous other rounds of ammunition into a bag and went to a vacated rental house.

A standoff between Banks and police began. The police brought his mother and tried multiple tactics to get Banks to surrender including having a false news report played over WILK radio that the children were alive and needed blood to survive. The police tried to use this to draw Banks out of the standoff. Finally a former co-worker, Robert Brunson, of Banks was able to talk him out. It took 4 hours for the standoff to end.
As of September 30, 1982 Banks stood accused of 8 counts of murder, attempted murder, aggravated assault, recklessly endangering another person, stealing a car, robbery and theft.

On June 6, 1983 the trial for Banks began at the Luzerne County Courthouse in Wilkes Barre Pennsylvania. Banks insisted on testifying stating that he is not insane. The case consisted of multiple scene witnesses, Banks family members as well as Mr. Olsen identifying Banks as he person who shot him and left him for dead. Closing arguments took place on June 21, 1983. The jury found Banks guilty of 12 counts of first-degree murder, 1 count of third-degree murder, attempted murder, aggravated assault, and one 1 count each of robbery, theft, and endangering the life of another person. On June 22, 1983, Banks 41st Birthday, the jury recommended the death penalty for George Banks.
George Banks went to the maximum-security unit at Huntington until November 1985. He was then sent to the Correctional Institute at Graterford after the US Supreme Court refused to overturn his verdict.

From 1987 to 2000 Banks continued to appeal his case. The US Supreme Court refused to hear the argument regarding mental competency.
Then Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge twice signed the death warrant for Banks; however, both times appellate courts have stayed his execution.
In 2001, 2006 and 2008 there were hearings about the psychological state of Banks questioning if he could be executed. In 2011 he is still on death row in Pennsylvania although it is said he is now dying of cancer.

Timeline

  1. September 1982: George Banks is relieved of duty as a Camp Hill State Prison guard after a conflict with a supervisor, and is evaluated at a Harrisburg-area hospital for mental-health issues. A later evaluation in Luzerne County, where he lived, characterizes Banks as "filled with hate and anger at the world in general." On Sept. 25, Banks kills 13 people, including five of his children, at two houses in Wilkes-Barre and its suburbs.
  2. March 1983: A three-day hearing results in Banks' being ruled mentally competent to stand trial.
  3. June 1983: Trial testimony begins in Pittsburgh. Against his lawyers' advice, Banks testifies, saying police killed as many as nine of the victims. He is found guilty of killing 13 people, wounding a 14th, and other offenses. He receives 12 death sentences and one life sentence.
  4. November 1985: After Banks' county-level appeals are exhausted, a judge formally imposes the death penalties.
  5. February 1987: State Supreme Court upholds the verdicts.
  6. October 1987: U.S. Supreme Court declines to take up the case.
  7. February 1996: Gov. Tom Ridge signs Banks' death warrant. Banks later receives a stay of execution.
  8. August 1997: An appeal is argued before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.
  9. March 1999: Ridge signs another death warrant for Banks, and a federal judge issues another stay.
  10. October 2001: The Third Circuit reverses the death sentences based on wording of jury instructions.
  11. May 2002: Prison officials obtain a court order to force-feed Banks, who had gone more than 16 days on inadequate food and water.
  12. June 2002: U.S. Supreme Court sends the case back to the Third Circuit, which later upholds its previous ruling in Banks' favor. The case is sent back the U.S. Supreme Court.
  13. June 2004: U.S. Supreme Court rules against Banks.
  14. October 2004: Gov. Rendell signs Banks' death warrant.
  15. Dec. 1, 2004: State Supreme Court halts the execution and orders a county judge to determine whether Banks is mentally competent.

External links

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