Life And Death Decision

The investigation of the death of Nicole Dematt and then the murder trial of Patrick McIntyre were to change the lives of his entire immediate family.

Molly McIntyre remembers her son Patrick as an intelligent, sensitive child - proud of his mother, the cop. He would brag to guests, for example, of his mother catching an armed robber at a gun store.

But then he faced death in the electric chair.

"I can't go from this innocent child yet, in my own mind, to this cold-blooded killer who almost killed his brother," Molly McIntyre says.

Though the defendant was not going to testify, the jury was promised a detailed account in his own words of how he killed Nicole Damatt, thanks to a very incriminating statement he made at the urging of his own mother.

His mother didn't have to persuade him. "No, he broke down and cried like a baby," she recalls.

He was still crying when he told police what happened that night.

Sgt. Dan Cook says he used an ordinary kitchen knife to gain entry to the apartment.

The recorded confession went like this: Although he could not explain why he was there, Patrick McIntyre remembered what woke Nicole Damatt.

"I heard the dog start to growl, so I tried to hurt the dog, and that's when Nicole got up," said Patrick McIntyre.

Asked Cook: "Did she recognize you?"

Patrick McIntyre: "Um hmm."

Damatt fought for her life. "She kept fighting so I grabbed something. I wrapped it around her neck," said Patrick McIntyre.

Asked Cook: "OK, what happened then, Patrick?"

"She's still struggling and kicking. I just held there until she stopped moving," Patrick McIntyre said.

Then Patrick McIntyre started a fire.

And with his brother Todd asleep downstairs, he left.

He essentially built a fire around her body.

Says Cook: "It was a miracle that Todd got out. It was a miracle that he woke up."

Although he never gave a reason for killing Damatt, the confession of Patrick McIntyre all but guaranteed a conviction.

And Molly McIntyre strongly believes she did the right thing. "There was no question in my mind. There wasn't; there was no choice. There wasn't anything I could do," she says.

Did she ever question her son about his actions?

"No. no. I've never even heard his confession," says his mother. And she doesn't think she wants to.

On the stand, Molly McIntyre declared: "I told him I want to save his life to try to keep him from the electric chair."

She was put to a test that few parents will ever have to face: testifying against her own son in a murder trial.

When she took the stand, Patrick McIntyre turned away. He was no longer talking to his family.

So on what side was Molly McIntyre in this trial?

"I was on the side of truth," she says. "That was the side that Patrick McIntyre needed to be convicted of this crime."

And that is what happeed. The defendant was found guilty of first-degree murder.

During sentencing, judges usually follow the recommendation of the jury. In this case, the jury had but two choices: a life sentence without parole or death in the electric chair.

The mother so crucial in getting her son convicted had one desperate chance to persuade the jurors to spare his life.

"That's my son. That's my baby. I love him and nothing will ever change that," she says. "He didn't have a parent."

She began with a confession of her own: She blamed herself for putting in too many grueling hours at work and neglecting her own children.

"He didn't have someone that would come home at night and help him with his homework and nurture his mind," she said at the trial.

That's a very hard thing for a mother to say about her job of bringing up her kids.

"Pretending like I had no part in this as his mother, it would be a complete miscarriage of justice," Molly McIntyre says.

She begged the jurors for compassion.

Her speech in court: "Tell the truth. You're supposed to take that into consideration if you do the right thing. And he did the right thing. He's a good man; he did a horrible thing but he's a good man. And I don't think you should take away his life from him."

"He's not going to hurt anyone else. But maybe he could give something back. But he can't if you kill him. You can't kill my son," she continued.

After Molly McIntyre's dramatic plea, the jury began deliberations. A simple majority was all that would be needed to condemn Patrick McIntyre to death.

Waiting for that recommendation to come through "was the most horrible, horrible feeling in my life," recalls Molly McIntyre. "It's one of those dark, dark walls that I don't ever want to look beyond."

After two hours, the jury reached a decision.

The jury recommended that the court impose a sentence of life in prison for the defendant - without the possibility of parole.

Patrick McIntyre is to spend the rest of his life behind bars.

His mother has put a lot of people in prison and that frightens her. "I'm concerned about his safety," says Molly McIntyre.

And her son will be in prison forever. "I can sit here, and I can intellectualize that thought," says Molly McIntyre. "It's like when someone has died, in a lot of ways; it takes time."

She has no regrets about her actions, however. "I only did what I thought was best," she asserts.

For Nicole Damatt's mother, Dee Perry, the trial had a bitter outcome. "The jury didn't hear my side of anything," she says.

"He should have the death penalty. He took my daughter's life," Perry adds. "He choked her to death; he burned her face and her hands off. You know, why should he live?"

Now Molly McIntyre no longer works as a cop.

"I could never look at another child, or another crime scene, or anothevictim and not see my son's face," she says.

She has suffered severe emotional problems. "I'm hiding. Isolating is what they call it, really," she says.

Molly McIntyre spends a lot of time alone. "I've needed to withdraw into myself in a lot of respects, to get strength, to rebuild strength," she explains.

Two years after Todd McIntyre's life was abruptly disrupted, he says he's back on track and closer to his mother than ever. But Patrick McIntyre is never far from their thoughts.

"I was being investigated for murder," Todd McIntyre recalls of the early stages of the criminal case. "I couldn't stay focused at work. Business is business, so I was let go."

After a period of not talking, Molly McIntyre and Patrick McIntyre have reconciled and she visits him in prison.

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