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Man gets death sentencefor post-Sept. 11 killing

A man was sentenced to death for killing an Indian immigrant during a shooting rampage four days after the Sept. 11 attacks.

Frank Silva Roque was convicted of murder last week in the death of Mesa gas station owner Balbir Singh Sodhi, whom prosecutors said was targeted because Roque thought the victim was Arab. Sodhi wore a turban and beard as part of his Sikh faith.

Sodhi's brother, Lakhwinder Singh Sodhi, said the jury that sentenced Roque on Thursday had done right by the victim's family.

"This jury came with a verdict of the truth," Lakhwinder Sodhi said. "We showed a whole world this is the country of justice."

Sodhi's death on Sept. 15, 2001, touched off protests in India and prompted India's prime minister to call US President George W. Bush. About 3,000 people also attended a memorial service for Sodhi at the Phoenix Civic Plaza shortly after he was killed.

During Roque's trial, defense attorneys argued that their client suffered from a mental illness and that the terrorist attacks triggered an episode of insanity.

The attorneys used a guilty-but-insane defense, which, if successful, could have spared Roque prison time and instead forced him into a mental hospital. Prosecutors argued that Roque was motivated by anger and racial hatred.

"I'm pleased to see they [jurors] were able to see through the guise of mental illness," said prosecutor Vince Imbordino.

Roque was also convicted of attempted first-degree murder, drive-by shooting and endangerment in the shooting spree that followed Sodhi's murder outside his gas station.

Roque shot at another gas station where the clerk was a man of Lebanese descent, and shot at the home of an Afghan family. They weren't injured.
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