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COVERING THE UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA SINCE 1901 VOL. 94 NO. 22 _
Bjorklund receives death sentence
By PoDra Jarwwn
Senior Reporter
Roger Bjorklund was sentenced to death
Tuesday for the 1992 first-degree murder of
UNL freshman Candice Harms.
Lancaster County District Court Judge
Donald Endacott delivered the death sentence
to a stoic Bjorklund before a crowded court
room.
He also sentenced Bjorklund to 6 2/3 years
to 20 years in prison, served consecutively to
the death sentence, for the use of a weapon to
commit a felony.
Bjorklund was convicted last November for
the first-degree murder of Harms and the use of
a weapon to commit a felony.
“It was a pitiless crime, an unnecessarily
torturous crime," Endacott said during the sen
tencing. “Candice Harms was completely and
absolutely at the mercy of her abductors and
tormentors.
“She was there only by a tragic twist of fate
that had placed her, instead of some other vul
nerable young woman, at the intersection of
27th and Vine when the hunters spotted their
unfortunate prey.”
Harms’ parents, Stan and Pat, and her boy
friend, Todd Sears, wiped tears from their eyes
throughout the hour-long sentencing. After the
sentence was delivered. Bjorklund's wife. Sh
annon. held her head in her hands as tears rolled
down her face.
Lancaster County Attorney Gary Lacey said
Endacott made the right decision in sentencing
Bjorklund to death.
“I asked for the death penalty, and I think I
was justified,” Lacey said. “If there is any case
that is appropriate, this is the case.”
Bjorklund's attorney. Chief Deputy Public
Defender Scott Hclvie, declined comment to
the Daily Nebraskan.
Reading from the lengthy sentencing order.
Endacott said the court was justified imposing
the death penalty instead of life in prison.
Endacott said the court must consider three
factors before imposing the death sentence:
• Whether sufficient aggravating circum
stances exist to justify imposition of a death
sentence.
• Whether sufficient mitigating circum
stances exist that approach or exceed the weight
given to the aggravating circumstances.
• Whether the sentence of death is excessive
or disproportionate to the penalty imposed in
similar cases, considering both the crime and
the defendant.
Endacott said the court determined beyond a
See BJORKLUND on 3
^-1
» - - _ _
Gerik Parmele/DN
Stan Hams, right, looks at Ms wlfo, Pat, and Todd Soars aftor reading a statement at the County-City Building Tuesday.
Roger Bjorki^nd was sentenced to death for the murder of Harms’ daughter, Candice.
Inside
■ Roger Bjorklund was moved to death
row at the Nebraska State Penitentiary
Tuesday. Bjorklund may go through an
eight-step appeal process before he is
executed.
■ Four members of the jury that con
victed Bjorklund of first-degree murder in
November 1993 traveled to Lincoln from
Cheyenne County Tuesday to witness
Bjorklund’s sentencing.
See Dally Nebraskan team coverage on
Page 3.
Bjorklund
should die,
Harms says
ByMatthew Waite
Senior Reporter
On Sepl. 22. 1992. Roger Bjorklund and
Scott Barney sentenced Candice Harms to death
for being a “sweet, innocent young girl,” her
father said Tuesday.
Two years later. Lancaster County District
Court Judge Donald Endacott sentenced
Bjorklund to death for Harms' murder.
But for Stan and Pat Harms — the parents of
the University of Nebraska-Lincoln freshman
who was abducted, raped and murdered — the
road to justice is only half traveled.
After Bjorklund's sentencing hearing. Stan
Harms spoke to more than 20 members of the
media outside the same courtroom where
Bjorklund had appeared during a four-week
trial and had been convicted of the murder.
Stan Harms read from a prepared statement
as his wife. Pat, tried to keep microphones and
cameras at a comfortable distance.
Death is a just sentence for what Bjorklund
did to his daughter. Stan Harms said.
For the three months that Candice was miss
ing. he said, the family was in anguish — not
knowing whether she was alive or dead
“Her naked, tortured body was left for dead
in a field.'' Stan Harms said.
He said that during her disappearance, the
city of Lincoln and the state of Nebraska were
heid hostage with fear.
After a confession from Barney, who was
sentenced to life in prison in June, the mystery
of her disappearance ended.
See HARMS on 6
- I
UPC vote on compromise ends ASUN feud
By Brian Sharp
Senior Reporter
Members of the University Pro
gram Council voted without dis
cussion Tuesday night to end their
five-month control feud with the
student government.
In a 11-2 vote, they approved a
compromise written Sept. 9 by Lia
Jensen of UPC and Andrew Loudon
of the Association of Students of
the University of Nebraska.
Both presidents had to put the
agreement before their respective
groups. ASUN will begin discus
sion tonight.
The compromise sets up a six
■—:- member com
mittee that will
select UPC ex
ecutives. Mem
bers will be
split between
UPC and
ASUN, with
three students
coming from
each group.
The dispute
began last spring when ASUN
passed a bylaw change that set up a
committee to select UPC execu
tives and event directors.
JL
The council protested the change
and rejected it during the summer
because the ratio of ASUN mem
bers to UPC members was two to
one. ASUN then filed a petition in
student court.
Jensen said Tuesday's vote, done
by secret ballot, was good for UPC.
The absence of debate among UPC
members, however, was a surprise,
she said.
“I was anticipating that there
might be more verbal discussion,"
she said. "I was afraid that people
wouldn't accept the compromise.”
Jensen said most members just
needed clarification about the con
7 was anticipating
that there might be
more verbal
discussion. ”
■
LIA JENSEN
UPC president
flict because everything happened
so quickly last spring.
Once they realized what the com
promise meant and that it wasn't as
harmful lo UPC as the bylaw'
change, there was little opposition.
Jensen said
“(The vote) shows that most of
the people trust what Andrew and I
have done.” she said.
A two-thirds vote was needed
for UPC to pass the issue, she said
It will now become an amendment
to the UPC constitution. Filing the
constitution with ASUN is the only
action left for UPC. she said.
If approved by ASUN, the
change would take effect in No
vember, she said. Under the com
promise. UPC will retain the right
to select event directors.