Serial Killer Michael Madison Attacked By Father Of One Of His Victims Soon After Being Sentenced To Death


Serial Killer Michael Madison was attacked Thursday in a Cleveland courtroom by the grieving father of one of his victims.

Van Terry, 36, whose daughter was murdered by Madison along with two others, leaped across a courtroom table in an attempt to get at the man who was convicted of the murders last month, according to reports.

Van Terry was at the victim-impact hearing and was poised to deliver his statement when the 38-year-old defendant smiled at Terry. The apparent disregard for Terry’s feelings sent the grieving father into a rage that took the force of several deputies to hold him off.

The incident took place soon after the judge sentenced Madison to death for the slayings of Terry’s daughter Shirellda Terry, 18, Shetisha Sheeley, 28, and Angela Deskins, 38, over the span of several months in 2012 and 2013, the Associate Press reports.

Terry managed to make it across the table and nearly had Michael Madison in his grasp when he was quickly detained by sheriff’s deputies in the courtroom, giving Madison and his lawyers time to move out of the way.

Video footage obtained by KTLA shows the tense moment when Terry lunges at Madison, who seems unfazed by the situation and even manages to smirk at the grieving dad.

According to the Associated Press, Terry was removed from the courtroom, and a spokesman for the Cuyahoga County prosecutor told the news organization that the incident is currently under review. The hearing continued after a 15-minute delay, the AP reports.

According to Cleveland.com, Cuyahoga Common Pleas Judge Nancy R. McDonnell sentenced Michael Madison to death, her first ever death sentence in over 20 years on the bench, on the recommendation of the jury that found Madison guilty last month.

The saga began in Cleveland nearly three years ago, when three rotting corpses were discovered behind Madison’s apartment.

Investigators determined that Madison met the three women in separate incidents and lured them back to his apartment, where he strangled them.

Madison reportedly stored the bodies in garbage bags and within view. One was kept in his garage, another in bushes outside his apartment, and the third in the basement of a vacant home nearby. Touted as a “trophy Keeper” in the vein of Cleveland serial killer Anthony Sowell by Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Timothy J. McGinty, Madison could see all three bodies from the second-floor balcony of his apartment.

Other relatives of the victims spoke Thursday on the loss incurred by the murder of their loved ones by Michael Madison.

Linda Deskins, the stepmother of Angela Deskins, spoke about the grief that Angela’s father has endured.

“Nothing anyone can say or do can make it better for him,” Linda Deskins said.

Michael Madison’s attorneys never tried to prove his innocence. Instead, they focused on proving that his actions were the result of psychological damage from years of physical abuse as a youngster by his drug-addicted mother, a stepfather, some of his mother’s boyfriends and other family members.

“This history of abuse and his dysfunctional upbringing certainly doesn’t excuse what happened here but certainly provides a basis for understanding the type of person Michael Madison evolved into,” Grant told the judge Thursday.

It will be years before Michael Madison is put to death, with appeals already underway.

[Photo by David Richard/AP Images]

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