Teresa Lewis, a borderline mentally retarded woman charged with "masterminding" the murder of her husband and stepson in 2002, is slated to be the first woman in almost a century to be executed in Virginia this month.
Lewis, 40, pleaded guilty to hiring two men, Matthew Shallenberger and Rodney Fuller, to murder her husband and stepson so that she could collect a $350,000 life insurance policy. Both triggermen were handed life sentences, but Judge Charles Strauss gave Lewis the death penalty, reasoning that she was "clearly the head of this serpent."
Since the 2002 verdict, new evidence about Lewis and the gunmen has emerged that raises questions about whether she was fairly sentenced and whether, after already having lost one appeal, the Supreme Court should reopen her case. Lewis took two IQ tests after the trial, one by her own expert and one by the state's expert, and she scored 73 and 70 on them, respectively. An intelligence quotient below 70 qualifies as mentally retarded according to the Supreme Court, and Lewis' tests placed her in the "borderline intellectual functioning" zone.
Three different forensic psychology experts also testified that Lewis had "dependent personality disorder," making it difficult for her to carry out functions as simple as making a grocery list without the support of another person.
And in 2003, Shallenberger wrote in a letter to a fellow inmate that he had deliberately manipulated Lewis into going along with his plan because he needed the money to start a drug business in New York City.
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