Suzanne Basso

Suzanne Margaret "Sue" Basso (née Burns; May 15, 1954 – February 5, 2014) was an American woman who was one of six co-defendants convicted in the August 1998 torture and murder of 59 year-old Louis "Buddy" Musso, a mentally disabled man who was killed for his life insurance money.^[4] She was sentenced to death in October 1999. Basso was executed by lethal injection on February 5, 2014.^[5] Prior to her execution, Basso had been held at the Mountain View Unit in Gatesville, Texas, where all of the state's female death row inmates are incarcerated.^[4] At the time of the crime, Basso lived in Jacinto City, Texas, a Houston suburb.^[6][7]

Suzanne Basso
Born	Suzanne Margaret Burns (1954-05-15)May 15, 1954 Schenectady, New York, U.S.
Died	February 5, 2014(2014-02-05) (aged 59) Huntsville Unit, Huntsville, Texas, U.S.
Cause of death	Execution by lethal injection
Other names	Suzanne Margaret Anne Cassandra Lynne Theresa Marie Veronica Sue Burns-Standlinslowski Sue Peek Suzanne O'Malley
Occupation(s)	Apartment complex security guard, seamstress^[2]
Criminal status	Executed
Spouse(s)	James O'Malley (born James David Peek)^[3]
Children	Christianna Hardy (born as Mary Anne Margaret Peek) James David "J.D." O'Malley Jr. (born as Harold John Peek)^[3]
Motive	Life insurance proceeds
Conviction(s)	Capital murder (August 27, 1999)
Criminal penalty	Death (October 28, 1999)
Partner(s)	Carmine Basso (cohabiting boyfriend)^[1]
Details
Victims	1
Date	August 25, 1998

Background

Suzanne Margaret Burns was born on May 15, 1954, to a family from Schenectady, New York. She was one of eight children born to Florence (née Garrow) and John Richard Burns. Her mother was the elder sister of spree killer and rapist Robert Garrow. Burns was the youngest of three girls in the family.^[8] She was physically and sexually abused as a child. One story among the family is that when Florence caught her daughter with a pack of cigarettes, instead of making her smoke one, she made her eat them.^[9]

Burns married a Marine named James Peek in the early 1970s. Her name became "Sue Peek" as a result of her marriage. The Peeks had two children - a daughter born in 1973 and a son was born in 1974. James Peek was arrested in 1982 for molesting his daughter and was convicted of taking indecent liberties with a child. In the early 1990s, the couple and the children moved into a residence in Houston. The family changed their surname to "O'Malley" and adopted an Irish-American identity.^[8] While in Houston she sometimes worked as a security guard in an apartment complex.^[10]

In 1993, Peek became romantically involved with a New Jersey man named Carmine Basso, who owned a company called Latin Security and Investigations Corp. She never divorced Peek, so was unable to marry Basso, who moved into her residence. Peek stayed in the house for a period before moving to another residence in Houston. Despite being unable to marry Basso, she changed her surname to "Basso" and began referring to Carmine as her husband. He died in 1997.^[10]

Victim

Louis Charles "Buddy" Musso (March 26, 1939 – August 25, 1998)^[11] had been married previously and had a son with his wife, who died of cancer in 1980. In 1997, Musso was living in an assisted living house in Cliffside Park, New Jersey, near New York City, and worked as a bagger at a ShopRite store. At age 58, he met Suzanne Basso, who was 43 at the time, at a church bazaar near his house. They started a long-distance relationship and he planned to move to Texas with Basso. He moved to the Houston area on June 14, 1998.^[12]

Murder

Musso's murder took place 16 days after his arrival at the Basso residence.^[13] The perpetrators included Basso; her son James O'Malley; Bernice Ahrens Miller and her children, Craig and Hope Ahrens; and Hope's fiancé, Terence Singleton.^[14] The perpetrators forced Musso to do chores for them^[14] and he had injuries before his murder took place.^[15] According to O'Malley, Musso was killed at Miller's apartment, where he was beaten and burned with cigarettes as he sat on a child's play mat. The group also used a wire brush on him, then put him in a bathtub that was filled with kitchen cleaner and bleach. They put clothes on Musso's body before leaving it in Galena Park, Texas.^[14] A jogger found the body and called police. The Galena Park Police Department ruled that Musso's death was due to "multiple blunt impact trauma."^[13]

Trial, sentencing, and death

 

Mountain View Unit, where Basso was held

 

Huntsville Unit, the site of her execution

Mary Lou Keel, a Texas district judge, established that most of the suspects would get individual trials. The prosecutors were Colleen Barnett and Denise Nassar. The trial of O'Malley was scheduled to begin on April 13, 1999. Craig Ahrens' trial was scheduled to begin later that month. Miller and Singleton were to be tried together during a trial beginning in May. The trial for Hope Ahrens was scheduled for June. The final trial, that of Basso, was scheduled for July.^[16]

O'Malley was convicted of capital murder and received a life sentence. Miller was convicted of murder and received 80 years in prison. Craig Ahrens was convicted of murder and received 60 years in prison. Singleton was convicted of capital murder and received a life sentence.^[16] The trial of Hope Ahrens resulted in a hung jury, but she took a plea deal in exchange for testifying against Basso.^[17] She received a 20-year sentence and has since been released from prison.^[18] Suzanne Basso was convicted and sentenced to death.^[19] Basso was held at the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) Mountain View Unit in Gatesville while on death row.^[20]

Since Texas no longer serves last meal requests on death row, Basso ate regular prison fare of baked chicken, fish, boiled eggs, carrots, green beans, and sliced bread. She was executed on February 5, 2014, at the Huntsville Unit of the TDCJ. When asked if she had a last statement, she replied to the prison warden, "No, sir." She was pronounced dead at 6:26 p.m. CST, 11 minutes after a lethal dose of the drug pentobarbital was administered.^[21]

As of 2015^[update], the other perpetrators are incarcerated at these prisons:

• James O'Malley: Hodge Unit^[22]
• Bernice Ahrens: Hobby Unit^[23]
• Craig Ahrens: Ferguson Unit^[24]
• Hope Ahrens: Lockhart Unit^[25]
• Terence Singleton: Ferguson Unit^[26]

Statistics

As a result of the 1976 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Gregg v. Georgia, capital punishment was reinstated in the United States. With her execution, Basso became:^[27]

• the 14th woman executed in the U.S. since 1976^[28]
• the seventh murderer executed in the U.S. in 2014
• the 1,366th murderer executed in the U.S. since 1976
• the second murderer executed in Texas in 2014
• the 510th murderer executed in Texas since 1976

See also

• Capital punishment in Texas
• List of people executed in Texas, 2010–2019
• List of people executed in the United States in 2014
• List of women executed in the United States since 1976

References

1. A New Squeeze — Sue Basso traps mentally handicapped man so she can use him as a slave and kill him for insurance. — Crime Library 2014-02-22 at the Wayback Machine
2. "Stomping killer competent to be executed, judge rules". Chron.com. 16 January 2014. Retrieved 2014-02-05.
3. A Deviant Life — Sue Basso traps mentally handicapped man so she can use him as slave and kill him for insurance. — Crime Library 2014-02-22 at the Wayback Machine
4. "Sue Basso".
5. "Woman Condemned: Suzanne Margaret Basso".
6. Krajicek, David. . Crimelibrary.com. Archived from the original on 2014-02-22. Retrieved 2014-02-05.
7. MICHAEL GRACZYK Associated Press. "Woman Set to Be Executed in Texas for 1998 Killing". Abcnews.go.com. Retrieved 2014-02-05.
8. Krajicek , David. "A Deviant Life 2014-02-22 at the Wayback Machine." Suzanne Basso and the Murder of Louis 'Buddy' Musso. Crime Library. Retrieved on March 3, 2014.
9. "Basso's daughter tells of abuseby mother now on death row". groups.google.com. Retrieved 2022-03-09.
10. Krajicek, David. "A New Squeeze 2014-02-22 at the Wayback Machine." Suzanne Basso and the Murder of Louis 'Buddy' Musso. Crime Library. Retrieved on March 3, 2014.
11. "Louis Charles "Buddy" Musso (1939-1998) - Find A". Find a Grave.
12. Krajicek, David. "." Suzanne Basso and the Murder of Louis 'Buddy' Musso. Crime Library. Retrieved on March 3, 2014.
13. Krajicek, David. "Suzanne Basso and the Murder of Louis 'Buddy' Musso 2014-02-25 at the Wayback Machine." Suzanne Basso and the Murder of Louis 'Buddy' Musso. Crime Library. Retrieved on March 3, 2014.
14. Krajicek, David. "Bozo Confesses 2014-03-03 at the Wayback Machine." Suzanne Basso and the Murder of Louis 'Buddy' Musso. Crime Library. Retrieved on March 3, 2014.
15. Krajicek, David. "Cries for Help 2014-03-02 at the Wayback Machine." Suzanne Basso and the Murder of Louis 'Buddy' Musso. Crime Library. Retrieved on March 3, 2014.
16. Krajicek, David. "Fingerpointing at Trial 2014-03-03 at the Wayback Machine." Suzanne Basso and the Murder of Louis 'Buddy' Musso. Crime Library. Retrieved on March 3, 2014.
17. Krajicek, David. "A Hung Jury 2014-02-25 at the Wayback Machine." Suzanne Basso and the Murder of Louis 'Buddy' Musso. Crime Library. Retrieved on March 3, 2014.
18. Krajicek, David. "On Death Row 2014-02-25 at the Wayback Machine." Suzanne Basso and the Murder of Louis 'Buddy' Musso. Crime Library. Retrieved on March 3, 2014.
19. Krajicek, David. "The Jail Cell Diet 2014-02-25 at the Wayback Machine." Suzanne Basso and the Murder of Louis 'Buddy' Musso. Crime Library. Retrieved on March 3, 2014.
20. "Death Row Facts 2009-08-06 at the Wayback Machine." Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Retrieved on May 6, 2010.
21. "Texas executes woman for 1998 torture killings". CBS News. February 6, 2014. Retrieved April 28, 2021.
22. "O'Malley, James David" (). Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Retrieved on January 20, 2016.
23. "Ahrens, Bernice" (). Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Retrieved on December 28, 2015.
24. "Ahrens, Craig" (). Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Retrieved on December 28, 2015.
25. "Ahrens, Hope" (). Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Retrieved on December 28, 2015.
26. "Singleton Terence Jermaine" (). Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Retrieved on December 28, 2015.
27. The Clark County Prosecuting Attorney – The Death Penalty – #1366: Suzanne Margaret Basso
28. "Woman executed in Texas for 1998 torture killing". The Washington Post. February 5, 2014. Archived from the original on February 6, 2014. Retrieved February 6, 2014.

Further reading

Media releases:

• . Texas Attorney General. 2014-02-03. Archived from the original on 2014-02-28.

Legal documents:

• "" (Archive)

Newspaper articles: (Houston Chronicle articles are available from the Houston Public Library, accessible with a library card 2013-09-07 at the Wayback Machine)

• Rendon, Ruth. "6 charged in death of mentally impaired man; police say broken ornament led to fatal beating." Houston Chronicle. August 28, 1998.
• Crocker, Ronnie and Kevin Moran. "Inquiry grows as beating-death case takes odd twist; suspect was featured in bogus wedding ad." Houston Chronicle, August 29, 1998.
• Mosk, Matthew. "A Lonely Man's Betrayal and Death." Bergen Record. August 30, 1998. See clipping from Newspapers.com
• Crocker, Ronnie and Ruth Rendon. "Suspect's life packed with eccentricities; Sue Basso, held in killing, has left a long, strange trail." Houston Chronicle. September 6, 1998.
• Rendon, Ruth. "Slaying possibly tied to insurance' victim's policy paid off extra if he died from violent crime." Houston Chronicle. September 17, 1998.
• Brewer, Steve. "Prosecutors weigh death penalty in savage beating case." Houston Chronicle. December 10, 1998.
• Brewer, Steve. "Prosecutor tells of torture, false lure of love." Houston Chronicle. April 16, 1999
• Brewer, Steve. "Defendant tries to blame mother for his role in man's death." Houston Chronicle. April 20, 1999
• Brewer, Steve. "Mother, son tried to downplay their roles in torture, killing." Houston Chronicle. May 6, 1999
• Brewer, Steve. "Mother, son sentenced for murder; jury delivers long terms in torture-slaying case." Houston Chronicle, May 11, 1999.
• Brewer, Steve. "Suspect in fatal torture case puts most of blame on others." Houston Chronicle. May 15, 1999.
• "." The Buffalo News. May 21, 1999.
• Brewer, Steve. "Dispatcher says slaying suspect wasn't remorseful when confessing." Houston Chronicle. June 9, 1999.
• Brewer, Steve. "Witnesses in Basso murder trial say victim refused offers of help." Houston Chronicle. August 19, 1999.
• Brewer, Steve. "Basso admitted role in beatings, jury told." Houston Chronicle. August 20, 1999.
• Brewer, Steve. "Victim's handwritten plea for help read to jury in Basso murder trial." Houston Chronicle. August 25, 1999.
• Brewer, Steve. "Convicted murderer abuses her kids, preys on weak, jurors told." Houston Chronicle. August 31, 1999.
• Brewer, Steve. "Basso weeps at hearing death sentence; daughter cries tears of joy over punishment in mother's plot to kill." Houston Chronicle. September 2, 1999.
• McGraw, Seamus. "." Bergen Record. September 3, 1999. Available at HighBeam Research. Clipping at Newspapers.com.
• Brewer, Steve. "Childhood of Indignities: Basso's daughter tells of abuse by her mother." Houston Chronicle. September 5, 1999.
• Zuniga, Jo Ann. "Woman pleads guilty, gets 20 years in Musso murder." Houston Chronicle. October 29, 1999.
• Turner, Allan. "Courts reject 3 Suzanne Basso appeals as death date approaches." Houston Chronicle. Monday February 3, 2014.
• Graczyk, Michael. "." Associated Press. February 5, 2014. Available at HighBeam Research.