of venue, DNA evidence from murdered victims, and jury selection. His trial began in September 1996. In opening arguments, prosecutor Marsha Goodnow argued for the death penalty. At the same time defense attorney Isabel Day asked for a life sentence, arguing that Wallace suffered from mental illness, and that the killings were not first-degree murder because they did not result from "premeditation and deliberation." According to FBI serial murder profiler Robert Ressler: "If he elected to become a serial killer, he was going about it wrong way... Mr. Wallace always seemed to take one step forward and two steps back. He would take items and put them in the stove to destroy them by burning them and then forget to turn the stove on." In 1994 police had asked the FBI for assistance, but the FBI said that the murders were not the work of a serial killer. Psychologist Faye Sultan testified during the trial that Wallace had been a victim of physical and mental abuse at the hands of his mother since birth and that he had a mental illness at the time of the killings. Sultan argued for a life sentence without parole instead of the death penalty. On January 7, 1997, Wallace was found guilty of nine murders. On January 29, he was handed nine death sentences. Following his sentencing, Wallace made a statement to his victims' families. "None of these women, none of your daughters, mothers, sisters, or family members in any way deserved what they got. They did nothing to me that warranted their death." On death row On June 5, 1998, Wallace married a former prison nurse, Rebecca Torrijas, in a ceremony next to the state's execution chamber. Mecklenburg County public defender Isabel Day served as an official witness and photographer. Also attending was the manager of the Death Row unit at the prison. Since being sentenced to death in 1997, Wallace has appealed to overturn the death sentences, stating that his confessions were coerced and his constitutional rights were violated in the process. The North Carolina Supreme Court upheld the sentences in 2000. The U.S. Supreme Court in 2001 denied his appeal. In 2005, Superior Court Judge Charles Lamm rejected Wallace's latest appeal to overturn his convictions and death sentences. See also List of serial killers in the United States List of serial killers by number of victims References Other sources Various Newspaper