The Nation - News from April 14, 1987

A federal magistrate recommended denial of a petition seeking freedom for Roswell Gilbert, the 77-year-old Florida man convicted of killing his ailing wife, Emily, 72. The recommendation by U.S. Magistrate William C. Turnoff now goes to a U.S. District judge, who will issue a formal ruling. Gilbert had claimed his constitutional rights were abridged when the prosecutor did not pursue the death penalty, thus depriving his attorneys a chance to argue mitigating circumstances. Gilbert received a life sentence in 1985. Turnoff said Gilbert had not exhausted his appeals in Florida courts.