Suzanne Basso

Suzanne Margaret "Sue" Basso ( 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. She was sentenced to death in October 1999. Basso was executed by lethal injection on February 5, 2014. Prior to her execution, Basso had been held at the Mountain View Unit (now Patrick O'Daniel Unit) in Gatesville, Texas, where all of the state's female death row inmates are incarcerated. At the time of the crime, Basso lived in Jacinto City, Texas, a Houston suburb.

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.Krajicek, David. "A Deviant Life ." Suzanne Basso and the Murder of Louis 'Buddy' Musso. Crime Library. Retrieved on March 3, 2014. 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 them, she made her eat them.

Burns married a Marine named James Peek in the early 1970s. 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. While in Houston she sometimes worked as a security guard in an apartment complex.Krajicek, David. "A New Squeeze ." Suzanne Basso and the Murder of Louis 'Buddy' Musso. Crime Library. Retrieved on March 3, 2014.

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.

Victim Louis Charles "Buddy" Musso 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.Krajicek, David. "Falling in Love." Suzanne Basso and the Murder of Louis 'Buddy' Musso. Crime Library. Retrieved on March 3, 2014.

Murder Musso's murder took place 16 days after his arrival at the Basso residence.Krajicek, David. "Suzanne Basso and the Murder of Louis 'Buddy' Musso ." Suzanne Basso and the Murder of Louis 'Buddy' Musso. Crime Library. Retrieved on March 3, 2014. 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. The perpetrators forced Musso to do chores for themKrajicek, David. "Bozo Confesses ." Suzanne Basso and the Murder of Louis 'Buddy' Musso. Crime Library. Retrieved on March 3, 2014. and he had injuries before his murder took place.Krajicek, David. "Cries for Help ." Suzanne Basso and the Murder of Louis 'Buddy' Musso. Crime Library. Retrieved on March 3, 2014. 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 him in Galena Park, Texas. 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."

Trial, sentencing, and death

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.Krajicek, David. "Fingerpointing at Trial ." Suzanne Basso and the Murder of Louis 'Buddy' Musso. Crime Library. Retrieved on March 3, 2014.

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. The trial of Hope Ahrens resulted in a hung jury, but she took a plea deal in exchange for testifying against Basso.Krajicek, David. "A Hung Jury ." Suzanne Basso and the Murder of Louis 'Buddy' Musso. Crime Library. Retrieved on March 3, 2014. She received a 20-year sentence and has since been released from prison.Krajicek, David. "On Death Row ." Suzanne Basso and the Murder of Louis 'Buddy' Musso. Crime Library. Retrieved on March 3, 2014. Suzanne Basso was convicted and sentenced to death.Krajicek, David. "The Jail Cell Diet ." Suzanne Basso and the Murder of Louis 'Buddy' Musso. Crime Library. Retrieved on March 3, 2014. Basso was held at the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) Mountain View Unit (now Patrick O'Daniel Unit) in Gatesville while on death row."Death Row Facts ." Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Retrieved on May 6, 2010.

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.

, the other perpetrators are incarcerated at these prisons: James O'Malley: Hodge Unit"O'Malley, James David" (Archive). Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Retrieved on January 20, 2016. Bernice Ahrens: Hobby Unit"Ahrens, Bernice" (Archive). Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Retrieved on December 28, 2015. Craig Ahrens: Ferguson Unit"Ahrens, Craig" (Archive). Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Retrieved on December 28, 2015. Hope Ahrens: Lockhart Unit"Ahrens, Hope" (Archive). Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Retrieved on December 28, 2015. Terence Singleton: Ferguson Unit"Singleton Terence Jermaine" (Archive). Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Retrieved on December 28, 2015.

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

Suzanne Basso

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