NEW ORLEANS — A local law professor breaks down the lengthy legal battle ahead for Daniel Callihan, who was arrested in Jackson Miss., and shockingly confessed to the murder of a young child while our cameras were rolling on Friday.
But despite his confession, investigators said the motive is still unclear. Our Whitney Miller asked a Loyola law professor, Dane Ciolino, what he makes of the case.
“It is as egregious a murder case as you can imagine," Ciolino said. "And it is one that is death-eligible. Certainly, in Mississippi and certainly at the federal level.”
Callihan, 36, blamed a medication used to treat mental mood disorders as the reason why Callie Brunett and her young daughter Erin are dead, "I did it", he said while he was being escorted from a police station in Jackson, Miss.
This comes after 35-year-old Callie Brunett was found dead in her home in Loranger Thursday and her two young children were missing. An amber alert was sent out and hours later, the children were found in Jackson, MS, one of them dead.
Now, he faces a capital murder charge.
Friday the Tangipahoa Sheriff's Office told our cameras they have a strong case. Ciolino said that based on the confession from Callihan, a defense attorney will have a hard time trying this case in court.
“That clearly will be all that his defense lawyers will have to work with is that either he was insane at the time of committing these offenses and thus should be not guilty by reason of insanity or even if he is guilty his impaired mental condition could be a mitigating factor. Mitigating against a death sentence and in favor of a life sentence," Ciolino explained.
Friday Callihan said he welcomes the death penalty, "For what I did, lethal injection is the easiest thing for me."
“If a defendant has done a heinous act, has brutally murdered an innocent victim and he wants the death penalty. It's often not hard to find a jury to give him what he wants," Ciolino said.
Callihan's alleged accomplice Victoria Cox was also arrested on Friday, but unlike Callihan, she did not speak to reporters.
Cox's involvement in this is unclear at the moment, but TPSO said she was with Callihan and the two young girls sometime on Wednesday.
Callihan will be held at Rankin County Jail while Cox will be at Raymond. Both Callihan and Cox are being charged with capital murder and sexual battery.
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