- August 4, 2001

Talk of Vengeance at Arraignment in Murders

By KATHERINE E. FINKELSTEINFrances Roberts for The New York TimesPhilip King, whose son, Stephen, was among three people killed above the Carnegie Deli, has urged prosecutors to seek the death penalty. But Stephen's mother said her ex-husband "speaks only for himself."He has been an image on a surveillance camera, a suspect, a fugitive, then a prisoner in Florida's custody. And yesterday, Joseph Sean Salley, 29, became a New York defendant arraigned in Manhattan on charges that he killed three people and wounded two others in an apartment above the Carnegie Deli during a bungled robbery on May 10.He also became a more concrete object of hatred for one of the victims' fathers, Philip King, who has repeatedly urged prosecutors to seek the death penalty for Mr. Salley and the man said to be his accomplice, Andre S. Smith, 31. Yesterday, Mr. King flew in from California to watch the arraignment in State Supreme Court and repeat his message. The two men are each charged with three counts of second-degree murder, which is not a capital crime. If other family members of the victims were in court, they did not put themselves before the cameras, so Mr. King, 60, stood alone on the steps of the courthouse, talking of vengeance for the death of his son, Stephen King, 32."This wasn't just a shooting or a murder," he said, after having watched the slight Mr. Salley, in a T- shirt and jeans, plead not guilty amid a huddle of court officers. "This was an execution, and I hope everyone knows that."But Stephen's mother, Jenny, who was divorced from Mr. King when their son was a child, said yesterday by telephone from Detroit that she had accepted her son's death, that she wanted no more killing and that her ex-husband "speaks only for himself."Ms. King said: "We've had so much death already with three people losing their lives. I'm just very relieved that both of these men are in custody and don't present any further danger."On Thursday, the Manhattan district attorney, Robert M. Morgenthau, said that Mr. Salley had been charged with second-degree murder, rather than first-degree, because prosecutors could not yet prove who had done the shooting.But, for Mr. King, even the thought of the men spending the rest of their lives in prison does not solve the problem of wanting revenge for the death of his son, a classical trombonist and body builder. "How many parents must see their sons' killers face to face?" he said to reporters. "I kept on saying, `Restrain yourself and don't jump over the rail.' "In an interview later, he acknowledged that he had not seen his son in the year and a half before his death, spoke to him infrequently, and had never seen any of his son's musical performances. But he spoke of being haunted by the thought of his son being tied up with duct tape, unable to fight back as he was killed.His son had gone to the apartment to use the recording studio of Jennifer Stahl, 39, a former actress who was also selling marijuana, the police said. They said that Mr. Salley and Mr. Smith showed up to rob Ms. Stahl, but ended up killing her, Mr. King and Charles Helliwell, 36, a visitor from St. John, in the United States Virgin Islands. Two others were shot - Rosemond Dane, 36, of St. John, and Anthony Veader, 37, of Manhattan - but they survived.Mr. King, a professor of management who lives in San Jose, Calif., said he would spend the rest of his visit to New York trying to meet with detectives and Mr. Morgenthau. He also said that, although he had not been called by any, he would try to get on network talk shows.But his former wife said yesterday that other family members just wished Stephen could "rest in peace." Ms. King added, "We were just grateful that he led the beautiful life that he did."