Convicted cop killer sentenced to death

(Brooklyn - WABC, March 29, 2007) (WABC) -- The gunman who executed a pair of undercover police officers during a 2003 gun deal gone bad was sentenced today to death.

Ronell Wilson is the first federal defendant to receive the ultimate punishment in the city since 1954.

Wilson received the sentence Brooklyn federal court today. A federal jury had voted for the death penalty in January, after his conviction for the Staten Island slayings. The jurors, in reaching their verdict, said Wilson had shown no remorse for the killings.

Undercover Detectives Rodney Andrews and James Nemorin were in an unmarked car when they met with Wilson in 2003 to buy an illegal gun.

"That man doesn't have no remorse...no remorse," said a sister of the victim.

Prosecutors said Wilson knew the two men were police officers and shot them anyway - first Andrews and then Nemorin, who pleaded in vain for his life.

The jury's decision made Wilson the city's first federal defendant to receive a death sentence since 1954, when it was imposed on a bank robber who killed an FBI agent.

Wilson was convicted in December 2006 of two counts of murder, along with robbery, carjacking and firearms charges.

Wilson released the following statement. "I'm sorry, I'm very sorry for the pain I caused you. I know it don't mean much and you still look at me as the lowest thing on earth. But I tell you I'm sorry."

Attorneys for Wilson have indicated they plan to appeal the death sentence.

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