Attorney Al Flora helped save mass murderer George Banks’ life.
He’s proud of it.
To him, the United States Constitution allows even for most heinous alleged criminals to get a competent defense and avoid the death penalty. And, the country shouldn’t try to kill people who are obviously mentally ill to the point they can’t understand their actions.
That was George Banks, Flora says.
“The thing with George Banks. If you talked to him for five minutes you would think he was normal. But if you sat down with him for an hour, you would know something was very wrong,” Flora said Monday.
Banks, who died Sunday at age 83 at SCI Phoenix in Montgonmery County, hurt his own case at trial in Luzerne County Court, Flora said.
Flora was a rookie defense attorney at the time. He said Banks ignored the advice of his attorney team and took the witness stand.
“He tried to convince the jury that the police killed many of the victims. He wanted to exhume the bodies. He wanted to show the jury color photos of the crime scenes,” Flora recalled.
Banks slaughtered 13 people including, five of his own children, in 1982, one of the largest mass murders in the United States at the time.
A jury sentenced him to death, but he never faced execution, having been spared from the death penalty several times through court rulings.
John Banks, Banks’ brother, said his family was not notified about his brother’s death until it became public.
“Not one had the decency to call me to say he passed,” John Banks said. “I have no comment.”
Brothers saved
Luzerne County Chief County Detective Michael Dessoye and his brother, Gerard, former Wilkes-Barre police chief, both responded to the Banks mass murder call.
Their mother always hoped Banks never got put to death.
When Banks was surrounded at a house on Monroe Street, they were among the first on scene.
Banks smashed a window with his rifle and could have shot them both.
He didn’t.
Both Dessoye brothers say they are thankful to be alive.
“He had the opportunity to shoot Gerry and me,” Michael Dessoye recalled.
Michael Dessoye said he was among the first to see the graphic scene of the carnage.
After 42 years with the tragedy playing in his mind, he said can only think of a few words about that fateful day and the killer’s demise.
“It’s over. It was a senseless violent act. I could still picture the bodies,” Michael Dessoye said. “You never get the memories out of your head. It’s something you will see the rest of your life.”
Gerard Dessoye said Banks, condemned to death, became a life prisoner
“Do I think justice has been served? Yes. Justice has finally been served,” Gerard Dessoye said. “Is there closure? Yes. But the saga endures forever. There’s people in law enforcement who will forever bear the scars of the scene in Wilkes-Barre and Jenkins Twp. that day.”
DA weighs in
Luzerne County District Attorney Sam Sanguedolce released a statement on Banks’ death.
“In light of the death of George Banks, perhaps our county’s most infamous murderer, my thoughts go out to the families of the victims and the families of those in law enforcement involved in his prosecution, conviction, and incarceration,” Sanguedolce said. “Although many victims were his own family, their other family members suffered from the tragic events of that fateful September day in 1982. Ironically, despite being sentenced to death, Banks outlived nearly all of his pursuers. May this death put an end to the many years of suffering his actions caused the people of our county.”
