Murderer Asked for Death Penalty, Not Life in Prison

Sept. 11, 2012— -- A man who was convicted of kidnapping, raping and murdering a teenager told a Florida judge he knows "something bad is going to happen" if he is not sentenced to death.

Instead of convincing a judge to spare his life, William Davis III, 34, used his final moment on the stand to present evidence as to why the judge should take his life.

"I cannot sit here in good conscience and knowing what I've done ... ask you, with a straight face, to give me life in prison. I can't and I won't," Davis said.

Davis, who was convicted in May of the 2009 kidnapping, rape and murder of Fabiana Malave, 19, told 18th Judicial Circuit Court Judge John Galluzzo that he was bipolar, and that sending him to prison for the rest of his life would be a dangerous error.

"I know how I am when I am off my medication. I have always known how I am when I am off my medication," Davis said. "When I quit taking it, bad things happen. ... At some point something's going to happen, and I'm going to go completely off the handle."

Last month, a jury recommended by a vote of seven to five that Davis be sentenced to death. The final decision rests with Galluzzo, who will hand down Davis' sentence Dec. 3.

Throughout Davis' trial, his attorneys tried to build a case that their client was incompetent.

Davis said he was manic depressive and bipolar, and hadn't taken his medication in months when he abducted Malave from a used car lot where she worked in October 2009.

Davis abducted Malave at knifepoint and drove her to his home in Orlando, where he raped and then strangled her, according to his confession to a Seminole County deputy. Davis was arrested when deputies spotted his SUV near the area where Malave had been abducted. Inside the car, authorities found Malave's body covered with a garbage bag and blanket, the Orlando Sentinel reported.

Although Davis is asking for the death penalty, his public defender, Tim Caudill, has argued for life in prison for his client.

A message left for Caudill was not immediately returned.

The young vicitm's sister told ABC affiliate WFTV that no matter what sentence Davis receives, it will never bring Fabiana Malave back.

"He's a predator. He didn't go after someone who could defend himself or herself, but he went after my sister who weighed 95 pounds," she said.