Suzanne Basso Madison Belsterling “If anyone deserves the death penalty, it is this woman. I only wish that she could be executed the same way that she killed that poor man.”

Background: Born May 15th, 1954 Prior occupation: office clerk, seamstress, laborer Completed education: K-12th No prior prison record 1 of 8 children Married James Peek in early 1970’s Had 1 daughter and 1 son Never divorced her husband but was involved with a man named, Carmine Basso Referred to Carmine as her husband and changed her last name to Basso Suzanne and Buddy

Buddy Musso: Lived along 59 years old at the time of the crime Had financial problems Mentally disabled One day, his social security client had trouble contacting him

Facts: Suzanne was not in trouble with the law before first crime. Buddy Musso Suzanne was not in trouble with the law before first crime. August 25, 1998: Suzanne Murdered Louis “Buddy” Musso. Received capital punishment and the death penalty. Died by lethal injection on February 5, 2014.

Criminal Terms: Insurance Fraud: Any act committed with the intent to obtain a fraudulent outcome from an insurance process. This may occur when a claimant attempts to obtain some benefit or advantage to which they are not otherwise entitled, or when an insurer knowingly denies some benefit that is due. Death Sentence: A sentence to be put to death for a capital crime. Lethal Injection: is the practice of injecting a combination of poisons into a person with a fatal dose of drugs (typically a barbiturate, paralytic, and potassium solution) for the express purpose of causing immediate death.

Criminal Terms: Kidnapping: To take (someone) away illegally by force, typically to obtain a ransom. Murder: The unlawful premeditated killing of one human being by another. Capital punishment: The legally authorized killing of someone as punishment for a crime.

Evidence: Kidnapping Torture Murder Abuse of Buddy with belts, bats and steel toed boots. Attempted insurance fraud.

Buddy Musso Death: Brothers and sisters or Suzanne would stay in Buddy’s house while she was away Forced him to get on his hands & knees on a plastic mat; if he moved they would abuse him The siblings would call Suzanne and tell if he was misbehaving 1 sibling, who weighed over 300 lbs, jumped on Buddy while he was on the mat; forced him to fall flat to his stomach At one point, Buddy requested that someone there take him to the hospital Bathed him in a solution of bleach and pine sol using a wire brush on his body Were giving him this kind of bath when he died Medical examiners said: unable to count the number of bruises he had because there were so many Skin abrasions, burns, broken bones, skull fracture, bruises Musso was dumped near a roadway in Galena Park Killers disposed their gloves and shoes at a dumpster nearby

Cultural References: Newspaper: On February 6, 2014, the Huffington Post newspaper had an article about Suzanne. News: A story appeared on Daily Mail. Book: Suzanne’s story was part of, Women and Capital Punishment in the United States, by David V. Baker. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/02/05/suzanne-basso-executed-_n_4734017.html http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2551806/Suzanne-Basso-executed-torture-beating-death-mentally-disabled-man-intellect-seven-year-old-promised-marry-insurance-scam.html

Behavioral Theory: Behavioral Theory: People are not born with violent behavior but they learn to think and act that way from day to day experiences. Suzanne was one of eight children, born to her mother, Florence and Dad, John. She was a good child, completing all of the years or schooling. But her mother, on the other hand was very involved in crime. She was an older sister of the killer, Robert Garrow. This is showing that Suzanne’s mother was born into a criminal family, therefore Suzanne would be more absorbed to deviant behavior since her mother was. Suzanne also married a man named James Peek, who was involved in deviant behaviors as well. In 1982, he was in trouble with the law for molesting his daughter and convicted of taking indecent liberties with a child. This event never forced Suzanne to divorce James or leave him for any reason.

Additionally, the entire family moved to Houston, Texas to get away from the situation. When they arrived, they changed their name to O’Malley to take a new identity. They didn’t take this to the court, the family just changed their names by themselves, which is also not the correct way you are supposed to do things. Secondly, she never divorced her husband, she just fell in love with a new man named Carmine Basso who owned a company called Latin Security & Investigations Corporation. In Suzanne’s eyes, being in a relationship with someone who works with the law was a plus for her, so that way she could get away with more. Yet again, she changed her name to Basso since she was unable to marry him. Once she figured all of this out, she got all of her siblings involved. They all became criminals and committed deviant crimes. They helped in the murder of Buddy Musso. All in all, Suzanne learned to behave this way mostly from her mother, who was not strict at all and let Suzanne have a lot of freedom. There are signs of deviant behavior in many generations of the family.