A judge has delayed ruling on a motion that seeks to release X-rays and autopsy photographs in the 2015 murder-for-hire of a Bonita Springs physician.
Lee Circuit Judge Bruce Kyle on Tuesday afternoon reserved ruling on a motion filed Dec. 2, 2024, by Megan Montagno and Julissa Fontan, who represent Mark Sievers, 56, in his post-conviction proceedings related to the 2015 death of Teresa Sievers, 46.
Mark Sievers remains on death row.
The 12-page motion sought the release of two death record medical information sheets; X-rays; and autopsy photographs.
Kyle connected to the conference call from his courtroom, joining Mark Sievers’ post-conviction counsel, Senior Assistant Attorney General Christina Pacheco and a representative for the Medical Examiner. The call lasted approximately 10 minutes.
Mark Sievers case: Judge reserves ruling on Mark Sievers’ motion to vacate his death sentence in wife’s death
During the call, the Medical Examiner’s representative said they filed a written response in December indicating they found no material regarding Teresa Sievers’ autopsy photographs.
The Medical Examiner’s response to post-conviction counsel, filed Dec. 16, 2024, has not been made public in court records.
Judge reserves ruling in Mark Sievers’ appeal for second time in as many months
In November, Kyle reserved ruling on a motion that hoped to vacate Mark Sievers’ death sentence.
Post-conviction counsel for Mark Sievers have called his capital punishment in the murder-for-hire of Teresa Sievers unconstitutional.
Kyle sentenced Mark Sievers to death on Jan. 16, 2020, for the June 28, 2015, death of Teresa Sievers. Kyle reserved ruling Nov. 19, 2024, on Mark Sievers’ motion to vacate his death sentence, filed Sept. 5, 2024.
The 40-page response, filed Nov. 12, 2024, by Senior Assistant Attorney General Christina Pacheco, asks that Kyle deny the motion. The case is scheduled for a Jan. 7 motions hearing in circuit court.
Prosecutor lists reasons against Mark Sievers petition
In her response, Pacheco resurfaced a conversation held in court prior to the trial, where Mark Sievers acknowledged his trial attorneys, Michael Mummert and Gregory Messore, did not appear to meet the requirements to handle a capital murder case.
The response includes the years of experience each defense attorney had; lists a related seminar both defense attorneys registered to attend focused on the death penalty.
The court document filed by Pacheco includes an excerpt from an interaction Sievers had with Kyle, where Sievers acknowledged he could not use his attorneys’ inexperience with capital cases as a basis to overturn the court’s decision.
On direct appeal, Mark Sievers raised 18 concerns, Pacheco wrote. But the Florida Supreme Court affirmed his conviction and sentence in 2022.
Pacheco argued that a letter written by co-defendant Jimmy Rodgers, 34, claiming Mark Sievers’ innocence does not constitute discovery; that Mark Sievers elected to go to trial represented by counsel that did not qualify for a capital murder trial; that Mark Sievers failed to show his counsel was inefficient or ineffective; and that Mark Sievers’ complaints against his trial counsel do not constitute prejudice.
In the 163-page motion to vacate his death sentence, filed in Florida’s 20th Judicial Circuit Court in Lee County, Mark Sievers’ post-conviction counsel with the Capital Collateral Regional Counsel-Middle — Megan Montagno, Julissa Fontan and Teresa Hall — asked that the court set aside his convictions and death sentence, granting a new trial; give Mark Sievers’ counsel an opportunity for further evidentiary development “to the extent necessary;” and “leave to supplement this motion should new claims, facts, or law arise.”
The Capital Collateral Regional Counsel represents Florida death-row inmates and works to challenge the legality of the death sentence imposed on the convicted.
What happened to Teresa Sievers?
On June 28, 2015, Teresa Sievers, a Southwest Florida doctor, left a family vacation and returned alone to her Bonita Springs home.
After she pulled into the garage, retrieved her luggage and walked into the house, Curtis Wayne Wright Jr., 56, and Rodgers beat her with hammers.
Court records indicate the plot began weeks earlier, when Mark Sievers traveled to Missouri for Wright’s wedding.
Wright agreed to “take care of it” for at least $100,000 in life insurance proceeds, the records show. Wright later recruited Rodgers.
Rodgers is serving life in prison after a Lee County jury found him guilty of second-degree murder in October 2019. On Feb. 10, 2020, Kyle sentenced Wright to 25 years for his role in Teresa Sievers’ murder.
Tomas Rodriguez is a Breaking/Live News Reporter for the Naples Daily News and The News-Press. You can reach Tomas at TRodriguez@gannett.com or 772-333-5501. Connect with him on Threads @tomasfrobeltran, Instagram @tomasfrobeltran, Facebook @tomasrodrigueznews and Bluesky @tomasfrodriguez.
This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Release of Teresa Sievers X-rays, autopsy photos in limbo