Pikesville resident Phyllis Bricker, a longtime advocate for the death penalty, died on Monday, Feb. 24. She was 94.
For more than three decades, Bricker was a tireless and outspoken capital punishment proponent after the grisly murders of her elderly parents.
On May 21, 1983, Irvin S. and Rose Bronstein, ages 78 and 75, were found in their Pimlico home bound, gagged and stabbed 12 times each, and their house was ransacked.
A jury convicted John “Ace” Booth – who later changed his name to John Booth-El – of the robbery and murders. Booth was given the death penalty for Irvin Bronstein and sentenced to life in prison for the murder of Rose Bronstein.
For more than 30 years, Bricker and her husband, William, attended hearings in Annapolis to call on lawmakers to enforce Maryland’s death penalty. They also attended many court hearings to ensure that Booth-El’s sentences were carried out
In 2013 when Gov. Martin O’Malley repealed the death penalty, Bricker told WBAL News Radio that he and the majority of the Maryland General Assembly “disregarded the entire criminal justice system. … They’ve disregarded the Circuit Court, the Supreme Court, everyone who said this death penalty should stand. They’ve disregarded all of that and done what they wanted. …
“Criminals will no longer fear being executed in Maryland, no matter how heinous their crime,” she said.
Over the years, the Brickers followed the Booth-El case through the appeals process, during which time Booth-El was sentenced to death on three separate occasions.
Of Booth-El, she said in February of 2013, “He’s younger, and I believe he probably will outlive us. I hope that he never gets out of jail, because when they paroled him from jail 31 years ago, it didn’t take him very long before he murdered my parents, and another man, a month before.”
Booth-El served on Death Row until his death in April of 2014. He died of natural causes at the North Branch Correctional Institution in Cumberland at the age of 60
In 2009, Bricker told the Capital News Service that she continued to fight for the death penalty in honor of her parents.
“We did what we had to do, and we did it for my parents because they deserved it,” she said. “I’d give anything to talk to my mother and father.”
Phyllis Bricker is survived by her daughters, Karen (David) Blass and Linda (Luis) Sapcariu. She was predeceased by her husband, William Bricker; her brother, Barry Bronstein; and by her parents, Irvin and Rose Bronstein.
Services will be held at the Forband Cemetery, 6307 Hamilton Avenue in Rosedale, on Wednesday, Feb. 26, at 11 a.m.
Contributions in Bricker’s memory may be sent to Hadassah of Greater Baltimore, P.O. Box 21571, Pikesville, Maryland 21282.
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