A death-row inmate from Bonita Springs, sentenced in 2020 in the murder-for-hire of his wife, frequently wrote notes about witnesses and occasionally dried his tears as his appeal started.
Mark Sievers, 57, shed a tear when one of his two trial attorneys said he had cried as he reflected on what could have changed Sievers’ fate.
Throughout the day, defense lawyers expressed that Sievers is a friendly man, he may have had unprepared lawyers, they regreted not having his young daughters testify in his defense, and alluded that Sievers and his look-alike accomplice may have had a homosexual relationship.
A Lee County jury convicted Mark Sievers of being a principal to commit first-degree murder with a firearm and conspiracy in the death of his wife, Dr. Teresa Sievers, 46. The slaying happened in July 2015.
His two accomplices, Jimmy Ray Rodgers, 35, is serving life in prison and Curtis Wayne Wright Jr., 57, is serving 25 years for his role.
Teresa Sievers’ awful death
On June 28, 2015, Teresa Sievers, a Southwest Florida doctor, left a family vacation and returned alone to her Bonita Springs home.
After she walked into the house, Wright and Rodgers beat her to death 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, court documents state. Testimony on Oct. 13 disputed statements that Sievers used those funds to pay Wright.
Wright then recruited Rodgers.
In a letter addressed to Mark Sievers’ mother, released with his death sentence appeal on Sept, 5, 2024, Rodgers claimed Mark Sievers’ innocence.
Rodgers’ six-page letter, dated Dec. 19, 2020, accused detectives of coercing him into matching Wright’s story.
His August 2015 statement, Rodgers wrote, should have “stopped” Mark Sievers’ arrest.
Who is the judge, lawyers in the appeal?
Lee Circuit Judge Bruce Kyle will hear testimony and make a decision on whether Mark Sievers’ conviction and death sentence stands.
Megan Montagno, John Lobianco and Julissa Fontan, all of the Law Office of Capital Collateral Regional Counsel-Middle Region, are representing Sievers. Fontan said their hope is to overturn Sievers’ death sentence and his conviction.
Assistant Attorney General Christina Pacheco is representing the state along with Assistant State Attorney Hamid Hunter. Hunter prosecuted Mark Sievers’ case in circuit court along with then-Assistant State Attorney Cynthia Ross.
‘Extraneous’ evidence
His original trial attorney, Michael Mummert testified that a lot of evidence presented during Mark Sievers’ trial “was kind of extraneous.”
“My opinion is Mr. Wright was the murderer,” Mummert said, adding that the convicted accomplice, who received a 25-year sentence in exchange for his testimony at Mark Sievers’ trial, lied at least five times.
“He was willing to lie in exchange for the best possible outcome,” Mummert said.
After Sievers’ trial, Mummert said, he learned Rodgers and another witness changed their stories.
“Prior to trial, (knowing) that would’ve been helpful,” Mummert said.
Mummert also testified he routinely visited Sievers every Sunday for several hours at the Lee County Jail and that he has shed more than one tear as he has worked through the case, citing a close bond with Sievers, who he has described as friendly.
“It looked more like murder and rage than murder-for-hire,” Mummert said, later adding that, “I still believe Mr. Sievers is innocent. I’ll go to my grave believing that.”
Allusions to relationship with accomplice
Mummert testified to allusions that Mark Sievers had been in a “relationship” with Wright and that the murder could have been a result of revenge. He referenced a text message where Wright addressed Mark Sievers as “sunshine.”
Mummert said he carefully considered bringing that up at Sievers’ trial six years ago.
“I don’t know how a jury is gonna take that evidence,” Mummert said, citing fears of jurors developing a bias. “I also feel like I failed.”
‘Very bright man,’ ‘very pleasant and coooperative’
Gregory Messore, co-counsel in the original case, testified after Mummert. He said he has handled a total six capital murder cases.
When asked by Fontan, Messore said he was qualified to try death-penalty trials such as Mark Sievers’. To qualify, attorneys have to meet certain criteria, having tried murder cases and completing specialized training.
Messore said he contacted Mummert and Mark Sievers’ other former attorney, Antonio Faga, in 2017 after Messore said he learned the attorneys were facing challenges with death-penalty paperwork.
Faga died Oct. 3, 2018. Messore then became co-counsel with Mummert.
Messore described Mark Sievers as a “very bright man.”
Donna Murray, a mitigation specialist who has worked on more than 70 capital and resentencing cases across Florida, said she met with Mark Sievers once at the Lee County Jail.
She added that she felt she had insufficient time with about three months to prepare Sievers’ mitigation, which could have spared him from death row.
Murray reviewed copies of emails she sent to Mummert’s law office regarding Sievers, where she continued to express concern over the allotted time and “lack of communication” with Sievers’ defense attorneys.
Regret over decisions made at trial
Messore also testified that he regrets a decision he made to not call Mark Sievers’ daughters to testify. He cited their young age for his reasoning.
According to Messore, Sievers was the caretaker while Teresa Sievers spent long hours at her medical practice.
As to Hunter’s question, inquiring whether he would have done anything different, Messore answered that the only change he would have made was to get the Sievers’ daughters to testify.
Mark Sievers’ appeal is expected to last five days, through Oct. 17.
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: ‘Very bright man’: Mark Sievers’ appeal begins, hoping to clear conviction, death sentence
Reporting by Tomas Rodriguez, Fort Myers News-Press & Naples Daily News / Fort Myers News-Press
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