"He's an animal"

As Judge Ric Howard explained his rationale for sentencing John Couey to death, he described Couey's murder of Jessica Lunsford as "determined albeit savage."

In a press conference following the hearing, Sheriff Jeff Dawsy took Howard's words a step further.

"John Couey is an animal," he said, after journalists coaxed him to give his opinion of the convicted killer. What he did "was worse than a savage."

He added that he had confronted Couey after the sentence was announced and looked into his eyes.

"It was cold," he said. "Nothing there."

-- Elena Lesley