Dead Man Eating...Last Meals on Death Row

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2003 dinner guests

2003 last meals...
december, 2003

NORTH CAROLINA LAST MEAL
ROBBIE JAMES LYONS
December 5. 2003

Last Meal: pizza and lasagna, both made to follow Muslim dietary rules, and a Pepsi.

The skinny: Lyons, 31, was executed for a 1993 shooting murder during an attempted robbery at a grocery store.

Legal Machinations: Defense lawyers had said Lyons shouldn't be executed because he had a personality disorder and poor legal representation during his case.

Governor choses "cowardice" and "brutality": The Rev. Jesse Jackson sent Easley a letter urging clemency for Lyons.

"I have the deepest sympathy for the victims of violent crime and their families and loved ones left behind - but the death penalty is not the best way to acknowledge their grief," the letter said.

"By granting clemency in this case you would be setting an example of courage over cowardice, of humanity over brutality."

Easley said Thursday night he found no reason to reduce the sentence of Robbie James Lyons to life in prison, eliminating the prisoner's final chance to avoid the death penalty.

Last words and such: "It is from Allah that I come and it is to Allah that I return. If my death brings another person happiness, then I'm happy for them."

Factoids: The execution was the seventh by the state this year, the most since 1949.

Lyons was the...

65th murderer executed in U.S. in 2003
885th murderer executed in U.S. since 1976
7th murderer executed in North Carolina in 2003
30th murderer executed in North Carolina since 1976

TEXAS LAST MEAL
IVAN MURPHY
December 4, 2003

...Cool Whip, delicious dessert topping or a criminal's worst enemy...or both?

Last Meal: Four pieces of fried chicken (white meat), five pieces of deep fried fish, four deep fried breaded pork chops, extra-large order of french fries, large order of onion rings, ketchup, tarter sauce, one pint Blue Bell Moollennium Crunch ice cream, two quarts of chocolate milk. He probably got vanilla ice cream, a prison spokeswoman said.

The skinny: Murphy, 38, a former mechanic with an extensive criminal record in Oklahoma was executed for fatally beating an 80-year-old woman he'd known since childhood.

The crime: Murphy and an accomplice went to Murphy's old neighborhood where he was known as "Pee Wee," to rob the woman. She invited them in and offered him ice cream because she knew him.

``She died in her own chair in her own living room. It was horrible,'' said former Grayson County District Attorney Robert Jarvis. ``They took either her cane and or a sawed-off shotgun they brought with them and just beat her as she sat in her chair.''

The accomplice was sentenced to life in prison.

Cool Whip, Crime fighter: Strawberry ice cream in a plastic bowl helped convict Murphy of the 1989 slaying.

"We dusted the inside of a Cool Whip bowl and found his fingerprint," said former Grayson County District Attorney Robert Jarvis, recalling evidence in Murphy's capital murder trial.

Besides the fingerprint, jewelry taken from the victim was linked to Murphy, and traces of the woman's blood were found on his clothes.

Last words and such: "This is a celebration of life, not death," Murphy said in a brief final statement while strapped to the death chamber gurney. "Through Jesus Christ we have victory over death." He thanked Pope John Paul II and others for prayers, love and support. ``I want to thank everybody around the world and Father, let your will be done.''

Maybe Not: The victim's son said Murphy's comments were nothing but ``religious babble'' because he never admitted he was guilty. ``Just howling in the trees, just wind in the trees. Without true remorse, it means nothing.''

Factoids: Murphy is the second of five scheduled to die in Texas over the next eight days.

Murphy was the....

64th murderer executed in U.S. in 2003
884th murderer executed in U.S. since 1976
24th murderer executed in Texas in 2003
313th murderer executed in Texas since 1976

This summary was compiled from various news accounts.

TEXAS LAST MEAL
RICHARD CHARLES DUNCAN
December 3, 2003

..."it was all about money"...

Last Meals: fried chicken (three chicken breasts--well done), french fries, lettuce, tomato, berry cobbler and a coke.

The skinny: Duncan, 61, was executed for the slayings of his boyfriend's parents at their Houston home more than 16 years ago. Duncan hoped to share the $500,000 life insurance of the couple to save the failing computer business he ran with the couple's son and another man.

"It was all about money," prosecutor Kelly Siegler said.

Unsolved: The brutal murders had gone unsolved for six years when Houston police got a break.

Solved: Robert John Alexander knew who did it, and he could no longer live with his troubled conscience. Alexander gave police the evidence they needed to convict Duncan, his former roommate and lover who also had a relationship with the victim's son, Gary High.

The crime: The trial portrayed Duncan as the manipulative, dictatorial leader of "a family" made up of himself, Alexander and Gary High.

The three had developed a thriving computer business that was doing well until 1987, when the oil business went bust.

Alexander testified that Duncan had talked of killing the Highs so that Gary High would benefit financially.

Police at first thought the couple died accidentally of asphyxiation because they smelled gas and found a gas grill connected to an open jet behind the washing machine.

They found the wife, on her bed and the husband, 72, lying in a pool of blood on the kitchen floor, where police initially thought he had died from gas fumes after falling and striking his head.

But investigators soon found evidence of something more sinister. the wife had been smothered to death and placed on the bed with a book beside her as if she had fallen asleep reading. Her reading glasses, however, were across the room.

Although Duncan was a prime suspect at the time, police did not have enough evidence to convict him until Alexander contacted them in 1993, saying he wanted to clear his conscience. Alexander, who had become involved with another man, was no longer living with Duncan.

Alexander was granted immunity for his testimony. He agreed to call Duncan at his home in Seattle and record the phone conversations.

Duncan implicated himself in the phone conversations and was arrested Feb. 3, 1994, in Seattle.

Last words and such: Asked if he had a final statement, Duncan said he did not but replied: "Now that I see my family here and everything, all I want to say is I love you all so much. I'm innocent and you know that." As the lethal injection started, Duncan continued to look toward the five friends her referred to as family, saying, "They're so beautiful. Aren't they?"

Factoids: Duncan is the first of five scheduled to die in Texas over the next eight days.

Duncan was the....

63nd murderer executed in U.S. in 2003
883nd murderer executed in U.S. since 1976
23nd murderer executed in Texas in 2003
312th murderer executed in Texas since 1976

november, 2003

TEXAS LAST MEAL
ROBERT HENRY
November 20, 2003

..."Here I go"....

Last Meal: Henry made no final meal request.

The skinny: He was executed for the fatal beating and stabbing of an 83 year-old woman, and her 57 year-old daughter.

Confession...for a while: Henry, a family acquaintance, confessed to the slaying to a police officer some two months after the killings over the Labor Day weekend but subsequently denied involvement in the deaths.

However, details of his confession were substantiated by DNA evidence. One of the victim's blood was found in Henry's car and his blood was found on the victims' washing machine. Henry admitted he used a knife and had worn work boots with knobby soles. His work boots matched bloody footprints found at the crime scene.

In an interview last week, Henry stated, "I kind of got suckered through the whole system. I'm getting a bum rap. You can't avoid it. ... I'm stuck.''

Last month, the Supreme Court refused to review his case.

Last words and such: Henry replied, “No sir,” when asked by a warden if he had a final statement.

In the seconds before the drugs began taking effect, he smiled and nodded toward some friends and relatives watching nearby through a window, then mouthed, “Bye-bye. I love you. Here I go.”

Then he blew them a kiss and immediately snorted and gasped as the drugs took effect.

He did not look at relatives of his two victims, who were watching through another window.

Factoids: The 83 year-old grandmother's tombstone carries the engraved image of a clown face. She had spent decades bringing joy to people as "Jollypop," a professional clown well known around her hometown of Portland, just across the bay from Corpus Christi.

Henry was the first Texas execution in about 2 1/2 months. It was the state's longest hiatus for executions in seven years. Five more Texas inmates are scheduled to die next month.

Henry was the...
62nd murderer executed in U.S. in 2003
882nd murderer executed in U.S. since 1976
22nd murderer executed in Texas in 2003
311th murderer executed in Texas since 1976

NORTH CAROLINA LAST MEAL
JOHN DANIELS
November 14, 2003

...an electrical cord, a hammer, a kerosne heater, a rock and a knife...the game of Clue--North Carolina-style...

Last Meal: Daniels had a ribeye steak, a baked potato with sour cream and butter, a roll, hush puppies, a Coke and pecan pie.

The skinny: Daniels was executed for fatally choking his 77-year-old aunt in her house with an ironing cord.

Daniels had been having marital problems and was behind on his rent when he went to the home of his aunt to ask for money and requesting that she allow his wife live with her. She refused. Daniels then hit her in the face and choked her to death with an electrical cord. He took $70 to $80 and went back to his house. After smoking crack cocaine in the bathroom, Daniels seriously assaulted his wife and son with a hammer, a kerosene heater and a rock., threatened his neighbor with a knife, and then set fire to his house. Firefighters arrived to put out the fire, taking Daniels from inside.

On the drive to the station, Daniels redirected police to the home of his aunt where her strangled and beaten body was discovered. At the station, Daniels gave a complete confession, then promptly attempted to hang himself in the interrogation room with the drawstring of his pants.

Daniels had consumed a bottle of wine and at least two beers before killing his aunt.

In a statement to police following his arrest, Daniels couldn't come up with an answer as to why he killed his aunt and attack his wife. "I don't know why I killed her," Daniels reportedly said. "Bills set me off. My lady has some bills. I tried to kill my lady."

Legal Machinations: Daniels' lawyers had asked Easley at a clemency hearing Wednesday to consider the statement of retired psychiatrist Cynthia White of Las Vegas. During the penalty phase of his trial, White testified that Daniels wasn't influenced by alcohol or cocaine he had consumed and showed no remorse.

White said she didn't know at the time that Daniels tried to burn his house to kill himself after killing his aunt. She also said she didn't know the amount of cocaine and alcohol he ingested. White also told the governor that prosecutors didn't give her Daniels' complete medical record and left out information about suicide attempts, brain damage and his history of depression. She also said she never interviewed Daniels, who had signed a confession.

The psychiatrist issue was raised in Daniels' earliest appeal after his conviction and courts rejected it, ruling that an expert witness isn't required to interview a defendant.

Last words and such: ''I just tell my mom, Maurice and Diane and the rest of the family and the other family, I'm sorry. I love them,'' Daniels said before he was wheeled on a gurney into the brightly lit execution chamber, where executioners were unseen behind a beige curtain.

Factoids: Gov. Easley met with a granddaughter of the victim, asking to spare Daniels. Eight of nine grandchildren wanted Easley to grant clemency, and the ninth agreed with his cousins that the grandmother would not have wanted the execution to occur.

Daniels became the sixth convicted killer put to death in the state in 2003, the highest number since executions resumed in the state in 1984.

Outside the prison, about 30 death penalty protesters held a candlelight vigil in the windy, cold weather.

Daniels was the....

61st murderer executed in U.S. in 2003
881st murderer executed in U.S. since 1976
6th murderer executed in North Carolina in 2003
29th murderer executed in North Carolina since 1976

NORTH CAROLINA LAST MEAL
JOSEPH TIMOTHY KEEL
November 7, 2003

An uneven keel...

Last Meal: Keel ordered a last meal of fried chicken breast and wing, a biscuit, seasoned rice and a diet Coke along with a T-bone steak without the bone, mushrooms and onions.

The skinny: Keel was put to death for killing his father-in-law, on July 10, 1990. Keel confessed to luring the man, with whom he lived, to an isolated area on an Edgecombe County hog farm where Keel worked. Keel shot the man in the head with a .22 caliber rifle and later told police a shot was fired from another car as it drove past.

In his last statement, Keel challenged the judge who presided over his trial for not telling jurors they could decide he acted in self-defense. He contended in his confession that he shot the man a second time after he came after for him with a knife.

Last words and such: A smiling Keel was rolled in the death chamber at 1:50 a.m., and he appeared to be happy. For 10 minutes the Tarboro native spoke words that could not be heard due to the two-inch glass separating the witness room and the death chamber. Seconds before 2 a.m. Keel said his final words, closed his eyes and never opened them again. Those final words--"I love you." to four of his friends sitting in front of the execution chamber witness room.

At his request, no one in Keel's family witnessed the execution.

Many Legal Machinations: Keel's lawyer had fought for clemency throughout the week. His legal team raised at least three legal issues, including their client, having an IQ of 70, was mentally retarded. Prosecutors disagreed and argued that Keel's IQ was 87.

Defense lawyer Jay Ferguson said Keel had the mental ability of a fifth-grader and suffered mental illness from an early age because his uncles plied him with alcohol. The defense also said Keel suffered brain injuries at birth as well as when he was later hit by a steel beam.

Keel had received two stays before he was executed.

LEGISLATIVE MACHINATIONS: At a rally at N.C. Central University, supporters of a death penalty moratorium called on the governor to stop executions. Speakers said a moratorium was needed while the fairness of North Carolina's death penalty was studied.

The state Senate approved a moratorium bill last year and the House is expected to consider it this session.

Factoids: Outside the prison, approximately 50 people stood protesting the execution while four stood on the opposite side of the road supporting it.

Two more executions are scheduled, and if all are carried out the total will be the highest since 1949, when 10 executions occurred.

Keel was the....
60th murderer executed in U.S. in 2003
880th murderer executed in U.S. since 1976
5th murderer executed in North Carolina in 2003
28th murderer executed in North Carolina since 1976

GEORGIA LAST MEAL
JAMES BROWN
November 4, 2003

I feel not-so-good...

Last Meal: Brown ate all of his last meal, a foot-long chili dog with everything, French fries, a dill pickle, strawberry ice cream and a 7-Up.

The skinny: Brown was executed for raping a topless dancer while she suffocated on her panties.. James Willie Brown killed the woman 28 years ago after the two met for a steak dinner and a night of dancing. He later tied her up, raped her and left her dead body near a trash pile.

Past Legal machinations: Browns guilt was not in doubt, but his lawyers argued he was insane and should have been resentenced to life in prison without parole. Upon Brown's arrest, he at first denied even knowing the woman, but later admitted to the rape and murder. After being found incompetent to stand trial, Brown was committed to a state mental institution until 1981 when he was found competent, convicted, and sentenced to death. In 1988, a federal court overturned the conviction due to questions about his mental competency. In 1991 Brown was retried and again convicted and sentenced to death. Brown had repeatedly avoided being killed by the state he had been sentenced to death twice, and a judge canceled his execution in November 2002 a few hours before it was to take place.

Last words and such: Brown made no comment before his lethal injection.

When asked whether he wanted to make a final statement or prayer, Brown merely shook his head and said no.

He died alone except for government and media witnesses --none of his attorneys showed up.

A group of eight protesters held a candlelight vigil at the prison entrance Tuesday night.

Factoids: The victim's last meal was a takeout dinner of steak and potatoes.

Brown's brother once described his brother as "the devil's son.".

Brown was the...

59th murderer executed in U.S. in 2003
879th murderer executed in U.S. since 1976
3rd murderer executed in Georgia in 2003
34th murderer executed in Georgia since 1976

october, 2003

MISSOURI LAST MEAL
JOHN CLAYTON SMITH
October 29, 2003

"It was Joh_"

Last Meal: Smith had no last meal, but ate ice cream and granola bars throughout the day leading up to the execution.

The skinny:Smith was executed for killing his ex-girlfriend and her stepfather after she broke off their relationship. One month later Smith drove to the home and entered through the basement door, then took off his shoes and went upstairs.

Once inside, he went to victim's bedroom, and attacked her with a knife. In the living room and kitchen area, Smith scuffled with the woman, stabbing and cutting her eight times. She did not die immediately, and as she lay dying, she wrote, "It was Joh_." on the kitchen floor in her own blood.

Smith then went toward the stepfather's bedroom and attacked him. Smith pushed the man onto the bed, got on top of him, and started stabbing him. He was cut and stabbed eleven times in the chest, arms, leg, hand, and hip; he died from loss of blood.

No Legal Machinations: Smith had waived all appeals, saying he deserved to die for the 1997 stabbings.

Last Day: Smith had access Tuesday to forms for 11th-hour federal appeals, but made no use of them. He spent his final day quietly, without visitors, eating ice cream and granola bars and at times talking with relatives by telephone.

Smith rejected interview requests in the days before his death. His push to halt appeals of his death sentence dated to at least mid-2001, when he told the judge who condemned him that he was "totally guilty," "very sorry," mentally fit to abandon his legal challenges and ready to die "once and for all."

"The punishment of death is suitable," he wrote then.

Last words and such: "First of all I want to tell the whole family of the victims just how truly sorry I am for all the pain and grief I have caused you by my actions," he said in his final statement. "I sincerely have been praying for all of you. I only ask that somewhere down life's road, you can find it in your hearts to forgive me."

Maybe not... Bridie Brooks, a sister of the victim, shouted "Burn in hell" from behind the glassed-off witness area at the Potosi Correctional Center.

Factoids: Smith was the:

58th murderer executed in U.S. in 2003
878th murderer executed in U.S. since 1976
2nd murderer executed in Missouri in 2003
61st murderer executed in Missouri since 1976

A distrubing headline: "NEMO Killer Executed By Lethal Injection"

On further investigation, NEMO stands for NorthEast MissOuri. That cute fish from the summer blockbuster "Finding NEMO" is safe and will be swimming toward you in a sequel real soon.

NORTH CAROLINA LAST MEAL
EDWARD HARTMAN
October 3, 2003

...yea, it was gay bias. The bullet to the back of the 77-year old man's head while the victim watched television in a recliner, the taking the man's car and leaving the body in the chair and finally, five days later, bothered by the smell and dragging the body to a stable and burying it had nothing to do with it. It was gay bias.

Last meal: At 5 p.m., Hartman received his last meal -- a Greek salad, linguini with white clam sauce, cheese cake with cherry topping, garlic bread and a Coke.

The skinny: Hartman admitted to police that after drinking 16 beers he shot the 77-year-old victim in the head from close range while the man sat in a recliner and watched television. The vitim was a former boyfriend of Hartman's mother and Hartman was living at his house. Hartman told a friend the man was wealthy and carried thousands of dollars in his pocket. He took the man's car and left the body in the chair. Hartman wrote checks on the dead man's bank account. Five days later he returned and buried the body in a horse stable then led authorities there after learning he was a suspect.

Legal Machinations:In an appeal, defense lawyer Heather Wells of said a prosecutor unfairly referred to Hartman's homosexuality repeatedly during the trial.

After his conviction, he sought a life sentence based mostly on his traumatic upbringing, including suffering sexual abuse as an 8-year-old boy, when an uncle repeatedly made him perform oral sex.

Hartman's lawyers argued that he might have received life in prison instead of a death sentence if District Attorney David Beard had not improperly said several times in front of the trial jury that Hartman was gay, apparently trying to minimize his sexual abuse.

Each time, the judge told the jurors to disregard the improper remarks. But not a single juror concluded that Hartman's repeated sexual abuse mitigated his sentence, although factors such as seeing his mother's abuse and suicide attempts did.

The state's lawyers maintain that the jury didn't consider Hartman's childhood abuse a mitigating factor because there wasn't credible evidence of it.

The jury found that Hartman's robbery of Smith outweighed five mitigating factors, including Hartman's alcoholism.

Several gay organizations, gay officials and critics of the death penalty had urged Easley, a former district attorney, to grant Hartman clemency and publicly disapprove of Beard's tactics.

Last Words and such: Hartman issued no final statement. He appeared to say "hi" or "hey" to attorney Heather Wells through a window shortly after he was brought into the death chamber and then smiled before turning away.

He didn't acknowledge any of the other 11 people who watched his execution, choosing to alternately close his eyes and stare at the ceiling until prison medical workers began to administer the lethal drugs.

Factoids: About 100 people opposed to the death penalty gathered outside the prison late Thursday, many holding candles and singing. Eight or nine protesters sat in a driveway blocking traffic into the prison. No arrests were reported.

Hartman's execution was the state's fourth in six weeks.

Hartman was the....

57th murderer executed in U.S. in 2003
877th murderer executed in U.S. since 1976
4th murderer executed in North Carolina in 2003
27th murderer executed in North Carolina since 1976

september, 2003

NORTH CAROLINA LAST MEAL
JOSEPH EARL BATES
September 26, 2003

A blow to the "Give a friend a lift" movement....

Last Meal: Bates ordered a last meal of fried pork chops, French fries, hush puppies, apple pie, a Pepsi and a Dr Pepper.

The skinny: Bates was executed for the murder of a man he agreed to give him a ride home from a bar.

Upset and trying to discover who had fired shots into his house two weeks earlier, Bates agreed to give an acquaintance a ride home from a bar. During the ride, the car was stopped and Bates struck the man three times on the back of the head with a shovel, appearing to knock him unconscious. When the man began to moan, Bates struck him again, hog-tied him, and then placed him in the vehicle. On the way back to his campsite, Bates stopped at another friend's house and said, "I’ve got one of the guys that’s been messing with me. Do you want to watch or help?" All his friends declined and Bates drove to a campsite, and tied Jenkins to a tree, continuing to beat and threaten him for information. Bates then untied Jenkins, took him to the back of the truck, and shot him in the neck. Upon questioning, Bates gave a complete confession to police.

Lotsa Legal Machinations: Bates was convicted of first-degree murder and kidnapping in 1991 but his conviction and death sentence were overturned because he didn't receive funds for a mental health expert.

The expert in his second trial in 1994 didn't know about his brain injury. He was convicted and resentenced to death for the 1990 slaying.

A federal appeal said Bates was poorly represented by appeals lawyers after he was convicted. The petition said one lawyer spent very little time on the case, billing only 12 minutes in 1998, and the other was ineffective because he was depressed.

Bates' lawyers asked the governor this week to convert Bates' sentence to life in prison because they said brain damage from a car wreck contributed to the murder, which happened three years later.

Final words and such: "I haven't really give it any thought," Bates said when asked by prison warden Marvin Polk for last words before being wheeled into the steel-walled execution chamber. "Let's see. Hebrews, Chapter 13, Verse 6, they can read it."

The verse says: "So that we may boldly say, the Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me."

Memorable quote: "It's just an ending of the case," said Yadkin County Sheriff Michael Cain. "Certain crimes are going to be met with certain penalties."

Factoids:

Bates was the....

56th murderer executed in U.S. in 2003
876th murderer executed in U.S. since 1976
3rd murderer executed in North Carolina in 2003
26th murderer executed in North Carolina since 1976

NORTH CAROLINA LAST MEAL
HENRY LEE HUNT
September 12, 2003

"It's a good day to die."

Last Meal: Hunt's last meal: a medium Domino's pizza with pepperoni, hamburger, Canadian bacon, sausage, onions, mushrooms and green peppers, and a 20-ounce Coke.

The skinny: Hunt was sentenced to death for two 1984 slayings, one the contract killing of a man whose wife wanted him dead and the other of a police informant.

Legal Machinations: Hunt's lawyers had challenged the state's mixture of drugs but the state Supreme Court rejected the challenge and overturned a lower court stay.

Hunt's lawyers also argued that several things raised serious questions about Hunt's guilt: an affidavit purporting to clear Hunt of the crime, Hunt's having passed recent lie-detector tests, the lack of physical evidence linking him to the murders and the destruction of case files by the Lumberton Police Department and the State Bureau of Investigation.

The U.S. Supreme Court rejected Hunt's appeals and Gov. Mike Easley refused to change the sentence to life in prison.

Killer Cocktail Info: At issue in Hunt's stay this week was the trio of drugs the state uses in all its executions: one to put the inmate to sleep, a second to stop breathing and a third to stop the heart.

The state uses: thiopental sodium, a sedative under the brand name Pentothal, which puts the inmate to sleep; and pancuronium bromide, a muscle relaxant with the brand name Pavulon, which stops breathing.

The third drug, potassium chloride, stops the heart.

Last Words and such: "It's a good day to die," was the final statement of Hunt.

As he was wheeled on a gurney into the execution chamber, Hunt looked through a thick glass window at his son and another brother, among the 15 witnesses watching the execution. The relatives wore yellow head bands like those Hunt usually wears and Hunt winked at them. Yellow is Henry Lee Hunt's spiritual color.

Factoids: Hunt, a Lumbee Indian, was the first American Indian to be executed by the state of North Carolina since capital punishment resumed in 1977. A total of 25 have been executed in that period and 201 inmates remain on death row.

There were more than 50 death penalty opponents outside the prison. Many took part in an American Indian ritual in front of the prison.

J.R. Ghosthorse of Asheville, who is Lakota and Apache, burned sage and attached several scarves to a branch in a creche he had set up by the curb. With song and a drumbeat, he led the crowd in a ceremony, called a tate topa - the ceremony of the four winds - for Hunt. A woman waved an eagle's wing.

Four other people were sentenced to prison for their roles in the killings. All but one has since died.

Hunt was the....
55th murderer executed in U.S. in 2003
875th murderer executed in U.S. since 1976
2nd murderer executed in North Carolina in 2003
25th murderer executed in North Carolina since 1976

TEXAS LAST MEAL
LARRY HAYES
September 10, 2003

a rocky road....

Last Meal: For his final meal, Hayes requested two bacon cheeseburgers, french fries, onion rings, cole slaw, fried okra, a pint of Rocky Road ice cream, a quart of milk and two diet Cokes.

The skinny: Hayes was executed by lethal injection for killing his wife. That same night, he admitted to also killing an 18-year-old convenience store clerk and driving off with her car.

Hayes was convicted of shooting his wife seven times in the head on July 15, 1999, the night after she told him she'd been having an affair. Twenty minutes later he shot the college-bound clerk.

Hayes was captured a few hours after the incident and shot by police in Polk County.

No Legal Machinations: Hayes expedited his death by dropping his appeals. He said he is eager to atone for his crime. "I feel by carrying (the appeals) on I'm lying about the fact of what I did," said Hayes.

Last words and such: With a shaky voice, he apologized to the victims' family members.

"I would like for Rosalyn's family and loved ones and my wife Mary's family to know that I am genuinely sorry for what I did. I would like for you to reach down in your hearts and forgive me. There is no excuse for what I did," he said while strapped to the gurney.

Hayes also thanked loved ones for their support.

"As for my friends and family here, thanks for sticking with me and know that I love you and I will take a part of you with me," he said. "I would like to thank one of the arresting officers that I would have killed if I could have. He gave me CPR, saved my life and gave me a chance to get my life right."

Factoids: Hayes, who once served as Sunday school director for a Conroe church, did not have much of a criminal record prior to the night of violence.

It is unusual for a condemned inmate to drop his or her appeals and volunteer for execution. Of the 309 people executed in Texas since 1976, only 19 have waived their appeals and voluntarily gone to their deaths. Nationally, 99 out of the 873 people executed since 1976 volunteered.

Hayes said he used his time on death row to make peace with God and he is prepared to die. "I actually get excited when I think about seeing friends and loved ones ... in heaven," he said. "I have no doubt where I am going."

Texas inmates average nearly 10 years in prison before their sentence is carried out.

Hayes was the....

54th murderer executed in U.S. in 2003
874th murderer executed in U.S. since 1976
21st murderer executed in Texas in 2003
310th murderer executed in Texas since 1976

FLORIDA LAST MEAL
PAUL HILL
September 3, 2003

"Martyrs" eat sherbet....

Last Meal: Hill was served a final meal of steak, broccoli with hollandaise sauce, salad, orange sherbet and iced tea.

The skinny: Paul Hill, a former Presbyterian minister and fervent anti-abortionist, used a shotgun to kill a doctor and his bodyguard as they drove into a Pensacola abortion clinic. in 1994. Hill told reporters that his death would make him a "martyr" in the anti-abortion movement and that he expected a "reward" in Heaven.

At his trial, Hill attempted to present a defense claiming that his actions had been justifiable homicide, since he had killed the two men in order to prevent the murder of unborn children. The judge refused to allow this argument in court, and Hill refused to present any other defense.

The weeks leading up to: The execution reignited fears that the militant wing of the extreme antiabortion movement will use his death as a catalyst for renewed violence.

Two weeks ago, death threat letters containing rifle bullets were sent to top state officials involved with the execution, but a resolute Gov. Jeb Bush, who signed Hill's death warrant, said he wouldn't be ''bullied'' and refused to halt the execution.

Legal Machinations: The former minister said two weeks that he did not want his case appealed and would welcome his execution.

Last Words and such: Hill showed no remorse and, in his final words, spurred antiabortion activists to follow his lead. ''If you believe abortion is a lethal force, you should oppose the force and do what you have to do to stop it,'' he said, strapped to the gurney at Florida State Prison, his face without expression. ``May God help you to protect the unborn as you would want to be protected.''

Prison officials wouldn't release the names of the two dozen people who witnessed the execution, citing the ongoing criminal investigation into the death threats.

Factoids: Hill became the first killer of an abortion clinic doctor to be executed.

Hill was the...

53rd murderer executed in U.S. in 2003
873rd murderer executed in U.S. since 1976
3rd murderer executed in Florida in 2003
57th murderer executed in Florida since 1976

Hill's death led to the tightest security since serial killer Ted Bundy was electrocuted in 1989 in the same death chamber.

august, 2003

NORTH CAROLINA LAST MEAL
WILLIAM QUENTIN JONES
August 22, 2003

...tossed salad man.....

Last Meal: Jones requested a tossed salad with shredded carrots and cheese and thousand island dressing and a coke.

The Skinny: Jones was executed for the shooting death of a man who had stopped for coffee at a Raleigh convenience store.

Jones was 18 when he came into the store and indiscriminately fired an Uzi, killing the victim. The shooting also injured another customer.

A tape from a security camera showed that Jones fired six shots from a gun as he entered the convenience store. He fired before announcing that he was robbing the store and discharged a total of 10 bullets. Jones' lawyers argued that his death sentence should have been commuted because he was 18 years old at the time of the murder.

Last words and such: Jones winked at his lawyer and his relatives when he was brought into the execution chamber. During the 10 minutes he waited for the injection of lethal drugs, he looked repeatedly at members of the victim's family and said, "I'm sorry." Just before the drugs put him to sleep, Jones looked back at his uncle and lawyer and said "I'm gone." He then said "I love you" several times to family.

Jones' last statement was made in English and Arabic asking for mercy.

Outside the walls: A group of between 30 and 40 death penalty opponents held a candlelight vigil. Stephen Dear, executive director of People of Faith Against the Death Penalty, said a drug used in executions made the death appear peaceful but paralyzes muscles and masks any pain that the inmate may feel.

Factoids:

Jones was the...

52nd murderer executed in U.S. in 2003
872nd murderer executed in U.S. since 1976
1st murderer executed in North Carolina in 2003
24th murderer executed in North Carolina since 1976

ALABAMA LAST MEAL
TOMMY JERRY FORTENBERRY
August 7, 2003

.....Bad Guest Service Station......

Last Meal: For his final meal, Fortenberry requested shrimp but it wasn't available in the prison kitchen. He ate snacks from the vending machines in the visitation area.

The skinny: Fortenberry was executed for killing four people during a gas station robbery in 1984 during the course of a $400 robbery of the Guest Service Station.

Police later found the murder weapon and traced it to a gun repair shop partly owned by Fortenberry's father. During questioning by police, Fortenberry led lawmen to the location where he had disposed of the pistol after the slayings. It was the exact area that police had recovered the weapon. Fortenberry also gave several stories about the murders. He told police he needed money because of a gambling habit. Fortenberry later claimed he was at the station, but another man shot the four victims. That man was named Harvey Underwood.

Last Day: Fortenberry slept well Wednesday night, his last night, awoke about 5 a.m. Thursday and refused to eat breakfast. He went back to sleep until about 7:30 a.m., when he got up, showered and dressed, and had more visits with family and friends.

Fortenberry gave his Bible to his mother, his TV to a nephew, a cup and other items to fellow Death Row inmates.

Last words and such: Fortenberry had no last words but smiled faintly, flashed an "I love you" hand sign to two prison ministry friends in an adjoining witness room.

Post event words: "The punishment is not in the dying, it's in the 19 years of hell he's lived through," said Ben Sherrod, a lay minister with the prison ministry Kairos. "You watched a Christian die, a man that's now in the arms of our Lord."

Factoids:Fortenberry was a former nursing school graduate.

Fortenberry was the....

51st murderer executed in U.S. in 2003
871st murderer executed in U.S. since 1976
3rd murderer executed in Alabama in 2003
28th murderer executed in Alabama since 1976

july, 2003

OKLAHOMA LAST MEAL
HAROLD LOYD MCELMURRY
July 29, 2003

...chicken livers?...

Last Meal: For his last meal, McElmurry requested Canadian bacon pizza, a pint of chicken livers, cottage cheese and one raw white onion.

The Skinny: McElmurry was executed for fatally stabbing and bludgeoning an elderly couple in 1999.

McElmurry told police he stabbed the couple with scissors, then beat them with a hoe.

McElmurry's wife also was convicted in the deaths of the 80-year-old paraplegic and his 75-year-old wife at their rural home. She is serving two life sentences.

The McElmurrys were caught in Texas near the Mexican border in the victim's car. They also had stolen two pistols and $70.

Escape! McElmurry slithered between the jail bars and escaped before he was scheduled to go on trial in 2000 for the fatally stabbing. He was captured the next day.

No Legal Machinations: McElmurry didn't file an appeal after the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals upheld his conviction and death sentence last year. He waived an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Last words and such: McElmurry asked for forgiveness just before he was executed and received it from the grandson of the couple he murdered.

"I'd like to say I'm sorry to the Pendleys. I hope they can forgive me."

The victim's grandson said he was willing to grant McElmurry's request for forgiveness.

"I think he was sincere," said the grandson, who witnessed the execution.

Factoids: McElmurry was the...

50th murderer executed in U.S. in 2003
870th murderer executed in U.S. since 1976
14th murderer executed in Oklahoma in 2003
69th murderer executed in Oklahoma since 1976

The fifth person put to death this month in Oklahoma.

TEXAS LAST MEAL
ALLEN JANECKA
July 24, 2003

Last Meal: Janecka had a final meal of chicken fried steak, gravy, french fries, ketchup, salad, blue cheese dressing, iced tea with lemon, two sodas, rolls, and butter.

The Skinny: Allen Wayne Janecka was executed for the murder of a 14-month-old boy in an inheritance scheme that shocked Houston and fooled medical examiners. On July 6, 1979, a neighbor discovered the bodies of the husband and wife in their home, along with their 14-month-old son. Each had been shot in the head. The boy was shot while surrounded by stuffed animals in his crib. Although the police did not find a weapon on the premises, the medical examiner initially ruled that wife had killed her husband and son, then committed suicide. The Houston Police Department continued to investigate the case for the next year-and-a-half, focusing on woman's brother, who stood to gain a substantial inheritance upon the family's death. During the investigation, uncovered evidence showing that the woman's brother hired Walt Waldhauser to murder the family, and that Waldhauser in turn hired Janecka to commit the murders. Janecka later confessed to the murders when questioned by police, and also television interviewers.

Final words and such: Janecka thanked his family and spiritual advisors in his final statement.

"For many years I have done things my way, which has caused a lot of pain to me, my family and many others. Today I have realized that for peace and happiness, one has to do things God's way," he said. "I want to thank my family for their support. I love you. I am taking you with me. ... I also want to say thanks to the chaplains who I have met through the years and who have brought me a long way."

Factoids: Janecka was the...
49th murderer executed in U.S. in 2003
869th murderer executed in U.S. since 1976
20th murderer executed in Texas in 2003
309th murderer executed in Texas since 1976

Janecka spent 22 years on death row.

He was the second inmate executed in connection with the slayings of the toddler and his parents.

Markham Duff-Smith, the woman's brother, was executed in 1993, moments after admitting for the first time to a role in those killings and the 1975 slaying of his mother..

This summary was compiled from various news accounts.

OKLAHOMA LAST MEAL
JACKIE LEE WILLINGHAM
July 24, 2003

..."It ruined my whole day." ...

Last Meal: For his last meal, Willingham ate fettuccine alfredo, a small deep-dish pepperoni pizza, breadsticks and two peppermint patties.

The skinny: Willingham was executed for fatally beating a 62-year-old Lawton woman he said was rude to him. Willingham was selling perfume door to door in Lawton, Oklahoma. Working his way through a downtown building, he came to the office occupied by the victimWey. Although she told him she did not wish to purchase any perfume, he continued to press her, adhering to his standard sales procedure of insisting on three "no" answers from a potential customer. The repeated rejections that ensued led to an what Willingham claims was a rude rebuff. After calling on some other offices in the building, Willingham noticed the victim enter a restroom off the hallway near her office. Still angry over their earlier confrontation, he eventually followed her into the restroom, pulled her from a stall, and struck her several times in the face. As she continued to struggle with him, he slammed her head into the wall and kicked her in the face with his boot. The victim lost consciousness and died asphyxiating on the blood from her injuries. Police found a sales brochure left at one of the other offices, and eventually questioned Willingham, who at first denied any involvement then confessed.

Trail stuff: During his trial, Willingham said he had not meant to kill the victim, only to hurt her . He testified that while he was in her office trying to sell perfume, she asked him to leave, called him names and slammed the door on him.

"I was angry. I was upset," Willingham testified during the 1995 trial. "I was frustrated and upset with her for being rude to me.

"I just couldn't get in the mood to sell anymore. It ruined my whole day."

Last words and such: "I want to apologize to the (victim's) family. I'm so sorry for the pain I've caused you," Willingham said before his execution. "I hope by my death you find some closure and one day forgive me. For my family, I'm so sorry for this. I love you."

Willingham then looked up and said, "OK, I'm ready."

Factoids: Willingham is the....
48th murderer executed in U.S. in 2003
868th murderer executed in U.S. since 1976
13th murderer executed in Oklahoma in 2003
68th murderer executed in Oklahoma since 1976

The state pardon and parole board last month recommended clemency for Willingham, but the recommendation was rejected by Governor Henry.

Three death penalty protesters were arrested at the state Capitol after a rally in opposition of Willingham's execution.

Oklahoma Highway Patrol officers assigned to Henry's security detail took the demonstrators into custody as they walked down a hall toward Henry's office.

They face misdemeanor charges of disrupting a state office or business.

Gov. Brad Henry has not granted any clemencies since he took office in January.

This summary was compiled using various news accounts and also from Jason Whitehorn KSWO-ABC (Lawton, OK).

TEXAS LAST MEAL
CEDRIC RANSOM
July 23, 2003

selling guns out of the trunk...

Last Meal: Ransom did not request a last meal.

The Skinny: Ransom, who attacked one of his own attorneys and a prosecutor during his capital murder trial was executed for robbing and fatally shooting a gun dealer, one of four slayings authorities linked him to during a 17-day period in 1991. (Spree!)

More skinny: Ransom, along with three others, went to the home of, an optometrist, was also a licensed gun dealer and sold guns out of his car trunk. When the victim opened up the trunk of his car, one the guys grabbed two firearms from inside. At the same time, Ransom grabbed the victim by the back of the head, hit him, leaned him over the trunk of the car, shot him one time.

Pre-trial excitement: At the conclusion of jury selection, Ransom used a smuggled 5 1/2-inch piece of broken glass hidden in his hand to try to stab one of his attorneys in the back. Ignoring orders from a bailiff to back off, Ransom turned his attention to a nearby prosecutor.

Neither was seriously hurt in the November 1992 attack, but both were removed from the case.

Prosecutor quote: Besides the Dec. 7, 1991, slaying of a optometrist and part-time gun dealer prosector Bland said, Ransom was involved in three fatal robberies of convenience stores. "Most people go to an ATM to get cash," Bland said. "He'd go to convenience stores and not leave any witnesses."

Final words and such: In a brief final statement, Cedric Ransom thanked a friend and a spiritual adviser who were present.

"You have been beautiful to me. Without you in my life, I would not have been able to make it like this. Probably I would have put up a good fight. You have calmed me."

Ransom told them he loved them. As the lethal drugs began taking effect, he told them, "I'll be OK."

Factoids: Ransom was the.....
47th murderer executed in U.S. in 2003
867th murderer executed in U.S. since 1976
19th murderer executed in Texas in 2003
308th murderer executed in Texas since 1976

In 1997, he made an unsuccessful escape attempt from death row. Ransom and fellow death row inmate cut through a fence at the Ellis I Unit with a hacksaw blade, climbed onto the roof and made a run for the two perimeter fences. The attempt was foiled when a guard spotted the inmates and ordered them to stop. Both did.

This summary was compiled from various news accounts.

VIRGINIA LAST MEAL
BOBBY WAYNE SWISHER
July 22, 2003

...three weeks later...

Last Meal: Swisher had no special requests for his last meal. He ate the same food as the rest of the prisoners: a hot dog and bun with mustard and onions, oven-browned potatoes, cole slaw and watermelon.

The skinny: Bobby Wayne Swisher was executed, after a three-week delay, for the rape and murder of a 22-year-old woman.

Swisher abducted victim as she was working late preparing for Valentine's Day at a florist she co-owned. Her body was found later that month in a field within two miles of the shop.

During the trial, Swisher's lawyers did not dispute that he committed the crime, but they argued that Swisher should be spared because he was too high on drugs and alcohol to know what he was doing.

Three Week Delay: The execution came less than a week after the Virginia Supreme Court refused to hear the final appeal by Swisher's attorneys. The governor delayed the execution, which had been set for July 1, until today to give Swisher a chance to ask the Virginia Supreme Court for a new sentencing. In his July 1 statement, Warner said the matter was best handled by the courts and that he would not intervene if the court rejected Swisher's request.

"Bobby Wayne Swisher committed a vile and reprehensible act - an act which I believe justifies the death penalty," the governor said.

Last words and such: "I hope you all can find the same peace in Jesus Christ as I have," Swisher said in his last statement.

Factoids: In a telephone interview this month, Swisher said he was ready to die, if it came to that, because of a religious conversion about a year ago. "I was just a wild child. I was out there having fun and partying. That was it," he said. "I was a stupid, narrow-minded kid and made bad choices with devastating results."

At 8:30 p.m., three people stood outside the prison to protest Swisher's execution.

One, Francis Carlhian, who is from Belgium but lives in Charlottesville, said he was surprised there were so few protesters at the prison, noting that opposition to the death penalty is widespread in Europe.

"I was thinking a lot of people would come," said Carlhian, a housemate of Schrader. "A man is dying. It's crazy."

Swisher was the....
46th murderer executed in U.S. in 2003
866th murderer executed in U.S. since 1976
2nd murderer executed in Virginia in 2003
89th murderer executed in Virginia since 1976

OKLAHOMA LAST MEAL
BRYAN TOLES
July 22, 2003

Beware the Honeymooners Bar...

Last Meal: Toles requested a last meal of four fried chicken breasts, mashed potatoes and gravy, three Bama pecan pies, two foot-long chili cheese dogs, a small order of chili cheese fries and a two liter cream soda.

The skinny: Toles was executed for the killing a 39-year-old man and his teen-age son.

Toles and two friends got into a fight at the Honeymooners Bar in Lawton, Oklahoma. Fleeing the bar on foot, they eventually got tired and decided to steal a car. None of them knew how to hot-wire the red Mustang 5.0 in the driveway, so they had to get the keys.

Toles rang the doorbell while the two others hid around the corner and put bandannas over their faces outlaw-style. Toles, armed with a .22 revolver, pushed his way into the home when 15-year-old son opened the door. Hearing the commotion, the father met the the two friends of Toles in the hall. The father struggled with them while Toles, who had been kicking the son, turned and shot the father in the arm.

Thinking that the father could identify him, and that he "might as well go ahead and kill him," Toles aimed at father's chest and shot.

Meanwhile the son was still kneeling on the floor near the front door with his hands behind his back. Toles saw him on his way out of the house and thought, "damn, there's still him left." Realizing the boy could identify him, Toles shot the boy in the back of his head.

Toles confessed to the murders following his arrest. A 16-year-old accomplice was also convicted on murder charges and sentenced to life in prison.

Final words and such: As he lay strapped to a gurney, Toles offered his condolences to the victim's family. "I'd like to apologize to the victims' family and ask them for their forgiveness."

Then Toles talked to members of his family and his spiritual adviser, who were witnesses at his execution. "I love all y'all thanks for coming. Take care of my mother," he said. "I'll see y'all later. We're all right." Toles' eye lids began to flutter as the injections took effect. "I fixing to pass out, I think."

About 15 minutes before his execution, other prisoners on death row began banging their cell doors to acknowledge the execution and give Toles a send-off. The banging could be heard in the death chamber and muffled what Toles said.

Factoid: Toles was the 12th inmate executed in Oklahoma this year.

Two other executions are scheduled in July: Jackie Lee Willingham on July 24 and Harold Loyd McElmurry III on July 29.

From the Oklahoma Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty

The state of Oklahoma is scheduled to execute Bryan Toles, a black man, July 22 for two murders in Lawton. Toles allegedly shot them in their home shortly after midnight on July 16, 1993 in an attempt to steal the red Mustang parked in their driveway. Toles confessed to the shootings the next morning, and received a death sentence in 1994.

Although his crime is certainly inexcusable, Toles is a victim of the economic discrimination inherent in the death penalty system. He did not have the necessary funds to secure the presence of Dr. Jonathan Lipman, a neuropharmacologist, and therefore forfeited what could have been the strongest mitigating factor in his case: voluntary intoxication.

....Dr. Lipman, who interviewed Toles, reviewed his videotaped statements, and studied reports prepared by police investigators and social workers, could have given serious credibility to a defense of voluntary intoxication. After reviewing the case, Dr. Lipman reported that Toles had smoked eight rocks of crack cocaine prior to the murders, and had a blood alcohol level of .596. Since Toles could not afford to pay for Dr. Lipman, or private attorneys for that matter, he could not produce an effective defense on these grounds. Unfortunately, his case is not an isolated incident; 95 percent of death row inmates in the United States could not afford to hire private attorneys.

Toles also challenged the admission of his confessions at trial, which he made the morning after the murder. He claimed he did not knowingly and intelligently waive his constitutional rights as required by Miranda v. Arizona (1966). Police officers and Toles agree that he asked to speak to an attorney numerous times, but the state contends that after those requests, he changed his mind and decided to confess.

Most defendants convicted of murder in the United States do not receive death sentences. A small number do, and sadly, they are disproportionately African American and overwhelmingly poor. Please contact Gov. Brad Henry to protest the pending execution of Bryan Toles, as well as the racial and socio-economic discrimination in Oklahoma’s death penalty system.

This summary was compiled using various news accounts and also from Jason Whitehorn KSWO-ABC (Lawton, OK).

ARKANSAS LAST MEAL
RILEY DOBI NOEL
July 9, 2003

Avenging Skeeter...

Last Meal: fried chicken, mashed potatoes with gravy, hot rolls, a green garden salad with ranch dressing, Kool-Aid and cookies.

The Skinny: Noel was executed for killing three children in the mistaken belief that their sister set up his brother, Cornelius “Skeeter” Ganaway, for a gang hit .

Noel and three others, Terry Carroll, Curtis Lee Cochran, and Tracy Trinette Calloway were riding around Little Rock "getting high." They went to the home of a woman, whose daughter Noel suspected of being involved in the drive-by killing of his brother.

Calloway got out of the car and followed Noel and Carroll into the house. Noel told the three children: ages 17, 12 and 10, in the residence to get down on the floor. Calloway testified she watched as Noel shot each of the children in the head and killed them. A co-defendant tried to shoot the intended victim's mother with a shotgun but it jammed, and she was able to wrestle it away. Noel testified at the trial against his lawyers' advice and denied killing the children.

One of Noel's accomplices received a 20 year prison sentence after he testified on behalf of the state. Another was sentenced to life in prison without parole and the third got 132 years in prison for the three killings.

Legal Machinations: In his appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, Noel's attorney argued that medical tests that were not available when he was convicted in 1996 would reveal a brain abnormality that might have been viewed as a mitigating circumstance by the jurors who recommended the death penalty.

Final words and such: Before he was executed, Noel gave a final statement. "I want my family to know I love them," Noel said. "I want my kids to know I love Jesus."

Factoids: Noel became the 25th individual executed in Arkansas since the state reinstated the death penalty in 1990.

TEXAS LAST MEAL
CHRISTOPHER BLACK, SR.
July 9, 2003

....""I ran out of bullets."....

Last Meal: Steak (medium well), fried chicken (wings and thighs), french fries with mushroom gravy, mixed steamed vegetables, chocolate fudge cake, peach cobbler, sweet tea, bread, chef salad with Italian dressing.

The skinny: Black was executed for killing his 17-month-old step-granddaughter. He also killed his wife and his 5-month-old daughter. Black was convicted of killing the child at the Killeen home of his estranged wife, the toddler's grandmother. She was found slumped in a high chair. She had been shot five times in the chest. Her grandmother was shot 10 times. Black's daughter was shot once. "I ran out of bullets," Black told a 911 operator he called after the attack. Black was charged, but never tried, in the slayings of his wife and daughter.

Black bought a 9 mm semiautomatic pistol the day before the shooting. He mailed cassette tapes to relatives explaining plans to kill his 36-year-old wife and anyone else in the house. The tapes were timed to arrive after the shooting. The couple had married just over three years earlier but relatives said the wife was seeking a divorce.

Final words and such: Asked by the warden if he wanted to make a final statement, Black Sr., said no.

Factoids: Black is the 18th Texas inmate to receive lethal injection this year and the second in as many weeks. Two more are set to die later this month.

Black has no previous criminal record.

OKLAHOMA LAST MEAL
ROBERT DON DUCKETT
July 8, 2003

A very bad roommate...

Last Meal: a small pizza, a chili cheese coney, a half-gallon of cookie-dough ice cream and a vanilla Coke.

The skinny: Duckett was executed for beating a man to death with an ashtray stand and fireplace poker. Duckett was a 24-year-old prison escapee in October 1988 when he killed the man with whom he briefly shared an apartment.

Prosecutors said the man was killed because he wanted Duckett to move out. The defense alleged that Howard made a homosexual pass at Duckett, who suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder after a prison rape.

The Capture: Two weeks later Duckett was arrested in Clear Creek, Arizona driving John Howard's car. He had switched the license plates on John's car with the plates of another car in the parking lot of Howard's apartment complex. Found in the trunk were blood-stained clothing and bank bags from the store.

Final words and such: In his final statement, Duckett asked for forgiveness. "I just want to apologize and hope my family forgives me. I love them very much, and I hope they never forget that. Let's go."

Factoids: Duckett, 39, became the state's 11th inmate executed this year. He had not tried to stay his execution at the last minute, having already exhausted his appeals.

Oklahoma has three more men scheduled for execution this month.

TEXAS LAST MEAL
HILTON CRAWFORD
July 2, 2003

Uncle Hilty...

Last Meal: For his last meal, Crawford requested 12 beef ribs, three enchiladas, chicken fried steak with cream gravy, a crispy bacon sandwich, a bowl of ketchup, a loaf of bread, french fries, onion rings, three colas and three root beers and cobbler.

The skinny: Crawford was executed for the abduction and slaying of a 12-year old boy almost eight years ago. Crawford was known to his 12-year-old victim as "Uncle Hilty,"

Alibi: The former Beaumont police officer and sheriff's deputy acknowledged being present when the boy was fatally beaten and shot after he was grabbed from his home. But Crawford insisted that the killer in a kidnap-for-ransom scheme that went awry was a mysterious accomplice known to him as R.L. Remington, a man he met at a Louisiana race track.

Prosecutors said Remington was a figment of Crawford's imagination.

The investigation led to Crawford, who was facing huge credit card and gambling debts.

Last words and such:Crawford nodded and smiled to witnesses, asking for forgiveness and expressing love for his family.

"I thank Jesus Christ. I had an opportunity to serve Jesus Christ; I'm very thankful for that," he said, as a small wooden cross dangled from a cord around his neck.

The victim's mother was standing behind a window just a few feet from her son's killer when he turned toward her and said, "I want to ask Paulette for forgiveness from your heart. One day I hope you will. It's a tragedy for my family and your family. I am sorry."

He asked a witness to deliver a yellow rose to his wife, Connie. He told his wife, who wasn't present, that he loved her and his sons. "They were the greatest gift from God."

"May God pass me over to the kingdom's shore softly and gently," he said.

"I'm ready," he said just before the dose of lethal drugs began.

Factoids: At 64, Crawford was the second-oldest of the state's 451 condemned killers, earning him the nickname "Old Man" among some of his prison colleagues. He also became the second-oldest of the 306 Texas inmates to receive lethal injection since the state began using that method of capital punishment in 1982.

Crawford's execution was the 17th in Texas this year and 306th since the state resumed capital punishment in 1982.

Another three executions are scheduled for later this month, and at least four more are on the calendar for August.

OKLAHOMA LAST MEAL
LEWIS GILBERT
July 1, 2003

Whoppers!

Last Meal: For his last meal, Gilbert dined on a half-gallon of vanilla ice cream, a box of assorted cones and a box of Whoppers.

The Skinny: Gilbert was sentenced to die for killing a security guard. He had also been sentenced to death in Missouri for killing two people, and he had confessed to killing an Ohio woman.

SPREE! Prosecutors in Gilbert's Oklahoma trial said he and Eric Elliot started the spree in Ohio, where they approached Loader's home.

Gilbert and Elliot kicked in the back door and tied up a 79-year old woman. They stole $40 and her car, then put her in the trunk. They took her to the woods, where they shot her in the head three times. Her remains haven't been found and Gilbert was never tried in the case.

Gilbert and Elliot then drove the woman's car to Missouri, where they approached a couple's home. They knocked on the door and asked to use the telephone.

They held the couple at gunpoint, marched them into the cellar and shot each of them in the head three times.

The 37-year old Oklahoma woman had gone fishing after her shift as a security guard at Lake Stanley Draper when Gilbert and Elliot approached her, intending to steal her pickup.

They took her to a nearby wooded area and forced her to sit under a tree as they rummaged through her purse, took her keys and stole $2 or $3.

She told the pair she wouldn't call police if they didn't hurt her, but Gilbert reportedly thought she was lying and grew angry.

Elliot tied the woman's hands and Gilbert shot her three times in the head and once in the back of the neck.

Gilbert and Elliot were arrested in New Mexico, where they confessed to all four murders.
Elliot is serving a sentence of life in prison without parole.

Witnesses: Fourteen friends and family members came to watch Gilbert put to death.

The security guard's husband said before the execution that he is still too upset to visit her grave. The death penalty was the only appropriate punishment for Gilbert, he said.

After it was over, he said he finally had closure. "It brought some relief to both our families. Right now he's up there having to testify to what he did to God. We know where our loved ones are - they're with God."

Final words and such: Gilbert's final statement was mostly inaudible. He thanked God several times but didn't address the victims' families.

"This is weird, but I'm actually looking forward to seeing God. I'm coming home," Gilbert said. "Thank you, God."

Factoids: Gilbert's execution was delayed about an hour while an Oklahoma appeals court and the U.S. Supreme Court rejected a request for a stay.

Gilbert was the 10th person executed in Oklahoma this year and the 64th since the state resumed executions in 1990.

Lewis and Gilbert were the names of the two lead characters in "Revenge of the Nerds".

This summary was compiled from various news accounts.

june, 2003

OHIO LAST MEAL
ERNEST MARTIN
June 18, 2003

two changes...slim and none and no one knows Slim.

Last Meal: a cheeseburger with tomato, mustard, ketchup, lettuce, and pickle; french fries with ketchup; apple pie, and Pepsi.

The skinny: Martin was executed for the robbery killing of a 70-year-old Cleveland pharmacist. Martin said a man he knew only as Slim committed the crime. He said he walked to the store to see what happened after the robbery occurred. Slim was never identified. A former girlfriend testified at trial that Slim had nothing to do with the killing. The robbery netted less than $40.

Martin, a high-school dropout with a short criminal record, was arrested days later at his apartment a block away. Investigators found no gun, nor other physical evidence linking Martin to the crime, the public defender's office said. Martin was convicted largely on the testimony of the girlfriend, who was never charged.

Last days: Martin spent most of Wednesday morning on the phone with his mother and visiting with other relatives at the prison, including a son he hasn’t seen for 20 years. He slept for about an hour.

He had dropped the retardation claim after a psychologist hired by his attorneys determined he was not mentally retarded.

Last words and such: In a written statement released after his death, and during a three-minute speech while strapped to the death table, Martin compared his situation to the trials of Jesus. "I'm being treated the same way Christ was treated," he said from the table. "But I don't hold no grudges against no one."

"Just the same, the state of Ohio has succeeded in its quest for my life by way of perjured testimony and false witnesses who were paid to tell the lies they did," the written statement said.

Martin told his family he loved them and appreciated the life he had with them, "even though it wasn't a good life."

His last words were, "God bless all of you. That's all I have to say."

Factoids: Martin was the eighth inmate to be executed since Ohio began carrying out the death penalty again in 1999. Three more executions are scheduled in the next five weeks.

The injection consists of sodium pentothal, which induces unconsciousness; pavulon, a muscle relaxant that stops breathing; and potassium chloride, which stops the heart.

For the first time since 1999, no execution witnesses represented the victim.

This summary was compiled from various news accounts.

INDIANA LAST MEAL
JOSEPH TRUEBLOOD
June 13, 2003

Last Meal: Trueblood refused a special last meal. "This is the way I'm protesting what the state is getting ready to do." However, he was given the same dinner as other inmates: a bologna sandwich, a cheese sandwich, cookies and fruit.

The Skinny: Trueblood was executed for killing a woman and her two children (ages 2 and 1) and buried their bodies in shallow graves. Trueblood pleaded guilty to the 1988 shooting deaths. In later appeals, Trueblood maintained that the victim, who was suicidal, shot her children before shooting herself. Trueblood said he then fired the final shot out of compassion.

Legal Machinations: Gov. Frank O'Bannon denied Trueblood's clemency petition. Trueblood had asked that his death sentence be commuted to life in prison.

Less than 10 hours before he was scheduled to be executed, the Indiana Supreme Court again refused to spare him.

Last Day: Among those he met with on his last day was a 25 year-old University of Notre Dame graduate who got to know Trueblood through a priest while she attended college.

The student said she and Trueblood ate candy, soft drinks and chips from a vending machine and prayed together.

Beverly Miller, 56, who also visits Death Row inmates, has known Trueblood for 12 years. She said Thursday that "he believes he will be in heaven with (the vicitm) and (the) children."

Final Statement: Trueblood reiterated his innocence, asserting that his attorneys had told him that pleading guilty was the best way to avoid the death penalty.

"That's the only reason I pleaded guilty," he said, in a statement given through his attorney. "If I had been given a lie detector test, it would have proven I was telling the truth."

Post-execution: Trueblood battled the Department of Correction to prevent an autopsy.

A LaPorte County judge on Thursday granted a restraining order preventing the department from conducting an autopsy.

"I don't want my body desecrated in any way," Trueblood said. "Once they murder me, they no longer have any authority over me."

Factoids: Trueblood was the 11th person put to death by the state since it resumed executions in 1981 after 20 years without any.

His was the 858th execution since the United States resumed capital punishment in 1976, the 38th so far this year and the second in Indiana in six weeks.

This summary was compiled from various news accounts.

TEXAS LAST MEAL
KIA JOHNSON
June 11, 2003

A very candid camera...

Last Meal: Johnson was served his last meal, a fried feast. He requested four chicken breasts, shrimp and catfish — all fried — accompanied by french fries, onion rings, a double cheeseburger with grilled onions and a glass of strawberry juice, followed by pecan pie.

The skinny: Johnson was executed for gunning down a convenience store manager during a robbery that netted $23. The killing was captured by a surveillance camera in the store. Despite the videotape. Johnson maintained his innocence.

``I told them that they had the wrong person and that I did not kill anybody,'' Johnson said on a Web site devoted to his case.

Priors: Johnson, a high school graduate who worked as a cook, had a juvenile record that included seven arrests. As an adult, he was arrested four more times and was convicted of burglary twice.

Prosecution: "In the 12 years that I've been here in Bexar County, I've only had two capital murders captured on video tape," says prosecutor Michael Cohen.

The surveillance video would be Kia Johnson's undoing. Several news stations ran the tape, tipsters called in, and 18 hours after the murder Kia Johnson was found with crack.

Legal Machinations: Johnson's lawyers contended he was mentally retarded. But lower courts rejected his appeals, and late Wednesday afternoon the U.S. Supreme Court, which has barred execution of the mentally retarded, refused to delay the execution.

Last Words and such: Johnson directed his final words to his brother, watching through a window a few feet away. He never looked through another window, where victim's family sat. ``Tell mama I love her,'' Johnson said. ``Tell the kids I love them too. See y'all.''

Factoids: Johnson was the 16th inmate executed in Texas this year. He's the first of 10 set to die over the next two months.

The drugs used to execute condemned killer Kia Levoy Johnson of San Antonio yesterday cost $86.

That's almost four times more than the $23 he got after gunning down the night manager.

OKLAHOMA LAST MEAL
KENNETH CHARM
June 5, 2003

A forgiving father...

Last Meal: For his final meal, Charm requested fried chicken, french fries, hot peppers, corn on the cob, ketchup and hot sauce.

The skinny: Charm was executed for the rape and murder of a 14-year-old girl. The victim, a 14 year old Michigan girl, was murdered while visiting her father in Lawton. Prosecutors say Charm knew the victim`s father, and knew she was homesick for her mother in Michigan. So, he promised to buy her new clothes for her trip home. Instead, she was kidnapped by Charm and a 16-year old teen now serving life without parole. They drove her to a remote area where she was raped, strangled and beaten with a sledgehammer.

The defense: Charm`s defense tried to claim he`s mentally retarded. The U.S. Supreme Court rejected their appeal.

The Supreme Court ruled last year against executing the mentally retarded, and the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals ruled that people with an IQ of 70 or below shouldn't face the death penalty.

Charm had an IQ of 75, but his lawyers argued IQ tests have a margin of error of plus or minus five percentage points.

Last Words and such:In a final statement while awaiting the lethal injection, Charm made a brief apology. "I'd like to apologize to the victim's family. To my family, I ask your forgiveness."

The victim's father reacts: The victim's father watched a friend die when his daughter's killer was put to death. "It's kind of sad, There were two lives lost here. It's not like I didn't know him. It's still hard for me to dislike him, even though he took my little girl."

Factoids: Charm was the ninth person put to death this year in Oklahoma and the 63rd since the state resumed executions in 1990.

may, 2003

OKLAHOMA LAST MEAL
ROBERT KNIGHTON
May 27, 2003

a family divided...

Last Meal: Knighton requested a final meal of a large pepperoni pizza, a strawberry milkshake, a large order of onion rings and banana cream pie.
The skinny: Knighton shot and killed a couple at their farm near Tonkawa during a three-day crime spree that began with the murders and robbery of two men in Clinton, Mo. He and two co-defendants came away from the victim's residence with $61 and a beat-up pickup truck.

ANOTHER half-way house escape and SPREE: Knighton served 17 years in a Missouri prison for manslaughter, kidnapping and robbery before going to a halfway house in Kansas City, Mo., where he befriended a teenager on probation for auto theft.

They escaped and the two, along with Knighton’s girlfriend, stole a van in Kansas City and drove to Clinton, Mo., where they met up with a man and his stepson and drank together.

Knighton was charged with first-degree murder in the deaths of these men but he was not convicted because he was sentenced to death in Oklahoma first.

The trio left their encounter with the men with money, beer and three weapons, including a .38-caliber revolver used to kill the farm couple

Last words and such: >"I'm sorry for all I've done," Knighton said in his last words. "I'll see you again some day."

The family: Knighton’s execution Tuesday was witnessed by several relatives of the victim's . Most said justice was done.

Among the witnesses for Knighton was the adopted daughter of the victim. She forgave and befriended Knighton during his trial 12 years ago and has been an outspoken critic of capital punishment. She gave Knighton a thumbs-up after his brief final remarks.

‘‘He’s getting ready to go to heaven,’’ she said aloud as the mixture of lethal drugs was administered.

The case has put the sisters on opposite sides of a difficult issue. But the two remain friendly. They even ate breakfast together Tuesday morning.

FLORIDA LAST MEAL
NEWTON SLAWSON
May 16, 2003

``I'm ready. It is time.''...a very bad man in Florida

Last Meal: Slawson, a former fertilizer bag stacker, last meal was a plate of battered fried scallops and a Coke.

The skinny: Slawson was executed for killing an entire family. Slawson killed a husband and wife, their two young kids, and their unborn baby. He sliced open the woman's body, taking her nearly full-term baby from her womb, shooting and killing it. Family members said Slawson's punishment wasn't enough.

Evidence and trial: Police said the 1989 slayings occurred after husband offered to sell Slawson crack cocaine and the wife said she feared he might be a police officer. What happened next is unclear, but Slawson got his gun and opened fire on the family. In his trial, prosecutors claimed Slawson had fantasies about dismembering women. When he was arrested, police found bloody clothing, a bloody knife, a .357 revolver with blood on it, an assault rifle, 180 rounds of ammunition and a Penthouse magazine in which had drawn images of slit bellies on some of the nude photographs.

Defense attorneys argued that the husband had slipped crack cocaine into Slawson's beer, sending an unstable man into a killing rage.

Machinations: Just an hour before Slawson's scheduled execution Thursday, Gov. Jeb Bush issued a temporary stay so that three psychiatrists could examine whether Slawson was competent to be executed. Those psychiatrists reported to Bush around midnight and ruled him competent. The standard for competency is understanding that execution will result in death and why the sentence is being imposed.

Last Day: Slawson ate his last meal, read from a Star Trek novel titled ''Eugenics Wars,'' and visited with family members for the final time when given news of the stay. He was visibly upset by the delay.

Last words and such: Slawson never explained why he killed the family. And he never apologized. Slawson appeared ''very relaxed, very focused,'' before his execution, and that the inmate told guards, ``I'm ready. It is time.'' When the warden asked Slawson this morning if there was anything he'd like to say before he died, Slawson simply said, "No, sir." Slawson was given Valium before the injection.

Factoids: An anonymous executioner, who injected the lethal cocktail of chemicals, was paid $150 in cash.

Slawson was the 56th person executed since Florida resumed executions in 1979 and the second to die this year. He was the 13th person executed under a death warrant signed by Jeb Bush.

Death penalty opponents criticized the execution as an ''assisted suicide,'' noting that recent executions in Florida have been inmates like female serial killer Aileen Wournos, who have given up their right to appeal. Nationwide, 97 such ''volunteers'' have been executed since the U.S. Supreme Court allowed for restoration of the death penalty in the mid-1970's, according to the Death Penalty Information Center, a non-profit interest group.

TEXAS LAST MEAL
BRUCE JACOBS
May 15, 2003

"People tell me I'm slow,"...plus our third Psalm....

Last Meal: a whole fried chicken, 12 buttered bread slices, fried onion rings, fried okra, a six-pack of RC Cola, two tomatoes and a large bag of Fritos corn chips.

The skinny: Jacobs was executed for stabbing a boy to death with a butcher knife on the youngster's 16th birthday. Jacobs forced his way into the teenager's Dallas home. The boy was stabbed at least 24 times and part of the knife blade was left imbedded in his body. The boy's father witnessed the crime and identified Jacobs as the killer. The father gave police information for a sketch of the suspect and a taxi driver told authorities the drawing looked like a customer he had the morning of the killing. Jacobs was remembered for his beard and a Panama hat that he wore. Jacobs, still wearing the hat but recently shaven, was arrested inside a convenience store.

ALIBI: Jacobs, who worked mostly as a dishwasher and had a criminal history of violence with knives and razor blades, acknowledged he was in the Harris house at 6:30 that morning but said another intruder in the house at the same time was to blame for the killing.

"I'm going to get executed for something I didn't do," he said recently from death row. "Somebody jumped me from behind... I left and went home. I didn't know there was a murder until three days later."

Last minute machinations: Defense lawyers claimed Jacobs was mentally ill but couldn't prove he was mentally retarded. When he was 14, an intelligence test put Jacobs' IQ at 77 while subsequent testing over the years put his IQ somewhat higher. Someone with an IQ less than 70 generally is considered retarded.

"People tell me I'm slow," Jacobs, a 10th-grade dropout, said from death row.

Last words and such: Jacobs thanked a few supporters who watched from a nearby observation room and said "Take care of yourselves and y'all stay strong." Then, Jacobs recited the 23rd Psalm (see below) as his final statement. He spent the last six months memorizing it.

Factoid: Jacobs become the 15th killer put to death this year in Texasand the 304th inmate executed by Texas since the state resumed capital punishment in 1982.

There are two executions scheduled for next month in Texas.

The condemned man's father, who cannot attend the execution in Huntsville because of his failing health, said he will be sitting by the phone just in case his son calls to wish him a final farewell – or, for the first time, admit his crime.

"He's never told me a thing about it," he said. "If he calls, all I would ask him is, 'Did you tell the chaplain all your sins? If you didn't, get on your knees and tell the Lord all you've done.' They can pour 5 gallons of water over him and baptize him, but if he lies, he's going straight to hell."

The 23rd Psalm

The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want.
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures:
He leadeth me beside the still waters.
He restoreth my soul:
He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for His name' sake.

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil: For thou art with me;
Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me.
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies;
Thou annointest my head with oil; My cup runneth over.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the House of the Lord forever.

He spent the last six months memorizing it.

GEORGIA LAST MEAL
CARL ISAACS
May 6, 2003

A long time comin'...

Last Meal: Isaacs had ordered a last meal of pork and macaroni, pinto beans, sauteed cabbage, carrot salad, dinner roll, chocolate cake and fruit punch. But, he refused it.

The skinny: Isaacs was executed for orchestrating the slaying of six members of a farm family during a burglary. It was once described as the most gruesome in the state's history. Isaacs, 49, spent more time on death row than any other person in the United States At the time of the murders, Isaacs was on the run after having escaped from a minimum-security prison camp in Maryland. The crime triggered a national manhunt for the killers. Isaacs, his younger brother Billy, half brother Wayne Coleman and George Dungee, were arrested for the crime one week later in West Virginia. Days after the capture of the four men, the brother of the victim's was approached with an offer of vigilante justice by the outraged residents of the community.

The Supremes: The Supreme Court refused to grant a last-minute stay, although Justices John Paul Stevens and Stephen Breyer said the court should have agreed to consider Isaacs' claim that it was unconstitutional to execute him after his long imprisonment. Justice Clarence Thomas, a native of Georgia, did not participate.

Aftermath: The killings prompted legislation that requires victims' families to be notified of developments in death penalty cases and inspired the 1988 movie "Murder One," starring James Wilder as Isaacs. The killings also prompted more residents to buy guns.

Final Days and such: Isaacs, through his lawyer, offered remorse for the killings, saying he was not the same hotheaded person who committed the crime at 19.

The victim's family were unmoved, citing Isaacs' own boastful words in a series of 1975 prison interviews.

"I'd like to get out and kill more of them," he said at the time. "They represent the type of society I don't like. I didn't know them, had never seen them before May 14, but I didn't like them. Working people don't do a damn thing for me." Isaacs, during the interviews, compared himself to notorious 1930s outlaw John Dillinger.

Final Words and such: Isaacs suffered from cancer and wore a colostomy bag into the death chamber. Isaacs declined an opportunity to make a final statement, but did ask for a final prayer. After the prayer he mouthed Amen.

Factoids: Two other men are serving life sentences for the murders. A third was released from prison in 1993.

It was the first time in state history that Georgia officials allowed members of the victims family to witness the execution.

TEXAS LAST MEAL
ROGER DALE VAUGHN
May 6, 2003

Our second Psalms this week...first 144, now 103...

Last Meal: a double meat cheeseburger with everything, a baked potato, a salad, a Coke and butter pecan ice cream.

The Skinny: Vaughn was put to death for the 1991 slaying of a North Texas woman. Vaughn was being held on forgery and robbery charges in Lubbock when he fled the county jail in October of 1991. He was a trusty at the time. Two days later, the 66-year-old victim was raped and strangled at her home. When Vaughn escaped from the jail, he was by himself, outside, and unsupervised. "He was a trustee at the time, and he was out on the courthouse lawn raking leaves, when he decided to leave," says an investigator.

Rampage: Vaughn tracked down a friend, convinced him he had been paroled, then got the friend drunk, knocked him out and stole his truck and money. That friend was left mentally disabled, laying in a cottonfield near Idalou. He drove east to Electra, midway between Wichita Falls and Vernon, and tried to call victim's son, an acquaintance, to get some money. Instead, he reached the victim and made arrangements to stop by the next day. Vaughn said he visited the victim, then left.

Point/Counterpoint: "He's just a mean fellow," said Dan Mike Bird, the Wilbarger County district attorney who convinced a jury Vaughn should be put to death.

"I've never murdered anybody," Vaughn insisted last week in an interview on death row. "I just fit the bill. "I didn't know the woman died."

Alibi: Vaughn contending he later picked up a hitchhiker who left a package in his car. Inside the package, he said, were jewelry, credit cards and a checkbook belonging to Watkins. "I hocked the rings," he said. "I needed money. I wrote a couple of checks."

Evidence: "The most damning evidence is she had a bite on her face and that bite absolutely matched with his teeth impression," the prosecutor said. "I didn't know at the time, but learned through this case that bite marks are a lot like fingerprints."

Last Words and such: Prison officials say Vaughn smiled, laughed, and mouthed to relatives that he loved them, but made no final statement. Instead Vaughn asked a prison chaplain to read Psalm 103 (see below), which talks about God's compassion and repeatedly uses and ends with the phrase, "Praise the Lord, oh my soul."

Just before the lethal drugs began to take effect, he said, "My hand is about to pop down here," turning his head toward his left hand, where a needle was inserted.

Factoid: This was the 14th execution in Texas this year. He was the 303rd inmate executed by Texas since the state resumed capital punishment in 1982.

Psalms 103

103:1 [A Psalm] of David. Bless the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me, [bless] his holy name.
103:2 Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits:
103:3 Who forgiveth all thy iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases;
103:4 Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with loving-kindness and tender mercies;
103:5 Who satisfieth thy mouth with good [things]; [so that] thy youth is renewed like the eagle's.
103:6 The LORD executeth righteousness and judgment for all that are oppressed.
103:7 He made known his ways to Moses, his acts to the children of Israel.
103:8 The LORD [is] merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abundant in mercy.
103:9 He will not always chide: neither will he keep [his anger] for ever.
103:10 He hath not dealt with us according to our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.
103:11 For as the heaven is high above the earth, [so] great is his mercy towards them that fear him.
103:12 As far as the east is from the west, [so] far hath he removed our transgressions from us.
103:13 Like as a father pitieth [his] children, [so] the LORD pitieth them that fear him.
103:14 For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we [are] dust.
103:15 [As for] man, his days [are] as grass: as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth.
103:16 For the wind passeth over it, and it is gone; and its place shall know it no more.
103:17 But the mercy of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him, and his righteousness to children's children;
103:18 To such as keep his covenant, and to those that remember his commandments to do them.
103:19 The LORD hath prepared his throne in the heavens; and his kingdom ruleth over all.
103:20 Bless the LORD, ye his angels, that excel in strength, that do his commandments, hearkening to the voice of his word.
103:21 Bless ye the LORD, all [ye] his hosts; [ye] ministers of his, that do his pleasure.
103:22 Bless the LORD, all his works in all places of his dominion: bless the LORD, O my soul.

INDIANA LAST MEAL
KEVIN HOUGH
May 2, 2003

he ate a lot of candy....

Last meal: Hough declined a last meal.

The skinny: Hough was executed for killing two men during a robbery in 1985. Hough also murdered a Polish immigrant eleven days earlier. Hough was sentenced to 60 years in prison for that murder.

According to testimony at Hough's trial, the victim's were holding some belongings of Hough's cousin, who owed them money for a room he rented from them. Hough went to the home to get the belongings. Hough pulled a gun on the men and ordered them to get down on the floor. Hough's half-brother, Duane testified one victim threw a remote control at Hough and Hough shot him. The other victim got on the floor, but Hough still shot him in the back.

Last days and such: Hough spent Thursday with his priest. Hough had the priest read Psalm 144 (see below) to ask God for strength. The priest said. “He was very calm, making phone calls to his family and friends, listening to music and watching TV. He also ate a lot of candy. Then the chaplain anointed Hough with oil, gave him communion and heard his confession. But Hough did not admit any role in the murders.

Last moments and words and such: In the moments before his death, Hough expressed compassion for the families of three men he was convicted of brutally murdering in Fort Wayne 17 years ago. He did not admit his guilt. "I hope the victims' families get some measure of satisfaction," Hough said shortly before he was put to death. "Hopefully, their grief won't be as much."

Factoids: One murder victim's relatives weren't able to watch the execution, but they were outside the Michigan City prison when Hough was put to death.

Due to remodeling, Hough and the other 39 death-row inmates were moved from Indiana State Prison to the Maximum Control Facility at the Westville Correctional Facility. The other death-row inmates will be returned to Michigan City when remodeling at the state prison is complete.

Hough was the 10th person put to death by the state of Indiana since Indiana resumed executions in 1981, and the 82nd overall.

Psalm 144

1 Praise be to the LORD my Rock, who trains my hands for war, my fingers for battle.

2 He is my loving God and my fortress, my stronghold and my deliverer, my shield, in whom I take refuge, who subdues peoples under me.

3 O LORD , what is man that you care for him, the son of man that you think of him?

4 Man is like a breath; his days are like a fleeting shadow.

5 Part your heavens, O LORD , and come down; touch the mountains, so that they smoke.

6 Send forth lightning and scatter {the enemies}; shoot your arrows and rout them.

7 Reach down your hand from on high; deliver me and rescue me from the mighty waters, from the hands of foreigners

8 whose mouths are full of lies, whose right hands are deceitful.

9 I will sing a new song to you, O God; on the ten-stringed lyre I will make music to you,

10 to the One who gives victory to kings, who delivers his servant David from the deadly sword.

11 Deliver me and rescue me from the hands of foreigners whose mouths are full of lies, whose right hands are deceitful.

12 Then our sons in their youth will be like well-nurtured plants, and our daughters will be like pillars carved to adorn a palace.

13 Our barns will be filled with every kind of provision. Our sheep will increase by thousands, by tens of thousands in our fields;

14 our oxen will draw heavy loads. There will be no breaching of walls, no going into captivity, no cry of distress in our streets.

15 Blessed are the people of whom this is true; blessed are the people whose God is the LORD .

april, 2003

OHIO LAST MEAL
DAVID BREWER
April 29, 2003

Not Flounder and Pinto here...

Last Meal: Monday, Brewer ordered a special meal of deep-fried chicken, baked potato with butter, macaroni and cheese, corn, dinner rolls, a slice of apple pie and root beer. His unspecial last meal was Tuesday at 6 a.m., when he had Rice Krispies and water for breakfast.

The skinny: Brewer, a former college football player, was executed for killing a friend's wife. Brewer kidnapped and killed and stuffed the victim in the trunk of his car, then strangled and stabbed her when she tried to get away. The victim was the bride of Brewer's college fraternity brother. During her captivity, the victim wrote "Help Me Please" in lipstick on a piece of paper and pushed it outside the trunk, where it was seen by other motorists. They called police with the car's license number; police traced the car to Brewer.

Last Words and such: Brewer walked briskly into the death chamber and lay on the table. He wore a white V-neck T-shirt, blue pants with orange stripes and tan boots. Brewer said in his last statement "I'd like to say to the system in Ohio as far as the death row inmates are concerned, there are some that are innocent. I'm not one of them, but there are plenty that are innocent. I hope the state recognizes that. That's all I have to say."

The victim's husband, witnessing Brewer's execution, said softly: "Where's your remorse?"

Process Notes: Brewer's execution was delayed about ten minutes because the execution team had trouble fitting the shunts that would carry the chemicals to his veins into his arm.

Factoids: Brewer was the first man from the Dayton area to be executed by the state of Ohio in almost 63 years.

Brewer was Ohio’s seventh executed inmate since 1999.

ALABAMA LAST MEAL
GARY LEON BROWN
April 24, 2003

least culpable, but culpable nonetheless...

Last Meal: Brown requested no last meal, eating only an ice cream sandwich from a vending machine.

The skinny: Gary Leon Brown was executed for the stabbing death of a gay man who was nearly decapitated during a robbery.

Gay Bashers: The victim, described in trial testimony as a homosexual, was stabbed 78 times. Prosecutors said the savageness of the attack indicated the killing may not have been simply a robbery, but it was not prosecuted as a hate crime against a gay victim. The victim's body was left in the mobile home, where he lived alone, until it was found by neighborhood children. He had been robbed of $67 and several appliances.

Wash in the blood of the lamb: Brown was known on Alabama's death row for his religious evangelism. A former prison chaplain who counseled Brown and testified at his clemency hearing, said Brown "made a terrible mistake, as many people make mistakes. I can guarantee you he's real in his commitment to Christ." A Monday night church service began in 1989 on death row. "That service has continued uninterrupted all these years. Gary has been there every Monday night since it started," said the chaplin.

The final day: Brown's mother, wife, son, two sisters, a brother and his spiritual adviser made final visits with the inmate Thursday morning. Brown sang hymns, had communion and prayed with his visitors. He gave three Bibles, letters and $109.92 from his prison account to his wife and a watch and wooden cross to his son. The rest of his belongings, a radio, headphones, books, a dictionary and a television went to the remaining Death Row inmates.

Last words and such: Brown made no public statement but kept his eyes locked on his wife who was just feet away in the witness room, separated by a glass window. For about 5 minutes they mouthed exchanges to each other, including "I love you" and "Go with God." Strapped to a gurney, he waved to her with the fingers of his left hand. "Goodbye sweetie," he mouthed. "I love you."

Partners in crime: Brown's attorney had petitioned the governor for clemency, in part, because one of Brown's two cohorts in the killing was paroled, and the other - who cut the victim's throat with a butcher knife- is serving a term of life without parole following a retrial.

She called Brown the "least culpable" of the three killers.

Factoids: Brown spent 16 years on Alabama's Death Row. Brown was pronounced dead after a series of seven injections.

TEXAS LAST MEAL
JUAN CHAVEZ
April 22, 2003

The thrill killer is gone, the thrill killer is gone away...

Last Meal: None requested.

The skinny: Chavez, a parolee, nicknamed "The Thrill Killer," was said to have killed at least a dozen people in Dallas during a four-month SPREE was executed. Chavez received a lethal injection for the murder of his first of the victim. Chavez was only charged in one murder although he was linked to 11 more slayings during his trial.

Final words and such: In his final statement, Chavez apologized to the victim's families. "To the media, I would like you to tell all the victims and their loved ones that I am truly, truly sorry for taking their loved ones' lives," he said. "And I hope they will find it in their heart to forgive me for what I did to them. I am a different person now, but that does not change the fact of the bad things I have committed."

Seek and ye shall find: Chavez had always maintained his innocence but he became a born-again Christian on death row.

SPREE! Chavez was on parole for a 1986 murder when he killed thw victim during a robbery at a phone booth. Prosecutors said five people were killed on that day, the bloodiest day of the spree that began in March.

Lawyer talk: The former prosecutor said that he would never forget that Chavez grinned when the judge sentenced him to death.

"What separates this guy from others I tried is, he derived a great deal of pleasure from killing," he said. "For some, it's greed, a desire for money. This one, to have already been through the prison system for murder, to have been paroled, then to start this spree, shooting in the face, running over the bodies, there just seemed to be a twisted side to him that you don't encounter in real life. He really does stand apart."

Factoid: Chavez was the 13th convicted killer executed this year in Texas and the 302nd since the state restored the death penalty in 1982.

OKLAHOMA LAST MEAL
LARRY JACKSON
April 17, 2003

Box Cutter Larry...

Last Meal: Jackson requested a last meal of fried fish with sauce, a fried chicken sandwich, a steak sandwich with french fries, ice cream and a 7-up.

The skinny: Jackson was executed for slashing his girlfriend to death with a box cutter after escaping from a prison work program. Jackson was serving a 30-year prison term for second-degree murder when he walked away from a prison work program and left with the victim. They drove around the Oklahoma City metro area before going to a motel, where she was found dead with more than 30 stab and slash wounds. Authorities say she was killed because she was ending her relationship with Jackson and wasn't going to help his effort to win parole. Jackson claimed to have blacked out at the time of the murder.

The state provides a murder weapon: The victim was stabbed and slashed with a box cutter knife that prison officials had given Jackson to open boxes of furniture he was helping install in a state office building.

Last Words and such: "I'm sorry for everything I've brought upon her. I'm sorry for the pain and sorrow I've brought upon her, her family and her kids," Jackson said, "I want to say I'm sorry. That's all I can say."

Factoids: Jackson was helping install furniture in the Jim Thorpe Building.

Jackson's escape and the escape a week earlier of another convicted killer caused the then-gov. to order the state corrections department to transfer all murderers from minimum security.

VIRGINIA LAST MEAL
EARL BRAMBLETT
April 9, 2003

"This man has expired."

Last Meal: no requests for his last meal, was offered the same dinner served yesterday to all inmates: sloppy Joes, boiled potatoes, corn and chocolate cake.

The skinny: Bramblett was executed for murdering four members of a family. He had been living with the family when their bodies were found in their burning home. Prosecutors argued that he killed the family because he was sexually obsessed with one of the girls.

Protester: Bramblett was executed in the electric chair, a method he chose over lethal injection as to protest what he considered his wrongful conviction.

Chair Facts: Once a widely used means of execution, electrocutions have become rare in the United States. Only Nebraska still requires the use of the electric chair. Many states, such as Virginia, give prisoners the option of the electric chair or lethal injection.

Evidence: Bramblett was linked to the killings by matching crime-scene bullets with others in his possession. A fellow prisoner who testified that Bramblett told him he killed the family and that he was "addicted to little girls," now says he lied. "I'm not going to lay down on a gurney and have them stick a needle in my arm and make it look like an antiseptic execution," Bramblett said. At trial, prosecutors tied him to pubic hair found in the girls' bed. Tapes played at the trial depicted his sexual attraction to the oldest daughter.

Bramblett argued that the evidence against him had been planted or fabricated.

Last words and such: "I didn't murder the Hodges family. I never murdered anybody. I'm going to go to my death with a clear conscience. I'm going to go to my death having had a great life because of my two great sons, Mike and Doug."

Inside Baseball stuff: A Department of Corrections official then turned a key switch in the wall behind the electric chair, activating the system. An executioner sitting behind a one-way glass immediately pressed a button labeled "execute" and 1,800 volts surged through Bramblett's body, the surge of current caused Bramblett's body to go rigid and threw him against the back of the oak electric chair. A puff of smoke rose from the electrode attached to his shaved right leg.

After waiting five minutes, Dr. Alvin Harris, a corrections physicians, walked into the death chamber and placed his stethoscope against Bramblett's chest.

"This man has expired."

Factiods: Bramblett was the first person executed in Virginia this year and the 88th put to death in the state since the U.S. Supreme Court allowed executions to resume in 1976. He was the third Virginia inmate to die in the electric chair since 1995, when a state law gave condemned prisoners the choice of lethal injection or electrocution.

Virginia officials estimate that the state's homemade oak chair has been used since 1908. It is tested about once a month.

OKLAHOMA LAST MEAL
DON HAWKINS
April 8, 2003

Stuffed....

Last meal: stuffed crust combo pizza with extra cheese and drank a medium Dr Pepper

The skinny: Hawkins was executed for kidnapping a woman and her two children and later drowning the mother in a lake when he realized her family could not meet ransom demands. Hawkins and a co-defendant kidnapped the victim at a shopping mall parking lot. The men stole a few dollars and and she was chained by her ankle to the loft of a barn on the property. , while her children were kept separate in a house. The day after the three were abducted, the kidnappers decided the family could not pay the ransom. Hawkins and Shelton then dropped the children off at the home of a baby sitter and took the woman to a lake. The men had tied her up, and Hawkins drowned her because he thought she would be able to identify them in court.

On the Lam: Hawkins and Shelton were arrested two months later in California, and each confessed to the murder and kidnappings

Last Words and such: ''I've got peace. The state needs vengeance for the crime I've done. They're going to punish my body, but Jesus has forgiven me...I'm truly sorry I got everyone into this."

The Partner: Shelton was sentenced to life in prison for his role in the crime.

Factoids: Hawkins was the sixth man Oklahoma has executed this year, and the 61st since the state resumed implementing the death penalty in 1990. Oklahoma has now passed Missouri for third place, trailing on Texas and Virginia.

OKLAHOMA LAST MEAL
SCOTT ALLEN HAIN
April 3, 2003

Dead Kid Murderer No. 2 Walking....

Last Meal: three cheeseburgers, three orders of onion rings and a slush drink.

The Skinny: Hain was executed for burning two people alive in a car trunk when he was 17. He and another man received death sentences for kidnapping the couple and stuffing them into the trunk of a car that they then set on fire. Hain had blamed his involvement on his youth.

Definately Not Socs: Hain told the state Pardon and Parole Board in his clemency hearing Monday that he had acted under the control of Robert Lambert, the 21-year-old he met on Tulsa's streets.

Broke-Ass Defense: Hain's lawyer said he could not present a credible case for clemency because he hadn't been able to prepare it, including bringing in experts to testify, because of lack of funds.

SPREE!!! The murders ended what authorities said was a four-month crime spree by Hain and Lambert. The two men were accused of sexually assaulting two Kansas women and later attacking a Tulsa couple, permanently injuring the man with a blow from a claw hammer and sexually assaulting and beating the woman. Hain denied involvement in those attacks and was not tried for them after his conviction in the murders.

Bad Dreams, Poor kid: The lawyer said Hain was "very remorseful," talking about his regrets, describing haunting nightmares and dreams of trying to open the trunk but burning his hands.

No words: He had no final statement.

CLARIFICATON NEEDED: From the American Civil Liberties Union of Oklahoma in a statement."Given Hain's age at the time of the crime, his execution would be contrary to American standards of justice, fairness and decency, which punish according to the degree of culpability and reserve the death penalty for the 'worst of the worst' offenders." Would burning three people alive in a truck of a car qualify it as "worst of the worst?" Dear ACLU of OK, how many people do you need to burn alive to make met this "worst of the worst" standard?

Factoids: The United States is one of the few countries that allow executions people who were 16 or 17 when they killed. Oklahoma has now tied Missouri for third in the standings, knotted up at 60.

march, 2003

TEXAS LAST MEAL
JAMES COLBURN
March 26, 2003

Mentally gone....

Last Meal:< a Mexican Lunch: tortillas, tacos, burritos, Spanish rice, cheese dips, chips, six Cokes, and chocolate cake.

The skinny: Colburn was executed for the murder and attempted rape of a woman. Colburn stabbed and strangled the victim in his apartment after attempting to rape her. He later told a sheriff's officer that he had found her hitchhiking near his apartment when she asked for a drink of water. He invited her inside his apartment and attempted to rape her. When she resisted, he choked her until she passed out, then he stabbed her in the neck with a knife. . Colburn had been in mental institutions at least twice and in and out of prisons numerous times for robbery, burglary, assault and arson. Colburn murdered Murphy on June 26, 1994, in his apartment near Conroe. Murphy, 55, was hitchhiking on a street outside Colburn's apartment

Last words and such: "I know it was a mistake, I have no one to blame but myself," he said. "It's no big deal about choosing right from wrong. I pray that everyone involved overlooks the stupidity. Everybody has problems and I won't be a part of the problem anymore. I can quit worrying now, it was all a mistake." As the lethal drug cocktail coursed through his veins, Colburn said: "I can start to feel it now -- it's going to be like passing out on drugs."

Schizo....Mental health advocates argued that the U.S. Supreme Court's recent ruling against the execution of the mentally retarded should have applied to Colburn but two court-appointed psychiatrists said he understood his punishment. Colburn had suffered from schizophrenia for the past 20 years and his condition had worsened in recent months, according to his attorney, James Rytting, who said his client had the reasoning ability of a 10-year-old.

Factoid: Colburn was the 12th convicted killer executed this year in Texas and the 301st since the state restored the death penalty in 1982. Texas remains on a pace to top the record 40 carried out in 2000.

Close call: The high court stopped Colburn's scheduled execution November 6, one minute before he could have been moved to the death chamber.

GEORGIA LAST MEAL
LARRY MOON
March 25, 2003

Full Moon....

Last Meal: steak, pork chops, potatoes, okra, corn, green beans, dinner rolls, walnut ice cream and iced tea

The skinny: Moon was executed for the slaying of a man kidnapped at gunpoint from a store parking lot. The victim's body was found the next day in a chert pit (Ed. Aside: Chert is a variety of silica that contains microcrystalline quartz) and had been shot twice in the head. He had gone to the store to buy aspirin for his wife. When Moon was arrested, police found the murder weapon and some of the victim's music tapes.

SPREE! After the shooting, Moon fled to Tennessee, where he continued a crime spree until he was arrested less than one month later in Oneida, Tenn. Moon had the murder weapon used to kill the victim in his back pocket when he was arrested.

Protestations and such: Moon, teary-eyed, chin quivering and only moments away from death, denied guilt. "I'm innocent. I did not kill Ricky Callahan," Moon said. Those were his only remarks. He stared silently at the ceiling before gradually closing his eyes. Moon was offered a sedative about one hour before the execution but he refused. They offered one to him a second time about 30 minutes before the execution and he again refused.

Odd Law: Moon's execution was carried out in front of the 17 witnesses however, under Georgia law neither the victim's family nor Moon's family were present.

Some friend: Moon always maintained he was innocent of the crime, blaming a friend, Mickey Lee Davis, for framing him. Moon's attorney, Charles Surasky, said two people had come forward saying that Davis confessed to them he committed the crime and then gave Callahan's car to Moon. Davis died in 1988 in a motorcycle accident, two years after he escaped jail while awaiting his own murder trial.

Factoids:It was Geogia's ninth execution by injection. He was the 32nd person executed in Georgia since it brought back the death penalty in 1973. The last execution by electric chair in Georgia was carried out in 1998.

OKLAHOMA LAST MEAL
JOHN HOOKER
March 25, 2003

Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom...

Last Meal: three chicken breasts and three chicken wings from KFC, broccoli spears with cheese sauce, a baked potato with sour cream and chives, two bacon cheeseburgers, two slices of cherry cheesecake and two 7-Ups.

The Skinny: Hooker was executed for stabbing his girlfriend and her mother to death. Hooker was executed almost 15 years after the stabbing. The mother of his three young children, had moved out of the Oklahoma City apartment she shared with Hooker a week before the murders. She had told her sister she feared Hooker would hurt her and the children. She was right.

Shoody Work: In 2001, officials re-examined DNA evidence in Hooker's case because it originally had been handled by Oklahoma City police chemist Joyce Gilchrist. Investigators retested DNA evidence submitted in all of Gilchrist's cases after officials accused her of performing shoddy work. Results of the retesting, however, showed that blood from Stokes and Morgan was found on Hooker's pants.

Last Words and Such: As the curtains in the death chamber were drawn, Hooker smiled at those who came to witness on his behalf. "To all my family and friends, I'm all hooked up," he said. "I can't even move. I'm at peace. Y'all stay up. I'm out."

Factoid: Oklahoma is quickly catching Missouri for third place in the standings...Mizzou 60, Oklahoma 59.

TEXAS LAST MEAL
KEITH CLAY
March 20, 2003

300...

Last Meal: four pieces of fried chicken, mashed potatoes, two pints of ice cream, bacon cheeseburger and two vanilla cokes

The skinny: Clay was executed for the killing of store clerk during a $2,000 robbery of a convenience store. The victim had come to the United States from India a year earlier.

Bad guy: Clay acknowledged being a drug dealer but he denied participating in the killing. Prosecutors also linked Clay to the fatal shootings of three people, including two children, on Christmas Eve in 1993. He denied any role in the killings and was not tried, but a companion was sent to death row for the crime.

Last words and such: Clay asked God to "forgive me of every single solitary sin I have committed." He also asked for forgiveness from three members of his victim's family, who watched through a nearby window. "I am truly sorry, and there is not a day that I have not prayed for you," he said. Turning to his mother, he said, "Let everyone know that I love them." She flashed him two thumbs up just before the drugs took effect.

Picking up steam: It took nearly 13 years for Texas to reach 100 executions, four years to get to No. 200 and now, as the appeals process has become more streamlined, just over three years to reach the 300th.

Factoids: Clay's injection keeps Texas on a pace to surpass the record 40 lethal injections carried out in 2000.

Texas accounts for more than one-third of the 839 executions in the United States since 1976 when the death penalty resumed under a Supreme Court ruling.

Texas easily leads the nation in executions since the historic ruling, followed by Virginia with 87; Missouri, 60; Oklahoma, 58; Florida, 55; Georgia, 31; South Carolina, 28; Louisiana, 27; Alabama, 26; and Arkansas, 24.

OKLAHOMA LAST MEAL
WALANZON DEON ROBINSON
March 18, 2003

Twofer Tuesday....

Last Meal: cucumber salad, beef sausage pizza, a chocolate fudge sundae with nuts and a small jar of dill pickle halves. Robinson had a back-up request of five pieces of crispy chicken with french fries and corn on the cob. A medium cucumber salad, a large pecan or sweet potato pie and an eight ounce glass of grape or 12 ounce glass of apple juice.

The Skinny: Robinson was executed for the killing of a rival Oklahoma City drug dealer who was shot three times in the street. Robinson and the victim were arguing over who could sell cocaine on a northeast Oklahoma City street corner when Robinson pulled out a handgun and shot the victim in the back as he tried to run away, then shot him twice more as he lay in the street asking someone to call an ambulance.

Reverse Tom Joad: Robinson came to Oklahoma City from Los Angeles. Police officers in Los Angeles testified at his trial that he was a member of the Van-Ness Gangster Bloods, a violent street gang active in the crack cocaine trade. Los Angeles police arrested Robinson four months after the slaying.

This and this and that: Robinson had alleged that racial bias led the jury to give him the death sentence and that the evidence used to convict him was circumstantial and filled with discrepancy. Robinson's appeal said a lone black juror switched her vote in favor of death only after some white jurors intimidated her and referred to her with racial slurs, like "Little Miss Slave Trader." (Ed. Note: I don't get this. How is this a slur to a black woman? It sounds like a slur to a white person.) The juror did not testify during the clemency hearing, leaving Robinson to rely on second-hand accounts of her allegations. Other jurors' testimony that they heard no such abuse during the deliberations.

Factoids: Robinson is the third inmate put to death this year in Oklahoma and the 141st in the state's history. Execution dates are also set for four other inmates.

FEDERAL LAST MEAL (near Terre Haute, IN)
LOUIS JONES JR.
March 18, 2003

Feds make it three...

LAST MEAL: whole fruit: nectarines, peaches and plums.

The skinny: Jones, a Gulf War veteran, was executed for raping and killing an Air Force recruit. Jones kidnapped the victim at gunpoint. Two soldiers witnessed the kidnapping and tried to follow them, but Jones assaulted one of the men, knocking him unconscious. Jones raped the victim in his home before driving her to a bridge, where he bludgeoned her to death with a tire iron. Jones had claimed that exposure to nerve gas during the 1991 Gulf War may have damaged his brain and sparked uncontrollable violence.

POWERFUL ALLIES...NO HELP: Jones had powerful people working to spare his life. Former presidential candidate Ross Perot, who has helped fund research into the illnesses plaguing many Gulf War veterans, tried to get Jones' sentence commuted to life without parole. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchinson, a Texas Republican, said last month the execution should be delayed while experts determine whether Jones suffers from Gulf War syndrome, a term used to describe a variety of illnesses suffered by Gulf War veterans.

Last words and such: In Jones’ final moments, he looked toward the room where the witnesses he had selected were watching and mouthed the words, “I love you.” Jones did not acknowledge the family members, and expressed no remorse for the killing. Asked by prison officials whether he had a last statement, Jones said: “The Lord hath chastened me sore: but he hath not given me over unto death.” He then began singing a refrain -- “In the cross, in the cross, be my glory ever ’til my raptured soul shall find rest beyond the river” -- from the hymn "Jesus Keep Me Near the Cross."

Protesters Few: About a dozen death penalty opponents held a candlelight vigil about a quarter-mile from the prison. No death penalty supporters were present.

Huh? A sign leaning against a fence in front of the group said, "The tragic irony: As we rush recklessly to war with Iraq we are killing a veteran of the first Gulf War."

Factoids: Jones is the third person executed by the federal government since 1963, after Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh and drug kingpin Juan Garza. All three took place at the federal execution facility near Terre Haute.

Jones was the 17th person put to death in the United States so far this year.

The United States is the only western democracy in which the death penalty is still used. According to Amnesty International, in 2001 China carried out the most executions, 2,468, followed by Iran, 138, Saudi Arabia 79 and the United States 66.

The complete hymn...

Jesus keep me near the Cross

Jesus, keep me near the cross,
there a precious fountain
free to all, a healing stream
flows from Calvary's mountain.

Refrain:
In the cross, in the cross,
be my glory ever;
till my raptured soul shall find
rest beyond the river.

Near the cross, a trembling soul,
love and mercy found me;
there the bright and morning star
sheds its beams around me. Refrain

Near the cross! O Lamb of God,
bring its scenes before me;
help me walk from day to day,
with its shadows over me. Refrain

ALABAMA LAST MEAL
MICHAEL EUGENE THOMPSON
March 13, 2003

Bama on the board...

Last Meal: fried catfish, potato logs, cole slaw, hush puppies, salad and water.

The skinny: Thompson was executed for the murder of store clerk who was abducted, forced into a well and shot to death. The clerk had been working at the convenience store about three weeks when she was robbed and forced into a car trunk. He made her get into a well and then shot into the well until he ran out of ammunition. Then he drove to pick up his girlfriend, obtained more ammunition, and fired seven or eight more shots into the well to make sure the victim was dead.

No vein, no pain Thompson was pronounced dead at 7 p.m., an hour after his execution was scheduled. A prisons spokesman said the procedure didn't begin until 6:37 p.m. because doctors couldn't find a vein where they could insert the IV.

Final words and such: Thompson made no final statement, but mouthed the words "I love you" to a friend.

Factoid: Thompson is the first execution in Alabama this year. He is the second Alabama inmate executed by injection since the state made injection its primary method of execution last year.

TEXAS LAST MEAL
BOBBY GLEN COOK
March 11, 2003

Cooked...

LAST MEAL: a double meat cheeseburger, jalapenos and trimmings on the side, vanilla malt, french fries, onion rings, ketchup, picante sauce (hot), vanilla ice cream, 2 cokes, 2 dr, peppers, chicken fried steak sandwich with cheese, pickles, lettuce, tomatoes and salad dressing.

The skinny: Cook robbed and killed a fisherman while out on parole for the fourth time.

The victim's body was found inside a sleeping bag in the bed of his pickup truck, which was partly submerged in a river. He had been shot six times in the head. Cook sank the victim's boat and stole his outboard motor and two lanterns along with his wallet containing about $25.

Last Words and such: Cook asked for forgiveness and repeated his assertion that the shooting was in self-defense. "I would like to say to them, please forgive me for what happened; it was self-defense ... and I was never able to get up on the stand to tell them," he said. "I know this is wrong. I am going home to the Lord." his voice choking with emotion.

Priors: Cook had been convicted twice for theft and three times for burglary. He had been free for 10 months when he was arrested.

BAD GUY GONE WORSE: "When people are speaking of the mythical nonviolent offender who can be released with no adverse consequence, one has to at least think there may be a Bobby Cook among those nonviolent offenders," said Gerald Garrett, chairman of the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles.

A word of warning to the kids: Cook blamed his burglaries on a need for money to support a methamphetamine habit. "At that time, and with those drugs, you didn't care," he said. "I wish this never happened."

Factoids: Cook was the 10th Texas prisoner executed this year and the 299th since the state resumed capital punishment in 1982.

february, 2003

FLORIDA LAST MEAL
AMOS KING
February 26, 2003

Infamous Amos....

Last Meal: King was not offered a special meal because he already had received two of them during previous stays.

The skinny: King was executed for the rape and murder of a 68-year-old woman in her home 26 years ago. He killed her after slipping away from a neighboring work-release prison, then set her home on fire. King was caught, in bloody clothing, trying to return to the prison at about the time firefighters and police arrived at Brady's home. He fought with a counselor, who was stabbed 15 times with a knife.

Close Calls: King's insistence that DNA testing could clear him of the raping and killing led Gov. Jeb Bush to issue a stay 90 minutes before King was to be executed Dec. 2. Bush lifted the stay this month after the tests yielded no new evidence. In the past, Gov. Bob Graham signed King's first execution warrant in 1981, and Gov. Bob Martinez signed another in 1988. Under Bush, his execution was stayed four times last year. The execution was delayed for about 30 minutes before the Supreme Court denied his final appeal.

Last words and such: "I would like the governor and the family to know I am an innocent man, and the state had evidence to that effect," King said in his final statement. "I'm sorry for the victim's family, for all the things we have gone through."

The victim's family: The victim's niece had planned to attend the execution but had prepared for disappointment after enduring years of delays and stays. ``Why did she have to die and somebody who was never productive got to live all these years?''

Aftermath: King, who converted to Buddhism while serving on death row, was accompanied by a Buddhist priest throughout the day on Wednesday. After an autopsy, his body will be released to another Buddhist priest who is expected to have it cremated.

Factoid: King became the 55th inmate to die since Florida reinstated the death penalty in 1976.

Last year, only 13 states carried out executions, the fewest since 1994.

TEXAS LAST MEAL
RICHARD HEAD WILLIAMS
February 25, 2003

Richard Head kills crack head...

Last Meal: two chili cheese dogs, two cheeseburgers, two orders of onion rings with French dressing, a turkey salad with French fries, egg rolls, chocolate cake, apple pie, butter pecan ice cream, one peach, three Dr. Pepper sodas, jalapenos, ketchup and mayonnaise.

The skinny: Williams was executed for in the murder-for-hire killing of a wheelchair-bound woman that was paid for by a couple who had taken out a life insurance policy on the victim. The victim was a crack addict who had been paralyzed when her husband shot her 22 years before. The couple let the victim live with them, had taken out a $25,000 life insurance policy on her. Testimony at Williams' trial showed that they offered him $12,000 from the policy to kill her. Williams, who had just been freed from a 10-year burglary sentence, told police he planned to use the money to start a rap recording studio.

The switch-a-roo: The couple, who are serving life sentences, took Williams and the victim, ostensibly to buy cocaine. Instead, Williams slashed the woman's throat, stabbed her repeatedly and left her lying in the street. The couple sped away in their car, leaving $400 at a friend's house for Williams. When Williams discovered the couple had shortchanged him, he swore he was going to murder them.

Last words and such: "We came a long way through the tragedy -- from hate to love and I would like to apologize for the pain I have caused all my families on both sides." "I was not a monster like they said I was. I made a mistake and this mistake cost -- but they won't cost no more."

Factoid: The couple is serving life sentences for the crime. Williams was the ninth inmate put to death in the state this year, which is by far the nation's death penalty leader and the 298th since the state restored the death penalty in 1982.

OKLAHOMA LAST MEAL
BOBBY JOE FIELDS
February 13, 2003

Clemency recommendations ain't what they use to be....

Last meal: Fried catfish.

The skinny: Fields killed a woman during a burglary. He was executed despite a recommendation from the state parole board that he be given clemency. After a night of drinking and using cocaine, Fields broke into the victim's house to steal her television and videocassette recorder so he could sell them for money to purchase crack cocaine. But she walked in with a gun and the two scuffled. Fields shot the 77-year-old woman as she tried to flee.

Last words and such: Fields smiled at his sister and his cousin, then told his two attorneys witnessing the execution to "stay strong. You all keep fighting." Fields also asked his cousins to take care of his son and told his sister: "Baby girl, stay strong and hold the family together." "Let's get this out of the way," Fields told prison officials before they injected him. A minister read Biblical scripture and inmates could be heard banging on their cells before Fields was pronounced dead by an attending physician.

Mixed Messages...Fields' attorneys argued during his clemency hearing that he should be spared because he had no advance intention of killing Schem. The Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board voted 3-1 in favor of clemency, with one abstention. Gov. Brad Henry denied clemency.

Factoids: Field's execution was the second in Oklahoma this year and the 57th since the state resumed executions in 1990. Six more Oklahoma death row inmates have execution dates scheduled in the next 60 days.

Since our eyes are usually on Texas, the show-me state of Missouri tried to slip a diner past us. They didn't.

MISSOURI LAST MEAL
KENNETH KENLEY
February 5, 2003

Double K's last day...

Last Meal: steak, shrimp, salad and a baked potato.

The skinny: In 1984, Kenley went on a crime spree that ended with one man dead and a woman shot in the back.

The spree...After robbing a liquor store in Poplar Bluff, Missouri, Kenley grabbed a female bystander and forced her into his getaway car. He shot her in the back as she jumped from the car to escape. Kenley then robbed a tavern, where he shot Ronald Felts in the head, killing the 27-year-old hospital X-ray technician. After the murder, Kenley attempted to kidnap the owner of the bar, but she escaped unharmed. Kenley then went to a nearby motel where he attempted to shoot the motel operator, but the gun did not work. Kenley exchanged gunfire with police in Arkansas and eventually surrendered, telling officers who arrested him, "You all were lucky."

Last words and such...Kinley's last words were personal messages to witnesses. He looked at the five witnesses he chose to attend the execution. He mouthed words to them and nodding after one of the women said, "I love you."

He's sick and dumb! Kenley's backers pressed that their client be spared on grounds that prison officials were "cruel and unusual" in failing to treat a liver-attacking disease he contracted behind bars. They also claimed he was too mentally unfit to be executed.

Factoids: It was Mizzou's 60th execution since capital punishment resumed in the state in 1989. Kenley was the first in Missouri since former governor George Ryan in neighboring Illinois commuted the death sentences of all that state's death row prisoners. Behind bars, Kenley was less than a model prisoner, logging 61 conduct violations that included eight assaults.

Unrelated Factoid: As a young man, one of the DME editors used to drive over an hour to Popular Bluff to dance at an underage disco. While there, hopped up on Fun Dip and Mountain Dew, he would pretzel and hustle the night away. No one was ever killed.

OHIO LAST MEAL
RICHARD FOX
February 12, 2003

Dead like a Fox....

Last Meal: a cheeseburger with lettuce, pickle, onion, tomato, ketchup, mustard and mayonnaise along with french fries and a Pepsi. He did not eat his breakfast of coffee, apple juice, toast, dry cereal and peanut butter and jelly.

The skinny: Fox was convicted of stabbing and strangling a college student 14 years ago after luring her to a fake job interview. He set up a fake job allegedly selling restaurant supplies and met her in a hotel lobby. Keckler then got into Fox's car, supposedly to check out businesses where supplies could be sold. Her body was discovered four days later in a ditch.

Legal machinations: Fox's attorneys had argued his sentence should have been changed to life in prison because he did not intend to kill Keckler, and that he tricked women only to meet them. His attorneys argued that Fox was not the ``worst of the worst'' criminals for whom the death penalty is intended.

Final words and such: Fox, a heavyset, balding man, entered the death chamber at 10 a.m., wearing blue prison-issued pants with one red stripe down each leg, a white cotton shirt and brown shoes. He made no final statement. Fox had spent the hours leading up to the execution with family members and he was upbeat.

Field Trip!!! Students from Roman Catholic high schools in Cleveland and Cincinnati joined anti-death penalty protesters outside the prison. School officials said 125 students made the trip.

Factoids: Fox had confessed to the killing. It was the state's sixth execution since it resumed executions in 1999.
.
The injection Fox was to receive consists of sodium pentothal, which induces unconsciousness; pancuronium bromide, a muscle relaxant that stops breathing; and potassium chloride, which stops the heart.

TEXAS LAST MEAL
HENRY DUNN
February 6, 2003

Well Dunn...

Last Meal: Cheeseburger--extra cheese, pickles, onion, lettuce and salad dressing, tray of french fries, ketchup, 25 fried shrimp, 4 cans of pineapple juice, 2 banana splits with a bottle of Hershey's syrup and one jar of apple butter jam.

The skinny: Dunn, a member of a gang that terrorized gays in an east Texas town was executed for the abduction and murder of a 23-year-old man.

Gay Angles: Nicolas West was gunned down during an abduction and robbery near Tyler, Texas more than nine years ago. West, a medical clerk, was grabbed by three men in a gay cruising area. He was taken to a remote area of Smith County, was stripped, ordered to his knees and shot as many as 15 times. Police said West was targeted solely because he was gay.

Not Gay Angle: The former fast-food restaurant worker also denied West's killing was motivated by hate. "I don't hate homosexuals," Dunn, who was 19 at the time of the killing, said. "That's their right to be that way if they want to." "I didn't even know him, I didn't pick him up. I'm sad it happened but I still don't think I'm responsible for the actual shot that killed him. I never got that close. Nicolas West was still alive at the time we left."

Helpers: Dunn and two other men were later arrested and charged with the murder. Dunn always maintained he was not the triggerman. Donald Aldrich, believed to have been the leader, also is on death row for the West slaying. A third man, David Ray McMillan, who was 17 when the crime occurred, received a life prison term. Authorities believed Aldrich was the leader of what became know as the "CB gang" -- because they first became acquainted over CB radios.

Papillon Moment: Dunn was among seven death row inmates who tried to escape from prison Thanksgiving night 1998. Only one, Martin Gurule, cleared a pair of fences that surrounded the Ellis Unit prison northeast of Huntsville. He was found drowned a week later. He never made it off prison property. Because of that escape, the Texas death row was moved to another prison at Livingston, although executions are still carried out at the Walls Unit in Huntsville.

Last Words and such: Before being strapped down on a gurney where the lethal injection was administered, Dunn had a message for the West family. "I hope you can find it your heart to forgive me." In a written statement released following his death, he said the death penalty in Texas is broken. He said unqualified attorneys were appointed for him under state law.

"When the officials of any state, such as the state of Texas, has so much confidence in their justice system, mistakes will be made, and innocent people will be executed," he wrote. "Texas has executed innocent people, and tonight, Texas has shown just how broke and unfair its system is."

Factoid: Dunn was the eighth convicted killer executed in Texas this year and the 297th since the state restored the death penalty in 1982. Three more are scheduled for lethal injection later this month.

Former reporter Rebecca Mullens-Berkley: "The community was completely in shock over the brutality of the crime. But they were surprised to learn why the victim was targeted. And most people here in East Texas didn't want to believe that we had a gay community."

TEXAS LAST MEAL
JOHN ELLIOTT
February 4, 2003

Tea for Texan...

Last Meal: A cup of tea and chocolate chip cookies

The skinny: Elliott, a British national, was executed for rape and murder despite high-level British government efforts to stall his execution. Elliott was listed as Hispanic in Texas prison records. Elliott was born in Britain, where his father was a U.S. airman. A thrice-convicted felon, he has said he moved to the United States with his family six months after he was born.

International machinations: British Members of Parliament, Foreign Secretary Jack Straw and high-ranking clerics took up his cause in hopes of persuading Texas Gov. Rick Perry to halt the execution. Perry cannot commute a sentence without a vote to do so from the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles. The board, by an 18-0 vote, on Tuesday denied motions recommending that Perry issue a reprieve, commutation or conditional pardon.

Evidence & Priors: Police found Elliott with his shorts and shoes covered with blood that matched the victims. At the time, he was on parole from a 1982 conviction for killing a man during a bar fight. He was convicted again in 1984 of attempted burglary. But in an era when Texas prisons were overcrowded because of a space shortage, he was released under mandatory supervision after only 4 1/2 months of his eight-year sentence for murder, then received probation for the burglary.

Final words and such: Elliott, his long hair and goatee flecked with streaks of white, said as he lay strapped to a gurney in the pale green death chamber that he had no final statement. He turned briefly to the observation room where his son, sister and other personal witnesses were watching and mouthed a message to them.

A mother's words: The victim's mother told reporters later that Elliott's death had been "too easy" for him, compared with the beating her daughter suffered. "The people who are against the death penalty, good for them...but... they have never walked in our shoes." She said Elliott had committed the crime in Texas, not Britain. "So what if they don't believe in the death penalty. We want justice. That's what it was."

Reborn John Bull: In a recent interview, Elliott spoke of his affinity for Britain: "I have looked up where I was born on a map, and I am proud of it. I wish I had lived in Britain -- that country has cared about me in a way I never knew here."

Factoids: Elliott is the third Briton executed in the U.S. in the modern era of capital punishment. Georgia executed two British citizens in 2002 and in 1995.

Since 1982, when the state resumed carrying out the death penalty after a four-year national ban in the 1970s, Texas has killed 296 people.

The United States is the only Western democracy that still carries out executions.

january, 2003

TEXAS LAST MEAL
GRANVILLE RIDDLE
January 30, 2003

Last Meal: Steak, baked potato, cherry cheesecake, salad, blue cheese dressing, rolls, Coke, coffee, strawberries, and oranges

The skinny: Riddle was put to death for the 1988 beating murder with a tire iron of a close friend whose house he was burglarizing. The jury rejected Riddle's claims that he killed Bennett while fending off an assault by the man who was described as being almost a stepfather to Riddle, who was 19 at the time.

First appearance of Homosexual panic this year!: Riddle testified that Bennett made a sexual advance that angered him, so he responded by hitting the man some 15 times with the tire iron. But evidence showed that Bennett at the time of the attack had a blood-alcohol level of 0.29, enough to render him unconscious.

Final words and such: Riddle made part of his final statement in French. In English he professed his love for family and friends witnessing the execution. He then talked about himself. "I have no grudges against anyone, or any of the things that have gone wrong," Riddle said. "I would like to say to the world I have always been a nice person. I have never been mean-hearted or cruel. I wish everybody well." With his Swiss prison bride, who does not speak English, sobbing as she watched through a window nearby, Riddle said, "Je t'aime" -- I love you and "au revoir."

Factoid: He was the 295th person executed in Texas since the state resumed capital punishment in 1982. Riddle was the third convicted killer executed this week in Texas and the sixth this year. Two more executions are scheduled next week.

TEXAS LAST MEAL
RICHARD DINKINS
January 29, 2003

Last Meal: Liver and onions, two double meat hamburgers with bacon and mayonnaise, two orders of French fries, vanilla ice cream, two Dr. Peppers, salad with ranch dressing, and M&M's

The skinny: Dinkins, who wrote bad checks to pay for massage treatment at a Beaumont clinic was executed for gunning down the clinic owner and another woman there. Dinkins lived in nearby Sour Lake and worked as a machinist for a company that made fire hydrants and water valves. He confessed to authorities.

Final words and such: Richard Dinkins declined to make a final statement, responding to the warden, "No sir" when asked if he wanted to say anything.

In a written statement, however, he asked for forgiveness and expressed regrets. "I am sorry for what happened and that it was because of me that they are gone," he said. "If there were any way I could change things and bring them back I would. But I can't."

Dinkins accepted responsibility for the damage his actions caused but said he had made peace with God and hoped that "soon everyone will be able to have closure in their hearts and lives."

Factoids: Dinkins was the fifth Texas inmate to receive lethal injection this year and the second of three on consecutive evenings this week.

TEXAS LAST MEAL
ALVA CURRY
January 28, 2003

Last Meal: Chicken fried steak, country gravy, hot buttered corn, mashed potatoes, hot buttered rolls, hot apple pie, vanilla ice cream, tea

The skinny: Curry was executed for fatally shooting a convenience store clerk during a robbery in Austin. The holdup netted $220 for Curry and an accomplice but was captured on videotape. In the pre-dawn hours of Oct. 16, 1991, Curry and Mark Davis entered the store armed with guns. Curry jumped over the counter and shot the clerk in the head. The pair grabbed the cash drawer and fired four more bullets into Vela as they fled.

Evidence: Curry was arrested Nov. 8 on information provided by a informant. A search of his home produced clothing that the two robbers wore during the holdup, one of the murder weapons, and the store's missing cash drawer. Curry confessed to police.

Last Words and such: "I pray with the help of God that you will forgive me for the pain that I have caused your family," he said, looking at relatives of his victims who watched through a window. "I'm truly sorry. I wish I could take it back. I just pray and ask you forgive me."

Factoids: Curry's execution was delayed about two hours until the U.S. Supreme Court rejected final appeals in the case.

Curry was the fourth Texas inmate executed this year, the 293rd since the state restored the death penalty in 1982 and the first of three scheduled on consecutive nights this week. Curry was fourth convicted killer executed this year in Texas.

Curry, who became a Christian in prison, told the Austin American-Statesman in an interview this week that he was ready to accept the death sentence.

"I believe I deserve to die," he said. "They say you reap what you sow. When you live a life -- especially out on the streets -- you have a certain mentality that if someone wrongs you, then that person pays with their life."

Curry was also serving a life sentence for the murder of Brendon Proske, 23, in another convenience store robbery in Austin seven days later.

TEXAS LAST MEAL
ROBERT LOOKINGBILL
January 22, 2003

Robert Lookingbill, not Michael Lookinland.....

Last Meal: Fried chicken, French fries, iced tea, apple pie, jalapenos, garlic bread, and vanilla ice cream

The skinny: Lookingbill was executed for beating his grandmother to death for drug money. He beat Adeline and Lorenz Dannenberg so severely with a heavy metal bar that the two died from their injuries. The bar, which was 54 inches long and two inches across, has been described as weighing "in excess of 20 pounds." Lookingbill later described himself as being "coked up."

Evidence: The case against Lookingbill developed quickly. The metal bar, with blood stains and hair strands which matched the Dannenbergs, was found in a nearby family shed. Police also quickly seized Lookingbill's pants, jacket and boots, which were splattered in blood. When the contents of his jeans pockets were inventoried, police found a total of $568 -- an amount Dannenberg's daughter later testified was about the amount of her parent's social security checks, which they had received a few days before.

Priors: Lookingbill had previously served less than one year of a seven-year sentence for aggravated assault.

Final words and such: "When it comes, you can't run from it and I'm not going to run," "I would like to thank all my loved ones that are standing over there for all the kindness and support you have shown me over the years," he said, referring to his wife, Brenda, and friends. "Be strong. Do not hate, but learn from this experience. It has been a blessing to know all of you. Don't forget me."

Factoids: The 75-year-old Mr. Dannenberg, who would survive for more than one year before dying from his injuries. Mrs. Dannenberg died 10 days later.

Lookingbill, 37, was the third convicted killer put to death this year in Texas.

OKLAHOMA LAST MEAL
DANIEL REVILLA
January 17, 2003

The first appearance of cherry cola this year....

LAST MEAL: three large hamburgers, two orders of fries, an order of jumbo shrimp, four mini pecan pies and a large cherry cola

The skinny: Revilla killed his teenage girlfriend's 13-month-old child. Witnesses said Revilla did not like the child because he wasn't the child's father and that Revilla had shut the infant in a kitchen drawer, folded him in a hide-a-bed, and hanged him by his ankles with duct tape.

The boy was killed just two days before his father was have taken custody.

No People, No Words: There were no witnesses for Revilla, who lay with his eyes closed and his head turned from the witness room in the death chamber. He shook his head "no" when asked if he had a final statement.

Factoids: Revilla was the first convicted killer executed this year in Oklahoma.

TEXAS LAST MEAL
JOHN RICHARD BALTAZAR
January 16, 2003

Life is NOT a bowl of cherries.....

LAST MEAL: Baltazar requested cherries and Cool Whip, but the request wasn't met because the prison system doesn't have those items on hand.

The Skinny: Baltazar shot to death a 5-year-old girl as she was curled up on her family's couch watching "Sleeping Beauty". Baltazar said he was drunk on Sept. 27, 1997, when he went to the girl's Corpus Christi house looking for the girl's uncle, who was dating his mother. Baltazar said he had heard that the uncle, Narciso Cuellar, had beaten his mother. Cuellar had been sleeping on the couch of the family's home but moved out a week earlier.

NO WORDS: With his tattooed arms outstretched as he lay on the gurney, Baltazar declined to make a final statement. He glanced at five members of the Marines family who witnessed the execution, including Adriana's parents, her aunt and two of her grandparents. No one representing Baltazar witnessed the execution.

PRESHOW: On Tuesday, Baltazar spent much of the day talking with visitors and reading. According to prison officials, Baltazar didn't go to bed until after midnight Wednesday. Much of his morning was spent with visitors.

FACTOIDS: Baltazar's death is Texas' 291st since the state resumed executions in 1982. His execution leaves 449 inmates on death row.

Baltazar said he wasn't afraid to die but thought his crime wasn't one he should be paying for with his life.

ILLINOIS BE DAMNED, WE'LL ALWAYS HAVE TEXAS!!

TEXAS LAST MEAL
SAMUEL GALLAMORE
January 14, 2003

The first of the year....

LAST MEAL: A disheartening...no final meal request.

The Skinny: Samuel Gallamore was sentenced to death for the 1992 murders of Clayton Kenney, 83; his partially-paralyzed wife, Juliana, 74, and their daughter, Adrienne Arnot, 44, at their rural home near Kerrville in central Texas.

Gallamore and an accomplice were on crack cocaine the night of March 29, 1992, when they went to the Kenney house looking for drug money. His partner had once cared for Mrs. Kenney at an area nursing home. After killing them, they fled with cash and valuables, including silver servings and a rare spoon collection.

It took 18 months for police to track down Gallamore. He had moved to Chicago, where he was working as a home repairman.

ROBERT FROST MOMENT: At the trail, jurors heard a poem Gallamore wrote from his jail cell during his trial in which he described the begging and pleading of "the people I sat and watched bleed. I say I am guilty and that is true. Now I ask mercy from all twelve of you."

Last words and writings and such: In a written statement Gallamore prepared before the execution the condemned man apologized for the murders to a relative of the victims who was a witness.

"I would like to apologize and say how sorry I am but words seem so hollow and cheap," he said. "Their death should not have happened, but it did. I'm so sorry that all of this took place."

GRINCH MOMENT: Gallamore also said that in the last hour of his life, his heart grew because relatives of the slain victims said they forgave him.

"You have given me more hope than I have had in a long time," he said in his note. "If I could change things I would, not for my sake but for all those who have loved me over the years and for those who have forgiven me."

REFLECTION IS GOOD: "My life is worthless since I've done this," said Gallamore, who says he began using marijuana when he was 5, dropped out of school as a teenager and often fought to protect his older brother who was in a gang.

"When it comes to having a life, you can pretty much say mine was a failure," he said. "I was just a mixed-up, confused kid. A lot of it had to do with the drugs. ... If it wasn't for me shooting the bathtub crank we were making, I wouldn't be (on death row.)"

Factoids: The accomplice received a life sentence.

Both the victim’s family and the family of the individual sentenced to die can have up to five people attend the execution,

Gallamore was the first of 18 convicted killers currently scheduled for execution in Texas this year. Six others also are set to die in January. Thirty-three were executed last year by the state and 290 have been put to death since the state restored the death penalty in 1982.

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2003 dinner guests

2003 last meals...

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