| |
2006 last meals...
(compiled from various news accounts)
december, 2006
FLORIDA LAST MEAL
ANGEL NIEVES DIAZ
December 13, 2006
...Lethal injections normally take about 15 minutes, Diaz's execution took 34 minutes...
Last Meal: Diaz had no final meal request. He was served the prison menu of shredded turkey with taco seasoning, shredded cheese, rice, pinto beans, tortilla shells, apple crisp and ice tea, which he turned down.
The skinny: Diaz was sentenced to die for the murder of a strip club manager who was shot with a silencer-equipped gun when Diaz and two accomplices robbed the Velvet Swing club.
More skinny: Diaz, the self-styled ''Daddy of Death'' for the Machete Men Puerto Rican terror gang who was implicated in at least three murders and two brutal prison breaks.
No one actually witnessed the shooting death of the manager. But to cops and prosecutors it doesn't really matter whether Diaz actually pulled the trigger or he was merely one of the thugs who corralled patrons and dancers into a bathroom jammed shut with a cigarette machine. A dancer hiding under the bar did not see who fired the shoots which killed Nagy. The case remained unsolved for four years until 1983, when Nieves' girlfriend told police he was involved in the crimes. Angel "Sammy" Toro and Angel Nieves were charged with murder. A third man, "Willie," was never identified.
At his trial, Nieves conducted his own defense, with the assistance of counsel. Toro cut a deal with prosecutors and was sentenced to life in prison. The conviction was largely based on the testimony of a jailhouse informant, Ralph Gajus, who claimed the Spanish-speaking Diaz mimed a confession. The jury recommended he be sentenced to death by an 8-4 vote.
However, Gajus, recently recanted his testimony, saying he lied on the witness stand in 1984 because he was angry with Diaz. Gajus was serving a 20-year sentence for second-degree murder.
Jailhouse informants are the leading cause of wrongful convictions in U.S. capital cases, according to a report by the Center on Wrongful Convictions at Northwestern University. The report found that 51 death row inmates have been exonerated who were initially convicted on the word of jailhouse informants.
Priors: Nieves' prior record includes a second-degree murder conviction in his native Puerto Rico and escapes there and in Connecticut. In 1981, he escaped from the Hartford Correctional Center by holding one guard at knifepoint while another was beaten as he and three other inmates escaped.
The day of: Diaz spent part of his final day with family members. He later met with a prison chaplain and received last rights by a Roman Catholic priest shortly before his execution. He asked that his body be sent to Puerto Rico for funeral services. Puerto Rican Gov. Acevedo Vila had asked Gov. Jeb Bush to stop the execution. The U.S. territory abolished the death penalty in 1929.
Family members aren't allowed to witness executions, so they assembled with protesters in the pasture across the street from the prison. Relatives cried out in grief during the protests, and two passed out from what a relative said was anxiety.
Last words and such: ''The state of Florida is killing an innocent person." Diaz said from the gurney on Death Row. "The state of Florida is committing a crime, because I am innocent. The death penalty is not only a form of vengeance, but also a cowardly act by humans. I'm sorry for what is happening to me and my family who have been put through this.''
34-minutes: Diaz's execution took 34 minutes and two doses of lethal drugs. During the long execution at Diaz squinted his eyes, flexed his jaw, moved his mouth and grimaced. His movements did not stop early in the process.
Lethal injections normally take about 15 minutes, with the inmate rendered unconscious within the first three to five minutes. Prison officials said afterward that Diaz had liver disease that slowed the effects of the drugs, so they needed to use two doses.
Florida lawmakers voted to switch to lethal injection in 2000 following a series of bungled executions using the state's electric chair, known as "Old Sparky." In the most notorious incident, flames shot from the head of a prisoner during an execution in 1997.
The aftermath: A report concluded that the prolonged execution of Diaz was apparently caused by intravenous needles that pierced completely through veins in both arms.
Dr. William Hamilton, a 25-year veteran medial examiner who performed an autopsy on Diaz, said the errant intravenous needles drained the lethal cocktail of drugs into Diaz's flesh rather than his veins. The concoction should have been pumped into Diaz's bloodstream, where it would have circulated throughout his body faster and would have worked much more quickly. The misdirected chemicals were injected near his elbows and by the time the autopsy was conducted, Hamilton said he found chemical burns about a foot long on both of Diaz's arms.
Gov. Bush announced a moratorium on executions until at least March, 2007 to allow a specially appointed panel to study the Diaz case and other issues surrounding lethal executions.
Factoids: Diaz was the....
53rd murderer executed in U.S. in 2006
1057th murderer executed in U.S. since 1976
4th murderer executed in Florida in 2006
64th murderer executed in Florida since 1976
Diaz was the 21st inmate executed during the governorship of Jeb Bush.
374 people remain on Florida's Death Row.
november, 2006
VIRGINIA LAST MEAL
JOHN SCHMITT
November 9, 2006
...The man was one month from getting married when Schmitt killed him...
Last Meal: Schmitt, 33, had a final meal request of cheese pizza, a cheese omelet with sausage, green peppers and onions, and white cake with white icing.
The skinny: Schmitt was executed for the murder of a guard during a bank robbery.
More skinny: Schmitt shot the victim to death during the Feb. 17, 1999, robbery of a NationsBank branch in Bon Air. The man, 39, had just retired from the military and was one month from getting married when Schmitt killed him.
Schmitt entered the bank wearing sunglasses and a bulky jacket, attracting the attention of the victim, who followed him inside. During the bank robbery, Schmitt fired two shots, one of them hitting the man in the chest. No one in the bank witnessed the murder, and it was not captured by a security camera. The dead man’s handgun remained in its closed, snapped holster. Schmitt fled with nearly $36,000 in cash.
It was the second time that Schmitt had robbed the bank. The first time he robbed it of $65,000 armed with a sawed-off shotgun, was accompanied by an accomplice and there was no security guard present.
Schmitt was captured days later at a hotel room in Williamsburg with more than $27,000 taken in the robbery. Schmitt claimed he shot the man accidentally as the two struggled over Schmitt’s weapon.
Authorities, however, said the killing was premeditated and the jury recommended the death penalty after finding Schmitt was a future danger to society.
Schmitt’s appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court contended he should have been allowed to present evidence of security conditions in Virginia prisons in an attempt to reassure jurors that it would be safe to impose a sentence of life in prison without parole instead of death.
Last words and such: Schmitt entered the death chamber at 8:55, unaccompanied by a lawyer or spiritual adviser, Schmitt looked straight ahead without expression at the stainless steel gurney. Six correctional officers moved the stout man onto the gurney and quickly fastened straps around his arms, legs and torso.
As Schmitt lay with his feet facing witnesses, arms at 45-degree angles on armrests, the prison warden held a microphone near his mouth and asked if he had any last words. “Come on with it,” Schmitt said in a matter-of-fact tone.
Factoids: Schmitt was the...
52nd murderer executed in U.S. in 2006
1056th murderer executed in U.S. since 1976
4th murderer executed in Virginia in 2006
98th murderer executed in Virginia since 1976
A half-hour before the execution, more than a dozen protesters gathered outside the prison for a candlelight vigil.
TEXAS LAST MEAL
WILLIE SHANNON
November 8, 2006
...He urged the relatives of his victim to “go home, have fun, smile” ...
Last Meal: Shannon had no final meal request.
The skinny: Shannon was executed for the murder of a man whom he shot dead during a car hijacking outside a Houston shopping center. The man was waiting for his wife and children in his car when he was attacked.
More skinny: The victim was a witness enrolled in the federal witness protection program and had driven with his family from Lubbock for a vacation to the Astroworld amusement park and the Houston Zoo. He had been in the program for a decade and had been living under a new identity after testifying at drug trials in the Rio Grande Valley. He had just dropped his family off at a shoe store. An 11-year-old boy who was the key witness to the murder, testified that the man was sitting alone in his car, waiting for his family to return and Willie Shannon, 19 at the time, climbed into the passenger seat. The boy heard Shannon say to the man, “Get out of the car.” After a scuffle, three shots were fired, one striking the victim in the head. Shannon kicked his body out of the car, firing two more rounds and ran over the man s hand as he drove away in the victim’s vehicle. Shannon took off but abandoned the station wagon in a nearby county after wrecking.
He was arrested five hours later at a truck stop.
Shortly before he killed the man, Shannon raped a motel maid nearby.
Priors: Shannon had a prior conviction for aggravated assault and had a juvenile record in which he was adjudicated delinquent. The prosecutor told jurors Shannon was a sociopath who would be certain to commit more violent crimes if he ever goes free. The jury agreed and sentenced Shannon to death.
Last words and such: In his last statement while strapped to the gurney, Shannon said he had not meant to kill Garza. “I took a father, it wasn’t my fault, it was an accident ... God knows the truth.” Shannon was smiling and humming as witnesses entered the death chamber. He told the Garza family that his smile was “not from happiness. If my life could bring your father back, then let it be. Don’t take my smile for disrespect.” Shannon said he was going to heaven. “If I see your father I will ask for his forgiveness. I’ll say when I see him, ‘I’m sorry.” He urged the relatives of his victim to “go home, have fun, smile. I’m happy. Why should I lie now. I have no anger. I have no fear.”
Several of his friends were present at the execution, hands pressed against the viewing glass, offering quiet prayers, softly repeating the words, thank you, Jesus. All four had white, silk flowers tied to their wrists with a white ribbon.
Factoids: Shannon was the...
51st murderer executed in U.S. in 2006
1055th murderer executed in U.S. since 1976
24th murderer executed in Texas in 2006
379th murderer executed in Texas since 1976
TEXAS LAST MEAL
DONELL OKEITH JACKSON
November 1, 2006
...That $200 meant the difference between life and death...
Last Meal: Jackson had a final meal request of two double-meat bacon burgers, bbq ribs, freedom fries, onion rings, root beer soda, banana split ice cream and peach cobbler.
The skinny: Jackson, 33, was executed for the $200 contract killing of a witness in an assault case.
More skinny: Jackson, who was then 20, and his friend, David Smith, drove to the house where the victim and his father lived. After entering the house and speaking to both men. Jackson asked if the victim would go outside with him because he had something else that he wanted to tell him. Once outside, Jackson pulled a gun from his waist that Smith had given to him and shot the man once in the head. A neighbor saw the victim and Jackson seconds before the shooting and later identified him from a lineup. Smith quickly became a suspect because the dead man was scheduled to testify against him in an upcoming aggravated assault trial. Smith eventually admitted that he was with Jackson, but he did not know Jackson was going to shoot Stubblefield. Once Jackson heard this, Jackson admitted that Smith had paid him $200 to shoot the man.
David Smith later was convicted of paying Jackson the $200 to shoot the victim and was sentenced to life in prison.
That $200 meant the difference between life and death. In Texas, murder warrants the death penalty only in specific situations, including murder during a robbery or a rape, murder of a child or, in this case, murder for money. Of the 377 men and women executed in Texas since 1982, Jackson was just the 15th to die in such a case.
Jackson’s confessed fee is one of the smallest amounts ever offered in a murder-for-hire case resulting in the death penalty in Texas.
Last words and such: From the death gurney, Jackson acknowledged killing the man before he could testify. “The calmness I was telling you about, I still have it. I love you all. I just want you to know that. I m all right. Make sure momma knows. All right? Jermaine, I love you, too, man. You are Mario s uncle? Correct? I just want you to know that I wronged your family. I received nothing, I was not paid. I took his life for the love of a friend.
Factoids: Jackson was the...
50th murderer executed in U.S. in 2006
1054th murderer executed in U.S. since 1976
23rd murderer executed in Texas in 2006
378th murderer executed in Texas since 1976
october, 2006
ALABAMA LAST MEAL
LARRY EUGENE HUTCHERSON
October 25, 2006
...Hutcherson thanked the judge for the death sentence....
Last Meal: Hutcherson had a breakfast of grits and eggs, but made no request for a final meal. He said he would eat from a vending machine with family members.
The skinny: Hutcherson was executed for the killing of an 89-year-old woman who was nearly decapitated in her home. There was also evidence she had been sodomized.
More skinny: According to his confession at hisretrial, Hutcherson broke into the home of the 89-year old woman after taking six Valium and drinking whiskey. When she returned home as he was ransacking the house, Hutcherson took a knife from the kitchen and killed her. An autopsy confirmed that she had been beaten and her throat cut so severely that she was almost decapitated.
Hutcherson left his driver’s license and other evidence at the crime scene. And he returned the next day to steal an air conditioner, microwave and more of the woman’s belongings. According to his confession, he sold some and gave some away.
After his first conviction was reversed, Hutcherson pled guilty to capital murder in 1996, and a Mobile County jury recommended the death penalty by an 11-1 vote. A judge adopted the jury’s penalty. Hutcherson thanked the judge for the death sentence.
The day of: Prison officials said beginning at 9:30 a.m. Hutcherson met with 23 family members, including his ex-wife, Tracie Havens, and daughter Candace Hutcherson, who took home his letters, photos and three Bibles. He left a television set to one inmate and a radio and headphones to another. He was described as very calm.
Last words and such: Hutcherson apologized to the victim’s family in a brief final statement and asked for forgiveness. “I’m so very sorry for hurting you like this. It’s been a long time coming. If I could go back in time and change things, I most certainly would. I hope this gives you closure and someday find forgiveness for me.”
Strapped on his deathbed, Hutcherson stared quietly at the ceiling. When the chemicals begin to flow into both arms he gave a thumbs-up sign to the prison chaplin. He then motioned the man to his bedside, where the chaplin knelt for prayer. Hutcherson appeared to be praying aloud while the chaplin clasped his hands, but he fell silent about a minute later.
Factoids: Hutcherson was the...
49th murderer executed in U.S. in 2006
1053rd murderer executed in U.S. since 1976
1st murderer executed in Alabama in 2006
35th murderer executed in Alabama since 1976
There are currently 192 inmates on Alabama’s death row.
Hutcherson was the 11th to die by lethal injection since the state changed from the electric chair in 2002.
TEXAS LAST MEAL
GREORY SUMMERS
October 25, 2006
...the region of Tuscany and the municipality of Cascina, both had agreed to have Summers buried there at their expense..
Last Meal: Summers had a final meal request of salad, onion rings, chili dogs, and sweet iced tea.
The skinny: Summers, 48, was executed for initiating a murder-for-hire plot that led to the fatal stabbing of his parents and an uncle.
More skinny: Summers was convicted of hiring another man for $10,000 to kill his adoptive parents. His father’s brother, who was mentally retarded and living with the couple was also killed. Each had been stabbed repeatedly and the home was set on fire.
Summers was the beneficiary and hoped to collect $24,000 in insurance benefits. Relatives told authorities that he was having financial problems, and his father had decided to stop bailing him out financially.
Police were first contacted by Keenan Wilcox, who said that his acquaintance, Gregory Summers, tried to hire him to murder his parents and mentally retarded uncle and to burn their house down. He said that Summers offered to pay him from insurance money and cash in the house. Another tipster said that his brother, Andrew Cantu, told him that he was hired for $10,000 to commit the murders. Cantu, a paroled burglar at the time, was supposed to find his payoff in a dresser drawer at the Summers’ Abilene home, but no money was there.
Numerous relatives and acquaintances testified about Summers’ difficult relationship with his father and about his many threats to kill him and burn his house down with him in it. Witnesses also testified to his history of violence against his family, including kicking his first wife in the stomach when she was pregnant, beating his second wife, holding a gun to her head, and forcing her to beg for her life on her knees, and beating his sons.
Andrew Cantu was also convicted and sentenced to death, and was executed in 1999. Two accomplices, Ramon Gonzales and Paul Flores, received plea bargains and testified against Cantu and Summers. Two men testified that Cantu slipped through a back window, stabbed the husband nine times in the chest, his wife eight times and the uncle seven times, then set the house on fire. Cantu denied involvement and blamed the companions.
Adoption: Gene and Helen Summers adopted their son when he was 3 days old. He was their only child.
The Trial: About 70 witnesses testified for the prosecution at Summers’ trial, which was moved from Abilene because of publicity and held in Denton, about 185 miles to the east.
Prosecutors also showed how Summers previously collected insurance payoffs from fires at his grandmother’s house and a vehicle.
Last words and such: Summers’ execution was delayed about three hours by final appeals efforts.
Asked by Warden Thomas Prasifka if he had a final statement while strapped to the death chamber gurney, Summer replied, “No.”
Three of Summers friends came in support of him, each dressed in a pink shirt and black slacks. They offered tears and prayers to the condemned, hands pressed firmly upon the glass. As Summers final moments passed his friends could be seen huddled together, sending out one final silent good-bye.
Italian Saps or Saints? Officials in the Tuscany region of Italy are seeking to have Summers buried in a small town near Pisa at the man’s request. An Italian school teacher is leading the effort. Summers had been corresponding with students from a local middle school for several years from prison. “He let it be known that he wanted to be buried in a white coffin with the (school) children’s signatures,” said the teacher, Maria Carmela Carretta. “He wanted it to be white as a symbol of innocence, and I, too, have decided that while it is not my favorite color, I will wear something white at the funeral.”
Massimo Toschi, Tuscany’s official in charge of international cooperation, said the region and the municipality of Cascina, 11 miles east of Pisa, both had agreed to have Summers buried there at their expense. “This is dependent, obviously, on getting consent from the family,” Toschi said.
Italy is a firm opponent of capital punishment, which is banned throughout the European Union. S ince 1999, the lights illuminating Rome’s ancient Colosseum have turned from white to gold every time a death sentence is commuted around the world or a country abolishes capital punishment.
Factoids: Summers was the....
48th murderer executed in U.S. in 2006
1052nd murderer executed in U.S. since 1976
22nd murderer executed in Texas in 2006
377th murderer executed in Texas since 1976
The lethal injection of Summers came more than seven years after the execution of Andrew Cantu.
FLORIDA LAST MEAL
DANNY ROLLING
October 25, 2006
...The Gainesville Ripper...<
Last Meal: Rolling, 52, had a final meal request of lobster tail, butterfly shrimp, a baked potato, strawberry cheesecake and sweet tea. A prison official reported, “He enjoyed his last meal. He ate every bite.”
The skinny: Danny Rolling was executed for multiple murders and rapes. He decapitated one victim, posed with some of the bodies, removed skin and body parts and arranged the murder scenes using props that included broken mirrors.
More skinny: Known as the Gainesville Ripper, Rolling murdered four University of Florida students and a Santa Fe Community College student in their apartments in 1990.
Rolling was 36 when he arrived in Gainesville shortly before the fall semester began at the University of Florida, a drifter with a criminal past who pitched a tent in some woods near campus.
The slayings began in August, 1990 when Rolling broke into the apartment of two women. They were found mutilated and stabbed to death. He had raped both women, one after she was dead.
The next day, Rolling killed an 18-year old woman. Her body was found propped up, sitting on her bed bent over at the waist. Rolling had sliced off her nipples and left them on the bed next to her, and police discovered that her torso was sliced open, from her chest to her pubic bone. Her severed head perched on a shelf across the room.
Two days later, Rolling killed two roommates, one man and one woman, both 23. Rolling posed his mutilated victims in sexually provocative positions and kept body parts as trophies.
The town of Gainesville was in a panic. Scores of state and federal police swept in and drew blood samples from a number of men. A rumor hot line produced numerous bad leads, and whispers that police were hiding more bodies to cover up an even more massive slaying. The campus shut down for a week and many of the 34,000 students scrambled home, some never to return. Others slept a dozen to a house. Deadbolt locks flew off the shelves. Helicopters with searchlights soared over the city by night. Sorority houses hired full-time security guards, gun sales soared and some townspeople never left their doors unlocked again. A long investigation ensued, with 6,500 leads and 1,500 pieces of evidence. At first, the police focused on a mentally ill student who had been evicted from the apartment complex where two of the victims lived.
Meanwhile, Rolling remained at large until September 8, when he was arrested after a botched robbery. But in January 1991, the police discovered Mr. Rolling in a county jail south of Gainesville, awaiting trial. He initially denied committing the murders, but DNA left at the crime scenes in Gainesville matched genetic material police recovered from Rolling during some dental work. He pleaded guilty on the eve of his trial in 1994, telling the judge, There are some things that you just can t run from.
Rolling later told other inmates and psychologists he had wanted to kill eight people for each year he had previously served in prison.
Rolling had a series of prior violent felonies; a 1976 Mississippi conviction for armed robbery; a 1979 Georgia conviction for two counts of armed robbery; a 1980 Alabama conviction for robbery; a 1991 Hillsborough County, Florida, conviction for three counts of attempted robbery with a firearm and two counts of aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer, and a 1992 federal conviction for armed bank robbery.
Just hours before he was executed earlier, Rolling confessed to three other killings in Louisiana, in which he was the only suspect, but was never tried for those crimes.
Rolling attributed his behavior to abuse by his father, a police officer, and to an evil alter ego. In prison, Rolling drew disturbing pictures and wrote a graphic book, The Making of a Serial Killer, with a woman who was his fiancee for a time.
The day of: Dozens of media satellite trucks sprouted up near the prison, in a scene reminiscent electric-chair execution of Florida’s most notorious killer, Ted Bundy. A year after Bundy’s death, Rolling arrived in Gainesville on a Greyhound bus, pitched a tent in the woods and recorded a tape of self-written songs for his family. Years later, at an appeals hearing, Rolling broke out in song in honor of a woman he asked to marry him from prison. Rolling later said in one of his confessions that he wanted to become a ‘’superstar.’’
On his last day, Rolling was calm and cooperative ahead of the execution. He spent several hours with his brother Kevin, and his brother’s pastor.
Last words and such: While restrained in a gurney, Rolling turned his head and briefly gazed with pale blue eyes at the mother of one of his five victims, then sang in a haunting Louisiana drawl of angels, mountains and, in a reference to St. Paul, of seeing “through a glass now, darkly.’’ For three minutes, as the lethal-injection drugs were about to pump into him, Rolling chanted the refrain, ‘’None greater than thee, Oh Lord. None greater than thee.’’ He continued to sing or speak in the windowed chamber after the microphone was cut.
Among Rolling’s possessions were a 13-inch television, personal hygiene items, a few books and colored pencils he used to draw with along with his drawings.
Factoids: A wall near Gainesville campus is painted with the names of the victims, hearts and Remember 1990.
Rolling was the...
47th murderer executed in U.S. in 2006
1051st murderer executed in U.S. since 1976
3rd murderer executed in Florida in 2006
63rd murderer executed in Florida since 1976
He was the 259th since 1924, when the state took over the duty from individual counties.
About 100 death penalty opponents gathered in a circle, praying. Among an equal number of people who supported Rolling’s execution was a woman holding a sign that read “Finally, kill the killer.”
Death-penalty supporters whistled and clapped with word of Rolling’s demise.
Anti-death penalty protesters sung “Amazing Grace,” “Kumbaya” and “Blowin’ in the Wind” and methodically banged a hammer on an anvil.
Huh? Death penalty protesters, who were cordoned off in a separate area by police tape, said the execution only served to provide Rolling additional attention. “The state of Florida is giving this psychopathic killer just what he wanted,” said Mark Elliott of Clearwater, spokesman for Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty.
What argument do you make to spare a monster? This from the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty:
Danny Rolling, FL, October 25
Do Not Execute Danny Rolling
Danny Rolling is set to be executed by the state of Florida on Oct. 25. In late August 1990, Rolling went on a killing spree in Gainesville. Rolling broke into three apartments in the area belonging to five college students, whom he went on to assault and kill.
While these crimes are heinous and inexcusable, the death penalty is not the right choice for Danny Rolling. Rolling grew up in a dysfunctional household with an abusive father. Furthermore, he suffered from emotional and psychological problems, as noted in one appellate judge s opinion of his sentencing. Rolling pleaded guilty in his 1994 trial, where it was established that at the times of his crimes, he had the emotional maturity of a 15-year-old and that he suffered from extreme emotional disturbance.
During his trial, Rolling and his defense team tried to get a change of venue for the trial, which was denied. His story had been sensationalized by the media, so he could not have received a fair trial where jury members had no bias about the crimes. Furthermore, several pieces of evidence, including statements made without counsel present and items gathered without a warrant from Rolling s place of residence were allowed in the trial.
Rolling expresses remorse for his crimes, as demonstrated by his confession and eventual guilty plea. His family has a history of mental illness, and his father s abuse influenced his mental instability. Rolling s emotional state, as well as several errors in his trial, prove that justice will not come to him in the form of capital punishment.
OHIO LAST MEAL
JEFFREY LUNDGREN
October 24, 2006
...”I am a prophet of God. I am even more than a prophet.”...
Last Meal: Lundgren has a final special meal of turkey, potatoes and gravy, a salad and pumpkin pie.
The skinny: Lundgren, a self-professed prophet, was executed for killing five people in what he said was a sacrifice demanded by a higher power.
More skinny: Lundgren and about two dozen followers had broken away from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and formed the Community of Christ, a small church that splintered from the mainstream Mormon church. His group believed doomsday was near. Lundgren killed a family both because of a message he felt he got from God and because he saw the family as disloyal for not pooling their finances into a common church fund. After inviting the husband and wife and their three daughters over for dinner, each was led individually out to the barn, where each was bound and gagged by a group of men. After they had placed each family member into the pit, Lundgren shot each person two or three times with a .45 caliber semiautomatic weapon. The men then filled the pit with dirt and stones. A chain saw was used to muffle the gunfire while remaining family members cleaned up after dinner. Afterwards, Lundgren and the others went back to the farmhouse and held a prayer meeting.
Before the slayings, Lundgren ensured that no one would look for the the famuly by directing the mother to write to relatives and inform them that the family was moving to Wyoming and would provide contact information when they got settled. The case was cracked eight months later when a dissident cult member, upset that his wife had been selected to become Lundgren’s second wife, tipped off authorities. Thirteen cult members were charged in the case, including Lundgren’s ex-wife, Alice, now 55, and their son, Damon, now 35, both serving life prison terms.
Trial: Lundgren told a jury in 1990 that he was a prophet of God and therefore not worthy of the death penalty. “It’s not a figment of my imagination that I can in fact talk to God, that I can hear his voice,” he told the jurors. “I am a prophet of God. I am even more than a prophet.” He told the jury the spiritually unclean had to be dealt with and referred to the killings as “pruning the vineyard.”
Leading up to: Prison officials said Lundgren had been so certain that he would win a delay that he napped much of the morning.
Last words and such: Lundgren walked the 17 steps to the death chamber without the well-worn Bible that he used to control his cult. As a dozen people watched from the other side of a glass wall, Lundgren issued a 15-second statement, “For my last words I’d like to profess my love for God, my family, my children and my beloved wife. ... I am because you are.”
The once haughty prophet who surrounded himself with loyal followers died with no family members or friends among the witnesses. With no one claiming his body, Lundgren will be buried in a simple ceremony in a prison grave. Other convicts will serve as pallbearers.
Factoids: Lundgren was the...
46th murderer executed in U.S. in 2006
1050th murderer executed in U.S. since 1976
5th murderer executed in Ohio in 2006
24th murderer executed in Ohio since 1976
*-Clarification from a reader...
You, or perhaps the source you used, have a few things wrong about Lundgren’s religious affiliation. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (LDS) are the Mormons, Lundgren and his followers were originally members of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (RLDS) who split from the larger Mormon church in 1860. In 2001 the RLDS changed their name to Community of Christ. I don’t believe the Lundgren group used any special name for themselves when they left the RLDS. (Because the church, always a lot more liberal than the Mormons, was adopting even more progressive policies, such as the ordination of women.)
I don’t blame you for being confused by the names. They’re very similar, and they’re quite a mouth full. I suspect the leadership of the former RLDS may have had that partially in mind when they changed their name to Community of Christ.
MISSISSIPPI LAST MEAL
BOBBY GLEN WILCHER
October 18, 2006
...Wilcher asked for a conjugal visit with a woman who had been a juror in one of his trials, but the request was denied....
Last Meal: Wilcher had a final request of two dozen jumbo fried shrimp with tarter sauce and ketchup, two large orders of fried onion rings and french fries, one raw regular onion, six pieces of garlic bread, two cold 32 oz. Cokes, two 32 oz. strawberry milkshakes. The request for his final meal is similar to what he ordered in July. Wilcher said his plan is to share the meal with prison personnel, but the prison commissioner said he won’t allow that.
Wilcher declined breakfast and drank only coffee. Wilcher’s last meal was served at 12:45 p.m. instead of the traditional 4 p.m. It was moved for logistical purposes to allow more time for things such as a haircut for Wilcher.
The skinny: Bobby Glen Wilcher was executed for the brutal killings of two women in Mississippi in 1982.
More skinny: Wilcher met the two victims at a bar and at closing time persuaded the women to take him home. Under this pretext, he directed the women down a deserted service road in a National Forest where he robbed and brutally murdered the women by stabbing them a total of 46 times.
Thereafter, Wilcher was stopped for speeding between 1:00 and 2:00 a.m. He was alone and was driving one victim’s car. The victims’ purses and one victim’s brassiere were on the back seat. Wilcher was covered in blood; he had a bloody knife in his back pocket that had flesh on the blade. Wilcher explained his condition by telling the policeman that he had cut his thumb while skinning a possum. The officer followed Wilcher to the hospital, where Wilcher’s wound was cleaned and covered with a band-aid. Another officer was called to the hospital to observe Wilcher, the knife, the car, the purses, and the brassiere. The officers left the hospital on an emergency call. Wilcher went home. The next morning, he abandoned the car at an apartment complex. Wilcher also threw the victims’ purses and some of the victims’ clothing in a ditch. He was arrested later that day. The victims’ jewelry was subsequently found in Wilcher’s bedroom.
Close: In July, Wilcher received a last-minute reprieve from the U.S. Supreme Court after the court said it needed more time to consider the case.
Leading up to: Wilcher on Wednesday asked for a conjugal visit with a woman who had been a juror in one of his trials, but the request was denied. Wilcher and the woman had developed a friendship. She was allowed a non-contact visit with Wilcher, along with his attorney and a paralegal. However, his lawyer said Wilcher did not ask for a conjugal visit. He said Wilcher sought a “contact” visit with the woman, which means they could speak in the same room. “This is very different from a conjugal visit, which clearly has sexual connotations....the Commissioner knows the difference.”
Notes from the prison: Inmate Wilcher ate his last meal at approximately 12:45 p.m. today and took a shower at 4:15 p.m. He has requested no sedative and has chosen not to participate in communion. Inmate Wilcher remains under observation. As reported earlier, Wilcher is somber and quiet. Wilcher got only an hour of sleep Tuesday night because he was writing goodbye letters.
Last words and such: Wilcher said before his execution that he didn’t want a sedative but changed his mind as the time neared.
He was strapped to a gurney with nine wide, tan leather straps. He was dressed in a red prison jumpsuit and white socks. A big man who weighed between 315 and 345 pounds, Wilcher’s long dark hair was clean and combed, his goatee streaked with white.
Wilcher said only three words during the final 11 minutes of his life. Offered a chance to make a final statement, he said: “I have none.
At his request, none of Wilcher’s family attended his execution.
Factoids: Wilcher was the...
45th murderer executed in U.S. in 2006
1049th murderer executed in U.S. since 1976
1st murderer executed in Mississippi in 2006
8th murderer executed in Mississippi since 1976
It took 24 years for Wilcher’s execution to be carried out.
About eight anti-death penalty activists gathered on the penitentiary grounds before the execution.
september, 2006
FLORIDA LAST MEAL
ARTHUR DENNIS RUTHERFORD
October 18, 2006
...He had the same meal in January, when the U.S. Supreme Court stopped his execution just minutes before he was to be executed....
Last Meal: Rutherford has a final meal request of fried catfish, fried green tomatoes, fried eggplant, hush puppies and sweet tea. He had the same meal in January, when the U.S. Supreme Court stopped his execution just minutes before he was to be executed.
The skinny: Rutherford, 57, a handyman, was executed for the 1985 murder of a woman who had hired him.
More skinny: Rutherford was hired by the 63-year old woman to do a series of odd jobs, including replacing her sliding glass patio doors. She expressed concern about him to her friends. Her naked body was later found submerged in the bathtub of her home, dead from drowning or asphyxiation. Police found Rutherford’s fingerprints and palm prints in the bathroom where she was killed.
At his trial, two witnesses testified that Rutherford asked for their help in cashing a $2,000 check on the victim’s bank account. Rutherford forged her name on the check and took Heaton to a bank, where she cashed the check. Several friends and relatives testified that Rutherford had told them of his intentions to rob a lady and leave her in the bathtub, but no one took him seriously. The victim had a broken arm, bruises on her face and arms, and three severe head wounds.
The trial Judge sentenced Rutherford to death following a 7-5 jury vote recommending death.
Legal Machinations: Rutherford had maintained his innocence, claiming a witness in the case had confessed to the crime. The courts had continuously rejected that claim, along with his challenges to the lethal injection process as cruel and unusual punishment.
The latest challenge revolved around the Florida Department of Corrections’ adoption of a document in August laying out the execution process. The document included new details about the amounts of drugs injected, the drug and alcohol testing of executioners and a cutdown procedure when a vein can’t be located. The department didn’t publicly release the document until this week, leading Rutherford’s attorneys to ask for a stay of execution to review it. The Florida Supreme Court rejected that argument Tuesday and the U.S. Supreme Court followed suit Wednesday.
Leading up to: On Wednesday morning, Rutherford had last visits with more than a dozen relatives, including his father, children, grandchildren, sisters and brothers. None of his relatives attended the execution.
Last words and such: Rutherford nodded to someone in the front row but made no final statement. He declined to take a sedative before receiving the injection.
At 6:11, the first of two blue-smocked and hooded medical personnel entered the death chamber, checked Rutherford’s vitals and departed, the last with a nod to warden Randall Bryant. ‘’The sentence of the state of Florida vs. Arthur Rutherford has been carried out at 6:13,’’ said an assistant warden at Florida State Prison.
Factoids: Rutherford was
44th murderer executed in U.S. in 2006
1048th murderer executed in U.S. since 1976
2nd murderer executed in Florida in 2006
62nd murderer executed in Florida since 1976
He is the 19th inmate to be executed during the tenure of Gov. Jeb Bush.
About 50 anti-death penalty protesters held a vigil across the highway from the maximum-security prison while the execution was taking place. No one supporting the death penalty made a public showing.
september, 2006
FLORIDA LAST MEAL
CLARENCE EDWARD HILL
September 20, 2006
... Florida leads the country in exonerations of prisoners on Death Row, with 22 since 1973. ...
Last Meal: Hill requested no special last meal and prison officials said he refused a meal that included tacos, beans, a tossed salad and apple crisp.
The skinny: Hill was executed for the killing of a Pensacola cop during a botched bank robbery in 1982.
More skinny: Hill and a friend, Cliff Jackson, drove from Mobile to Pensacola in a stolen car to rob the Freedom Federal Savings Bank. When an alarm went off, Hill ran out the back door and Jackson fled out the front door. A Pensacola police officer was one of the first on the scene. Along with Officer Larry Bailly, they arrested Jackson and were attempting to handcuff him when Hill approached them from behind and began shooting. The officer died in the shootout, and partner Larry Bailly was wounded. Hill was shot five times and was caught a short time later.
Hill’s trial began on April 25, 1983 and concluded on April 29, 1983, with the jury finding Hill guilty of both first-degree murder and felony murder as alleged in Count I. The sentencing phase began on April 29 and as a result, the jury returned a 10-2 death recommendation.
Accomplice Jackson pled guilty and was given a life sentence.
The victim’s portrait hangs in the lobby of the Pensacola police station as a ‘’vivid reminder’’ of what can happen in police work.
A close call: Hill had been strapped to the death gurney once before, in January, and was moments away from execution then when the U.S. Supreme Court granted him a stay of execution so he could challenge Florida’s method of lethal injection on the grounds it violated his civil rights. That was unsuccessful.
His death came hours after the U.S. Supreme Court rejected his final appeal on a 5-4 vote.
Leading up to: Hill received visits from defense attorney D. Todd Doss, a death row advocate and the inmate’s wife, Serena Mangano, of Modino, Italy, who married him in June in a no-contact wedding at Florida State Prison in Starke. Mangano visited him again Wednesday.
Last words and such: Hill, 48, was revealed to witnesses already strapped to a hospital bed, intravenous tubes visible and his head and hands restrained by leather straps. Hill did not respond when warden Randall Bryant asked him at 6 p.m. if he had any last words. He stared, unblinking, at the ceiling in the death house. At 6:02, Hill blinked several times before heavy lids drooped to near closed and his chest rose visibly twice. He showed no further signs of life. A blue-cloaked and hooded medical staffer came in at 6:11 to check Hill’s vitals, followed by a similarly clothed doctor to check Hill with a stethoscope. After two nods to Bryant from the anonymous member of the execution team, the warden declared Hill dead.
Factoids: Hill was the...
43rd murderer executed in U.S. in 2006
1047th murderer executed in U.S. since 1976
1st murderer executed in Florida in 2006
61st murderer executed in Florida since 1976
FLORIDA: Hill’s execution came within days of a lengthy American Bar Association study that says Florida complies with only eight of 93 ABA legal standards covering death penalty cases. Florida also leads the country in exonerations of prisoners on Death Row, with 22 since 1973.
The ABA made 11 recommendations for change in Florida, including a requirement that Florida juries unanimously recommend the death sentence as they do in the 37 other death-penalty states. Today, jurors need only recommend death by a majority vote, and judges have the final say. Though it apparently hasn’t happened since 1999, the report says, a judge has the authority to override a jury’s recommendation of life in prison and sentence the convicted person to death.
With Hill’s execution, there are 376 men and no women left on Florida’s Death Row.
TEXAS LAST MEAL
FARLEY CHARLES MATCHETT
September 12, 2006
..A moment later he went on to thank his supporters, who included French actress Brigitte Bardot....
Last Meal: Matchett had a final meal request of four olives and a bottle of wild-berry flavored water.
The skinny: Matchett, a former crack addict, was executed for the murder of a Houston house painter committed will on a three-day crime spree to support his $600-a-day crack cocaine habit.
More skinny: Matchett was a crack addict in desperate need of a fix. A day earlier in Huntsville, he killed a 74-year-old woman with a meat hammer after she refused to give him money. The day before that, he severely beat a 91-year-old woman for the same reason. Today, he randomly knocked on doors in a northeast Houston neighborhood before he appeared at the male victim’s doorstep to ask for money. The man, who was related to Matchett by marriage, lectured him about his drug habit. The victim, who was home alone, was attacked by Matchett. His body was found two days later.The 52-year-old father of four had been stabbed twice in the back and his head badly beaten with a hammer.
Matchett was arrested when he tried to cash one of the man’s personal checks. Matchett confessed to Houston police about the three-day crime spree and later pleaded guilty to the man’s murder. Matchett later accepted plea deals in the Huntsville murders. He received a life prison sentence for the murder, and 99 years in prison for attacking the woman.
His story: At 13, Matchett began to hang out on the streets and run errands for drug dealers and prostitutes. The bottom really fell out of his life when his 11-year-old sister was raped. Matchett said he blamed himself for not being around to protect her.
He dropped out of school and joined the U.S. Army, but soon learned that the life of solitude he had sought would not be found in the military. Matchett “lost interest” and was discharged in 1981 for being absent without leave, fighting with a private and possession of marijuana. After the Army, Matchett worked as a truck driver, school bus driver and landscaper. He could make it through the week, but come Friday his addiction took hold and he “binge smoked.” “You couldn’t get me to do nothing on the weekend,” he said with a smile.
Leading up to: During a recent interview from death row, the 43-year-old spoke about his life before and after drugs, his court case and what he considers an unfair shake at the legal system with his state-appointed counsel. “I live every day with what happened, and I regret what happened,” he said. “How much remorse does society want me to show?”
Last words and such: He began his final statement by telling his family: “I love you all. Stay strong, and know that I am in a better place.” He then addressed members of victim Uries Anderson’s family, who witnessed the execution. Matchett, who is related to the Anderson family by marriage, asked for their forgiveness. He said he hoped they “found peace” in their hearts through his death. He then said, “Into thy hands I command my spirit.” A moment later he went on to thank his supporters, who included French actress Brigitte Bardot. “Don’t let this be the end,” he said. “Keep going.” His voice trailed off as the lethal injection took effect.
Factoids: Matchett was the...
42nd murderer executed in U.S. in 2006
1046th murderer executed in U.S. since 1976
21st murderer executed in Texas in 2006
376th murderer executed in Texas since 1976
Texas has six more executions scheduled this year.
More Bardot: The actress has sent an open letter to Texas governor Rick Perry asking him to pardon Matchett before he was executed. Bardot states she’s convinced that Matchett, 43, was acting in self-defence when he stabbed his victim in 1991. Matchett has been incarcerated for 13 years. In her letter, Bardot writes, “This man has unintentionally committed a serious fault, since he acted in self-defence. “He is not a gangster, not a child’s rapist, not a serial killer either... I beg you to please pardon Farley Matchett. “Dear Mr Governor, by according your pardon, your mercy to Farley Matchett to live, you would make me a wonderful favour (sic) and I will always be thankful to you.”
august, 2006
TEXAS LAST MEAL
DERRICK WAYNE FRAZIER
August 31, 2006
...Frazier said that he felt no remorse for the victims. “Driving down the highway,” he said, “you see a raccoon on the side of the road. It just got run over by a truck. Do you have any remorse? You didn’t even know that raccoon, did you?”...
Last Meal: Frazier made no final meal request.
The skinny: Frazier was executed for the slayings of a mother and her teenage son at their home.
More skinny: Frazier and co-defendant Jermaine Herron knocked on the door of the victim’s mobile home, claiming car trouble and needing to make a phone call. The mother, age 41, invited them in, gave them iced tea and offered to drive them in her pickup the 10 miles to town.
When she went out to start her vehicle, Frazier followed her. When she went back into the house, he shot her in the face with a 9-millimeter handgun. He then shot her again in the back of the head. Herron shot the 15-year old son one time in the head and three more times in the chest and abdominal area with a 9-millimeter handgun.
Frazier and the co-defendant then took the pickup and fled the scene. The husband found the bodies of his wife and son when he arrived home from work. Frazier and Herron had earlier showed up at a home near the residence and inquired about work. During the visit, they spotted guns in the house and decided to return to steal them. They came back the next day when the people who lived there were gone, broke in, sat around drinking in the house and watched as the victim drove up to her place. Then they walked over and told her the story about their car breaking down. After the shooting, they used her truck to carry loot from the neighbor’s house, including some clothing Frazier was wearing when he was arrested in Victoria, about 30 miles to the north. The truck was found parked outside Frazier’s apartment and items taken from the burglary were recovered from his girlfriend. Frazier’s fingerprints were inside the truck.
Upon arrest, both Herron and Frazier admitted to the crimes in separate confessions. Frazier blamed the slayings on Herron. Herron, testifying at his own trial, blamed them on Frazier.
Frazier had an earlier conviction for aggravated assault for shooting a man and a juvenile conviction for robbery. When he was arrested for the killings, he had assault charges pending against him. In May 2006, Jermaine Herron was executed by the State of Texas for these crimes.
Interviews: Frazier gave a television interview in April 2006, when a previous execution date was approaching. In the interview, Frazier said that he felt no remorse for the victims. “Driving down the highway,” he said, “you see a raccoon on the side of the road. It just got run over by a truck. Do you have any remorse? You didn’t even know that raccoon, did you?”
Frazier blamed a coerced confession for convincing a jury to convict him of capital murder and the decision that he should be put to death. “I wasn’t there. I did not commit the crime,” Frazier, also known by his Muslim name, Hasan al-Shakur, said last week from death row.
But Michael Sheppard, the Refugio County district attorney who prosecuted Frazier and Herron, said Frazier was “cool as a cucumber” as he talked about the June 26, 1997, slayings. “There are videotapes,” Sheppard said of Frazier’s discussions with detectives following his arrest. “He’s sitting on a couch, drinking a Coke. “In his confession he talked about details only someone in the house would know, where the bodies were, how many bullets were in them, where they were shot.
Last words and such: “I am innocent. An innocent man is being put to death. I’ve professed my innocence for nine years and I will continue to profess my innocence for another nine years,” Frazier said. He repeatedly told the woman he married by proxy that he loved her.
“Tell my people we must continue on. Do not give up the fight. Do not give up hope. We can make it happen,” he said. After again expressing love to the woman, who was sobbing as she watched through a window a few feet away, he told her: “Stay strong, Baby. I love you forever.” He was urging her to smile as the lethal drugs began taking effect.
“He deserved just what he got, only a lot worse,” Jerry Nutt, who lost his wife and only child in the killings, said after watching Frazier die. He also witnessed Herron’s execution. “I just wish I could have done it myself,” he said. “I’d kind of liked to have been the one to push the button. “I know that sounds pretty cold, but when you lose someone like I’ve lost, my wife and son, and you hear animals like that, playing the system, getting a stay, cruel and unusual punishment is us waiting on justice.”
Factoids: Frazier was the....
41st murderer executed in U.S. in 2006
1045th murderer executed in U.S. since 1976
20th murderer executed in Texas in 2006
375th murderer executed in Texas since 1976
Frazier was the 20th Texas prisoner executed this year, one more than all of last year in the nation’s most active death penalty state. At least seven other executions are scheduled for the remainder of year.
OKLAHOMA LAST MEAL
JAMES MALICOAT
August 31, 2006
...baby killer....
Last Meal: Malicot had a final meal request of fried chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, corn on the cob, biscuits, Dr Pepper and an apple pie.
The skinny: Malicoat, 31, was executed for the beating death of his 13-month old daughter.
More skinny: Malicoat was alone at home with his 13-month old daughter while her mother was at work. He had lived with the girl and her mother for 19 days, worked nights and cared for the child during the day. During that time she suffered abdominal bleeding, broken ribs, bite marks and extensive bruising.
According to the medical examiner s report, the baby died from two subdural hematomas and abdominal bleeding caused by injuries Malicoat inflicted. Malicoat admitted hitting her head on a dresser a few days before she died and punching her twice in the stomach the day she died, causing her to stop breathing.
Malicoat used CPR to revive her before lying down beside her to take a nap. When he awoke, Malicoat noticed she was dead. He put her in her crib and covered her with a blanket before going back to sleep. When Leadford s mother returned from work, the couple rushed the child to the emergency room, but staff there determined she had been dead for several hours. Mary Leadford was convicted of first-degree murder and was sentenced to life in jail for not protecting her child from the abuse of which she was keenly aware. A Grady County jury took only half an hour to decide the father s fate.
Last words and such: When the curtains to the execution chamber were lifted, Malicoat — strapped to a gurney and wearing glasses — turned his head to the witness room, smiled and gave a small wave. Shortly before his execution, Malicoat apologized for the murder. “I just want everybody to know how sorry I am this thing had to happen; any of it,” he said. “I am sorry I caused the death of another human being. There is nothing I can do to change it. Contrary to what some people believe I spent many years going over it in my head. It’s never left me. I hope someday people involved in it will move on.” He thanked his witnesses for supporting him, then said, “That’s just about it.”
“He died within a few seconds of injection,” said Grady County District Attorney Bret Burns, who helped prosecute Malicoat and attended the execution. “You can’t say that for his victim. (She) took 19 days to die.” Burns said he respected Malicoat for offering remorse, but that Malicoat needed to be executed for his crime.
No members of the baby’s family attended the execution, nor did Malicoat’s adoptive mother.
Factoids: Malicoat was the....
40th murderer executed in U.S. in 2006
1044th murderer executed in U.S. since 1976
4th murderer executed in Oklahoma in 2006
83rd murderer executed in Oklahoma since 1976
Outside the prison gates, a prayer vigil was held for the girl’s family and Malicoat. Bryan Brooks, the pastor of St. Joseph Catholic Church in Muskogee, said 10 similar vigils were being held at places across the state, including the Governor’s Mansion in Oklahoma City. “For us as Catholics, it’s part of our way of showing we believe in the dignity of all human life,” Brooks said. “We believe that all human life is sacred and that each and every person has dignity from the moment of conception until a natural death, both victims of violence and people executed because of those murders.”
OKLAHOMA LAST MEAL
ERIC ALLEN PATTON
August 29, 2006
...Patton said there were demonic forces present and the victim was a demon. A psychiatrist confirmed this version of events at trial. ...
Last Meal: Patton final meal request — a large pepperoni pizza with sausage and extra mushrooms and a large grape soda. The cost of the meal is limited to $15.
The skinny: Patton, 49, was executed for the 1994 robbery and murder of an Oklahoma City woman. Patton was condemned for stabbing the woman to death with several knives, a barbecue fork and a pair of scissors.
More skinny: At the time of the murder, Patton was employed as a brick mason. He left the job site to buy electrical boxes at a local hardware store. When he returned 4 hours later, he was wearing different clothes and did not have the electrical boxes. During that time, Patton went to the home of the victim and asked to borrow money. The woman had taken the day off from her job at Blue Cross and Blue Shield to go Christmas shopping. He then forced his way into the home, grabbed her by the throat and dragged her through the house looking for money and valuables. He took the woman to the bedroom and stabbed her numerous times. Then, he dragged her down the hallway into the kitchen, stabbing her several more times with a variety of knives and breaking several of them. Finally, he stabbed the victim in the chest with a pair of scissors.
Patton, who had done some painting for the couple, was arrested 13 days later when fingerprints he gave police matched those on a bloody barbecue fork found at the scene. Patton told police first denied but later admitted his involvement, stating that he was high on cocaine and saw himself at the murder scene and stabbing the woman, but he said there were demonic forces present and the victim was a demon. A psychiatrist confirmed this version of events at trial. The jury did not buy the story.
Patton was on a parole for a robbery in California at the time Kauer was killed in her home. He had a lengthy criminal record of burglaries and robberies in Oklahoma and California.
A new mix...During the execution, corrections officials used an altered drug recipe for the first time. The new system — in part a response to a challenge filed by Patton — was to deliver a larger dose of anesthesia before the fatal drugs were administered. Patton had argued that inmates might be subjected to pain during lethal injection. Although a federal judge rejected that argument this month, the Corrections Department revised its procedure. When the drugs began to flow, Patton exhaled deeply. His breathing stopped a few moments later.
Last words and such: While strapped to a gurney in the execution chamber, Patton thanked his family, his legal team, and prison officials. “I want to thank the guards here on death row who have been like family to me, and their lives have been a blessing to me. I’ve had a good life here on Earth. It’s been a blessing. It’s been a blast. I want to thank my savior Jesus Christ for all he’s done for me. I look forward to being with him now and for eternity.”
None of Patton’s or the victim’s relatives witnessed the execution.
Factoids: Patton was the....
39th murderer executed in U.S. in 2006
1043rd murderer executed in U.S. since 1976
3rd murderer executed in Oklahoma in 2006
82nd murderer executed in Oklahoma since 1976
TEXAS LAST MEAL
JUSTIN CHAZ FULLER
August 24, 2006
...Fuller told police that he was urinating in the lake at the time of the shooting...Also, The case inspired the passage of a state law making it a crime to know about a body and remain silent about it.
Last Meal: Fuller had no final meal request.
The skinny: Fuller, 27, was executed for the abduction, robbery and fatal shooting of a Tyler man nine years ago.
More skinny: Fuller and the victim lived in the same apartment complex. Prosecutors said the robbery plot was hatched by the victim’s girlfriend, who believed that he had received $15,000 from a trust fund when he turned 21.
Fuller and three friends went to the man’s apartment to rob him. Fuller and his accomplices sprayed tear gas, then bound and blindfolded the college student and searched his apartment valuables. While one of the men removed property from the apartment, Fuller and the two other men then forced the victim into his vehicle and drove to an automatic teller machine where Fuller withdrew money from his account. The money was distributed between the three captors - eighty dollars apiece.
Fuller and his two accomplices then drove the man to a local park, forced him to his knees, and Fuller shot him three times with a .22 handgun while he was praying. The next day, Fuller took two friends from school to view the body and told them about the robbery and murder. Smith County deputies found the body four days after the murder.
Once in custody, Fuller gave a videotaped statement, confessing to the details of the offense, but denied being the triggerman. Fuller told police that he was urinating in the lake at the time of the shooting. Accomplices Samhermundre Wideman of Tyler and Elaine Hays of Red Springs receiced life sentences. Brent Bates Chandler accepted a 25-year sentence and testified against Fuller.
Love those high school students...Authorities said by then numerous people had gone to see the body, which became the subject of conversation at Chapel Hill High School near Tyler. A student at the school, which the victim, Fuller and two other people convicted in the slaying had attended, overheard some of the talk and called police. The case inspired the passage of a state law making it a crime to know about a body and remain silent about it.
Leading up to: Fuller said in a recent interview that he couldn’t express regrets about the killing. “If I have regrets, it means I done it.”
Last words and such: “I would like to tell my family thank you for your support and my friends. Let everyone know that you must stay strong for each other. Take care of yourselves.” He then told the warden standing next to him, “That’s it.” As the lethal drugs began to take effect, he looked at his parents watching through a window a few feet away and said, “I love you.” He did not acknowledge the victim’s family.
Factoids: Fuller was the...
38th murderer executed in U.S. in 2006
1042nd murderer executed in U.S. since 1976
19th murderer executed in Texas in 2006
374th murderer executed in Texas since 1976
At least seven Texas condemned prisoners have death dates through the end of the year. If all scheduled executions are carried out, the state will execute 27 people by the end of the year.
NORTH CAROLINA LAST MEAL
SAMUEL FLIPPEN
August 18, 2006
Last Meal: Flippen had a final meal request of popcorn shrimp, hush puppies, french fries and a Coke.
The skinny: Flippen, 36, was executed for the beating death of his 2-year-old stepdaughter.
More skinny: Flippen lived with his wife, and her two-year-old daughter. When the wife left for work, Flippen and the little girl were alone. A call was placed to 911 by Flippen approximately 50 minutes later. Flippen stated that the child likely had fallen out of her chair and was having trouble breathing.
When EMS arrived they found the girl gasping for breath and nearly blue from lack of oxygen. She was pronounced dead nearly 30 minutes later. An autopsy revealed that she died from a fatal blow or blows to the abdomen that cut her pancreas in half against her spine and tore her liver. The injuries she sustained did not indicate a fall, but rather a homicide. It is believed that Flippen started beating his stepdaughter because she would not stop crying. Flippen never publicly admitted to the killing.
After finding Flippen guilty, the jury recommended a death sentence. The state Supreme Court overturned that sentence and ordered a second jury to consider Flippen’s lack of previous criminal convictions. In 1997, the second jury also recommended a death sentence.
Legal Machinations: Hours earlier, a flurry of last-minute court fights ended when state judges and the U.S. Supreme Court rejected arguments to stop the execution. Flippen’s request that his execution be delayed unless 45 family members can witness the event was denied. Gov. Mike Easley declined to grant clemency. A former prosecutor and attorney general, Easley has granted clemency only twice during his two terms in office.
Last words and such: Flippen did not make a final statement. He locked eyes with his parents, smiled and mouthed “I love you.”
The victim’s mother witnessed her former husband’s execution. She said in a written statement that there was no such thing as closure but she would try to move on.
Factoids: Flippen was the...
37th murderer executed in U.S. in 2006
1041st murderer executed in U.S. since 1976
4th murderer executed in North Carolina in 2006
43rd murderer executed in North Carolina since 1976
The execution brought out Flippen’s family and friends, who stood on one side of the street outside Central Prison with death penalty opponents, and relatives of the victim, who stood on the other side. The two groups did not exchange words. “We came tonight to make sure that everyone knows (the girl) is the victim here. Sammy chose to do what he did,” Ben Streett, the girl’s uncle, said as he stood on a street corner blocked by about a dozen prison guards. “He took from our family a precious, precious child.”
Four death penalty opponents were arrested for crossing a police line onto prison property.
There are now 168 people on the state’s death row.
TEXAS LAST MEAL
RICHARD HINOJOSA
AUGUST 17, 2006
...Big Red! We love Big Red!...
Last Meal: Hinojosa has a final meal request of a chef salad with ranch dressing, 12 pieces of fried chicken, five jalapeno nachos with chili cheese, four fried eggs over easy, French fries, onion rings, six Cokes, 6 Big Reds, and ketchup.
The skinny: Hinojosa was executed for the abduction, rape and fatal stabbing of a woman more than 12 years ago.
More skinny: Hinojosa broke into the home of his next-door neighbor after cutting her telephone wires. Once inside, he was confronted by the woman and engaged in a violent struggle. Eventually, he forced the woman into her vehicle and took her to a secluded area known for illegal trash dumping. Once there, Hinojosa raped her and fatally stabbed her 11 times in the back and chest. Hinojosa dumped the nude body in a field and covered her with grass.
Hinojosa was linked to the crime through both fingerprint and DNA evidence. Hinjosa was previously convicted of manslaughter in 1986 and released after serving 2 years.
DNA identified Hinojosa as the only one of nearly 20 million people who fit a profile of sperm taken from Wright. The former custodian at a club at San Antonio’s old Brooks Air Force Base said his sex with the victim was consensual. The same argument was raised at his trial.
Last words and such: Thunder boomed, lightning crackled and rain pounded on the prison roof as Hinojosa expressed love for his family and asked his victim’s family to find peace in their heart. “I am going to be free. I am going to heaven,’’ Hinojosa said from the death chamber gurney. “I pray for you. Please find peace in your heart,’’ he said looking at the parents, a brother and two aunts of his victim. “I know you may hate me for whatever reason. The Lord says hate no one. I hope you find peace in your heart. I know my words cannot help you. I truly mean what I say.’’
He indicated to the prison warden that he had finished his statement, telling him, “Kick the tires and light the fire. I’m going home to see my son and my mom.’’ He began chanting a prayer, repeatedly invoking Yahweh as the lethal drugs were being administered.
Eight minutes later he was pronounced dead.
Factoids: Hinojosa was the...
36th murderer executed in U.S. in 2006
1040th murderer executed in U.S. since 1976
18th murderer executed in Texas in 2006
373rd murderer executed in Texas since 1976
Hinojosa’s execution was the 18th this year in Texas one short of last year’s total.
Two more executions are scheduled for this month and at least six other inmates have dates through the remainder of the year. If all are carried out, the total still would fall well short of the record 40 executions in Texas in 2000.
Hinojosa said he was part Cherokee and Choctaw, and his American Indian ancestry earned him the nickname “Hawkeye” on death row.
MONTANA LAST MEAL
DAVID THOMAS DAWSON
August 11, 2006
...our first Montana last meal...
Last Meal: Dawson had a final meal request of two double cheeseburgers, two large servings of French fries, a half a gallon of vanilla fudge ripple ice cream, and two bottles of Dr. Pepper.
The skinny: Dawson was executed for killing three members of a Billings family in 1986.
More skinny: Dawson was the first person executed in Montana since 1998.
The parents, along with their 11-year old and 15-year old daughter , checked into the Airport Metra Inn at Billings, preparing to move from the area to Atlanta, where the father was to begin a new job.
Dawson checked into the room next door and later forced his way in at gunppoint, forced the family into his room, then robbed them after binding them with tape and gagging them. The parents and the son were found 2 days later strangled to death with a telephone cord in the motel room. Only the family s teenaged daughter survived. She was rescued by Billings police officers, who arrested Dawson and found the bodies of her family. The girl survived the attack and testified at trial.
The Trial...Dawson did not take the stand during his trial. He did not mount much of a defense and nothing in his past or his demeanor, at trial or since, suggested Dawson was a violent man.
Several things made the case stand out. It was the first time local law enforcement encountered the extreme effects of methamphetamine use. Dawson, it turned out, was addicted to the drug, and he didn’t sleep from the time he abducted the the family until his arrest nearly 48 hours later.
Prosecutors never charged Dawson with a sex crime, but evidence suggested he may have planned to sexually abuse his victims. Sexual paraphernalia was found in Dawson’s duffel bag when he was arrested.
The Volunteer..Dawson, 48, is what death penalty expert David Baldus refers to as a volunteer, one of a small number of condemned inmates who willingly end court battles aimed at keeping them alive. Just 12 percent of those who ve been executed in the United States since 1976 have abandoned their appeals. The figure is as of April 1. Baldus, a law professor at the University of Iowa, cites three reasons inmates on death row might volunteer to die: despair, loss of interest in living, remorse.
Last Day...Prison officials said there should be little difference between Dawson s last day on Cell Block D and all the ones before it. Head count is set for 6 a.m.; breakfast served through a slot in the cell door within the hour; a shower or time alone in the prison day room, which is a place to punch bags or play games. He will be allowed to talk with other inmates as usual. Such communication often occurs through vents, Chladek said. Dawson speaks frequently with Ron Smith, also on death row, the prison official said. Dawson also watches television, works out and listens to music in a cell that Chladek describes as meticulously kept up.
Last words and such: When asked by Warden Mike Mahoney if he had any last words, Dawson gave a one-word reply: No. He was pronounced dead six minutes later.
Factoids: Dawson was the...
35th murderer executed in U.S. in 2006
1039th murderer executed in U.S. since 1976
1st murderer executed in Montana in 2006
3rd murderer executed in Montana since 1976
As a nearly full moon rose over the low hills surrounding the prison, and heat lightning struck in the darkening sky, members of the groups held a vigil on the windswept prairie. Two people who support the death penalty lingered nearby.
Four prisoners are on Death Row. All of them are convicted for complicated murders. Montana Legislature has drafted a very tight circumstances that you can have before you have a death penalty. Those circumstances are: killing a member of Montana Corrections (a parole officer or a guard); killing another person while awaiting sentencing for a first murder; killing more than one person; raping and killing someone; killing a kidnapping victim; or, torturing and killing someone.
OHIO LAST MEAL
DARRELL WAYNE “GATOR” FERGUSON
August 8, 2006
...See ya later, gator...
Last/Special Meal: For his last meal, Ferguson had three t-bone steaks cooked medium rare, two breaded chicken breasts with a side of ranch dressing, chocolate ice cream and Mountain Dew.
The skinny: Ferguson was executed for the Christmastime murders of three elderly, disabled Dayton residents in 2001.
More skinny: Following his conviction for burglary, Ferguson served time in a drug treatment program and received a 2-day pass on December 21, 2001. His murder spree began four days later on Christmas Day in Dayton when he attacked and killed a disabled relative with a kitchen knife. Ferguson stole two televisions and a radio that he sold to buy crack cocaine. The next day, Ferguson broke into the home of an elderly couple who were his former neighbors, attacked them with a kitchen knife, then beat and stomped them to death.
Ferguson waived his right to a jury, pled guilty to all charges, and waived his right to presentation of any mitigating evidence. A court-appointed clinical psychologist then conducted an evaluation of the defendant and deemed him competent of standing trial.
Young Ferguson...Ferguson, who grew up in Dayton, frequently wandered the streets and spent nights in warehouses and alleys. He said at age 9 he began huffing - inhaling chemical vapors to achieve a feeling of euphoria. He started drinking at 15 and using crack cocaine at 18.
A real fun guy...Ferguson called Satan his lord and said he enjoyed killing the three people, keeping his promise to show the family of his victims no remorse for stabbing and beating them and stomping on them with steel-toed boots.
Last words and such: “Mom, Dad, I love you both. I love you a lot. I wish you all the best.” Ferguson, who previously said he worshipped Satan, made a sign that some consider to be a symbol of the devil as he died. While he was on the lethal-injection table with his left arm extended palm up he extended his index and little fingers to make the sign and held that pose for several minutes before lapsing into unconsciousness.
Afterward, there was as little sympathy for Ferguson as he showed his victims, one of whom was on crutches, another had cancer, and a third was in a wheelchair.
Factoids: Ferguson was the...
34th murderer executed in U.S. in 2006
1038th murderer executed in U.S. since 1976
4th murderer executed in Ohio in 2006
23rd murderer executed in Ohio since 1976
Ferguson’s family will donate his body to Wright State University for biological study.
TEXAS LAST MEAL
WILLIAM E. WYATT JR.
August 3, 2006
Last Meal: Wyatt has no final meal request.
The skinny: Wyatt, a former county jail officer, was put to death for raping and smothering the 3-year-old son of his girlfriend.
More skinny: Wyatt lived at the home of his girlfriend and her 3-year old son. Wyatt babysat the boy after taking his girlfriend to work.
At about 6:07 p.m., Texarkana police received a 9-1-1 call from Wyatt, asking for an ambulance for an accidental drowning victim. When emergency personnel arrived, the boy had no pulse and was not breathing. He was then taken immediately to a nearby hospital and pronounced dead. The medical examiner concluded that the boy was smothered to death. In a statement to authorities, Wyatt stated that he sexually assaulted the boy. Then, believing that the child had placed something in a light socket, he whipped him with a belt. When he began screaming, Wyatt placed a plastic bag over the child s face until he stopped screaming.
Authorities determined the boy had been sexually assaulted, both in the past and just before he died.
Wyatt says: Wyatt, 41, said he might have been irresponsible in leaving the little boy alone to drown in the bathtub of his Texarkana home 9 years ago, but didn’t kill the toddler.
Wyatt contended his statements to police were coerced.
Wyatt, a Detroit native, was known to his fellow death row inmates as “Motown.”
Last words and such: In a brief final statement, Wyatt Jr. thanked relatives for their support. “I went home to be with my father, and I went home as a trooper,’’ he told them. Then he addressed his victim’s father and grandmother, who watched through a window a few feet from him. “I did not murder your son,’’ Wyatt said. “I did not do it. I just want you to know that. I did not murder Damien, and I would ask for all of your forgiveness, and I will see all of you soon.’’
Factoids: Wyatt was the...
33rd murderer executed in U.S. in 2006
1037th murderer executed in U.S. since 1976
17th murderer executed in Texas in 2006
372nd murderer executed in Texas since 1976
Texas has nine executions scheduled for the rest of 2006, with three of those set for August.
july, 2006
VIRGINIA LAST MEAL
MICHAEL LENZ
July 27, 2006
...the three inmates practiced an ancient Norse religion called Asatru...
Last Meal: Lenz had no final meal request.
The skinny: Lenz was executed for killing another inmate.
More skinny: Lenz was serving a 29-year sentence for burglary and weapon possession. The victim, a fellow inmate was a convicted murderer serving a 50-year sentence. Along with 3 other inmates, they held a meeting of the Ironwood Kindred, a group practicing the Asatru religion, a faith based on worship of Nordic Gods.
The guard assigned to watch the group was stationed outside the meeting room. Lenz read poetry and afterward called the victim to a pagan altar set up for the gathering. He confronted the man about their longstanding friction and pulled out a knife. Three other inmates ran out of the room saying, They re stabbing him. The guard immediately entered the room to see Michael Lenz and Jeffrey Remington stabbing the victim. He died as a result of 68 stab wounds.
Both Lenz and Remington were sentenced to death after separate trials. Remington committed suicide while incarcerated in 2004. Lenz testified that he killed the victim for religious reasons. The man had been opposed to Lenz forming the Ironwood Kindred. Lenz stated that the reason that he attacked the victim the way that he did was because he had threatened to kill him twice before and that the fight broke out mutually. Jeffrey Remington had jumped in the fight unprovoked.
The reason why...Remington said in a 2001 interview that he killed the man because he was “disrespecting the gods” and because of a history of friction between them. Lenz said the man blasphemed by “saying that he was teaching Asatru but what he was teaching was not Asatru.”
About Asatru...Asatru has been gaining popularity among inmates, say religious leaders and prison experts who believe its roots in Viking mythology attract prisoners seeking power, protection and unity. The gang culture in prison also contributes, said theologian Britt Minshall, a former police officer and Baltimore pastor who ministers to inmates. Some white inmates who felt threatened by black prison gangs formed their own gangs and sought out a belief system they felt would provide additional security, he said. “It’s a way of grouping together for safety,” he said. “And you have to have a god in the middle of that to really keep you safe.”
Asatru is often referred to as Odinism, although some followers believe the two are separate religions. It is a polytheistic, pre-Christian faith native to Scandinavia whose adherents worship gods including Thor and Odin. It emphasizes a connection with one’s ancestors and values honor, loyalty, generosity and truth. An estimated 10,000 to 20,000 people in the United States consider themselves Asatruars or Odinists, said Stephen McNallen, director of the Asatru Folk Assembly, a leading Asatru group. No national statistics are kept on how many inmates follow Asatru. But experts say its popularity enjoyed a boost from the Supreme Court, which last year sided with an Asatru inmate by upholding a federal law requiring state prisons to accommodate prisoners’ religious affiliations. Asatru is often associated with white supremacy, although most Asatru leaders bristle at suggestions of such a relationship. A 1999 FBI report on domestic terrorism described Odinism as a “white supremacist ideology that lends itself to violence.” “What makes Odinists dangerous is the fact that many believe in the necessity of becoming martyrs for their cause,”
“It’s a theology that celebrates raw physical power and domination, and that is why I think it is so popular among prison inmates. The kind of inmate who might be attracted to this is a white man who is looking for justification for extreme violence, who is looking for an ideology which explains why he should be the boss.”
The appeals: Attorneys for Lenz had argued that their client’s right to a fair and impartial jury was violated because jurors consulted a Bible while considering whether Lenz should be sentenced to death. At least one juror recalled that the Bible passages referred to by the jury indicated death is the appropriate punishment for murder, the appeal said. However, during an evidentiary hearing, the jurors said the Bible did not influence them, and appeals courts had rejected the contention that it violated Lenz’s rights.
Last words and such: Lenz gave no last statement.
Factoids: Lenz was the...
32nd murderer executed in U.S. in 2006
1036th murderer executed in U.S. since 1976
3rd murderer executed in Virginia in 2006
97th murderer executed in Virginia since 1976
In a field outside the prison last night, four death-penalty opponents held a vigil. They carried candles, and just before 9 p.m., they began ringing a bell that they had brought. They rang it 97 times, once for each person who has been executed in the state since the death penalty resumed.
Including Lenz, Virginia has executed 333 inmates since 1908.
VIRGINIA LAST MEAL
BRANDON HEDRICK
July 20, 2006
...executed in Virginia’s electric chair ...
Last Meal: Hedrick had a final meal request of pizza with cheese, sausage and hamburger; french fries with ketchup; bacon; chocolate cake; and apple pie.
The skinny: Hedrick was executed in Virginia’s electric chair last night for the slaying of a 23-year-old woman.
More skinny: While walking down the street at 1 a.m. in an area where prostitutes gathered, the 23-year old victim was abducted by Hedrick and Trevor Jones. Reportedly, the two were drinking bourbon and ingesting marijuana and crack cocaine.
The woman was robbed, put in Jones’ truck and driven around before she was raped and then shot to death at short range with a shotgun. Her face no longer recognizable, her head wrapped in duct tape and her hands shackled, the woman was later found in the river. Upon arrest, Hedrick confessed to pulling the trigger. Accomplice Jones was sentenced to life in prison.
The Chair: Hedrick was the first person electrocuted in the United States in more than two years, and the first in three years in Virginia.
Only four of 72 Virginia killers have chosen the chair since Jan. 1, 1995, when they were given the option of injection.
The electrocution for the murder the mother of a 5-year-old boy and slain on Mother’s Day — was performed without complication.
Hedrick may have chosen electrocution because of concerns about pain accompanying lethal injection.
The Chair Procedure: Shortly before 9 p.m., Hedrick, his head freshly shaved, was led into the execution chamber. He appeared calm, wearing dark-blue prison pants with the right leg cut off at the knee and a light-blue shirt with the sleeves cut off. He was ushered into the electric chair and a half-dozen execution team members secured him stiffly upright with leather and nylon straps on his limbs and torso before asking if he had any last words.
A metal device holding a sea sponge soaked in brine was then attached to his right calf, and a wide strap with a hole for his nose but covering his eyes and mouth secured his head to the chair. A metal cap holding another brine-soaked sponge was strapped on the top of his head. Power cables were then connected to the head and leg.
A prison official turned a key on the wall activating the system and an execution team member viewing the chair through a one-way window pressed the execution button.
It was about 9:02 p.m. when Hedrick’s body jumped up straight, straining against the straps, his fists clenched. A small amount of smoke briefly rose from his leg. His body briefly relaxed between the two 90-second cycles of electricity. Each cycle starts with about 1,800 volts at 7.5 amps for 30 seconds and then 60 seconds of about 240 volts at 1.5 amps. His body jumped and leg smoked at the start of the second cycle. After five minutes, a physician entered, put a stethoscope to Hedrick’s chest and pronounced him dead.
Last words and such: Asked if he would like to make a last statement, Hedrick said: “I pray for everybody that believes in Jesus Christ in heaven, and I pray for the people that are unsaved that they will accept Christ because they know not what they do and will accept Christ one day. I am ready to go and be free.”
Factoids: Hedrick was the...
31st murderer executed in U.S. in 2006
1035th murderer executed in U.S. since 1976
2nd murderer executed in Virginia in 2006
96th murderer executed in Virginia since 1976
About eight protesters gathered outside the correctional center before the execution. Many were with Virginians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty. Katie Norberg said she had been a pen pal of Hedrick for more than six years, since she had been a student at Alexandria’s West Potomac High School. “I really believe he is a good person. Nothing malicious about him,” she said.
Virginia is one of 10 states that allows electrocution and it is required in Nebraska. As in many of those states, however, the electric chair has fallen largely into disuse. In 1995, the state passed a law allowing death-row inmates the option of choosing lethal injection. The chair was rewired in 1991 after a series of botched electrocutions in Virginia and other states in the 1980s.
TEXAS LAST MEAL
ROBERT JAMES ANDERSON
July 20, 2006
Last Meal: Anderson had a final meal request of lasagna, mashed potatoes with gravy, beets, green beans, fried okra, two pints of mint chocolate chip ice cream, a fruit pie, tea and lemonade.
The skinny: Anderson, 40, a child sex offender, was executed for abducting and killing a 5-year-old girl in Amarillo 14 years ago.
More skinny: One afternoon, the five-year old girl went outside to play. As she returned home past Anderson’s home, he abducted her and took her inside, where he attempted to rape her, then choked, stabbed, beat and drowned her. He then stuffed her body into a large foam cooler, pushed the cooler along the street in a grocery cart and dumped it in a trash bin, where it was discovered.
Upon arrest, Anderson gave a complete confession.
The trial: An Amarillo jury took less than 15 minutes to return a guilty verdict and less than 30 minutes to determine Anderson should die. “By far, it was absolutely the worst thing a little girl could ever go through,” Chuck Slaughter, the Potter County assistant district attorney who prosecuted Anderson, said this week. “If there’s anybody out there who deserves the punishment he received from a jury, it would be Robert Anderson.”
Priors: Anderson had a history of sexual offenses involving children that dated to his teen years in Tulsa, Okla., and said he’d been in and out of centers to deal with his obsession with young girls.
“My whole life is a regret,” he said, adding that he looked forward to dying. “I should have been in prison when I was 15.”
No appeals: Anderson acknowledged the horrific slaying of the girl and asked that no new appeals be filed to try to block his execution.
Last words and such: “I am sorry for the pain I have caused you,” Anderson told the grandmother of his victim. “I have regretted this for a long time. I am sorry.” “Anderson also apologized to his family. As the lethal drugs began taking effect, Anderson muttered a prayer. Eight minutes later he was pronounced dead.
Factoids: Anderson was the....
30th murderer executed in U.S. in 2006
1034th murderer executed in U.S. since 1976
16th murderer executed in Texas in 2006
371st murderer executed in Texas since 1976
In 1998, Anderson survived an attack by a fellow death row inmate who stabbed him 67 times with a shank. Anderson said the attack was the result of race-related prison gang extortion efforts and not related to his crime.
TEXAS LAST MEAL
MAURICEO MASHAWN BROWN
July 19, 2006
...strapping on the feed bag...
Last Meal: Brown had a final meal request of fifteen enchiladas heavy with cheese and onions, onion rings or fries, eight pieces fried chicken and eight pieces bbq chicken, eight whole peppers, ten hard shell tacos with plenty of meat, cheese, onions and sause, four double meat-double cheese-double bacon burgers, a boneless T-bone steak with A1 Steak Sauce and a pan of peach cobbler.
The skinny: Brown, 31, a San Antonio gang member, was executed for the shooting death of a man during a robbery attempt in the driveway of his victim’s home.
More skinny: On an August evening, Kenneth Foster, Mauriceo Brown, DeWayne Dillard, and Julius Steen embarked on a series of armed robberies around San Antonio, Texas, beginning with Brown s announcing he had a gun and asking whether the others wanted to rob people: I have the strap, do you all want to jack?
The next day, Brown and his accomplices followed a car to the residence of the victim, looking to carjack the vehicle. Brown ran up to the man, who was standing near his vehicle. A woman who was with the victim heard Brown demand the man s wallet, money and keys; she saw Brown point a gun at the victim’s face for about two minutes before firing. The woman gave police a description of the assailants. Police arrested the men shortly thereafter.
Brown s three accomplices gave written statements to police identifying Brown as the person who fatally shot the man. Brown admitted in his statement to police and at trial that he fired the fatal shot. At trial, Brown testified that he approached the man to obtain the woman’s telephone number and only drew his weapon when he saw what appeared to be a gun on the victim. Foster and Brown were tried jointly for capital murder committed in the course of a robbery and they both were sentenced to death.
The early morning attack capped a spree by the street gang members who called themselves the Hoover 94 Crips. At least four other people were robbed that night. “They were out pretty much on a rampage, stoned to the bone, victimizing people,” said Jack McGinnis, one of the prosecutors in the cases against Brown and Foster.
Recant: Brown had been recanting his confession, saying his accomplices threatened his family if he didn’t take the fall for the slaying. “That claim is preposterous,” said Mike Ramos, who was a Bexar County assistant district attorney in 1997 and also prosecuted Brown and Foster. “He has absolutely no credibility. Any court could see he has zip.”
Leading up to: A brother said earlier Wednesday that Brown seemed calm and almost upbeat, having found refuge in religion. A month ago, Brown had himself re-baptized a Catholic. He had been reading the Bible daily. “He feels like everything happens for a reason, and he was given this opportunity to get his life right with God,” Leslie Brown said.
Last words and such: With two brothers of his victim watching nearby through a window, Mauriceo Brown final words were...”To the victim’s family, I am sorry you lost a brother, loved one and friend. I apologize that you lost a loved one this way. To my family, I love you all. Keep your heads up and know I will be in a better place. God bless you all. OK, Warden.”
As the drugs took effect, Brown’s mother wailed and then collapsed to the floor in tears, proclaiming he was innocent. “He was not guilty, God Jesus, no,” screamed Cynthia Lucky after the drugs took effect and Brown lost consciousness. “They didn’t care. They didn’t care.”
Factoids...Brown was the....
29th murderer executed in U.S. in 2006
1033rd murderer executed in U.S. since 1976
15th murderer executed in Texas in 2006
370th murderer executed in Texas since 1976
SOUTH CAROLINA LAST MEAL
WILLIAM DOWNS, JR.
July 14, 2006
Last Meal: Downs was served his last meal early Friday afternoon: Salted cashew nuts, instant french roast coffee, chocolate chip cookie dough, moose tracks ice cream and three Mr. Goodbar candy bars.
The skinny: William Junior Downs was put to death by lethal injection for the 1999 kidnapping, rape and murder of a 6-year-old boy.
More skinny: The six-year old victim went bike riding while his mother cooked dinner inside her apartment. He never returned home.
His body was found the next day just outside the park after a massive search.
William Downs had only been in Augusta for three months, having moved from Albany, Ga., when he learned he had a son in the area. He crossed the 13th Street bridge into North Augusta one day and saw the victim riding a bike along a dirt path. He stopped the boy and asked his name before throwing the boy to the ground and raping and strangling him. Downs confessed and pled guilty, telling the Judge he deserved to die for his crime. “I think it would be disrespectful to the family and disrespectful to the whole world if you did not give me the death penalty.”
Downs also pleaded guilty in 2005 to kidnapping, raping and killing a 10-year-old boy in Augusta in 1991. That boy was missing before his body was found, and officials originally thought he had accidentally drowned. As part of a plea deal, and since he was already condemned to die in South Carolina, Downs agreed to be sentenced to two consecutive life sentences, plus 10 years. In both cases, authorities said Downs sexually assaulted the victims after they were dead.
No legal machinations: Downs did not pursue any appeals.
Last words and such: Downs made no final statement and kept his eyes trained on the ceiling,
Factoids: Downs was the...
28th murderer executed in U.S. in 2006
1032nd murderer executed in U.S. since 1976
1st murderer executed in South Carolina in 2006
36th murderer executed in South Carolina since 1976
Nine people protested outside Friday’s execution, including Rose-Louise Terry of Great Britain, whose husband, Gary Dubose Terry, is on death row in South Carolina. “(Capital punishment) doesn’t bring the victim back, and revenge is only sweet for a short time,” Ms. Terry said.
This spring, the South Carolina Legislature passed a law allowing the death penalty for criminals who are convicted twice of sexually assaulting children younger than 11.
OHIO LAST MEAL
ROCKY BARTON
July 12, 2006
...the couple had just married two years earlier while Barton was in prison for the attempted murder of his ex-wife in Kentucky...
Last Meal: Barton requested a special meal of pork chops, gravy, hash browns, biscuits, fried eggs over easy, cherry pie and Pepsi. Barton ate all of his specially-requested meal, except for the cherry pie which he saved for breakfast. Barton awoke at 4:47 a.m., showered, got dressed and ate a regular prison breakfast of two hard boiled eggs, Cream of Wheat, grapefruit, toast and orange juice...and the pie.
The skinny: Barton was executed for fatally shooting his wife because she wanted to leave him.
More skinny: Barton murdered his fourth wife at their home in Waynesville after they had gotten in a domestic dispute that morning. He called and threatened her several times the day of the killing before persuading her to come to the house to get her belongings. When she arrived, he appeared and shot her once in the shoulder and then again in the back at close range. His uncle and the woman’s 17-year old daughter witnessed the shooting.
He then turned the gun on himself, blowing out most of his teeth and requiring four surgeries to insert pins, wires and screws to hold his eyes in their sockets and the cadaver s jaw to replace his shattered one.
Barton has a history of arrests for burglary, assault, drug and DUI charges and violence against women. He beat one of his ex-wives with a shotgun, stabbed her three times, cut her throat and left her for dead, but she survived. The victim had known Barton for many years, but the couple had just married two years earlier while Barton was in prison for the attempted murder of his ex-wife in Kentucky.
Last words and such: Barton, 49, said he deserved execution and gave up his appeals that could have delayed his sentence for years.
“I m sorry for what I done. I m sorry for killing your mama. I m not asking you to forgive me. Not a day goes by that I m not trying to forgive myself. Don’t let your anger and hate for me destroy your lives.” He also apologized to his parents for the “embarrassment and shame” brought on the family, then stated, “As Gary Gilmore said, Let s do it. “
Gilmore, who was convicted in Utah of shooting two people, said the same thing before he became the first person put to death after a 1976 Supreme Court ruling that the death penalty was legal. He was executed Jan. 17, 1977, by firing squad.
The Process...It was a successful first test of lethal injection guidelines adopted after the last execution was plagued with problems. Two injection sites were established on Rocky Barton — one as a backup in case something went wrong with a vein — and the whole process went smoothly, prisons Director Terry Collins said.
The state’s lethal injection protocol was changed after Joseph Clark’s execution in May, which was held up 90 minutes when prison staff struggled to find a useable vein and one they used collapsed. The state now requires staff to make every effort to find two injection sites and use a low-pressure saline drip to make sure the veins stay open once entryways are inserted. The execution team appeared more relaxed and less hurried after the new guidelines advised staff against feeling pressured to follow what had become an artificial, self-imposed timeframe to complete an execution quickly, Collins said. “I think that was the biggest thing,” Collins said. “I noticed a different relaxation.” Barton also was examined closely for any medical problems a day before his execution and again on Wednesday morning.
Factoids: Barton was the....
27th murderer executed in U.S. in 2006
1031st murderer executed in U.S. since 1976
3rd murderer executed in Ohio in 2006
22nd murderer executed in Ohio since 1976
TEXAS LAST MEAL
SEAN DERRICK O’BRIEN
July 11, 2006
...another bad one....
Last Meal: O’Brien had no final meal request.
The skinny: O’Brien was executed for the torture, rape and strangling of two teenage Houston girls 13 years ago.
More skinny: O’Brien was one of six members of a fledgling street gang drinking beer after initiating a new gang member. The two victims were walking home from a friend’s house, taking a shortcut along some railroad tracks when they stumbled upon the group.
Evidence showed the girls were gang raped for more than an hour, then were kicked and beaten before being strangled. A red nylon belt was pulled so tight around one girl’s neck that the belt snapped. The belt was later recovered from O’Brien’s home. The bodies of the two teenage girls were found four days after they failed to return from a friend’s house. When the bodies were discovered, they were decomposing and mummifying in 100-degree heat.
A smiling O’Brien, then 18, was seen on a videotape of the crowd that gathered as investigators worked the scene of the grisly discovery. A tip from the brother of one of the gang members led police to the arrests in the killings that shocked even crime-hardened Houston.
O’Brien, who confessed to police, was one of six gang members convicted in the case and the first to be executed. The ninth-grade dropout, who had previous arrests for shoplifting a pistol, assault and auto theft, also was a suspect in a murder six months before the girls were killed but never was charged.
Two of the gang members, Efrain Perez and Raul Villarreal, had their death sentences commuted to life in prison when the Supreme Court last year barred executions for those who were 17 at the time of their crimes. Peter Cantu, described by authorities as ringleader of the gang, remains on death row without an execution date. Jose Medellin, who was condemned and who O’Brien said was at one end of the belt being pulled around the girl’s neck as he yanked on the other, had his case returned to the state courts under an order from President Bush. Medellin is among some 50 Mexican-born offenders who argue that under international law they should have been allowed assistance from the Mexican Consulate before trial. A sixth person convicted, Medellin’s brother, Vernancio, was 14 at the time and received a 40-year prison term.
Last words and such: “I am sorry. I have always been sorry,” O’Brien said, holding his head up and looking straight at relatives of his victims. “It is the worst mistake that I ever made in my whole life. Not because I am here but because of what I did and I hurt a lot of people, you and my family.” He repeated again and again that he was sorry.
Factoids: O’Brien was the...
26th murderer executed in U.S. in 2006
1030th murderer executed in U.S. since 1976
14th murderer executed in Texas in 2006
369th murderer executed in Texas since 1976
june, 2006
TENNESSEE LAST MEAL
SEDLEY ALLEY
June 28, 2006
Last Meal: Alley had a final meal of pizza pockets, ice cream, iced oatmeal cookies and milk.
The skinny: Alley was executed for the rape and murder of a young female Marine who had been out jogging while undergoing aviation training near Memphis.
More skinny: Alley was a civilian married to a military person and was convicted in the abduction, beating, murder and mutilation of a 19-year old Lance Corporal, who was due to graduate from aviation school the next day.
Two marines jogging near where the woman was abducted heard a scream and ran toward the sound, seeing Alley’s car drive off. A few hours later, the body was found. Alley was arrested in his on-base housing and admitted to having killed the woman, claiming that he had gone out for more liquor when his car accidentally hit 19-year-old as she was jogging.
An autopsy revealed that her skull had been fractured with a screwdriver. A 31 inch tree limb had been rammed into her vagina so hard that it entered her abdomen and lacerated one of her lungs. Eventually Alley showed police the tree from which he took the limb.
Alley unsuccessfully tried to convince a jury at trial that he had multiple personality disorder.
Legal machinations: Alley s execution followed a burst of legal activity Tuesday and continued almost until the time Alley brought into the death chamber, at 1:46 a.m. A federal judge issued a stay of the execution around 11 p.m. Tuesday, just two hours before the execution had been scheduled to begin. The state attorney general s office fought back vigorously, describing the events around Judge Gil Merritt s last-minute stay as a highly irregularly and in brazen violation every rule that applies to this situation, and called his order unlawful.
Last words and such: Alley s two grown children were present at the execution. Before the drugs started to flow into his veins, Alley made a final statement in the death chamber in which he said that he loved them. “Yes, to my children. April, David, can you hear me? I love you. Stay strong.” Alley then thanked the prison chaplain and said, “I love you, David. I love you, April. Be good and stay together. Stay strong.”
I love you, Dad, it s OK, Alley s daughter, April McIntyre, was reported to have said.
Factoids: Alley was the...
25th murderer executed in U.S. in 2006
1029th murderer executed in U.S. since 1976
1st murderer executed in Tennesee in 2006
2nd murderer executed in Tennesee since 1976
Alley’s execution was only the second in Tennessee since 1960. Robert Glen Coe was executed in 2000 for the rape and murder of an 8-year-old girl.
After Alley’s execution, Tennessee now has 102 inmates on death row.
TEXAS LAST MEAL
ANGEL RESENDIZ
June 27, 2006
...The Railroad Killer...
Last Meal: No final meal request.
The skinny: Resendiz, the serial killer who claimed he was half-man, half-angel and could not be killed, was executed for the December 1998 murder of a physician.
More skinny: Eight days before Christmas in 1998, Resendiz sneaked into the upscale home of the victim in the Houston enclave of West University Place, just down the street from a railroad track. Resendiz attacked the sleeping woman, raping her, stabbing her 39 times with a butcher knife, and then beating her to death with a 2 foot tall bronze statue. Resendiz took the victim’s cash and fled the scene in the victim’s jeep. This murder is among eight in Texas linked to Resendiz, who became known as the “Railroad Killer.” Two were tied to him in Illinois and two in Florida, and one each in Kentucky, California and Georgia.
Resendiz’s killings began with a murder in San Antonio in 1986 and ended in June 1999 with a double slaying in Illinois. For a while, he was on the FBI’s Most Wanted list as authorities searched for a killer who slipped across the U.S. border and roamed the country by freight train.
Legal Machinations: The start of the execution was delayed almost two hours while the U.S. Supreme Court considered several last-day appeals. The court rejected the appeals at 7:25 p.m. Resendiz’s lead appeals attorney, Jack Zimmermann, had argued that he couldn’t be executed because he didn’t believe he could die.
The court also rejected an appeal by the Houston-based consul general of Mexico questioning Resendiz’s competency and challenging the constitutionality of the lethal injection process as cruel and unusual punishment. Capital punishment is not practiced in Mexico.
Leading up to: As the hour of the planned execution approached, Maturino Resendiz, who claimed he was an avenging angel and that he could not be killed, visited with his 7-year-old daughter and his mother.
Opponents of the death penalty came to the Huntsville Walls Unit on Tuesday evening to protest the execution of Angel Maturino Resendiz, but they were practically outnumbered by the amount of media from around the state covering the controversial case.
Last words and such: As execution witnesses members of his family and those of four of his victims filled the tiny chambers set aside for them, the killer nodded toward them and apologized for his crimes. “I want to ask if it is in your heart to forgive me,” Maturino Resendiz said in a quiet voice. “You don’t have to. I know I allowed the devil to rule my life. I just ask you to forgive me and ask the Lord to forgive me for allowing the devil to deceive me. “I thank God for having patience with me. I don’t deserve to cause you pain. You did not deserve this. I deserve what I am getting.” Before drawing his final breath, the killer, who claimed to be Jewish, prayed in Hebrew and Spanish.
The victim’s husband speaks: George Benton, husband of the doctor who was repeatedly stabbed and bludgeoned, lashed out at the killer, the Mexican government, which had supported his appeals, and opponents of the death penalty.
Maturino Resendiz...”looked like a man ... and walked like a man. But what lived within that skin was not a human being.” Benton said that every Mexican citizen should “feel denigrated” by their government’s effort to save the killer’s life, and accused death penalty opponents of failing to comprehend the nature of evil. They could not, he said, understand the pain of telling one’s children their mother had been murdered. [The vicitm] was compassionate, her husband said, and would have aided Maturino Resendiz with food, money or advice had he simply knocked on her door and asked. The Mexican government, which opposes capital punishment, was “especially cynical” in urging that Maturino Resendiz be imprisoned for life rather than be executed. The killer, Benton said, was a “diseased human.”
Factoids: Resendiz was the....
24th murderer executed in U.S. in 2006
1028th murderer executed in U.S. since 1976
13th murderer executed in Texas in 2006
368th murderer executed in Texas since 1976
TEXAS LAST MEAL
LAMONT REESE
June 20. 2006
... Yeah, I got my eat on. ...
Last Meal: Reese had a final meal request of Beef or Chicken Fajitas w/cheese and & sour cream with jalapenos, beef and cheese enchiladas w/jalapenos and salsa, bacon cheeseburger with the works & jalapenos (small combination), pizza with jalapenos & everything, chicken salad w/ranch dressing & jalapenos, soft beef taco’s & salsa, fried chicken w/ketchup & hot sauce.
The skinny: Reese, 28, an admitted drug dealer, was executed for a shooting spree that left three men dead and two others wounded outside a Fort Worth convenience store.
More skinny: Reese’s 18-year-old girlfriend walked out of the convenience store about four miles southeast of downtown Fort Worth and drew the attention of several men who were drinking and playing dice outside the place. Reese became angry with the men flirting with his girlfriend.
The couple left, met up with three others, including a pair of juveniles, and armed themselves with handguns and assault rifles. With the girlfriend driving and accompanied also by her 2-year-old son, she dropped off the four near the store.
The gunmen then sprayed the scene with bullets. the girlfriend drove back around, retrieved her friends and they all sped off. A witness told police that Reese was bragging about the killings. That led to the arrests of Reese and his companions. Detectives found ammunition in Reese’s car that matched bullets found at the shooting scene. The girlfriend is serving a life prison term on a capital murder conviction. The three others, including the two juveniles who were charged as adults, agreed to plea bargains and are serving sentences ranging from 35 to 50 years.
Legal Machinations: Reese’s lawyers went to the federal courts to try to block the punishment, citing among their claims a U.S. Supreme Court ruling a week ago that condemned prisoners can file special appeals challenging the lethal injection method under a federal civil rights law after exhausting regular appeals. The high court, however, said inmates would not always be entitled to delays in their executions. In Reese’s case, the justices rejected his appeals about 20 minutes before he was scheduled to be taken to the death chamber.
Last words and such: Reese had to be carried into the death chamber.
Brenda Reese asked her son through the window if he enjoyed his final meal, which consisted of fajitas, enchiladas, a burger, pizza, tacos and fried chicken.
Yeah, he replied to her. I got my eat on.
“I want everyone to know I did not walk to this because this is straight-up murder. I am not going to play a part in my own murder. No one should have to do that.” He expressed love to his mother and to relatives of the murder victims as they watched from separate windows nearby. “I do not know all of your names and I don’t know how you feel about me. And whether you believe it or not, I did not kill them.” He said that he was at peace and he wanted them to be at peace. “You have to move past it. It is time to move on.” He said he was glad that the execution was occurring and that his time on death row was not “10 or 20 years.” As the drugs began taking effect, he said, “This is some nasty.” Then he gasped.
At that moment, his mother, Brenda Reese, began pounding with her fists on the chamber window and began screaming repeatedly, “They killed my baby.” She kicked two holes in the death chamber wall and eventually was removed from the chamber. She sobbed loudly as she walked from the prison and nearly collapsed as she reached the prison administration building across the street.
Factoids: Reese was the...
23rd murderer executed in U.S. in 2006
1027th murderer executed in U.S. since 1976
12th murderer executed in Texas in 2006
367th murderer executed in Texas since 1976
Scheduled to die next in Texas is serial killer Angel Maturino Resendiz, a former FBI Ten Most Wanted fugitive, set for lethal injection June 27 for the fatal stabbing of Houston-area physician Claudia Benton in December 1998. Benton is among at least 15 victims police in Texas, California, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky and Illinois have linked to Resendiz, who became known as the “Railroad Killer” because many of the attacks were near railroad tracks and because he was known to hop on freight trains to travel around the United States.
TEXAS LAST MEAL
TIMOTHY TYLER TITSWORTH
June 6, 2006
...06-06-06...
Last Meal: Titsworth had a final meal request of beef fajitas with japalenos, rib eye steak with baked potato, beef enchiladas with cheese, six mountain dews.
The skinny: Titsworth, 34, was executed for the 1993 ax murder of his girlfriend in Amarillo.
More skinny: At the age of 20, Titsworth was convicted of car theft and sentenced to five years imprisonment. He spent two months in a “boot camp” and was released early.
Three months later, he shared a trailer with his girlfriend. According to a confession later given by Titsworth, he and the woman had argued, she went to sleep, and he went out to buy crack cocaine and a pill he believed was LSD. When he returned to the trailer, Titsworth got an axe from a closet and blacked out, although he said he did remember hitting his girlfriend four or five times. Her body was later discovered in the trailer with 16 axe wounds.
A friend of the woman testified at trial that the victim told her the day before she was killed that she intended to ask Titsworth to leave because she believed her boyfriend had been stealing from her. After the attack, Titsworth took her car along with items from the trailer home that he sold to buy more crack cocaine. Over the two days following the murder, Titsworth and other crack addicts returned to the home to take more items to sell.
Escape: While awaiting trial, Titsworth was among four inmates who escaped by crawling through ductwork. He was captured about 12 hours later.
His youth: His mother testified at his 1993 trial she was a bartender with a drinking problem, that her son began drinking beer about the age of 2 and that his father committed suicide when Titsworth was 6. Wyoming authorities took him and an older brother from her custody when Titsworth was 8 and placed the siblings in an orphanage for a year. He had his first run-in with the criminal justice system at 13, she said.
Last words and such: Strapped to the death chamber gurney, Titsworth offered a heart-felt apology to the family of his victim. There are no words to describe the pain and suffering that you have gone through all these years. That is something that I cannot take back from you all. I hope that Megan, if she is here present today, know that today I hope you get peace and you. I am sorry that is has taken 14 years to get closure. If it would have brought closure or brought her back, I would have done this years ago, I promise, I promise. My family all knows the sincerity in my heart when I say these words to you. I didn t mean to inflict the pain and suffering on your family. I pray that (Christine) is safe in Heaven.... If these words can ever touch your heart, I am sorry. I am truly sorry. After saying, I love you, several times to his friends and family, Titsworth stared at the ceiling as the lethal chemicals entered his system. Here we go, he said, as he took his final breath.
Factoids: Titsworth was the...
22nd murderer executed in U.S. in 2006
1026th murderer executed in U.S. since 1976
11th murderer executed in Texas in 2006
366th murderer executed in Texas since 1976
OKLAHOMA LAST MEAL
JOHN BOLTZ
June 1, 2006
...I'm going to cut your loving little boy's head off." ....
Last Meal: Boltz requested Kentucky Fried Chicken (original recipe), potato wedges, baked beans, cole slaw, an apple turnover and a dinner roll.
The skinny: Boltz, a former used car salesman and evangelistic preacher, was put to death for killing his 22-year-old stepson in a Shawnee mobile home park.
Boltz, 74, became the oldest man in Oklahoma's history to be executed.
More skinny: The Shawnee Police Department received a call from John Boltz's wife who informed the police that she was at her mother's house and that Boltz, who had been drinking, had forced his way into the house and had made accusations about her to her mother. She further stated that when she threatened to call the police, Boltz left. She gave the dispatcher Boltz's car tag number and his home address. His wife called the police department later and inquired as to whether Boltz had been taken into custody. When she was informed that he had not been arrested, she went to her son's house.
After they had been there for a short time, Boltz called and talked to the man. The conversation lasted only a few minutes. A short time later, Boltz called back and again talked to the man. After this call, the man left to go to Boltz's trailer house. Immediately thereafter, Boltz called a third time and his wife answered. Boltz told her, "I'm going to cut your loving little boy's head off." Boltz also threatened his wife who immediately called the police and reported the threats. She told the dispatcher where Boltz lived and stated that she was going over there.
A woman who lived next door to Boltz, testified that during that evening she heard the screeching of brakes, a car door slam and loud and angry voices. When she heard a sound like someone getting the wind knocked out of him, she looked out the window and observed a man lying on the ground on his back, not moving. She testified that Boltz was standing over him screaming obscenities and beating him.
Boltz was arrested in Midwest City, Oklahoma, at the American Legion Hall after a friend informed the police of Boltz's location. Boltz had informed the friend that he had killed his stepson and had probably cut his head off. Boltz surrendered to the police upon their arrival.
Declining the plea: Boltz could have avoided execution had he accepted a plea bargain prosecutors offered. The deal would have reduced the offense to first-degree manslaughter with a maximum sentence of 42 years in prison, if Boltz pleaded guilty.
The offer was extended to spare the mother from testifying. She had told prosecutors she was on the verge of a nervous breakdown and was concerned the stress of a trial would push her fragile mental state too far.
Boltz probably would already have been released from prison had he taken the plea bargain. Instead, he's spent most of the last 22 years confined 23 hours a day on death row.
Boltz adamantly had claimed he was in his own home defending himself from an attacker.
Leading up to: Boltz was in reasonably good health for a man who nearly was 75. He remained a solid Pentecostal, who read daily from the Bible, the attorney said.
Last words and such: Officials had trouble finding a vein to inject the lethal drugs, delaying the execution for more than an hour at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary.
With the last words of his life, he admonished those who put him on death row.
"It's a time of sadness because I think of all the people involved who got me here and what's in store for them," he said.
Without reciting the verses, Boltz then referenced Deuteronomy 19:18-21, saying that "they need to read that portion of the Bible and see what's down the road for them."
Although Boltz never specified who "they" are, the passage seemed to be directed at the victim's family:
The verses say, in part: "And the judges shall make careful inquiry. If they discover that the witness is, indeed, resentful and has accused falsely against his brother, then you shall do to him what he had planned to have done to his brother; and thus you shall eradicate the evil from among you."
Factoids: Boltz was the...
21st murderer executed in U.S. in 2006
1025th murderer executed in U.S. since 1976
2ndmurderer executed in Oklahoma in 2006
81st murderer executed in Oklahoma since 1976
The state's previous oldest inmate to be executed was Robert Hendricks, 64, who was put to death in 1957.
The oldest person put to death — John Nixon - was 77 when he was executed in Mississippi on Dec. 14. Clarence Ray Allen, who was blind and used a wheelchair, was executed in California on Jan. 17 at the age of 76. James Hubbard, executed in Alabama in 2004, was also 74.
may, 2006
TEXAS LAST MEAL
JESUS LEDESMAN AGUILAR
May 24, 2006
...Aguilar was cut off mid-sentence, stopping his confrontational outburst....
Last Meal: A full meal of enchiladas.
The skinny: Aguilar was executed for the execution-style shooting deaths of a husband and a wife.
More skinny: The couple were shot while staying in a Harlingen trailer home. The murder weapon was a .22 caliber pistol. The couple’s 9-year-old son, who witnessed the shooting, testified that he saw his parents on the floor with two men standing over them.
His 22-month-old brother was asleep in another room. Neither child was harmed during the killings.
Jesus Aguilar sold a .22 revolver after the killings, and police recovered the weapon from a member of the buyer’s family. A police lab concluded that the bullets recovered from the victims’ bodies could have been fired from the gun.
About two weeks after the killings, the boy's grandmother was reading the newspaper when the boy saw a picture and told her that two of the men in the picture were the ones that hurt his parents. His grandfather took him. to the police station where the youth identified Jesus Aguilar and Chris Quiroz as the men who shot his parents.
Quiroz got life in prison.
The why: According to court records, Aguilar and the female victim’s brother, Rick Esparza, were friends who started smuggling marijuana in November 1994 from their homes in South Texas to Mississippi. After Esparza began smuggling drugs for another supplier, Aguilar threatened to kill him if he didn’t stop. While Esparza and his wife delivered a load of drugs to Mississippi in June 1995, his sister and her family agreed to stay and watch his Harlingen-area mobile home. Aguilar and his nephew spent most of the afternoon and evening of June 9, 1995, drinking. They then went to Esparza’s mobile home early the next morning and killed the couple.
Priors: Aguilar was a member of the prison gang the Texas Syndicate, and had a violent history, including wounding a Lubbock County police officer (he served nine years) during a 1983 shooting and assaulting guards and other inmates while in the state prison system.
Last words and such: Not only did Aguilar not show remorse before his death, he mocked his victim’s families and gave a “shout-out” to his fellow gang members.
At the beginning of his statement, Aguilar told his spiritual adviser, "I'm all right," and also in Spanish made reference to the Texas Syndicate, a prison gang he belonged to, telling them to not be depressed by his death.
Aguilar gave a statement just before the lethal dose began to flow alternating between English and Spanish. “I would like to say to my family, I am all right,” he said, looking at his spiritual advisor, and only witness. He then turned to the victims’ families and tried to find Leonardo Chavez Jr., who witnessed the crimes 11 years ago. Leo Jr. did not witness the execution. “Where are you Leo? Are you there, Leo? Don’t lie man.” He then asked the victims’ families if they were happy he was dying. Once the lethal dose began to flow, Aguilar was cut off mid-sentence, stopping his confrontational outburst.
Family members of the slain couple were outraged at the final words, which came in a mixture of Spanish and English. Huntsville Unit Warden Charles O'Reilly silently requested the start of the lethal dosage, cutting off Aguilar's speech, which included praise to the Texas Syndicate prison gang he was a member of.
Michelle Lyons, spokeswoman for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, said it’s not often inmates have outbursts. “It is more rare that the process begins in the midst of an inmate’s last statements, but when they become verbally abusive or confrontational with the victim’s family, the warden may exercise the option to begin the lethal dose,” she said. “That’s an option that appeared to have been exercised this evening.”
Factoids: Aguliar was the...
20th murderer executed in U.S. in 2006
1024th murderer executed in U.S. since 1976
10th murderer executed in Texas in 2006
365th murderer executed in Texas since 1976
Fifteen more Texas executions are planned this year.
The family elected not to claim his body, and he will be buried in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice prison cemetery, a few blocks from where he was executed.
TEXAS LAST MEAL
JERMANIE HERRON
May 17, 2006
Last Meal: Herrine had a final meal request of sirloin steak, spicy worcestershire sauce, a bacon cheeseburger w/ten slices of bacon, onion rings and fries w/cheese, french dressing, a butterfinger blizzard w/carmel, pecan pie, vanilla ice cream and peach cobbler.
The skinny: Herron was executed for killing a woman and her son nine years ago.
More skinny: A man returned to his mobile home to find that his wife and their 15-year old son shot and killed. A pickup truck had been stolen, and a neighboring residence had been burglarized and set on fire.
Members of the family whose house was burglarized and burned testified that Derrick Frazier and Jermaine Herron had paid a visit to their ranch the day before the murders, on the pretense of looking for work. Herron knew the family because his father had once worked for them, and he introduced Frazier as his cousin Kenny. Friends testified that they planned to kill the family, but got tired of waiting and walked the quarter mile to the victim's home.
According to videotaped confessions of both men, they told the woman they were stranded and asked for drinks. She offered to give the men a ride into Refugio. She left her son in the house and went to the pickup truck with Frazier and Herron. As she started the truck, Herron said he needed to go to the bathroom, and returned to the house. Shortly thereafter, he enticed the woman to return to the house, saying she had a phone call. Frazier admitted to killing her using a 9 mm pistol they had stolen from the other house. Then Herron shot the son with the same weapon.
The men then used her truck to carry loot taken during a burglary from the house next door.
Herron turned himself in three days after the slayings. He and Frazier gave nearly identical confessions, but later each defendant blamed the other for the killings.
Derrick Frazier was also convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death. He remains on death row.
Legal Machinations: The U.S. Supreme Court rejected a bid for a last-minute appeal claiming the drugs used in lethal injections cause "excessive pain."
The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals denied Herron's appeal earlier in the afternoon. In a separate opinion, the court lifted the temporary stay of execution it had granted for another Texas inmate on the same issue.
Last words and such: Herron, 27, addressed his victims’ husband and father, Jerry Nutt, during his final statement. “I just hope this brings some kind of peace to your family. I wish I could bring them back, but I can’t,” he said. “I hope my death brings peace; don’t hang on to the hate.” Herron then looked to his mother, telling her to stay strong. “Lord, forgive me for my sins because here I come,” he said. Herron stared at the ceiling for several moments before closing his eyes and taking several deep breaths.
Nutt said he was frustrated and angered that Herron's execution might have been delayed because of his claims lethal injection is cruel and unusual punishment. "I'll tell you what the cruel and unusual punishment is, it's the victims having to wait for justice. That is what's cruel and unusual," he said. "Watching him die looked very easy. He went peacefully. I just hope that the terror he felt in the last hour or two of his life was just a little bit of the terror that my son felt before he shot him in the head."
Factoids: Herron was the...
19th murderer executed in U.S. in 2006
1023rd murderer executed in U.S. since 1976
9th murderer executed in Texas in 2006
364th murderer executed in Texas since 1976
TEXAS LAST MEAL
JACKIE BARRON WILSON
May 4, 2006
...as the kindergartner lay next to her puppy, Wilson pulled her from her bed...
Last Meal: Wilson had a final meal request of a cheeseburger, onion rings, a beef enchilada, tea, Coca-Cola, a whole onion, a whole tomato and lemon pie.
The skinny: Wilson, a former laborer, was executed for the 1988 rape and murder of a 5-year-old North Texas girl.
More skinny: Fueled by a night of heavy drinking, cocaine and a failed sexual assault about an hour or so before, Wilson broke into a little girl’s room and kidnapped her.
Around 8 a.m. a woman discovered that her five-year old daughter was missing from her bed in their apartment. The window above the girl’s bed was raised and the glass pane was broken from the outside. The child’s blood was found on the window ledge, torn curtains, and on the wall below the window. The girl had apparently been abducted from her bed through the window in the middle of the night. Her body was found on the side of a road hours later, with tire tracks on the her body clad in shorts and a Muppet T-shirt.
The cause of death could be attributed to two sources: being run over by a car and smothering or strangulation. The medical examiner also determined that the girl had been sexually assaulted while alive. Police learned that on the night of the murder, Jackie Wilson was driving in his brother-in-law’s red Mercury Cougar with some friends. Police recovered the car, and noted that the tread on tires on the vehicle were consistent with the tread marks on the child’s body. Investigators found hair inside and under the car that matched the victim’s. Fingerprints left on the pieces of glass found inside and outside the victim’s apartment were positively identified as Wilson’s.
Wilson was tried twice for the murder. His first conviction was thrown out because a juror was improperly dismissed.
Last words and such: "Honey, I love you. Wilson said to his wife, sister and friends as they watched from a nearby window. "Thanks for being there. Thank you for being there for me and all these people here will find the one who did this damn crime. "I am going home to be with God."
Factoids: Wilson was the....
18th murderer executed in U.S. in 2006
1022nd murderer executed in U.S. since 1976
8th murderer executed in Texas in 2006
363rd murderer executed in Texas since 1976
OHIO LAST MEAL
JOSEPH CLARK
May 2, 2006
...the nearly 90 minutes it took Ohio to execute Clark is believed to be the second-longest lethal injection on record.....
Last Meal: Clark had a final "special meal" request of jumbo shrimp; a T-bone steak with A-1 steak sauce; fried chicken wings; french fries; dinner rolls; cherry pie; and Pepsi.
The skinny: Clark, 57, was executed for killing a gas station clerk during a spree of robberies in 1984 in which he also killed a convenience store worker. Clark was executed following a delay of more than an hour because of unprecedented difficulty administering the lethal injection.
More skinny: The victim, age 23, was working alone at a service station in Toledo when Clark entered armed with a .32 caliber handgun and demanded money. After handing over $60 to Clark, the man was shot once in the chest, killing him. Three days later, Clark was arrested on bank robbery charges. A .32 caliber handgun was found on his person. In jail, Clark attempted to hang himself. After his release from the hospital, Clark admitted to the shooting, but claimed the victim had come at him with a pipe during the robbery.
This was one in a string of robberies in a two-week period committed, according to Clark, to support a drug habit. Clark first robbed one victim at gunpoint, then killed two victims, and finally seriously wounded a fourth victim.
Clark had a long criminal history, and was also sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of the second man.
Leading up to: Clark had been facing execution longer than all but 11 of the 193 men on Death Row and has no legal appeals left.
He dined on surf and turf and talked with family by phone yesterday as the hour of his death approached. He salso moked cigarettes and talked with members of the team preparing to execute him.
Last words and such: Clark calmly but tearfully proceeded to give the longest final statement a lethal injection inmate has given. In his final statement, Clark said, “I would like to tell them young brothers and sisters also all over the world, do not let drugs ruin your life, ruin your body, and destroy your mind. Today my life is being taken because of drugs. If you live by the sword, you die by the sword.” After a long speech in which he thanked his family and friends, apologized to his victims’ families, and preached against the dangers of drugs, Clark quoted from the Martin Luther King, Jr., “I Have a Dream” speech in declaring himself: “Free at last. Free at last. Thank God Almighty, I am free at last.” Clark made a final statement apologizing to his victims' families and saying "I would like to say to family and friends that I didn't get to talk to, ... that was wondering how I felt, I would like them to know that I asked God to forgive me, that I asked the Lord to save me from my sins. And I asked God to forgive those who are participating in this here today."
The delay and the aftermath: The execution team at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility in Lucasville worked for about 25 minutes to find a suitable vein in Clark’s right arm before continuing with a shunt in his left arm. "It don’t work," Clark said as the team tried to start the injection. Prison officials later said his vein had collapsed. A curtain behind a glass panel separating him from witnesses to the execution was closed, but Clark could be heard moaning and groaning. The execution resumed about 40 minutes later after another vein was found.
The nearly 90 minutes it took Ohio to execute Joseph Lewis Clark on Tuesday is believed to be the second-longest lethal injection on record in the United States.
Defense lawyers and death penalty opponents said that the unprecedented difficulties in executing Clark illustrated the problems with a method of capital punishment they call unconstitutional.
Problems finding a suitable vein in which to inject drugs to kill Joseph Lewis Clark on Tuesday demonstrated the complications that can arise, said David Bodiker, Ohio’s public defender. His office has sued the state to challenge the effectiveness of its method of lethal injection. "I think that this underlines or emphasizes the fact that we’re not capable of actually imposing a formula for taking the life of the people on Death Row and doing it a manner that we have committed to which is painless and efficient."
Factoids: Clark was the...
17th murderer executed in U.S. in 2006
1021st murderer executed in U.S. since 1976
2nd murderer executed in Ohio in 2006
21st murderer executed in Ohio since 1976
april, 2006
VIRGINIA LAST MEAL
DEXTER LEE VINSON
April 27, 2006
...the father of a crime victim said Kaine would not have executed Adolph Hitler..
Last Meal: Earlier in the day, Vinson requested that his last meal not be released to the public.
The skinny: Vinson, 43, was executed for abducting and killing his former girlfriend. The victim, a 25-year-old mother of three, bled to death. She was abducted, sexually assaulted, stabbed and suffered head injuries.
More skinny: The nude, mutilated body of the victim was found in a vacant house. She had been abducted the morning before by her ex-boyfriend, Dexter Vinson. She had lived with Vinson for more than a year but had moved out a few weeks before her death. On the morning of her abduction, she had gone back to the home she once shared with Vinson to retrieve mail. Upon seeing Vinson, the victim attempted to drive away. Vinson followed in his car, ramming her car from behind until she stopped. After he beat her, the two drove away to a nearby boarded-up house where she was dragged inside and sexually mutilated, suffering massive cuts and tears to the genital area. She also suffered multiple deep cuts to her neck, forearms, trunk and buttocks and blows to the head and face. Fingerprints in the car and the vacant home, and a match of the woman's DNA with bloodstains on Vinson's shorts linked him to the crime.
The Governor: As a candidate for governor, Kaine, a Roman Catholic, said that while he opposes the death penalty because of his religious beliefs, he would enforce the law. The Vinson case was Kaine's first test of that pledge, and the strain of the decision was evident during his monthly call-in show on a Washington radio station this week. "The pressure of trying to make the right decision about whether there is or is not doubt about guilt when somebody's life is at stake is so much more pressure than whatever the political pressure that there would be that the politics of it has not even come onto my radar screen," Kaine said on Washington Post Radio. "I take very seriously the decision, and that pressure makes whatever political pressure there would be just seem like nothing."
Kaine's Republican opponent in the governor's race, former attorney general Jerry W. Kilgore, had repeatedly slammed Kaine for his stance on the death penalty, and ran ads featuring the victims of heinous crimes. In one, the father of a crime victim said Kaine would not have executed Adolph Hitler. But Kaine responded with ads of his own, in which he vowed to enforce Virginia's capital punishment laws. "My faith teaches life is sacred," he said to the camera. "But I take my oath of office seriously, and I'll enforce the death penalty." The campaign-trail bashing proved a boon for Kaine, whose public declarations about his personal faith appeared to bolster -- not hurt -- his numbers in the polls and helped lift him to victory in November.
Last words and such: Vinson entered the chamber two minutes before his scheduled execution. He offered no resistance as several guards strapped him to the gurney. Watching him through a thick, wire-reinforced window in an adjacent room were six citizens who volunteered to witness the execution, as well as journalists and law enforcement officials. Asked if he had any last words, Vinson shook his head and declined to make a statement. The blue curtain to the witness chamber closed, and reopened eight minutes later.
Factoids: Vinson was the...
16th murderer executed in U.S. in 2006
1020th murderer executed in U.S. since 1976
1st murderer executed in Virginia in 2006
95th murderer executed in Virginia since 1976
At Greensville Correctional Center last night, death-penalty opponents protested outside after an earlier demonstration in front of the governor's office. Three protesters set up signs and posters in a field, and said they expected a couple of more to join them.
The Richmond rally yesterday afternoon had drawn only two protestors a half hour after it.
There have been 94 executions in Virginia since 1976, when the U.S. Supreme Court allowed the death penalty to resume. The toll is second among the states to Texas, which has executed 362 killers.
NEVADA LAST MEAL
DARYL MACK
April 26, 2006
...The case lay dormant for almost 12 years without leads.....
Last meal: Mack had a final meal request of a fish fillet sandwich, french fries and a lemon-lime soft drink.
The skinny: Mack, 47, was executed for the rape and murder of a Reno woman.
Mack was the first Nevada convict to be executed based solely on DNA evidence.
More skinny: The victim was found dead in her basement room at a boarding house in Reno.
Her neighbor had been drinking at a nearby bar that night went to the victim's home to try to borrow some money. He knocked on her door, which was slightly open, but there was no response. He opened the door and saw the woman kneeling by her bed with her upper body facedown on the bed. He turned her over and realized that she was dead.
He immediately went home and told the landlords, and the police were called. Fingernail scrapings and evidentiary swabs from the vagina and left foot were collected. The swabs tested positive for semen. The autopsy showed that she was beaten and manually strangled to death. She had also suffered a forceful traumatic sexual penetration not long before her death. The case lay dormant for almost 12 years without leads.
In 1999 DNA testing of the evidence was requested and compared to a blood sample from Mack taken in 1994, when he was charged and convicted of strangling a prostitute, Kim Parks. (Mack was Park's pimp) While Mack was serving a life without parole sentence for that murder, DNA testing showed that the semen taken from the victim's body and the blood stains on her blouse matched Mack. The blood and tissue found under her fingertips was consistent with Mack's DNA. Mack waived jury trial and was found guilty by the court and sentenced to death by a three judge panel. The only evidence presented at trial connecting Mack to the murder was the DNA evidence.
Leading up to: Mack, who refused to give any interviews while awaiting execution, had said in court statements that he'd rather be executed than spend the rest of his life locked up on death row - even though he claimed he didn't strangle the woman.
Mack, who converted to Islam while in prison, also spent time reading the Quran in his final hours.
No one from Mack's family came outside after the execution. Mack's brother was at the prison. Mack had refused to see him
Last words and such: "Allah is great, Allah is great," Mack said before the lethal drugs took effect.
For the first time, the entire execution procedure, from the documents detailing the drugs used to the viewing of the intravenous lines being inserted into the inmate's arms, were open to the public. The corrections department released its execution protocol and allowed the blinds to be open after the Reno Gazette-Journal filed lawsuits in state and federal court requesting the changes.
Factoids: Mack was the....
15th murderer executed in U.S. in 2006
1019th murderer executed in U.S. since 1976
1st murderer executed in Nevada in 2006
12th murderer executed in Nevada since 1976
The execution was the state's 12th - and the first of a black convict - since the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated capital punishment in 1976. Mack was the 11th of those executed to voluntarily give up available appeals.
NORTH CAROLINA LAST MEAL
WILLIE BROWN, JR.
April 21, 2006
...how you ever noticed how many Jrs. are executed?...plus...the first execution to use brain monitoring...plus,....well...that's it....
Last Meal: Brown’s last meal was a well-done T-bone steak, rice, four rolls with butter and a piece German chocolate cake.
The skinny: Brown was executed for the murder of a woman during a robbery of a Zip Mart.
More skinny: The woman was taken from the store and found the same day as the robbery lying facedown along a logging road after being shot six times.
Brown, who maintained his innocence, was convicted of murder and armed robbery.
Legal Machinations: Brown’s execution was the first to include the use of a brainwave monitor to measure an inmate’s level of consciousness during an execution. The state used the monitor, at the request of federal Judge Malcolm Howard, to ensure Brown would not experience pain during his execution. Howard had threatened to halt the execution if the state didn't convince him that Brown could be sedated if he shows signs of awakening, but allowed the execution after the state purchased the monitor.
Experts had criticized the state's proposal because it requires medical professionals to participate in executions in violation of their professional ethics and their roles as caregivers.
Last words and such: Brown did not make a last statement.
After execution witnesses were seated, a white curtain used to block their view of Brown was opened about 1:50 a.m. After the curtain was drawn, Brown looked at his brother and sister through the window separating him from them.
Brown’s sister mouthed, “I love you,” and Brown nodded, indicating he understood her.
Just before 2 a.m., Brown turned to his sister and mouthed what appeared to be, “I love you.”
A curtain on the other side of Brown kept hidden from view a doctor and nurse who were required to be present for the execution.
Factoids: Brown was the....
14th murderer executed in U.S. in 2006
1018th murderer executed in U.S. since 1976
3rd murderer executed in North Carolina in 2006
42st murderer executed in North Carolina since 1976
At Central Prison, about 40 people protested and eight were arrested on trespassing charges.
OKLAHOMA LAST MEAL
RICHARD THORNBURG, JR.
April 18, 2005
...Oklahoma's first of '06....
Last Meal: For his final meal, Thornburg requested a chicken dinner, potato wedges, apple pie and a Pepsi from Kentucky Fried Chicken.
The skinny: Thornburg was executed for killing three people in 1996. Thornburg and two accomplices shot the men after trying to collect a drug debt. One of Thornburg's accomplices faces execution, while the other is serving a life sentence.
More skinny: Thornburg had been shot about a month earlier, and believed one of the victims was responsible. The three killings occurred at the house of one of the victims, about 50 miles southwest of Oklahoma City. The house was also set on fire.
The defendants held a fourth man, at gunpoint and forced him to shoot another man, who survived his wounds.
"Although he was shot in the chest, fortunately for us, the man managed to crawl out of the burning home and survived," said Grady County Assistant District Attorney Bret Burns, who prosecuted Thornburg. "If he hadn't survived, nobody would have believed this story."
Last words and such: While strapped to a gurney, Thornburg apologized.
"I just want to say I'm sorry for all the pain I've caused," Thornburg said. "I'm truly ashamed of my actions. I wish it could have been me. I'm sorry. I wish I could take it all back."
Some of his family wept as he strained to lift his head and look at them.
Factoids: Thornburg was the...
13th murderer executed in U.S. in 2006
1017th murderer executed in U.S. since 1976
1st murderer executed in Oklahoma in 2006
80th murderer executed in Oklahoma since 1976
Oklahoma has executed 159 men and three women at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary since 1915. There are currently 90 men and one woman awaiting death sentences in Oklahoma.
We have never a seen an obit in a newspaper for an executed inmate....until now...
RICHARD ALFORD THORNBURG, JR.
Richard Alford Thornburg, Jr., 40, Lindsay, Oklahoma, passed away Tuesday, April 18, 2006 in McAlester, OK.
Graveside services will be held at 11:00 am, Thursday, April 20, 2006, in the Bradley Cemetery, with Rev. Jerry Auld officiating. Services are under the direction of Callaway-Smith-Cobb Funeral Home in Marlow, Oklahoma.
Richard was born Friday, July 2, 1965 in Oklahoma City, OK to Richard Alfred Thornburg, Sr. and the late Sharon Marie (Anderson) Thornburg. Richard attended school at Alex. He lived in Lindsay most of his life. He married Ronda Childers on July 25, 1984 in Bradley, Oklahoma. He enjoyed fishing, volleyball, motorcycle riding and cookouts. Richard was of the Baptist faith.
Survivors include, two sons, Richard A. Thornburg III of Lindsay OK; Brandon D. Thornburg of Lindsay, OK; Granddaughter, Electra Thornburg of Lindsay, OK; Father, Richard Thornburg, Sr. & wife Jean (Farmer) of Marlow, OK; Brother Roy L. Thornburg & wife Rhonda of Bradley, OK; Sister, Barbara J. Johnson & husband Tracey of Alex, OK; Ronda Thornburg Sanders of Lindsay, OK; Several nieces & nephews.
He was preceded in death by his Mother, Grandparents, Dorothy & Peanut Thornburg and Frankie & Marvin Thompson.
Pallbearers will be Terry Mainka, Berry Stapp, Rodney Nye, Joey Johnson, Harold Prince and Roddy Childers.
Online condolences may be made to callawaysmithcobb.com
march, 2006
TEXAS LAST MEAL
KEVIN KINCY
March 29, 2006
...Kincy gloated as he watched a TV report of his crime...
Last Meal: Kincy, 38, had no final meal request.
The skinny: Kincy, a former pizza delivery man with an extensive criminal record, was executed for the robbery and slaying of a Houston-area man.
More skinny: Police discovered the body of a man in the bedroom of his home. He had been fatally shot in the head with a .25 caliber gun and stabbed several times. His home had been ransacked and a large amount of property had been taken, including his Honda Accord, pagers, stereo equipment, a television, a microwave oven, furniture, and a Ruger 9 mm pistol.
Hours after the killing, Kevin Kincy gloated as he watched a TV report of his crime. Buoyed by the news that police were hunting a white suspect — Kincy is black — the young career criminal brashly ticked off a list of what he had done right during the bloody robbery-murder of his cousin's boyfriend.
A witness testified that Kincy called her after the murder and told her he had shot the man in the head and put a pillow over his head and that Kincy’s cousin, Charlotte Kincy, also laughed and said she had stabbed the man.
The 31-year-old slaying victim, had worked for three years as an industrial hygienist at an Exxon refinery in Baytown and was the former boyfriend of Charlotte Kincy, the prisoner's cousin.
About two weeks later, an FBI agent ran the plates on a Honda Accord traveling about 100 mph on Interstate 10 east of Beaumont and determined it was the stolen vehicle. The ensuing chase covered some 30 miles and ended in Westlake, La., with a flat tire after Kincy crashed through a police roadblock as officers fired at him. Kincy denied any knowledge of the Harville killing, but items he threw out the window of the speeding car led police to his cousin, Charlotte. She pleaded to a 40-year prison term.
Police later recovered the stolen 9mm weapon at a pawn shop, pawned by a friend of Kincy's.
Kincy was on parole for delivery of cocaine when he was arrested.
Charlotte Kincy gave a complete confession, pled guilty and was sentenced to 40 years imprisonment.
Leading up to: The Texas Department of Criminal Justice officials scrapped media interviews with Kincy last week after they said he threatened prison staff.
During his time in prison, records showed he had more than 30 disciplinary violations.
Earlier in the day Kincy met with his mother. The visit with his mother marked the first time he had seen her since she was arrested last summer. Polk County authorities pulled her over after she left the prison and found about a pound of marijuana in her van. She contended she was duped by someone who disguised the package as a gift and the arrest was a continuation of harassment against her and her son.
Last words and such: In a brief statement, Kincy thanked his friends, supporters and family and mentioned several of them by name. "I love my children. I love my family," he said. "That's it."
Commit murder and find a wife: In the seconds before the drugs took effect, Kincy pursed his lips into a kiss and smiled and nodded to a Swiss woman who married him by proxy last year. The woman and a female companion from Germany wept. Kincy had met his wife on a death penalty Web site that seeks pen pals.
Barbara Raval, now 41, a divorced mother of three daughters who began writing Kincy in 1997. "He's an adorable person," she said last week. "You just have to love him. He's so much fun. He's just a good man." Raval, a Swiss citizen, charged that Kinsy received inadequate counsel and, like some other Texas inmates, is "being fast-tracked to the gurney by having attorneys that may not be competent to handle a death penalty case."
Factoids: Kincy was the...
12th murderer executed in U.S. in 2006
1016th murderer executed in U.S. since 1976
7th murderer executed in Texas in 2006
362nd murderer executed in Texas since 1976
TEXAS LAST MEAL
MARCH 22, 2006
Robert Salazar Jr.
..."I don't want people to think I'm a bad person for what I did."...
Last meal: Salazar had a final meal request of a dozen tamales, six brownies, refried beans with chorizo, two rollo candies, six hard shell tacos with lettuce, three big red sodas, ketchup, hot sauce, six jalapeno peppers, tomatoes, cheese, and extra ground beef.
The skinny: Salazar was executed for the April 1997 beating death of his girlfriend's 2-year-old daughter.
More skinny: Raylene Blakeburn left her two-year-old daughter with her boyfriend Robert Salazar, while she went to work. When she returned home from work, she found the girl in bed and unconscious, breathing abnormally with blood in her mouth. Salazar was not there because he and a friend had gone to buy beer. Returning from the store, Salazar and his friend saw an ambulance at his girlfriend’s house. They did not stop, but continued on to Salazar’s mother’s house to drink the beer they had purchased. Blakeburn called Salazar at his mother’s house, and he told her not to tell the police that he had been watching the girl. The baby died later that evening.
Salazar later gave a written statement to the police admitting that he had been with the girl while his girlfriend was at work. He claimed that while giving her a shower, he became angry with her because she would not stop crying and he had used the back of his hand to push her down in the bathtub, causing her to fall down and hit her head. Salazar also claimed he had abandoned the baby because he was scared. "I did not mean to hurt (her)," he stated. "I don't want people to think I'm a bad person for what I did."
A pathologist testified that the girl's chest injury surpassed what the pathologist had seen previously in automobile accident injuries; her heart was severely damaged; she suffered severe shaking injuries; several of her ribs were broken; and she suffered injuries consistent with some type of sexual penetration.
Legal issues: Salazar, 18 at the time of his crime, refused a request from The Associated Press for an interview in the weeks before his scheduled execution. Philip Wischkaemper, Salazar's defense attorney during his 1999 trial, said the inmate's mental retardation is behind his lack of remorse. ``We know mentally retarded people have difficulty showing emotion,'' said Wischkaemper, who added tests have shown that Salazar's IQ is probably under 75. The threshold for mental retardation is 70.
Wade Jackson, first assistant district attorney for Lubbock County, said other tests have shown that Salazar's IQ is as high as 102.
Last words and such: ``To everybody on both sides of that wall, I want you to know that I love you both,'' Robert Salazar Jr., said in a final statement, acknowledging his family and the girl's mother and other relatives who were there as witnesses. He looked toward his family during his remarks. ``I am sorry that the child had to lose her life, but I should not have to be here. Tell my family I love them all and I will see them in heaven. Come home when you can.''
Factoids: Salazar was the...
11th murderer executed in U.S. in 2006
1015th murderer executed in U.S. since 1976
6th murderer executed in Texas in 2006
361st murderer executed in Texas since 1976
Two more executions are scheduled next week. Raymond Martinez, condemned for the 1983 shooting death of a Houston bar owner during a robbery, is set to be executed Tuesday. Kevin Kincy, condemned for the 1993 murder of a Houston area man during a scheme to rob his home, is set to be executed on Wednesday.
NORTH CAROLINA LAST MEAL
PATRICK MOODY
March 17, 2oo6
...St. Patrick's Day...
Last Meal: Moody chose a last meal of turkey with dressing, tossed salad with blue cheese dressing, strawberry cheesecake and a Coke.
The skinny: Moody was executed for the 1994 murder of his girlfriend's husband.
More skinny: Moody conspired with his girlfriend, Wanda Robbins, to kill her husband so the pair could split a $5,000 insurance policy. On Sept. 16, 1994, Moody pretended to be interested in purchasing a car owned by the man and shot him in the back of the head. At 5:30 a.m. on the day after the murder, Wanda Robbins called the life insurance company seeking payment. Wanda Robbins was sentenced to life in prison plus 65 years after she pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder and insurance fraud.
This was not the first time that Moody had plotted with a woman to kill somebody. He spent five years in a Florida prison for a similar scheme that failed.
Moody interrupted his murder trial in 1995 to plead guilty to the slaying of Robbins.
Moody's attorneys had argued that he should be exempted from the death penalty because of his marginal intelligence.
Leading up to: Moody spent Wednesday and Thursday visiting with his mother, siblings and other relatives from Canton, Ohio, where he grew up. At 5 p.m. Thursday, Moody took a break from his first contact visits with family in 10 years to eat his last meal.
Last words and such: Moody released a long poem he received from a prison chaplain as his final statement.
It was handed out after the execution. The last verse reads, "When tragedy strikes, when trouble comes, when life disappoints us, we stand at the crossroads between hope and despair, torn and hurting. Despair cements us in the present; hope sends us dancing around dark corners trusting in a tomorrow we cannot see. Despair says that there is no place to go but here. Hope says that God is waiting for us someplace else. Begin again."
Later, as technicians prepared the execution chamber and the drugs, Rick Moody sat in the small, dark witness room, watching through the double-pane glass window. He mouthed "I'll see you in heaven" and blew two kisses before saying aloud "I'll see you up there" and giving Patrick Moody a thumbs up. Moody could only nod in response.
Factoids: Moody was the...
10th murderer executed in U.S. in 2006
1014th murderer executed in U.S. since 1976
2nd murderer executed in North Carolina in 2006
41st murderer executed in North Carolina since 1976
Before the execution, about 15 people were arrested and charged with trespassing when they tried to enter the prison grounds about 10 p.m., Acree said. Before the execution, about 125 anti-death penalty protesters were arrested when they tried to enter the prison grounds. The protesters were charged with trespassing.
TEXAS LAST MEAL
TOMMIE HUGHES
March 15, 2006
Last meal: For his final meal, Hughes requested six pieces of fried chicken with hot sauce, six jalapeno peppers, extra large frence fries with ketchup and salt, for buttered rolls or biscuits, two large sprites and two cigarettes (menthol preferred).
The skinny: Tommie Hughes, 32, a former Marine, was condemned for killing the 25-year-old woman, after he and a cousin robbed and shot the woman and her friend..
Hughes was charged with both killings but only tried for the first woman's death.
The victim, 25, grew up in Chicago but her family was originally from Nigeria. She was a student at the University of Illinois and had been in the Dallas-area on a summer internship with GTE Corp. The second victim, 29, was from San Francisco, and was finishing up a yearlong assignment for GTE in Dallas.
More skinny: Tommie Hughes, 32, was condemned for killing the 25-year-old woman, after he and a cousin robbed the woman and her friend.
The women were attacked after watching the movie "Picture Perfect."
Hughes waved an automatic pistol at the women during the robbery and shot them each in the head while his cousin was walking to a car where Hughes' girlfriend waited.
Hughes' cousin, Derric English, helped rob the women while the girlfriend, Henry, was the getaway driver. Hughes was 22 at the time, while English and Henry were 19. All three were caught after a short chase by officers who were in the parking lot on an undercover operation.
Hughes, who was in the U.S. Marine Corps for four years got a bad conduct discharge after a court-martial.
The wheels of justice: Hughes maintained his innocence and claimed his girlfriend shot the two women in a jealous rage while he and his cousin were talking to them.
During his trial, prosecutors presented evidence that Hughes had robbed three other people at gunpoint at a restaurant parking lot near the theater four days before. He was also indicted for the January 1996 slaying of the owner of a Dallas convenience store, during a robbery.
His defense attorneys presented no witnesses at his trial.
During the trial, the cousin testified Hughes snickered when asked why he killed the women and said they could have identified him.
At a separate trial, English was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to 40 years in prison.
Henry pleaded to a lesser charge of aggravated robbery in exchange for her testimony against both men. She was sentenced to 11 years.
Last words and such: In a final statement on Wednesday night while strapped to a gurney in the death chamber, Hughes spoke to his mother, grandmother and some friends as they watched from a nearby window.
"I love my family," he said. "You all stay strong. Watch over each other. Stay strong. I love you. I love you. It's my hour. It's my hour. I love you. Stay strong."
Hughes kept repeating "I love you" and looking at his family until the drugs took effect. He said nothing about his victims, but at one point turned his head and stared at their relatives.
Factoids: Hughes was the...
9th murderer executed in U.S. in 2006
1013th murderer executed in U.S. since 1976
5th murderer executed in Texas in 2006
360th murderer executed in Texas since 1976
An additional 15 executions are scheduled in Texas through August.
Tommie Hughes...the poet
Inmate Homepage (Tommie Hughes)
"Who Am I”
My life has been
a riddle
wrapped in
a question
locked inside
an enigma & . . . .
as it turns out,
I don’t feel the need
to shed any light
on it
just yet . . . .
& . . . . so,
the question
remains -
february, 2006
TEXAS LAST MEAL
CLYDE SMITH, JR.
February 15, 2006
...cabdrivers are 60 times more likely than other workers to be slain on the job...
Last Meal: Smith, 32, had a final meal request of a cheeseburger.
The skinny: Smith was executed for the 1992 fatal shooting of a Houston cab driver during a robbery.
More skinny: The victim's body was found in his cab in the parking lot of a Houston apartment complex. An autopsy revealed he died after being shot three times in the back of his neck with a .38 caliber pistol.
Two months later, Houston Police responded to an apartment complex and found that murderer Smith had accidentally shot himself in the leg. A .38 caliber handgun was found and ballstic tests linked the gun to the fatal shootings of the victiim and another cab driver during a 1992 robbery. Upon his arrest, Smith confessed to shooting both men. Two women, girlfriends of Smith, testified against him. One called a crime tip line that led police to Smith. One of them said she was in the cab when he committed one of the slayings.
Later: Smith said the confessions were coerced. "I realize how bad that looked, because the two were so similar," he said of the two deaths. "But at the same time, I still maintain I didn't kill those persons."
From death row, he said the last time he saw a relative was 1991. He also has a daughter, about 18, who has no contact with him. "I didn't want her to be exposed to this," he said.
Last words and such: "I want to thank you all for being here and for your love and support," Smith said to his lawyer and four European pen pals who befriended him during his prison term. Smith did not acknowledge the relatives of another slain cab driver who were present for the execution.
Factoids: Smith was the...
8th murderer executed in U.S. in 2006
1012th murderer executed in U.S. since 1976
4th murderer executed in Texas in 2006
359th murderer executed in Texas since 1976
Smith was the second of three scheduled this month in the nation's busiest capital punishment state.
In the 1980s, 15.1 of every 100,000 taxicab drivers lost their lives to murder. Though the murder rate has dropped since the mid-1990s, when cabs were first equipped with emergency alarms and cameras and could be tracked throughout their city routes, a 2000 report by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration revealed that cabdrivers are still 60 times more likely than other workers to be slain on the job.
TEXAS LAST MEAL
ROBERT JAMES NEVILLE, JR.
February 8, 2006
Last Meal: Chicken Fried Steak, mashed potatoes with gravy, fried okra, bread with butter, mixed fresh veggies, donuts, chocolate cake with icing and sweet tea.
The skinny: Neville, a paroled burglar who claimed he wanted to be a serial killer of minorities, was executed for the torture-slaying eight years ago of a 19-year-old mentally impaired woman who once worked with him.
More skinny: Neville and Michael Wayne Hall worked at the same grocery store where the 19-year-old victim was employed as a sacker. The victim suffered from Turner's syndrome, a rare chromosome disorder found only in women and characterized by short stature and lack of sexual development at puberty.
One morning on the way to work together, they saw the woman riding her bicycle and offered her a ride. Instead, they took her to a rural field in Fort Worth where she was shot repeatedly with a pellet gun, then killed with shots from a .22-caliber rifle as she begged for her life.
During the investigation of her disappearance, Hall’s stepbrother told police that Hall had told him that he and Neville had abducted and killed the woman. The two were arrested attempting to cross over into Mexico. Upon arrest, Neville acknowledged killing the woman and told police where to find the body. Neville told police that he and Hall were white supremacists and that they wanted to kill blacks. Neville and Hall purchased two .22-caliber rifles and ammunition and practiced shooting the rifles. Neville boasted about the slaying and told investigators, as well as TV and newspaper reporters, that he laughed as the womann lay on the ground, gasping for air. Neville explained in a TV interview that he and Hall killed the woman "for the adrenaline rush" and that the girl was used for "target practice."
Both Hall and Neville were convicted of murder and sentenced to death.
Hall, 26, remains on death row. He does not have an execution date.
On parole: Neville was released from prison eight months prior to the murder after serving two years of a 10-year prison term for burglary.
Last words and such: In the hours before his execution, Neville met with visitors and napped in the holding cell near the death chamber. A prison official described his demeanor as "very quiet" as the execution procedure was explained.
Neville apologized profusely, addressed his victim's mother by name as she and her two daughters stood close to the glass with their arms around each other. He expressed love to them. "I hope you can find it in yourselves to forgive me and I hope all this here will kind of settle your pain. And I hope the Lord will give you comfort and peace. I just want you to know I am very sorry for what I have done. If I see Amy on the other side, I will tell her how much you love and miss her. And we will have a lot to talk about." Neville then turned toward his parents, who watched through an adjacent window. "I am sorry for putting you through all this pain and stuff," he said. "I love you all and I will see you on the other side."
Factoids: Neville was the...
7th murderer executed in U.S. in 2006
1011th murderer executed in U.S. since 1976
3rd murderer executed in Texas in 2006
358th murderer executed in Texas since 1976
Neville, 31, was the third Texas prisoner executed this year and the first of three over the next 15 days in the nation's most active capital punishment state.
OHIO LAST MEAL
GLENN L. BENNER II
February 7, 2006
..."That won't get you into heaven, ace"....
Last Meal: Benner had a final meal request of four bacon cheeseburgers on toasted buns, with green peppers, tomatoes, pickles, ketchup, mustard and mayonnaise; a baked potato with butter and sour cream; french fries; onion rings; macaroni and cheese; chef salad with creamy Italian dressing; blueberry pie with chocolate ice cream; iced tea; and a Coke.
The skinny: Benner was executed for the raping and killing of two women 20 years ago.
More skinny: On Jan. 1, 1986, Benner kidnapped, raped and strangled the 21-year-old woman, leaving her body in the trunk of her burning car on I-76. It was discovered by her brother and parents who were searching for her. "
Benner also was convicted and sentenced to death for the Aug. 6, 1985, kidnapping, rape and murder of a 26-year old woman, whom he met at a George Thorogood concert. Her decomposing body was found a week later in a wooded area near the concert center.
He also was convicted for raping and choking two other woman before he was captured.
Benner admitted committing horrific crimes while under the influence of drugs.
Leading up to: For the first time ever, prison officials allowed a face-to-face meeting in the Death House between the condemned man and a family member of a victim. Benner talked for about 15 minutes beginning at 8 a.m. with Rodney Bowser, a brother of one of the victims.
Prisons spokesman Andrea Dean described the cell-front meeting as calm. She said Bowser, who was a childhood friend of Benner, "had some personal questions he wanted answered and the inmate answered.
Benner had refused to ask for his life to be spared because he said the process does not consider whether a person changes in prison.
Last words and such: In a final statement while strapped to the lethal injection table, Benner addressed the victim's famlies. "I just need you to give me two seconds. I have been going over and over in my head trying to think of the words I can say to you that would ease the unimaginable pain that you have been going through for 20 years because of my actions. I'm sorry. Trina and Cynthia were beautiful girls who dind't deserve what I did to them. They are in a better place. Words seem so futile. All I can say is I'm sorry. May God give you peace."
"That won't get you into heaven, ace," said Timothy Bowser, a brother of one of victims who was a witness.
Factoids: Benner was the....
6th murderer executed in U.S. in 2006
1010th murderer executed in U.S. since 1976
1st murderer executed in Ohio in 2006
20th murderer executed in Ohio since 1976
january, 2006
TEXAS LAST MEAL
JAIME ELIZALDE, JR.
January 31, 2006
...cobbler...
Last Meal: Fried chicken, onion rings, French fries, two bowls of peach cobbler, two milk shakes and two glasses of orange juice.
The skinny: Elizalde Jr. was executed for the fatal shooting of two men outside a Houston cantina more than 11 years ago.
More skinny: Elizalde was at a nightclub with his father when the two men got into a confrontation witht he two men. Four days later, the father and son returned to the bar and sat on opposite sides of the room. Jaime Elizalde, Sr. gestured to the two men to follow him outside of the El Lugar bar, where Elizalde Jr. was waiting for them. He pulled a gun and shot both men to death. A witness testified that from the bar he saw one man as he was shot. He further testified that, although he did not see the killer who shot the man, when he exited the bar he saw Elizalde flee with a gun.
Elizalde's father was arrested in the case and jailed for some two years before he was released. Prosecutors said the father signaled his son, pointing out the victim, while heading outside. Both Elizalde and his father, who never was tried, denied any such signal.
Priors: Elizalde, Jr. was paroled from prison approximately 8 months before the murder, serving 4 years of a 10 year sentence for possession of cocaine and car theft.
One delay: Elizalde was set to die in November but received a reprieve after confessing to another killing that landed someone else in prison. He also said the man convicted of that slaying was responsible for the two killings that earned him a spot on death row. When a judge called on him two weeks ago to testify about the other case, Elizalde cited his Fifth Amendment rights and refused to answer questions.
Last words and such: In a brief final statement, Elizalde thanked friends for their support and urged fellow death row inmates to "keep the faith and stay strong and put your faith in the Lord." "Many times in life we take the wrong road and there are consequences for everything. Mistakes are made but with God all things are possible, so put your faith and trust in him." Elizalde said that inmates talk about Supreme Court reprieves, but "the real supreme court you must face up there and not down here. The best reprieve is from God himself." Elizalde also urged them to keep their heads up and stay strong and expressed his love. Then he began praying as the drugs were taking effect.
Factoids: Elizalde was the...
5th murderer executed in U.S. in 2006
1009th murderer executed in U.S. since 1976
2nd murderer executed in Texas in 2006
357th murderer executed in Texas since 1976
Three more Texas inmates, among at least a dozen with execution dates in the coming months, are scheduled to die in February.
INDIANA LAST MEAL
MARVIN BIEGHLER
January 27, 2006
...The state argued that the Constitution does not guarantee a pain-free execution...
Last Meal: Shrimp, mushrooms and deep-fried onions appetizers, New York strip steak, a chicken breast, baked potato, salad, and 7-Up soft drink.
The skinny: Bieghler, an admitted drug dealer, was put to death for the 1981 slayings of a man and his pregnant wife inside their home.
More skinny: Bieghler was in the business of buying and selling marijuana. The male victim sold drugs for Bieghler. After one of Bieghler’s chief operatives was arrested and a large shipment seized, he suspected the man of “snitching” on him. Bieghler and his bodyguard, Brook, drove to the man’s trailer near Kokomo, and while his bodyguard waited outside, Bieghler went in and shot both the man and his pregnant wife with a .38 pistol. A dime was found near each body. He was later arrested in Florida. Brook cut a deal and was the star witness for the State at trial. While the gun was never recovered, nine .38 casings found at the scene matched those found at Bieghler’s regular target shooting range.
Legal Machinations: The Supreme Court overturned a federal appeals court decision Thursday night that granted Bieghler, 58, a chance to challenge the legality of lethal injection even though the Supreme Court had rejected a similar appeal just hours earlier. Gov. Mitch Daniels on Thursday had turned down a clemency request.
The Supreme Court announced its 6-3 decision less than a half hour before the scheduled time of Marvin Bieghler's execution. The late court action caused a delay of about 30 minutes in carrying out the execution.
The state attorney general's office argued that Bieghler's appeal was a delay tactic and that Indiana's chemical injection method of execution, used since 1996, was constitutional. The state argued that the Constitution does not guarantee a pain-free execution. "Indeed, electrocution is a constitutionally permissible form of execution which is undoubtedly more painful than lethal injection," the brief said. Justices John Paul Stevens, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer voted to grant the stay, court spokesman Ed Turner said.
Last words and such: Bieghler's final words were "Let's get it over with."
The Marine Corps veteran who saw significant combat during the Vietnam War also issued a written statement released by the prison. But he did direct the phrase "semper fi" - the Marine Corps motto meaning "always faithful" in Latin - to those he called his "brother warriors." The brief statement concluded: "I believe in God, country, corps. Death before dishonor. To my son, grandkids and stepkids, you will always have a piece of my heart. Semper fi, Marv."
Factoids: Bieghler was the...
4th murderer executed in U.S. in 2006
1008th murderer executed in U.S. since 1976
1st murderer executed in Indiana in 2006
17th murderer executed in Indiana since 1976
About 25 people protested Thursday night against the death penalty outside the prison.
TEXAS LAST MEAL
MARION BUTLER DUDLEY
January 25, 2006
...Dudley had to be carried to the chamber...
Last Meal: Dudley had no final meal request.
The skinny: Dudley, an Alabama man who was part of a ring that shuttled drugs from Texas to his home state, was executed for the slayings of four people nearly 14 years ago.
More skinny: Dudley, who lived in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, occassionally traveled to Houston to buy drugs from Rachel and Jose Tovar.
Dudley and three men drove from Tuscaloosa to Houston. After arriving, Dudley and one of the men went to the Tovar residence and asked for three kilograms of cocaine. Rachel Tovar told the men she did not have the cocaine and asked them to come back later. Dudley and the other man returned to the Tovar residence a few hours later and the Tovars showed them a kilogram of cocaine. The men were told more cocaine could be obtained, so the pair left.
At dusk, Dudley and two men returned and bound six people with towels or strips of sheets, hands tied behind their backs and nooses around their necks. All six were then shot. Jose Tovar was fatally shot in the head, as were his wife's son, the son's girlfriend, who was seven months pregnant, and a neighbor who had just stopped by to visit.
Rachel Tovar and another friend survived to identify their attckers. Rachel Tovar managed to crawl to a neighbor's house for help.
About 2 1/2 weeks after the shootings, Dudley was arrested in Fayetteville, N.C.
Besides Dudley, Arthur "Squirt" Brown, of Tuscaloosa, was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death. Now 35, he remains on death row. A third man, Tony Dunson, also from Alabama and 19 at the time of the shootings, received a life sentence.
Quote: "My number one problem was women," Dudley said from death row. "I was running around. Everything went downhill from there... I just wanted to get money, easy money. And once you start getting easy money, it's so hard to slow down."
Last words and such: Prison officials said while he wasn't combative, Dudley had to be carried to the chamber by officers after he refused to leave a death house cell voluntarily.
When asked by a warden if he had any final statement, Marion Dudley did not respond, kept his eyes closed and never turned his head toward witnesses in the chamber, which included one of his survivors and relatives of one of the people killed.
Factoids: Dudley was the...
3rd murderer executed in U.S. in 2006
1007th murderer executed in U.S. since 1976
1st murderer executed in Texas in 2006
356th murderer executed in Texas since 1976
Nineteen convicted killers were executed in 2005 as Texas maintained its notoriety as the nation's most active capital punishment state.
Another inmate is set for lethal injection next week and three more next month. They are among more than a dozen Texas prisoners with execution dates in the first five months of this year.
NORTH CAROLINA LAST MEAL
PERRIE DYON SIMPSON
January 20, 2006
...the McRib is back...
Last Meal: A McRib sandwich from McDonald's, a double cheeseburger from Wendy's, macaroni and cheese, cheesecake and a Pepsi.
The skinny: Simpson, 43, was executed for the 1984 beating death of a 92-year old retired minister.
More skinny: Simpson and his pregnant, sixteen-year-old girlfriend went for a walk to look for some money. The girlfriend went to the front door of the 92-year-old victim's house and rang the doorbell. She told the Reverend she was hungry, and the Reverand invited them in and gave them milk and a soft drink, sponge cake and peaches and $4 -- all the cash he had.
The next day, Simpson and the girl decided they would go back to the house after dark to get money. They rang the doorbell, and when the Reverendanswered the door, they forced their way inside. Simpson told the girl to cut the telephone cords, then forced the Reverend back to the bedroom, demanding money. When he said he had no money, Simpson choked him on the bed. When the Reverend said that if he was killed, he knew he was going to heaven, Simpson grabbed a belt, put it around his neck, then looped the other end around the bedpost and tightened it, all the while demanding money. Simpson called for the girl to come and hold the belt while he went in the kitchen to look for a weapon. He returned with an empty pop bottle, and beat the Reverend with it.
He then went into the bathroom and got a double-edged razor blade, slicing the Reverend's arms from the biceps all of the way down the under side of the forearms to the wrist. The girl gathered a bag of food, a porcelain lamp, a radio, and boxes of Kleenex. Upon arrest, Simpson made a complete confession, and at trial pled guilty to first degree murder. The jury returned a death sentence three times after the first two sentences were reversed on appeal. The girlfriend was sentenced to life imprisonment.
Last words and such: Simpson was moved into the execution chamber at 1:50 a.m. Though he seemed to acknowledge someone on the front row, smiling and nodding in recognition, he attempted to make little contact through the glass window separating the chamber and the viewing room. He looked at the ceiling as he spoke, his eyes opening and closing slowly behind a pair of thick glasses.
His last words: "I want to say I am sorry for what I did. I'm sorry for the victim and the families. I'm sorry for my family. I'm sorry for everybody. I want to say to Stephanie, I'm sorry for what happened to you. I wish you'd get out and make a life for yourself. May God bless everyone."
Factoids: Simpson was the...
2nd murderer executed in U.S. in 2006
1006th murderer executed in U.S. since 1976
1st murderer executed in North Carolina in 2006
40th murderer executed in North Carolina since 1976
Late Thursday, 14 protesters, some dressed in sackcloth to signify mourning, who tried to stop the execution were arrested in the crosswalk next to the Central Prison driveway. Most were among the group that made a similar attempt Dec. 1, the eve of the state's last execution. Last time, protesters got about 15 feet down the prison driveway. This time, they were stopped by prison guards, metal barricades and State Capitol Police.
Last week, the Wake County District Attorney's Office dropped charges against those who protested in December. Officials said prosecuting 17 people who feel morally obligated to protest executions was a poor use of limited court resources.
CALIFORNIA LAST MEAL
CLARENCE RAY ALLEN
January 17, 2006
....Allen was scheduled to be executed on May 22, 1987....
Last Meal: Allen had a last meal of buffalo steak, a bucket of KFC white-meat-only chicken, sugar-free pecan pie, sugar-free black walnut ice cream, Indian pan-fried bread and whole milk. The ice cream was left out one hour to thaw, and Allen turned it into a milkshake by hand.
The skinny: Allen, who turned 76 on Monday and was legally blind, used a wheelchair and suffered from diabetes and chronic heart disease, was executed for ordering the murders of three people in 1980 while serving a life sentence for murder in California's Folsom Prison.
More skinny: In 1974, Allen and his son burglarized a market, owned by Ray and Fran Schletewitz, whom Allen had known for years. The girlfriend of Allen's son, a 17-year old , eventually told the Schletewitz family that Allen was responsible and that she helped cash the checks that were stolen. Allen then ordered a hit on the girl. The teen was strangled and thrown into the Friant-Kern Canal. Her body was never found.
In 1977, a jury convicted Allen of burglary, conspiracy and first-degree murder. He was sentenced to life without parole. While at Folsom Prison, Allen solicited the help of Billy Ray Hamilton, who was soon to be paroled, to eliminate eight prosecution witnesses so they would not be around for a retrial if he won his appeal.
Upon release, Hamilton and his girlfriend, Connie Barbo, lingered in Fran's Market until they were the last customers. Hamilton pulled out a sawed-off shotgun, and Barbo drew a .32-caliber revolver. They herded all the employees toward the stockroom and ordered them to lie on the floor, including the son of the store owner. The son volunteered to give the couple all the money they wanted. He then led Hamilton into the stockroom. Once inside, Hamilton pointed the shotgun at the man's forehead and shot him from less than a foot away. Hamilton came out of the room and turned to another employee and said, "OK, big boy, where's the safe?" The man responded, "Honest, there's no safe." Hamilton shot him in the neck and chest at point-blank range. A female employee began crying. Hamilton shot her two or three times from about five feet away. The shots pierced her heart, lung and stomach. One employee had managed to escape to the bathroom. Hamilton pushed his way in, stood three feet away and fired, according to the documents. The man raised his arm just in time, and the shot entered his elbow, saving his life.
Jack Abbott, who lived next to the market, grabbed his gun and came outside when he heard the shots. He and Hamilton exchanged fire, and Hamilton fled after being shot in the foot. Police arrived and found Barbo hiding in the market. Hamilton was arrested a week later after trying to rob a Modesto liquor store and now is on Death Row. A hit list containing names and addresses of the eight trial witnesses was found on him when he was arrested. It's what linked him to Allen, who had always denied ordering the killings.
Allen was sentenced to the three consecutive death sentences and scheduled to be executed on May 22, 1987.
Legal machinations: Lawyers for Allen argued that his lengthy time on death row, age and ill health should have barred his execution; he recently had a heart attack, suffered from diabetes, was legally blind and used a wheelchair. But Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and a series of courts rejected those pleas over the last several days.
On Sunday night, Judge Kim McLane Wardlaw of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals noted that Allen was already 50 years old and incarcerated at Folsom State Prison for another killing when he orchestrated the triple murder for which he was handed the death penalty in 1982. Evidence at that trial showed he had paid another inmate $25,000 to kill three potential witnesses against him. "His age and experience only sharpened his ability to coldly calculate the execution of the crime," wrote Wardlaw, an appointee of President Clinton. "Nothing about his current ailments reduces his culpability."
Leading up to: At 6 p.m., Allen was moved to the death-watch cell and met with a Native American spiritual advisor. Crittendon said Allen would be allowed to carry several Native American religious artifacts with him at the time of his death, including a headband and a neck piece known as a "stairway to heaven."
Allen, whose mother is part Choctaw and father is part Cherokee, "professed to be a Native American since about 1988," Crittendon said.
Last words and such: Allen was wheeled into the death chamber at 12:04 a.m. Other inmates were locked in their cells all day, a prison policy for executions.
Allen placed a large white feather with dark tips on his chest and wore an elaborate yellow, green and red beaded headband. With the aid of prison guards, Allen was able to walk on his own to the table, although his shuffle seemed strained.
Allen spoke of how much he enjoyed his last meal, and he gave thanks to his friends, family, supporters and "all of the inmates on death row that I'm leaving behind that they will be joining me one day."My last words will be 'Hoka Hey, it's a good day to die.' Thank you very much, I love you all. Good-bye."
The execution took longer than usual, about 18 minutes, and required a second dose of the heart-stopping chemical potassium chloride, the last of the three-chemical sequence.
Factoids: Allen was the....
1st murderer executed in U.S. in 2006
1005th murderer executed in U.S. since 1976
1st murderer executed in California in 2006
13th murderer executed in California since 1976
Allen was by far the oldest of the 13 convicts executed in the state since California restored the death penalty in 1977 and the second oldest in the nation. That status, however, may not endure. California has the nation's largest death row -- 646 inmates -- but executes a relatively small number. As a result, the ranks of the condemned grow steadily more elderly, and now include five older than 70, 34 in their 60s and 155 between 50 and 59.
Since California reinstated the death penalty, the inmates who have been executed have had an average stay on death row of nearly 16 years, according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. The cases take a long time for several reasons, but chief among them is that the state takes considerable care in reviewing death sentences. The state Supreme Court automatically reviews each capital case. Although the court upholds the overwhelming majority, it does not begin the process until an appellate lawyer has been found to represent the inmate. Finding lawyers able and willing to handle the cases has proved difficult, Chief Justice Ronald M. George has said.
Currently, more than 100 inmates have no lawyer for their appeal, and the waiting list to get an appellate lawyer is several years long.
Allen's case did not draw as much media attention as that of Tookie Williams, who was executed in December after a massive campaign urging the governor to grant clemency. Nonetheless, Death Penalty Focus, a San Francisco-based group that opposes capital punishment, held a 25-mile "Walk for Abolition" on Monday, starting at the Palace of the Legion of Honor, proceeding across the Golden Bridge and culminating at San Quentin.
Shortly before the scheduled execution, the number of protesters outside the prison grew to about 300. The crowd banged drums and sang plaintive American Indian songs outside the prison gates.
About 2,000 people outside San Quentin's walls protested last month's execution of Stanley Tookie Williams, the co-founder of the Crips gang who was convicted of four 1979 murders.
Death penalty backer Rudy Thered of Sacramento was encircled by opponents but stood his ground while holding up a sign that had pictures of Allen's murder victims. Thered called Allen "unbelievably guilty," then said, "I'm here to represent the victims because people seem to forget."
| |
