103 Pro Death Penalty Quotes by Victims' Families whom justice was served in the U.S.A (2005 to 2009)



Summary:
Simpson and his pregnant, sixteen-year-old girlfriend, Stephanie Eury, went for a walk to look for some money. Stephanie went to the front door of 92 year old Reverend Jean Darter's house and rang the doorbell. She told Reverend Darter she was hungry, and the Reverand invited them in and gave them milk and a soft drink, sponge cake and peaches. The next day, Simpson and Eury decided they would go back to Darter's house after dark to get money. They rang the doorbell, and when Reverend Darter answered the door, they forced their way inside. Simpson told Eury to cut the telephone cords, then forced Reverend Darter 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 Eury to come and hold the belt while he went in the kitchen to look for a weapon. He returned with an ampty 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. Eury 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. Eury was sentenced to life imprisonment. Curtis Faircloth, a grandson of Darter's, who also watched the execution, said it was very peaceful, orderly and humane. "And it should be that way," he added.

Curtis Faircloth, a grandson of Darter's, who also watched the execution, said it was very peaceful, orderly and humane. "And it should be that way," he added.

Darter, a Baptist preacher, would have supported Simpson's sentence, Faircloth said. "Punishment in the Bible is severe and complete," he said. "In a Biblical context, what happened last night is appropriate."

Curtis Faircloth is the grandson of Jean Ernest Darter who was murdered by Perrie Dyon Simpson on 27 August 1984. He was executed by lethal injection in North Carolina on 20 January 2006.

More than 11 years ago, Erick Martinez awoke to his mother's cries and tried to defend her from an attack by a knife-wielding intruder at their San Antonio home. On Wednesday night, he watched as the man who also stabbed him was put to death. "It wasn't difficult," he said after witnessing the execution of 38-year-old Luis Salazar. "I was kind of looking forward to it."

Erick Martinez whose mother was stabbed to death by Luis Cervantes Salazar on 11 October 1997. He was executed by lethal injection in Texas on 11 March 2009. In October of 1997, Martha Sanchez lived at 250 Future Street in San Antonio with her husband Oscar Ochoa, ten-year-old stepson Erick, two-year old daughter Brianna, and four-month old son Timothy. For approximately three years, Luis Salazar lived next door to Martha Sanchez and her family and was well-acquainted with them. In fact, Ochoa had helped Salazar obtain employment at the Super K-Mart where Ochoa himself worked. The family’s encounters with Salazar, however, were not always positive. Ochoa testified that earlier in 1997 Salazar approached Martha in her home and asked if he could borrow some sugar, but “not that kind of sugar.” Ochoa confronted Salazar and ordered him to stay away from the family’s home. According to Ochoa’s testimony, Martha thereafter became afraid of Salazar. Martha’s 19-year-old niece Nicole also testified that she had served as a babysitter at the family’s home and spent the night there on numerous occasions. On several of those occasions, she explained, Salazar would call late in the evening asking for Martha’s company. According to Nicole, however, Martha refused to speak with Salazar. Salazar moved out of his house around September of 1997 and took up residence at 122 Ashland in San Antonio. Sanchez last spoke to Ochoa in the early morning hours of October 11, 1997. As was his custom when working the “graveyard” shift, Ochoa called home from work at about 12:30 a.m. Evidence indicated that, at some time after that phone call, Salazar entered Martha’s home through the left front window, using an empty milk crate to climb into the home. A trail of muddy footprints led from the window inside the house. Salazar retrieved a knife from the kitchen and entered Martha’s bedroom. As Salazar began stabbing Martha, a struggle ensued, leaving the bedroom in disarray. Stepson Erick testified that he awoke to Martha’s scream: “Luis, why are you doing this? Leave me alone!” Erick then entered the bedroom where he saw his stepmother struggle while Salazar was stabbing her. As Erick attempted to grab the knife, Salazar stabbed him in the chest. Martha instructed Erick to leave and call for help, and he did so, ultimately finding his way to the home of a woman named Sylvia, who lived nearby. Sylvia testified that she answered her door to find Erick bleeding from his chest and begging frantically for help. He told her that someone had broken into the home and stabbed both him and his stepmother. Erick identified Salazar as the attacker. Sylvia called 911 and sent her future son-in-law Adrian to the Sanchez home to investigate. Adrian removed the two youngest children, Brianna and Timothy, safely from the home. He testified that he then entered the home again and, after checking Martha’s pulse, realized that she was dead. An EMS unit soon arrived, confirmed Martha’s death and transported Erick to University Hospital. Salazar had fled the scene. Later, however, Salazar telephoned 911 to turn himself into police, who arrested him without incident and informed him of his Miranda rights. Meanwhile, police approached Ochoa at work and informed him of his wife’s death. Physical evidence showed that Martha had suffered stab wounds to the heart, lungs, and aorta, causing her death. Moreover, the medical examiner testified that Martha’s death was not immediate; it took several minutes for her to die. In addition, Martha suffered contusions and skin abrasions on the outer thigh, as well as contusions to the inner thigh. According to the medical examiner, although Martha suffered no genital injuries, no sperm was present, and her clothes had not been removed, this pattern of bruises and scratches indicated an attempted sexual assault. Evidence at the scene also indicated that the telephone lines outside the home had been cut and that the interior of the home was in shambles, although no fingerprints were found on the front windows. Investigators found a cordless phone under Martha’s left arm and the bloody kitchen knife on a coffee table near Martha’s bedroom. Salazar testified at trial. Although he did not deny that his actions caused Martha’s death, he offered his own version of the incident. He claimed that, on the evening of October 11, he and his brother went to a friend’s home in San Antonio, where they smoked marijuana and snorted cocaine, and they drank beer and liquor. He left the home between 3:00 a.m. and 4:00 a.m., went to a local taco bar but was unable to find a ride home. He thus decided to go to his old home on Future Street, which his mother-in-law still owned and at which he still kept some personal belongings. Salazar testified that although he intended to go to the home at 254 Future, he mistakenly approached Sanchez’s home at 250 Future. And because he no longer had his key to the home at 254 Future, he decided to enter through the window. Once inside, he claimed (believing that he was in his own home) that he heard a frightening noise. Salazar then obtained a knife from the kitchen. He testified that he walked out of the kitchen, bumped into a person he could not see, became frightened, and began stabbing the unknown person. Salazar further stated that, during his stabbing frenzy, he felt a pain in his arm, realized that someone was behind him, and he began stabbing that person, as well. He then saw the person behind him and heard the victim say “Run!” or “run Erick!” According to Salazar, he subsequently realized that he was in the wrong home and simply left the house. Salazar testified that his state of mind during the incident was similar to a black-out. He stated that he did not remember Martha screaming “Luis, why are you doing this to me?” he did not remember Brianna crying and he did not remember Erick telling him to leave Martha alone. He also denied cutting the telephone lines at 250 Future and denied trying to rape Martha, although he offered no explanation for the bruises and abrasions on her legs. At trial, Salazar admitted stabbing Martha Sanchez to death after entering her house without consent. He further testified that he found her attractive, he desired to have intercourse with her, and he had recently propositioned her. Salazar also admitted that he told his wife before the murder that violence made him feel good and that he had dreams about killing people. The prosecution also presented evidence that Martha Sanchez was afraid of Salazar and that Salazar had committed a prior sexual assault on an acquaintance, although he pleaded guilty to a lesser charge. There was evidence that the telephone lines had been cut before Salazar went into the house. Salazar’s muddy footprints led directly from the point of entry to the kitchen where he obtained two knives, which were the murder weapons. He then went to Martha Sanchez’s bedroom. The only signs of struggle were in Martha Sanchez’s bedroom and her blood was found only in her bedroom. Martha Sanchez’s body was found on the floor of her bedroom on top of some of her bedding. There was no reason for Salazar to be in Martha Sanchez’s house, other than his claim that he entered by mistake. The medical examiner testified that the bruise pattern on Martha Sanchez’s legs was consistent with a person wrapping his hands around her knees and legs in a forcible attempt to separate her legs. The medical examiner concluded, based on her experience with known rape victims, that the bruise pattern indicated an attempted sexual assault. She gave specific testimony regarding the age, size and placement of the bruises and abrasions on Martha Sanchez’s body and explained why those factors supported her conclusion. She also testified that the bruise pattern on Martha Sanchez’s legs, the mud on Martha Sanchez’s inner thigh, and the fingernail abrasions on her thighs was inconsistent with Salazar’s version of events. The medical examiner gave specific, cogent reasons for her conclusion that the bruise pattern indicated an attempted sexual assault. She pointed to ten different contusions and a “scratch abrasion” which formed this pattern. She placed particular importance on four contusions on the inside of her knee and thigh. The defense called no witnesses other than Salazar and rested after Salazar’s testimony. Salazar was charged with a single count of capital murder committed during the course of committing or attempting to commit aggravated sexual assault and burglary. At trial, Salazar’s intent to commit a sexual assault on the night of the murder was an important issue. Among other evidence, the prosecution elicited testimony from the medical examiner that the pattern of contusions on the victim’s body indicated an attempted sexual assault contemporaneous with her death. The medical examiner’s opinion about the pattern of contusions on Martha Sanchez’s body was not expressed in the autopsy report, and defense counsel attempted unsuccessfully to keep this testimony from the jury. Defense counsel also attempted to discredit the medical examiner’s opinion on cross-examination, but he did not consult with an independent pathologist or call any rebuttal witnesses to refute the medical examiner’s testimony. Although a number of lesser-included offenses were included in the jury charge, Salazar was convicted of capital murder as charged in the indictment and sentenced to death. He appealed directly to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, which affirmed the conviction and death sentence in an unpublished opinion. UPDATE: A man who crawled through the window of a San Antonio home and fatally stabbed a mother of 3 has been executed tonight in Huntsville. Luis Salazar thanked his friends and relatives for their friendship and fellowship and expressed love to his mother, brothers, sister and his children. Salazar never acknowledged the family of 1997 Martha Sanchez or her slaying in an attack police say happened after he'd been on a drugs and drinking binge. Sanchez's oldest child, Erick, -- who was 10 at the time of the killing and tried to stop the slaying -- was among the witnesses. In his final statement, Salazar referred to his own family, saying: "I'm going to miss them and take them with me in my heart. Thanks to everyone praying for me." He said: "My heart is going ba-bump, ba-bump, ba-bump." Salazar then laughed. He asked for forgiveness and recited the Lord's Prayer. Salazar was asking for forgiveness for what he called the "sins that I can remember" when the drugs began taking effect. Salazar testified at his trial that after a night of marijuana, cocaine and drinking he thought he was in his own house just before dawn Oct. 11, 1997, and that Martha Sanchez, 28, and her three children were intruders. Evidence, however, showed the telephone wires at the home next door to where Salazar previously lived had been cut and Sanchez's injuries indicated Salazar had tried to rape her before she was fatally stabbed. He denied cutting the phone lines or the attempted rape. The woman's 2-year-old daughter was asleep in the same bed and a 6-month-old son was in a crib nearby. Sanchez's screams woke her older son, 10-year-old Erick, who was asleep in an adjacent room and he went into his mother's room to see what was going on. Then he tried to defend his mother from the knife-wielding intruder he knew as the man who used to live next door and was stabbed in the chest as his mother yelled at him to run outside and get help. Leaving a trail of blood, the boy pounded on the doors of homes until he found a neighbor to respond. Salazar had attacked his mother and him, he told the neighbor. Almost a year later, the boy showed a Bexar County jury the scars from his wound as he testified at Salazar's capital murder trial. A neighbor testified how she changed the clothes of the 2-year-old who had her mother's blood all over her. Almost four years before the attack, Salazar had pleaded guilty and received two years probation for misdemeanor assault for a sexual attack on an 18-year-old mentally disabled high school student. And some four years before that, he was given probation for four counts of aggravated robbery for holding up convenience stores. Richard Langlois, one of Salazar's trial lawyers, said the previous convictions were difficult to overcome in the minds of jurors who had been asked to spare Salazar's life because he's endured an abusive childhood. "It was a situation where he had a prior sexual assault," Langlois said. "I think our defense was that he got in the wrong house, that he lived a couple doors away." But he said when evidence showed the phone wires to Sanchez's home had been cut, "That kind of blew that." "He had a violent history," said Bert Richardson, the former Bexar County assistant district attorney who prosecuted Salazar. Testimony also showed that when he'd lived nearby, he made sexual passes at Sanchez, whose husband had helped Salazar get a job at a Kmart. Sanchez's husband was at work the night of the slaying. A neighbor who answered Erick's cries for help saw a man riding a bicycle fleeing from the house. Salazar called police later that day and said he wanted to surrender. "I think the whole town was looking for him at that point," Richardson said. "The guy was on probation for three or four aggravated robberies and had raped a mentally retarded girl. But even if you throw that aside, (this case) was gut-wrenching because of the kids. They were all there." Erick's wounds were superficial and he recovered. The emotional and psychological scars were more lasting, Richardson said. "It kind of tore his life apart," Richardson said. "He's had a few bumps in the road." UPDATE: A 17-year-old cold case murder was solved with the confession of a killer just moments from the death chamber. Luis Cervantes Salazar was executed in March 2009 for the stabbing murder of a woman in October 1992. But shortly before his death, he was encouraged by his spiritual counselor to speak with Texas Rangers about other crimes he committed. He confessed to the 1992 stabbing of a young female clerk at the Stop and Go at Woodlawn and 36th Street in San Antonio, just an hour and a half before he was executed. San Antonio police say his confession solved the murder of Melissa Morales. Salazar had not previously been considered a suspect. After Salazar's death, Texas Rangers contacted SAPD cold case detectives with the information. After learning of the details of the Capital Murder, it was clear that the victim was Melissa Morales, a store clerk who had been stabbed thirteen times while working at the Stop n Go at 2409 NW 36th Street on April 19, 1992, Easter Sunday. Once the audio taped interview was received and transcribed, SAPD Detectives went about verifying Salazar's confession. Salazar gave details about the Capital Murder that could have only been known by the murderer. These details confirmed that Salazar had murdered Melissa Morales during a robbery. On Thursday April 2nd, 2009 SAPD detectives notified Melissa Morales' parents, Stephen and Alma DeLeon, and her grandparents, Jesse and Carolina Robledo of Salazar's confession. After Melissa Morales' murder, her parents, grandparents, and Carrie Willborn lobbied Legislature with State Representative Leticia Van de Putte to require all convenience stores to install security cameras. Because of their efforts the bill was passed.

Summary: McNair and another man went to the home of Ella Foy Riley, an elderly widow who lived alone and occasionally hired McNair to do yard work. When Ella came to the door, McNair asked her if he could borrow twenty dollars. Riley told him she had no money to lend him. McNair then asked if he could have a glass of water. Ella invited him in, and when she turned around McNair grabbed her by the neck and stabbed her in the throat. When the blade of the knife broke off in Ella’s neck, McNair’s companion retrieved another knife from the kitchen and McNair stabbed Ella in the neck again, then strangled her for several minutes as she bled to death. When an officer came to his house the next morning, McNair admitted killing Ella and later directed officers to the place where he had dumped the purse. McNair was originally convicted and sentenced to death. On direct appeal, the sentence was vacated and a new hearing ordered. The second jury recommended a sentence of life without parole by a vote of 8-4. The court rejected this recommendation and again sentenced McNair to death. McNair's accomplice, Olin Grimsley, received a life sentence for first-degree robbery for his role in the attack.

Pat Jones and her brothers Calvin, Don, John, Bobby and Wayne Riley wore buttons with their mother's photograph for the execution. The buttons said "You are not forgotten." Wayne Riley, the youngest of the sons, issued a statement afterward: "I thank God for keeping myself, my four brothers and my sister alive and in good health so that we were able to see justice finally done. I ask that you pray for my family in the coming days and for the Willie McNair family, too, for they ... have suffered for what he has done."

Wayne Riley also said: "I can forgive Willie McNair for what he did because he paid the price with his life." Later the six children gathered with other family members for a candle light vigil. Participating was District Attorney Doug Valeska, who prosecuted McNair.

Family members of Ella Foy Riley who was stabbed to death by Willie McNair on 21 May 1990. He was executed by lethal injection in Alabama on 14 May 2009. Summary: McNair and another man went to the home of Ella Foy Riley, an elderly widow who lived alone and occasionally hired McNair to do yard work. When Ella came to the door, McNair asked her if he could borrow twenty dollars. Riley told him she had no money to lend him. McNair then asked if he could have a glass of water. Ella invited him in, and when she turned around McNair grabbed her by the neck and stabbed her in the throat. When the blade of the knife broke off in Ella’s neck, McNair’s companion retrieved another knife from the kitchen and McNair stabbed Ella in the neck again, then strangled her for several minutes as she bled to death. When an officer came to his house the next morning, McNair admitted killing Ella and later directed officers to the place where he had dumped the purse. McNair was originally convicted and sentenced to death. On direct appeal, the sentence was vacated and a new hearing ordered. The second jury recommended a sentence of life without parole by a vote of 8-4. The court rejected this recommendation and again sentenced McNair to death. McNair's accomplice, Olin Grimsley, received a life sentence for first-degree robbery for his role in the attack.

Summary: 22-year-old Tami Engstrom met Biros at the Nickelodeon Lounge in Masbury, Ohio. She had gone there to socialize with her uncle and became so intoxicated she passed out in her chair. As the bar was closing, her uncle took her keys from her and Biros volunteered to take Tami for coffee to help sober her up. Biros and Tami left the Nickelodeon in Biros's car and her uncle remained at the bar after closing and waited for Biros to return with Tami. However, neither Biros nor Tami ever returned. When Tami did not come home that night, the police were called. Biros told the police and Tami's family that she had "freaked out" in his car, and she jumped out and ran through yards and he could not catch her. He later told police that he touched her leg and she fell out and hit her head on the railroad tracks. After consulting with counsel, Biros showed police the location of Tami's body, which had been dismembered, eviscerated, and buried in two different counties in Pennsylvania. Tami's head and right breast had been severed from her torso. Her right leg had been amputated just above the knee. The body was completely naked except for what appeared to be remnants of black leg stockings that had been purposely rolled down to the victim's feet or ankles. The torso had been cut open and the abdominal cavity was partially eviscerated. The anus, rectum, and all but a small portion of her sexual organs had been removed from the body and were never recovered by police. The cause of death was strangulation. At trial, Biros denied admitting to the murder, and testified that Tami had jumped out and fled from the vehicle. He followed and inadvertently struck her. Biros denied having had any sexual intentions toward Tami, but admitted cutting out her vagina and rectum thirty to forty-five minutes after he killed her. The medical examiner testified that there were 91 separate cutting or slashing wounds on the recovered body.

"This is my happy day that I was here to see this execution," said Mary Jane Heiss, the victim's mother. She watched Biros die from her wheelchair while hooked up to an oxygen tank because of lung disease.

"I'm just glad the state of Ohio came up with the procedure," said Tom Heiss, the dead woman's brother. "I have no thoughts for him. I'm glad he's gone. It brought some closure to our family." The Heiss family applauded briefly after Biros' death was announced.

Family members of Tami L. Engstrom who was murdered by Kenneth Biros on 8 February 1991. He was executed by lethal injection in Ohio on 8 December 2009. Summary: 22-year-old Tami Engstrom met Biros at the Nickelodeon Lounge in Masbury, Ohio. She had gone there to socialize with her uncle and became so intoxicated she passed out in her chair. As the bar was closing, her uncle took her keys from her and Biros volunteered to take Tami for coffee to help sober her up. Biros and Tami left the Nickelodeon in Biros's car and her uncle remained at the bar after closing and waited for Biros to return with Tami. However, neither Biros nor Tami ever returned. When Tami did not come home that night, the police were called. Biros told the police and Tami's family that she had "freaked out" in his car, and she jumped out and ran through yards and he could not catch her. He later told police that he touched her leg and she fell out and hit her head on the railroad tracks. After consulting with counsel, Biros showed police the location of Tami's body, which had been dismembered, eviscerated, and buried in two different counties in Pennsylvania. Tami's head and right breast had been severed from her torso. Her right leg had been amputated just above the knee. The body was completely naked except for what appeared to be remnants of black leg stockings that had been purposely rolled down to the victim's feet or ankles. The torso had been cut open and the abdominal cavity was partially eviscerated. The anus, rectum, and all but a small portion of her sexual organs had been removed from the body and were never recovered by police. The cause of death was strangulation. At trial, Biros denied admitting to the murder, and testified that Tami had jumped out and fled from the vehicle. He followed and inadvertently struck her. Biros denied having had any sexual intentions toward Tami, but admitted cutting out her vagina and rectum thirty to forty-five minutes after he killed her. The medical examiner testified that there were 91 separate cutting or slashing wounds on the recovered body.

Linda's mother, Dora Azrak, said Friday night she was relieved that Williams had finally been executed. But it was a tough day for her while she waited on word at her Florida home. "It just brings back all these memories." She's looking for closure now. "I'm just hoping I will get better," she said. Since the murders she's been depressed. And it was hard knowing that for two years after the murders Williams was free.”

Dora Azrak is the mother of Linda Williams who was murdered by Luke A. Williams III on 19 June 1991. He was executed by lethal injection in South Carolina on 20 February 2009.

Patricia Pendergrass, sister of victim Bryon Schletewitz, told ABC News: "His mind is still very clear. His mind is just the way it was when he was 50 years old and planned this heinous crime.

"He knows exactly why he will be taken into that execution chamber."

"It will close a chapter for me," said Schletewitz's sister, Patricia Pendergrass, who is the last surviving member of her family.

Patricia Pendergrass is the sister of Bryon Schletewitz who was murdered by Clarence Ray Allen (January 16, 1930 – January 17, 2006) was an American murderer who was executed by lethal injection on January 17, 2006 at San Quentin State Prison in California for the murders of three people. At age 76, he became the second oldest inmate to be executed in the United States since 1976. (John B. Nixon of Mississippi was executed in December 2005 at age 77). He remains (as of May 2010) the last inmate executed in California. Pro-death penalty activists cite Allen's actions as a reason to support capital punishment in the United States. He was already serving a life sentence for one murder when he was convicted of organizing the killing of three more people.

Summary:
Mary Bounds, age 56, was reported missing on November 29, 1987. A few days later her vehicle was located in Houston, Mississippi. Inspection of the vehicle revealed spattered blood around the driver’s side door. Her body was found nearby. She had been severely beaten. It was later determined that she died of head injuries from repeated blows. Earl Wesley Berry’s confession provided the details of what transpired. On the evening of November 29, 1987, while driving through Houston in his grandmother’s vehicle, Berry saw Mary Bounds near a church. As she was preparing to enter her vehicle, he approached and forced her into his vehicle, ultimately driving to a wooded area out of town. Mary pleaded with Berry, but he beat her with his fists and forearm. Afterwards, he carried her further into the woods and left her. Berry's brother called the police after he witnessed suspicious behavior. Berry was arrested at his grandmother’s home and soon confessed to the crime. Police found the mismatched tennis shoes Berry had discarded in a pond, along with bloodied towel.

 

Following the execution, Bounds' husband, Charles Bounds, spoke to reporters. "I don't have much to say. I just think it took too long," he said. "I have had this on my mind for 20 years, and it really takes a lot out of me." Bounds then spoke harshly to Mississippi Department of Corrections Commission Chris Epps, though Epps was not the one who halted the execution. Tonight, they hugged. "Justice has just now been brought to bear against the man who admitted killing (Mary Bounds)," Epps said.

 

Bounds' daughter, Jena Watson, also spoke, saying her mother would have wanted people to forgive Berry. "Tonight, we feel that we have received justice for what was done," she said.

Family members of Mary Bounds - She was beaten to death by Earl Wesley Berry on 29 November 1987. He was executed by lethal injection in Mississippi on 21 May 2008.

The victim's mother, Dottie Poage, also witnessed the execution. She described her son as someone who wanted friends, and made a bad choice in befriending Elijah Page.

"He stepped out of those boundaries, and considered someone a friend who took his life and he paid the ultimate price," said Poage. "Elijah Page had the ultimate penalty for his ultimate crime. And for that I am proud of the state, the attorney general, the governor, everyone at the penitentiary for a job well done. I am proud to be an American."

Dottie Poage of Rapid City, whose son, Chester, was murdered in March 2000 after being beaten and tortured by three men in Higgins Gulch west of Spearfish, answered that this way: "Can you put a price on your child's life?"

"Can you put a price on your own life?" Poage said, with emphasis. "To me, it's worth every damn cent."

In her own way, Dottie Poage said she "respects" one of the men who tortured and killed her son in a Spearfish canyon 11 years ago.

It's an appreciation engendered by Elijah Page's decision to halt his appeals and accept in July 2007 the lethal cocktail that legally ended his life.

"I found out that Page, who didn't tell me but told someone else, was truly sorry for what he did," Poage, 56, said from her Rapid City home.

"He said he can't take it back, but that he took full responsibility for what he did. To him, being executed meant accepting his punishment and following through with it so he could come to grips with himself for committing the crime. And I do respect that."    

Monday (15 October 2012) night's execution of Eric Robert was the first since Elijah Page was put to death by lethal injection in July 2007. Page was sentenced for his role in the brutal killing of Chester Allan Poage.


"You know, my son's life was cut way too short.  He was never able to marry and have children, to give me grandchildren.  That's something that I can only vision in my mind.  What if?" Dottie Poage said.


It's that question that lies at the heart of the pain and loss still felt by Dottie Poage.


In 2007, Poage witnessed the execution of Elijah Page, one of two men sentenced to die for the brutal 2000 murder of her 19-year-old son.


"It does bring somewhat of closure, some sort of calm, but it still does not bring your loved one back," Poage said.

Poage says that her heart goes out to Lynette Johnson, the wife of murdered Correctional Officer Ron 'R.J.' Johnson.


"I can very much identify with her as she probably can with me, knowing that one step has been done and it prepares you for the second step and the final time," Poage said.


Just as Rodney Berget is still awaiting his execution in the murder of officer Johnson, Briley Piper is also on death row for his role in the killing of Poage's son.


"You have to wait.  You have to wait for the process to be done accordingly," Poage said.

But more than 12 years after the murder of her son, Poage says she still has faith in the system and the death penalty.


"It does not bring your loved one back but it helps to strengthen why we have this system to help us, to help make us a little bit stronger, to give us a little more hope for other people," Poage said.


Briley Piper is in the process of appealing his death sentence.  However, Poage says she's confident that the sentence will ultimately be carried out and plans on being there to witness the execution.

Dottie Poage is the mother of Chester Allen Poage, who was murdered by Elijah Page and two men on 12 March 2000. Elijah Page was executed in South Dakota on 11 July 2007.

Dzong Tu, a Vietnam-born graduate student in economics at Cornell University in New York, is believed to have been Ross' first murder victim. Her death followed a string of rapes on campus in the spring of 1981. Ross also was a student at the university. "We will always miss my sister," said Lan Tu, Dzong's brother, "and I feel that this was only (a) small measure of justice for the pain that Michael Ross caused our family and the loss, but it is an ending."

 

Lan Tu brother of Dzung Ngoc Tu who was the 1st victim of serial killer, Michael Bruce Ross on 12 May 1981. He was executed by the state of Connecticut on 13 May 2005.

 

Cheryll Witz, who's father, Jerry Taylor, was fatally shot on a Tucson, Ariz., golf course in March 2002, said she was unhappy that Muhammad didn't say anything before he died. But she said his execution begins a new chapter in her life. "I've waited seven long years for this," she said. "My life is totally beginning now. I have all my closure, and my justice and my peace."

 

"When Muhammad was put to death, I thought justice was served," Cheryll Shaw said at a family home.  Her father, Jerry Taylor, was killed by D.C. snipers John Allen Muhammad and Lee Boyd Malvo on a Tucson golf course.

 

"The first thing that went across my head when the execution started was just reliving everything of how my dad was killed," she said.

"But then you think, 'this is another life being taken,' but then when you sit back and realize that this was my father he took place in killing, I believe he got what he deserved," Shaw said.

Cheryl Shaw whose father, Jerry Taylor was shot dead by John Allen Muhammad in March 2002. He was executed by the state of Virginia on 10 November 2009

Nelson Rivera, whose wife, Lori Ann Lewis-Rivera, was gunned down as she vacuumed her van at a Maryland gas station, said that when he watched Muhammad's chest moving for the last time, he was glad. "I feel better. I think I can breathe better," he said. "I'm glad he's gone because he's not going to hurt anyone else."

 

Nelson Rivera whose wife was shot dead by John Allen Muhammad, she was his 7th victim. He was executed by the state of Virginia on 10 November 2009.

Edwin Shelley, whose daughter Leslie Shelley was killed by Ross along with her best friend in 1984, said the convicted killer got what he deserved. "We have waited 21 years for justice, and I would like to thank the jury in Bridgeport, the jury in New London, and finally the state of Connecticut for finally giving us the justice that our children are due."

 

For two decades, Lera Shelley endured what seemed like endless court hearings as she waited for the execution of her daughter's murderer, serial killer Michael Ross.

It was all worth it, Shelley said, the moment she saw Ross die by lethal injection in the death chamber at Osborn Correctional Institution in May 2005.

Finally, she said, there was justice for 14-year-old Leslie and the seven other women whom Ross admitted killing in the early 1980s.

"When I saw Michael Ross take his last breath, I knew it was all over. No more appeals, no more 'Walking with Michael' on the Internet," Shelley said Wednesday 3 April 2012. Before his death, Ross' prison writings were posted on a Web page in a newsletter titled, "Walking with Michael."

But with the state's death penalty near repeal, Shelley said that other family members of murder victims might not get the chance to get the justice and closure she said she found in execution, a finality she said she needed to move on in life.

"It was like a big cloud that had been hanging over our head for years had finally been lifted and sunshine was coming in," said Shelley, 68, of Griswold.

Family member of Leslie Shelley who was the 7th victim of serial killer, Michael Bruce Ross on 22 April 1984. He was executed by the state of Connecticut on 13 May 2005.

Summary: Two months after he had been paroled from prison, Michael Richard approached Marguerite Dixon’s son, Albert, in front of the Dixon home in Hockley and asked if a yellow van parked outside the home was for sale. Albert said the vehicle belonged to his brother who was out of town and suggested that Richard come back another time. Richard left. When Albert and his sister, Paula, left a few minutes later, Richard returned and entered the house. He took two television sets and put them in the yellow van, sexually assaulted Mrs. Dixon and shot her in the head with a .25 caliber automatic pistol. Richard admitted he was involved in Mrs. Dixon’s murder and offered to help find the murder weapon. Police found the weapon and testing revealed it to be the gun that fired the fatal shot.

"It means in this particular case, the system worked, it was thorough," Stephen Dixon, whose mother was killed in the attack, said after watching Richard die. "The person executed deserved what he got." Dixon said he wasn't too concerned with the delays. "I was told to expect such things," he said. "It's been a long 21 years."

Stephen Dixon whose mother was murdered by Michael Wayne Richard on 18 August 1986. He was executed by lethal injection in Texas on 25 September 2007. Summary: Two months after he had been paroled from prison, Michael Richard approached Marguerite Dixon’s son, Albert, in front of the Dixon home in Hockley and asked if a yellow van parked outside the home was for sale. Albert said the vehicle belonged to his brother who was out of town and suggested that Richard come back another time. Richard left. When Albert and his sister, Paula, left a few minutes later, Richard returned and entered the house. He took two television sets and put them in the yellow van, sexually assaulted Mrs. Dixon and shot her in the head with a .25 caliber automatic pistol. Richard admitted he was involved in Mrs. Dixon’s murder and offered to help find the murder weapon. Police found the weapon and testing revealed it to be the gun that fired the fatal shot.

Haney's brother, Talladega Police Lt. Billy Haney, was among the victim's family members who witnessed the execution. "I'm there for the family and to see justice carried out as what was sentenced in the lower courts," the officer said in an interview. "I don't want people to think I'm in it for revenge. Dad used to say he'd never live to see the man executed. He died at 80 in 2000," said another brother, Daniel Haney, who also was present at the execution. He said the murder had tortured the family. The victim had seven sisters and three brothers.

 

Brothers of Jerry Haney who was shot dead by Jerry Paul Henderson on 1 January 1984. Jerry Paul Henderson was executed by lethal injection in Alabama on 2 June 2005.

Summary: Julie Heath's vehicle was discovered abandoned on Highway 270, west of Malvern. A week later, her body was found on rural property approximately 7.5 miles from her vehicle. Although the autopsy failed to reveal the cause or manner of death, medical evidence showed likely trauma to the head, and defects to her clothing were consistent with a cutting wound. At trial, Nance's brother and sister testified that, after initially denying any involvement in the crime, Nance later stated that he had accidentally killed the victim. Nance told them that Heath's automobile had broken down on the road, that he picked her up, that his work knife slid out of his pocket, that as he moved to put the knife in the glove compartment, the victim turned started kicking him, that he put his hand up to keep her from kicking and hitting him, and that the knife fatally lodged in her throat. The jury didn't buy this account.

 

"This is not easy for any of us and we do feel for his mother, his family," said Johnie Hood, a cousin of the victim. "I just pray that Julie rests in peace now. He couldn't say he was sorry. What he went through tonight was painless compared to what he put Julie through." Hood and other family members watched the execution via closed-circuit television in a prison office. Heath's mother Nancy killed herself a year after her daughter's murder.

 

"It brings closure that he is gone, but it will never bring back Julie - what he's done to our family, I hope that he did say he's sorry to someone for what he had done," said Belinda Crites, another cousin. "We want to make sure the devil dies. He's gone now so I hope they can rest in peace."

 

 

 

Family members of Julie Heath - Eric Randall Nance (January 1, 1960 – November 28, 2005) was an American man who was convicted of the murder of Julie Heath on 11 October 1993 in the state of Arkansas. While on death row, the former heating and air conditioning technician obtained his high school equivalency certificate and penned multiple poems, one of which was set to music and recorded by the Celtic Tenors. Nance was executed in 2005, twelve years following the crime.

“It won’t bring my brother back,” said Sulema Balverde, 34, Garza’s older sister. “But it will bring him justice.”

“I want to watch him breathe his last breath,” Irene Garza said of the man convicted of killing her 22-year-old son, Carlos Garza, whose body was found nine years ago in a pool of blood, two gunshots to his head.

Irene Garza, 54, said she understands the pain Blanton’s mom must feel.

“It wasn’t her fault her son did what he did,” she said. “She’s going to miss her son the way I miss my son. But we didn’t cause these problems. My son was a good boy.”

Several of Garza’s relatives attended the execution, including his mother Irene Garza, wife Yvonne Garza and sisters, Sulema Balverde and Irene Escobar. “I miss my son dearly and have waited for this day to finally get here,” Irene Garza said in a released statement. “This will be closure for me.” Yvonne Garza called Blanton’s execution one that provided both justice and closure for herself and the couple’s son. “I know it won’t bring him back,” she said. “We can finally move on with our lives.”

Family members of Carlos Garza who was murdered by Reginald Winthrop Blanton on 13 April 2000. Reginald Winthrop Blanton was executed by the State of Texas on 27 October 2009.

Summary:
Stanley Hall and Rance Burton drove to a St. Louis shopping center looking for a vehicle to steal to use in a drive by shooting. They approached Barbara Jo Wood as she pulled into the parking lot and forced her at gunpoint to the passenger side and then drove her in her car to the McKinley Bridge. Wood was forced out of the car, and eventually thrown off the bridge to the icy river 75 feet below. Witnesses in a passing car saw the struggle and notified police. Burton got back in Wood’s car and drove away. The police arrived and captured Hall moments after he pushed Wood off the bridge. The body of Barbara Jo Wood was recovered from the river 7 months later. Following his arrest, Hall admitted forcing Wood over the guardrail. At the time, Hall was on parole for wounding a 4-year-old girl while he was chasing and shooting at a man in St. Louis in 1987.

 

Mark Velcheck of Florissant, one of Wood's brothers, said earlier Tuesday he was relieved that the sentence would be carried out. "I'm glad for Barbara that this person will pay the price," said Velcheck, a witness. "You hate to say you want somebody to die, but this guy deserves it."

 


Mark Velcheck of Florissant is the brother of Barbara Jo Wood. She was murdered by Stanley L. Hall on 15 January 1994. Stanley was executed by lethal injection in Missouri on 16 March 2005.

Summary:
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 Donnie Robbins 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.

 

The victim's sister, Peggy Robbins Smith, planned to watch Moody's death by lethal injection at Raleigh's Central Prison so she could keep a promise to her brother, Donnie Robbins. "I made my brother a promise when I was with him at the casket," said Smith, 47, of Thomasville. "I promised him that I would see justice done. I feel like this will be a way to fulfill my promise."

 

 

 

Peggy Robbins Smith is the sister of Donnie Ray Robbins who was murdered by Patrick Lane Moody on 16 September 1994. He was executed by lethal injection in North Carolina on 17 March 2006.

Summary:
Known as the Gainesville Ripper, Rolling murdered four University of Florida students and a Santa Fe Community College student in their apartments in 1990. 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. The macabre slayings began on August 24, 1990 when Rolling broke into the apartment of 17-year-old university freshmen Sonja Larson and Christina Powell. They were found mutilated and stabbed to death. He had raped both women, one after she was dead. The next day, Rolling killed Hoyt, 18. 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 roommates Tracy Paules and Manuel Taboada, both 23. Rolling remained at large until September 8, when he was arrested after a botched robbery in the central Florida town of Ocala. He was later linked by DNA to three more killings in Shreveport, Louisiana, in 1989. He was not charged in the Gainesville slayings until 1992, while serving a life sentence for armed robbery and other crimes. He pleaded guilty to all five murders as the jury was being selected for trial in 1994.

 

Ricky Paules, the mother at whom Rolling had glanced, said she had one reaction: ``Hatred. Very, very bitter throughout the whole thing. I saw his breath go out of him. . . . We waited for this time. And justice was done.'' With Rolling's death, she said, she could remember only her daughter, Tracy Paules.

Ricky Paules is the mother of Tracy Paules who was murdered by serial killer, Danny Rolling on 27 August 1990. Daniel Harold Rolling (May 26, 1954 – October 25, 2006), also known as The Gainesville Ripper, was an American serial killer who murdered five students in Gainesville, Florida. Rolling later confessed to raping several of his victims, committing an additional 1989 triple homicide in Shreveport, Louisiana, and attempting to murder his father in May 1990. In total, Rolling confessed to killing eight people. He was executed by lethal injection in 2006.

Summary:
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, 61 year old Thomas King, 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 to stand trial.

"Killer's final words will be directed to his family; Prison officials don't expect repeat of vile outburst given by Satanist during trial for killing three people," by Tom Beyerlein. (August 8, 2006)

LUCASVILLE — Condemned triple murderer Darrell Wayne "Gator" Ferguson of Dayton said if he gives a final statement on the execution table this morning, it will be directed at his family, a prison spokeswoman said Monday. That may mean Ferguson, a Satanist, isn't planning a repeat of the hateful diatribe he issued against his victims at his 2003 sentencing. Regardless of what he says, prison policy doesn't allow the warden to pull the microphone plug. "We can't restrict the content or duration of his statement," spokeswoman Andrea Dean said. "We can't interfere with his freedom of speech."

Eight people, including the sons of Ferguson's disabled and elderly victims, are to watch him die by lethal injection at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility. Ferguson's mother, Donna Davis; stepfather, Paul Yates; and natural father, Clarence Vela Sr., also are scheduled to be witnesses.

Late Monday, Ferguson, 28, gobbled a "special meal" of three T-bone steaks cooked medium rare, two breaded chicken breasts with a side of ranch dressing, chocolate ice cream and Mountain Dew. He enjoyed a contact visit with relatives, listened to radio and chatted with his executioners about life in Dayton.

Ferguson's family will donate his body to Wright State University for biological study, Dean said. Ohio Gov. Bob Taft declined to grant clemency Monday. The only thing that could stop the execution is if Ferguson changes his mind and decides to exercise his appeals, Dean said.

Ferguson pleaded guilty and asked for the death penalty in the Christmastime 2001 stabbings of Arlie and Mae Fugate and Thomas King Sr. in East Dayton. A drug addict, Ferguson was on Christmas leave from a halfway house and used robbery proceeds to buy intoxicants.

Immediately after the execution, a family friend of one of the victims, Chris Purdue, said, "Goodnight. I hope he stays in hell forever." Ferguson, a long-time drug user and high-school wrestler — he now weighs 285 pounds — taunted his victims' families at the sentencing phase of his trial two years ago when he said he took satisfaction and pleasure in killing their loved ones. “I will never show any remorse, even on the day I die.” He didn't.

Chris Purdue is a family friend of one of the victims of Darrell Wayne Ferguson’s victims. Darrell Wayne "Gator" Ferguson (January 30, 1978 – August 8, 2006) was a convicted murderer executed by the state of Ohio. At the age of 28, he was the youngest inmate put to death in Ohio since 1962. He spent 2 years and 10 months on death row and had waived all appeals after his 2003 conviction for three counts of aggravated murder.

Summary: 17 year old Alicia was kidnapped on the way to a store two blocks from her home in Terre Haute by Benefiel, who was armed with a gun and wearing a mask. Alicia was tied-up and gagged, driven to Benefiel’s home and taken inside. During 4 months of captivity inside Benefiel’s home, Alicia was raped and sodomized over 60 times at gunpoint. Most of this time she was chained and handcuffed to a bed. He glued her eyelids shut, put tape over her eyes, and toilet paper in her mouth. She was cut with a knife and beaten. After 3½ months, Alicia saw a second girl, Delores Wells, in the home. She was naked and handcuffed on the bed, with tape over her eyes and mouth. She later saw Benefiel beat Delores and put superglue in her nose, then pinch it together. Benefiel left the home for 2 hours and upon his return, confessed to Alicia that he had killed and buried Delores. When police knocked on the door, Benefiel stuffed Alicia into a ceiling crawl space. The police entered with a search warrant and rescued her. The body of Delores was found soon after in a wooded area. An autopsy revealed injuries to her vagina and anus, and established asphyxia as the cause of death. (insanity defense)

 

Margaret Hagan felt relief when she received word early Thursday that the man who killed her daughter 18 years ago had been put to death. "I never thought the day would come, and when it did, it went fast," she said. "I'm going to try to put him as far behind me as I can."

 

 

 

Margaret Hagan is the mother of Delores Wells who was murdered by Bill J. Benefiel on 7 February 1987. Bill J. Benefiel was executed by lethal injection in Indiana on 21 April 2005.

Summary:
Carr, his girl friend Melissa Burgeson, and 17-year-old Keith Patrick Young attended a party on the evening of the crimes, where they all consumed alcohol and used drugs. Carr and Burgeson discussed robbing the victim at the party. In the early hours of the following day, Burgeson took the victim's car keys and talked him into letting her drive him home. Burgeson drove the victim, Carr, and two juveniles to a remote area of south Monroe County in the victim's car. During the ride, Carr showed one of the juveniles a large knife and whispered that he intended to kill the victim. Burgeson stopped the car on a dirt road, and when the victim opened the trunk to look for more drugs, Burgeson motioned to Carr to kill him. Carr grabbed the victim's hair, pulled his head back and slashed his throat. At Burgeson's urging, Carr stabbed the victim repeatedly and then beat him in the head with a baseball bat. After Burgeson took the victim's money, Carr and one of the juveniles dragged the victim's body to the roadside, leaving him to die from his injuries. Carr and Burgeson fled to Tennessee in the victim's car and were arrested following a high speed chase. After receiving medical treatment at a local hospital, they were placed in the back of a police car in which police had activated a hidden tape recorder. Their recorded conversation, in which Carr admitted killing the victim, was introduced into evidence at Carr's trial. The jury was also authorized to find from the evidence that the knife used to stab the victim was discovered in Burgeson's purse. Burgeson was convicted and sentenced to a life sentence with the possibility of parole.

 

Young's mother and grandfather witnessed Carr's execution. "It's finally over for our family," said Young's mother, Deniese Cail. "He's gone and he did not go where my son is. My son is in heaven."

 

 

Deniese Cail mother of Keith Patrick Young who was murdered by Timothy Don Carr on 8 October 1992. Carr was executed by lethal injection in Georgia on 25 January 2005.

Summary: Luis Ramirez was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death for the murder of his ex-wife’s boyfriend, Nemecio Nandin. Nemecio Nandin was a fireman and part-time washer/dryer repairman who was dating Ramirez’s ex-wife. Ramirez had been jealous of any of his ex-wife’s boyfriends, and Ramirez’s daughter testified that Ramirez was visibly upset about his ex-wife’s relationship with Nandin. Days before Nandin’s murder, Ramirez was seen meeting with an associate, Edward Bell, at a house where Bell and his girlfriend had previously lived. At around the same time, Bell told the man at whose home he was then staying that Ramirez had hired him to kill a fireman for $1,000. Nandin was killed at the house where Bell formerly lived on April 8, 1998, shot twice in the head with a shotgun and buried on the property. His truck was later discovered at a local Wal-Mart. Bell’s girlfriend testified that she left Bell alone, without a car, at the murder scene house between 11 A.M. and noon on the day of the murder, and that Ramirez dropped Bell off at the girlfriend's aunt’s house between 3:30 and 4 P.M. that afternoon. As she drove Bell back from her aunt’s house back to the murder scene later that afternoon, she saw Bell throw two latex gloves out of the car window. Police later recovered the gloves and a set of keys fitting Nandin’s truck. A subsequent search of Bell's girlfriend’s car revealed Bell’s wallet, containing two of Ramirez’s business cards and handwritten notes including directions to Ramirez's ex-wife's house, her address, her uncle’s address, and descriptions of her and her uncle’s cars. Police also discovered in the car a pair of jeans and a glove spattered with Nandin’s blood. Shortly after the murder, but before his arrest, Bell described the murder to the man he was staying with. Bell told the man that he and Ramirez had gone to the house where the murder occurred, called Nandin for a washer repair, handcuffed Nandin when he arrived and shot him with a shotgun, burying him on the property. Testimony indicated that Ramirez had purchased the same brand of handcuffs years earlier. The state also introduced evidence suggesting a plausible timeline, a period of time in which Ramirez could have been with Bell at the murder scene, committing the murder. Ramirez’s girlfriend testified that on the day of the murder Ramirez had packed a bag and left his home between 12:30 and 1:00 P.M. and returned around 3:00 or 3:30 P.M. Finally, the state introduced evidence that Ramirez and Bell were seen together after the murder and that on at least one occasion Bell, who had no apparent means of support, returned from such a meeting with cash. UPDATE: Texas carried out the 15th execution of the year just after 6 p.m. Thursday as convicted killer Luis Ramirez was given a lethal injection for his role in the 1998 shooting death of a San Angelo firefighter who had dated Ramirez’s ex-wife. Ramirez was sentenced to die for initiating the murder-for-hire plot that led to the death of firefighter Nemecio Nandin, 29. An accomplice, Edward Bell, was convicted and sentenced to life in prison. Prosecutors described Ramirez as a jealous ex-husband so obsessed with his former wife that he paid $1,000 for help in a plot leading to Nandin's death. The 42-year-old inmate denied any involvement in the 1998 shotgun slaying. The firefighter's body was found in a shallow grave in a rural area about 25 miles northeast of San Angelo. The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles rejected a defense request Wednesday to commute the inmate's sentence to life. The board also rejected a request for a 120-day reprieve. Ramirez also lost an appeal to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, prompting his lawyers to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, which refused to act to block the execution late Thursday afternoon.

 

"We just wanted to know justice would be done," Able Nandin, the victim's brother, said after watching the execution. "Justice was done." Addressing his slain brother by name, he added, "We miss you and we love you."

 

 

Able Nandin is the brother of Nemecio Nandin who was murdered by Luis Ramirez on 8 April 1998. Luis Ramirez was executed by lethal injection in Texas on 20 October 2005.

“I can sleep a little more better,” Latisha Clark, Patrick Clark’s twin sister, said after watching Moore die. “Knowing that he’s not going to be on the street, I can feel more comfortable,” her sister, Peggy, added. “Justice has been served.”

Family members of Patrick Clark who was murdered by Frank Moore on 21 January 1994. He was executed by lethal injection on 21 January 2009 in the State of Texas.

“This is the final step to closing everything,” Yost’s widow, Angie Houser-Yost, said. “They have caused a lot of pain for a lot of people, not only for my family and his family but for the people who walked in and found Richard, their visions, what they will live with now.”

Angie Houser-Yost is the widow of Richard Yost who was murdered by Darwin Demond Brown on 26 February 1995. He was executed by lethal injection in the State of Oklahoma on 22 January 2009.

John Allen Muhammad was a cold-blooded murderer.  He never gave any sort of apology to any of the families of the victims he murdered.  He stole so many precious lives from the families and friends who loved them.  He deserves the punishment he was given.  "Our loved ones will never come back."  I believe justice has been served.

I would like to thank everyone who worked so hard on this case.  I'm so proud that the United States government has laws set in place to protect its citizens from people like Muhammad and Malvo.  These men thought they were above the law and could get away with the horrible things they did.  The American law enforcement community has proved them wrong, and for that I am very grateful.  Thank you.  Muhammad's death has brought me and my family a measure of peace.  I wish that Malvo could face the same punishment.

Kwang Im Szuska whose sister, Hong Im Ballanger, was murdered on 23 September 2002 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana by the D.C Sniper, John Allen Muhammad. John Allen Muhammad was executed by lethal injection in Virginia on 10 November 2009.  

Vaughan said, "I think justice has been done . . . he got what the 12 jurors said he should get."

 

Last night after the execution, Vaughan, widower of the woman Green murdered, said, "He got his wish."

"I feel like we're the puppets and they're being the puppeteers," said Marsha Brown, one of the Vaughans' 2 daughters. She watched Green's execution with her father, sister, husband, stepmother and 2 local officials. "It's just a fine line between being hopeful and helpless. I really regret that another life has to be involved - that an execution has to happen - but I just think it needs to be carried out," she said.

Family members of Patricia Vaughan She was murdered by Kevin Green on 21 August 1998. He was executed by lethal injection on 27 May 2008 in Virginia.

Summary:
Emmett and John Fenton Langley were sharing a room in a Danville motel in April of 2001 as part of an out-of-town roofing crew. On the night Langley was killed, he bought food and grilled for Emmett and other co-workers. They then played cards at the motel. Later Langley was killed as he slept. In a taped confession to police, Emmett admitted striking Langley in the head with a lamp in the motel room they were sharing, robbing him of $100, buying and smoking crack cocaine, then calling the police to report that something had happened to his roommate.

 

"My brother died a horrible, horrible death," said Gene Langley, 48, of Rocky Mount, N.C. "Christopher, he was a coward. ... He needs to be punished." Gene Langley and six other family members, including John Langley's adult daughter and son, plan to witness Emmett's execution. "It's not going to bring my brother back by no means in this world, but it does not allow him to live and that's what I'm after," Gene Langley said. "He didn't kill one person, he killed five — he killed a brother, he killed a son, he killed an uncle, he killed a father, and he killed a grandfather," he said.

Gene Langley brother of John F. Langley who was murdered by Christopher Scott Emmett on 27 April 2001. He was executed by lethal injection in Virginia on 24 July 2008.

Summary: Twenty-year-old Julie Kerry and her sister, nineteen-year-old Robin Kerry, made arrangements with their nineteen-year-old cousin, Thomas Cummins, to meet them shortly before midnight on April 4, 1991. The Kerry sisters were intent on showing Cummins a graffiti poem the girls had painted on the Chain of Rocks bridge. The abandoned Chain of Rocks bridge spans the Mississippi River at St. Louis and has been a site of drinking and partying by trespassers. Earlier that same evening, defendant Marlin Gray, Reginald (Reggie) Clemons, Antonio (Tony) Richardson and Daniel Winfrey met at the home of a mutual friend. Defendant was the oldest and largest of the group. At defendant's suggestion, the four left for the Chain of Rocks bridge to "smoke a joint." The men confronted the Kerry sisters and Cummins at the bridge. Clemons ripped off Julie Kerry's clothing and raped her as she was held by Richardson. Julie and Robin were then raped by Clemons and Richardson. Defendant told Winfrey to watch Cummins. Then, with the assistance of Clemons, defendant tore off Robin Kerry's clothing and raped her. Clemons then forced Cummins to surrender his wallet, wristwatch, some cash and keys. Clemons ordered Cummins and the Kerry sisters to step out onto the concrete pier below the metal platform. The three were told not to touch each other. Julie Kerry and then Robin were pushed from the pier of the bridge, falling a distance of fifty to seventy feet to the water. Cummins was then told to jump. Believing his chances of survival were better if he jumped instead of being pushed, he jumped from the bridge. The body of Robin Kerry was never recovered. Julie Kerry's body was found three weeks later in the Mississippi River. Cummins testified at trial. Daniel Winfrey, who was 15 at the time of the murders, is serving a 30-year sentence after pleading guilty to nine charges, including two counts each of second-degree murder and forcible rape, and agreeing to testify against the other men. Reginald Clemens is on death row. The Missouri Supreme Court reduced Antonio Richardson's death sentence to life in prison because he was sentenced to death by a judge, not a jury.

Eugene Cummins, father of Cummins and uncle of the deceased sisters, said Wednesday that Gray’s execution would not affect him because his family was already at peace. “I don’t mean to sound callous or uncaring, but Marlin Gray, for example, is to be executed tonight and he has made his own bed and he must lie in it,” he said. “What he did hurt my family years ago, but he no longer has the power to hurt my family.”

 

 

 

Eugene Cummins is the uncle of Julie Kerry and Robin Kerry. They were both murdered by Marlin Gray on 4 April 1991. Marlin Gray was executed by lethal injection in Missouri on 26 October 2005.

Summary: Richard Cartwright, Dennis Hagood and Kelly Overstreet hatched a plan to rob a gay man by posing as male prostitutes. They thought such a victim would be an easy target because he would be less apt to report the robbery to police. They met 37 year old Nick Moraida after he pulled up in a small black sports car. The trio invited Moraida to go drinking with them at a remote gulfside park. When they reached the secluded area, Cartwright pulled out a gun and said, “This is a robbery. Put your hands on the cement [wall].” At the same time, Overstreet held a knife to Moraida’s neck. Their plan turned deadly when Moraida refused to give up and tried to flee. One of the men tried to stab Moraida but could not kill him. Cartwright then shot him in the back with a .38 caliber pistol. Hagood was convicted and sentenced to 20 years imprisonment. Overstreet was convicted and sentenced to 50 years imprisonment. Both testified against Cartwright.

 

Moraida's sister, Angela Moraida of Corpus Christi, said last week she already had forgiven Cartwright. She said his death will bring relief to the family. "At least we know he's never going to hurt anybody else," she said by telephone after the execution. She and her family did not attend.

 

 

Angela Moraida of Corpus Christi whose brother, Nick Moraida was murdered by Richard Cartwright on 1 August 1996. Richard Cartwright was executed by lethal injection in the State of Texas on 19 May 2005.

The former truck driver-turned-drifter confessed to killing five people including Joseph Daron Jr., 46, of Milford. Daron’s 23-year-old daughter decided not to witness the execution, but said she was happy to see her father’s murderer loaded into the hearse. Rachel Daron and her mother, Sandy Bronner, both of Amelia, watched from a prison visitors’ room. “I’m just glad this is finally over,” said Rachel, who was 4 when her father was fatally shot twice in the chest by the hitchhiker.

Rachel Daron said she wasn’t disappointed that Fautenberry didn’t make a statement “because I know he’s not sorry. He didn’t care. Even if he did (make a statement) it’s not going to bring my dad back or any of the other victims back. I just saw him go to the hearse and that was good enough for me.” Rachel said she doesn’t remember much about her father. “He liked to drink coffee. I never really got to know him. He was stolen from me.”

Rachel Daron whose father, Joseph Daron Jr. was murdered by John Joseph Fautenberry on 17 February 1991. He was executed by lethal injection in Ohio on 14 July 2009. Fautenberry, a former Oregon truck driver, was hitchhiking near Cincinnati when he was picked up by truck driver Joseph Daron Jr., 46, of Milford, on February 17, 1991. After driving to a nearby restaurant, as Fautenberry was getting out, he reached back in and shot Daron with a .22 caliber pistol. Fautenberry then drove the truck to a wooded area near the Ohio River, dumped the body, then used the truck and credit cards to return to Oregon. Fautenberry pleaded no contest on July 23, 1992, to two counts each of aggravated murder and grand theft and one count of aggravated robbery. Fautenberry confessed to killing a total of five people in four states — Alaska, Oregon, Ohio and New Jersey — during a five-month period in late 1990 and early 1991. After his arrest in Alaska, Fautenberry confessed to the Cincinnati murder.

Summary:
Police discovered the body of Jerome Harville in the bedroom of his home. Harville 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. A witness testified that Kincy called her after the murder and told her he had shot Harville him in the head and put a pillow over his head and that Kincy’s cousin, Charlotte Kincy, also laughed and said she had stabbed Harville. Police later recovered the stolen 9mm weapon at a pawn shop, pawned by a friend of Kincy's. Eleven days later, an FBI agent spotted Kevin Kincy speeding in Harville’s Honda Accord on Interstate 10 and Kincy was arrested after a high speed chase. Charlotte Kinsey gave a complete confession, pled guilty and was sentenced to 40 years imprisonment.

 

"They can hang him," Harville's father, Hosea Harville, 83, of St. Louis said of his son's killer in a telephone interview. "They need to drag him right now. He killed a good man. I put my son through school. He went to church. He was just starting out. That man took advantage of him."

 

Hosea Harville is the father of Jerome Samuel Harville who was murdered by Kevin Christopher Kincy on 26 March 1993. He was executed by lethal injection on 29 March 2006.

Summary: Betty Jane May was found dead in her basement room at a boarding house in Reno. Steven Floyd, who lived next door, had been drinking at a nearby bar that night went to May's home to try to borrow some money. Floyd knocked on her door, which was slightly open, but there was no response. He opened the door and saw May kneeling by her bed with her upper body facedown on the bed. He turned her over and realized that she was dead. Floyd immediately went home and told the landlords, and the police were called. Fingernail scrapings and evidentiary swabs from May's 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 May's body and the blood stains on her blouse matched Mack. The blood and tissue found under May's 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.

The son of Mack's victim figured his own reaction to the broad grin wouldn't make the evening news. "You probably are going to edit this," Charles May told reporters outside the prison just after Mack was put to death by lethal injection. "But I thought, `That rotten son of a bitch. How can he have the gall to do that at the last second and get away with it?' We're glad he is gone."   

"Daryl Mack will never harm anyone ever again," May said. "It has been a long and very rough road for us all. Tonight that journey ends and closure begins. Justice has been served." "A weight was lifted off our shoulders," he said. "Life starts over. We don't have to worry about Daryl Mack occupying our lives, controlling our lives, wondering when the next appeal is going to come. It is a new beginning." "Mom couldn't have asked for a better Mother's Day gift. Rest in peace, mom."

Loved ones of Betty Jane May - She was murdered by Daryl Linnie Mack on 28 October 1988. He was executed by lethal injection in Nevada on 26 April 2006.

Summary:
Leonardo Chavez and his wife, Annette, were shot to death while staying in a Harlingen trailer home belonging to Mrs. Chavez’s brother, Rick Esparza. The murder weapon was a .22 caliber pistol. The couple’s 9-year-old son, Leo Jr., who witnessed the shooting, testified that he saw his parents on the floor with two men standing over them. The son said the men shot his parents. 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, Leo Jr.’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 Leo Jr. to the police station where the youth identified Jesus Aguilar and Chris Quiroz as the men who shot his parents. Testimony at the trial confirmed that Rick Esparza had been involved in illicit drug sales with Jesus Aguilar. Aguilar, along with his nephew, Christopher Quiroz, were convicted in separate trials, with Aguilar receiving a death sentence and Quiroz got life in prison. Aguilar had previously shot a police officer and also served 8 years in prison for Aggravated Assault on a Corrections Officer.

After witnessing the execution, the families of Leonardo and Annette Chavez said they were glad justice had been served, Sulerna Esparza Medrano, Monica’s mother and sister to Annette, worked on a statement with Monica, which Monica read after the execution. “When you committed this brutal crime, you took away a loving mommy and daddy from two precious children whose lives have been shattered forever,” Monica read through clenched teeth. “So now, we are here today as the tables have turned and it’s your turn to die.” Explaining how loving and loved Annette was to her family, Monica began to break down, saying, “If she didn’t know you and you were starving on the streets, her and Leo would open the doors to their hearts and help you the best way they knew how.”

Family members of Leonardo Chavez Sr. and Annette Esparza Chavez who were murdered by Jesus Ledesma Aguilar on 10 June 1995. He was executed by lethal injection in Texas on 24 May 2006.

Jimmy Adams, the victim’s son, described Wednesday as “a sad day.” “We lost a wonderful man. James Moody Adams was our dad. He was a good, humble, giving, kind man,” he said. “… It was sad to see the loss of that other family’s experiencing today. I think we forgave him a long time ago. But the consequences still had to be carried out. It was just.” Another son, Kent Adams, said his family witnessed the execution out of a sense of duty. “We all wanted to be here to honor our parents,” he said.

 

Family members of James Adam Moody who was murdered by Kenneth Wayne Morris on 1 May 1991. He was executed by lethal injection in Texas on the 3 March 2009.

Judy Woodard, Union City, said early today that her great-aunt now can rest in peace. "It's been a long time. I'm so glad it's over," she said. "Justice has been done."

Judy Woodard is the great niece of Ruby Hutslar who was murdered by Gregory Scott Johnson on 23 June 1985. Gregory Scott Johnson was executed by lethal injection in Indiana on 25 May 2005.

Summary: In the early morning hours of February 28, 1979, Williams and three friends were riding around in two cars, smoking PCP-laced cigarettes, looking to "make some money." After making two unsuccessful restaurant and liquor store robbery attempts, they eventually went to a 7-Eleven store where 26 year old Army veteran and father of two, Albert Lewis Owens, was working the overnight shift and sweeping the parking lot. Armed with a shotgun, Williams led Owens to the back room of the store. While one of the companions emptied the cash register drawer and took $120, the defendant ordererd Owens to get on his knees and then shot him twice in the back with the shotgun. Williams said later that he did so to eliminate witnesses. One of his accomplices testified at trial that Williams later made fun of the noises made by Owens when he was shot, causing Williams to laugh hysterically.

Eleven days later, at about 5:30 a.m., Williams and another man broke down the door and entered the Brookhaven Motel at 10411 South Vermont Avenue in Los Angeles and shot to death 76-year old Thsai Shai Young, his 63-year old wife Yen-I Yang and their 43-year old daughter Ye Chen Lin. He took $50 in cash and left. Williams and Raymond Washington co-founded the Crips, a street gang, in 1971. While incarcerated on Death Row, Williams gained notoriety by authoring children's books with an anti-gang message and promoting peace. In recent years, he was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature and for Peace. He gained unparalelled support from celebrities and anti-death penalty activists, including Mike Farrell, Jesse Jackson, Jamie Foxx, and others who argued that his work and redemption on death row merited a reprieve from execution.

"He killed my father, and that will never change," she said. "I think he is a horrible and awful man.

"I don't think it's fair that he gets to breathe and walk around and have interactions, and my father, whose only crime was showing up for work, can't do those things," Owens said. "The impact that my father's death had on me is long-reaching and affects me today."

Rebecca Owens has been pushing for Williams' execution since she found out he was still alive. She says her father's life should be spotlighted rather than Williams'.

She has distant memories of her father, of him running on the beach, working on cars in the front yard, and laughing at her aversion to liver.

She has flown to California to visit his grave and to speak about the effect the crime had on her. She initiated a boycott of "Redemption," the film starring Jamie Foxx that tells the story of Williams' life. And she plans to be at San Quentin State Prison when Williams dies by lethal injection.

"I want it to be done, to see it over," she said.

"He hasn't even confessed -- how can he be a model?" Owens said. "If people choose not to go into crime after reading his work, that's because they choose it, not because of him.

"He refuses to take responsibility for his actions," she said. "His apology (for the gang lifestyle), give me a break. His victims are still faceless people. I don't want him dead because I think the death penalty will deter people from crime, but I do believe he should not be living on taxpayer money."

Albert Owens' stepmother, Lora Owens, wrote a letter to Schwarzenegger saying that Williams does not deserve clemency and that his professed redemption is an atrocity.

"To be redeemed, one must accept responsibility for the deeds and not claim to be redeemed to get out of the punishment set forth," Lora Owens wrote. "Williams has declared his own style of redemption for his own gain.

"He is a murderer and has caused the Owens family anguish for the last 26 years," she wrote. "His just punishment, his execution, could provide us some closure and peace."

"If there is a controversy against the death penalty, then they need to go to the legislature and work to get it changed, but don't stand behind a killer like Williams because then they don't care what he did," she said. "It could have been your child instead of our child."

Family members of Albert Lewis Owens who was murdered by Stanley Williams on 28 February 1979. Stanley Tookie Williams III (December 29, 1953 – December 13, 2005) was the co-founder of the Crips, a notorious American street gang which had its roots in South Central Los Angeles in 1971. In 1979 he was convicted of four murders committed in the course of robberies, and he remained in prison for the rest of his life. Later on in his life, he became an author of several books including anti-gang and violence literature and children's books. In December 2005, he was executed. Williams refused to help police investigate his gang, and was implicated in attacks on guards and women, as well as multiple escape plots. In 1993, Williams began making changes in his behavior, and became an anti-gang activist while on Death Row in California. He renounced his gang affiliation and apologized for his role in founding the Crips. He also co-wrote children's books and participated in efforts intended to prevent youths from joining gangs. A biographical TV-movie entitled Redemption: The Stan Tookie Williams Story was made in 2004, and featured Jamie Foxx as Williams. On December 13, 2005, Williams was executed by lethal injection after clemency and a four-week stay of execution were both rejected by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, amidst debate over the death penalty and whether Williams' anti-gang advocacy in prison represented genuine atonement for his crimes or were just a way to escape execution. Williams was the second inmate in California to be executed in 2005.

Summary: In the early morning hours Woods went to the home of his ex-girlfriend, Schwana Patterson, 35, who had had kicked him out a few days earlier. Her two children, 11-year-old Sarah and 9-year-old Cody, were sleeping inside. Woods crawled through an open window into the children's bedroom. He grabbed Sarah's foot and began beating her chest, then sexually molested her. Woods then forced both children to leave through the window in their nightclothes, put them in his car, and drove to a cemetery. There, he beat and stomped Cody on the head and strangled him. With Cody unconscious, Woods then drove away with Sarah. Cody survived. Based on Cody's statement, police found Woods and asked him where Sarah was, hoping to find her alive. Woods answered, "You will not find her alive. I cut her throat." He then led them to her body.

“I’m not a person that likes harm done to anybody, but I believe in justice being done,” Larry Patterson said after watching his daughter’s killer die. “She had no choice. She didn’t get a second chance.”

“I put this behind me a lot of years ago,” said Cody Patterson, now 21, who stood outside the prison and chose not to see Woods die. “It has been a long time coming. I’m glad to know it’s done. I knew it was going to be done sooner or later. “I seen his picture... That’s all I wanted to see,” he said, adding that he recovered from his injuries and that nightmares about the attack have stopped, but that he still had “the scars on the back of my head.”

Family members of Sarah Patterson who was murdered by Bobby Wayne Woods on 30 April 1997. He was executed by lethal injection in Texas on 3 December 2009. Summary: In the early morning hours Woods went to the home of his ex-girlfriend, Schwana Patterson, 35, who had had kicked him out a few days earlier. Her two children, 11-year-old Sarah and 9-year-old Cody, were sleeping inside. Woods crawled through an open window into the children's bedroom. He grabbed Sarah's foot and began beating her chest, then sexually molested her. Woods then forced both children to leave through the window in their nightclothes, put them in his car, and drove to a cemetery. There, he beat and stomped Cody on the head and strangled him. With Cody unconscious, Woods then drove away with Sarah. Cody survived. Based on Cody's statement, police found Woods and asked him where Sarah was, hoping to find her alive. Woods answered, "You will not find her alive. I cut her throat." He then led them to her body.

Summary:
The wife of John Boltz called the police and informed them 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. Later, when she was informed that he had not been arrested, she went to her son Doug's house. After they had been there for a short time, Boltz called and talked to Doug. The conversation lasted only a few minutes. A short time later, Boltz called back and again talked to Doug. After this call, Doug 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. A neighbor 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 later identified as Doug Kirby, lying on the ground on his back, not moving. She testified that Boltz was standing over him screaming obscenities and beating him. She testified that she observed Boltz pull something shiny from his belt and point the object at the man. Doug Kirby dies as a result of eleven wounds, including eight stab wounds to the neck, chest and abdomen, and three cutting wounds to the neck. One of the wounds to the neck was so deep that it had cut into the spinal column. Boltz testified that Doug Kirby had called him that evening and threatened to kill him. Boltz claimed that when Doug arrived at his house, he kicked in the front door and as he went for a gun, Boltz stabbed him twice, but did not remember anything after that point. A .22 caliber revolver was recovered from the passenger seat of Doug's car. The gun had no blood on it although the seat was splattered with blood.

 

The execution was witnessed by the victim's brother, Jim Kirby, son Nathan, who was just 4 years old when his father died, and other family members. Afterward, Jim Kirby said Boltz's execution was "long overdue." "It was a horrific crime," he said. "It deserved the punishment that was given. "We're all relieved that it's all over with."

Jim Kirby brother of Doug Kirby who was murdered by his stepfather, John Albert Boltz on 18 April 1984. He was executed by lethal injection on 1 June 2006.

Summary: DeLozier, age 19, was camping with friends along the Glover River and came upon the campsite of Orville Lewis Bullard, 60, and Paul Steven Morgan, 54. They left and returned that night, ambushed the pair, shot them with a shotgun and a .22 rifle, and stole their pickup, a generator and other camping equipment. DeLozier set fire to the camp, sparking a blaze that burned both bodies beyond recognition. Accomplice Nathaniel Madison pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit murder, received a 10-year sentence and testified against DeLozier. He was released from prison in 2000. Accomplice Glenney Madison was convicted of first-degree murder and is serving a life prison sentence.


Fourteen members of the victims’ families also witnessed the execution from behind one-way glass. Family members declined to comment to reporters after the execution. They released a statement thanking prosecutors for their work. “We have waited nearly 14 years for this day,” the statement read. “We feel that justice has finally been served.”

Family members of Paul Steven Morgan and Orville Lewis Bullard - They were both murdered by Michael Paul Delozieron 24 September 1995. He was executed by lethal injection in Oklahoma on 9 July 2009.

Summary: Wilson killed Lutz after she drove him home from a bar in Elyria. Somehow — Wilson said he didn't know how — Lutz ended up in the trunk of her black Oldsmobile Cutlass after they left the bar and went to Wilson's house. Wilson let Lutz out briefly after she begged to use the restroom, but forced her back into the trunk even though she promised to forget the ordeal if he ran away. Wilson then set the punctured gas tank on fire and walked off while Lutz burned to death. Wilson claimed he was too intoxicated to remember all the details, but told police he remembered this much.

Carol Lutz's mother, Martha Lutz, said the execution ended a long, hard road for her family. "We have waited 18 years 29 days for this to happen. It finally has come and we thank God," she said, standing with her husband, son and daughter-in-law after the execution. "People may think we're cruel, but the cruel part of this is not being able to have Christmas with Carol ever again."

Martha Lutz is the mother of Carol Lutz - she was burned alive by Daniel E. Wilson on 4 May 1991. He was executed by lethal injection in Ohio on 3 June 2009. Summary: Wilson killed Lutz after she drove him home from a bar in Elyria. Somehow — Wilson said he didn't know how — Lutz ended up in the trunk of her black Oldsmobile Cutlass after they left the bar and went to Wilson's house. Wilson let Lutz out briefly after she begged to use the restroom, but forced her back into the trunk even though she promised to forget the ordeal if he ran away. Wilson then set the punctured gas tank on fire and walked off while Lutz burned to death. Wilson claimed he was too intoxicated to remember all the details, but told police he remembered this much.

At the end of the statement, Humphries looked toward the victim's sisters, Kathy Smith Carpenter and Carol Smith Cooley, and mouthed "I'm sorry." Carpenter nodded in response. It appeared that a tear rolled down Humphries' cheek after the exchange. After the execution, Carpenter said she appreciated the gesture. "Shawn gave me something very special tonight when he said to me through the window that he was sorry," Carpenter said. "That was the greatest gift that I could have ever received."

 

 

Kathy Smith Carpenter is the sister of Mendal Alton "Dickie" Smith. He was murdered by Shawn Paul Humphries on 1 January 1994. Shawn Paul Humphries was executed by lethal injection on 2 December 2005.

Elliott, 60, a former Army intelligence officer from Hanover, Md., died in the electric chair at Greensville Correctional Center, about 60 miles south of Richmond. He was pronounced dead at 9:08 p.m. He had met with his family, a spiritual adviser and his lawyers earlier in the day. Elliott entered the room under the escort of correction officers who attached a metal clasp lined with a moistened sponge to his shaved right calf, affixed a metallic cap lined with a sponge to his shaved head and covered his face with a leather mask.

He was then strapped into the oak chair. In the presence of representatives of the attorney general and state corrections officials, an officer in a side room pushed the "execute button" at 9 p.m., sending 1,800 volts through Elliott's body for 30 seconds, followed by a 60-second burst of 240 volts. Elliott's body tensed at the first surge and again a second time when the cycle was repeated for another 90 seconds. The room was silent.

Five minutes later, a physician entered and put a stethoscope to his chest. He looked up several seconds later at officials in the plain white room and said simply, "9:08."

Robert Finch's sister, Jennifer Finch Robitaille, said the killings have become part of her life because she lost a brother and a best friend in them. Robitaille said she cannot forgive Elliott. "I think he deserves what he's getting," Robitaille said. "Robert's life was cut short by this guy who was jealous, who wasn't happy with his own life. I wonder very often where our family would be, where Robert and Dana's lives would be."

Thrall's two boys, now 15 and 13, were adopted by her brother and sister-in-law, Cameron and Becky Thrall, who live near Seattle. Cameron Thrall said the boys are doing well and speak often about their mother but have not delved into the details of the crime. The Thralls have saved the newspapers and court documents chronicling the murders so that the boys, at an appropriate age, can learn as much as they care to.

Cameron Thrall said the boys think that Elliott is receiving the appropriate punishment. And although he is philosophically against the death penalty, he said he thinks the crime deserved the harshest punishment. He also said he feels for Elliott's family, which lost a father and husband. "My personal view is that by taking Elliott's life, it doesn't bring back my sister, it doesn't undo the brutality of her murder and it doesn't erase the scars her children have to bear," said Cameron Thrall, a former Marine. "But do I think someone like that is deserving of death? Absolutely. . . . Put me in a room with him for an hour, and you'd have the same result as the death penalty."

Becky Thrall said she was pleased with the outcome. "To me, I feel I can move on," she said. "Never again do I have to think of this person." Adam Thrall, Dana's son, 15, said simply, "Good riddance."

Family members of Dana Thrall and Robert Finch who were murdered by Larry Bill Elliott on 2 January 2001. He was executed by the electric chair in Virginia on 17 November 2009. Elliott, who was married with three adult children and a teenager, met Rebecca Gragg online when she posted an ad looking for a "sugar daddy." She told Elliott she wanted to turn her life around and that she needed financial support to help start a business designing and selling stripper costumes. Elliott was infatuated and over 18 months spent about $450,000 supplying Gragg a home, private school for her two children, a car, breast enhancement surgery, and a credit card. Gragg was having a bitter custody dispute with a former partner, Robert Finch. 25 year old Dana Thrall was found in her home pistol-whipped and shot three times in the head. 30 year old Robert Finch, who lived with her, was found alongside, shot in the head, chest and back. Elliott viewed Finch as a threat to his relationship and obsession with Finch.

Summary: Reed murdered his ex-girlfriend’s parents in their home. Reed was arrested for driving a car into an Army officer trying to help her. He was sentenced to 37 months in prison after pleading guilty to assault. In prison, Reed wrote threatening letters to Rego. After he was released, he bought a gun and hitchhiked to the Lafayettes' house looking for Rego. Reed was supposed to be on a bus on his way to a federal halfway-house program, but instead killed Joseph and Barbara Lafayette in their Adams Run home in 1994 while he was looking for his ex-girlfriend. The couple refused to tell Reed the whereabouts of their daughter. Reed denied the killings and argued that no physical evidence placed him at the scene. Reed acted as his own lawyer during his 1996 trial. He denied the killings, despite his confession to police and three witnesses who said they saw him come out of the couple’s home after the shooting. Police found in Reed's bag a diagram of the Lafayettes' home and tennis shoes of the same make as shoe prints found in the Lafayettes' yard. The jury took only 30 minutes to convict him.


Marsha Lafayette Aleem, 37, the victims' youngest daughter, spoke after the execution. Aleem and two of her uncles witnessed Reed's death. "Today is not a celebration for my family. This is a day about justice," she said. "Today starts our healing process." Over the years, she said, people have gotten to know a lot about James Earl Reed. Now, it's time to know the victims. The Lafayettes made many sacrifices for their three children, putting them through college, Aleem said. Later, all three chose careers in the military. "They're not here to see the grandchildren," Aleem said. "They weren't here to share the happiest moments of our lives. They are the ones that made the ultimate sacrifice."

Family members of Joseph Lafayette and Barbara Ann Lafayette They were murdered by James Earl Reed on 18 May 1994. He was executed by the electric chair in South Carolina on 20 June 2008. Summary: Reed murdered his ex-girlfriend’s parents in their home. Reed was arrested for driving a car into an Army officer trying to help her. He was sentenced to 37 months in prison after pleading guilty to assault. In prison, Reed wrote threatening letters to Rego. After he was released, he bought a gun and hitchhiked to the Lafayettes' house looking for Rego. Reed was supposed to be on a bus on his way to a federal halfway-house program, but instead killed Joseph and Barbara Lafayette in their Adams Run home in 1994 while he was looking for his ex-girlfriend. The couple refused to tell Reed the whereabouts of their daughter. Reed denied the killings and argued that no physical evidence placed him at the scene. Reed acted as his own lawyer during his 1996 trial. He denied the killings, despite his confession to police and three witnesses who said they saw him come out of the couple’s home after the shooting. Police found in Reed's bag a diagram of the Lafayettes' home and tennis shoes of the same make as shoe prints found in the Lafayettes' yard. The jury took only 30 minutes to convict him.

Summary: Wesley Adams Jr., a Captain in the United States Air Force, and his family were visiting his father, Wesley Adams Sr., and his stepmother, Mildred Adams, at their Surry County home. They went on a fishing trip together and returned to the home, where Mildred's son, Steven McHone was staying while on probation for some larceny convictions. As Wesley Jr. prepared for bed with his wife and 2 year old child, they overheard a heated agrument between McHone and his parents about money. A few minutes later, Mildred Adams opened the door to their bedroom and asked if they had taken the gun from the camper. As Wesley Jr. got dressed, he heard three gun shots. When he went into the hallway, he heard Mr. Adams tell Wesley Jr. to call 911. While he was talking on the telephone with the 911 operator, he turned and saw McHone and Mr. Adams enter the back door. They were wrestling and McHone had a pistol. Wesley Jr. immediately dropped the telephone and disarmed McHone. Wesley Jr. went back to the telephone and McHone and Mr. Adams began wrestling again. Mr. Adams and McHone struggled out of the living room and headed down the hallway, out of Wesley Jr.'s sight. Approximately a minute later, Mr. Adams reappeared in the kitchen doorway and said, "Your mother is facedown out back. You have got to get help for her. Your mother's facedown. I don't know how badly she's hurt." As Mr. Adams approached Wesley Jr., McHone came to the doorway carrying a shotgun. When Mr. Adams realized that McHone was bringing the gun up into a firing position, aimed at Wesley Jr., he immediately moved toward McHone, reaching for the gun. McHone fired the shotgun into Mr. Adams' chest, and the force of the discharge threw Mr. Adams into Wesley Jr.'s arms, knocking them both to the floor and injuring Wesley Jr.'s leg. After shooting Mr. Adams, McHone raised the gun in the direction of Wesley Jr. who managed to get up from the floor and take the weapon from McHone. When the struggle ended, Wesley Jr. told McHone to stay down and not to move. McHone began crying and saying, "Oh, my God. What have I done." A few minutes later, McHone told Wesley Jr. "Just shoot me. Just get it over with." "If you don't kill me , I will get out of jail hunt you down and hunt your family down and finish them off."

He issued no last statement, but appeared to say "I'm so sorry," to half brother Wesley Adams Jr., who supported the execution and drove from Ohio to witness it. "We have sympathy and pray for comfort for those who will grieve Steve's passing," Adams said in a statement. "We do, however, feel that justice was upheld and that this fate was sealed many years ago."

Wesley Adams, Jr. released a statement after the execution: "We have sympathy and pray for comfort for those who will grieve Steve's passing. We do, however, feel that justice was upheld and that this fate was sealed many years ago. We feel that the enforcement of duly deliberated and prescribed sentences send a stronger message, as to the sanctity of human life, than does the sparing of those who have taken life willfully and brutally."

 

Wesley Adams Jr whose father and stepmother was murdered by Steven Van McHone on 3 June 1990. Steven Van McHone (March 23, 1970 – November 11, 2005) was a murderer executed by the U.S. state of North Carolina. He was convicted of killing his mother, Mildred Johnson Adams, and stepfather Wesley Dalton Adams, Sr. on June 3, 1990 in Surry County, North Carolina.

Summary:
The body of Michael Barrow was found in his Amarillo home, severely beaten and slashed about the throat. Police interviews with the victim’s known friends revealed evidence which led to the arrest of Kristy Castillo and Donald Drew, then Davis, who eventually gave a detailed 14 page confession. Davis and others entered the home under the pretense of visiting. While Barrow was sitting on a couch, Davis distracted him; Drew then hit Barrow in the back of the head with a dumbbell. Barrow fell to one knee on the floor; Davis helped him back to the couch and tied his hands. While Davis searched through Barrow’s closet for things to steal, he told Ray-Ray to “take care of his business.” Ray-Ray then stabbed and punched Barrow. Barrow began to struggle and the knife broke. Then Davis handed Ray-Ray a “little ice pick” and Ray-Ray continued to stab Barrow. The group then removed electronics and jewelry from the residence and left. Four accomplices received lesser sentences for the slaying and prosecutors maintained Davis was the leader of the pack who directed the attack so his friends could earn a coveted gang tattoo.

Mares said he wished to thank several law enforcement agencies from the Amarillo area including the district attorney’s office, the Amarillo Police Department and several forensic investigators who worked on the case. “I would also like to thank the state of Texas, because I’m very happy and thankful we do have the death penalty,” he said. “It’s something we definitely need in our society. When you lose a family member like we lost, it never escapes your mind. It’s the first thing on your mind in the morning and the last thing on your mind at night.”

 

Robert Mares the father of Michael Barrow who was murdered by Larry Donnell Davis on 28 August 1995. Larry Donnell Davis was executed by lethal injection in Texas on 31 August 2008.

Bagwell's execution was the third this year in Texas. Ten inmates have execution dates set in the next three months. "I'm just glad it's all over with," said Monica Boone, Tassy Boone's mother. "Everybody that's been touched by this madman can rest in peace."

Monica Boone is the mother of Tassy Boone who was murdered by Dennis Wayne Bagwell on 20 September 1995. Dennis was executed by lethal injection in Texas on 17 February 2005.

Summary: Barton murdered his fourth wife, Kimbirli Jo Barton, at their home in Waynesville after they had gotten in a domestic dispute that morning. He called and threatened Kimbirli several times the day of the killing before persuading her to come to the house to get her belongings. When Kimbirli arrived, he appeared and shot Kimbirli once in the shoulder and then again in the back at close range. His uncle and Kibirli's 17 year old daughter witnessed the shooting. Barton then shot himself with an upward blast to the chin, leaving just a scar below his ear. 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. Kimbirli 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.

Man executed less than 4 years after killing wife; FIRST LETHAL INJECTION WITH NEW PROCEDURES," by Alan Johnson. (Thursday, July 13, 2006)

What Rocky Barton started when he put a shotgun to his chin after killing his wife three years ago, the state of Ohio finished yesterday. Barton, 49, was executed at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility near Lucasville. His death by injection occurred without incident at 10:27 a.m.

In a sense, Barton died a little every day since Jan. 16, 2003, when he shot and killed Kimbirli Barton, the woman he said he loved more than anyone else and could not live without. Consumed by guilt, Barton said he deserved to die and didn’t want to "have to wait around no 10, 20 years and go through the appeals process." From crime to punishment, it was the shortest time in Ohio’s 22 executions during the past seven years. Donald and Wilma Barton, the condemned man’s parents, and two of his victim’s daughters, Tiffany and Jamie Reising, witnessed the execution from a few feet away, separated by a sheet of glass.

Following Barton's execution, Reising said she's reaching the point where she can forgive Barton, but not yet. She said she doesn't want to carry hate in her heart for the rest of her life. Barton, who did not seek clemency from Gov. Bob Taft, had asked the trial court to sentence him to death. A judge ruled last week that he was competent to give up his appeals.

Jamie Reising, 21, who watched Barton kill her mother, was given permission to leave the Warren County jail to witness the execution. She is serving time on a drug charge. "This is closure for our family," she said afterward. "He took the glue that was holding us together."  

Children of Kimbirli Jo Barton who was murdered by Rocky Lee Barton on 16 January 2003. He said he deserved execution and gave up his appeals that could have delayed his sentence for years and was executed by lethal injection in Ohio on 12 July 2006.

In the early morning hours of February 1, 1993, a car belonging to Judith Gabbard, Michael W. Benge's live-in girlfriend, was found abandoned on the west side of the Miami River in Hamilton, Ohio. The vehicle was found near the river with the front passenger-side tire stuck in a gully. After the vehicle was towed to the impound lot, the tow-truck operator observed blood on the front bumper and passenger side of the car and notified the police. The police returned to the area where the car was found and discovered the body of Judith Gabbard in the Miami River. Her body had been weighed down with a thirty-five pound piece of concrete which had been placed upon her head and chest. One of the pockets on the jacket Judith was wearing was empty and turned inside out. She still had in her possession her checkbook, cash and jewelry. The police retrieved a tire iron, or lug wrench, from the river approximately twelve to fifteen feet from where Judith's body was found. A jack and spare tire were found in Judith's trunk, but no lug wrench was discovered. Police removed lug nuts from the vehicle, which were sent to a laboratory and compared with the lug wrench. Although no positive match was made, the lug nuts did bear markings which were similar to the lug wrench. The police gathered other physical evidence from the scene which was also tested by a forensic laboratory. Strands of hair and type A blood (which both Judith and Benge had) were found on the driver's side front tire. Smears of blood were also discovered above the passenger-side headlight and on the fender. Police also found a pool of blood with a tire track through it and blood contained in the tire treads. According to one of the investigative detectives, this evidence indicated that the car had been driven through the blood and through the hair of the victim. An autopsy was performed, which revealed that the victim had suffered a number of blows to the head with a long blunt object which produced pattern abrasions and multiple skull fractures, one of which was circular in nature. According to the coroner, the victim died of brain injuries secondary to multiple skull fractures which were inflicted with a blunt object. The police apprehended Benge the next day, on February 2, 1993. When the detectives approached Benge on the street, they observed him drop Judith Gabbard's ATM card to the ground. They picked up the card, arrested Benge, and took him into the station for questioning. After being read his Miranda warnings, Benge agreed to talk to the detectives. Benge told police that two black men in a Bronco had chased him and Judith to the river and that their car had gotten stuck. Benge claimed that one of the men injured Judith and took her ATM card while the other held him at gunpoint, demanding the ATM code word. When Benge refused to tell him, the man returned the ATM card to him. Benge escaped by jumping into the river. As he swam away, he heard Judith screaming as the men beat her. The detectives told Benge they did not believe his story. Benge told them he thought he should talk to a lawyer. The questioning ceased at that point. A short time later, Benge told police he was willing to talk. Benge signed a Miranda warning card indicating that he waived his Miranda rights. Benge then gave the police a tape-recorded statement in which he recounted a different version of what happened the night before. Benge told police that he had driven to the riverbank with Judith so that they could talk. He said that they had argued over the fact that he was addicted to crack cocaine. Judith also accused him of being unfaithful to her. Benge then said he got out of the vehicle to urinate. At that point, he said Judith tried to run him down, but the car got stuck in the mud. Benge said that he became enraged, pulled Judith out of the car, and began beating her with a metal pipe he found lying on the ground. Benge said he threw her body into the river, face down, disposed of the weapon and swam across the river. He did not recall whether he put any rocks or cement on her body. Benge then went to the home of his friend, John Fuller, to get dry clothes, which Fuller's fiancee, Awantha Shields, provided. During this second interrogation, Benge was questioned about the ATM card, why he had dropped it when he saw the police, and whether he had used it after killing Judith. Benge said he threw down the card because he was scared and he knew he would not need it anymore. He also told police that he had not used the card since he killed Judith, although he did allow a man by the name of Baron Carr to use the card once to get money to purchase crack cocaine. Benge claimed that the only reason he had the card in his possession was because he and Judith had used it on January 31, 1993 before they went out that evening. However, the police discovered through retrieving ATM records that no transaction had taken place on January 31, 1993 and that two transactions were made following Judith's death; on February 1, 1993 at 2:45 a.m., a $200 withdrawal was made, and on February 2, 1993 at 12:01 a.m., another $200 was withdrawn. Benge was indicted on one count of aggravated murder committed for the purpose of escaping detection for another offense and committed during the commission of an aggravated robbery as well as for aggravated robbery and gross abuse of a corpse. Benge pleaded no contest to gross abuse of a corpse. The case proceeded to trial on the other charges. At trial, the state called Awantha Shields, who testified that in the early morning hours of February 1, 1993, Benge arrived at the house she shared with John Fuller, wearing wet clothes and asking for John. Benge also asked her if she had ever killed anyone. He then told her that he and his girlfriend had "got into it" earlier, that it blew over, and that they went to the river bank. He then told her that they had started fighting and that he hit her in the head no more than ten times with a crowbar, put rocks over her head and pushed her in the river. Benge told her that he had killed his girlfriend to get her "Jeanie" card. He also said that if the police questioned him he would lie and say that a couple of black guys jumped him and his girlfriend and beat his girlfriend up. He also told her that he had given her ATM card to a guy named Baron to get $200 to buy crack cocaine but that he never saw the money. Larry Carter testified that he and Baron Carr ran into Benge in the early morning of February 1, 1993. Benge, whose clothes were wet, asked Carter to excuse how he smelled but that he had just swum in the river. Carter thought Benge was kidding. Benge told him he had given John $20 to buy crack cocaine for him and said that he could get more money. Carter drove Benge and Carr to a Society Bank where Benge withdrew $200 from an ATM; Carter then bought crack cocaine for Benge. Carter later drove Benge to Fuller's house. Later that next night, Carter and Baron Carr withdrew another $200 from Judith's account using her ATM card so that they could buy drugs for Benge. However, to avoid giving the drugs or money to Benge, the two men conjured up a story and told Benge that his girlfriend had closed the account. Benge insisted that she had not. Benge took the stand on his own behalf and reiterated what he had told police during his second interrogation, including that Judith had tried to run him down and that he was in a rage when he killed her. Benge also claimed that he had permission to use Judith's ATM card and did not rob her. On cross-examination, he admitted losing his job in January 1993 due to his crack cocaine habit and that he had no income at the time he killed Judith. Benge was convicted of all counts and specifications. Thereafter, the jury recommended that he be sentenced to death, and that recommendation was accepted by the trial court. The court of appeals affirmed Benge's convictions and death sentence. 


“We have been waiting for this for 17 years,” the Morgan Twp. woman said. “It makes us feel there was justice for my sister. Now my sister can rest in peace.”    

Kathy Johnson is the sister of Judith Gabbard. She was murdered by Michael Benge on 1 February 1993. Michael Benge was executed by lethal injection in Ohio on 6 October 2010.

Summary: Steckel met 29 year old Sandra Lee Long approximately one week before her murder. Steckel gained access to her apartment by asking to use her telephone. Once inside, he pretended to use the phone, then demanded sexual favors. When she refused, Steckel beat her and threw her onto a couch. During the struggle, Sandra, bit Steckel’s finger causing it to bleed. Steckel then strangled her with a pair of nylons then a sock, causing her to lose consciousness. Steckel then sexually assaulted her, first using a screw-driver he brought with him, and then by raping her anally. He then dragged her to the bedroom and set the bed on fire, then fled the scene. Later the same day, the News Journal received an anonymous phone call from a male who identified himself as the “Driftwood Killer.” The man named his next victim by name. The News 4 Journal contacted the police, and the police brought the woman into protective custody. The woman had previously reported to the police that she had been receiving harassing phone calls with a “very lurid, very sexual” content. The authorities had traced these calls to Steckel. Steckel was arrested in connection with an outstanding harassment warrant for the phone calls to the woman. During the interview, Steckel confessed in detail to his crimes against Sandra Long, as well as other murders.Although some portions of Steckel’s confession lacked credibility, many of the details were confirmed by subsequent investigation by the police, including the autopsy of Sandra, the fire department’s discovery of the points of origin of the fire, DNA testing of blood found on Sandra’s apartment door, which matched Steckel, and the discovery of the nylons, lighter and screwdriver used in the attack. During his trial, Steckel sent a copy of Sandra Long's autopsy to her mother, writing "Read it and weep. She's gone forever. Don't cry over burnt flesh."


Long’s mother, Virginia Thomas, who witnessed the execution spoke briefly afterward to thank prosecutors, police and the courts for their assistance during this “terrible nightmare.” “Now, hopefully, we will have some peace and closure.”

Bells rang outside the Smryna prison in protest of the court-ordered execution of Brian Steckel. "I don't think it's a process that contributes to healing any of the things or making society safer or healing people's pain," said Kristin Froelich, who opposes the death penalty.


Just a few feet away were people who felt his death would bring justice, including April Walters. She has no pity for the man who tortured and killed her best friend 11 years ago. "This is justice for all the sick people out there that think they can do whatever they can and that they're God. He wanted to be God that day. He killed her, he took her life, he was trying to be God. He's not God," she said.

Across a street from the protesters, in another penned area, a different group carried signs supporting the death penalty. "He's still going to die," Dan Blevins, a friend of Long's family from Boca Raton, Fla., shouted as the bell began to toll.

"He's going to hell." Nicholas Long, the victim's stepson, held a sign with Long's photograph. "We're going to get some justice at 12 o'clock," he said. After the execution, Long's relatives planned to gather and celebrate, he said. "It's been 11 years. We need to get justice."

 

 

Loved ones of Sandra Lee Long who was murdered by Brian D. "Red" Steckel on 2 September 1994. Brian D. "Red" Steckel was executed by lethal injection in Delaware on 4 November 2005.

Summary:
While walking down the street at 1 a.m. in an area where prostitutes gathered, 23 year old Lisa Crider was abducted by Hedrick and Trevor Jones. Reportedly, the two were drinking bourbon and ingesting marijuana and crack cocaine. Crider was robbed, put in Jones' truck and driven around before she was raped and then shot to death at short range with a shotgun near the James River in Appomattox County. Her face no longer recognizable, her head wrapped in duct tape and her hands shackled, Crider was later found in the river. Upon arrest, Hedrick confessed to pulling the trigger. Accomplice Jones was sentenced to life in prison.

 

Crider's mother, Dale Alexander of Altavista, said Wednesday that her daughter "is still with us. . . . I know very well what's happened, I accept that. But I see all kinds of signs, all kinds of message from her." "It gives me a lot of peace of mind," she said.

Dale Alexander mother of Lisa Yvonne Alexander Crider who was murdered by Brandon Hedrick on 10 May 1997. He was executed by the electric chair in Virginia on 20 July 2006.

Summary:
One afternoon, 5 year old Audra Reeves 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.

 

Lawson said she will drive to Huntsville this morning to watch Anderson get his due and hopefully begin to close the trying 14-year wait for justice to be served. "I'm not a violent person at all, but I am looking forward to this closure knowing that he is going to die for what he did," she said. The family has had to endure the trial - during and after which Lawson said she "couldn't eat or sleep for a while because of it" - and years of state and federal court appeals, which always jolted them back to the gruesome details of Audra's death.

 

Lawson said she always had the nagging worry that as long as Anderson was alive, other children were in danger. "We had him, but there was still the possibility that he could escape or what have you, and if he did this to another child it would have killed us," she said.

 

Grace Lawson is the grandmother of Audra Ann Reeves who was murdered by Robert James Anderson on 9 June 1992. He was executed by lethal injection in Texas on 20 July 2006.

Jennifer Tabor said she never thought she would be able to witness the execution of the man who killed her 19-year-old stepsister, Stavinsky. Tabor was 12 at the time of the murder, and hatched a plan in which she would stand outside the gates of the prison on the morning of Ross' death. "I always pictured myself out there with the rest of the people, holding a big sign, in favor of his death," Tabor said. "I always promised Robin I would be there on that day."

Ross admitted killing eight women -- six in Connecticut and two in New York -- as part of a crime spree in at least five states. He was sentenced to death for killing Robin Stavinsky, April Brunais, Wendy Baribeault and Leslie Shelley in eastern Connecticut in the 1980s. Stavinsky's sister, Debbie Dupris, said the execution did not give her the closure she was expecting to feel, but it did serve a purpose. "Finally justice has been served," Dupris said, "and I know that our sister, Robin Dawn Stavinsky, is looking down upon us at this moment, and I know that she will rest easier knowing that the person who ended her life no longer has the privilege of having his own."

Family member of Robin Stavinksy who was the 5th victim of serial killer, Michael Bruce Ross on November 1983. He was executed by the state of Connecticut on 13 May 2005.

For the families of the victims, there finally is closure. "The families are relieved. It was long overdue," said Moore's nephew, Joe Rigby, who was Scott County's coroner in 1982. He is now the circuit clerk. Wilcher said before his execution that he didn't want a sedative but changed his mind as the time neared. Epps said Wilcher indicated he got only an hour of sleep Tuesday night because he was writing goodbye letters.

Tommy Moore said watching his mother's killer be executed would help him move on with life. "My emotions are better now because it's finally over," Moore said. "We don't have to focus on it all the time. But it just looks to me like he died too peaceful a death compared to the crime he committed."

Family members of Katie Belle Moore and Velma Odell Noblin who were murdered by Bobby Glen Wilcher on 5 March 1982. He was executed by lethal injection in Mississippi on 18 October 2006.

Summary:
Taylor and Darryl Birdow broke into the Fort Worth home of Otis Flake. The invaders tied the mentally ill, 65-year-old victim up then strangled him with two wire coat hangers. They then stole a television and some other household items. Eleven days earlier, 87 year old Ramon Carillo was murdered in his home, seven blocks away from Flake's home. He had also been strangled with a coat hanger. A friend of Flake's later testified that she came to his home and saw Taylor and Birdow coming from the back side of the house. Taylor had a white bag in his hand. Taylor was apprehended after a four-hour chase from Fort Worth to Waco driving the cab of a stolen 18-wheel truck. At one point, he tried to ram two police cars and run over two state troopers standing on the side of the road. The chase ended when a trooper stood in front of the truck and shot out its tires with a shotgun. Upon his arrest, Taylor confessed to tying and stealing from both of the victims, but he said that Birdow killed them. Taylor had been paroled only three months prior to the murders after serving 9 months on a Burglary conviction. Accomplice Birdow was sentenced in 1994 to life in prison.

Renee Harris Toliver, Flake's niece, said she and other relatives would pray for Taylor. "But not one of us will say he's not deserving of having his life taken," she said.

Family members of Otis Flake who was murdered by Elkie Lee Taylor on 2 April 1993. He was executed by lethal injection in Texas on 6 November 2008.

Summary:
Lundgren and about two dozen followers had broken away from the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, now called the Community of Christ, a small church that splintered from the mainstream Mormon church. His group believed doomsday was near. Lundgren killed the Avery 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 Dennis and Cheryl Avery 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 Avery 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. Afterwards, Lundgren and the others went back to the farmhouse and held a prayer meeting.

ACCOMPLICES:
Alice Lundgren - Aggravated Murder (5 counts), Kidnapping (5 counts) - 150 years to Life.

Damon Lundgren - Aggravated Murder (4 counts), Kidnapping (4 counts) - 120 years to Life.

Ronald Luff - Aggravated Murder (5 counts), Kidnapping (5 counts) - 170 years to Life.

Daniel Kraft - Aggravated Murder (5 counts), Kidnapping (3 counts) - 50 years to Life.

Gregory Winship - Murder (5 counts), 15 years to Life.

Richard Brand - Murder (5 counts) - 15 years to Life.

Sharon Bluntschly - Conspiracy to Aggravated Murder - 7-25 years.

Deborah Olivarez - Conspiracy to Aggravated Murder - 7-25 years.
Susan Luff - Conspiracy to Aggravated Murder and was sentenced to 7-25 years.

Kathryn R. Johnson - Obstructing Justice - 1 year.

Dennis Patrick - Obstructing Justice - 18 months, sentence suspended and placed on 1 year probation.

Tonya Patrick - Obstructing Justice - 18 months, sentence suspended and placed on 1 year probation.

"He got what he deserved," said Bailey, who said the family has suffered depression and nightmares from the horror. In a written statement, Bailey said he was convinced that Lundgren would kill again if he were released from prison. "There is only one sure way to make sure this never happens again: To be sure his life is forfeited for the terrible deeds he has done. The memories of his victims and the welfare of society and demands of justice all dictate this final act of cleansing," Bailey wrote. "My only regret is that he has but one life to give."

 

Donald Bailey is the brother of Cheryl Avery - the Avery family who were murdered by Jeffrey Don Lundgren and his accomplices on 17 April 1989. He was executed by lethal injection in Ohio on 24 October 2006.

Summary:
Slaughter was condemned to death for killing his former girlfriend, 29-year-old Melody Wuertz, and their daughter, Jessica Rae Wuertz. The infant was five days from her first birthday when she was shot twice in the head by a small caliber gun. Melody Wuertz was stabbed in the chest, shot two times and her body was mutilated. One of the marks carved into her abdomen had the appearance of the letter R. Prosecutors contend Slaughter shot and paralyzed Melody Wuertz before killing Jessica, then finished killing his former girlfriend. Slaughter maintained his innocence of the murders to the bitter end.

 

"This is the end of a nightmare," Wesley Wuertz said after the execution. "There's no more waiting for the next appeal, no more wondering if a technicality will get him off. Š What he got tonight was justice."

Wesley Wuertz whose family members, Melody Wuertz and Jessica Rae Wuertz was murdered by Jimmie Ray Slaughter on 2 July 1991. Jimmie Ray Slaughter was executed by lethal injection in Oklahoma on 15 March 2005.

"We're feeding and clothing him all these years and his family has had all these extra years with him," Claudette Shaffer, the daughter of the shooting victim, said after watching Nichols die. "They had a chance to say goodbye. We've never had that chance. Something is askew." Nichols' vulgar final statement, she said, "just reaffirmed the image I had of him: No feeling, no remorse, no concern for anyone."

She said she was eager to tell her 90-year-old mother, who couldn't attend the execution because of health concerns, of Nichols' death. "She is going to be very happy," Shaffer said. "She's been waiting since 1982."

Claudette Shaffer daughter of Claude Shaffer Jr. who was shot to death by Joseph Bennard Nichols 13 October 1980. Joseph Bennard Nichols was executed by lethal injection in Texas on 7 March 2007.

It was the answer for Ellen Jane Harris, who has wanted Filiaggi dead since he killed her daughter, Lisa, on Jan. 24, 1994. "He was an animal going after his prey," Harris told reporters after witnessing the execution. "I realize his death will not bring my daughter back, but he has caused harm and pain to so many other people over the years, both physical and emotional." Harris acknowledged that while some people believe that lethal injection is cruel, "I wish Lisa would have gone in such a peaceful manner."

Ellen Jane Harris is the mother of Lisa Hurst who was murdered by James J. Filiaggi on 24 January 1994. He was executed by lethal injection in Ohio on 24 April 2007.

Summary: During a robbery of Lee's Famous Recipe Chicken in Tulsa, Hamilton and three accomplices herded four employees into the restaurant's walk-in cooler and shot each once in the back of the head at close range with a .38 handgun, then left them to die. The robbery netted slightly more than $2,000. William Hamilton, Corey Hamilton's brother, Donnie Daniels and Tyrone Johnson all were sentenced to life in prison for their part in the crime. Hamilton received the death penalty in part because one of the co-defendants testified he was the shooter. 

Gooch's mother, Patricia Hudson, said after the execution that "I am grateful it is over." Gilbert Lara, the husband of Sendy Lara, said he was not troubled by Hamilton's lack of an apology in his last words. "He took my wife," Lara said after the execution. "He'd just be wasting his time saying, 'I'm sorry.' "

Before the execution took place, a written statement was released from the Laras' daughter, Amanda Lara of Dallas. She was 6 when her mother was killed. "After all of these years of pain and suffering, of sleepless nights and nightmares, the day has finally come when Corey Duane Hamilton will be executed," she wrote. "My mother was only 26 years old when she was taken away from us. . . . Today my sister turned 16 years old. She was 18 months old when our mother passed away. "I regret that she did not get to know how wonderful our mother was. I try to make sure that in some way, through our memories, she can know her as I did."

Family members of Corey Duane Hamilton’s victims He was executed by lethal injection in Oklahoma on 9 January 2007. Summary: During a robbery of Lee's Famous Recipe Chicken in Tulsa, Hamilton and three accomplices herded four employees into the restaurant's walk-in cooler and shot each once in the back of the head at close range with a .38 handgun, then left them to die. The robbery netted slightly more than $2,000. William Hamilton, Corey Hamilton's brother, Donnie Daniels and Tyrone Johnson all were sentenced to life in prison for their part in the crime. Hamilton received the death penalty in part because one of the co-defendants testified he was the shooter.

The victim’s son, Gene Placencia, who lives in Ridgecrest, Calif., said he wants to watch the execution to show support for the system. “I won’t be there because I’m bitter. I won’t be there because I hate him — I don’t care for the person, but I don’t hate him,” he said. “We’re going to be there because we need to support our courts and we need to support the laws that have been set forth.”

Gene Placencia is the son of Juan Placencia who was murdered by David Leon Woods on 7 April 1984. He was executed by lethal injection in Indiana on 4 May 2007.

Richard Wade Cooey II died peacefully Tuesday with a lethal combination of drugs administered through two needles inserted gently into veins in each arm.

He was executed by the state of Ohio for the rape and murders -- by bludgeoning and strangulation -- of two college students who were not afforded such comfort in their deaths.

"It's done," said Mary Ann Hackenberg, mother of one of the victims, Dawn McCreery, who said she could sense her daughter's presence in the death chamber.

"I know she was there," she said. "I felt her there."

Hackenberg, of Rocky River, one of six witnesses from the McCreery family, said, "They got it," when the needle was inserted.

 

"Just being spiteful to the very end," said McCreery. "It just shows how much this was warranted and justified."

"The thing that's going to now give us the greatest comfort is knowing that he now has to be accountable to a power greater than himself and now he's got to reckon with that," said Dawn McCreery's cousin, Kathy Miska, one of the execution witnesses.

Rob McCreery said he had hoped for the execution for so long -- he was 17 when his big sister was killed -- that he's not sure where to turn his attention now.

"But I can tell you it was a nicer day coming out of there than it was going in," he said.

 

Rob McCreery said he had hoped for the execution for so long -- he was 17 when his big sister was killed -- that he's not sure where to turn his attention now.

"But I can tell you it was a nicer day coming out of there than it was going in," he said.

Perfect for execution day. "You reap what you sow," said Nicole McCreery, Rob's wife.

Family members of Dawn McCreery who was murdered by Richard Wade Cooey II on 1 September 1986. He was executed by the state of Ohio on 14 October 2008.

Summary:
Griffith was a regular customer of the Always and Forever Flower Shop in Houston, operated by 44 year old Deborah McCormick and her mother. Griffith entered and after placing an order, pulled a pistol and robbed her of $400 and credit cards. He then forced her into the back room, made her perform sex acts, then stabbed her repeatedly with a butcher knife. Griffith used one of the stolen credit cards only minutes after the murder. He used other over the next three weeks to entertain his girlfriends. Upon his arrest, he was in possession of the credit cards and the murder weapon.DNA testing showed that the knife had on it the blood of both Griffith and McCormick. Griffith also was convicted of two violent robberies involving women — one at a savings and loan office and another at a bridal shop — the same month as the McCormick slaying. Both women survived their attacks and testified against him. Griffith was a 10 year veteran officer of the Harris County Sheriff's Department before his termination in 1993 due to domestic abuse. According to Prison officials, Griffith may have been the first ex-officer to be executed since the state resumed carrying out executions in 1982.

Kirkland was among five relatives of McCormick to watch the execution. "We came here today with justice on our minds and heaviness in our hearts," Kirkland said in a statement released after Griffith's death. "This is merely the end of another chapter in our story and with this end may it bring peace to our family."

Relatives of Deborah Jean McCormick - She was murdered by Michael Durwood Griffith on 10 October 1994. He was executed by lethal injection in Texas on 6 June 2007.

Sonia Hollingsworth-Wills, the mother of Conrad Johnson, the last man slain that October, sat in the back seat of a car outside the prison before the execution, which she chose not to witness. But she said she wanted to be there and was counting the minutes until Muhammad's death. "It was the most horrifying day of my life," she said. "I'll never get complete closure but at least I can put this behind me."

 

Family members of Conrad Johnson who was shot dead by John Allen Muhammad on 22 October 2002. He was executed by the state of Virginia on 10 November 2009

Summary:
The body of 86 year old Annie Laura Orr was found by her son on Christmas Eve 1980. She lived alone and had been severely beaten and raped. Police found a trail of playing cards leading from Mrs. Orr’s home to the home of Victor Kennedy, a known burglar. Knowing that Kennedy and Grayson had been seen together the previous night, they eventually found Grayson hiding in bushes near his home. Jewelry from the home was found in his wallet. On at least three instances, Grayson admitted to police that he had planned with Kennedy for a couple of weeks to rob Mrs. Orr to get money for Christmas. They broke into her house, found her alone in bed, taped a pillowcase over her head, raped her repeatedly and beat her, demanding to know where the valuables were kept. Grayson also testified at trial and said later that he was too drunk to remember what happened. Kennedy was also convicted of capital murder in a separate trial and was executed in 1999.

 Orr's granddaughter, witnessed the execution on behalf of the victim's family, Corbett said. "The family of Annie Laura Orr has seen the final chapter of this lengthy 27-year struggle come to an end. We are grateful that justice has finally been served," said Binion.

Lee Rawlings Binion is the granddaughter of Annie Laura Orr who was murdered by Darrell B. Grayson on 24 December 1980. He was executed by lethal injection in Alabama on 26 July 2007.

Summary: Bieghler was in the business of buying and selling marijuana. Tommy Miller sold drugs for Bieghler. After one of Bieghler’s chief operatives was arrested and a large shipment seized, he suspected Miller of “snitching” on him. Bieghler and his bodyguard, Brook, drove to Miller’s trailer near Kokomo, and while his bodyguard waited outside, Bieghler went in and shot both Tommy Miller and his pregnant wife Kimberly 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.

 

Priscilla Hodges said she hopes Bieghler made peace with God before he died and she hopes he is with God. She still thinks he deserved to die. "I believe in the death penalty and, yes, I believe Marvin deserved to die," she said. "Because I believe he killed my children."

Priscilla Hodges is the mother of Tommy Miller, whom along with Kimberly Miller were murdered by Marvin Bieghler on 10 December 1981. Marvin Bieghler was executed by lethal injection in Indiana on 27 January 2006.

Summary: The nude body of 28 year old Jo Talley Cooper was discovered by her husband in the living room their Norman residence shortly after 1 p.m. on February 25, 1987. Cooper, who was four months pregnant, was bound with leather straps and duct tape causing her death by strangulation. A child's plastic toy was found inserted in her vagina, and tears were noted by the medical examiner in her rectum and vagina. Welch entered the home by posing as a cable television repairman, having lost his job the day before. The case went unsolved until 10 years later when Welch’s DNA was matched to a similar crime scene in the 10-year-old unsolved murder case of Debra Stevens, whose nude body was also discovered in her family’s home outside Tuttle less than three months after Cooper’s death.. Welch was serving time in prison for attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon and kidnapping in 1997 when he was linked by DNA to the killings of Cooper and Stevens.

In a letter to the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board last month, Travis Cooper urged the board to deny clemency for Welch and wrote of the pain of growing up without his mother. "It would be different if my mother would have died of natural causes," he wrote. "It would be different if it was God's will, but the truth is that an evil man named Frank Welch took her life. "And the unspeakable things he did to her, my mother, is what fills me with anger, the pain, and the loneliness that I feel to this day."

 Nearly two dozen members of Cooper's and Stevens' families witnessed Welch's execution. "My sister Talley was a beautiful person and will always be remembered for her friendliness, her laugh and her love and passion for life," Cooper's brother, Jeb Anderson, of Franklin, Tenn., said after the execution. "Now with the finality of the long legal process, it is our hope that the memory of her horrible death will diminish."

Family members of Jo Talley Cooper and Debra Anne Stevens who were murdered by Frank Duane Welch on 25 February 1987. He was executed by lethal injection in Oklahoma on 21 August 2007. Summary: The nude body of 28 year old Jo Talley Cooper was discovered by her husband in the living room their Norman residence shortly after 1 p.m. on February 25, 1987. Cooper, who was four months pregnant, was bound with leather straps and duct tape causing her death by strangulation. A child's plastic toy was found inserted in her vagina, and tears were noted by the medical examiner in her rectum and vagina. Welch entered the home by posing as a cable television repairman, having lost his job the day before. The case went unsolved until 10 years later when Welch’s DNA was matched to a similar crime scene in the 10-year-old unsolved murder case of Debra Stevens, whose nude body was also discovered in her family’s home outside Tuttle less than three months after Cooper’s death.. Welch was serving time in prison for attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon and kidnapping in 1997 when he was linked by DNA to the killings of Cooper and Stevens.