|
| |
Six killers were executed in November 2001. They had murdered at
least 7 people.
Four killers were given a stay in November 2001.
They have murdered at least 6 people.
| Date of scheduled execution |
State |
Victim name |
Inmate name |
Status |
|
November 6, 2001 |
Georgia |
Bonnie Bulloch, 11 |
Jose Martinez High |
executed |
| In the late evening hours
of July 26, 1976, Henry Lee Phillips was operating an Amoco service station
near Crawfordsville, Georgia, with his eleven-year-old stepson, Bonnie Bulloch,
helping him. A car pulled into the station with three occupants. Judson
Ruffin, Nathan Brown and Jose High, were in the car. The car had been in the
station a week or two earlier. The three men got out of the car and High
pointed a pistol at Henry's face. Ruffin had a sawed-off shotgun. Henry was
forced to leave the booth while Ruffin removed the money from the register and
demanded any other money. When Henry told him that there was no more money,
Ruffin grabbed Bonnie Bulloch and told Henry to get in the car trunk or Henry
and the boy would be killed. Bonnie rode in the passenger compartment of the
car. Henry got in the trunk of the car and when he was released from the trunk
found that they were in the woods. Henry and his stepson were marched
around to the front of the car and ordered to lie on the ground. Henry then
heard shots fired. When Henry regained consciousness he discovered that the
boy was dead. In his confession, Ruffin stated that he shot the boy in the
head while his cohorts also shot at the victims. Bonnie was only 4 1/2 ft.
tall and weighed only 70 lbs. Henry had been shot in the temple and wrist. He
managed to get to a nearby house and the sheriff was summoned. The three
returned to Augusta and were subsequently apprehended. The evidence shows that
High and his two accomplices planned the armed robbery on the night in
question with the express purpose of eliminating any witnesses to the crime.
High, in his statement, said he thought the boy was too young, but he kept
asking him as they rode, "Are you ready to die? Do you want to die? Well,
you're going to die." He stated that Bonnie was begging for his life. At
trial, Henry Phillips positively identified High as being one of the three
persons who robbed the gasoline station and subsequently shot him and his
stepson. |
| Date of scheduled execution |
State |
Victim name |
Inmate name |
Status |
| November 6, 2001 |
New Mexico |
Dena Lynn Gore, 9 |
Terry Clark |
executed |
| Dena Lynn Gore was kidnapped in 1986
as she rode a bicycle near her home. Dena disappeared July 17, 1986, while
riding a bike to an Artesia convenience store. Her naked, bound body was found
5 days later in a shallow grave on a Chaves County ranch where Terry
Clark was employed. She had been raped and shot 3 times in the back of the
head. At the time, Clark was free on bond pending appeal of his conviction for
kidnapping and raping a 6-year-old Roswell girl in 1984. Clark, 43, of
Roswell, pled guilty to kidnapping and murder in 1986, hoping that his
death sentence would be commuted by outgoing Gov. Toney Anaya, a death penalty
opponent who had just emptied death row, commuting all 5 inmates' sentences to
life imprisonment as he neared the end of his term. But Clark's sentencing was delayed until after Anaya left office.
Clark was sentenced to death in 1987, but the state Supreme Court overturned
the sentence in 1994, saying his constitutional rights had been violated. The
court said the jury wasn't accurately told how much prison time Clark faced if
he were given a life term, and it ordered him resentenced. A
2nd jury, this one in Grant County, decided in 1996 that Clark should die for
the crimes. The Supreme Court refused to consider an appeal. Both juries
considered Clark's conviction for the 1984 kidnapping and rape of a 6-year-old
Roswell girl when they sentenced Clark to die. Clark has always maintained his
innocence in that crime, and his lawyers argue that the juries should not have
been told about the conviction. In 1999, Clark waived
his appeals, fired his attorneys and wrote letters asking to die. He said he
was at peace with his crime and he wanted to be executed. In July, the
state Supreme Court upheld the death sentence for Clark. Clark resumed his
appeals in February 2000 after an execution date was set. "I know we
still have a long way to go, especially if he's not going to waive it,"
said the victim's mother, Colleen Gore, from the Estancia auto repair shop
where she works. But she said the state Supreme Court ruling was
"great. I think this is the start of showing people you can't hurt
our children. Enough is enough," she said. When Clark resumed his
appeals, Colleen Gore said "I think it's a tactic but this is our system
and that's the way it works. So it will be a little bit longer, maybe 20 years
longer," she said with tears in her eyes. She said she was excited
when she first heard the execution date for Clark, who was in the courtroom,
wearing sunglasses and his hair in a ponytail. UPDATE - Clark has again
dropped his appeals and requested execution. UPDATE - A
spokesman for the state Department of Corrections announced that Terry Clark
was read the warrant for execution at 7 p.m., made a statement, and was given
the series of chemicals immediately thereafter. He was declared dead at 7:12
p.m. Terry Clark never denied killing 9-year-old
Dena Lynn Gore, who was found shot to death in 1986 on the New Mexico ranch
where he worked, but never offered an explanation for it. Against the wishes
of his lawyers, who argued he was mentally ill, Clark decided to drop any
appeals last March and asked a judge to go ahead with his execution. In
August, District Judge David Bonem found Clark competent to decide on his
execution and set the date for Tuesday. "I will not allow myself, my
family and the victim's family to be put through any more," Clark wrote
to Bonem. "15 years of being at trials and
court hearings, I'm not going to miss the day to say, 'Justice for
Dena,'" said Patti Jo Grisham, a long-time friend of Dena Lynn's mother,
Colleen Gore. Grisham was among about 2 dozen people who traveled from Artesia
to support the Gore family outside the Corrections Department gates Tuesday
night. |
| Date of scheduled execution |
State |
Victim name |
Inmate name |
Status |
| November 7, 2001 |
Arizona |
Patricia Bauerlein |
Levi Jackson |
stayed |
| On December 7, 1992, 16-year-old
Jackson and two accomplices planned a carjacking and discussed killing
someone. At 1:30 p.m. that day, Jackson and his two companions waited for a
car to stop near the area of 24th Street and Columbus Avenue in Tucson.
Patricia Bauerlein drove out of her apartment complex and stopped at the
intersection. Jackson, Kevin Miles and Ray Hernandez were standing near the
stop sign. When the 40-year-old victim approached in her vehicle and stopped,
Jackson asked her for a "light" for a cigarette. As she reached for
the lighter, Jackson pointed a .45 caliber handgun at her head and forced her
to move over. Jackson and the two accomplices took control of her car, kept
the gun pointed at her, and drove her to a desert area. There, Jackson shot
the victim once in the chest. She died from this gunshot wound, which
lacerated her heart and her left lung. |
| Date of scheduled execution |
State |
Victim name |
Inmate name |
Status |
| November 9, 2001 |
North Carolina |
Woodrow
F. Hartley, 71 |
Ernest
McCarver |
stayed |
| Ernest
McCarver, was sentenced to death for the 1987 stabbing death and robbery of
Concord cafeteria worker Woodrow Hartley, 71. McCarver was tried twice and
sentenced to death each time. On January 2, 1987, Ernest
Paul McCarver stabbed Woodrow F. Hartley to death. McCarver and his
accomplice, Jimmy Rape entered through the rear entrance of the K & W
Cafeteria shortly after Hartley arrived at 5:00 a.m. McCarver walked up to
Hartley and talked to him for a few minutes. Rape grabbed Hartley from behind
in a headlock and attempted to strangle him. Rape released Hartley, who was
then grabbed by McCarver in a headlock. When McCarver let him go, Hartley fell
to the ground. McCarver took a knife from his pants pocket and stuck it into
Hartley's chest several times. Hartley died within minutes. |
| Date of scheduled execution |
State |
Victim name |
Inmate name |
Status |
| November 14, 2001 |
Arizona |
Kendall Wishon, 8 |
Michael Gallegos |
stayed |
| On March 16, 1990,
Michael Steven Gallegos and George Anthony Smallwood were staying at
Smallwood's mother's house when they decided to sexually assault Smallwood's
half-sister, Kendall Wishon, age 8. They went into her room, and when she
awoke, Gallegos held his hand over her mouth and nose causing her to
suffocate. After Kendall became unconscious, Gallegos proceeded to have anal
intercourse with her for 15 to 20 minutes. After finishing, Gallegos and
Smallwood dumped her body under a tree down the street from the Smallwood
residence. |
| Date of
scheduled execution |
State |
Victim name |
Inmate name |
Status |
|
November 14, 2001 |
Texas |
Wilton Benthel Humphreys, 65 |
Jeffrey
Tucker |
executed |
| On the afternoon
of July 11, 1988, a passing motorist found the body of Wilton Benthel
Humphreys, 65, lying on a rural road in Parker County about 20 miles
outside of Granbury, Texas. Wilton had been shot twice in the chest and
once in the face, had blood coming from his mouth and back of his head,
had broken legs, and had tire marks on his pants. Wilton's
driver's license found in his pants pocket led investigators to his home
where his wife explained that her husband had left earlier that day with
a man, later identified as Jeffery Tucker, to finalize the title
transfer of a truck and travel trailer they had advertised for sale in
the Fort Worth Star Telegram. Tucker was arrested three days later in
New Mexico driving the stolen truck in the course of a high-speed chase
resulting from an armed robbery of a gas station of $800. After Tucker's
arrest, he confessed in detail to Wilton's
murder and to other crimes committed during the four-day crime spree
culminating in his arrest, including an armed robbery of an Arlington
motel clerk the day after Wilton's
murder. The day before Wilton's
murder, Tucker, who had recently been released from prison, searched the
classified advertisements for a vehicle suitable for travel and camping
where Tucker could inexpensively and unnoticeably travel cross-country
in a nationwide robbery spree. Tucker spotted the Wilton's
ad in the newspaper, and, using an assumed name, called to arrange a
test drive. Then, Tucker stole two checks from his brother's checkbook
and wrote one out for $ 423, which he then cashed at his brother's bank.
Next, in violation of his parole, Tucker used the money to buy a gun at
a pawn shop, which he used in the murder of Wilton
and in two armed-robberies following the murder. Tucker's
confession revealed the following details: The Humphreys, who were
selling the truck and trailer because they had purchased a large RV to
travel in together, met with Tucker at their home. Tucker went on a test
drive with Wilton and later visited with Mrs. Humphreys in her living
room while Wilton
left to get some attachments for the trailer. Then, after making a fake
phone call, Tucker left with Wilton
in the truck to go to the bank in Granbury to transfer the paperwork and
finalize the sale for $18,000. Once the two men were in the truck alone,
Tucker pulled out the gun from a paper sack he had been carrying and
forced Wilton
to drive out of town. About 20 miles outside of town, Tucker forced Wilton
to pull onto a road off the main highway. Tucker instructed Wilton
to stop and get out of the truck, allegedly so Tucker could tie him up
on a fence post. Tucker alleges that while both he and Wilton
were out of the truck, Wilton
tried to get back into the truck and lock Tucker out. Tucker's
confession states that a struggle then ensued that ended up with Tucker
shooting Wilton. The autopsy revealed that Wilton had been shot twice in
the chest and once in the face. After Tucker shot Wilton, Tucker shoved
him out of the truck and drove off, at which time the rear wheels of the
truck and the wheels on the left hand side of the trailer ran over Wilton's
legs. Tucker's documented criminal history reflects a decade-long
pattern of offenses, increasing in severity and indicating an
unwillingness to conform to society's laws. Prior to the capital murder
of Wilton and the two armed robberies that followed, Tucker had been
convicted of nine felony offenses and had been to the penitentiary three
times. In 1979, Tucker was convicted of two counts of passing a forged
check that, after parole violations, resulted in two concurrent
three-year terms of incarceration. In 1980, Tucker was convicted of
third-degree felony theft and sentenced to three years in prison. Also
in 1980, Tucker was found guilty of possession of marijuana and was
sentenced to four years incarceration in the Texas Department of
Corrections. Tucker's prison records reflect that he was found guilty of
several disciplinary offenses, including soliciting the assistance of an
inmate to violate prison rules and failing to obey orders. In 1984,
Tucker was convicted of two counts of forgery by the making of a check
and was sentenced to concurrent six year terms of imprisonment. On
November 30, 1984, Tucker was convicted of third degree felony theft and
was sentenced to six years incarceration. Tucker's prison records
revealed that during this term of incarceration he was found guilty of
numerous disciplinary offenses, including damaging property, possession
of contraband, sexual misconduct, destruction of property, possession of
a weapon, refusing to obey orders, fighting without a weapon, failure to
work, creating a disturbance, and stabbing an inmate. The stabbing
incident involved Tucker's attack on his cellmate by stabbing him in the
head with a homemade knife made of a metal rod and a toothbrush.
Testimony at Tucker's capital murder trial revealed that the cellmate
was found shoved under the bunk in the cell with a piece of a toothbrush
handle attached to a metal rod protruding from his temple, and another
rod that was stuck in his throat. A search of the cell revealed another
weapon fashioned from a sharpened piece of a red drinking glass found
underneath Tucker's mattress. Tucker pleaded guilty to aggravated
assault and received a five-year sentence. |
| Date of scheduled execution |
State |
Victim name |
Inmate name |
Status |
|
November 15, 2001 |
Georgia |
Linda Gilreath
Gerrit Van Leeuwen |
Fred Gilreath, Jr. |
executed |
| On May 11, 1979, Dempsey
Wolfenbarger went to the police station and told an officer that he was
concerned about the safety of his stepdaughter, Linda Gilreath. He explained
that Linda was in the process of obtaining a divorce from her husband, Fred
Marion Gilreath, Jr., and that several days previously she had left her home
to stay with her mother and Dempsey. Linda's mom had told her husband that
Linda's father, Gerrit Van Leeuwen, had come to her home, where Linda was staying, about
12:30 p.m. on May 11th. He came in the blue Duster to get Linda to come home
to talk to her husband and pick up her personal belongings. Linda and her
father left for the Gilreath residence in the blue Duster at about 1:30 p.m.
It takes about ten minutes driving time to reach the Gilreath home from the
Wolfenbarger home. Linda said she'd be back in time to pick her stepfather up
at work at 3:30 p.m. About 2:30 p.m., Linda's mom began phoning the Gilreath
home but got no answer. She asked a friend, to pick her husband up at work.
The friend passed the Gilreath residence coming and going; she told the
Wolfenbargers that she saw Fred Gilreath's red truck and Linda's father's gold
Volkswagen in the driveway, but she did not see the blue Duster. Once he
arrived home, Dempsey's wife called Linda's attorney for advice. He suggested
that the Wolfenbargers go over to the house but Dempsey decided instead to go
to the police station. He told the officer that he feared there might be
"domestic trouble", and that Fred Gilreath had threatened Linda's
life as well as the lives of the Wolfenbargers, and had threatened to burn the
Wolfenbargers' trailer. Dempsey also told police his tires had been slashed
and he believed Gilreath had done it. He said that Linda was driving a blue
Plymouth Duster and Gilreath drove a red truck. After hearing Dempsey's
concerns, the officer radioed for a back-up unit; and the two police officers
arrived at the Gilreath residence at approximately 5:00 p.m. The blue Duster
was not in sight. They knocked on the front door; no one answered. They then
knocked at the side door to a screened-in porch; no one answered. One of the
officers peered into the enclosed garage looking for the Duster. He rejoined
the other officer by the side screened porch and they observed that both the
porch door and the sliding glass door inside the porch were ajar, that the
sound of music could be heard, and that a strong odor of gasoline permeated
the area. The two officers then entered the screened porch (which was
described as looking like an enclosed carport) and looked through the sliding
glass door. From that vantage point, they saw a man's body. One of the
officers then stepped inside the glass door and saw Linda's body. The two
officers could see large puddles of gasoline in the kitchen and toward the
living room; they also saw a shotgun and a shell lying on the floor. They then
checked the other rooms of the house looking for the Gilreaths' two children.
Finding no one, the officers called the detectives, secured the crime scene
after they opened the front door to disperse the gas fumes and went outside to
await the detectives. Dempsey arrived shortly after Davis and Rogers
discovered the bodies but was not allowed to enter the house. Dempsey had told
police that the Gilreaths had two children. The officers were not aware that
Linda Gilreath had taken the children to Seneca, South Carolina, the day
before to stay with Linda's sister. Detectives arrived at about 5:33 p.m. They
walked through the house, interviewed Dempsey Wolfenbarger, and then reentered
the house to complete the investigation, i.e., locate evidence, take
measurements and make drawings. A detective testified at trial that upon
checking he discerned no signs of forcible entry into the house. He found a
green army-type gas can sitting by the door to the screened porch. He entered
through the sliding glass doors and found Linda Gilreath's body lying between
a coffee table and a love seat in the living room; a pink towel covered her
face and a white medium-sized suitcase sat by the end table. The evidence
showed that Linda had been shot five times along her right side with a .30-30
lever action rifle from approximately two to three feet away. She had been
shot in the face from approximately five to six feet away with a .12 gauge
shotgun. Gerrit Van Leeuwen was lying a short distance away; he had sustained
a .30-30 wound to his right thigh, a shotgun wound to his left chest, and two
.22 caliber wounds to his head. Gasoline had been poured on and around the
victims as well as on the kitchen floor. Police seized numerous items which
were in plain view, among them a .22 caliber short shell casing, six .30-30
caliber shell casings, two shotgun shell casings, a .22 caliber rifle and a
.12 gauge shotgun. Two days later they returned with a search warrant and
recovered another .22 caliber shell casing. Prior to diagramming the crime
scene, police had placed a southeastern regional lookout on Fred Gilreath and
on the blue Duster. Upon receiving the message, the dispatcher for the
sheriff's department in Hendersonville, North Carolina, contacted Mike
Gilreath who lived and worked in Hendersonville, told him about the message,
and asked him to let the sheriff's department know if he saw or heard from his
brother Fred. Fred Gilreath arrived at his brother's office, driving the blue
Duster, at approximately 7:30 p.m. Mike Gilreath immediately asked one of his
business associates to go tell the sheriff that his brother had arrived. By
the time officers arrived, Fred Gilreath had showered with his clothes on and
was wearing only his still wet cut-off shorts. A forensic serologist
from the State Crime Laboratory testified that she examined Gilreath's shorts
and found a stain which could have been blood. Because the sample was
inadequate, it could not be positively identified. The officers arrested him,
explaining that he was wanted for questioning in relation to a double homicide
in Georgia; Gilreath asked if he could call his wife. Cobb County police
arrived in Hendersonville the next day. Pursuant to a warrant they searched
the Duster and a partial box of .22 caliber short ammunition was recovered.
The shotgun and the .22 caliber rifle which were found at the scene were
identified as the murder weapons by a firearms examiner from the State Crime
Laboratory. The Gilreaths' next door neighbor testified that he heard muffled
gunshots coming from the direction of the Gilreaths' home between 1:30 p.m.
and 2:40 p.m. on May 11. He paid little attention to them because it was not
uncommon to hear gunshots in the neighborhood. This neighbor also reported
having seen water in the street. When police contacted the Cobb County Water
Department they found three workmen who had bled a water hydrant directly
across the street from the Gilreath residence on May 11th. The workmen had
arrived at approximately 1:30 p.m. and left at approximately 1:50 p.m. One
workman testified he heard five rapid-fire shots from what sounded like a
high-powered rifle emanate from the Gilreath residence. He also testified that
he was busy doing paperwork and didn't see anyone. Another of the workmen
testified that he saw a Volkswagen and a van or truck in back of the garage at
the Gilreath residence when he arrived. After he arrived, he noticed that a
blue car, probably a Dodge, had driven up and parked in the driveway. Because
he was getting something from the truck, he did not see the blue car arrive.
After the blue car arrived, he saw an old man walk around the house, come
back, and go back around the house. He then heard the five shots and did not
see the old man again. Shortly thereafter the water crew left; the blue car
was still there. The third workman testified that he saw a dark blue over
light blue Duster drive up and saw two people get out. One of the two (the
passenger) was an elderly man. He saw the elderly man walking around the yard;
about a minute after the elderly man disappeared behind the house, he heard
the five shots. The worker was unable to say whether the driver of the blue
Duster was a man or a woman. He did testify that at the time he heard the
shots there were four cars at the Gilreath residence: the blue Duster, a gold
Volkswagen, an old red pickup truck, and another old car on blocks. The
neighbor was able to fix the time because he arrived at home about 1:30 and
his stepson came home from school at 2:30 or 2:40. He knew the shots occurred
in the interim. Fred Gilreath testified in his own defense. He stated that he
was home on May 11th with his father-in-law. His father-in-law left about
11:30 to go to his ex-wife's home. He was downstairs in his father-in-law's
apartment when he heard his wife and her father come in. He heard his wife in
the bedroom; he went upstairs and started out the door, telling his
father-in-law he'd be back in a few minutes. His father-in-law said
"Linda's here and she wants to talk to you" but Gilreath responded,
"Gary, I told you I am not ready to talk to Linda. I don't want to talk
to her until I get back from North Carolina." He then left in the blue
Duster at 1:25 p.m., intending to go to the liquor store and come back. He had
had two drinks of rum while alone at the house. At the liquor store he bought
a beer and a fifth of vodka. He mixed the two and while drinking decided to go
on to Hendersonville. He was wearing cut-off shorts, a tee shirt, a terry
cloth hat and sandals. He continued drinking and was sick as he crossed a
bridge connecting South and North Carolina. When he reached Hendersonville, he
tried to rent a motel room but the clerk refused to give him a room because he
was drunk so he went on to his brother's office. When he told his brother he
needed to go take a shower to sober up, his brother told him there was a
shower in the office. He took off his sandals and hat and put them on an end
of the tub because there was nowhere else to put them; his shorts he hung on
the one hook available. When he finished showering he discovered his brother
had no towels so he put his shorts back on although he was wet, thus
accounting for his clothes being wet. Gilreath identified the .22 caliber
rifle and the shotgun as his, as well as the gas can which he said he used for
the lawn mower. He denied having killed his wife or his father-in-law. The
jury found Gilreath guilty of both murders and sentenced him to death for
each. UPDATE: A federal appeals court Wednesday night delayed the
execution of convicted killer Fred Marion Gilreath Jr. by one day while it
considered an appeal. The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals did not
immediately say why it delayed the execution until at least 3 p.m. on
Thursday. State officials, who had originally scheduled the execution for 7
p.m. Wednesday, rescheduled it for 7 p.m. Thursday. Earlier, U.S. District
Judge J. Owen Forrester had granted a two-hour stay for Fred Gilreath, pushing
to 9 p.m. the time he was scheduled to be put to death at the state prison
here. The judge wanted to give the convicted man's lawyers time to make their
case that the state Board of Pardons and Paroles cannot make a decision on
whether to commute Gilreath's death sentence. He finally rejected their
arguments. Fred Gilreath's lawyers had argued that board member Gene Walker --
who voted on the commutation request Tuesday despite being at a conference in
Las Vegas not related to the Board's business -- should have been at the
hearing. The lawyers also argued that the Parole Board has a conflict of
interest in making a decision, because commuting Fred Gilreath's death
sentence would go against the office investigating two of the Parole Board's
members. The Attorney General's office is investigating allegations that Board
Chairman Walter Ray and member Bobby Whitworth lobbied for a change in state
law that would benefit a private company that had hired them as consultants.
On Tuesday, the Board of Pardons and Paroles refused to save Fred Gilreath
from his scheduled execution for killing his wife and father-in-law, despite
pleas from the relatives of the victims of a domestic dispute spawned by anger
over a pending divorce. Fred Gilreath, 63, was sentenced to death for shooting
Linda Gilreath and her father, Gerritt Van Leeuwen, in 1979 when the two
returned to her Cobb County home to collect her clothes. "If my mother
could talk now, she would say she didn't want him to die," said
Christopher Kellett, who was age 8 when his father shot his mother.
"We've lost enough. ... We don't want to lose any more." Christopher
Kellett reconciled with his father a year ago and has since introduced his
children to their grandfather. Christopher Kellett said the Board of Pardons
and Paroles meeting was "very emotional." Christopher Kellett, his
sister and aunt -- sister to one victim and daughter of the other -- spent 90
minutes with the Board, pleading that the members spare Fred Gilreath, who
would be the third person to die by lethal injection in Georgia in less than
three weeks. Cobb County District Attorney Pat Head, who was not in office
when Fred Gilreath was prosecuted, met with four members of the Board later in
the day -- one individually and then three members later in the afternoon --
to encourage them to deny the request for clemency. Board member Gene Walker
was in Las Vegas, where he was attending a conference unrelated to Board of
Pardons and Paroles business. Cobb County District Attorney Pat Head said he
told Board members, "I believe this case was an appropriate case for the
death penalty." He said victims' wishes should not dictate the
punishment. "We are a society of laws, and if we allow emotions to
dictate decisions ... we put society at risk," District Attorney Pat Head
said after his meetings with the Board. "This was a brutal murder."
In the past, all five Board members have been present for commutation
hearings, but Board member Gene Walker said Tuesday the trip to Las Vegas had
been planned for a long time. The vote is secret, but at least three votes are
needed to commute a sentence. While not saying how he voted, Board member Gene
Walker said he made his decision based on a review of Fred Gilreath's file and
Board staff members' reports of the meetings on Tuesday with Fred Gilreath's
supporters and the prosecutor. "This is not a typical domestic dispute to
me," Gene Walker said. "This goes far beyond that. This is a man who
murdered his wife and his wife's father. And he shot them multiple times and
at different locations [in the house]. I have to assess all that. Clearly, I
feel comfortable with where I am and what I'm doing." |
| Date of scheduled execution |
State |
Victim name |
Inmate name |
Status |
|
November 15, 2001 |
Texas |
Steve Morgan, 23 |
Emerson
Rudd |
executed |
| Emerson Rudd was sentenced to death
for the robbery and murder of Steve Morgan in Dallas, Texas on September 2,
1988. Rudd and three accomplices, Darron Price, Frenchitt Collins and
Kendrick Smart, entered the Captain D's restaurant where Morgan was the
manager and demanded money at gunpoint. Steve was shot once in the
abdomen after handing over approximately $800 from the cash register.
The trio were arrested two days after the murder when their getaway car was
spotted by police. A restaurant employee who witnessed the shooting
positively identified Rudd as Steve's killer. Price was sentenced to 20
years in prison, Smart was given a 15 year sentence and Collins received 10
years. |
| Date of scheduled execution |
State |
Victim name |
Inmate name |
Status |
| November 30, 2001 |
Missouri |
Jason Johnson |
Gary Black |
stayed |
| The Missouri Supreme
Court scheduled a Nov. 30 execution date for a man sentenced for an allegedly
racially motivated stabbing. Gary Black was sentenced to death for the Oct. 2,
1998, stabbing of Jason Johnson, who had brushed against Black's girlfriend in
a convenience store. Black, who is white, used a racial slur while chasing
down Johnson, who was black, and then stabbed Johnson in the throat. The
Supreme Court denied his appeal in a 6-1 decision last month, turning away
more than a dozen separate arguments by Black's lawyers. |
| Date of scheduled execution |
State |
Victim name |
Inmate name |
Status |
| November 30, 2001 |
Missouri |
Susan Brouk, 36
Adrian Brouk, 12
Kyle Brouk, 9 |
Mark Christeson |
stayed |
| The Missouri Supreme Court has
scheduled an execution date of Nov. 30 for a man convicted of slaying a Vichy
family. Justices without comment Tuesday rejected requests to reconsider the
appeal of convicted killers Mark Christeson and set an execution date.
Christeson still could pursue federal appeals or seek clemency from Gov. Bob
Holden, either of which could delay the execution. Christeson was sentenced to
death for the Feb. 1, 1998, rape, throat-slitting and drowning of Susan Brouk,
36. He also received death sentences for the suffocation of Brouk's
12-year-old daughter, Adrian, and the throat-slitting and drowning of her
9-year-old son, Kyle. Christeson's cousin, Jesse Carter, was sentenced to life
in prison for the same crimes after striking a deal and testifying for the
prosecution. Supreme Court justices unanimously turned down all of
Christeson's appeal points in June. While in prison, Christeson has been
attacked by other inmates as retribution for the slayings. Inmates Larry
Schell and Mark Bridges wrote letters to the weekly Maries County Gazette
detailing an attack on Christeson last November and expressing condolences to
Christeson's victims. There
are still appeals pending and the execution will probably not take place on
this date. |
| Date of scheduled execution |
State |
Victim name |
Inmate name |
Status |
| November 30, 2001 |
North Carolina |
Patricia Stewart |
John
Hardy Rose |
executed |
| John
Rose, 43, was sentenced to death in Haywood County on May 12, 1992 for the
murder of Patricia Stewart. After receiving a report that Patricia
Stewart was missing and finding small drops of blood in and around her
apartment, the Graham County, North Carolina, police department conducted
several interviews with Rose, who lived with his sister and her boyfriend in
the apartment above Patricia's. On January 13, 1991, the State Bureau of
Investigation (SBI) performed a consent search of a blue Pontiac owned by Rose
and a yellow Ford owned by his sister. In the two cars, investigators found a
pair of numchucks, a tire tool, jumper cables, a black sleeveless jacket, and
a thermos, all of which tested positive for blood. The thermos and the trunk
of the Ford contained bloodstains that were consistent with Patricia's blood
type and inconsistent with Rose's. On January 14, SBI agents met with Rose to
discuss the results of the searches of the two automobiles. Rose told them
that he did not want to discuss Patricia's disappearance "because the
situation surrounding it was too bad to talk about, and he was concerned about
what his family would think of him." Rose told the officers, however,
that "the disposition of Patricia Stewart was so bad" that they
would not be able to find any of her remains. On January 15, agents spoke
again with Rose, this time in the presence of his mother. Rose's mother told
Rose that he needed to reveal any information he had regarding Patricia's
disappearance. Rose informed the agents that her body was located at his
grandmother's farm. Agents radioed this information to officers searching for
the victim's body, who in turn informed the agents that the body had already
been uncovered. Rose then was arrested. Rose waived his rights and gave an
additional statement in which he claimed he had been involved in a
relationship with Patricia, which she had been keeping secret. According to
Rose's statement, he was in Patricia's apartment after midnight on Wednesday,
January 2. While he was there, a friend came to visit Patricia, and Patricia
asked Rose to leave and come back later, which he did. Rose smoked marijuana
and drank a quart of whiskey before going to Patricia's apartment. There, Rose
claims that he told Patricia that he was going back to his girlfriend in
Alabama; Patricia retorted that she would have him arrested for rape if he
tried to leave her. In response to this threat, Rose said that he "just
went crazy," stabbing, beating, and choking Patricia to death. Rose then
wrapped Patricia's body in her bed linen and put it in the trunk of his
Pontiac, but the car would not start. Rose stated that he then went back
inside and tried to clean up, leaving the body in the trunk. He took the knife
that he used to kill Patricia to his apartment, cleaned it, and placed it in a
box in his bedroom. The next evening, Rose borrowed his sister's Ford
automobile and transferred the body to the trunk of the Ford. He drove the
Ford to his grandmother's farm, took the body behind the house, used his
grandmother's hoe to dig a shallow grave, poured gasoline on the body, set it
afire, and walked away. When the fire went out, Rose returned and covered the
body with rocks, leaves, and tree branches. Rose's testimony during the guilt
phase of the trial was similar to his confession, with a few deviations. Rose
testified that after he told Patricia he was going to Alabama, Patricia
reached over and picked up a pocket knife that she had lying on her nightstand
beside her bed. Rose claimed that Patricia shook the knife and said, "You
ain't going nowhere." Rose testified that he jumped up and hit
Patricia arm, causing the knife to hit her in the head, and immediately jumped
on top of her. Rose testified that he then "heard something pop, backed
up and saw blood coming out of Patricia's head." Rose testified that
"he did not remember choking Patricia that morning and that he did not
intend to harm her and did not think anything like that would happen." A
medical examiner testified that Rose stabbed Patricia five times, with four
knife wounds to her body and one knife wound to her head that was inflicted
with enough force to pierce her skull. UPDATE:
The state executed John Hardy Rose, 43, early today for the 1991 murder of a
young woman who was his neighbor in the Graham County seat of Robbinsville.
Gov. Mike Easley refused to grant clemency despite an appeal last week from
Pope John Paul II. Rose died at 2:18 a.m. from a lethal injection administered
in the death chamber at Central Prison. Among the witnesses were his mother
and 2 sisters plus the mother, 2 aunts and sister of Rose's victim, Patricia
Stewart. Rose's court appeals were exhausted 2 months ago, and he directed his
lawyer not to pursue clemency. Rose's family, from Robbinsville and Bryson
City, spent Thursday with him at the prison. This week, Stewart's family said
she was rebuilding her life after a divorce and "wanted to prove to the
world that she could live by herself," said her aunt, Lee Vonda Riddle.
Upon his mother's urging that he confess, Rose led police to Stewart's body,
which he had set on fire before he buried it in a shallow grave on a mountain.
Stewart's family, also in Robbinsville, drove to Raleigh on Monday to speak
with Easley at Rose's clemency hearing Tuesday. They said they considered the
death penalty a just punishment for Rose, but they expressed compassion for
his family. |
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