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George W. Barnard, M.D.
1725 Southwest 6th Terrace
Gainesville, Florida 32601
Phone: 904-375-7479
Mey Jz, 38%
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B7EE Troplcal Paint Dy, Rf 2-
SH Nam CH, FL 33956
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DIOCESE OF SAINT AUGUSTINE
MINISTRY FOR JUSTICE AND RECONCILIATION
412 N.E. 16th Avenue, Suite 25 Gainesville, Florida 32601
904-372-6006 904-376-9764
April 13 , 1984
Dear Mr and Mrs Goode :
Hope all went well on the trip back
to St . James city . I know it will take a long time for the
hurt and grief to heal and to let go of Freddy now as he is
with his God . Time is a great healer and I know too that
you will draw from the richness of your own faith and put your
confidence in the risen Lord , knowing that He alone can heal
our brokenness and mend our sorrows . This was a terrible
thing for anyone to have to go through and more so that
Freddy was so far from being a normal human being , and for
the state to extinguish his life . That being the worst of
all evils .
Perhaps now you will have the peace of knowing that he is not
peing tortured and abused in a sytem whose intent is to crush
all that is good out of the human beings entrusted to their
caring . And the state call this ‘rehabilitation" and for those
of us who know better we cringe at such barbarity . For those
who do such things there can be little peace and less happinn-
ess. We must not use the tools the state did ...that of
revenge and hate . That would be lowering ourselves to their
level and value systems . Let us never be found wanting in
our forgiveness and love . That is what Jesus’ death and
Besurection was all about .
Next week will be Holy Week , that special time in the church
when all our sufferings seem so minute as compared to our
Redeemer and Lord’s and this gives us some consolation and lots
of hope .
It was a gracefilled time working with you as we grieved to
try and understand and for us to be present to you in your
anguish and pain of lonliness . I ask for your prayers and
continued interest as we forge ahead to create a more civilized
society where human life will be held sacred , irregardless of
the condition:of that human life . The forces of evil will not
prevail .
May God love and keep you and we hope to see you soon .
In Christ ,
= Bzcce
Sfster Hannah Daly
FLORIDA CLEARINGHOUSE ON CRIMINAL JUSTICE
MEMBER OF THE SOUTHERN COALITION ON JAILS & PRISONS:
222 W. PENSACOLA STREET
TALLAHASSEE, FLORIDA 32301
(904) 222-4820; 224-4237
SCHARLETTE HOLDMAN
JAMES LOHMAN
DAVID MACK
STEVEN L. SELIGER,
GENERAL COUNSEL
April 12, 1984
Sister Hannah Daley
412 N.E. 16th Avenue
#50
Gainesville, Florida 32601
Dear Sister Hannah:
Here are copies of the Bishops' statement and two nice
newsclips for you and the Goodes.
We just got two more death warrants, on James Hill and
James Adams. Scharlette gave your phone number to the Hill
family, they are very poor and kind of slow and may need some
help in the coming weeks. This is James Hill's first warrant
and he is certain to get a stay, but I think his family will
need some moral support.
The folks in West Palm Beach have the James Adams case.
He is a black man from a very large and loving family, I think
his folks will be all right.
Thank ‘you for all your help.
Sincerely,
Gail Rowland
enc.
FLORIDA CATHOLIC CONFERENCE
314 BARNETT BANK BUILDING
n
POST OFFICE BOX 1571
TALLAHASSEE, FLORIDA 32302
sione (aon eee se08 ;
sens TOR WADI i Aw SMs .
EXECUTIVE DinecTOR
Statement on the Execution of Arthur F. Goode, HI
On behalf of the Catholic Bishops of Florida, | appeal to the Governor and the
courts for commutation of the death sentence against Arthur F. Goode, IH, which is
scheduled to be carried out on April 5.
The murders that Goode committed are revolting; and without a doubt, society
must be protected from him. He is clearly mentally unbalanced; other cases similar to
his result in treatment and confinement; but he wili very likely be executed tomorrow.
Regardless of his mental status, and in spite of the immensity of his crimes, he
was created in the image and likeness of Almighty God; he is our brother; and we piead
for his life.
The victims of these crimes cannot be restored to life. Their families cannot be
spared the horror and pain they have suffered. As an organized society, we must protect
others and ease as much as possible the burdens of victims, their survivors and families.
But, other states and nations enforce their laws without killing criminals; the State of
Florida should join them.
Supreme Court of the Hnited States
Washington, B.C. 205%3
CHAMBERS OF
JUSTICE THURGOOD MARSHALL May 10, 1984
Dear Mr. Goode:
I have your letter of April 24, and
although I read it as soon as it came in
I have been unable to answer it because
we have been quite busy here.
I have again read your letter and the
only comment I can make is that I appreciate
your sharing your views with me.
Sincerely,
Poy) Mabe
Mr. Arthur F. Goode, Jr.
3788 Tropical Point Drive, Route 2
St. James City, Florida 33956
etro/Stat
Goode’s father wants, fears execution stay
By Joseph B, Verrengia
i
imes-Union Staff Writer
STARKE — With less than 48 hours
before his son is scheduled to die in
Florida's electric chair, Arthur Goode
Jr, is a man possessed,
His son, Arthur Frederick Goode
II], convicted of strangling a 9-year
old Cape Coral boy in 1976, sits in an
isolation cell at Florida State Prison,
hoping that a federal judge some-
where will block his scheduled execu-
tion at 7 a.m. Tuesday.
Having lost appeals to the Florida
Supreme Court and to the U.S. Dis-
trict Court in Tampa last week, his
lawyer filed papers yesterday asking
the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
in Atlanta to spare his life.
A ruling from the appellate court is
expected today, a :
“the window for respase r
Meanwhile, Arthur's parents, both
67 and retired on Pine Island off the
Gulf Coast, stay inside.
They listen to television and radio
newscasts — waiting for the an-
nouncement that their son's life will
be spared and, with equal fervor,
praying that his demented rantin,
about lust for children will not. be
broadcasted again.
Their telephone rings endlessly. ..
‘The elder Goode stays on the line
for hours every day, plotting strategy
With their attorney, City Councilman
Wilbur C. Smith of Fort Myers, and
berating reporters who catalog What
may be his son’s final days.
And through it all, Goode ere ou
0
seream for his son’s electrocution,
“MT have yet to see humanity's gense.
Desrosiers
of fair play. the elder Goode said in
a telephone interview. “The only peo-
ple who have shown any kind of com-
passion have been those who have re-
arded children themselves, Other
people just can’t relate to it and all
hey hear are the gory statements my
son has made.
“I actually fear for our safety if he
gets a stay of execution,” he sald.
According to his father, Arthur
Frederick Goode ITI was a “change-
of-life” baby born in Maryland in 1!
to 40-year-old parents who already
had two adolescent daughters.
Arthur was diagnosed as fails re
tarded with an intelligence ‘quotient
of 64, At Bae 8, he was placed in a-spe-
cial education program.
It was the start of what has be-
come a 25-year rehabilitation effort,
“he ‘lured 9-year old Jason
away from a schdodl-bus stop in‘Cape.
including psychological testing, coun-
seling, a special Boy Scout troop, and
hospitalization.
-Arthur, who in a news conference
at the prison Thursday described
himself as an “expert” child molest-
er, claims that he was first molested
by a friend when he was 11 years old.
fe said he liked the feeling and has
ursued it with “hundreds” of small
ys since, . .
* His deviate behavior was first
noted at age 14, and he was institu-
tionalized. It was from such.a treat-
ment center in Vir; that he es-
taped in early 1976 and fled to South
Florida to be with his paretits,. who
had moved there after the elder
joode ri ee crs he
And it was then, Arthur ga
oh
The Florida Times Anion
Jacksc ville Journal
Saturday, February 27, 1982
Coral, took him ‘into thé woods, sex-
ually abused thé boy and then stran-
gled him with the boy's own belt,
Arthur had already been arrested
in the similar homosexual murder of
Kenny Dawson, 11, of Tyson Corner,
Va. He was later sentenced to life im:
prisonmient there. a
In a hearing in the Verdow murder]
to which hep leaded guilty over his fa:
ther’s objections, Arthur was allowed
to fire his attorney and act as his own:
counsel. It is one of several legal
ints his appeal attorney is challeng-
ing in the federal courts.
Arthur is a prolific letter writer.
Since his imprisonment at Florida
State Prison, he has written hundreds
of letters — to the governor asking to
(See GOODE’S, Page A-5)
pb
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only carried out over
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ening possible response
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mmute the death
sation.
Goode’s father says a stay could help science
(From Page A-3)
be executed, to the parents of his vic-
tims describing the last moments of
their sons’ lives and to reporters from
three states and the District of Co-
lumbia begging for interviews.
“th But, Ridin: he pleads for aati at
‘om press rthur, a slightly
gman with delicate featiires and an
‘acne-pitted face, will not reveal why
‘he'singled out the boys for murder.
“<When biintly asked ‘hursday, his
hands trembled, ‘The ation aid
i@anily Jend itself-to his well-rehearsed
te itself-t
tines er he tried to
“You just can’t ask me that,” he
objected. “It is difficult to answer off-
hand. You kind of have to ask around
it in a certain way to get me to say
things.”
Arthur now dismisses the letters as
a publicity stunt and, insisting that he
ferls remorse,-wants a stay of execu-
tion.
Goode is pushing state officials to
make Arthur a guinea pig for psy-
_ chologists studying the motivations of
) child molesters.
‘There are doctors who agree. «
Dr. David Wallace, a_child-abuse
@Xpert appointed by the Florida Pro-
and Parole Commission, told
the Exécutive Clemency Board (gov-
‘e
ernor and state Cabinet) that Arthur
was “ideal” for research because he
knew of no other subject with such a
well-documented history of mental
disorders, : *
“Killing each offender won't stop
Jason Verdows and Kenny Dawsons
from happent again,” Goode said.
“They [state officials] want him dead
strictly for revenge and their own po-
litical purposes, But it won’t solve
anything.”
Goode prefers that Arthur not talk
to reporters because his outbursts ~
only alienate the public against his
case, But he realizes that part of his
son's sickness is “a desire to be a big-
shot” and, because he cannot muzzle
him, he has drilled Arthur with the
idea of cooperating with medical sci-
ence.
But it is an idea Arthur seems only
partially to understand. He echoes his
father’s opinion that he ought to help
future child molesters. But he sees
pedophilia as a gospel to be spread,
rather than a mental illness to con-
, trol.
“I would like people who are inter-
ested in pedophilia to come talk to
me first because I am an expert at
it,” Arthur told reporters Thursday.
“T would like to work with the Legis-
lature so people can understand wl
it is all about.
“It's like ice cream. If you haven't
tasted it,-you don’t know what it’s
e”
5
James E Carte
White House
Washington, D
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Respectfully:
Name:
Address:
‘ather Pleads for Life
)f His Condemned Son
By FRANK DORMAN
Sun Staff Writer
RAIFORD — Desperately plead-
3 for the life of his son, the father
convicted child-killer Arthur Fre-
rick Goode Jr. said Thursday that
ental health experts should exam-
2 the 27-year-old inmate to learn
ore about his illness.
A Death Row inmate at Florida
ate Prison, Goode is scheduled to
e in the electric chair March 2. He
as convicted of the 1976 homosexu-
murders of two boys, ages 9 and ll,
Florida and Virginia.
“Tf his life were spared,” Arthur
Goode Sr. said, “he could make a
sluable contribution to research on
iis sex problem which, at present
me, doctors are helpless to treat and
ure” A death warrant for Goode’s
pn was recently signed by Governor
‘ob Graham, who Goode said “did
ot have the courage to seize the
pportuaity to try to cope with one of
ociety’s worst problems.
“Killing each offender as they
ppear does not solve anything,”
joode, a Pine Island retiree, said.
The need for such research was
temonstrated, Goode said, when his
‘on received a letter from a 14-year-
ld youth who had been involved in
shild molestation. “I thought I was
ne only one,” the youth had written
‘o the condemned inmate. Goode said
ie persuaded his son to give the let-
er to authorities, who contacted the
youth’s. parents and advised them to
seek treatment for him.
In March 1980, Goode’s attorney,
Wilbur C. Smith of Fort Myers, told
Goode:
¥rom Page 1B
= murder but was not held because of
BrBO- FZ
the Executive Clemency Board (gov-
ernor and state Cabinet) that Goode
was a “deeply emotionally mentally
disturbed person,” Goode’s father
said. Prior to the hearing, he said, the
board had received a report from an
expert in sexual abuse of children,
who had been appointed by the Flori-
da Probation and Parole Commission
to examine Goode.
The expert wrote that Goode is an
ideal subject for study and research
because his life history has been
documented since age 3, adding that
he knew of no other similarly dis-
turbed persons who had such a well
documented history of mental disor-
der.
The elder Goode and his wife said
they had sought help for their son
when he first demonstrated deviant
behavior at the age of 14. As a small
child, they said, he had been diag-
nosed as having slight brain damage
and being mildly retarded. His early
school years were spent in special
education classes, and during his teen
years, he was treated at a Maryland
rehabilitation center. for the retard-
ed.
In 1975, Goode’s son was commit-
ted to a mental hospital in Maryland,
where the family had been living, but
within a year, he escaped and went to
Florida, where ‘his parents had
moved. Shortly afterward, the sexual-
ly abused body of 9-year-old Jason
Verdow of Fort Myers was found
near their home. Goode’s son was’
questioned about the strangulation
(See GOODE on Page 3B)
killed the Virginia boy. But he is not
convinced of his guilt in the Florida
murder. He said his son had been told
enough of the details of the crime to
have concocted a false story when he
confessed. That ‘confession was ae
Convieted Child-Killer Arthur Fred
allowed to be tried, much less permit-
ted to assist with his Florida defense,
his father Said.
Geade’s father is sure his son
could not fink Goode with four other
murders to which he had:.also con-
fessed.
Goode’s father said. that, although
most Fort Myers aree residents have
demanded Goode’s execution, some
people have been sympathetic to-
ward his family. But almost all of the
compassion that has been expressed
has come from people, who have re-
tarded persons: in their: families,
Goode said. :
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By BILL COPPINGER:.
Cc nvicted killer adds tears and apologies to |
$5 _Alligator Staff Writer” a fellow death row inmates, Derany said.
ee: g z= = - : When’ asked iby prison superintendent z 5 *
STARKE — A handcuffed David Leroy. Richard Dugger if he had a final statement, °: 17 : . “
Washington bade a tearful goodbye to his; - Washington nodded and said Td like to say 5 eee i i
2-year-old daughter as she sat onthis lap at "to the families of my victims: I’m sorry for
the Florida State Prison Friday. morning, «all the grief and heartache I brought them,
bout six hours before he was electrocuted, - -If my death brings them satisfaction, so be
ashington, 34,. became the, seventh: -it.”. E < ge?
ry ‘executed ie ‘Florida ‘since“1979,"the “To’ ‘all “the ' guys’:on’ Death Row,
fifth’ ‘this “year, «Since. the U.S, -Supréme ,,.Washington continued, “I’d-like to say
Court reinstated the death penalty in'1976,"” dont Dow to dots oe fthout a fight, I'm
‘22 men have been executed nationwide. .“°"; kind of nervous. That’s all.” 2
. Washington was scheduled to be part of - **
« the-first double execution in. the country 4 »surged through, his body for one minute and
sine.” 1965 and. the first in Florida since ... 25, ‘seconds, according to. witness Mark
oe phe other tomate, Junmny Lee smith Davis the: station’ director of Jacksonville
onvicted of murdering a mother and her ~ radio station OKV.. Prison doctors
daughter‘in Marianna in’1978, received an. checked “his “pulse , and heartbeat and,’
definite stay from the 11th Circuit Court. . finding none, pronounced * Washington
pot Appeals in Atlanta Thursday, *' dead at 7:09 a.m, + . “
As
sat with his mother, daughter Across from the death chamber, about a.
, Florence, Gainesville attorney Susan Cary quarter of a mile away. in a cow pasture,
and: the”. Rev, “Joo, Ingle “of ‘the Southern: bout.30 anti<death Ity. protest
* Coalition"of als and Prisons, Washington : “We Shall “Overt ‘ype on ined
fted Florence ‘on ‘his lap ‘and made her’! witness’ exited ‘wavin: hi tof
: 3 g a white handkerchief
promise’ terlead beter life than he) had, . the now” common: signal that the :
‘oe Teporters. shortly before the © execution was completed. .
ad been carried out, Family ; i
* ‘ « Among’ those protesting the execution *
emnbersihad| requested to sea Washington, ' were “Mr.*tand “Mrs, Arthur Goode ; Jr,’
t's"my own fault I -got. here,” Ingle -, - hh " 1 alee
z, ing. “I'm ‘th , whose: son, Arthur. ITI,’was executed in
wot me hte yan on ia ‘ake wn The Goodes drove:from Fort Myers
earlier that day for the first time since’ their”
jomething of your life, T want you to ue the son's death, .Goode said that Gov. Bob
: ‘ Graham “should be in the Guiness Book of
’ evasnington was then led “away t©. world Records” because of the huniber of
cont eabhing Tnglesaid, as his daug! death warrants he has signed. 2 ae
‘Washington ate a, final meal of fried” _, “He is doing this for political reasons,”
shrimp <and. oysters, french fries, rolls, G0ode said, “He's running for the Senate
lemonade and about a.quart of ice cream, 84 he wants to use this to his advantage. ,
“said prison spokesman Vernon Bradford, , t's popular to be (pro-death penalty) in this PHOTOS BY MICHAEL WILSON
' on . es "
_ He ate “almost all” of it, leaving some ice State. . The hearse carrying the body of executed killer David Leroy ‘Washington exits
*eream, Bradfordsaid, =~ -° y _ Another protestor, Sheila Maxwell, 29, a Florida State Prison, 5 : y ng
».. ‘Washington was led into the death~ ‘waitress in Starke, said “The only ‘time. . +
~ “chamber at 6:58 a,m., one minute before things will change is-when there is a new .
ist goodbye
At 7:03 a.m. 2,000 volts of electricity
On the other side of the fence stood five. nedy, who is now on Death Row. :
|. witnesses. After he was strapped into the
his stay was to expire, said Chuck Derany of
WXFL-TV in Tampa, one of the 12 media
leotric chair, he read a final statement to
the families of his victims as well as. to
posta
governor,”
Maxwell, one of the first anti-death
penalty protestors to’arrive,is the girlfriend
of Charles Messer, a death row inmate
convicted of a 1975 murder. .-
people supporting the :death penalty.
Among them ‘were Floyd Cone Sr, and his
son Larin Cone from Baldwin, near
, Jacksonville, Cone’s son Floyd Jr. was shot
and killed in;1981 by Edward Dean Ken-.
“T get.no satisfaction in seeing a person
die, but I feel it might be a deterrent,”
Cone said. “If they knew they were going to.
pay for this with pure swift justice, they'd
think about it before they killed anyone,”
re ay ius 7
Amnesty International and
WITH 7 VICTIMS TO UTS NAME, MASS-KILLER "BLOODY"
BOB GRAHAM (TIE GOVERNOR )
IS A TRULY AMERICAN FOLK JTERO?
220 on State’s .
A statesman who rises above
such petty concerns as
common decency, "Bloody"
Bob has remained true to
Déath Row
his great political the death penalty was rein-
ambitions. Courageously, stated (6 of 20).
he has ignored the 4. Florida
snivelling emotional pleas
of such unsavory groups as
the predictably whining
claims of racism brought by
the Congressional Black
Caucus. Proudly, he has
Florida icads the nation ir its
Death Row population and
number of executions since
officiated at the burning
of the feeble-minded
(Arthur Goode), the old and
infirm (Anthony Antone),
the Black (James Adams),
and the gay (Robert
Sullivan), to name just a
few. His single-minded
except Florida a6 of thoy
NAACP Lagal Detenza Fund 5
26 Executed in U.S. Since IS7&
Here is a list of convicted killers executed since the Supreme
Court allowed states to restore the death penalty in 1976.
and passionate pursuit of INMATE DATE STATE
the final solution is an 1.Gary Gilmore, 36 Jan. 17, 1977 Utan=*
inspiration tous all. [ft 2. John Spenkslink, 30 May 25, 1979 Florida Ba
-is nothing less than a 3. Jerse Bishop, 46 Oct. 22, 1979 Nevada
tribute to the American way 4, Steven Judy, 24 March 9, 1981 Indiana _
of life (and death)-- “5. Frank Coppola, 38 ‘Aug. 10, 1982 Virginia
especially as practiced in 6. Charlie Brooks Jr. 40 Des. 7, 1982 Texas*
2 7. John Evane tit, 33 April 22, 1983
Florida. If the Peter Sept2, 1983
Principle is. to mean Nov 30, 1562
Dec. 14, 1983
anything at all, "Bloody" 40. Robert W. Williams, 31
Bob deserves to be Vice- 11. John Eidor Smith, 53 Dec. 15, 1983 Georgia
President. 12. Anthony Antone, 66 Jan. 26, 1984 Fionaa
13. Johnny Taylor Jr, 30 Feb, 29, 1984 Louisiana
Although committed to The 14, Jamos David Autry, 29 March 14, 1984 Texas”
C h first 15, James W. Hutchins, 54 March 16, 1984 North Carolina” ~
overnor on Ehe _-rrst 46. Ronald C. O'Bryan, 38 March 31, 1964 Texas”
ballot, the Draft "Bloody 17. Elma P. Sonnier, 35 April 5, 1984 Louisiana
Bob for VEEP Committee is 18. Arthur F. Goode Il, 30 Aprii 5, 1984 Florida
also willing to accept the 79. Jamos Adams, 47 May 10, 1984 Florida se
following Democrats as 20. Cart Shriner, 30 June 20, 1984 Florid: a
potential candidates for Rea Oe ee Nee on ** Death ini gas chamber s
the spot--just a heartbeat
away from the Presidency--
because these great men
have ended so many
heartbeats in ways that
suggest the great
diversity of this great
country of ours, ways as
American as apple pie--
like the gas chamber, the
deadly needle, and
"Bloody" Bob's all-time
favorite, the electric blood, on Friday the 13th.
chair): days.
Arriving triumphantly in SF with the sweet
emell of fresh blood on his breath, "Bloody"
Bob has shown his pluck.
killed Ivon Stanley (IQ 81) on Thursday, The
Governor worked day and night not to be outdone.
He was justly rewarded with David Washington's
WELL DONE, BOYS!
al. Ivon Ray Stanley July 12, '84 Georgta
22. David Leroy Washington July 13, '84 Florida *
After Georgia
Tyo Black men in twoyl
WELL DONE,
Governor. Mark White, Texas--3 down, 172 to go!
Governor Frank Harris, Georgia--2 down,
115 to go!
Governor George Wallace, Alabama--1 down, 70 to go!
Governor William Allain, Mississippi--1 down, 42 to go!
Governor Edwin Edwards, Louisiana--1 down, 35 to go!
Governor James Hunt,Jr., North Carolina--1 down, 34 to go!
Governor Robert Orr, Indiana--1l down,
25 to go!
Governor Charles Robb, Virginia~-1 down, 24 to go!
These boys deserve our support.
Send a killer to Washington.
PAID FOR BY THE DRAFT "BLOODY" BOB FOR VEEP COMMITTEE
(415)82> i460
Orland Senfane |
Joly iN, 084
State justices
refuse to halt
te
2-executions:
Poe cer 3
m “TALLAHASSEE — Florida’s Su-
‘preme Court Tuesday cleared the way
cfor the nation’s first double state ex-
;écution since capital punishment was «
*restored eight years ago. |: E er
‘I "The state’s highest court rejected
‘the ‘appeal of convicted killer Jimmy
:Smith and, two hours later, dissolved
ta stay of execution for inmate David
!Washington- PE oe
‘\=Both men are scheduled to die at 7
aim. Thursday at Florida State Prison
“near Starke. - enut a
, _ Smith’s attorneys will get another —
chance to win a reprieve for their cli-
‘ent during a hearing Wednesday be-
fore a federal judge in Pensacola,
white Washington’s attorneys said
*they would ask a federal judge in Mi-
tami to block the execution. . :
oe ‘Washington, 34, was convicted of
‘the 1976 murders of three people in
Miami. < .
Smith, 30, was convicted of the May
31, 1978, deaths of Bonnie Ward and
ther 12-year-old daughter Donna
*Strickland. They were killed near
;Marianna. |
* On Tuesday morning, the state
asked the judges to allow Smith’s ex-
‘ecution to proceed.
i Sara Bleakley, Smith’s lawyer, ar-
gued that a psychiatric report on her
sélient from a reform school had been
iwithheld by the state and she should
‘have a full hearing to détermine if the |
zeport could help Smith’s case. é
42-In-Washington’s case, Circuit Judge
‘Herbert Klein of Miami on Monday
‘granted a reprieve to the inmate and
‘threw out his death sentences, order-
jing a new hearing. ae
I Assistant State Attorney General
rolyn Snurkowski protested the
pndee’s ruling to the state high court. |
Executions blocked
A federal court "Wednesday
blocked the execution of Jim--
“my -Smith and David Leroy
Washington, two prisoners on
7 ‘Florida's death-row scheduled
jo die today: Smith, convicted
‘of murdering a mother and her
“1 -year-old daughter in 1978,
was granted a stay by the 11th
U.S: Circuit Court of Appeals.
“The ‘court also stayed the. ex-
‘ecution of Washington, con-
‘victed of killing three people in
“1976. The two were to go to
‘the electric chair. at. Florida
State Prison this ‘morning.
‘Story, C-1. The execution of- §
von Ray Stanley in Georgia is
“scheduled for today. Stanley
‘was convicted of the 1976 slay-
‘ing of an insurance collector in
Bainbridge, Ga. 7
Orleade Seatinel
Jo ly 13, IV 8A
“ STARKE
|S: Supreme’ Court, David: :
scheduled to be exécuted in Florida’s electric.
arring a_last
luring arguments calling for the
“death penalty,..""We cannot’ con-
clude: thatthe remark to which:
exception is taken was likely to.
have. had any, efféct upon the
‘sentencing decision of the judge
Washington’ 's lawyers si
© the nation’s highest court«
fe Lith U.S. :Circuit. Court, of ‘Appeals denying the*~
* convicted i lerer’s plea fora stay of executio:
“The U.S: Supreme Court upheld the indefin
“stay of Jimmy, Lee Smith’ s “death . war
Thursday ‘afternoon by the lth Cireui
=2 Death warrants signed. by. Gov, Bob Graham fo
4 Washington ‘and Smith expire at noon “today. Both:
ere scheduled- to be execute ‘Thursday morning,
ut won. temporary. veprieves:=
¥ Graham ‘will'now have to sign a
new warrant for Smith
“execution, °»
Washington, 34, who is under”
~his third death warrant, has re-
_mained calm through the ap--
* peals process, said Vernon Brad-
~ford, spokesman for the Florida’
“Division of Corrections. Smith,
“30, who is under his second w
rant, “was. pleased to find out he
had a stay but he’s apprehensive
because he knows the state’s ‘appeaiing it
said before the Supreme Court’s ‘ruling.
LSI think he’s a bit more) ne: than
~ ton,’ ” Bradford said.” +
“Both men remained i in, their celis Thursday in ‘the
“queuing area” of death row at Florida State Prisoi
Ll miles west of this city.
_ Washington was expecting Sbawers of his fami ys
to visit him Thursday night, Bradford said, but*
~ Smith had received no word if his mother would be
,,coming from Kenan: lle, in Osceola County, to see
“him >
Washington’s appeal fora stay .was rejects bya
three-judge panel. The’ opinion, issued by’ judges
Paul Roney, James Hill and ‘Thomas Clark, said
* Washington’s contention that ‘the death penalty is
applied ina racially discriminatory ma
already been decided in prior casés_ =
It also denied that his sentencing wa:
tional becau ‘pr secuto! fe
‘death for the murders’ of three.
people in-a crime ‘spree,in Dade
County in 1976. He had con- «
fessed to the crimes and asked,
for the death penalty, but later launched lengthy ap-
peéals when he decided he wanted to live... 3:
Smith was sentenced to die for the ‘muders ofa
“Jackson County woman, and her 12-year-old daugh-
ter in 1978. At the time of his sentencing, he asked
the jury to give him the death penalty.
The Supreme Court ruling on Smith’s stay ended
thé possibility of a\double execution, which would>
; have been the first in 20 years in Florida's electric
chair, known as “Old Sparky: oe
: sobbing 12+
porter’ Larry Lipman was
y's” execution at Florida State
By Ilene G, Reid and ‘Larry Lipman
OF THE SENTINEL STAFF 7 1°”
STARKE “+= 'Triple’ murderer David Leroy Wash-.
ington calmly‘went'to'his.death inthe electric chair
Friday “apologizing to his’ victims’ families and urg-
ing fellow death row inmates'to fight on.) ”
Only hours before his death, Washington held his
ear-old: daughter Florence in his lap and
zi ‘
PANEER vcr
ghter’s.
told her, “I want you to do better,”
. After’ midnight he was allowed a one-hour “con-
tact visit” in which he could embrace his daughter,”
his mother, Julia Lane of Blountstown, Gainesville
attorney Susan Carey and the Rev. Joe Ingle of the
‘ Southern Coalition of Jails and Prisons, :
Carey, 40, said Florence dissolved into tears as
her father was led away from the visiting area for
the last time,
“How do you explain that? How does the governor
sobs follow ki
a.m,
., Would be among the witnesess. He was not. Wash-
justify, how does the state justify, killing this girl’s :/ ington smiled briefly,” apparently at. prison: spokes-'
daddy?.She’s as much a victim as anybody,” Carey ' ;
said,! i f
.“I want you to do better,” Ingle said Washington ~
told the child. “I. want. you to set some goals for: -*
yourself'and I want you to hit the books.”,: ‘
Washington, 34, showed little emotion as he was:
led into the peach-colored death. chamber at 6:59.,
He scanned the faces of the 42’ witnesses sitting in’.
a glass booth opposite the three-legged oak chair’.
and asked prison Superintendent Richard. L. Dugger...
‘if his attorney, Richard Burr, of West Palm Beach,
man Vernon Bradford.
Washington, who confessed to the three slayings: :
‘that terrorized Miami during a 10-day robbery and
3 to chair
- families of all my victims, I am |e
, Sorry for all the grief and heart-
Saturday, July 14, 1984
killing outbreak in 1976, ex-
pressed remorse for‘his actions,
In a clear, unfaltering voice, he
said, “I would like to say to the
ache I have brought to them, I?” Washington
my death brings them any satisfaction, so be it.” ” :
He then turned his attention to the 220 inmates
.. who remain on Florida’s death row, the largest num-
‘ber in the nation, . came :
» “Wd like to’ say to all the guys on death row: Don’t
1" Please see KILLER, A-7
KILLER
From Al ee
how to defeat: 2 Seemingly unsure 2 if he had ‘said
what he’d meant, he said, “Don’t bow to a victory.”
‘nally, he blurted out, “Don’t bow to a defeat with-
but a fight. I'm kind of nervous. That’s all.”
Minutes later, Washington became the seventh
executed in Florida since the U.S. Supreme
‘ourt removed its objection’ to the death penalty i in
11976. He was the sixth’ man executed here since
iThanksgiving and the 22nd nationwide since rein-
ere of the death penalty. 7
Katrina Birk, a housewife who was stabbed nine
times; Rev. Daniel Pridgen, who was stabbed seven
times; and University of Miami student Frank Meli, .
who was stabbed 11 times.
A second execution scheduled at Florida ‘State
Prison this week was stayed indefinitely by a three-
judge panel of thé 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Ap-
peals in Atlanta. That ruling was upheld 9-0 Thurs-
day by the U.S. Supreme Court to give attorneys for
convicted murderer Jimmy Lee Smith time for a for-
mal hearing on the claim that he Teceived ined:
equate counsel during his trial. ~
About 40 anti-death penalty protestors gathered i in
a pasture across the road from the prison displaying
signs and conducting a prayer vigil. Six people who
said they favored capital punishment stood on the
other side of a fence and watched the prison quietly.
Among the protesters were Arthur Goode Jr. and
his wife Mildred. Their son Arthur Goode III was ex-
ecuted here on April 5 for raping and killing a 9-
year-old boy.
Goode criticized Gov. Bob Graham for signing | 82-
death warrants since taking office in 1979, saying
Graham “should he in, the, Guinness Book of
, Records.”
Like others opposed to capital punishment, Goode
accused Graham of being politically motivated in
signing more death” warrants than any other.
governor. “
; Despite the number of warrants he has signed,
this week’s issue of The National Law Journal said
_ Graham is not as vigorous an enforcer of the death
penalty as he is portrayed. 2
i. The publication also hinted that ‘Graham's deci
pions on who should be executed are political.
i} “Death and politics are inextricably linked,” the
‘icle says. While Graham’ wants to reap the politi-
cal benefits of implementing the death penalty in a
tonservative state, he knows that a wave of exect-
tons could alienate voters, the publication reported.
, Syd McKenzie, the governor’s general counsel, ré-
fused to discuss an ons Graham signs a partion:
Jar <
Washington was condemned for: the murders of. rights of the accused were fully protected,”
‘warrant,
_ But he emphasized that Graham 's deck ion ‘to sign a
testors gi thi
‘execution.
After repiesentatives f the governor's office said
the execution had been Carried out, Jimmy Lohman
of the Florida Clearinghouse on Criminal Justice
said: “At 7:09 this morning, the state of Florida com-
, mitted yet another murder when it executed David
Washington.” :
Graham, in a statement released following the ex!
ecution, said the sentence was carried out “after ex- |
haustive judicial analysis and review.”
“This process has assured that the constitutional
e said.
“The execution of the sentence assured that the
rights the people of Florida were afforded similar
protection.”
Inside the death chamber, Washington Watched
curiously as prison officials strapped a thick belt
across his chest and looked down while an electrode
was attached to his right ankle. He glanced over his
shoulder at the clock on the wall. Next to the clock,
the anonymous, black-hooded exectutioner — paid
$150 in cash — peered through an eye-level slit and
awaited the signal to throw the switch. Washington
did not look at the executioner.
As the leather chin strap was applied over his
mouth, Washington appeared uncomfortable, then
relaxed when the black hood was drapped over his
face and the metal skulleap containing the clectrode
was attached.
Dugger spoke briefly on an open telephone line
with Graham in Tallahassee then walked in front of
Washington and nodded to the executioner to throw
the switch,
Washington’s body jerked to rigid attention and
his hands clenched as the 2,000 volts and 14 amps of
current passed through his ‘body for one minute and
25 seconds.
After physician’s attendent Bill Matthews and at-
tending physician Dr. Canh Nguyen checked for any
signs of life, Washington was promounced dead by
Sgt. Don Gladdish.”,. - -
‘Ann Palmes, the mother of death-row inmate
Timothy Palmes, stood with the Goodes and said
that despite the frequency with which electrocutions
are proceeding in Florida, “I have hope.”
She attends the executions because, “I.ihink if
nothing else’ it accomplishes what’s in ydur con-
science. Do you have any conscience for what’s hap-
pening in the state and in the country?” :~ i
Timothy Palmes faces death for a 1976 murder.
Representatives of the Gainesville and Jackson-
ville Citizens Against the Death Penalty Hined the
fence with slogan-filled posters and wore ‘stickers.
disclaiming responsibility for the state’s actions.
Pat Bludworth, 35, a member of the Jacksonville’
* group who volunteers with a prison ministry organi-,
zation, said the protesters continue to come out for
each execution because, “We have to maké'a ‘state!
ment and make the public aware that as Chri Hans
ra
_ Demonsirators in Tallahassee, _ 6
i... they hold vigil in Capitol Rotunda.
‘we believe murder is wrong in any form.” | :
Countering the organized protestors, who have be-
‘come a fixture of execution days, were six individ-
uals who gathered to support the state’s actions.
‘Among them were Floyd Cone and his son Larin,
31, from Baldwin, near Jacksonville. Cone’s other
son, Floyd Jr. was killed in 1981 by a man now on
death row, Edward Dean Kennedy whose death sen-
“tence was
_Court.
upheld Thursday by the Florida Supreme ,
_ Cone said he believes executions are a deterrent
to capital crimes and, “If they knew they were going
to pay for
this with pure, swift justice, they'd think .
about it, they would.” -° 7
i ‘When asked if televising executions might better
dissuade people from such crimes, he said, “Person-
* ally, I would like to see the executions in a public
square somewhere so people could see the end re-
sults of what would happen. My ‘son had just as
‘ much right to live and pursue his happiness as Ke
” nedy did.”
% =
| | Washington visited with about a dozen relatives
* and supporters: late Thursday while the U.S. Su-
preme Court was rejecting his final appeal 7-2...
i. Washington ‘was given a final supper of fried
; shrimp, fried oysters, french fries “with lots of
© ketchup,” a quart of vanilla ice cream, ‘hot rolls and
lemonade,
prison. spokesman Bradford said.
¢» Washington spent his last hours lying on his bed
“or sitting up talking with Mike Berg, chief of the
jails in Duval County. Berg acted as the official wit-
; hess whose function is to observe the treatment of
the condemned. The official witness position was
created after charges were made by inmates that.
John Spenkelink was abused prior to his execution.
* in May 1979. |
ASSOCIATED PRESS.
“the ‘Assoclated Press .
i TALLAHASSEE ‘= Florida’ s
f { Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to
& ahalt the scheduled. Thursday
{executions of two convicted murder.
‘ers, Clearing one roadblock. to what’
.cution since capital.punishment: was
restored eight years ago. «=~
The state's highest court rejected 6
E Othe mercy.appeal of convicted killer
‘would be the nation’s first double exe- ”
Jimmy L, Smith and, “two hours later, :*
dissolved a stay of execution for mass »
murderer David L, Washington by the
same vote.
Both ‘convicted killers are sched-
uled ‘tq! die ‘at. 7 a.m, Thursday at
Florida State Prison. near Starke,’
where six other men have been elec- ”
- trocuted since 1979, Prison officials
have not said who would be the first,
to be strapped into the electric chair,
chance to win a reprieve for their cli
aapreen Note
State’ Ss, high court clears way for double execution —
Smith's attorneys will “get anothe: for a second time Tuesday afternoon.
State prosecutors said Washing-
ent during a hearing today before a” ‘ton’s new lawyers were arguing legal
federal judge..in Pensacola, while ’ issues that had been litigated in other
‘xcourts, But the prisoner’s public de-.
Washington’s. ‘attorneys «said ’ they
would ask a federal judge in Miami t
block the exécution. ;: Ste
» Washington,’ 34, is under his third . tions that merited a reprieve.
warrant for the September 1976 It would be the first time in Florida
murders of three people in Miami. ‘since May 1964 that two inmates were
'{fenders insisted the arguments.were
“Butthe Supreme. ‘Court heard his case electrocuted on the same-day, -
!j Mew and ‘raised constitutional ques- ~~
Killers set for.
execution get >
temporary stays :
The Associated Press z
STARKE — Federal judges!
Wednesday granted temporary re-
prieves to a pair of killers who were
io die Thursday morning, but Florida
still had until noon Friday to execute"
the men who killed a total of five
people. : -
US. District Judge Eugene P. Spell-
man denied the habeas corpus peti-
tion of mass murderer David L
Washington of Miami but granted a
stay until 6:59 a.m. Friday to give
appeals courts time to review the
denial. 9 bs
Jimmy Lee Smith, who killed two.
people near Marianna, won a delay
earlier from the llth U.S. Circuit
Court of Appeals less than 12 hours
before he was to die in Florida's elec-
tric chair. _ ,
ee
E : oo as se
Jimmy Lee Smith David L. Washington”
killed two people . killed three people
Florida to execute.”
“Washington; Smith
execution halted ©.
By MIKE McQUEEN |: i
The Associated Press." ” mod od
STARKE — One of two Florida murderers
whose executions were delayed for 24 hours won
* an indefinite stay Thursday, but the Supreme Court
declined to spare the other, and prison officials
said he would be executed in the electric chair at7
fo ; =
ca inesville rag
Joly V3, (as4
a.m. today:
The llth US.
legal arguments more closely. <--
But the Supreme Court ruled 7-2 to
Court of Appeals in _Atlanta
"granted a stay for Jimmie L. Smith, and the US.
Supreme Court later refused to lift it.The justices,
without comment, left intact the appeals court or
der sparing Smith’s life until it studies his latest”
pprove the
execution of David L. Washington, a convicted tri-
* ple-murderer, and jeft intact an earlier order by
* the federal appeal court in Atlanta, which ruled
_ that Smith’s arguments of ineffective trial counsel
= needed closer study. °*
Florida Department of Correctio!
©' Vernon Bradford said his execution had been re-
i by State Pris
=
‘ See
"EXECUTION. on page 8A:
Execution |
_ ‘From page 1A -
“He was still calm. He didn’t seem tobe
f “surprised. There doesn’t seem to be much -
reaction on his part,” Bradford said of
| Washington’s reaction when be learned
‘ he’d lost the appeal... 7
F Jearning of the Atlanta
spokesman
‘Smith was “still apprehensive” after ~
court’s reprieve daughter, and Washington, a triplemur-
_nation’s first double execution in 19 years. *
“We feel that a stay of execution should
not have been granted ... that there was no
legal basis for it,” Assistant Attorney
General Ray Marky said in Tallahassee.
Washington and Smith had been “just
_ Sitting in their cells” ’ earlier ‘as their
“appeals were being considered by the
11th Circuit, Bradford said. <3 34.”
Smith, who killed a worhan and Yer
: since the decision was being appealed to derer from Miami, had been scheduled to
the Supreme Court. But’ once the high ° die shortly after sunrise Thursday at the
‘court spared t
Bradford said.
“he was very pleased,” " Florida State Prison near Starke but won
temporary reprieves from two different
Death warrants for the men, who killed federal courts late Wednesday.”
| five people between them, were set to ex-
: pire at noon today. The carrying out of death row inmate Ivon R. Stanley after.
both sentences would havé marked the the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear
Early Thursday, Georgia executed
ia ee
his appeal. He was the 21st prisoner exe-
cuted since the Supreme Court restored ~
capital punishment in 1976 and the first
black ‘executed in Georgia since 1963.
Florida has executed six killers since 1979
but hasn’t put two to death on the same
day since 1964. =)
_ Washington was visited by his mother
and other relatives Thursday while
capital punishment foes paid a brief visit
late Wednesday to Smith, who was “a little
more nervous than Washington,” Brad-
ford reported. ' ; ‘ae at
Washington, 34, was under his third
death warrant for a 1976 crime spree that
claimed University of, Miami student
Frank Meli, elderly Miami resident
Katrina Birk and homosexual minister
Daniel Pridgen. :
at
3
wn
2 W-
=.
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elng
Sun staff writer £
Sun Peganet ‘Martin Drummond 7
witnessed the execution of David
L. Washington.
By MARTIN R. DRUMMOND
STARKE — Just pefore- 2,000
volts of electricity surged through
nis slender body: early Friday,
Florida Death Row inmate David
L. Washington smiled, said he was
sorry for the three people he mur-
dered in 1976 and that he was
“kind of nervous.” >) =
The 34-year-old black man, a
former migrant worker, said if his
death brings any satisfaction to.
the victims’ families, “So be it”*
“fm sorry for all the grief and
x heartache I have brought to
them,” he said. *
And in his last advice to 220 oth-
er condemned prisoners,
Washington said, “I'd like to say to
all the guys on death row, don’t
bow to defeat -.. don’t. bow to a
victory ... don’t bow toa defeat.”
“Pm kind of nervous,” he said
* with a half-smile. “That's all.”
At 7:09 am., just over five
“ minutes after his apology, he was
declared dead by Florida Siate
- Prison doctor Canh Nguyen, Pris-
on Sgt. Don Gladdish then told 42 +
‘ witnesses crowded into a room
agaebat to death chamber that
the sentence chad been carried
‘out.
"Washington’s only’ visible. signs
during the electrocution were his -
clenched fists, which slowly
rotated during the 85-second purst
“of voltage. Just before) FSP Super-
intendent Richard Dugger called
a halt to the execution, sweat be-
gan dripping from Washington’s
hood-covered face.» |= *
Just after the death
pronouncement, the 12 news me-
dia witnesses, 12 “official” wit-
. Resses picked by the state and 18
corrections employees. filed out
quietly except for a couple of the
official witnesses who were
smiling and joking, though their
conversation could not be
distinguished. One of the two had
“said before the electrocution that
Washington’s death “is a good re-
- minder that we live im a_lot less
than perfect world.”.
‘Also smiling were a ‘pair of cor
rections officers standing in the
death chamber next, fe Washing:
ton’s body... / i
Washington had been on Death
“Row for’ more than, seven years
See EXECUTION on page 8A
Execution ~~ > 2%
a
“by phone and then carried out by a black- hooded
‘From pagelA.. . % -
for the brutal September 1976 slayings of<*
University of Miami student Frank Meli, elderly,- aa
“Miami resident Katrina Birk and minister Dan-
jiel Pridgen. The bodies had been stabbed a total: or
of 27 times and, in addition, Birk had been shot, * a
“Meli had begged for his life before being”
(Killed, police reported at the time. .
In Miami, Meli’s mother, Dolores’ Meli Lo
“Proto, told the Associated Press Washington’:
“execution was long overdue. =.“ - al
: “My son was tied up. for two “days, stabbed iv)
times in the chest, and I’m supporting.
Washington, I pay taxes. My son is dead. My pe, j
‘would have been an attorney today.” e
When convicted, Washington told Circuit.
Judge Richard Fuller to sentence him to death. “I; ,
don’t want to die —'you know what I mean? But it
I sit up in some jail and rot, Pa rather be killed,’
‘he said then. ie
_, During the seven years, bH0 “death warrants;
jiad been signéd by Gov. Bob Graham but both:
expired after the U.S. Supreme Court blocked!
them."
Aggressive legal | * efforts during fecent days :
were waged by death penalty opponents against ;
the death warrant signed in June by Graham:
The opponents, claiming an arbitrary and diss
‘criminatory sentencing process, were able te
block Thursday’s scheduled execution when the
US. Supreme Court said’ Wednesday it needed
‘more time to review the sentence.
; But late Thursday, the ‘Supreme Court ‘justices
ejected the last-minute appeal and let stand
their earlier stay which expired at 6:59 a.m. Fri)
day. In anticipation of the execution, Washington
was fed a breakfast of his choice which included
fried shrimp and oysters, french fries, hot rolls
and a quart of vanilla ice cream. *
At 7:04 am., Graham's decree was confirmed
executioner who threw the switch for a pce of |
i ; $150: in cash. +)
t
Washington's body was picked up by Charles :
“Chestnut of Chestnut Funeral Home. Cremation
is*planned by Washington’s family who’ will
< spread his ashes in the Atlantic Ocean. -
Washington’s execution is the seventh carried {
out by the state since Graham took office in 1978.
"Nationally, 21 other men have been executed ;
“since the Supreme Court reinstated the death
‘penalty in 1976, the latest taking place early i
_ Thursday morning in Georgia. in
Left: Susan Carey, a Gainesville attorn
ig:
SE aren satinotserarner
Washington, reacts to thé execution while outside Death Row. Righ:
a legal assistant to Washington’s attorneys,
Goode died in Florida’s electric chaif earlier this year.
ey who volunteered her services to help David
Margaret Vandiver,”
stands with the parents of Arthur Goode Ill.
Protesters await signal —
of Washington’ s death |
By PAULA HORVATH-! NEIMEYER,
‘Sun staff writer e
i) Asaredsun broke over the horizon
_ early Friday, some 50 protesters took
* up a vigil behind a wire fence across
_ from Florida State Prison to await the
” death of a man few of them even
knew. *
- Behind the tan walls and barbed...
wire fences of the prison across the
* street, 34-year-old David Leroy
Washington, convicted of killing
three people in. Miami, was preparing
‘to die.
Washington, a sometimes migrant “
* worker, had lost a final bid for his life
Jate Thursday when the Supreme
Court rejected his appeal. He would
be the seventh man executed in
, Florida since the Supreme, Court
* reinstated capital © Punishm it in
1976.
Many of those who had gathered «
Friday had traveled to the misty cow
pasture before to protest the execu-
tion of the others at the Starke prison.
Their protestations sounded familiar.
° “Executions Equal Pre-Meditated
Murder” proclaimed one sign. “Stop
State Murder” was" scrawled on
janothern, «2 °°
: “These men are here (on death
‘row) for the most part because
they're black and in the second part
_because they’re poor,” the Rev. Larry
“Reimer of the United Church of
Gainesville told the protesters.
‘ Asingle death penalty backer stood
quietly apart. »
Although Washington was 5 nothing
more than 4 name to most of the
protesters, sorne had met the con-
-demned man and even fought for his
difex?: fs?
t Joe Ingle, director of the Southern’
Coalition on Jails and Prisons, and”
Gainesville attorney Susan Carey had
_ Stayed with Washington until the
- ly morning hours as Washin;
impending death. "vs eid
“The death penalty creates awhole
7 new class of victims,” Ingle told re-
porters, “The pain his family had ‘to
et
with and prepared his family for his,
~ go through last night is unforgivable.”
They stood with Dick Burr, a West
“palm Beach attorney who had taken
Washington’s case during the past few
weeks. Burr had just returned from
Atlanta where he had been fighting to
have his client's life spared by the «
courts. ©>
where the fight for life and decency
takes place But the courts will not do -
anything to stop (executions) until the °
people of Florida say they don’t want
them anymore, ” Burr. said.
Standing silently ‘with the other
protesters were Arthur and Mildred
Goode, the parents of Arthur F.
Goode IIl,'a convicted 'child rapist
and murderer who was'executed in
early April. | +
It was. the first execution the
Goodes had attended since the 1979
“execution of John Spenkelink when
their son was waiting on! Death Row.
‘And it was the first time either of .
them had ventured near Starke since
their, son’s death three sons ago.!
“tt was the first time we could
stand coming near here,” Mildred
Goode said. Her husband said he
hoped their presence “would do a lit-
tle good and make some impression”
in support of the anti-death penalty
movement.
Silence descended over the cow
pasture as the protesters awaited
word on Washington’s fate. Even the
normally boisterous press corps was
quiet as ali eyes were focused on the
the side door leading from “Q wing”
of the prison about a quarter ofa mile
away where the death warrant was
being carried oath 2
believed to be a wire service report-
“The courts are an important place’
Suddenly, the door opened and
several small figures emerged. One, -
“er, came forward, faced the COW
pasture and waved a white cloth slow- >
ly back and forth over his head. It was «
the standard signal to other reporters.”
‘waiting I in the cow pasture. . FS
“The execution of David Leroy!
“Washington had been completed i
wae bi The: een a Te
Ros
ea caratiges
T
“resulting in execution by electric
chair since 1924* o .
out at the local jail or prison by hanging.
Statewide: 203 (133 black males,
71 white males and no women.
Average age 32) 5
‘op five counties in convictions
Duval 35
Dade __— _26
“Hillsborough___16
., Pinellas E 16
| Alachua : 10
* Before 1924 executions were carried
Friends say Washington showed
-yemorse for families of victims
By MARTIN R. DRUMMOND
Sun'staff writer wet AE ae “
Joe Ingle and Susan Carey often talked with con-
démned killer David Leroy Washington about a
variety of subjects such as sports, religion, the
weather and life in prison.» a
‘One thing they ‘didn’t like talking about, but did
so” anyway, was. death. And when they did,
Washington often cried. is, :
It was not so much the painful idea of his own
life ceasing — which occurred Friday. at 7:09 a.m.
— but the sorrow that filled him because of three
brutal murders he committed almost eight years
ago in Dade County." . oo
__, Washington, his friends said before the execu-
tion, is “eaten up” with grief for the three families
who have likewise been grieving ever since his
, stabbing, robbing and shooting rampage took the
lives of their loved ones. “He is remorse personi-
fied. David Washington weeps and has for yeers on
what he has done,” said Carey, a volunteer lawyer
who knew him for six years. * Pee AS
“Corrections officers at'the Florida State Prison
hnave confirmed that Washington would sometimes
cry in his cell at night. a diss
= ‘Describing the inmate as “a nice guy... lovable,”
Carey said Washington had been a model prisoner
“who would never kill again, even if released on the
street. “David is a good person who did a terrible
“thing,” she said. ene " oS
Ingle, a minister from Nashville, Tenn., said
Washington “just snapped” when he committed the
murders. * i oe
During the past few days, however, Ingle said he
has rarely seen such a display of “warmth,
genuine, human concern” as in Washington.
“Much of that concern was shown toward family
smbers Thursday night when the tall, slender
, Washington visited with them for four hours, at one
: point putting his 12-year-old daughter Florence on
‘nis knee and telling her to “hit the books, really
oP OTK Bard” so she wouldn’t end up like him...’..
“Florence had come with Washington’s mother,
ced. He was.
ja. His father is dead. He was
or and legal representation
2 “recent weeks”
‘caine only because of donated time by lawyers and.
social workers and donations from private sources.
Ingle, Carey and another Washington counselor,
Margaret Vandiver, told The Sun Thursday that by
offering sympathy to the inmate over the past
years, they were not trying to lessen the horror the
families of Frank Meli, Daniel Pridgen and
Katrina Birk have endured.
“We really grieve for them. But it (Washington's
death) is not going to lessen anything ... bring back
their loved ones,” Carey said. =
Ingle Said one of his missions to the relatives of
murder victims is “to help them see what ven-
geance will do to them and thejr families. It will
eat them alive.” 2.
Ingle said he hopes the public does not view
death penalty opponents as endorsing murder or to
worsen the grief of victims’ families. “The impor-
tant thing they need to understand is that we are
not out to hurt them but out to stop a (state) mur-
der,” he said. : :
Carey said Washington’s execution is an
example of how capital punishment “keeps the
murder horribly alive. Because of the morbid
character of the execution, it keeps public atten-
tion on it (the details of the past murder).” ta
The three advocates of Death Row inmates said
they will likely have little time to focus on Wash-
ington’s death because of Gov. Bob Graham’s pro-
lific signings of death warrants. More than 80 have
been signed since he was elected in 1978, though
Jegal blockades by lawyers have Kept the execu-
tion total to only seven. . eo
“You know what happened is terrible. The whole
machinery of the state is set on killing that one
person and when you lose (the appeal process) itis
so devastating,” Vandiver said.
“But you know that) as soon as one is over, you
don’t have time for your sympathy. But we're not
going to give up,” she said. “
Vandiver, a graduate sociology student, said”
_Graham and state Attorney General Jim Smith are:
“puilding their political careers on this issue.”
The three protesters said the death penalty in
Florida will never be abolished until the public’
persuades enough State legislators to change the.
capital punishment law, 25 88
i
Bes
Thi e’s 10 sieading & ‘some people. Never mind
that under ‘the aggressive leadership of Gov. Bob
Graham Florida has become the nation’s Mecca for
electrical vengence. Never mind that, while other
siates struggle to dispatch their ‘first miscreant, Gra
ham, with yesterday’s execution of David
5 Washington, has put seven souls under! the jailhouse,
i more than twice, as as ‘any other state.
Forget that the meting out of death has been the
Graham administration’s most wildly successful
: public, policy achievement. = far outshining efforts.
to, say, reform Florida’s tangled fox system « or fully
fund schools. .
“And so what if Grahi has signed 82 death war-
rants? So what if he ts deplored by. Amnesty
International, the Black Congressional Caucus, all
_ manner of anti-capital punishment aoe and some
religious organizations?
Because if Graham were really serious about
Florida’s capital punishment mandate, he would
have signed 114 warrants by now — ~ enough to pa-
per his office wall.
“that’s the contention ‘of the National Law
Journal, a New York legal publication that analyzed
- Graham’s own criteria for determining when fo sign
warrants and found that Graham could today sign at
Jeast 32 — many for. inmates who have yet to see
their first death sheet. Those inmates are ripe for
dispatching, by virtue of having had their sentences
affirmed by the Florida Supeme Court and the U.S.
Supreme Court, and having had their pleas for
mo pele by Goan and the Cabinet.
and Journal staffer, implies that even a pro-death
advocate with as strong a stomach
doesn’t think his public would sit smiling through a
veritable wave of executions, “the likes of which is
unseen olttside of Iran. Instead, the Jt journal implies,
Graham ratis as, “out just nough death. a
“Death and politics are in xtricably linked?
Kaplan wrote. He quoted Florida Clearinghouse on -
Criminal Justice Director Scharlette Holdman, who" ~
said “he wouldn’t sign 30 warrants tomorrow simply
because it would appear so ‘unseemly at and fepulsive
that it would backfire on him.” : ’
ane wants to Jook strong
. slobherine ie at the mouth,” she added. ©
Its tempting to ‘simply accuse Graham of rpabiog
" politics with the electric chair and have done with
it. If, for instance, Graham really believed in his
much-touted contention that electrocution deters
others from committing murder, then the more bod-
even smaller chance of being
all that much, : a
raham’ so
coolke a ritualistic warding off of evil spirits. :
‘lowest casté among our! offenders. For the purpose +
> who buried his wife alive with abulldozer 0
numbers show that certain ‘groups of Kille have an"
lied. before the.
_. Killers of blacks, ‘for jastance, need worry almost
not at all, about Death Row. White killers need fret
about if less than do blacks, And killers from the up-
per social and economic classes can do as little as -
five to 10 years hard time for their crimes. And itis
safe to predict that Florida will likely never execute
So forget about deterrence. Given the nature of
the selection process, any killer who is cold-blooded
and calculating enough to stop and think”
: beforehand about the consequences of his deed will
likely conclude that electrocution is awarded in
Florida ona lottery- like basis. And the odds against.
drawing an ee number are great. Se
Even if Graham did sign another 32 warrants, and
even if half of them were carried out forthwith, the |
additional executions wouldn’t change the statistics
Maybe, then, Graham's noieved reluctance to
sign every warrant within arms Teach stems not so
much, as the Journal implies, from his sense of po-
‘litical preservation, as it does from Graham’s |
appreciation for the concept of the execution as
ritual. °.4 0: ae A
Whether accurate or not, there is a growing
perception,’a fear, among Americans that,
somehow, crime is out of control, that people are no
‘Jonger safe in their homes or streets. That fear natu-
rally breeds anger “and reseniment, and a logical
outgrowth of that is a public s ntiment for ;
executions: ; :
That someone “goes to the chair periodically is
sufficient to appease ‘that public anger and ‘
resentment. And it really doesn’t matter to the pub- ©
lic that the selection process leading to death row is
_So’ serendipitous, or so racially and socially selec-
tive ‘as to dilute the deterrent value.
To: a very real degree, David ‘Washington drew an -
unlucky number and died on Friday for the sins of *
murderers and criminals everywhere. ‘And to the ;
degree that his death slaked the public fear and an- ;
‘ger, at least, for the ‘moment, his execution was not i
: Death Row ‘continues to be reserved for the | H
poorest, the blackest, the least intelligent and the:
of serving the ritual, a David Washington will do just
as well as, say, the Clearwater Methodist pastor who <
stabbed his wife and son to death, the Orange
County commissioner, who pumped five bullets info
the Tampa psychiatrist ho murdered his.
dered her Busband, the ‘Nassau. County busin
pe
Herida. a
2B ST. PETERSBURG TIMES
= WEDNESDAY, JULY 11, 1984.
é
By JON | PECK
United Press! Eeerations!
TALLAHASSEE — The Florida sapsns Court
Tuesday refused to block two executions scheduled for
“Thursday, setting the stage for furious Jast-day legal
battles in federal courts at opposite ends of the state.
- Supreme Court refuses. to block
executions set for Thursday
In separate 6-0 rulings, the-court cleared the way for’
what could be the nation’s first double erection t in 20
years.
: The court Tuesday evening lifteda stay of: éxecution
Leroy Washington, who'could become the Second black
executed in Flori la nce the death Penalty was rein-
stated in 1976. *
EARLIER, THE JUSTICES refused to grant a
stay for Jimmy Lee Smith, convicted of killing a Mar-
ianna woman and her 12- -yeat-old daughter in 1978.
‘+ Attorneys for both death row inmates said ' they will.
"take their appeals to federal courts. °.”.
A hearing on Smith’s mercy plea is scheduled for this
morning before U.S. District Judge Roger Vinson in
* Pensacola, and Washington’s lawyer said he expected to
file a similar federal appeal in Miami.
Tuesday afternoon Washington, who confessed to
killing three Dade County people over a nine-day span
. in 1976, caneeled a final press conference at Florida
issued earlier in the day for triple-murderer David.”
{
“ State Prison in Starke. Smith had refused ‘ll long to”
talk with reporters...
Six prisoners have bean put to, death jin Florida’s”
three-] “legged wooden electric chair since 1979, five of
them since last Th: ‘iving. None of the six has been
executed while under his first death warrant.
2 Washington, ‘34, 18 under his third warrant, while
Smith, 30, is under his second. :
Prison officials began preparations for the execu.
tions, which were scheduled for shortly
noon Friday.
If both executions are carried ot, it would be neues
first’ time since the U.S. Supreme Court lifted its ban on
capital punishment eight years ago that two prisoners ‘
have been executed within a 241 hour period i ‘in the same
* state. 2 A
Florida’s last double‘e exécution occurred ‘on May 12,
1964, the final time Florida administered its ultimate
punishment before the high court ruling stopped execu-
tions for more than a dozen years. -
Washington, one of eight children, was born in,
Trenton, N.J., but moved to Miami when he was 10. He
has never denied killing Daniel Pridgen, Katrina Birk
and Frank Meli during a rampage of robbe, kidnap-
ping and killing Sept. 20- 29, 1976.
lafter d dawn . -
Thursday. Goy. Bob Graham’ s death warrants expire at
WASHINGTON
“4 ; £
|
JIMMIE LEE SMITH
‘Conpted from Al
2 A killer who ‘buried his victim alive faced death in
‘Georgia’s electric chair, a few minutes after midnight
Wednesday, but two men, scheduled to die in Florida
lay received tem} Teprieves.. “2s.
ec US. diene for the 11th Circuit in
Atlanta granted a temporary stay to Jimmy Lee Smith at
‘6:25 p.m. EDT Wednesday, a little more than 12 hours
sbefore he was scheduled to die in the nation’s first double
ecution in 19 years."The‘court scheduled a hearing for
“9:30 this ‘morning on Smith’s ase. AE
L
Us S..-District Judge. Eugene P. Spellman. dénied the
tpstition of David L, Washington. But he granted a stay of
fexecution for Lsletecae el 6:59 am. EDT Friday to
' give appeals courts review his denial. ‘
te If the stays are lifted, Florida has until hoon Frida'to
* execute the ‘men who killed a total of five people. =
details of the deve elopment in both states:
Ywon Ray Stanley, a
_in Georgia, sirice the Suy
“the Seat Lionas! 19%
Executions tix 9
A three-judge panel of the 11th Circuit in Atlanta’
denied a stay of execution for Stanley Wednesday after-
noon, and he was to be strapped into the electric chair at
Jackson Diagnostic Center south of Atlanta shortly after
midnight.
Stanley and ‘another’ man, Joseph Edward Thomas,
28, were conyicted of the robbery-murder of Clifford
Floyd, a prominent Bainbridge, Ga., insurance man who
was robbed, beaten, shot and buried alive in 1976.
Thomas is still on Georgia’s death row.’ ->
Stanley admitted he was present when Floyd was
killed, but said it was Thomas whe committed the ;
murder, » : a
In Florida’ zt
Washington, 34, was to die in the electric chair at
Florida State Prison near Starke at 7 a. m., and Smith, 30,
was to have followed him a few minutes later. The death
. Warrants for both men are in effect until noon Friday, so
they could still be executed if their stays are lifted.
Florida has already executed six men since 1976, more
_ than any other state.
Officials said Washington and Smith were in holding
cells about 12 feet apart next to the death chamber. They _
could not see each other but could communicate if they
wished. Apparently they had little to say to each other,
according to prison spokesman. Vernon Bradford. -
Washington, one of eight children born to a Trenton,
NJ. family, came to Miami when hé was 10. He admitted
Killing three people i in robberies over a 10-day period -
be
because he didn’t have enough
° grandfather i and stepfather, according t to
a Si od of kitting ‘a Wornan aid her 12+ ee
old child in 1978, was abused while a child by his father,
Gail Rowland of .
ig] school ‘dropout wi
81, was to become the 2st man executed, and the second
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e Court dropped its ban 0 on |
"_ tive state, he knows that a wave of executions could
. warrant. But he emphasized that Graham’s decision to
Based 0:
“murderers. But not too many,” the New York publication -
_ the governor has said
an 1Q of
“the Florida ‘Clearinghouse on Criminal Justice.
‘The last double executions in the United States came
_ in 1965, when Kansas — which has since abolished the
~ death penalty’ — carried out two double hangings, on
April 4 and June 6. The'men éxecuted in April of that year
‘were Perry E. Smith and Richard Eugene Hickock, the
killers in Truman Capote’s book In Cold Blood: - «
Since 1976, the only instance in which two inmates
have been electrocuted on the same day occurred April 5, |
when Elmo Patrick Sonnier died in Louisiana for killing {
two ‘teen-age sweethearts and Arthur Frederick Goode
was executed i in Florida for the sex staying of ofa Svea old
boy.
. “Journal hints politics plays role . .
A national publication says that although Florida has
had more executions than any other state since 1976, Gov.
Bob Graham is not as vigorous an enforcer, of the death
penalty as he is portrayed.
This week’s issue of the National Law Journal says
that while Graham can sign as many as 32 death warrants
now, he is signing them either in pairs or individually.
“Gov. Bob Graham is committed to executing
said.
‘The publication hinted that Graham’s decisions on,
who should be executed are political...
-“Death and politics are inextricably linked,” the
cle says. While Graham wants to reap the, political
bénefits of implementing the death penalty in aconserva-
!
H
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H
!
i
i
i
i
alienate voters, the publication reported. 70007
“Syd McKenzie, the governor’s general counsel; te- ;
fused to discuss the reasons G: signs a particular.
sign a warrant is
#STARKE'-— = An appeals court on. ‘Thureda denied ‘a
tay of. execution “for one.of two killers facing, th fipet s
ouble. executidn in:19 years, but ‘rented ‘the'peti
“ the second death-row inthate,'*
‘The’ 11th’ U,S.: Circuit: Court oft. ‘Appaal
ned aside a last-minute plea from attorneys for David
Leroy Washington, condemned for the slayings of three’
‘ people, The panel refused to delay Washington’s execu
{tion beyond 6:69.a.m. today, and state’ prison officials’:
‘were preparing to execute him at 7 a.m, .
Jimmy Lee Smith, 30, received a reprieve. «
rAtorney for: Washington, ig faa ry prosecut
‘ourt to:
Awasi INGTON ‘
Senin
‘ cp oceners the request. f Dan warrants
for the two men expire today at noon,
:: Earlier Thursday, Ivon Ray Stan-
ley, 28, was “executed at 12:15 a.m...:
‘" EDT in the electric chair at Jackson, '
-Ga., becoming’ the 2ist man executed
‘in the United States since the Su-
:-preme Cot h
ty ban in
«since 1976, more than any other atate,
{dered and the lawyers argued, Wash:
hair,” Washington: who! stabbed.
‘death a’homosexual preacher, an
xception is. taker ‘was
the sentencing. deci: ion of the judge,’ the panel said,
(i; Barlier in the on the ‘Atlanta appeals court ayreed
ith: : i
Florida ‘authorities Peay
‘There has not been a double exe-
‘ution —"two men executed in. the
*“sions. Florida has executed six mer!
“WHILE THE JUDGES ‘son.
“ington and Smith waited in isolated +
ells 50 feet from Florida's electric’.
derly woman and a college student in’ Y' ‘peport, ; é
Ne oe
nclude'that the remark to which
ikely to have had any éffe :t upon
throw out; the stay, jbut the court rei ned to:
ig ‘t
: ‘Miami eight years ago, ‘was Visited ‘by!
ig family.’ And from her home in’!
Central Florida, Smith’s impover-:'
ished mother “called collect’ ‘every:
hour to the clearing house on crimi-
“nal Justice to find out the status of
her son’s appeal. Salih was’ convict-5
-ed- for' the murder of:’a ‘Marianna
woman and hor at a daughter,
»,- State prison officials were }
ing Thursday ‘night’ to’ move Smith’
off death row, ‘They did. not expect,
further court ‘action: before his wal
rant expires at noon,;;: :
Washington, who received stays
of two previous execution dates, said
in an interview: {I think my life was.
just: one big. mistake. I had all the:
‘best breaks in life, all the right-op-.
x \ portunities. Seemed like everything I . .
Gy touched, I destroyed, Family, wifey %
nds, everything, Tjust destroyed.” i
‘st. Potersburg: Staff! Writer
auris Hollman contributed to ual
ar
- a
todo better
In‘a * furrowed. cow pasture ‘hear the:
“. prison, about 40 people, some opposed to.
capital punishment and others friends of;
“the dead man, chanted, We ‘Shall Over-
‘come, while a handful of death-penalty
‘y supporters across the field looked ‘at the’.
execution chamber in silent approbation.
“| This was to have'been a double execu-+ |
“tion, Florida’s first:in 20 years, Washing-; i
ton was scheduled ‘to -die first followed ‘ 4
4s |s, shortly afterward. by Jimmy Lee Smith, !
onan . convicted of murdering a Marianna wom-
e an and her 12-year-old daughter after the
“woman. said unkind: things about his girl:
friend,
Thursday night, however, the U.S, Sue J
: * “Se: preme Court upheld a lower court’s ruling -
‘The 34-year-old convict then urged his ° -WHEN-HE WAS finished, a black. .. that delayed Smith’s execution. The 30-+
fellow death-row inmates to fight their. . ‘mask was pulled over his face, « switch.’ year-old Smith was taken out of his isola- °
executions. And he apologized to the fam: :was thrown and 2,000 volts surged., tion cell 60 steps from the electric chair:
‘ilies of his three victims. " _.”) through his body. His hands clenched and. and ‘moved to a death-row cell, farther ;
» Pm-sorry for all the’ grief anc ‘hen relaxed: He.was pronounces dead at» from the execution chamber,’ 8
heartacho:1 shave~-brought: to sen heres: “Please see EXECUTION, 6-A':_
H a
“f CAURIE | HOLLMAN
Porersburg Times Stott woe
‘ . V ‘m sorry for all the grief and
‘heartache | have brought to them.
if my death brings’ them. an
Satisfaction, so be it.’
eT want'you to-look at me,” he said. -
© oupping-her-chin in,his hand, “and I want
inyou : to'see where I am. I'm going to die-
he “hore, ‘and I want you'to do better,” =”
**Lesa ‘than eight hours: later,, David’
Yoroy Washington was ‘dead, the seventh: years. Prison Superintendent Richard ‘tg my death bing hem any’ tis.
gman — and second black man —to die in Dugger asked him if'he had anything to ¥» faction, so.be it.”
‘Wlorida’s' electric’ chair since’ tho’ death... say, and Washington said yes. °
} penalty. was reinstated in 1972,
‘Washington entered the death cham-
er shortly. ‘after. ‘sunrise Friday. He ap:
eared calm and-even smiled faintly as he’
jotas strapped into,the-electric chair, the
ame ‘chair Florida‘has used for the last 60:
at : rane , ss
~Execution fonts
SAOCCUTION roms
: Washington wasn’t so lucky, First
the Ith U.S. Circuit Court, of Ap:
‘peals in Atlanta and then the U.
-Supreme Court refused to delay his
execution beyond 6:59 a.m.:Friday,
-So Thursday night, he met with
his‘ mother, his daughter, a minister
and’ other family members and
frjends. Then, at 4:30 am., he ate his -
“tera, french fries with lots of catsup, -
vanilla ice cream. He «polished off +,
¥ i : most of the food, joking with the |
i * up) guards about his appetite. Pos
‘; Death-penalty protester stands ) After breakfast, prison officials
3 . . Prepared Washington for electrocu-
with head bowed Friday after tion, They shaved his head and right
execution of David Washington. , Jeg and gave him his execution attire,
Picea oe : sta oe ee oe SROCULON atti
last meal — fried shrimp, fried oys-“".few months ago... That's righi
hot rolls, lemonade and a half-pint of’ ” “child molester and child killer, died:
& white shirt, and dark-blue pants,
Meanwhile, ‘in the dim, moist’
fields across the street.from the pri
gan to gather. Some were:members of.“
Death Penalty, Others. were ator: |
Washingtdn’s appeal. One: said ‘she
-had a boyfriend on death Bi)
SEVERAL ASSAILED Gov. :
Graham for his resolute enforcement :
of the death penalty in Florida, One,
‘of the most vocal-was-an elderly: man. !
who said he was here with. his wife’ !
“for the governor's party.” i Pope
A, reporter pressed ‘them to say,
more, and the woman asked her hus-
band, “You.going to tell them?”
“No. Eh, you can tell them,” he.
said. “My son was executed here a
Goode. Arthur Goode,” (Goode, a '
in the electric chair April 5.)
' Graham, who has received ins:
. creased national attention as well as,
_ criticism from human-rights groups.
for his death-penalty policy, issued a,
», Statement about Washington's exe-’ |
“cution. It read in‘part, “This process
on, people opposed to his’ death be- |:
the Jacksonville Citizens Against the:.;
neys - who «had worked: on’ > who agree with’ Graham about thei...
; “they've got to stop something some.
. Where.” Mee vie ‘ :
‘homosexual, was stabbed seven times
has assured that the constitutional. Friday’ morning couldn’t say, ‘al-*
rights of the accused were fully pros | y though they repeatedly noted that he"
tected. The execution of the sentence: : felt great remorse for his crimes, He
assures that the rights of the People ‘pleaded guilty’ to three charges of
of Florida are afforded’ similar-proy ‘first-degree murder, 'later telling ‘a’!
vectiOh cin pegin'ty ks, wa. ssh judge, “I dida'thave'any right tori «
As the sun. began: to rise, people". these people’s lives.” ie
: 4 Washington originally sought
oath penalty ciceted a field apart death rather than a lifes prison, But |
ahd chated quiy amen’ vbans be subeeuenly appealed hse
selves, One ihetibe ‘of the group, ~”. aoe, aime : ws Wee Poorly ree
Burdett. Greene of Starke, said: he rye Gone oy oath counsel, The U.S."
ernie: ‘Supreme Court rejected that argu
supports capital punishment because '«:’ teat in May, and "Washington thee
. contended that comments made bya”
‘ ‘i ived'a death enn.” Prosecutor during sentencin were °,
Washington received 'a death sen- ». Lapronee Tedarat judges, ‘diteaiseod “
tence because he killed a homosexual hat argument as well but'not before”
Preacher, ‘an, elderly’ woman and ‘av Washington was granted an extra 24
20-year-old college student during a~ jog to live, Both he and Srhith were |
12-day rampage in Miami in 1976. “originally scheduléd to'go to the elec.
Rev. ‘Daniel Pridgen, a’ 69-year-old tric, chair Thursday, °°:
with a hunting knife, Katherina Birk,.,~ Forty people, including repoiters::
_ 64, was shot and stabbed nine times, "and official state witnesses, watched ~
» Frank Meli, who was studying to be a” Washington die, After. two doctors ,
checked his lifeless body, Corrections a
nabbed eos Me henady Se Don Casa ne shoa eee
his life. execution was over, “The sentence of
. wail ‘ythe state of Florida against David
WHY WASHINGTON killed, .-, Washington has been carried out,” he
his friends waiting outside the prison _. said, “Please exit to the rear,”
i
|
| By AL MESSERSCHMIDT i In reviewing the three death sentences ;' His appeals seemingly ended in May
* Herald Staff Writer’. we ~ «believe in God, and I don’t want to leave robbery .at the home of Katherina Birk; “that Fuller ordered for Washington, Klein when the U, S. Supreme Court sustained
David ‘Leroy’! 8 *. this world with this on my.conscience.” —_” and how_ Washington ‘abducted college’ sald that Gerstein’s' comments about Meli his conviction and rejected an argument
striple murderet! who: was scheduled to die’: ‘Washington, who was 26, told Fuller’ , student Frank Meli® after ‘answering were improper. °° : \ ._. that his court-appointed attorney, William
in, Florida's “electric chalr “'Thursda: that;-he preferred’ a death. sentence” to “- newspaper ad for Meli’s car. A Klein said that in 1983 (seven years Tunkey, failed ‘to present. mitigating
sshould tecelve a’ new: sentencing hearing, rotting in jail. * ©. Pridgen was stabbed seven’times wit after Washington was’ sentenced), the U. character evidence to Fuller at the 1976
‘Clreult Judge. Herbert) Klein, ruled Tues-.-. ‘The savagery of: Washington’s éight-: .a hunting knife in his bed; Birk was shot’ S. Supreme Court set’‘a’ standard ‘for sentencing hearirig. :
day 4 day, three-murder spree in Miami brought’ ~ and stabbed nine times; Meli was'tied to a sentencing ‘defendants, in: death . cases In mid-June, Gov. Bob Graham signed
‘Washington's death warrant.
Judge “Richard Fuller, “I' don’t le. I “homosexual; how Washington ‘planned’ a’
ys . ” . .
' He stayed ‘Washington's-execution In” State: Attorney Richard Gerstein to bed and stabbed’ I'l ‘times while-begging’ “That ruling requires an’ “individualize
an-, order ‘telephoned’:'to- the ‘Florida Washington's Dec.,: 7, °1976. sentencing\: for his life. o epee ® “determination on ‘the basis of the charac:
Supreme ‘Court-at:7 p.m. Monday,'and “hearing in Fuller’s court. , ‘3 Gerstein’ told’ Fuller’ that”
was
| ‘'. Washington’s latést appeal’ claimed
i , . e : ter of the individual and the circum- «that his death sentence was both arbitrary
| formally completed"Tuesday.." * 7. . ° : Gerstein took over for prosecutor Hank" -“specially moved” by the murder of Mell.’ stances of the crime” not on the basis of and discriminatory and that Gerstein'’s
|: ‘The Florida Supreme Court scheduled’ Adorno, who, prepared the case for'trial, The: state attorney described Meli ‘as a the crime victim’s social worth. ‘comments were improper. Klein ruled last,
| “hearing for late Tuesday’ view Klein's ' “and argued that death was “the only - “young student, some 20 years* of age,. ~ Commenting about the the victim, “week.that the arguments were new and
i decision. 8.8) Se es sentence that was.appropriate,’ for’ ‘Wash- “who was, working -his way. tirough Meli, was “fundamental error,” “said” “that he would review the death sentence.
‘Washington “pleaded “guilty to three ington. 4 \ college while holding’ down two jobs... “Klein. “After a hearing Friday and Saturday,
first-degree murder charges:in> 1976. “I, ° “Paraphraszing from Washington's con-': who "had been. left” without “a. father”; Although Washington asked Fuller for ’
a Klein stayed’ Washington’s execution, but
the “a death sentence, he vigorously has fought refused: to ‘ ord
h ler. a..new sentencing
against his execution. « “hearing 6 2 sah
didn’t have’ any “right to’ take’ these * Mfession, Gerstein described how Washing- | because his: father was Killed in
i ‘people's. lives,’ Washingto Id CI cuit ton “hated the, Rev. Daniel Pridgen, a. service of his country oversdas,”
etcile ase Patents tT SEMARS ag th nga tote ann Widige one Nee
«iat oe oa, as
‘Double : —
xeculion is
vs would vistt ithe
, At 4:30 a.m. they ‘will get their.
scheduled in Florida
BILL LUENING
ith~a~-saline-based'~ petroleum’ —
» jelly. Each will’. be \ dressed. in.
-traditional. death garb bought -for:
the’ occasion: crisp ‘white shirt,”
ie Please turn’ to PAIR / 224"
<
2
5
2
#
5
z
2
8
8
=}
<
Fy
E
s
s
z
2
4 shocked Dade ‘County, is'scheduled’’
, to die ‘first. He,will enter the gray’:
leath .chamber’. in Wing Q. at 4
(Florida State Prison at'7 am.” - 7)
i i As soon as‘ Washington’s lifeless
form is removed, Smith will be led
I “dn. Smith, 30, was’ convicted of
t «murdering “a ©mother': and: her: a
I 2-year-old daughter in’May 1978
near Marianna in North Florida. —.
i! Both men are expected to be:
ydead by. 7:45 am,, according to.
‘Florida Department of Corrections
x ‘spokesman Vernon Bradford.
., Each will go through the same
“ritual. Washington ‘planned: to see
1,4 series of attorneys, ministers and ,
family members during the night. |
: Smith. was hoping his “mother
2 killers are sche duled
to die in Florida today
Hi sf
PAIR/fromJA ©). —
dark blue pants, white |socks.
Shoes and a matching blue jacket
“will accompany their corpses to .;
the funeral home. ° / a
Once they are. in tl (death
chamber, 30 witnesses and at least
five prison staff members , will
watch them being strapped into
the 60-year-old oaken, | chair.
-Straps go across each arm and leg;
one crosses the chest. Before the
Jeather chin strap and metal “cap”.
4s affixed, each will be allowed a
final statement. 9) 8 S3¢ om
On Wednesday, the mother
young man murdered by Washing-
Yon was angered by the last-min-
cute appeals. “2 |
+ “I absolutely believe Washing-
‘ton should get the death penalty. 1°
‘feel very strongly, very strongly; .
that the death penalty should be ag cee
‘executed tomorrow,” said Dolores’ . % David L. Washington.
‘Meli Lo Proto, mother of, Frank * Rampage in Dade... ‘’
'Meli, a 20-year-old University of i: = : : = vol . Ene
Miami accounting student killed. man from Gaston County, ws Washington's third. In 1976, after
by Washington in 1976. | executed on May 12, 1964. = he pleaded guilty to the triple
_In the first statement she has Multiple executions have not . murder, Washington told. Dade
given since her son’s death, Meli beeb unusual in Florida history. Circuit Judge Richard Fuller. “I
{Lo Proto said Wednesday: “My There have - been 22 since the . don’t want,to die — -you, ki
‘son was tied up for two days, electric chair was jntroduced in what I mean? But if I sit 3
‘stabbed, 11 ‘times in the chest. 1924, as well as nine triple’ some jail and rot, I'd rather be
‘That, fo me, was cold blooded eléctrocutions — and three times, killed”... nm ee
murder. I pay taxes here in Dade. . when four men died in a single — ‘Washington: later. appealed his
County and I'm supporting Wash- day. - : ~~” sentence, first 6n grounds he was
gton. My son is’ dead. ‘My son Smith and Washington, will be poorly represented by Jegal coun-
would have been an attorney the seventh and eighth men to die» sel and ‘most recently, because
. ae : | : by state edict in Florida since the statements made by prosecutors
° Frank Meli was her youngest resumption of the death penalty in during sentencing were improper.
~ son, an honor student who planned 1976: They will also be the sixth ', Smith took his victims to a
to become a tax attorney. He had and seventh to die during the term wooded roadside in Marianna, and
put an ad in the paper to sell his. of Gov. Bob Graham. iy strangled Bonnie Ward -her 1
car. Washington called him and The Florida Supreme Court on year-old daughter, Donna Strick-
said he was interested:. Tuesday denied jast ditch efforts jand. His attorney, Sara Bleakley,
~" Meli was kidnapped on Sept. 29,., by their attorneys to commute ‘the | argued this week that a psychiat-
* 1976 and, was killed. two days . sentences for rehearings. The high ric report on her client from a
Jater.. The University of Miami’. court ‘denied both appeals 6-0. reform school near Marianna had
granted him @ posthumous diplo; + Smith's attorneys lost their final been withheld by the state and
_ ma, magna cum laude. ‘ effort Wednesday during ahearing that ‘Smith should have a hearing
“J live with this every night,” before U.S. District Judge Roger to.see if the report could dissolve
_ thé mother said. “I layjin bed, _ Vinson in Pensacola. A last minute the death sentence: |"
+ thinking about my son depeing to request from Washington’s attor-.* On Tuesday, the Florida Su-
be set free. It hurts: How can “ney to block the execution was preme, Court, 6-0, rejected both”
anyone think he didn’t |kill my denied by a federal judge in pleas, and Graham’s death war-
ee oa gee Miami. ~ Fi - ant, which expires at noon Fri-
: if they die today,.. Washington The current death warrant is day, was kept in effect...
and Smith will be Florida’s first on zee = ad
doublé execution since Emmett C.
Blake, a white man_from Bay
County, and Sie Dawson, a black
ftpy BILL LUENING® ' hse
"SHerald Staff Writer “
i\“David' Leroy ‘Washitigton, repen
¥tant' and calm, died“in Florida’
electric ‘chair Friday morning »
* seven’ year's, ‘nine months and
Ridays after he murdered the first o
“three victims In Dade County.
“Another murderer ‘scheduled ‘to
die Friday,'-however,’ had a deste
jsiminute stay affirmed] by the U.S.”
«Supreme Court, and' was move
aiback to. Death’.Row: from the’
j,special cell where-he was awaiting’
qvexecution. Jimmie.Lee Smith, who
, Hiled a mother. and: cher, Sangh ny
“by BILL LUENING: we
| Herald Staff Writers . i
ci STARKE ~The. ‘condagnned
‘Murderer "met™’\his - family *.and
| friends for’ the * final. time date
“Thursday night.
\* Thirteen people came ‘to say
» good-bye to David Leroy Washing-
ton ‘through. the 'plate glass
restraining window in the grim ~«
room for visitors in.Q Wing, the
‘\ site ‘of Death Row. ©:
«,. Among them was his mother,
- Julia Taylor Lane of Blountstown, .
his stepfather,’ his brother, his ‘
“act ina.'saga: that. began in .
{September 1976 when he stabbed...
“~vantideath ‘penalty’ activists’ ane
sister and others, Washington's.
For Washington, it was the last:
,;t0 death Daniel Pridgen, then threej;:
“days later stabbed and. shot tos;
death Kathrina Birk, 64, and then,; th
“on Sept. 29, abducted /and stabbed
to’ death ‘University., at pias
Student Frank Meli,
pehington pleaded guilty, ‘to
e-was:
“minister, Joe “Ingle. of the ‘United ic
‘hurch’ of * Christ "in Nashville,'/*
ainesville ‘lawyer.,.Susan . Caryl
‘and Margaret Vandiver, all thre
friends. And there was Florence,
Washington's. 12-year-old. -flaugh
ter. -
From 8 p.m, to midnight, they
talked over microphones ani
through the-glass in the orange
and yellow Maximum Security’...
, Mialting. Park. It' was hard’ to hear ~~ Qe
Please turn to FINAL / 264 rotunda
esas osname
<rot
“te
near Marianna in Gadsden County a
in 1979, learned of the decision: :
just 11 hours before.she was to’ 4
follow Washington to the chair. me
: ety -Anti-death’ penalty demonstrator stant
oad
United Press International
ds alone i in : Capital .
[of
a
eee me
|
rdbl_ Sr) h
|
ewant::to. put on: her, alasses:, Her -
father’ insisted...
‘Washington, his” “hands” “manay’
‘cled,:was able to reach above the
made. her repeat tte “pm! + gonna!
:* mind Momma,” she aaa, sobbing, .
ANAL] om TA. ys
i aig think ‘he accept
what Washington said;Ingle recal-.; would be: forgiven,”” Ingle ‘said.
i
\
I
|
|
5 By RAS ZALDIVAR
“tence bade him farewell. .
«said Ingle,
led, At ‘midnight, all “but Ingle,
‘Cary, his mother, Julia and. Flo)
Thosefour stayed for nother
ur_in‘a_“contact..visit’: during
which they were allowed in ‘the
same room, to speak and touch. It,
was a painful and. diffleutt scene,”
“He ‘didn’t cry, ne sald Cary,
really cried out. But, I ‘think he'd:
let .go:of everything ‘he needed ‘to
let: go “oft: the. self-loathiig, the’
i
: Herald Staff Writer s-.~ 4,
« David Leroy’, ‘Washington killed
“three people in,eight days durin;
{ the fall.of 1976, Two were'elderly,
+ the third \was.a student at”. the
*. University of Miami. ~~
“Washington selected his victims ..
it: random, plunging ‘them from
the routine of ordinary lives into
sudden, . fatal terror. Of his. vic-
» was stabbed 11 times. -
Washington took the little ‘cash
;, ‘they had, and stole cars that, two
‘of them owned. *
The Rev. Daniel Pridgen worked
=, at a latindromat in Liberty City. It
~ was there he befriended Washing-
ton on Sept. 18. *
Two days ‘later, Pridgen, 69,
* was visited at’ his home by
- Washington. The young man turn-:
ed on.the older one, stabbing him ;
in the chest with a hunting knife.
Kathrina Birk, 64, was known in
her North Dade neighborhood as a
lady who liked to. hold garage’
“And he finally forgave himself.’
ot control; «Washington hadi :t
‘tims, two died quickly. The third ~.
Washington’s mother wept, out
“You,- crying’ of. all”
e", sal alway!
pt. “23,
home with.her;three sister inela
from: Indiana’ watching: - Simm
Carter and.Gerald Ford ‘debate;
television, .
Unkown to the sisters, they
turn were being watched by David
Leroy Washington. As the candi
the screen door with a-knife. ~
He ordered the women.to lie on.
the floor. From -Birk, he took $8
and change, He tied and: gagged
the women. Birk, who had known |
<- Washington for two years, shook™
he gag loose. He stabbed her in the ;
schest and shot- her once in: the.
head. As she was dying,. he. shot
and stabbed the other three, ~
Frank Meli, 20, was an-account-.
ing major at’ the. University of!
Miami. When -he drove his red
Camaro to the North Side Shop-
“ping Center on Sept. 27, he:
thought he was going to meet a
man who wanted to buy the car.
Instead, he was ‘met’ by David’
‘sobbing: girl’s head.and: drop his
arms around ‘her’ in an. embrace.
He sat down in a flat-backed chair’
and hoisted hér’onto his.lap. It was”
he told her. * “Ty
final ‘lecture.’ Admonitions. A
ayer: of hope.
“It's: my own fault 1 got. chere,
wings
y “Tm the one whe got
other, Julia]. ae
He'.extracted ‘th premio!
“AS Ingle "watched! Washington!
disappear: down: the ‘corridor, he’
heard the mother say some of the’
w.words she could manage. “My:
oldest: You'ra: ‘my: oldest,” she!
id. “At least, now. yo
led t to a bea, he: ‘was Stabbed 1
times. in ‘the chest, .The wounds’:
were’ parallel to:each ‘other. *
y In ‘confessing to, the murder,:«
‘Washington said*he had placed ay
pillow ‘over’ Meli’s head to: muffle:
** ‘Three days after his abduction, the sound of the Lord's Pray¢
-Meli was. killed. :. Tied spread-eas». which Melt” ihe
, dates droned on, Washington fore en Rates
w
Way
Assoclated Press «5
preme Court cleared the way yester- '
day for the nation’s first double state:
execution: since capital punishment
was ‘restored eight -years-ago,.T'Wwo
killers are set to-die tomorrow,
The state's: highest court rejected
60 the. mercy. appeal of Jimmy L.
Smith and,.two:hours Jater, dissolved:
a stay of execution for David, L,
Washington by the same vote,
‘The court also overruled a circuit
judge who had thrown out Washing-
oR es aati
night
Cleared for double execution
ton’s three death sentences Monday ent during a hearing today before : sisted the arguments were new and held by the state and that she should
vOns : vent ay
Both men are scheduled to die at 7
a.m. tomorrow at Florida State Pris-
on near Starke, where six other men
have been electrocuted since 1979,
Prison officials have not said who”
would be the first to be.strapped into
‘the electric chair,
Gov. Bob Graham’s June 15 war-
rants remain in force. until noon Fri-
day. :
Smith's attorneys will get another
)8. District Judge Roger Vinson in = raised constitutional questions that ~
Pensacola, while Washington’s attor- merited a reprieve. .
neys said they will ask a federal
judge in Miami to block the execu
tion.
Washington, 34, is under his third
death warrant forthe September 1976
murders of three people in Miami,
State prosecutors said Washing-.. ni
ton’s new lawyers were simply argu-
» ing legal issues that had been litigat-
ed in other courts, -
‘The prisoner’s public defenders in-
But the Supreme Court disagreed. -
Smith, 30, is under his second death
warrant for the May 1, 1978, stabbing:
* strangulation of Bonnie Ward and her
\ 12-year-old daughter, Donna Strick- -
. land. They. were killed near Marian-
ae
Sara Bleakley, Smith’s volunteer
lawyer, argued that a psychiatric re-
- port on her client from a reform
have a. full-blown hearing to deter- *~
mine if the report could help Smith's {
case. ee!
But the justices’ three-page opinion ,
in Smith’s case appeared to follow the.«
arguments presented by Assistant...
State Attorney Ray Marky, who said»:
defense lawyers had ample time dur-:
ing Smith's nearly six years on Death:
Row to raise all appeal issues,
If electrocuted, Smith and Wash:
chance to win a reprieve for their cli-
"(From Page B-1)
vdngton would be the 2lst and 22nd
prisoners to be executed since the
U:S. Supreme Court restored capital
;punishment in 1976.-No state has exe-
,cuted two men in one day since then.
» Florida has executed a nationwide
high of six men since the landmark
., Tuling,
The last double execution in Flori-
“da occurred in May 1964.
Washington had won a reprieve on
Saturday and again on Monday from
Circuit Judge Herbert Klein of Mi-
ami, Klein also threw out the prison-
‘ers death sentences, saying he found
statements made by, the prosecutor
during Washington's 1976 sentencing
improper... ‘
Richard Burr, Washington's public
defender, had convinced Klein that
the prosecutor had no right to argue’
his client should receive the death
penalty, in part, because he had killed
a college student who aspired to be a
school near Marianna had been with-
Stage set for double execution tomorrow
tax lawyer, ?
Burr said to compare the worth of
a defendant's life to that of his victim
has been ruled improper by federal
courts,
_ Smith’s initial mercy plea was re-
jected Monday by Circuit Judge Rob-
ert McCrary of Marianna, who at the
end of the hearing declared: “I'll do’
all I can to see that he [Smith] gets
,killed before I die.”
McCrary is the judge who sent
Smith to Death Row six years ago.
"(Bee STAGE, Page 2), -
C7
Ss
at
| Nees 3
STARKE — Federal judges grant
ed temporary reprieves yesterday to
\a pair [of killers who were to die this
ere
‘hours.
5 elec-
z y asked to be ex:
* ecuted but have ‘sifice mounted in-
"tense appeals to avoid execution. '
*\ “Meanwhile, in Atlanta a federal ap-
scheduled to die just after midnight
A three-judge panel of the 1ith U.S.
Circuit Court Gf App :
; two-page order that Stanley’s petition
: raised! arguments that had already ~ ini
béen denied in ari earlier appeal. In:
. the Jatest plea, his lawyers contended
that the death penalty in Georgia has
been applied in a racially discrimina-
_ tory manner. eS Ress
= . The judges said they found “relief
* can be granted only if the ends of jus-
tice require it; we conclude that the
ends of ‘justice do not warrant relief.”
Georgia Attorney General Mike
” Bowérs said he understood Stanley’s
lawyers were taking the case to the
. US. Supreme Court. s
a elar Ve
I
Florida inimat
Appeals ruled ina _
es win reprieves;
’s appeal denied
Witcnes
Onn
che ly \2, IVs .
Florida inmates win.
stays of execution
es fvon R. Stanley”: ~~
Supreme Court. *
'S. District Judge Rog:
F. are
ediately appealed to
the 1th Circuit in Atlanta. Although
_that court granted a stay, it also set a
‘hearing for this morning to listen to
arguments. ~*~ ee ee ee
Death warrants that Gov. Bob Gra-
iam gigned’ on the killers are good”
through noon tomorrow. 0...
"Vinson, rulirig in Smith’s case, said
he initially thought the killer should
‘stay for an evidence-gathering
‘See FLORIDA, Page A-14) . |
Bae nen i.
zi woe ee Ee
- Washington, 34, is under his third
‘warrant for a 10-day robbery-
abduction rampage in which prosecu-
tors said he killed University of Mi-
“arni student Frank Meli, elderly Mi-
ami resident Katrina Birk and.
_ minister Daniel Pridgen 9° °°". <3
* The nation’s last double execution.
Time
By Frank LoMonte |...) --
Staff wrfter 2 Scie Se
STARKE -- Twelve-year-old Flor-
ence Washington sat on her father’s
lap and said a last tearful’ goodbye
just after.1 am. yesterday.<. < sy
Six hours later, her father,
Leroy Washington, was strapped into”
the electric chair at Florida State
Prison and executed for the murder
of three Dade County residents dur-
ing a nine-day killing spree.
_ “I want you to look at me. I’m the
oné Who got me here. I want you to
* do better,” Rev. Joé Ingle of Nash-
ville, Tenn. quoted the prisoner as
saying during ‘the visit.’ 3.6...
Washington; who was pronounced,
dead at 7:09 a.m, was the fifth man
to die in Florida’s electric chair this .
year and the ‘seventh to be executed
in the state since Florida resumed en-*
te of the: death penalty in
Death Row inmate Jimmie Lee
Smith, who was convicted of murder:
.ing two Marianna women in 1978, also
* was scheduled to be executed yester-
day morning. But Smith won a stay
from the ith U.S. Circuit Court of
© Appeals in Atlanta on Thursday,
which was upheld by the U.S, Su-
* preme Court, 27 ye
+ » Washington had survived two other
* death warrants, one in March 1981,
* and the other a month later. He and
Smith were scheduled to be executed
| Thursday morning, but they won a
* temporary stay when the Atlanta ap-
: peals court decided Wednesday to
postpone the executions for 24 hours.”
: ” But Washington's luck,—-and his
appeals — finally ran out Thursday.
After hearing oral arguments from
~ Washington's lawyers, the federal ap-
peals court vacated the stay and ihe
US. Supreme Court upheld that dect-
sion Thursday night. -~
THE FLORIDA TIMES-UNION/JACKSONVILLE JOURNAL:
on third try .
Coming Dark. ”
‘Those who visited
demned rian was more’ concerned
about the grief he had caused his own
family and the relatives of his victims
than about his own impending death:
“ “He was able to forgive himself be
cause he felt he was forgiven. And‘T
think that’s beautiful,” Ingle said... -
_ In Miami, Meli’s mother, Dolores
Meli Lo Proto, said she didn’t beHeve
Washington’s earlier apologies “in
- oie Oe
court for the crimes. “0 5%,
“Why didn’t he think of that when
he was stabbing Frankie in the
chest?” she said. “Why didn’t he feel -
pad when Frankie was saying the
‘Our Father? "-0. 0:02 3.004
“My son was tied up for two days,
stabbed 11 times in the chest,”: shé
said. “That, to me, was cold-blooded ~
murder.”, <.
Washington was served a last meal
of fried shrimp and oysters, freich
fries, lemonade, a half-pint of vanilla _
ice cream, hot rolls and catsup, said
prison spokesman Vernon Bradford. -
Ingle said Washington faced the
‘prospect of death calmly, trying toxe- .
assure his family that their liyes-.
could go on after his death. Witnesses .
to the execution said Washington was *
calm and unemotional, even flashing
a grin at the witnesses and chatting
with the guards who were binding
‘him into the chair. :
to avoid death
9
with Washington ©
‘hours before his death say the com. ~
‘Moments before the switch was-
thrown, Washington used his final
statement to apologize to the families
of the people he murdered.
- *T would like to say to the families
of all my victims I am sorry for all
the grief and heartache I have
brought to them,” Washington said
“If my death brings them any satis-
faction, so be itz. °. is, Copia!
~~ “P@ like to say to all the guys-on
Death Row, don’t bow to defeat with-
out a fight,” he continued, stumbling
over.a few words and then correcting
himself. “Pm kind of nervous. That's
erent
. With that, 2
“clamped around his jaw and a black
Jeather hood was fastened over his
Be
metal restraint was
With 4 ‘dull thunk, the Jever was
thrown and 2,000 volts of electric cu-
rent cycled throug
radio ‘stations, ‘said Washington's 's fists
‘clenched tightly as Soon’ as the’ cur-
rent surged into him and croplets
perspiration ‘beaded on his body. Ds
vis ‘said there was no smoké, as there
: ap
: One 1d ‘dne-haif minutes after the
Switch Was engas
shut off. Prison physician D
Ngu yen éxamined Washington’s
‘wrists and chest for signs of life and,
finding none, signaled to Dugger that °
Washington was dead...
Washington's body was
‘Alachua General Hospital in| Gaines-
ville for a routine autopsy, after,
which he will be cremated:. '
Washington’s execution made hin °
the second black in Florida| and the-
pea inmate nationwide to be Pat to
asbengton accepted
Washington's s.
ged, the current was
Dr. Cahn -
” David Leroy Weshfigion
_, Apologized to families ~
death since the Supreme | Court rein-
stated capital punishment in 1976.
Gov. Bob Graham, who signed the
three black bordered death warrants
end quietly |
on a Washington, Teleased a a
moments after Washington’s death
saying that the case has had “exhaus-
tive judicial analysis and review”
that gave the convicted killer ample
time for appeals. +.
“This process has assured that the
constitutional rights of the accused
were fully protected,” Graham said.
in the statement. “The execution of
the sentence assures that. the rights
of the people of Florida are eranded
similar protection.” ..~.
About 40 anti-death penalty protest-
ers and a handful of pro-death penal-
ty demonstrators gathered in the cow
pasture across the street from the
prison to keep a vigil. The protesters
sang hymns, waved signs and vented
their anger over the execution.: re
‘Among the protesters were ‘Arthur :
Godde Jr. and his wife Mildred, of the -
Fort Myers area. Their son Arthur
Goode III was executed on April 5 for
* raping and killing a 9-year-old boy. ©
Mrs. Goode said she and her hus-
band felt their presence “would do a
little good and make some impres-
sion” in support of the ani aeath pen:
alty movement...
A killer’s life
touches 3 on
the ‘outside’
... And no one feels
good about Death Row
inmate Arthur Goode.
By CHRISTOPHER BOYD
oral Stoff Writer
Ken White is a Lee County firefighter
and a contented family man. He also is a
‘man who wants Arthur Frederick Goode TL
dead.
‘in the past three weeks, White has col-
ected 1,500 signatures asking for Goode’s
electrocution.
“['m not a blood-thirsty vigilante,” White
said. “But Arthur Goode is an imperfect
creation. He killed a little boy and he should
die for that.”
‘A Lee County Circuit Court judge sen-
tenced Goode to die in March 197 for the
rape and murder of 9-year-old Jason Ver-
Dow of Cape Coral. On May 2, more than
‘six years later, a U.S. Court of Appeals
overturned Goode’s sentence.
“When I heard thet, I became enraged,”
White said. “I thought that this ain’t justice.
I thought that if Jason were my child, that
sucker would have never made it to jail.”
Jason's partially nude and badly beaten
body was found on March 6, 1976 in a
clump of palmettos in North Fort Myers. He
had bite marks over much of his body, had
been sexually abused and been strangled
with e belt.
Blames bleeding hearts
“I visited with the parents of the little
boy after he was killed,” White said. “Their
grief was terrible. But Arthur Goode is still
alive, and F've got to believe its because of
these bleeding hearts trying to protect him
and other murderers.”
Goode lives on Death Row in the Florida
State Penitentiary at Starke where he has
been one of 203 inmates sentenced to die in
Florida’s electric chair. Goode was also sen-
tenced to life in prison for a raping and
murdering a boy in Virginia.
‘The 29-year-old inmate sees few people.
Prison officials say he frequently flies into
rages in his cell, yelling to his jailers to
bring him young boys to rape.
On calmer days, Goode writes letters
to the governor, judges, newspapers and his,
parents, Last month, he wrote The Balti-
more News-American: “Be advised. T de-
mand my ‘execution’ be carried out as soon
as possible and I am being ‘denied’ my legal
right to “die.”
‘He vacillates between wanting to live
and die. In 1979, he even said that he had
developed an interest in astronomy so pow-
erful that it could overcome his lust for It
tle boys.
‘Throughout Goode’s incarceration, his
68-year-old parents have visited him at
east once a month.
“e's like terminal cancer,” said Arthur
(Bud) Goode Jr. “It’s a slow death for us.
‘We ain’t been living, really, for seven years
now.”
Use him for studies
‘The senior Goode said he never wants his,
son released from prison, but he believes he
should be allowed to live and used in psy-
chiatric studies.
“Ever since Freddy was three years old,
he has wanted to destroy himself,” Bud
Goode said. “He's just wrapped, I guess. He
just doesa’t think like other people.”
‘The Goodes moved to a small Pine Island
retirement bungalow from Maryland in No-
vernber 1975. The senior Goode, a retired
milkman and water-company worker, said
On | Dec. 19, 1982, Arthur Frederick
Goode's mother, Mildred, wrote this poem
about er son’s pending death sentence:
‘My/son is on Death Row:/dear God, how
can it be!
He was always a troubled childJalways a
bit behind.
1 go to bed at night and toss till 3or T
wake beat 5, and roll the years back;froll
Sues
es
ee,
a
a
ee
te
Mildred and Bud Goode in their Pine Island cottage. They still visit
the years back like reflections in a mirror.
He always was a troubled child:falways
looking jor a friend who was not there He
loved animals, he had @ black dog/And @
Siamese cat, he wouldn't hurt a fly.
Dear God, he’s on Death Rows/How can
this bel
It's 10 years now, it seems like forever,
When I see him, he's 28, but he looks 15i/
ee
ae
their son once a month.
mother’s poem for her son awaiting execution
you see, he was always a little behind
Mothers always know.
Dear God, how could this have happen-
ed? loved children, I tried to be a good
mother /My heart almost bursts with grief
of what he didJwith what happened./l pray
‘every night jor those left behind.
Dear God, I love my soniit’s in your
hands now/Dear God, how can this be!
he ank bis wite, Milred, were ready to
cash in on the good life.
“We hadn’t been here 3% months when
Freddy came down here on the train,”
Goode said. “Less than a month later, they
found|that boy dead.”
‘After the murder, Freddy Goode went
north to Virginia, where he raped and killed
Kenny Dawson, 11, and kidnaped Billy
‘Artis,|10, committing homosexual acts on
him for nearly two weeks.
“He was a change-of-life baby,” Mildred
Goode said, wringing her hands. “He was
born éarly and they put him in an incubator
‘with oxygen — they say that does some-
thing to the brain.”
Milred Goode said she will never have
‘the happiness she had hoped for in old age.
“If [this had: happened to us when we
were 35, Lord knows, it might have been
easier|to handle,” she said. “Now, I wish
would end for ali of us. I sometimes wish
Freddy could just dfe a natural death. I
think he would be better off.”
Execution is unlikely
Last year, Freddy Goode came very close
to dying in the way his parents fear most.
In February 1982, Gov. Bob Graham
signed Goode’s death warrant and he spent.
four weeks on death watch, close to the
‘dlectic chair that Florida has only used once
since 1964. In the end, he received a stay of
execution from the U.S. Court of Appeals.
‘The most recent federal appellate court
ruling makes it seem unlikely Goode will
face execution soon, if ever. Charles Corces
Jr, the Florida assistant attorney general
handling the Goode case, has filed for the
court to rehear the case, which he believes
could take more than a year.
“This case went through three appeals to
the Florida Supreme Court.” Corces said.
“Each time, the court upheld the sentence.
Jin doing so, it also confirmed that the death
sentence was proper.”
If the appeals court does not grant a new
hearing, Corces said, the state would appeal
to the U.S. Supreme Court. He said its un-
certain what would happen if both courts
refused to hear the case again.
Wilbur C. Smith I, Goode’s attorney,
said he believes the appellate decision will
stand and the state will allow Goode to
serve a life sentence. He said resentencing
Goode would likely require a new trial,
which he said he doubts would occur.
For Goode’s parents, the appellate court
ruling didn’t feet like a victory.
“Mr. Smith called us up after the ruling
and said we had won,” Mildred Goode said.
“{ know better. We can never win now.”
} .the 11th U.S. Court of Appeals in Atiai
feprieve gives Goode’s parents time!
to. continue fight for their son’s life,
| By BRIAN BLANCHARD
eratd Staff Welter
PINE ISLAND — Just before leaving on what she
thought might be her last trip to Death Row to see
her son, Mildred Goode sighed.
“T eguldl take anything but an execution," she said,
“Tf he could just die of a natural death .. .”
Mildred Goode's soft voice trailed off. She has suf-
fered two heart attacks in recent years. She lets her
husband, Bud, who has.a history of high blood pres-
sure, talk loudly about injustice,
He needs little prompting and stops only to tight
L&M cigarets. :
Bud, axd Mildred Goode say they have always
done. what they could-to: protect others from their
only son, Freddy — an i
reddy troiihithself. 0c"
‘onvicted miuirderer. Arthur Fredérick Goode jut
i aes
Freddy tothe only. people: who som. to love him,
iis tamily (— was to.dle Tuesday in Plorida’s ele
Ghalr: at je, Florida, State. Prison. JHis family spoke
Saturday, just boforo-léaviig Pine Islan i
sand before, learning that his lawyer, Wilbur C. Smith
II of Fort Myers, had won a stay. of exéeution from:
eet Ee,
“We teal alot of role and'w ite AY or vides
lon,” Bud Goode sald ‘Thursday.
!'The reprieve gives Bud Goode mote time to argue
the case fot his son. It gives Mildred-more time to re-
member.
“The-Gdodes-say they: treated their only sou likey
the border-line, mentally retarded personi they figured
“him to'be ++ with special education classes in the pub-
lic schools,membership in a Boy Scout Troop for the
retarded, two years in a school for the retarded and,
‘finally, confinement in a mental hospital.
‘The pale, dark-haired: Arthur Goode of today’s
headlines and newscasts. was born when Mildred
+ Goode was 39. She had aiready given birth to three
girls, then aged 20, 15 and 10.
All are now housewives — two live in Maryland,
one in Largo, Fla. The two Maryland sisters were pre-
paring Saturday to see their brother for the first time
since escorting him to a Maryland mental hospital
after the first of two murders, They said they never
knew Freddy very well because he was so much
younger. '
"“Eiei was more happy to see his sisters alter all
these years than he was:to learn about the stay,” Bud
Goode said of the family’s visit with Freddy at Starke
‘on Monday.
At home family members called Freddy —~ a skin-
ny kid with passions for ice cream, predicting the
‘weather and long bicycle rides — a pantywai
As a young boy, he was terrified of being left
alone with other children in school and at parties.
Later, he would sit at home all day and listen. to the
radio and play records.
He never kept a male playmate for long.
“ xd to play with the little girls instead of
boys,” said Bud Goode.
But as he grew older, Freddy became obsessed
with little boys. And the obsession always spelled
trouble, When he was seven, his paretits noticed that
he liked to rub against a cousin, another boy, in a way
the cousin didw’'t care for.
By the time Freddy was 13, he had earned notorie~
ty in his suburban Washington, D.C., neighborhood
for fondling younger boys and asking them to sit i
his lap.
a
4
j
|
au
os
‘BRIAN BLANCHARD / Ham Herald Bureau
Mildred and Bud Goode say they did everything they could to protect others
from their son — and Freddy from himself.
‘The first arrest came in 1972. The charge was
‘child. “molestation: "The victin wasi’t ‘phystéally
harmed. Freddy, then 18, got probation. *
Other arrests soon followed. Freddy Goode en-
tered a Maryland mental hospital for the first time
when he was 19.
He wasn’t violent during those days, members of
his family say. Just moody, irrational-and physically
affectionate with boys, eee
“We took him to the. doctors (psychologists) right
from the beginning,” said Mildred Goode. “He was a
Puzzle to all of them,”
‘The Goodes, who called Freddy their change-of-
life baby, figure that Mildred Goode's approaching,
menopause stunted their son's mental capacity at
birth.
At 21, Freddy had the mental age of a 13-year-old.
“He would talk all right," said Bud Goode. “He
Tooked all right — is :
“ — but-he never had too much good reasoning,”
said Mildred Goode. .
It landed him on Death Row. Gov. Bob Graham
signed Goode’s death warrant Feb. 5.
Until the: fedéral stay of execution Sunday,
Goode’s family thought he would die Tuesday morn-
ing. On Monday, the judges set a date of April 19 to
review Goode's March 1977 murdor trial, They decid-
ed to review posible violations of his constitutional
rights.
The issue goes beyond constitutional rights to
questions of decency, say the Goodes,
“I'm ashamed I'm living in the United States,”
said gravel-volced Bud Goode, a stocky, retired male
man ‘and water and sewer inspector.’ “I want the
American people to know they are executing a re
tarded boy.”
In dozens of letters and statements during the last
six years, Freddy Goode, who will be 28 on March 28,
sald_he deserved to be put to death for the March
1976 homosexual murder of nine-year-old Jason Ver~
Dow of Cape Coral.
VerDow was. sexually molested and killed, ac
cording to a medical éxartiner’s testimony, by stran-
gulation with ;smooth cord. It happened near a
school bus stop in Cape Coral, 19. miles from the
Goode home, whore Freddy Goode was. staying for
‘one month.
‘Two-weeks later, after Goode rétumned to the
‘Washington, area, -Kenneth. Bawson, 11, of Falls
‘Chureh; Va., died the same way.
Goode admitted. committing both murders, both
times after walking away from the same minimum
security Maryland mental hospital.
Goode entered the hospital in 1975 after being
charged with nine counts of chil molestation and
convicted with two, He took a bus to Pine Island in
March 1976, when VerDow was killed.
~ Two sisters took him back to the hospital one
month later, He walked away before the sisters left
the hospital. Thai's when Dawson died.
Before his trial in Fort Myers, Goode fired lawyer
Smith and tried to defend himself.
Goode argued that he was sane and guilty. “At
that time he wanted to be found guilty and to be exes
cuted,” said Bud Goode.
In a press conference at Florida State Prison last
week, Goode reversed his earlier stand and said his
life should be spared to provide psychiatrists a chance,
to.study his pedophilia, the abnormal sexual desire for
children,
‘That's the position Goode’s parents have taken
singe he was locked up on Death Row.
‘Though Mildred Goode speaks wistfuliy of a quiet,
natural death for her only son, Bud Goode has worked
six years to try to get his son off Death Row, into an
institution and under the scrutiny of students of the
criminal mind,
“There are almost 1,000 people waiting to go
through what my son is going through” on the na-
tion's death rows, Goode said. “Why not study him
and try to prevent future Arthur Goodes?”
‘The Goodes say they. know of no jarring event in
aS ees
ES Be ie ‘nied Pras internal
Arthur Frederick Goode is escorted from a“
Virginia court after his arrest in 1976 on” 3)
murder charges. b
thei’ son’s {ife that would explain his brutal actions, 4
“The police don't know what to do, the judge
don’t know what fo do, the mental hospitals don’t
Know what to do, so when things go wrong they!
‘want to kill Freddy,” said Bud Goode. 4
+” The’ Goodes left Freddy in the Maryland institus
ion anid retired to Pine Island in November 1975; |,
‘They thought he would be safe there, but he escaped,
Communication hitches kept the Goodes front
sending their son back sooner than they did, they says
Bud Goode said Freddy called home and told hig
parents he had left the Maryland mental institution,
and was on his way to Florida, The father immediater
ly called his Maryland attorney, asking him to alert
the hospital that his parents would send Freddy back.
‘The lawyer “was very busy," sald Goode, It took,
time to reach the lawyer and when Goode did, the
lawyer “said to sit tight,” said Goode, 2
jt was three weeks before the lawyer had notified
the‘ hospital that Freddy Goode would be returning
Voluntarily, said Goode.
‘One evening in March just after Freddy arrived,
Bud Goode’s retirement was shattered during a local
newscast that described the murder of Jason Ver
ow. *
Bud Goode thought of Freddy, sleeping in the next:
room. :
“I shook him awake and asked him point blank if
¢ killed that boy. He said ‘no,’ ”
‘The “no” became “yes” a few months later.
Bud and Mildred Goode had hoped to settle into a
casual life of fishing and leisure on the Gulf when
they bought their home in this retirement and fishing
community northwest of Fort Myers in 1972,
Now the small motorboat in thelr front yard gets!
wet only when it rains, *
Bud stays inside with Mildred, reading legal opine:
ions, talking to reporters and writing daily letters to!
theit son, ’
Bud and Mildred Goode sign each letter “Love,!
‘Mom and Dad. ae
i
a
a
‘Death row’ / families gat little avdipantiy
Associated Pros.
INESVILLE — The families of
Florida’ 's death row inmates are themselves
imprisoned by isolation and fear and bom- }
barded by the glare of publicity and hatred +
from the outside world, says‘a University of |
Florida (UF) sociology professor.
“Thé families are a lot like those of
terminally ill patients, but the loved ones of
‘the 190 men on Florida’s death row don’t.
turn to each other for support nor do they
have soci¢ ‘sty 3 sympathy," ” says professor E
Radel let.
experience’the same anticipatory grief as;
those of the tetminally ill and can be sub-
jected-to undue psychological-and: social
stress if death is delayed indefinitely.
1 THE public “sup:
port for executions, it'is. difficult for:the
families to find; people sympathetic to their’
plight,” Radelet said, “The, fe
bear the added’ weight -of knowing their”
telatives’ deaths are fe eaey de: ine and .
sought by others.” -
Michael
So ‘The researcher said death row fonilies ‘
EN
‘Over the last three years, Radelet and
Florida State University graduate student °
Margaret Vandiver spent 400 hours each
visiting death row inmates at Florida State
Eneon, and getting to know ‘them and their
familiés.
They teamed up with UF sociology
. professor Dr. Felix Berardo, a marriage and
family expert, and the resulting study will
be published in the Journal off Famii
sues next year.
THE RESEARCHERS found -
virtually(all death ‘row families are poor.
Few can afford regular visits.
One 78-year-old arthritic: mother rode
a bus to a town near the Starke prison, then
hitchhiked the final Wn iniles to see her gon: ,
on weekends. . « i
Radelet says that like the families ‘of. the. {
victims, death row families “bear no direct
reeponethility for the. crime, but they: suffer
its stigma... whereas the families of hom-
ictims. suffer immensely, their +
suffering usually peaks relatively. quickly,
and they can begin the slow reconstruction {
ly Ise
“of their lives,” he said in a release Monday.
- Cornwell yen?
ce eT EEE trom
Oil Wve
x
lieve that’ Goode is insane
“He may he crazy, but he’s not'stupid,
He must have known what he did. He was
irt enough to leave Florida and Bo to 4 i
and ‘kill another little boy. He : bruv rea enue part
what he was d
“The poin hat he did get.the
de penal they-haven’t followed
through. It.really:doean't matter;what hig >
sentence was —: whether it was life in
corni
prison or di y.olight to go. ahead... ian the other boys.
and impose what he en ; twas around this time ti
WOULD, INL ANCE became concerned about Fredd)
Goode's death deter others who might be. a Psychiatrist:
“inclined to commit suck crimes? - _ Goodes, began.
“Probably ‘not, 1 really don’t think it:-". .Sunday to see
wr he lives or dies
’s family) still have to'deal
the fact it happened, When he's exex
. cuted, we'll feel justice has’ beeh''done, I.
think it’s a puniisiiment to ‘the rest of socie-
ty that:he’s allowed to: stay. alive. What's:
athe use of haying the death penalty-if' we
“don’t-use it?” 07 ; nie
Despite his’ feelings: Lance thinks he
understands the Goodes? attempts tokeep ~..
Freddy ou of the electrié chair... *
“T real
Udn’t ith,
re-one continuotis
eVeryone around
It was:not i i
bors toapp Fréddy,
d strange things
oys. He’ would. brush up
ik them ‘to sit in hislap, ;
fot worse as Freddy grew
come pene and find.po- ,
10
tose him dead... Wegnyss
- “But,” he: continues, “nobody wants to.
see their child or their brother murdered .,
either.”
“a say,-|
boys, are |
reddy’d
hat he'd
’d call us on the phone, and I
Not messing with: ny little
members ‘Bud.
8 ng:
sink everyone has the ri
élieve the; they,y C
may not think so, but what"
us-can ‘happen: to anybody,
@ would. change their attitude v8,
is parents
ldy-Was'so-;
Things began to:sour for Freddy from
the moment of his birth, ‘He'was born while i ) » Hg i"
his.39-year-old mother was going through ~. ‘ hacked Freddy’ a’ few times” =
early menopause, She didn’t carry hit full course now they say you'shouldn’t hittem '
term, and he was a small baby. — unlike his but f never got the idea he knew why,”
three older sis ‘who spent time :in an... .says his f
incubator. Spots ; ) “Preddy wi t
Fear j didn’t know how 4 0
parents‘have Goode: “I'd whip hi but let me tell you ,
Tt methin’s | ist like-iwhippin’ a
him, ¢ could figure out why ;
Families’
™ On Feb. 5, Gov. Bob Graham signed a
death warrant for Arthur Frederick Goode III,
Goode, 27, was convicted in 1977 of sexual-
ly assaulting and murdering a 9-year-old boy
near Fort Myers. He also has been convicted
and sentenced to life in prison for-a similar
crime in Virginia. Goode is scheduled to be
executed in Florida’s electric chair at 7 a.m.
March 2. Because his case is being ap-
pealed, it is unlikely that the execution will
take place as planned. Goode’s bizarre and
brutal behavior has made him one of the
most hated men on death row. His parents
say that their son is insane and should not be
executed. Others, obviously, disagree, What
follows is the first of a twoxpart examination
of the case of Arthur Frederick Goode Ii,
March 6, 1976. Bud Goode sat watching the
11 o’clock news in his home with a mounting
sense of apprehension,
Ina nearby room, Goode’s son, 21-year-old
Arthur Frederick Goode III — known as
Freddy to his family —~ lay in.a sound sleep.
Freddy had arrived in Florida about two
weeks earlier from Maryland, where he had
been in deep trouble. Facing multiple charges
of child molestation, Freddy had cut a deal
with authorities there. In exchange for dis-
missal of most of’ the charges, Freddy had
agreed to enter a mental hospital for treat-
ment. That had been done, but Freddy had
tired of treatment, walked out of the hospital
and made‘his way to the house near. Fort
Myers to which his parents had retired.
Bud Goode says now that he and his wife
weré making arrangements for Freddy to re-
turn to a hospital but that red tape was com-
plicating the process;
Whatever the delay, it-proved to be fatal
lives crossed, and p
MONDAY MORNING
BILL
CORNWELL
for 9-year-old Jason VerDow.
THE BIG LOCAL story on the news of
March 6 was that Jason’s body had beeri found
in a wooded area. The child had been repeat-
edly molested and strangled after being lured
from a'school bus stop the day before.
Bud, a coiled spring of a man who-has suf-
fered from high blood pressure since the age of
21, felt his stomach tighten as-he watched the
account of the VerDow murder. Finally, he
could take it no longer. Charging into his son’s
room, he yanked the pasty-faced young man
from his bed. - )
Bud insists that he didn’t yell at Freddy,
but his voice was loud enough to attract the
attention of,at least one neighbor.
“Did you kill that boy?” Bud roared, “Did
you kill that.boy?” ‘
Freddy denied having anything to do with
the crime and, less than a week later, his par-
ents brought him to St. Petersburg and put
him on a train to Washington, where he was to
re-enter a mental hospital.
When he got to the hospital, Freddy didn’t
like what he saw, so he again simply walked
out the door. From the hospital, he kidnapped.
a.10-year-old Maryland boy, who was with him.
when he also abducted a boy in Virginia: ,
‘The Maryland boy survived his ordeal, but
Kenneth Dawson, 11, of Falls Church, Va. met
the same fate as Jason VerDow.
Now, almost six years later, Bud and Mil-
i
dred Goode sit on their wind-swept back
porch, sip bourbon highballs and plead for
their son’s life.
BUD, WHO SPENT 29 years as a milk
delivery driver and 12 years as a water and
sewer inspector in Maryland before retiring to
Florida in 1975, is still lean and muscular at 67.
Bud is a self-described “hothead,” and bitter-
ness clings to his words'like grapes.to a vine.
“What does it take to be declared insane in
Florida?” he demands as he fires up another
» L&M cigarette.
Without waiting for an answer, he inhales
“the cigarette smoke deeply and points to a
household pet.
“Tguess you got to be like that dog on four
legs and be walking around barking before
you’re declared incompetent.”
aths led to death row
Mildred Goode, a. soft-spoken woman
whose heart weakened by angina pectoris
sends shafts of pain through her arms and’
chest when she hears bad news about Freddy
— which is often — agrees,
She hands a visitor a fading photograph of:
her son. It was taken in grammar school —a *
snapshot of the child molester as a child.
“Look at the eyes,” she says. “Have you
ever seen such troubled eyes? Even then, he
was different, not normal. Look at the eyes.
You can see the trouble there.”
wwe
“The voice at the other end of the telephone
line is wary, guarded, Lance VerDow explains
that his parents do not wish to talk about his
brother Jason’s death or Freddy Goode.
Time will heal many ‘things, but the
wounds left by thé murder of a child have to be
mnong the slowest to mend. If-they mend at
all. \
LANCE, WHO IS 23, was 17 when Ja-
son was abducted and murdered by Freddy.
Unlike his parents, Lance will vent his
emotions.
“My parents have had people after ’em to
, talk for six years,” he says. “Life goes on, but
we just don’t like to be reminded of it-all the
time... But you can’t get'away from it. Ihave
people who.come up to me and ask,‘Was that
your brother?’ I’ve adjusted to it pretty well;
I'm not about to run from it. Maybe if he’s ex-
ecuted, we would have the whole mess over
with, and-we wouldn’t have to keep reading
about it in the newspapers or seeing it on tele-
vision. .
‘T think this case representa a breakdown
in the judicial system, when thé system lets a
person get in the condition (Freddy’s) in and
See CORNWELL, 6-B
In Copyright