said. *‘If-
or one of.
* ds, we'dan”
face.’? 5
)?”’ Fore--
women:
‘hursday;:
i said.:
ht at the.’
is sup-
p Friday
the air-,
yo»
’em,”’
ytect the.
do it!”’
0 hours. ©:
Floro.
: off for, |
er were.) '
ago and /.
ested in.
ith:
lic
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‘ho first».
. Lake.
charged
in the
imbert,,,
tal. He
County re
arsenic , ,
I Jr.
tursday |
ce with >
senelli,
arsenic
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reed,”’ |
f Lake. ©
d, nor ©
ooded,
of two .
coop-
ies and
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smen,
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ailure.
acking
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othing |
ndous
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t
ing many agencies including the FBI,
Naval intelligence,-and others.”’ “ *
) Pasenelli lauded the many: investiga-
tors who worked under him, saying, ‘I
can’t tell you the hours these people put
in on this case. They’d hit brick walls,
back up, and start hitting them ‘again.
_ This investigation was one of intense de-
_dication and perseverance, and we had
110 per cent cooperation from everyone:
we talked to.”’ :
Albanese; wearing a windbreaker,
sports shirt; and slacks, was taken to the’
McHenry County Jail in Woodstock,
where he was ordered held in lieu of $2.5
million bond. Judge Lawrence Inglis of
hs
=
Lake County Circuit Court n Waukegan
‘set $2 million bond on the charges there. °
He was also charged with theft, for the
sale of scrap zinc from his firm; -without
advising other company’ officials, ‘and
putting the profit into, his private bank
account. Tee eS
Foreman said there could. be as. many
as three or four trials in the two counties,
since certain of the victims were
poisoned in one county and died in the
other. He said the problems of légal juris-
diction were yet to bé ironed outi Under
the laws of our land, Albanese must be
considered innocent of all charges until
he is convicted in a court of Jaw, Eee
/ ? ae
Ge Mii
ok
: ao.) ae
Prosecutor Floro' said he would seek
the death penalty'6n the! cases tried in -
McHenry County. '**This can’t be called —
a crime of passion,” he said.,t‘It’s nota.
"case where somebody gets mad and —
‘shoots or hits someone on the spur of the
i. RS 24
ee
moment.’ if Se
, As residents of the bordering Lake and
- McHenry county communities expressed
_ Shock at the arrest of one of McHenry’s
most prominent businessmen;.a sign out-
side the McHenry bank flashed a final.
irony: \ ©
The high school class in-nearby
‘Marengo, it announced was putting on
the play, **Arsenic and Old Lace.” %-
Trailing The Missouri ‘Killer Pack’
i : s ie: ‘(continued from page 19) if rs é “
widow and retired elementary school
teacher, lived alone in a modest, but
comfortable stucco home.;She suffered
from glaucoma, which minimized her vi-
_ Sion. She was found’ in her burning
home, after being shot and killed. A bat-
| tery was found missing from her 1964
car, and authoroties suspected household
items had probably been taken,’
~ None of the officers in. the’ various
‘counties where the senseless deaths had
occurred seemed to be getting anywhere
in their investigations. The St. Louis
‘County detectives had put in a grueling
nine weeks working on the Glencoe cou-
ple’s slaying and had run down numerous
leads that led exactly nowhere. They
‘-meeded names and personalities to con-
. ect with the evidence they had accumu-
_ lated, instead of elusive phantoms.
_ Rewards now totaled $10,000 in the’
Glencoe case. Then came the big break
for the St. Louis County officers. ;. Trou-
bled after the slaying of Mrs, Roderique
' the previous week, informants. walked
_ into the police station’ at Pacivic, Mis-
souri, on Thursday evening, New Year’s'
_ Day. fe ae !
Pacific is a small town just west of the -
‘St. Louis County line. The informants
. warned the Pacific police that another
killing was likely to take plate, perhaps:
within hours" | 3
Pacific authorities quickly notified St,-
Louis County homicide detectives. They
chad received énough information from
the informants to link three men as the
killers in the Glencoe slayings.
‘As a result of that information and
subsequent discussions between St.
Louis County investigators who had been
working on the case and the informants,
the decision was made to move ifas soon .
Lt. Richard T. O’Connor, ditector of
St. Louis County’s crimes against per-
sons division, was vacationing at home
when he was told of the new leads in the
Glencoe case. He went to the office and
‘assembled some of his best investigators
— Sgt. John McCrady, ‘and Detectives
Frank Cavetz, Steve Burris and Tom
Deakin — to accompany him to Mineral
Point, in Washington County.* :
The informants had also identified two
of the three Glencoe assailants’ as the
ones who killed Elizabeth Roderique,
et
whose killing had taken place in
Washington County, = $%) 3&)
Before leaving for Washington Coun-:
ty, Lt. O’Connor called’ Washington
County Sheriff Steven J. Richard and
brought him up to date on‘the cases.
Sheriff Richard agreed to/meet the St.
Louis County police force and back them
up with his four deputies and himself.
Two of the suspects shared a ‘trailer
home in Mineral Point, about eight miles
east of Potosi, Missouri. They were the
ones the law enforcemen
after first.
the road from the trailer in Several cars
until about 5:30:a.m., when they saw a
late-model Chevrolet Vega depart. The
lawmen dropped in behind the'yVega,
trailing it along a gravel road...”
Since there was no way thé two men
wouldn’t know they were being followed
_ by the entourage of officers, the Vega
would speed up at times and other times it
would slow down in a futile attempt to
lose the cars behind them. Although they
had no idea who was behind them, they
_wanted to be free of the carsi4
When it became obvious that the cars’
behind them were not going to drop out,
the driver of the Vega made‘a quick U-:
turn and tried to spe¢d away from the
trailing cars. Detectives Burris and
Deakin, who were in the car directly be-
hind the Vega, turned on their red light.
_ When the Vega:still refused to stop, .
law officers shot the rear tires; forcing it:
to come to a stop off the road. Sur-
rounded by lawmen, the two men came
above their heads. ~ oh
-. “Don’t shoot,’’ yelled on
unarmed.”” a
Maybe there was no gun:
scrambling out with their handsheldhigh
= We're :
ig
hands, but the officers found a 16-gauge
shotgun on the front seat, and ‘a .22-
caliber automatic rifle on the back seat.
Both weapons were loaded, »/% ©
The two men were George Clifton Gil-
more, 34, and Leonard Marvin Laws,
31, who lived at the Mineral Point trailer
with two women and 11 children, Nor-
man Lee Gilmore, 35, the third suspect
identified by the informants, was
arrested about 6:30 a.m. at his apartment
in Labadie, Missouri, in Franklyn Coun-
ty, west of St. Louis. 4 ©
Three factors made the investigators
realize that another killing had been im-
minent:
ig Sa
1. The warning from the! informants. —
Officers ‘stated that other information
provided by the informants meshed per-
fectly with information developed. from
the authorities own investigation.
2. The ‘two men were carrying a
loaded shotgun and a loaded rifle at the
time of their arrest. oa
3. The men were stopped shortly after
2 a.m. — an unusual hour in which to be
driving about with loaded weapons.
‘“We don’t know what they were up
to,”’ said Lt. O’Connor, ‘‘but-use your
imagination... two people don’t leave at
that time in the morning with shotguns
unless they’re up to something.””.
At the time of his arrest, Lt,:Gilmore -
told the news media, George’ Gilmore
tai Re allot
liams «
to sho
money
Aft
told tl
found
Willia
Willie
front :
loadir
Wi
threw
shotg
farme
broug
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Joi
three
eh nda bt Nate A
aS
i
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4
1
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)
ae
open, he looked into the ftrzle of a
sawed-off, single-barrel 16-gauge shot-
gun. The two men shoved their way in-
side, demanding money and the keys to
/ his car parked in the garage, ::.
Lottie Williams, the farmer’s 72- -year-
old wife, came out of a back bedroom.
She was putting on her robe. ‘‘Charlie
what in the world i is going on out here?”
she asked. *
: Swinging’ tthe shotgun muzzle around,
- the intruder! shot her in the chest. She:
* collapsed to the floor; blood streaming.
» from her body; The killer took’ out the
spent shell and reloaded the single- -shot
weapon, 0 deh
*. “SMy God, a are you men crazy?” Wil-
liams cried out, He pleaded for them not .
_to.shoot him. ‘‘I’ll tell you’ where the
money is... where the keys are.’
“After he gave them about $200 and
told them where the car keys could be
found, the man with the shotgun fired at ~
_ Williams. Struck in the right shoulder,
Williams attempted to escape through the
front door while the man was again 1 re-
loading the shotgun. - 4
Williams didn’t make it, The man
-threw a shell in the chamber, snapped the
shotgun together and fired just as the
farmer reached the door. Williams was
brought down with a load of shot through)
the groin. ©.
Joined by. the driver of the car, the
three men stripped the house of every-
thing they might sell and loaded it into
their car and the Williams’ 1966 Mercury
_ two-door Comet which had been backed
out of the garage. Then the trio poured a
flammable liquid throughout the house _
and tossed a)match on the rear porch
before driving off in the two cars. ,
Shortly after 4 a.m., a carrier for the
St. Louis Globe- Democrat newspaper
and an employee of the Globe-Democrat
and Post Dispatch’s combined circula- -
tion department were driving in the area
- and saw the flames from the burning
house lighting’ up the night sky. They
hurriedly located a telephone and noti-
fied officials of the Ballwin Fire Protec-
tion District. °,°
As the firefighters spproathed. they
could see the flames and smoke two
miles away. When‘ they arrived at the:
site, the frame house was entirely en-
veloped by flames. Within minutes the
building was completely burned to the
ground. At that time, the: firefighters
were not sure, whether myo was in the
house or not,” ii
“Shortly after they got there,”” Ball-
win Fire Chief Joe Silvernail ‘said later,
**the house caved into the basement.’’
Members of the St. Louis County sher-_
,iff’s department and county police ar-
. rived on the scene not long after the fire .
} aye + Ubieroae ;
_ all law enforcement agenci
crucks. Another car pulled cote abst this
time, and a highly distraught man got
out. He said he was Charles J. Williams;
son of the people who owned the home
that was burning. my
Although he quickly noticed et his
parents’ car was missing, he was positive
they had died in the fire..*tI know my
folks,’’ he told county detective. Frank .
Savetz. ' ‘They always let me know when
they’ re going to be away for any length of
time.’ “ ABS z :
- Addescription of the Williams” car was
radioed in to the dispatcher of the county
police headquarters, who in firm alerted
‘in the area
to watch for it. As soon as”
Franklyn County Sherlif Paul,
Bruns re-opened an unsolved
Slaying of an 83-year-old widow ©
because of the similarity in the
M.O. of a recent rash of killings. \
When the autopsy reports” came
light, a county police helicopter con-
ducted an aerial search for:the vehicle
while patrol cars on the ground checked
out service and repair shops.. All brought
negative results. een os
For seven hours the firefighters probed
and sifted through the hot’rubble. and
debris trying to find the.remains ,Of the
elderly couple. It looked ‘as ‘though the
bodies might not be there.‘: then about
noon, they found both bodies in the base-
ment. They had been buried undemeath
all the burning debris whee is house had
collapsed. a a
With the car still missing tthe gather.
ities were suddenly looking at the fire ina
different manner. Now the county police
homicide, arson, and explosives investi-
gators were called in on the case. Neigh-
bors were interviewed and th earch for
the car was intensified. : ate.
was day-_
through with then eo ation that Roth vic-
tims had been shot, none of thei investiga-
‘tors were really surprised. © *
‘This is terrible,” said Fire Chief Sil- pn
vernail. ‘‘There is no excuse for some-
thing like this. It’s sickening. It’s one
thing to rob somebody - — it’s another to
shoot them.’’ da
By Friday, investigators were still
seeking information’ on the missing auto-
mobile. A reward of $5,000 was offered
‘by the Missouri Insurance Industries for
information leading to the arrest and con-
-Viction of andar involved. in the
slaying. 4
‘*Since arson is. involved: he act is
within the Missouri Insurance: Industry |
reward program on arson prevention,”’
explained Sgt. Donald Eatherton, head’
of the St. Louis County police arson and ©
explosives unit.
A number was given to call, ; either at
the Missouri State Fire Marshal’ Office .
or the St. Louis County police, Callers
would be given anonymity:and provided
with a code number that would lateriden- *
tify them for the reward. ee
Weeks went past; the investigation
seemed to be going nowhere, nor was the «
car located: There had also been. no calls
on the reward for information.$>~~
On Christmas night, 1980, Edna Win-
ter, a 75- -year-old retired music teacher,
was sitting in front of her lighted Christ-
mas tree, Her home was located in
Leawood; a ‘small community: in' St.
Francois County. * > ‘egee.
She was deeply involved with el knit-
ting, and obviously never heard any
‘strange noises that bothered her. Some-
one entered the living room through an
unlocked front door, and used a portion
of 'a T-shirt that had been cut with scis-
sors to strangle the well-liked woman. It ,
was a painful, prolonged strangulation,
according to St. Francois County perf
Kenneth Buckley. — \ a
‘*She was taken by surprise,’ i
deputy sheriff.
A purse belonging to Miss Winter was
found near her home. A small amount of
money had been taken from it, along with
some keys that were found discarded on
the lawn in front of her val ee home
‘near the Leawood City Hall.
“We were unable to deteruite if: any-
thing else had. beén taken from the
house,” stated Sheriff Buckle 5 ;There
was no sign of a struggle.’ =?”
About 50 miles south of Potosi, in
Washington County, the killers strucked
again in the small town of Richwoods on
Monday, December 29th.
Elizabeth eae an 85-year-old
i *
(continued o on 1 page 4 j
eee I
~ Associate Judge Larry J. Casey at the arraignment of Leonard
Asked why
“iat
Marvin Laws. A gory tale would unfold.
they killed the elderly | couple, one of
_ the Suspects responded casually, ‘We had
|nothing better to do that day.’
- Likea couple of wild men, they began
searching through his belongings and
dumping out the contents of drawers.
Wilson began to writhe in pain, and his |
movement prompted the same ‘man who
kicked him to strangle the helpless crip-
ple. Asif that weren't enough, the man
pulled out a single-blade folding knife’
and opened it up. ae
Brutally, the man plunged the knife
into the top of Wilson’s head. )~ '.
After locating what they had been
looking for and carrying out, the two men
set fire to the house before leaving.
. The burning rubble was discovered
shortly after 2:30 a.m. and authorities
notified. Wilson was found in the
smouldering ruins near the door. At first
it was thought the fire ‘was started by a
wood stove inside the house, even
though the autopsy on the body revealed
there was no carbon monoxide in it. This _
was slightly unusua! in a fire death, said
Medical Examiner Cecorge S. Gantner. 3
“were multiple fractures around the vic-'
tim’s head, but added the sre con
’ Wednesday, October 29th, a car w
“They said the fire was caused by an ‘
overheated wood stove,’’ Gantner went:
on to say, ‘‘so sometimes there isan,
explosion from this, which could: kill.
someone immediately and not leave time.
for the victim to inhale the carbon mono-
xide. pe eae
. “Investigators of the fire reported that: °
they found valuables stacked up outside
ae
" the burned home, leading them to believe’
Elliot had been removing them from the,
house when the explosion occurred.”’
’ The medical examiner also said there »
‘om-" -
se. Wi
‘aN ‘
mon in fire deaths. Oa ee
Although relatives and neighbors 0
Elliot were not as positive about the fire _
being an accident, there was no evidence: -
strong enough to call for further inv
tigation. eee z
Days passed... About”
eS-
Mm. On».
car with’
three men inside parked near the one and »
g . ae hone. 2
ws
the door. As the elderly farmer swung it
one-half-story frame house of Mr.
Mrs. Charles C. Williams, located on
several hundred acres in a sparsely popu-
Jated rural area in west St. Louis County,
near'the village of Glencoe. The couple
_‘vas aroused from their sleep by a pound-
‘ing on their back door that sounded omi-
*! F) fraps
Re
nous. Mae
Going to the door, the 83-year-old far-
mer asked through the’ door, ‘*Who is
there at this time of night? What do you
want?” aif fe Be oe
‘We're county law officers; sir,”’
answered a man outside. ‘*‘Open. up.
We've got to talk to you.”
**Can’t you talk through the door?’
asked Williams in an understandably
skeptical tone. uA gn
Nevertheless, the two men standing
outside the door persuaded him fo open
“$80
Township was formed from portions of Lesieur and Little Prai-
HISTORY OF SOUTHEAST MISSOURI.
ie. In 1845 Woodland Township was dismembered, and one-
half attached to Big Prairie and the other half to New Madrid.
In 1851 New Madrid County was reduced to its pregnt size by
the organization of Pemiscot County, and no more townships
were organized until 1874, when East and Portage Townships
were formed.
Greer W. Davis.
\
\
~
~
XQ nim. inflicting a mortal wound. With this the party turned and
Madrid County was organized by J udge Richard 8. Thomas, in
December, 1815, at the house of William Montgomery, in Big
Prairie.
NS
Circuit Court Proceedings.—The circuit court for New
The first important case tried was that of the United
He was convicted,
States against William Gordon for murder.
and was hung just below the town of Winchester. The sheriff ©
at that time was Col. John H. Walker, and the circuit attorney,
The circumstances of the murder have been
forgotten, and the papers relating to the case destroyed. From
that time for sixty years there was not a conviction of murder
” for which the death penalty was exacted. Perhaps the most —
closely contested and most interesting case which has arisen in 3
-the history of the county was tried on a change of venue in
adison County. On December 12, 1855, Robert G. Watson was’
Watson was one of the
shot and killed by Sullivan Phillips. !
most prominent, as well as one of the oldest citizens of the
county. Phillips was a youth about sixteen years of age, the son
of Pressly Phillips, and nephew of John L. Ross, both men of
considerable wealth. Phillips had been hauling timber through
fields belonging to Watson against his protest. He went out
to lay up a fence that had been thrown down for the passage of
the teams, and, while at work, Sullivan Phillips, accompanied by
his father and uncle, rode up. He carried a rifle, and, without
waiting for a demonstration on the part of Mr. Watson, fired at
galloped away. A hand, who had been assisting Mr. Watson,
reported the bloody deed, and the citizens of New Madrid at
once made up a posse, and started in pursuit of the murderers.
Young Phillips and his companions took to the swamps, bat were
surrounded and captured. The feeling against them in all of
the surrounding counties was so great that a change of venue to
HISTORY OF SOUTHEAST MISSOURI.
Madison County was granted. There, at the September term,
1858, Sullivan Phillips was tried and acquitted. ~ The father and
uncle were found guilty of murder in the second degree, and the
penalty fixed at ten years in the penitentiary. The defense was
conducted by Samuel Caruthers, Mason Frizzell, D. M. Fox and
several others. A new trial was granted, and, upon various tech-
nicalities and pleas, it was postponed from time to time, until in
1863 it was still upon the docket. Frizzell had been appointed
to the bench of the Ninth Circuit, and was incompetent to try it.
It was, therefore, removed to Washington County, and finally
was dismissed.
In 1881 a gang of desperadoes were found to have made
their rendezvous in New Madrid County, and the attempt to
arrest the outlaws resulted in the shooting of a citizen of New
Madrid, the sheriff of Wayne County and his deputy, and, with
one exception, in the extermination of the band. The gang had
terrorized some families in the vicinity of their rendezvous,
which was a short distance north of Bayne’s store, and on May
9, 1881, Willie Knox had left his home, fearing an attack from
them. When night came on his family became alarmed and
started for the house of a neighbor accompanied by George
Williams, a youth employed by Knox. Some of the gang were
watching their movements, and, mistaking Williams for Knox,
fired upon the company, wounding Williams in the thigh. The
next day Knox went to New Madrid and swore out a warrant for
Jesse Meyers, James Hamilton and Robert Rhodes. The sheriff,
with a large posse, went in search of the desperadoes, and about
noon found them at their rendezvous behind a fortification of
logs. A fight ensued in which Robert La Forge was killed
and two or three other members of the posse wounded. One of
the outlaws was badly wounded, but the others made their escape.
The wounded man gave himself up, but he either died soon\after
from the effects of his wounds or was disposed of by some of the
posse. Another member of the gang, who gave his name as Lin-
coln Mitchell, was captured a day or two later and placed in jail.
Vigorous efforts were instituted for the capture of the remaining
members, and officers in adjoining counties were notified to keep
a lookout for them. On the evening of May 19 two suspicious
x poe: _— ite aieteie ln ii aS
:
Cc
LELL/EL/
G © Meadow 6g /
GREEN, Richard, hanged at Kansas City, Missouri, on March 1, 1878,
"Kansas City, Mo., Mar, 1, 1878 = The hanging of Richard Green for the murder of
Deputy Marshal Hughes near Independence, Feb, 10, 1877, took place here today in
the narrow alley-way north of the court house between it and the high bluff, At
10:30 AM, the doomed man walked up to the scaffold with the Marshal and Father Duhn,
in good spirits considering the occasion, Never has a man faced death more calmly,
Scarcely a muscle quivered whilest his death sentence was beamg read, He appeared
entirely resigned to his fate, and his last and only words on the scaffold were:
'I die for my crime, in the faith of my Lord and Savior, Jesus Grhist, Godd wishes
to all men,! The execution was perfect. In 8 minutes and 5 senconds after the
drop fell, the committee pronounced that pulsation had ceased, It was intended
that the execution whould be private, and only a limited number admitted, but hours
before the appointed time, the crowds of curious spectators swelled to thousands,
covering all the bluffs in the vicinity, so that it was necessary to call our Co,
A, Kansas Infantry Guards, and the Craig Rifles, to keep back the crowd and prevent
accident, Green was a young man, aged about 27, a native of Greenbriar County,
Va. “e was raised in Green County, Ofiio, but had lived for some years in Fremont
County, Iowa, This is the first judicial hanging in Jackson County, Mo., since
(this is unclear, but it looks like 1839), The body was given to his sister, who
has attending him during his last days, and will be sent to Nebraska City tonight
for burial,"
COURIER_JOURNAL, March 2, 1878 (1:5.)
"DEPUTY MARSHAL HUGHES OF JACKSON COUNTY ASSASSINATED:(Special Dispatch
to the GLOBE-DEMOCRAT,) Independence, Mo., Feb. 11. - A very brutal
murder was committed yesterday evening six miles east of here, be-
tween 7 and 8 o'clock, the victim being Deputy Marshal 8, H, Hughes,
of this county. Hughes hed a warrant for the arrest of two men
named Green and Miller. The warrant were issued in Kansas City for
their arrest. They were charged with shodting at some parties in
West Mahsas City and fled from that place and went to Blue Bottom,.
They were ensaced in cutting cord wood there where their retreat was
discovered, Hughes proceeded to the dug-out in which they were living,
accompanied by Messrs, Fisher and Gilchrist. He went into their hut,
read the warrant and demanded their surrenter, Green, with a horrid
oath, ordered him out, at the same time covering him with his re-
volver and firing, the lead taking effect in Hughes' breast, sbout
three inches to the right of the breast bone between the sixth and
seventh ribs and lodged under the sking about thpee inches from the
spinal column and about the same distance below the houlder blade,
where it was extracted during the post-mortem examination, At the
time Green fired he kicked a box, as a signal to Miller who also
fired, and his shot struck Hughes in the shoulder, fracturing the
bones. Hughes fell back and as he fell fired, without effect, how-
ever. His last words were: 'Tell my wife,' which were repeated,
Further utterance was stopped by an effusion of blood through the
mouth, and deahh ensued, His remains were brought here and laid out.
The county is thoroughly arpased. Marshal Higget, with officers, and a
posse, has started in pursuit of the murderers. They were tracked
along the narrow guage railroad track across the Blue Bridge, where
trailwas lost, and up to’ this time they have not been caught."
GLOBE=DEMOCRAT, St. Louis, Missouri, Feb. 12, 1877 (“age one.)
Slave GREEN, hanged at St, Joseph, Missouri,
é :
t ib 3 fessiot), detasiage ab the events connected
t 3) ics te 11s trial u aa Waa verdiet ot gently
: of murder si tie in iy Qe me
: ip) after the ev! Othe juryl An
£ : a appeal was tan te the Suttceme. Court or ihe
f State, which tm] with syStained the action of
% othe lower court. \ friends, aniong whom
oe: -owere Revs. Vandeénter and Bovakin, inter-
5s ceded with Goverfor\Sterling Price in Ins be
“ : half, but ay eh
4 Sheriff Si ened Captain’ Hughes
i ‘of the “Robdloux Grays the only nilitia or-
: | eed inthe city, to ckgort the procession
to the scfffold to preserve ore er. About 8.000 |
“people were present at the execution. The
* .) prisoner firmly ascended the scaffold, expressed
the hope that he would die easy, and also a firm
- faith in Christ. Contrary to his hope, however,
he struggled long and died hard
i Bee
In the early part of July, 1859, a young
negro slave, who had been purchased in thie
2 section of country northeast of Joseph
z ae Killed Francis Marion Wright, a slave buyer,
Se who was bringing him to St. Joseph. Green |
: was tried, convicted and sentenced to hang.
3 Be ekccation took place on December 2, 1859.
E onathan M. Bassett was State's attorney and |
mee: Elijah Norton was on the bench.
: el Morgan was sheriff ie executioner,
with Wash. Brown and Sam. 0D. Cowan, as-
esses of a na ps iis to LW noht, and
4880 him through the head, the wound proving
4 Pat once. ‘The deed vas committed on the
we ‘read running throtehl a he
avy bods of tinker
ween ils and St. Joseph. Wirehts
epee Femained in the buggy
“game the horse, with its eh: isthy burden, ewerved
"From the Ste Joseph, Mo,, WEST:
and in oa short
iS)
* | admonishing him to “behave like a gentleman.”
», forced his body through the trap.
on December 2, ae | :
from the miain road and stepped at the testdcuce
of ‘Phemas Plubbard. in the viemmty. Phe
chun wis given and it was soon learned sc
yas the cai party,
~ December 2, 1850, was at cold and ble
day, but notwithstanding that fact a birge pan
| ber of curious spectators gathered at Fowlers
Grove, south of the city, to Witness the exect-
tion. A rude scaffold had been erected, four
poles having been sunk into the frozen ground
and a rickety platform placed thereon, Ames
those who mounted the insecure structure were
Sheriff Morgan, Deputy Wash. Brown, Key.
Mr. Fackler, who conducted religious services.
/ and several physicians. The “Temimett Guards.”
1 under Daniel T. Lysaght, formed an escort
fram the jail. nas, ae
The executioner was a bungler. When the
trap was sprung, the condenmed inan secured
a hold upon the rope, and braced himselt
against the side of the trap with his elbows.
Sheriff Morgan pried the victim loose, and after
Green cared little for this life or for future
existence. He was a great lover of the good
| things of the earth, especially of liquor and e:t-
_ables.. Several physicians in the city took a
| fancy to him and gratified his every want.
| When those who had buried* the body in the
county cemetery, north of the city, were re-
turning, they met the physicians en route to the
graveyard. Green had sold his body to them.
One dark night in July, 186328 amber
' men, said to have belonged yo,
of bushwhackers, en the home of aan
—dny the name ef BurnsAX Andrew Connty 1)
ing an altercation nsued George Tho
son-in-law of Burns, was Rifled. Burns amt oo-
other man were wounded andthe priv =
About dusk, evening before last, two young men, who work
5 fubbard, residing about 4+ miles from this city, on theRochester Road, were
Midd a pair of horses harnessed to a buggy came walking along slowly coming ede.
They started to catch them, and as the neared the buggy the discovered in the bottom of it
what appeared to be a drunken man, but who upon closer inspection proved to be F, M, Wright
in a dying condition,
He was not quite dead, though barely gasping.as they took him out of
the buggy into the house, were in a few moment g more he breathed his last,
Instantly one of
the young menmounted a horse and came to this city for the Coroner, who ascertained the cause
of the death to be from a pistol ball penetrating the skull about one inch above the ear, and
ranging forward, He also ascertained that about half an hour before, Drse Knode and Chambers
of St. Joseph, had passed the buggy near Cox's Mill, some three miles further on the road,
and when they passed it Mr, Wright and a stout /nesro were in it, Wright sitting on thes Left
side with his coat off, the negro on the right side, driving, <A youre Mr, Castle and others
saw them about the same time, At.themill, Wright had the negro stopped, and Wright asked
the negro if he would have a drink of water. The negro said 'No,' very insolently, and
seemed to be in bad humor,
"The trace of blood was discovered for one hundred and sixty yards fromthe house, and few
yards still further back the sock and boot of one foot were found in the road. In the buggy
were a bundle of bed-clothes belonging to the negro. Upon the murdered man's person there
were no papers to shaw from whom the negro was purchased, but it is known here that Mr,
Wright had left this city the day before tomlook at some negroes with a view to buying, The
only paper discovered was a letter from A, Beattie & Co., of this city, addressed to a firm
in Gentryville. Mr, Wright was in thehabit of carrying his revolver in his coat pocket, and
it is presumed that when his coat was off, the negro, while carrying it, stole the weapon
from the pocket, and secreted itabout his own person in order to perpetrate the fiendish
purpose at a more favorable time, Upon the body of the deceased was found the sum of
#$1,8)8.60, but no weapons, and no papers except the letter above alluded to, From examina=
tion it appcars that Mr, W. was affected with festers upon his foot, and a reasonable suppo-=
sition is that he took his boot and sock off to give it some attention, and while so
engaged was shot down by the assassin at his side, Judge W. M. Carter of this city took charge
of themoney found upon the body, and started, yesterday morning, for St, Louis, after Mr,
Wright's family, which consists of a wife and several children, A reward of $500 has been
offered for the apprehension of the mrderer, and we hope to hear of his arrest."
TIMES, New York, N. Yo, July 20, 1859 (8/3) ;
Armontrout at the Depart-
souri odyssey had started in
n in on what I had learned
>__of murder, revenge, and
‘re’s about ten of them that
vate, or murder of an officer.
ywn cases.”
Richard Zeitvogel, who had
up on death row after killing
{ John McBroom to death in
ith murdered Robert Baker.
‘el committed another prison
vith a piece of wire. Bill told
2d with Guinan on death row.
Thanksgiving | 255
Bill said he thought of Frankie Guinan almost as a son. “‘T feel like I raised
him, and I failed. And I think it will be hard doing Frankie.”
L asked Bill if he thought the penitentiary was a school for crime; whether
it was the case that young men with first offenses left the penitentiary ready
to embark on a life of violent crime.
“You see, the thing that sometimes happens is, theyll come in on a
small charge. And they end up killing somebody. And then they’re setting
there with the death penalty. Years ago, if they killed an inmate, they
wouldn’t get time. Years ago, they didn’t even prosecute them for it. In —
the last twenty years, we’ve prosecuted every crime that’s committed in
the institution. It makes you feel bad, in a way, when you see these young
ones come in there, and then they end up on death row. It makes you feel
in a way like you’re a failure. That you should have protected them better.”
I wanted to know more about Bill’s experience in the execution of
Edward Earl Johnson in Mississippi. He told me how a BBC film crew had
been there, and that he had been amused to see how they “‘just took off
out of there at two o’clock in the morning, in the middle of nowhere. They
just couldn’t get away fast enough.”’
‘Did you meet the inmate before you executed him?” I asked.
Bill said that he hadn’t had much conversation with him, except toward
the end.
“What did you say?”
“In talking with the youngster, he did just exactly what I told him to do,
you know. I said, ‘When you hear that lever rack, and you see the fumes
start up in there, you take a couple of deep breaths.’ And he did that. And
once I heard the lever rack, I started counting. And I counted to fifty-eight.
And by the time I hit fifty-eight, the kid was gone by that time, I’m sure.”’
Bill and I had spoken before, on my first visit to Jefferson City, about
the gruesome nature of executions by gas. I asked him whether, if Missouri
were still required to carry out gas executions, he would be able to put
together a team who would carry out the executions with as much dedica-
tion as the lethal injection team had demonstrated.
“It takes really dedicated staff to do a gas execution,”’ Bill said. ‘“Espe-
cially with the washing down of the body. But we were practicing on the
gas chamber for a year before the lethal injection bill was passed. I was
prepared for over a year to do one with gas.”
“8 :
Vee
x 3
at stake
tion the
serves a
ive dam-
that the
orst, 979
j i reflects
finding ‘a
i the de-
al quota-
i at 989.
d verdict
claim for
the evi-.
dant had
deterrent,
der at 14,
mly in fa-
i 289
whe
ybes
on
:—gnanifj-
nd 2,
§ vietory,
r two sug:
that the
unical and
ee.) The
ortake the
y the find-
denied the
gz reasons,
GUINAN, Frank, white, LI MOS (Cole) Oct. 6, 1993
GUINAN v. DELO 111
Cite as 7 F.3d 111 (8th Cir. 1993)
iy ~ Frank J. GUINAN, Appellant,
A
v.
Paul K. DELO, Superintendent, Potosi
Correctional Center, Appellee.
No. 93-3394.
United States Court of Appeals,
Eighth Circuit.
Oct. 4, 1993.
After dismissal of second habeas petition
was affirmed on appeal, F.2d , petition was
filed for writ of habeas corpus alleging actual
innocence of capital murder of fellow inmate.
Petitioner also moved for stay of execution.
The United States District Court for the
Western District of Missouri, Joseph E. Ste-
vens, Jr., Chief Judge, stayed execution.
Appeal was taken. The Court of Appeals
held that habeas petitioner’s claim of actual.
innocence, raised for first time on third peti-
tion for habeas corpus, was an abusive claim
and did not entitle petitioner to relief in the
absence of showing of probable actual inno-
cence.
Claim in habeas petition barred from
federal review and stay of execution vacated.
Habeas Corpus ¢898(2)
Habeas petitioner failed to make show-
ing of probable actual innocence of capital
murder of fellow inmate which would have
entitled him to relief on claim of innocence
which he asserted for first time in third
habeas petition; statements from prisoners
were often inconsistent with their previous
statements, with each other, with evidence at
trial, and with defenses previously asserted
and petitioner’s explanations for 11-year de-
lay in discovering witnesses were nonexistent
or unpersuasive. 28 U.S.C.A. § 2254.
1. “Claims of actual innocence based on newly
discovered evidence have never been held to
state a ground for federal habeas relief absent an
independent constitutional violation occurring in
the underlying state criminal proceeding.” Herr-
William Edward Reeves, Carutherville,
MO, for appellant.
Stephen David Hawke, Jefferson City,
MO, for appellee.
Before RICHARD S. ARNOLD, Chief
Judge, FAGG and BOWMAN, Circuit
Judges.
ORDER
We have before us the state’s motion to
vacate the District Court’s stay of execution
that was imposed in the above-captioned case
on October 1, 1993. Frank J. Guinan has
been sentenced to death for the January 1981
stabbing death of John McBroom at the Mis-
souri State Penitentiary. He is scheduled to
be executed on October 6, 1993, at 12:01 a.m.
Guinan’s motion for a stay of execution
was filed with his petition for writ of habeas
corpus under 28 U.S.C. § 2254 on September
30, 1998, at 4:00 p.m. This is Guinan’s third
federal habeas petition. See Guinan v.
Armontrout, 909 F.2d 1224 (8th Cir.1990),
cert. denied, 498 U.S. 1074, 111 S.Ct. 800, 112
L.Ed.2d 861 (1991); Guinan v. Delo, No. 93-
1953, 5 F.3d 318, 316 (8th Cir.1993) (treating
motion under Federal Rule of Civil Proce-
dure 60(b) seeking relief from denial of first
habeas petition as second habeas petition).
For the first time, he is raising a claim that
he was not in John McBroom’s cell when
McBroom was stabbed to death and had
nothing to do with the murder, except possi-
bly to try and prevent it. That is, Guinan is
now asserting actual innocence of the mur-
der. He supports this claim with eight affi-
davits from other prisoners convicted of mur-
der and other violent offenses, and an affida-
vit from a physician who performed surgery
on Guinan’s hand. Although it is not entirely
clear, Guinan apparently is claiming that his
trial counsel was ineffective for having failed
to interview or call some of these witnesses,
and for having failed to elicit the appropriate
testimony from others who were called as
witnesses at the trial.
era v. Collins, — U.S. ——, ——, 113 S.Ct. 853,
860, 122 L.Ed.2d 203 (1993). We note that even
if one reads Herrera as establishing that an ex-
ceptionally strong, highly persuasive showing of
actual innocence may be an independent are
|G utine CXECu fe Dect 17 773 - J) { SSO
ve RS a ee ee EO a a a
112 7 FEDERAL REPORTER, 3d SERIES
Since the present claims in the petition for
writ of habeas corpus have not been raised
earlier, they are abusive claims. Guinan
makes no showing of cause for his abuse of
the writ. Indeed, it appears that the claims
have been withheld deliberately until virtual-
ly the last minute.? To show probable actual
innocence and obtain relief, therefore, Guinan
“must show by clear and convincing evidence
that but for a constitutional error, no reason-
able juror would have found the petitioner”
guilty of capital murder under the applicable
State law. Sawyer v, Whitley, — U.S. —.,
——, 112 S.Ct. 2514, 2517, 120 L.Ed.2d 269
(1992) (announcing standard in habeas peti-
tioner’s challenge to death sentence); see
also McCoy v. Lockhart, 969 F.2d 649, 651
(8th Cir.1992) (holding that Sawyer standard
applies to habeas petitioner’s challenge to
conviction). ;
We have carefully reviewed the late-bloom-
ing statements from fellow prisoners that
Guinan claims his trial counsel was derelict in
not obtaining. We find them to be often
inconsistent with previous sworn testimony
of the same witness, in some cases inconsis-
tent with each other, inconsistent with the
great bulk of evidence adduced at Guinan’s
trial, and on occasion inconsistent with de-
fenses Guinan previously has asserted. Gui-
nan’s explanations for the eleven-year delay
between Guinan’s trial and the discovery of
these witnesses and their evidence is nonex-
istent or unpersuasive. Some of the conten-
tions are not new at all, but comport with
Guinan’s defense at trial; new witnesses. do
not translate necessarily into new evidence.
Several of the affidavits simply report inad-
missible hearsay. Others repeat statements
of Guinan’s innocence allegedly overheard by
the affiants and supposedly made by the
other prisoner accused in the McBroom mur-
der, Richard Zeitvogel, who already had tes-
tified at Guinan’s trial that he committed the
murder without Guinan’s assistance.
Guinan also submits the affidavit of Dr.
Richard Heimburger, a plastic surgeon who
performed surgery to repair tendons in Gui-
nan’s right hand nearly eight weeks before
for federal habeas relief, Guinan’s “newly discov-
ered evidence” falls far short of the mark.
the murder, examined the hand approximate-
ly two and. one-half weeks after the murder,
and continued to follow-up with Guinan for
months after the surgery. Heimburger
States “that it would have been somewhat
difficult and painful” for Guinan to have par-
ticipated in the murder (presuming, we as-
sume, Guinan would have used his right
hand). Heimburger Affidavit 9 11. Conclud-
ing it would be “somewhat difficult,” howev-
er, is a far ery from Stating it would not be
possible. Moreover, this is not newly discov-
ered evidence. Guinan knew of his surgery
when it occurred, and in fact introduced hos-
pital records of the injury at his trial.
“Applying the prevailing legal standard it
is ‘particularly egregious’ to enter a stay on
second or subsequent habeas petitions unless
‘there are substantial grounds upon which
relief might be granted.’” Delo v, Blair, —
US. ——, —, 118 S.Ct. 2922, 2923, —
L.Ed.2d —— (1998) (per curiam) (vacating
stay of execution) (quoting concurring opin-
ion in Herrera v,. Collins, — U.S. —,
——, 118 S.Ct. 853, 873, 122 L.Ed.2d 203
(1993)). We have only recently looked at the
record in this case, Guinan v. Delo, 5 F.3d
313 (8th Cir.1993), and again direct attention
to the thorough recitation of facts and over-
whelming evidence of guilt found in the Mis-
souri Supreme Court’s opinion affirming Gui-
nan’s conviction on direct appeal, State v.
Guinan, 665 S.W.2d 325, 327-29 (Mo.) (en
bane), cert. denied, 469 U.S. 873, 105 S.Ct.
227, 83 L.Ed.2d 156 (1984). In view of the
State’s evidence, we conclude that even if
Guinan’s “newly discovered evidence” had
been presented to the jury it cannot be said
that no reasonable juror would have found
petitioner guilty of capital murder.
Accordingly, the claim presented in the
present petition is barred from federal court
review. and the stay.of execution must be,
and hereby is, vacated.
om
° gry NUMBER SYSTEM
2. Seven of the eight prisoner affidavits were at-
tested to before July 3, 1993; three were signed
as early as February and March 1993.
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FRANKLIN, JEFFERSON, WASHINGTON, CRAWFORD © GASCONADE
;
Frou THE EARLIEST TIME TO THE P
RESENT ; TOGETHER WITH SUNDRY PERSONAL
BUSINESS AND. PROFESSIONAL SKETCHES AND NuMEROUS FAMILY |”
RECORDS; BESIDES A VALUABLE ‘FunDor NovTeEs, |;
_. ORIGINAL OBSERVATIONS, ‘Erc., ETc..
F
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THE GOODSPEED PUBLI
Be 1
,aigts
istisdhcae
)
EXECUTION ALERT
The Nationsl Execution Alert Network is a proje
of the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Peeet ig
For more information, contact: Pamela Rutter, NCADP,
1419 V ST. NW, Washinaton DC. 20008 .t202) .7T3eT-TO090
<
Alert 90-5 May 9,1990
*KKEXECUTION ALERT*X*EXECUTION ALERTX*EXECUTION ALERT**EXECUTION ALERT##
MISSOURI 11 MAY 1990 LETHAL INJECTION
WINFORD STOKES, (Black), a: fj has been on death row since January
1980. He was convicted of the strangling death of a white female.
[hy
tT
MISSOURI 17 MAY 1990 LETHAL INJECTION
LEONARD MARVIN LAWS, (White), age 40 has been on death row since
} September 1962. He was convicted of the murder of an elderly white
couple. Laws, a non-triggerman and his codefendant George Gilmore were
sentenced to death, while codefendant Norman Gilmore ner ecd to
cooperate with authorities and was allowed to plead guilty to séecond-
degree murder which does not carry a death sentence.
Laws at age 18 joined the Army and claims that his experience in
Vietnam changed his personality dramatically. Prior to entering the
Army, he had no history of violent or criminal behavior. Lawes has
never been tested for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Since _—
enlistment in the Army he hag a history of drug and ATOeKE? abuse an
has constantly been in prison.
Laws now in successor habeas has asked hie Redes eae to stop
working on hie behalf and let the execution proce:
TAKE ACTION ON MISSOURI CASES, CONTACT: Gov. John Anhors€t
PO Box 720
Jeffergon City MO 65102
(314) 751-3222
FAX: (314) 751-2128
2
LOUISTANA 18 MAY 1990 ELECTROCUTION
DALTON PREJEAN, (Black), age 30 has been on death row since May 1978.
He was-convicted of the murder of 4 white male police officer. Prejean
is borderline mentally retarded and was 17 at the time of the murder.
In November ‘19 89, the Louisiana Board of Fardon and Parole voted 3-2 to
recommend “clemency for Prejean. The Governor has go far rejected this
recommendation. Prejean also suffers from Avoankc: prain damage which
inhibits his ability to deal with hie impulsive behavior.
: KKThe history of juvenile executions in Loulsiana from 1848
2 through 1990 includes 3 juveniles, all black, convicted of crimes
against all white victimes and tried by all white juries. The last
: juvenile executed in Louleiana was in 1948.
TAKE ACTION, CONTACT: Gov. Buddy Roemer Louisiana Pardon Board
PO Box 94004 Chair Yvonne Campbell
Baton Rouge LA 70804 504 Mayflower St.
(504) 342-7015 Baton Rouge LA 70802
FAX: (504) 342-0909 (504) 342-5421
od
:
ij
a
'By The Associated Press
i 4
| A man convicted of killing four
peo le played video games
ednesday in the hours before his
scheduled execution in Missouri,
and in Texas, a death-row inmate
hoped late Wednesday night a
Jast-minute reprieve from the U.S:
‘Supreme Court.
it Leonard Laws, 40, was scheduled
to die by injection at 12:01 a.m.
today. af the Potosi Correctional
Center, about 70 miles southwest of
| St. Louis.
“pis attitude is reported to be
good, and he’s calm and
Gollected,”” said Don Schroeger, a
' Spokesman for the Department of
Corrections. “It looks like it’s
_ going to be on schedule.”
|, In Texas, a former mechanic
with an IQ of about 70 faced execu-
tion by injection-at the same time.
|; Johnny Ray Anderson, 30, was
condemned for the 1981 slaying of
‘his brother-in-law ina scheme to
2 killers await execution
‘Since executions resumed in the
United States in 1977, 125 eople
have been put to death before
Thursday.: Texas has had 34, more.
than any: other state, and Missouri
three. et ea
The last time there were two
executions on the same day’ was
March 15, 1988, in Louisiana sand «
Florida. *
Schroeger said :.Laws ~ spent®
Wednesday watching television, —
laying Nintendo games and visit-
ing with relatives and friends: |
Laws asked that all appeals be
dropped and that his execution
proceed, Schroeger said. ;
An appeal by his father, Marvin
Laws, was refused without
comment on April: 30,:by . the
Supreme Court, which had stayed.
id fs
the execution in June. ¢ .. %..
Laws laughed’ when he was
sentenced to death for killing Char-
les C. Williams, 83, | and Lottie
Williams, 72, of Glencoe in rural St.
Louis County. The killings. took
place during a robbery on Oct. 29,
\ 2 IER OREO SRIT TI SIS SORE
| ey SRS ACER ee ee ne
*
_ The. Dothan Eagle, Thursday, May 17, 1990 © _ Page 5-A
GILMORE, George, white, li), leth. inj.
white,
LAWS ,
Leonerd Marvin,
AN
“needs for food. His method of killing is quickly recognizable, for it is aly ays the-same. He at
I clamps: his jaw firmly to the victim’ s throat and proceeds to suck all th2 blood. ~ ee
be ‘A human pack of weasels were - - dence to their identity. These men were ties, ‘‘Wilson "’ as his friends called . 4
preying on the elderly and handicapped ° the bloodsuckers of the helpless... him, was. an outgoing person who a
who lived in the rural areas in Central- © Woodrow Wilson Elliot was born de- accomplished ‘hings others might have
eastern Missouri counties. Their M.O, sonmed. His left arm had only two-fin- pores were inpossible, . —. aM
_Wwas always the same — ruthlessly and © gers. He had a stump for a right arm Unable to ho da job, Wilson lived ona ey
t _ gavagely Slaying their victims, stealing
“everything they could easily sell, then
‘ es 2
burning the home to _sestroy any evi-.
Mo,
leth. inj. MOSP 5-1
by WAYNE T. WALKER
Pen cl one weasel ina heghoues can wreak havoc with a flock, killing m uch more than he i
‘ending at the elbow. His right leg ended
above his knee and there was only the
vestige | of a left leg. Despite his disabili-
‘ga
: pee 31, 1990
meager gover: ment disability pension
‘and the sale o small farm animals he oe
- Faised on his pi perty. Yet, the 65-year- 2
old. paraplegic was independent and en
highly self-sufiicient. ae
‘He lived alone in.a 12- -foot-by-14-foot i
one-room home near Allen, in southwest
St. Louis County. Only two and one-half °
feet tall, he could even use a stepladder
_ and repair his own roof. —
“The children loved him,”’ asserted a
long-time neig!ibor. *‘Some of-us had
' gotten some mc ney together and bought
him this small yellow garden tractor that
he could drive around..He was always
taking the kids for.a ride on the: cart he
‘ pulled behind it.”
In the early hours of Wednesday,
October 8, 1980), a knocking on the door
of -his little house awakened Wilson. 7:
Through trickery, he was persuaded to
open the door. In barged the figures of
two men, one savagely kicking him in the
~ jaw with his heavy boot and knocking
him to the floor. 7
~
‘
Brothers Nor nen “‘Uett) and
George Gilmore, two of those’
charged with the rash of killings,
By William H. Freivogel
Post-Dispatch Washington Bureau
WASHIN GTON
HE U.S. SUPREME COURT’S DECI-
SION on Monday to vacate the death
sentence of a Missouri man offers a new
legal chance to as many as 20 to 25 death row
inmates in Missouri and could delay the execu- -
tion of several St. Louis men, defense lawyers
say.
Richard Sindel, a St. Louis defense lawyer,
and Nancy McKerrow, a state public defender,
said that the court's action indicates that a
Missouri jury instruction used before 1989
may be unconstitutional.
They predicted that questions about the jury
instruction could delay the execution of three
St. Louis area men who are about to run out of
appeals — Maurice 0. Byrd, George C. Gil-
more and Winford Stokes.
Byrd was sentenced for killing four
workers at Pope’s Cafeteria in Des Peres in
1980, Gilmore faces death for killing an 83-
year-old woman in 1979 in Franklin County
and Stokes was convicted of strangling and
stabbing a waitress in University City in 1978.
Together with about 20 other death row
inmates in Missouri, those three have have
challenged the constitutionality of the same -
jury instruction that was challenged by Donald
E. Petary — the Missouri man whose death
sentence was vacated on Monday by the Su-
preme Court.
Sindel and McKerrow consider the Supreme
Court’s action in the Petary case a sign that the
sz Lou/s OST DISPATCH — Fa
Death Row Inmates Get New
TGESDAY
Maurice O. Byrd
court considers the Missouri jury instruction to
be constitutionally suspect.
But Assistant Attorney General John M.
Morris III cautioned that it was still far from
clear whether the Supreme Court’s action in
the Petary case would benefit any of the other
death row inmates.
Petary was sentenced to death for partici-
pating with his nephew in the murder of a 12-
year-old Ottumwa, Iowa, girl in 1987. He and
the nephew had terrorized an Iowa farm fam-
ily before kidnapping the daughter and leav-
ing her dead with a slashed neck by a highway
in northeastern Missouri.
In a one-paragraph order on Monday the
Supreme Court sent the Petary case back to
the Missouri Supreme Court instructing it to
reconsider the death sentence in light of two
George C.
Winford Stokes
recent Supreme Court decisions.
Those decisions invalidate jury in-
structions where there is a “reasonable likeli-
hood” that a juror would come to the conclu-
sion that the only “mitigating” factors that
could be considered were those about which
all 12 jurors agreed.
Petary, like most of those on death row, was
sentenced to death under a Missouri jury in-
struction which said, “If you unanimously find
that one or more mitigating circumstances
exist sufficient to outweigh the aggravating
circumstances found by you to exist, then you
must return a verdict fixing Defendant's pun-
ishment at imprisonment for life.”
After Petary’s conviction, the Supreme
Court handed down the 1988 decision of Mills
Gilmore
AP RAS J. 1 TFO
Appeal Route
vs. Maryland, prohibiting jury instructions that
required all jurors to agree on a single mitigat-
ing circumstance.
The Missour! Supreme Court changed its
jury instruction after Mills.
When Petary challenged the old instruction,
the Missouri Supreme Court acknowledged
that its old instruction “could be read to say
that a reasonable juror could have concluded
that no piece of mitigating evidence could be
considered in [a] defendant’s favor unless it
was found to be a mitigating circumstance by
all 12 jurors.”
But despite this acknowledgment, the Miss-
ouri Supreme Court said that the unclear in-
_ struction was saved by another jury instruc-
tion permitting a jury to reject the death
penalty regardless of the mitigating factors.
In a decision last month — McKoy vs.
’ North Carolina — the Supreme Court rejected
an argument by North Carolina that was simi-
lar to the Missouri Supreme Court's.
In its order on Monday, the Supreme Court
told the Missouri Supreme Court to reconsider
Petary’s conviction in light of McKoy.
Last week lawyers for Byrd and Gilmore
challenged the same jury instruction in argu-
ments to the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
seeking to delay their executions.
Even if the Missouri jury instruction is ulti-
mately found to be defective, many of the
Missouri death row inmates may have trouble
getting the courts to throw out their sentences.
Recent Supreme Court decisions bar prisoners
from taking advantage of new constitutional
rules in most instances.
Row
From page one
inmates on death row.
The suit says: “The procedure ex-
poses the prisoner to substantial and
grave risks of prolonged and extreme
infliction of pain if certain drugs are
not administered correctly. The pro-
cedures by which the state of Miss-
ouri injects chemicals into the body
are so flawed that the prisoner may
not be executed humanely so as to
avoid cruel and unusual punishment.”
Nixon replied: ‘The method of ex-
ecution by lethal injection has been
challenged in other jurisdictions and
upheld in appeals courts at the high-
est levels.”
The defendants are Corrections
Department Director Dora Schriro
and Potosi Correctional Center Su-
perintendent Michael Bowersox. The
State’s executions are carried out at
the Potosi facility.
“The Corrections Department has
done a thorough review of the proc-
ess, and I am sure that they are
concerned that the next process be
one that goes off smoothly, profes-
sionally and ina medically acceptable
fashion,” Nixon said.
The execution of Foster, 43, did
not go smoothly on May 3. It. took
about 30 minutes for him to die, ap-
parently because of an obstruction
that limited the flow of the drugs
through the intravenous tube. Wash-
ington County Coroner William
“Mal’’ Gum, who pronounced Foster
dead, said he believed a leather re-
straining strap was bound too tightly
around Foster’s right arm, slowing
the flow of the drugs.
After prison workers loosened the
strap at Gum’s suggestion, Foster
died within four minutes, Gum said.
Foster was executed for the mur-
der in 1983 of Travis Walker, a soft-
ball teammate, during a robbery in
St. Louis County. Walker, 26, was
forced to lie on the floor of his apart-
ment and was shot in the head four
times.
Gum _ and George Lombardi, a
spokesman for the Missouri Depart-
ment of Corrections, said they be-
lieved Foster did not suffer because
he was given the full dose of anes-
thetic prior to administration of the
two lethal drugs.
The inmates’ suit cites Foster’s
execution and contends that state law
was violated because witnesses were
‘not allowed to observe his death.
While prison workers tried to deter-
mine what was wrong with Foster’s
execution, blinds were closed to pre-
vent witnesses from seeing the work-
ers. The blinds were finally opened
three minutes after death was
pronounced.
Two lawyers from Kansas City, F.
Russell Millin and John Kurtz, are
representing the inmates for free.
although they would recover attor-
ney’s fees and expenses if they won
the suit.
16A
ST.LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
THURSDAY, JUNE 15, 1995
Family Makes Appeal To Carnahan To
By Tim O’Neil
Of the Post-Dispatch Staff
Rebuffed by the federal courts, the
lawyer and family of condemned kill-
er Larry Griffin are asking Gov. Mel -
Carnahan to spare Griffin from being
executed next week.
Griffin, of St. Louis, is to die by
lethal injection on Wednesday for the
drive-by shooting of a suspect in the
murder of one of Griffin's brothers.
Quintin Moss was shot 13 times as he
stood on the corner of Olive and Sa-
rah streets on the afternoon of June
26, 1980.
On Wednesday, members of Grif-
fin's family and several supporters
handed out leaflets in front of the
Civil Courts Building downtown.
The family says Griffin didn’t kill
Moss. ““The government doesn’t
want to admit toa mistake, so they're
just going to kill him,” said James
Griffin Jr., 47.
Kent Gipson, a lawyer with the
Missouri Capital Punishment Re-
source Center in Kansas City, asked
Ghrittin, of St. Louis, is to die by lethal injection on
Wednesday for the drive-by shooting of a suspect in
the murder of one of Griffin’s brothers.
Carnahan to free Griffin or, at the
least, reduce his sentence to life in
prison.
Chris Sifford, a spokesman for Car-
nahan, said the governor’s office was
reviewing the request.
If Griffin is executed, he will be the
13th person put to death in Missouri
since the state resumed capital pun-
ishment in 1989.
In his written request to Carnahan,
Gipson said Griffin must rely upon
the governor because the review of
the case in federal courts has been
“mild, cursory and inadequate.”
In October 1993, U.S. District
Judge Edward L. Filippine held a
hearing on Griffin's claim of improper
testimony during his trial in 1981 and
new testimony that he wasn’t at the
scene of the murder.
Filippine denied Griffin’s request .
for a new trial, saying in part that -—
“recent testimony is not credible.”
The federal appeals court affirmed
that decision in August 1994, and the
U.S. Supreme Court declined to take
the case in November 1994.
Missouri Attorney General Jay
Nixon said Wednesday that Griffin’s
claims “‘couldn’t withstand the scruti-
ny of a seasoned judge.”
“A brutal murder took place over a ~
decade ago,” Nixon said. “It’s time to
do what the jury said to do.”
Griffin, 39, has 11 other felonies,
including an unrelated murder. He is
the second youngest of eight chil-
dren, including Dennis Griffin, who
was murdered on Jan. 2, 1980. Mae
Etta Griffin, their mother, said Denn-
is Griffin was a drug dealer, but Larry
Griffin ‘“‘didn’'t go around any of
that.”
City police picked up Moss for
questioning in Dennis Griffin’s mur-
der, but he never was charged.
Larry Griffin’s claim of innocence
rests on two premises:
= That Robert Fitzgerald, a felon
in the federal witness-protection pro-
gram who observed the murder of
Moss, has changed his story since he
identified Griffin at Griffin's trial.
& That Kerry Caldwell, another
federally protected witness who has
immunity from prosecution in a se-
ries of drug murders, now claims that
Call Off Execution
he and three other men murdered
Moss. Gipson said two of the accom-
plices Caldwell identified are dead
and a third, who is in prison, won't
discuss the case.
Filippine heard both men in Octo-
ber 1993 but did not believe their
stories.
Inmates Sue
Over Method
Of Execution
By Terry Ganey
Post-Dispatch Jefferson City Bureau Chief
JEFFERSON CITY — Thirty-six death row inmates
filed suit Wednesday alleging that last month’s prolonged
execution of Emmitt Foster demonstrated that Missouri’s
lethal-injection method was ‘‘cruel and unusual punish-
ment,” in violation of the Constitution.
The suit, filed in federal court, seeks a temporary
restraining order to postpone executions until an investi-
gation determines if the execution system is
constitutional.
Larry Griffin, scheduled for execution next Wednes-
day, is among those filing suit.
Attorney General Jay Nixon said his office would ‘‘vig-
orously defend”’ the state’s method of execution and said
he was confident that Griffin’s execution would be carried
out the same way.
In Missouri, a mixture of drugs is fed intravenously into
the arm of a condemned inmate. The procedure was
adopted in 1988 to replace the gas chamber. A dozen
inmates have been executed by injection since the rein-
statement of the death penalty in 1976. The state has 91.
See ROW, Page 18
THURSDAY, JUNE 15, 1995
ST.LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
THURSDAY, ocTOBER 7,1993 * ST.LOUIS POST -DISPATCH
‘
- Witness Sticks With Story In 1980 Slaying,
was handed me,” Fitzgerald said Wednesday oss. Two of them are dead, ‘dnd the third’s
i: Ot the Post-Dispatch Stat! : When Moss was shot, Fitzgerald was living in St. location is unknown, Caldwell said. -
\ the state of Missouri executed its i as a federally protected witness in @ trial in Under questioning by Assistant Attorney Genet-
| i ee aie ral wes th- ia outed up at the murder scene bv accident al Frank Jungs dwell said he 5 em quiet about <a
: Jat ; 2 x. Moss case for 13 years because, | wasn't going to
: when his cat broke down, he said. As Fitzgerald . if on death ours 7
ae er, Larry Griffin, is fighting his death was waiting for a new battery to be installed, Moss al gegen? a M eS ck.
|” sentence in the murder June 26, 1980. of Quinton was gunned down nearby, he testified. e said he had summone® oss killers and
| Moss. @ victim of 4 drive-by shooting at Olive and At Griffin's trial, Fitzgerald identified the defen- watched as they shothim. os -
Sarah streets. . PEL TNT. dant as the man he saw shoot Moss. ‘Jung challenged that bY submitting evidence
_ Prosecutors said at .Griffin's murder trial in Fitzgerald is serving a prison sentence in Florida that Caldwell couldn't have been there. He pre-
. 1981 that Griffin killed Moss, 19, because Moss for stealing, co—— “sented to Chief US. District: Judge Edward L.
was a suspect in the murder earlier of Griffin's eac owledged Wednesday that at the time he Filippine @ document that showed Caldwell. was .
_ prother. Dennis. Sa was not completely sure that the man he pointed —released from @ boys’ home the day after Moss was j
Griffin's lawyet: Kent Gipson of Kansas City. out was the killer. killed. ie ee en,
had hoped Wednesday that the main trial witness “The only thing that changes now is I wasn't aS Hours before the start of Griffin's hearing
against Griffin would recant his testimony. That positive when | pointed Larry Griffin out in court.” Frank Guinan died by injection at 12:08 a.m. at a
didn't happen. “ ; Fitzgerald said. “I was less than 100 percent Potosi Correctional Center for murdering 3 fellow
_ Them G had picked @ honest in that respect, I guess. Deep down inside Teas 3 1981. COU vected last-Mmi
hatograph of Griffin from several provided by --+ | felt that he was the individual.” prison inmate oo eg ants rejected last-minute
. claims that Guinan was innocent based on new
police. Gipson said the identification was tainted Also testifying Wednesday Was Kerry Caldwell, .
because 3 detective told Fitzgerald that Griffin was 29, a former member of the Jerry Lewis-Bey drug . L LS
a suspect before he showed Fitzgerald the photo. gang. He testified against Lewis-Bey this year Jung said such claims of “newly discovered evi-
. “| remember pointing out that picture. really under a gran’ of federal immunity. dence” appear to be “trendy” “in death-row
not thinking much about the method in which it He identified three other men in the shooting of appeals. age
Execution |
From page one
gives the witnesses periodic updatings
on any appeals in progress. He says
that after the last denial of appeals,
Gilmore has “become very reclusive,
very quiet.”
At 10:55 p.m., the witnesses are ush-
ered out, passing a vending machine
with a sign that reads: “Have a Happy
Day.”
Riley stays behind. “I spent 17
‘months in Vietnam,” he said. “I don’t
want to see any more.”
The procession passes through six
doors, down a maze of hallways,
through a “security envelope ” of two
sliding glass doors unlocked separate-
ly by a guard in a glass booth, through
a recreation room with a Pac-Man
game and down an elevator before
arriving at the briefing room.
Although there are 462 inmates,
none are in view because the prison is
put on “lockdown” the night of an
execution. Potosi is a one-way road; it
houses lifers or the condemned — 70
at last count — who will never leave.
At the briefing room — which looks |
like a small courtroom with a judge’s
bench flanked by American and Miss-
ouri flags — Moore, the corrections
head, lectures the witnesses.
“Those in the media, I caution you
to observe privacy for the witnesses of
the condemned,” he says. “I also cau-
tion you that what you are about to
observe is very serious; I would not
want to see any black humor.
“What you are going to see and
participate in is justice being served.
It’s a far cry from the horror and
terror that the victims of George Gil- -
more were put through as he killed
each and every one of them.”
George Lombardi, another correc-
tions official, offers coffee and then
uses a diagram of the execution cham-
ber to tell witnesses exactly: what to
expect. He describes the three drugs
to be administered, and what they will
do.
“You will notice a machine,” he
says. “There will be red lights and
green lights.
“When the green light is on, the
drug sodium pentothal will drop from
the machine into Mr. Gilmore. That
will last about 50 seconds, and the red
light will come on when that is
completed.”
The first drug knocks you out, the
second stops your heart and the third
seamemmmmntia
At 11:50, the procession erids at the
L-shaped viewing room, where the
witnesses are seated in two bleacher-
type sections of seven seats each.
Franklin County Circuit Judge Law-
rence 0. Davis, who sentenced Gil-
more to death, takes a seat in the back
row. Davis has handed down four
death sentences; this is the first to be
carried out.
’ Two prison sergeants stand at ei-
ther side of two small windows and
will draw the blinds at the proper
time, allowing the witnesses to look
into the chamber. :
The sergeants — looking like book-
ends with burly builds, dark mus-
taches and balding heads — are mo-
tionless and expressionless.
For nine minutes, the room is silent
— not a word is spoken — except for
the occasional cough and the beeping
of a digital watch alarm going off.
A faraway steel door opens and
slams shut. A toilet flushes.
At 12:01 a.m., an offical announces:
“Gentlemen, the execution warrant is
being read.”
Murmuring ‘can be heard behind
the shuttered windows, like the muf-
fled sounds that come from a
confessional.
Suddenly, the bookend guards pull
the blinds, and George Gilmore, the
killer of five, is there strapped to a
gurney. Only his head is visible, his
body is covered by asheet. |
His hair is still oily, but gray, not jet
black like in his first mug shots. The
hair is disheveled, rather than slicked
back in curls.
Although Gilmore has refused the
sedative traditionally offered before
the.execution — he is the first of the
five to do so — he looks groggily back
at his three witnesses behind the glass
in an adjacent room.
His brother, who is standing,
mouths the words “I love you” an:
motions with his hand to include Gi!
more’s niece and fiancee, who ar
seated nearby. The women are crying
Gilmore repeats the phrase — “
love you” — and an official advises
“The first chemical is now bein,
administered.”
Gilmore tries to say something else
but the drug works too quickly an
cuts him off. His eyes glaze over, hi
mouth drops open, and he is gone.
“Gentlemen, the second chemical i
now being administered.”
Sobbing can be heard coming fror
behind the door that is marked “Out c
Bounds.” The women have covere
their eyes with their hands. The brott
er stands shaking his head.
“The final chemical is now bein
administered.”
“The procedure is now complete.”
The bookends close the blinds.
The witnesses are led out of ti
viewing room to a hall, where the
sign a statement saying they watche
George Gilmore die.
Back in the visitors’ lobby, Moor
the corrections head, gives the offici
declaration: “The lethal dose was a
ministered at 12:05. He was unco
scious at 12:06. George Gilmore w.
pronounced dead at 12:10 a.m.”
Moore then reads a statement fro
Gov. John Ashcroft: “Justice has be:
served. This regrettable event is ne
essary to reaffirm the value the sta
of Missouri places on innocent hum:
life.”
Although he said the executi:
method looked “awful easy,” citiz:
witness David Coplen looks dazed a:
leaves quickly. ;
Tom Stuart, the second witness, s
alone long after the others have gon
“That’s about as clean as you ge
he said. “My feelings are with t
victim and their families.
Stay Of Exécution Granted By Court
The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Ap-
peals here granted a stay of execution
Saturday to Marvin C. Jones, who was
sentenced to death for shooting his
former girlfriend between the eyes in
1983, a court official said.
Jones had been scheduled to die at
12:01 a.m. Wednesday at the Potosi
Correctional Center, where he is be-
ing held, said Michael Gans, chief
deputy clerk of the Appeals Court.
The court met Saturday morning.
and granted the stay, Gans said.
Attorneys for Jones and the sta!
which opposed the stay, were notifi:
of the decision, Gans said. The ca
will be heard on Oct. 11. The cot
could decide to dissolve the stay at t
hearing.
Jones, 69, was sentenced to death
1984 for the slaying of Dorothy Fis
hold, 58, of Pontiac, Ill. Police s:
Fienhold was shot between the e:
and her body dumped near Cuba, }
Jones, from E] Paso, Ill., was arres’
as he hitchhiked on Interstate 44.
halts your breathing, Lombardi
explains. |
At 11:44 p.m., the nervous chatter |
ends with the announcement: “Gentle-
men, let’s go.” :
The procession leads through seer
more doors and out to a brightly lit!
courtyard. The only sign of life is the:
nighthawks circling for insects.
Back inside, a bit of relief is provid-
ed by a cartoon taped to a window. It ;
shows the comic strip character Cathy }
with her hair standing on end.!
“Stress!” she says. }
A Grim 90 Minutes For Execution
WN
By Tom Uhlenbrock wv 7
Of the Post-Dispatch Staff
POTOSI, Mo. — “It looked awful
easy,” David Coplen said moments af-
ter viewing his first execution.
Coplen, 38, is a budget analyst for
the state in Jefferson City. He was one
of two private citizens who asked to
view the execution of George Gilmore
early Friday at the Potosi Correction-
al Center.
“I didn’t know how I felt about capi-
tal punishment; I thought I'd better
find out,” he said.
“I know it’s more expensive than —
imprisoning somebody for life — af-
ter you figure in the cost of appeals.”
In wire-frame glasses and short po-
nytail, Coplen stood out among the
police officers and reporters who
make up the normal contingent of wit-
nesses. He read a science-fiction nov-. .
el, “The Adversary,” while waiting fom™
the walk to the execution chamber at
midnight.
“My partner encouraged me to
come down and do this,” Coplen said,
referring to his girlfriend. ‘She’s a
Quaker and opposed to capital
punishment.” |
Tom Stuart, a stout, short, 40-some-
thing fellow from Bonne Terre, Mo.,
was the second private citizen who
volunteered to be a witness. “I kind of
feel out of place with these sheriffs
and all,” he said.
“I don’t relish the thought, but I
Spares somebody had to do it,” Stuart
said.
State law says 12 “reputable citi-
zens” should be asked to view execu-
tions. The viewing area seats 14. The
only requirement is that witnesses be
21 years old.
“We try to accommodate citizens
who wish to serve,” said Dick Moore,
director of the Department of Correc-
tions. “I think it’s important for the
public to participate.”
With five executions since January
1989, the state has the death process
down to a precise 90-minute drill.
After being frisked by a metal de-
tector, witnesses gather in the visitors
lobby in the prison at 10:30 p.m. the
night of the execution.
They are given a blue folder con-
taining statistics on the death penalty
— about 2,210 convicts are awaiting
execution nationally — plus photos of
Witnesses
the condemned man, the room where
he will die and the machine that will
kill him.
' A detailed account of Gilmore’s
crimes includes a description of his
slaying of Mary Luella Watters, 83, the
killing for which he is to be executed.
“Gilmore stepped over to Mrs.
Watters as she lay on her bed of death
and shot her in the chest,” the report
says. “When the poor lady said, ‘Ooh,
what did you do that for?’ Gilmore
shot her in the chest again.”
Dale Riley, a correction official,
-See EXECUTION, Page 10
SH Louis Post Dispoted - SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 1990
pgislature and conduct audits at
€ direction of the Legislative
dst Audit Committee,
The audit showed .that for the
dget
nchmark Security Corp., which
ehicle Inspection Associates,
ich inspects vehicles in
dgwick- County, earned
13,979 for checking 19,33]
icles.
nesses were designated in’ 19
Nties; and the Highway Patrol
designated in 10 counties.
hea Ts also said the patrol
fail institute a number of
inistrative Procedures they
ight were necessary.
len VCR
i}
i serial number, Lummis
a matter of weekly routine,
is. gives police a list of all
hed items, their serial
bers and the people who
ed ag he. said. Police
| Bodle’s stolen. VCR on the
ice advised Bodle, a cons-
on electrician, that pawn-
are’ legally entitled to
d payment before giving up
len item, but Bodle ap-
ed the pawnshop anyway to
etrieve it, Bodle said.
ny pawn fees paid
‘once a thief is
H and convicted.,But when
is arrested, prosecutors
take any action, he said.
the Kansas Ch, Stwr
flug. 31. IG4D aos bo , col.
Courts deny appeals
for stay of execution :
The Associated Press
POTOSI, Mo. — The US.
Supreme Court and a lower court
Judge refused late Thursday to
block the execution of convitted
murderer George C. Gilmore, ..
removing a major obstacle to his
Scheduled death early. today by
lethal injection.
The Supreme Court rejected
Gilmore’s emergency request fora
stay Thursday afternoon, and
several hours later a U.S. District
Court judge in St. Louis dismissed
Gilmore's application fora Stay.
Attorneys. for Gilmore then
asked the 8th U.S. Circuit Court
of Appeals in St. Louis for a Stay.
A three-judge panel of the appeals
court rejected the request Thurs-
day night. ‘
Gilmore, 44, was scheduled to
die at 12:01 a.m. today for the
August 1979 murder of 83-year-
old Mary Luella Watters at her
Robertsville home. He also has
been sentenced to death in: three
other murders and is serving life
in prison for a fourth. co
Prison spokesman Dale Riley
said Gilmore met with. family
members and a friend Thursday
afternoon. Riley did not identify
the visitors. ss
Authorities say Gilmore and
Leonard Laws killed five persons
in a crime spree in which elderly
or helpless people were targets for
robbery and murder in the St.
Louis area. Laws was executed
May 17. o
Gilmore also was sentenced to.
5
>
steer
e
¥ ce '
gta ‘
; '
—
ty
oy
the
death for the Oct. 7, 1980, murder”. “h
of Woodrow Wilson Elliott of-
Allenton, a paraplegic, and the.
killings three weeks
Glencoe.
Court records show that Elliott,” ”
_ 65, who was born with no legs and ef;
one deformed arm, was stabbed to cy
death and robbed of
Clarence Williams, 83,
death and their home
set afire -
Oct. 29, 1980.
__ Gilmore also was sentenced to.:
life in prison for the December.
1980 murder of Elizabeth Roderi-
que, 85, whose body was found in
her burned-out home in
ty to that murder.
‘Riley said Gilmore was moved °
pS
Saturday to an isolation cell at the“
Potosi Correctional Center, the -
maximum-security prison in a
Washington County where death -
by
">
-
row inmates are held.
five relatives and friends to serve .
as witnesses to his execution. . ;
Gilmore’s execution date was |
set last week by the Missouri me
Supreme Court after the 8th U.S.
Circuit Court -of Appeals lifted a
Stay. He had been scheduled to die.
twice last year, but each time
execution was halted by a court .
order, ’ ;
E
JOW
labl
nan
later off.
Clarence and Lottie Williams of ;
$4,000 he:
had been saving in a jar. ee
and...»
' Lottie Williams, 72, were shot to.
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oy
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Richwoods. Gilmore pleaded guil- ..:;
ata
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ST.LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
fs, Wj S
1€Is, Ithess a
0 “But I can €e how 4NY victim's family js 80ing Jon — in Operations today. hey just didn't get the
— Post-Dispatch Staff - tobe comforted by an execution 10 years later after thir One, potassium Chloride.” |
T. Kenneth R, Smith Jr. Objects to Missouri the fact. Life imprisonment With no Ope whatso- . : ar oo
Prison Officials Using the tools of his trade to Per- "ever for Parole js Worse Punishment,” — deterreng 2 be shoul exec mene : hs
orm executions. on PF . : ; te
Smit isa p fessor of Neurosurgery at St. Louis victims said sei sieving reareg a as rt: B Aiess surgical i “ration, he said,
ite l’Y Medical Center. He was the “myster ‘ve taken care of at least 109 omicide victims If the point of it is they wan deterrent, jt
Witness” © execution f George Gi Ore at the My career — the first one that stands out in m Should not be done at Midnight in son * faraway |
Otosi Co; rectiona] Center 9 Aug. 30. mind was a Policeman at Cit Hospital” he said Place as Quick and €asy as po Sible,” he Said. “They |
Whi other witnesses volunteered thei, Should go down under the Arch On the Fourth of |
names, Smith hesitated when approached by a I have all the sympathy in the World for the July and have masg hangings,” |
reporter. Victim's famil » but you can't bring anybody back to ; ; :
i didn’t want to tary 0 anybody,” smith said life by executing Someone else,” Oe a remattt sald oe Nas written She vies
Thursday during an Mterview in his oftice "4", an Smith said that Dhan he returned to work the ae, * Tenaga te Episcopal Dioceses © Missouri acti;
ed to ob €rve what Went on so | knew what an after the execution he Was struck by ¢ ¢ similarity them to help abolist t death Penalty. He lans to
oi clion is, between the death chamber and an sperating room, do the same with his church, the Second Presb teri-
€ Said the €xPerience had Solidifieg his belief “The next Morning at 8 | was Standing looking in an Church in St. Louis ’ ate
that the death Penalty is Wrong. the window of My operating room and the patient se
“I Just don't €Xe€Ccution is g deterrent: the Was in a sheet With only his head Showing — the Smith also Said he ight repea
V Majority 9 Murderers don't give 4n lota of _ Same EKG machine, the Same intravenous tubes,” Witness future e€ j
thought to th Penalty,” he Said, “y, he said.
Want revenge and vengeance __ Nn eye for an eye,a “There's 29 peo
tooth for a tooth,
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THE NEW YORK TIMES NATIONAL THURSDAY, JUNE 22, 1995
Killers Die
By Injection
In Missouri
And Texas
By The Associziod Frese
Larry Griffin, a killer in a drive-by
shooting, was executed early yester- .
day in Potosi, Mo., after lawyers
failed to get more time to challenge
| the legality of lethal injection.
Also yesterday, Kar! Hammond
was put to death by injection in
Runtsville, Tex., for the 1986 rape
and murder of an F.B.1. secretary.
“J just want to say that | know it's -
so hard for people to lose someone ;
they love so much,’ Mr, Hammond,
30, told witnesses. ‘I think it’s best
for me to just say nothing at all.’’
In Missouri, Mr. Griffin’s execu-:
tion was delayed more than three
hours while the United States Su-
preme Court considered three ap-
peals.
Two minutes before the scheduled |
12:01 A.M. start of the execution, the |
Justices rejected without comment.
an appeal to spare Mr, Griffin until a:
judge could hear his Jawsuit chal-
lenging Jethal injection as an uncon. ,
stitutionally cruel and unusual pun-:
ishment.
At 2:40 A.M., the Court denied
without comment two defense asser-
Uons that new witnesses had come.
forward. The execution began an’
hour later.
Mr. Griffin, 40, requested a last
meai of white bread and water. He
had no final statement,
He was convicted of the murder of
Quintin Moss tn St. Louis in June.
1280 in the drive-by shooting. Pros-;.
ecutors gaid Mr. Griffin had been:
seeking revenge for the slaying of
his brother, Dennis, six months earli-
er. Mr. Moss had been questioned by
the police but not charged in the |
slaying, ;
} witness to the Shooting, now in the
Federal witness protection program,
had recanted. They said another fed.
erally protected witness had admit-
ted that he and three other men
killed Dennis Moss.
Mr. Hammond was executed for
Investigation.
Mr. Hammond, who had been re-
leased under mandatory supervision
after a rape and burglary conviction,
broke into Ms. Vetter's apartment:
and raped and stabbed her. She was'
found alive but died before reaching
a hospital.
“It's too quick,” Ms. Vetter’s
mother, Virginia, said before the ex-
ecution, He would need to suffer &
lite bit more according to what he
gave Donna, which was a lot of suf. |
fering.’ .
Mr. Hammond’s lawyer, Jordan
| Steiker, said his clien: had not re.
ceived a fair trial. He said the trial
lawyer had not told the jury that Mr.
Hammond had been denied access to |
anti-psychotic medication after leav-
ing prison and that could have con-
tributed to his behavior. He a!$0 con-
tended that Mr. Hammond had suf-
fered physical and sexua: abuse as
child,
Mr. Griffin's lawyers said the soje.
the 1988 murder of Donna Lynn Vet-:
ter, 21, 8 secretary in the San Anto. |
nio office of the Federal Bureau of
o—-
GRIFFIN, Larry, black, LI MOS (St. Louis City) June 21, 1995
Executions Occur In Mo., Texas
AP 21 Jun 95 6:08 EDT vo404
Copyright 1995 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
The information contained in this news report may not be published,
broadcast or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority
of the Associated Press.
POTOSI, Mo. (AP) -- A man who avenged his brother’s killing with a
fatal drive-by shooting was executed early this morning after his
lawyers failed to get more time to challenge lethal injection in court.
Also this morning, Karl Hammond was put to death by injection in
Huntsville, Texas, for the 1986 rape and murder of an FBI secretary.
“I just want to say that I know it’s so hard for people to lose
someone they love so much," Hammond, 30, told witnesses. "I think it’s
best for me to just say nothing at all."
In Missouri, Larry Griffin’s execution was delayed more than three
hours while the U.S. Supreme Court considered three appeals.
Two minutes before the scheduled 12:01 a.m. start of the execution,
the justices rejected without comment an appeal to spare Griffin until
a judge could hear his lawsuit challenging lethal injection as
unconstitutionally cruel and unusual punishment.
At 2:40 a.m., the Supreme Court denied without comment two defense
assertions that new witnesses have come forward. The execution began an
hour later.
Griffin requested a last meal of white bread and water. He had no
final statement. |
He was convicted of the June 1980 murder of Quintin Moss in St.
Louis. Prosecutors said Griffin was seeking revenge for the slaying of
his brother, Dennis, six months earlier. Moss had been questioned PY
police, but not charged.
Griffin's lawyers said the sole eyewitness to the Moss shooting, now
in the federal witness protection program, recanted. They said another
federally protected witness claimed to have joined three other men in
killing Moss.
Hammond received a lethal injection for the Sept. 4, 1986 murder of
Donna Lynn Vetter, a 21-year-old secretary for the FBI office in San
Antonio.
Hammond, who had been released under mandatory Supervision following
a rape and burglary conviction, broke into Ms. Vetter’s apartment, then
raped and stabbed her. She was found alive, but died by the time she
reached a hospital.
"It’s too quick," Ms. Vetter’s mother, Virginia, said before the
execution. “He would need to suffer a little bit more according to what
he gave Donna, which was a lot of suffering."
Hammond’s attorney, Jordan Steiker, said his client never received a
fair trial.
He said the trial lawyer never told the jury that Hammond was denied
access to anti-psychotic medication once he left prison, which could
have been a contributing factor in his behavior. He also contends that
Hammond suffered physical and sexual abuse as a child.
Two people have been executed this year in Missouri and 12 in Texas,
which leads the nation in executions. Hammond and Griffin were the
286th and 287th people executed since the 1976 U.S. Supreme Court
decision allowing states to resume capital punishment.
Cem peru bry pease sbi Qh BS FCG GS eee
aay partens follown: a os
\-o0d _yAbjects—The promotlun of the business,
00d commercia!, transportation, manufactur
a Be] aie Ofeanronnt educational and munfe:-
ee Gal Eitereate of the clues of Kansis @ ity,
, ot Mogvand Kansas City, Ian, and trade
DE territory Immediately triputury thereto.
~~ |The collection and dissemination of sta-
tistical. and other information relating to
business, commerce, transportation, manu-
facturers, the professions and munictoulity
The promoting, supporting or opposing of:
legislative and other measures affecung
the aforesaid Interests.
things
und| ° The doing of all such gther ite
~t teal may be conducive to the extension of trade,
a commerce. manufacturing or Lididental to
sume/ the attainment of the above objeets,
NN ning It is offered as ao suggestion that. the
the chamber could with advantuxge Ive cone
t sjderation to the following subjects:
7 National importance—Parcels post, Nas
in is| tional freight classitfteation, merchant mt-
Nvales rine, department of commerce and imdtis-
~~ htts ‘tries, Nicaraguan canal, consular reform,
0D trade with the orlent, protection of forests,
ye Atly irrigation of arid western Jands, eto, ete.
Nu fave . Local interests—Kansas City’s represen-
h@V®) ration at the St. Taruls exposition; the es-
both tablishment of a school of commerce and
oY on- technology; # Kyxtemathe plan to mdvertise
~~ ation the advantages Kansas 44tyv offers for the
2 ie il investment of capital in tndusctrial enter:
Mat prises; the preparation of no plan for the
hight city’s. fall entertainments that would eum-
\® ve mand the heurty support of tle urbted due
Y igen ‘terests of the chamber; a comprehensive
cern plan, vigilantly executed, to secure con-
~ eOM3! ventions for the city, and many clvic
t + questions. ~
xt vacks
’ Am Wi al ag? Ve 2 y
(234| FATHER ENDS LIFE OF THREE
num-| =, shee ao
Orne Waitne Farmer Brains Triv of Uhli-
SS ive al hay: dren Without Apparent
Sr the] 8s ye. Cause.
ges into ¢,Cliinton, Maine, March 21.—Jacob Decur-
Aer born Marr. a farmer Hiving elght miles
Oke | peom! chis village, killed bis three children,
; M., aged thirteen; Elwin, aged ulue,
clen, aged seven, with an ax, short:
yrafter the family had risen from ¢he din-
Her tadic today. Mr. Marr had becn de-
TWitndent for some time, but his” actlons
Sere not such ax to make his wife belleve
t ‘he had had any serlous trouble tu
Pood over.
eldeat dauygh
ne
¥
e;
. «
‘
Tt ter was washing dishes
ke Kau as
rawes tithe sink when her father went by her
wither Mthe shed and got the ux. He came
ate e dnto the kitchen und struck the zirl
te 1 ‘blow on the head, killing her.
rt or- > g “uw this and run screaming to
mout- “house of her husband's father, Samuel
‘ iot The husband aparently walked up
A
ats
x's
ataira.to where the younger cniiareh were
: 2 and dealt cach a« single blow with
handle, killing them both.
eWaen Mr. Marr, sr.. came In the younger
=f as washing his hands et the sink.
ewan asked why he had done the deed,
fhe said: “I don’t know.’ Later in the
She was piaced under arrest and taken
‘to -Weterville.
FS:
“Mx
ac
o
WAED IN SWOLLEN STREAM.
‘yw... Hart of Springteld Mee.
c Death—Driver Escapes.
“usta The Kansas City Times.
meficld, Mo.. March 21.—Robert | M.
one of the. proprietors of the 8
Newspaper company‘ of this city,
Pomme de Terre ri
wyester
, *
»
a . é
2
ned {nthe
ee ee rn
preomadtpatfeon ort
of
“ybian
Cues
recomiunenaathoms
Piro pson fagtrerrees
patlotad commndtter
His eleethom would) be od ~Kraeefiul too state
and stfetdal ty qaurty. Wall oppose ‘nit to
the end,
“JORN FH WHEPPMORI:,
M. tO tela,
$1 EVANS
"AL KK. OLNSON,
yo J. WeATOPELY.
“EL PLOTEW ER,
“SRD MENDENTOAL EL.
oe, JOUVENAR.
“DAN SWANSON,
Sy Oe vane ce ta OY OO
The long term eimneus oadjourned Until tee
morrow pikht, after taking mineteen ballots
Witinstt ce trodrtiteetbon
he news of the defflanmt reply quiehiy
spread wlout the hotel loobtes adel caused ca
noarked flurry, csteechaily Decatse af bass
wers Junmetion wath che ‘aitis.
Voy dnterchamee of telegrams effectually
sabonoced the reports sprecd today by Rose-
Water und ‘Thompsou manggers that the
ooposition of thre Citcers Breit _e: ened Pith -
Yeon tosets ta Phage cr Wate ielpaotat ter te
witherawn, abd that tae “saentis’ would pe
{note the caucus ahd help tesmibimate Baose-
Wotient,
~ Pp pe edt ds theet Vieeuapeson sa bast lioge
of ehoetion mow Thess Div didi drape ast ttededit
Hitthber Of fusbomdsts cit ther tear veote fet
him wutrigh! or remit from the Jobat oon:
Vertion so hia vets world be ao mugjeotity
af thie: feotiel Vile cant The fuslonists pre:
Videed ceagedust) this Geragsht) dim at endetes,
witeh emphatheally .inouneced toat ity
fisien meanber Whe teaadns cwary from
Jomat eoanvention Yereafier Wihlirout surtt-
lent excuse will be deservedly Hable taca
Most ulpleasaut suspredou,
TESLA SAYS ITS A SURE GO
Inventor Pinces Contract for Mesa.
{ncture of Wireless Telegraphic
Devleens, .
Pittsourys, Ba, Mare’ "L—Nikela “Tesla,
the duventer, ds dm butte oaury plachig a cote
frat whit the Woeetingeatine Mpectrhe cam:
pany for the gamut Ces of certala my
chanteul devices to the used dn hin expert
ment on owireless teegraphy acroraé the
Allunthe oc@at,
Mr. Tesla states that Cho success of his
latent enterprise ix omere assured now than
ever before, and within the bex 4ix mont:
his invention will te Riseda practleal Crest.
He bopes to estaba tar proof that ft ts
not beyond the ranxe of Possibility to ex-
tablish communticailon across the ocean
without uhe ald of wires,
Will Defer Action a Few Dany.
Special to The Kansas (tty Times.
Jefferson City, Mo. Murch 21.—Governor
Dockery will leave the whisky tax Dill un-
signed for several days > ct-in any event.
He hag hud visits from several] delegatlhons
of business men fo opposition to it, and in
deference to requrest- from others to be
heard tn regard yo tt, will leave the matter
open .
Murderer Dies on Scaffold. \
St. Louls, Mo., March 21.—A special from
Kennett, Mo., says: Milo Gregory, aged
B® years, Wan hanged here at 2 o'clock this
afternoon for the murder of his emptoyer,
Joseph Covert, February 20, 1899, In. the
nottherf part of Dunkiin county. He shot
and killed Covert. who.Was @ Saw mii}
ywner, in a dispute over
\\V ashingtern Short
the value of an)
Thee trainees Wi return te
Aclinipas Seyiunoter rabyjects fo
Australien navel brigade, who.
for serviee on the rallwaa, rem
mnitary authorithles say he doe
stand the xttuation, that) hts
isounealled for and that che
marines are just the men need
ordered
The Russians have
te proceed from Port Arthur t
The arrangements made b
the Terench
matredlew) ats completely
danger of at collision
ane? If'reneh ts considered
Qemmmans
sutisfaret
between.
oby
Prcadlieotr,
|
PROPOSES AN BQUAL”
|
New Proposition Regaerdin
nity Dincunsed by the Dir
Washington, ID. «'.. Maret
and Jater advice from Mr. Vt
npeehal commissioner at) Pela
rpore boapeful tone thats those
proceeding, for dt dndteates the
jee toot Sarde mintties ds being adhe
an Atxporition fa re
Preeetis ecoppe TEMPO,
Wit drench edberodape brag the
them, thre Linited lates Kove
advice eed another came) ae panel te
thon, namely. “Pa divide the totaa
00,000, Into
apepoaeenet ong
pedis
collectea, sue :
of which the ed Staten we
one, ft jx tru Q@l ten power
cented at Peking, but itt leust
have no foundation for u clain
nity,
This suggestion bias pot been
cerved by those nations while
have been put to very much om
than Was the United Stutex |
Hoxer troubles. Rut the ans
haus been that Ino mont cures f
part of the expenses were absa
cesraty: that there was no ¢é
the maintenance of large ml it al
Ching ufter the fall of Peking.
unnecessary, und even pernic
were the se-called pumitive
whieh have been dispatened Cro
vhopt InfervVaele mince that date
A number of foreign represeti
ed at the state department, to
terested In China, and all kee
over the pro«ress of negottutl
jong indemnities, Among the
British ambassador, Lord Pau
Husslian ambassador, Gduut
Gierman ambaraador, Dr. von }
Erereh ambassador, M. Camtx
xnese intiister, Mr. Takahira,.
giun minister, Count Lichterv
had separate and rather long.
with Secretary Hay. Axide—
ambassadorx und ministe
hu groupst i
dipiomatic chamber and discus
mation the progress of event
eust. % '
CUBANS MAY YET
Marked Change In Sentime
to Mave Taken ?P:
Meeently.
Havana, ‘Maroeh 21.—An ‘clero
now exists an” to what will be
titude of the Cuban conatitutic
ton. The preponderance of p
n favor of the Platt amendmen
ast few days is having its ‘eff
udtcal members, and Gonera
ress utterances tdday- fu
eaken the strength ofthe ra
Genera] Ganguly wan the
all the delegates. He.favo
convention; whan ‘tha
aad
(
GTIMORE, Gworge, white, li, leth. inj. Mo., 8791-1990
LAWS, Leonard, white, leth. inj., Missouri 5-46-1990,
| Pr C19
t
l
ry) e . e Ul : F
Missouri Executes Multiple Killer; |
Mure ut te in Texas |*
urderer Is Put to Death in Texas |'
. ‘ fa Ww
Friday Y -[f- Ya By The Associated Press New Jerk 77m es .
A man convicted of killing four peo- In Texas yesterday, Mr. Anderson, a ?
ple was executed in Missouri yester- sixth-grade dropout who attributed his | bs
day, while a Texas inmate was put to I.Q. of 70 to sniffing gasoline and glue
death for murdering his brother-in-law. from the age of 5, was executed for fa-
Both men died by injection shortly tally shooting Ronald Gene Goode, a 22- BE
after 1 A.M. ‘year-old soft-drink salesman, in the in- | hi
In Missouri, Leonard Laws, who was surance scheme. -
40 years old, was executed for the rob- Also convicted in the murder were a
bery and shotgun slayings of an elderly Mr. Goode’s wife, Laura’ Anderson bs
couple. He had also been convicted in Goode, who is also Mr. Anderson’s sis-
_ the killings of two other elderly people, ter, as well as Delvin Johnson. They-
' crimes for which he had received a life ‘were sentenced to life in prison and pa-
sentence.. eer, roled last year. Mr. Anderson’s moth-
Mr. Laws was the second Missouri ler, Rowena, was acquitted of capital BE
inmate executed in six days and the |murder in the case. 1 Ht
third this year. Six inmates have been } .._.° = Boks Mee Fa
put to death in the United States this || The condemned man issued a final} be
year. statement insisting that he was not re-| ¢,
In Texas, Johnny Ray. Anderson, 30, | Sponsible for the killing. . In the state-| an
was executed for a 1981 slaying that | ment, which was typed by a fellow
was part of a scheme to collect $67,000 | death row inmate and had many mis-|se
in insurance money. On Wednesday, | Spellings, Mr. Anderson criticized the pe
the United States Supreme Court | justice system as unfair and inconsid-| mm,
denied a stay of his execution. ' | erate of “the victum’s family.” He| sv!
127 Executions Since 1977 called mien the excape goat.” gc
Yesterday's executions bring to 127 | _ ‘You people out there don’t under-|'s,
the number of people put to death since | Stand any of this, either because you} M
the Court allowed states to resume | don’t care enough to check, or you will} po
capital punishment in 1977. Texas has | have to wait until your the one on the} ve
had 35 executions, more than any other | table getting killed, then as always it} w
state; Missourihas had four. | will be to late, then you will understand 0
._ The last time there were two execu- | how unfair the system really is for all} ¥
tions on the same day was March 15, | Parties involved,” Mr. Anderson wrote. |
1988, in Louisiana and Florida. Jim Mattox, the Attorney General of | p¢
“Our government has carried out its | Texas, who witnessed the execution, | N
duty,’”” said Gov. John Ashcroft of Mis- | dismissed Mr. Anderson’s claims of in-| ©
souri. nocence. ‘‘Even if he was not the per-] t
-Mr, Laws had abandoned appeals | son who pulled the trigger; he would .
after one by Mr. Laws’s father was | still be culpable for the murder,”’ Mr. |.A
refused by the High Court on April 30. Mattox said. : ; a
Mr. Laws laughed when he was sen- TD by
tenced to death for killing Charles C. 1.Q. Was Key in Appeals — itt
Williams, 83, and Lottie Williams, 72, in. ; m
1980 in St. Louis County. The gunman,,|_, Mr. Anderson’s lawyers contended in |¢9
George Gilmore, 43, has also been sen- | their appeals that his I.Q. was not con- | bc
tenced to death. sidered by the jury that gave him the a
According to trial testimony, Mr. | 4¢athsentence. _ coe
. Laws cut the telephone line and acted _ The Supreme Court earlier this year | ar
as a lookout, then set the couple’s house | ordered the Texas Court of Criminal on
ONT. * oes Appeals to reconsider a similar case lec
Mr. Laws was also convicted of kill- involving another condemned man, | 1!
ing a 65-year-old disabled man and an | John’ Henry Selvage. Mr. Anderson’s :
85-year-old woman, both in 1980. appeal wasbasedonthatcase. | t
b
|e
GILMORE, George, Leth inj. 8-31-1990 z :
LAWS, Leonard, white, leth. inj., ssouri 8P (St. Louis County)
5-17-1990 ee
Missouri, Texas exec
“Missouri.” .
) A man convicted of killing four
people was executed in Missouri
today after abandoning all appeals,
while a Texas inmate who claimed
to be brain damaged from sniffing
glue and gasoline was put to death
for murdering his brother-in-law.
* Both men died by injection shortly
after midnight (CDT). . 7
» Leonard Laws, 40, was executed
for the robbery and shotgun slayings
of an elderly couple. He was the sec-
‘ond Missouri inmate executed in the
Jast six days and the third this year.
Six inmates have been put to death
in the United States this year.
‘ In Texas, 30-year-old Johnny Ray
‘Anderson was executed for a 1981
slaying that was part of a scheme to
collect $67,000 in insurance money.
On Wednesday, the U.S. Supreme
Court denied:a last-minute stay.
: Today’s executions bring to 127
‘the number of: people put to death
‘since the resumption of capital pun-
‘ishment in the United States in 1977.
‘Texas has had 35 ‘executions, more
‘than any other’ state, Missouri has
‘had four.
~The last time there were two exe-
“eutions on the same day was March
+15, 1988, in Louisiana and Florida.
_ “Our government has carried out
its duty,” said Missouri Gov. John
_ Ashcroft. “Robbing and brutally kill-
» ing elderly people for monetary gain
- will not be tolerated in the state of
Laws accepted his fate calmly,
‘and indeed helped the process by
‘ abandoning further appeals. He died
of his last requests. He had no last
words. ‘ ete 1:54 ay ; tanh dg tN + Somers 8
30 by the U.S. Supreme.Court.
“Laws laughed when he was sen-
tenced to death for killing Charles C.
Williams, 83, and Lottie, Williams, +
72, in 1980 in rural St, Louis County.’.
The gunman, George Gilmore, 43,°
also has been sentenced to death. ~
According to trial testimony,
‘Laws cut the telephone line and
acted as a lookout, then set the cou- _
ple’s house on fire. 0
Laws also was convicted of killing |
a 65-year-old disabled man and an
85-year-old woman, both in 1980. He
was sentenced to life in prison for
those slayings.
Johnny Ray Anderson, a sixth-
grade dropout who blamed his IQ of |
70 on sniffing gasoline and glue from
age 5;{issued a final statement...
--insisting he was not responsible for —
the fatal shooting. of,Ronald. Gene
Goode, a 22-year-old a soft drink -
salesinan.@ ff «a -miager cd
In the statement typed by’a fellow
Death’ Row inmate’ and containing
numerous misspellings, Anderson
criticized the justice system as
unfair and inconsiderate of “the vic-
tum’s family.” He called himself
“the excape goat.”
Anderson’s sister and Goode’s
wife, Laura Anderson Goode, and
Delvin Johnson were convicted of
murder; sentenced to life in prison
and paroled last year. Anderson’s
mother; Rowena, was acquitted of
capital murder in the case.
Mes, 71990 (A - [¢-2-
Prurs. bi A Fo
Jr FYANCES Co
ZK ArH, NC
Two states
conduct
executions
“Injection given
murderers in
Missouri, Texas
ASSOCIATED PRESS
A man convicted of robbery and
- murder was executed in Missouri
early Thursday, and a Texas in-
mate was put to death for the slay-
ing of his brother-in-law. —
Both men were killed by injec-
tion shortly after midnight, CDT.
Leonard Laws, 40, was the sec-
ond Missouri death-row inmate to
be executed in the last six days and
‘| the third this year. Of the six in-
mates executed in the United
States this year, three have been
put to death in Missouri.
In Texas, meanwhile, 30-year-
old Johnny Ray Anderson was exe-
cuted for the 1981 slaying of his
brother-in-law in a scheme to col-
lect $67,000 in insurance money.
The. U.S. Supreme _ Court
Wednesday refused to issue a.last-
minute stay for Anderson, clearing
the way for him to be put to death.
Anderson’s appeals contended
he was retarded and his death sen-
tence was unconstitutional because —
jurors did not consider his retarda-
tion.
Since executions resumed i in the
5 United States in 1977, 127 people
-| | have been killed.
The last time there were Ld
; executions on the same day was
March 15, 1988, in Louisiana and
Florida. °
aoe
mouse passea wie vu ou-é.
| EXECUTIONS: A man con-
victed of killing four people was
_.|., executed in, Missouri early to-
__ put to death for the slaying of
“|. pam. PDT Wednesday). Leonard
Pe! # $67,000 in insurance money.
Ke +
{ National News ||.
tin
i brief
4
ATR eet hy pee Ea
» day, while a Texas inmate was
i . his brother-in-law. Both.men
,|-| Were put to death by injection .
‘|" Shortly after’ 1 am. EDT: (10°
_ Laws, 40, was executed for par-\
.|: ticipating in the shotgun ‘slay-
.,]y Ings of: an elderly couple. In:
_. | Texas, 30-year-old Johnny. Ray...
| <{4' Anderson was executed for ‘the - :
vi | % 1981 'slaying of his brother-in-°
‘J+ law in a scheme to collect
CP ete tt ot
[2 HOSPITAL ARNUCTION.: A) 7
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B.-Thursday, May 17,1990 m San Jose Mercury News
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Missouri, Texas
execute inmates
on death row
A man convicted of killing four
people was executed. in Missouri
early Thursday, and a Texas in-
-mate was put to death for the slay-
ing of his brother-in-law.
Both men were killed by injec-
tion shortly after midnight, CDT.
Leonard Laws, 40, was executed
for participating in the robbery and
shotgun slayings of an elderly cou-
ple. He was.the second Missouri
death row inmate to be executed in
| the past six days and the third this
year. Of the six inmates executed
in the United States this year,
three have been put to death in
Missouri.
In Texas, meanwhile, 30-year-
old Johnny Ray Anderson was ex-
ecuted for the 1981 slaying of his
brother-in-law in a scheme to col-
lect $67,000 in insurance money.
The U.S. Supreme Court .
Wednesday refused to issue a last-
minute stay for Anderson, clearing
the way for him to be put to death.
Anderson’s appeals contended
he was retarded and his death sen-
tence was unconstitutional because —
jurors did not consider his retarda-
tion.
Since executions resumed in the
United States in 1977, 127 people .
have been killed.
The last time there: were two _
executions on the same day was
March 15, 1988, in Louisiana and
Florida. "
ir opearaic, rs PE arr ag Pe
[ * } —_—
‘Thursday afternoon —
MAY 17,1990
ATE SPORTS.
EDITION .
TWENTY-FIVE CENTS.
as Ranney ideal © ebiiedtbals 6 EE rte nee aetna teen wenee ee
‘Dumb’ man’s death not halted
HUNTSVILLE, Texas — The Supreme Court
Wednesday refused to halt the execution early
today of a man with an IQ of about 70 who was
sentenced to die for killing his brother-in-law in
an insurance scam.
* The High Court’s denial of two motions filed
On behalf of Johnny Ray Anderson, ‘30, followed
a similar action by the Texas Court of Criminal
Appeals earlier in the day.
‘““(We appealed) on the grounds he is a poor,
dumb, son of a bitch who should never have
been given the death penalty,” said Louis
Dugas, Anderson’s attorney.
_ In Potosi, Mo., meanwhile, convicted killer
- Leonard Laws calmly awaited execution, play-
eet tr eee
_ THURSDAY
FO Outi soy yp
truck a boy was killed in during a tuinau. --
ing Nintendo computer games in his cell and
eating a hearty breakfast. Laws, 40, was to re-
ceive a lethal injection at 12:01 a.m. today.
| : 0172 WZ Seance alt aw
_ May 17, 1990
THE SACRAMENTO
INION
THE OLDEST DAILY IN THE WEST
FOUNDED MARCH 19, 1851 }
vow ANAL by Ve
| of NATIONAL DIGEST —
Two inmates executed
A man convicted of killing four | va |
people was executed in Missouri ear- h
ly today, while a Texas inmate was
put to death for the slaying of his
brother-in-law. n
Both men were put to death by in- c
fl
:
ewe ew rrr
<2
jection.
Leonard Laws, 40, was executed
for aiding in the robbery and shotgun It
slayings of an elderly couple. He also
was convicted in two other killings.
In Texas, 30-year-old Johnny: Ray %
Anderson was executed for the-1981
slaying of his brother-in-law to col-
lect $67,000 in insurance money.
_ On Wednesday, the U.S. Supreme
Court refused to issue a last-minute
stay for Anderson, clearing the way
for him to be put to death.
The Supreme Court turned down
7-2 one application for a stay from |
the:-Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, '
and rejected 5-4 another application
from the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals
in New Orleans.
——41--Lich encnacts held a
y, May 17,1990 Dis
2 nL eee -—
The nm Bee Final .° -Thursda
Danoet_| aa
‘Rijio Crackle Tourn
2 prisoners executed /7
A man convicted of killing four
people was executed in Missouri early
today, while a Texas inmate was put
to death for the slaying of his brother-
in-law.
Both men were put to death by
injection shortly after 1 a.m. EDT (10
p.m. Wednesday PDT).
] Leonard Laws, 40, was executed for
| participating in the robbery and |
| shotgun slayings of an elderly couple.
He was the second Missouri death row
{
|
inmate to be executed in the last six
days and the third this year. Of the
six inmates executed in the United
States this year, three have been from ~
Missouri.
In Texas, meanwhile, 30-year-old
Johnny Ray Anderson was excuted for
the 1981 slaying of his brother-in-law
in a scheme to collect $67,000 in
ae os Se / 7- GO
Pd eee
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)
Trailing The
«Missouri
Killer Pack’ ~
(continued from pagal)
¢ : Le
ad Bt Se “y an i :
Soon Laws moved into the Gilmores’
“trailer at Mineral Point. Altogether, there }
was Laws, George and his wife, their
_ five children, one of George’s sisters and
her six children living ina crowded, two-
“bedroom, 50-foot-long trailer...
-; Following’ the arrest.of George and
Laws, the 11 children were taken over by
state officials and placed in foster homes.
, On Wednesday morning, January 7th,
the two suspects—— George and Laws —
were taken before St. Louis County
Associate Circuit Judge Dennis J. Quillin
~ and arraigned on three charges of capital
‘murder in connection with the deaths of
the Williams couple and Elliot. Both men
pleaded innocent and Judge Quillin
~ ordered them held without bond in the St.
Louis County Jail in Clayton until their
preliminary hearing. ’
Norman Gilmore was also arraigned
and entered an innocent pleajon Wednes-
day to capital murder in the Williams .
case. He was not charged in the Elliot
‘slaying. ~<°* wi Soke
_--'The following day, George and Laws
appeared in Washington County Circuit
Court before Associate Circuit Judge
Larry J. Casey and were arraigned on
_ capital murder charges in the slaying of
Elizabeth Roderique. They had been
brought to Potosi in handcuffs and leg
chains by St. Louis County jailers. Both
defendents pleaded innocent. They were
ordered’ held. without bond.”
After the three men were charged in.
the wave of rural slayings, Franklyn
County Sheriff Paul Bruns ordered a new
investigation into the unsolved shooting
and stabbing death of Mary Louella Wat-
ters, an 83-year-old widow, She had
been found dead from. gunshot and stab
wounds in her ransacked rural Roberts-
.:ville farmhouse on August 24, 1979.
» “The only thing we’re saying,” said
country detective David Conner, “is that
the modus operandi was similar.””
*’ Mrs. Watters, who lived alone, was
found dead on a bloodstained bed in her
home by her son, who went to visit her.
~ She had been shot once in the stomach
“and once through the heaft and had been
‘stabbed and slashed with a knife or sharp
: object. pi p Gui. yah
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Case Squad who investigated the slaying
said her modest one and one-half story
house had been ransacked and a .410-
gauge, singleshot shotgun she used for
protection from wild animals was mis-
sing. aR ade ;
Telephone lines leading to the house
had been cut, apparently before the house
had been broken into — an approach
similar to that used in at least two of the
slayings in which George and Laws were
charged. ieee ar:
‘“We’re talking about’a number of
- similarities,’’ said Detective Conner)
‘*She was an elderly woman who lived
alone in an isolated area. There are other
similarities but I’d rather not go into them
now.”’ RHEE
Detective Conners had questioned the
three suspects about Mrs. Watters’
slaying, but refused to say what he had
learned, noting they were still under in-
vestigation. spteanics s
It was believed, however, that Laws
was in Mississippi State. Prison at that
time. George was living in Dallas during
that period, but had made periodical trips
back to the St. Louis area'to visit relatives
and friends. The authorities were still
checking on Norman’s whereabouts. at
fo ae
the time of the murder.’ We
Instead of a preliminary hearing,.
George and Laws were each indicted by a
St. Louis County grand jury on three
counts of capital murder in connection
with the deaths of the Williams couple
and Wilson Elliot. Norman was indicted
on a charge of conspiracy to commit
capital murder. :
Two months went by without any
more outstanding incidents taking place
pertaining to the various cases. Then in
the last week of March, Franklyn County
Sheriff’s Department Detectives Sgt.
Michael Copeland and St. Louis County
Detective Frank Savetz went to Jaffrey,
New Hampshire, to question a friend of
Norman Gilmore.. : “
Kirk D. Sebastian, (31, said he met’
Norman when he lived in New Hamp-
shire, and visited in Missouri with him in
August 1979. He admitted that he and the
Gilmore brothers — Norman and George
— broke into Mrs. Watters’ home, and
George shot the elderly woman with a
‘pistol. Re, ae
Waving extradition, Sebastian was re-
turned to Missouri, charged with first-
degree murder, then lodged in the Frank-
lyn County jail in Union. He was being
held on $100,000 bond.
ri
Within a few days a Franklyn County:
(continued.on page 53)
51
“Trling
teary ‘
ences, Epiocman’s was taken before Phelps
County Circuit Judge Weldon W. Moore
on January 7, 1982, where he pleaded
guilty to. second-degree murder in the .
death.of Mary Louella Watters. He was.
“people was a ‘‘foolproof way of making
sentenced to 30 years in prison, to run
concurrently’ with the’ other terms.
Joe.Landolt, chief trial assistant for the
Franklyn County prosecuting attorney’s
office,-said Norman was allowed to plead
guilty’ to: second-degree murder in ex-
change for agreeing to testify against his
brother in his upcoming trial in the case.
On Tuesday, January 20, 1982, Laws
went on frialin St. Louis County Circuit
Court.for the murder of Wilson Elliot.
Again, Norman Gilmore was the star wit-
ness.)
““Ity was not the intention of leaving the
man ‘alive when all three of us went
there,” Norman testified. He said the
ne he Ms
(continued rom page 53)
killing ‘was part of a plan by his brother,
George, to ‘‘rob and kill old people.”’
A cousin of the Gilmore brothers testi- .
fied on, Wednesday that he and a former
brother-in-law became aware of the kill-
ings when visiting the trailer home near
Mineral Point.
‘They. were bragging about it inside
the trailer... George said it was OK to let
him (Laws) talk in front of us. He had
confidence built.up in us.’’ ..
At one point, Laws demonstrated how
he had killed Elliot, the cousin testified.:
Pulling, out his single-blade folding
knife, Laws had said, ‘‘I took it and I
stabbed the man on the top of the head.”’
Killer Pack’
ee
* Later; 1e, brother-i n-law testified and
reinforced the cousin’s story. He said
- that George’ had explained the three —
George, Norman and Laws — had disco-
vered that robbing and murdering elderly
money. Old people keep their ‘money —
, they: don’t believe in banks.’
He. testified when Laws had described
the robbery and killing of Elliot, Laws
had said, **He (Elliot) was a hard-headed
bastard. He bent my knife.’’ Laws -
. ‘and Laws... ra
laughed about it, he testified.
o, Ta e evening of January:1, 1981,.
The ousin nand brothegltnclaw. went to
Detective Frank Savitz'testified Laws
‘told him after he had been brought ‘to.
police headquarters -and formally:
arrested, “Em going to die for what J
did, but you’re going to haye to work for.
it?” asae ae
On the witness stand, Laws denied all
OF it.) 3. 38"
' The jury. of six men ond six women’
deliberated two hours on'Friday and re-:
turned a guilty verdict on the charge of ’
capital murder. After the hearing in. the
death penalty phase of the trial, the same ,
jury recommended the death penalty.
Other -trials are pending «in various ,
cases for the two defendants — George
9
. Carpenter told the reporters that the
FBI and local psychiatrists had prepared
a psychological profile of the unknown
suspect.’ He compared it to the profile
that had been prepared of the slayer of the
4 Couples-Bludgeoned In Jed!
(continued from page. 15).
appeared to be bashful, and unsure of
himself around young women.
Carpenter said that the profile of the
suspect, who had become known as the
Night. Stalker, had been prepared from ,
coeds before Christiansen became a sus- ‘known facts in the murders and. the
pect,. ee
It stated that the person abducting and
attack. Badin
‘If the attack on n the couple who
killing the girls was a white male, in his | escaped can be linked to the murders,
early '20’s,'a loner who had never been
married. He was unable to have a stable
emotional or sexual relationship with 4
woman and was someone who worked at
menial tasks.
When caught, the 23-year-old Christ-
iansen: was found to have worked as a
/ part-time gas station attendent and bus-
boy. He lived alone much of the time and
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then we have a description of the killer,’’.
Carpenter said. ‘‘And a, severe beating. .
will tell something. If one blow, or a:
gunshot, is sufficient to.cause death,
what kind of a person pounds away 20 or
30 times after the victim, is dead? It be-
comes a kind of psychological signa-
ture.’
One point upon which’all of the ex-
perts agreed upon in preparing the profile
was that unless captured, the killer mon
kill again: Hest
‘They say he’s driven 1 by § some sort of
a compulsion to murder.couples’ while
they are in bed,"’ Carpenter said. '*What °
it is.and why he has selected certain vic- :
-tims, we don’t know and possibly won’t
know until we have him in custody. It is .
almost impossible for someone with a,
rational mind to follow the feasoning oft
‘| an irrational mind.””
Reporters asked if there was any sig-
| nificance to the fact that’ the murders
appeared to be spaced about six months.
apart and if it was expected that he would”
strike again six months from the time of « /
the slayings of Domingo and Sanchez.
Carpenter said there might be a murder
of reasons for the time lapse between the
crimes. It was possible the killer might be -
a mental patient and confined for short
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‘Williams before the man was shot and
\. killed in his Glencoe home. He was also
: carrying a receipt for money from salvag-
ing the Williams’ car. The Mercury had
been stripped of such valuable parts as
the motor, a radio, tires, and battery.
‘They stripped and junked it,*’ said
Lt. O’Connor. ‘They ran a truck under
it, took it to Festus and sold it as scrap. ‘
George had the receipt on him when he
was arrested.’’
Obtaining a search warrant, officers
went through the trailer and located
numerous. stolen items from various
crimes over the multiple-county area.
The same'was done in Franklyn County
and the apartment of Norman Gilmore
was also searched.
After intensive interrogation on Fri-
day, George Gilmofe confessed to shoot-
* ing the Glencoe couple and admitted
being present at the death of Wilson
Elliot, the paraplegic. Upon learning
-this, Medical Examiner Gantner decided
‘to. change his ruling on Elliot’s death
from accidental to homicide.
' St. Louis County Detective Tom
Robinson started investigating the Elliot
case again by interviewing relatives
Elliot and the neighbors near the burned
home. From the relatives he learned that
. the two Gilmore brothers had frequently
. the money to buy the 16-gauge shotgun
: State’ s witness against his eS George -
visited Wilson Elliot with their uncle,
Jesse James Gilmore, when they were
boys growing up in the atea.’
In his confession, George Gilmore had
stated he had gone with this same uncle to
visit the Williams home. Some time just
prior to the slayings, George stated he
had gone to see Charles Williams about
buying the couple’s car. /
Before they burned the Elliot home,
George said he and Laws had discovered
. the containers that the crippled man kept
his life savings in. When they counted it
later, there was $4,800. He used part of
used to kill the Williams couple with.
+ A nephew of Elliot ‘said, *‘Wilson
‘couldn’t keep his money in checking
accounts because the service charges
would have eaten up his’ little bit of
_ money. He had raised pigs to get part of
the money that was stashed away.”” Most
“of the time, the nephew said, Wilson
‘survived on his Social Security disability
payments"
., On Tuesday, January 6th; St. Louis
“County Prosecutor George ‘R. ‘*Buzz’’
Westfall said an agreement had been
“ reached with Norman Gilmore to turn
ingots
"(Continued from page 47)
and Laws in exchange fora Flic sent-
ence.
Norman had jue to being a par-
ticipant in the Elliot and Glencoe cases, .
as well as the Roderique: murder, but he
denied killing anyone.
‘‘We made the exchange,"” ‘said. the
prosecutor, ‘‘after Norman agreed to
make a confession of what occurred in
the murders. He is to testify in all cases in .
any jurisdication and all--major crimes,
especially homicide, that he, his brother
or any accomplices were involved in.
‘‘If he cooperates, he would be permit-
ted to plead guilty to charges of second-
degree murder and would be ee to
15 years in prison.’” <%=
If Norman went back on ‘the agree-
ment, asserted Prosecutor: Westfall, he
would be prosecuted to the full letter of
the law on capital murdet'charges and his
confessions would be used against him.
He also said that if it were determined
that Norman had actually participated in
committing any of the murders, the
agreement would be, dropped and he
would be prosecuted on capital charges.
‘Norman told me that he never killed
anyone, and I have no evidence to contra-
dict him,’’ Prosecutor Westfall said.
‘*But if police do develop evidence that
he’s committed a murder, then the agree- |
ment is cancelled and he .will be prose-
cuted for murder. My main concern is to
get the maximum penalty possible
against the killers.’
In doing a background Check on the
suspects, the investigators learned some
harsh facts about the Gilmore brothers. It
was a tale of a gypsy childhood, living in
abandoned farmhouses, and continued as
an account of petty brushes with the law.
Another brother got out of the army in
May of 1980, full of plans to help
George, his older brother; get ‘his life
straightened out. He knew George had a
talent with cars, and, he:was ‘going to °
assist him in getting an education $0. he
could be a qualified mechanic.’ * . «
This brother was stunned at the iteats
and the accusations of murder.:He said,
“‘George was like a father to me after our
parents died.”’ si a
The biggest shock of. all the murders
was the one of Wilson Elliot..;
‘‘That’s flat impossible,’” the brother
stated. **All of us knew Mr. Elliot very
well, loved him. Mr. Elliot would give us
rides in his goat and pony cars, and later
on, his tractor. We lived right,down the ©
street from him in Allenton Wewere all
crazy about him.’ 5
In fact, the Gilmores lived : ‘down the,
street’ ’ from scores of people | in west St.
Louis County. : .
‘‘They lived more. or less ike gyp-.
. sies,’’ said Lt. O’Connor. ‘‘If there was
an old abandoned farmhouse, they would -
move in. Then they would Jeave ang
move on into another.’” 1
The Gilmore father worked for 12,
years for a pipe company in Creve Coeur
before taking a job at a Valley Park lad-
der factory. He worked there until his
death in 1968. His wife had died the year
previous: ©
Mr. Gilmore had childres rom a first.
marriage, the oldest born when she was
13. Gilmore also had children from a
failed first marriage. The two married. -
and had seven children of their own. In
all, an older daughter put the family
population at 28.
The family drifted from hothe to home :
in far west. St. Louis County.: Such a
nomad life took its toll on’ schooling.
pees: ,
None of the children finished high he
school; with George only making it 2283
‘through the eighth grade.
Crime, however, started early with
George and Norman. Norman was sent to
a State reformatory at the age of 12 and.
stayed there until he was 18. Numerous ~
arrests followed for both brothers.
“‘It was penny-ante stuff,’”. said Lt.
O’Connor, ‘‘vandalism, stealing-cars. I -
remember when the kids were’arrested,
They'd hitchhike home.’’ .
Valley Park Police. Chief Louis c.
Brown said, ‘‘George and ‘his’ friends
have always been problems.’,
Laws was not among those friends. He
had dated George’s wife when both were
in high school. After graduation, Laws
had gone into the Army. She’got married
and had four children before that mar-
riage ended in divorce. For the, past six
"ie
"years, she had been married to George
and they had one child.
For several years, George. ‘and his,
family lived in Dallas, Texas, where he
owned and operated an auto repair gar-
age. At his wife’s insistence, the family
_returned to Missouri.in August.
Norman had been working for a period
as a paramedic in the small town of East
Ridge, New Hampshire, but returned to
Missouri in September and moved into
an apartment in Labadie. © > °
Meantime, Laws, was released from
the Mississippi State Prison after serving
a five-year sentence for aggravated
assault in the beating of a baby, records
revealed. He reappeared in Missouri and
was introduced by sera Ss wife to her
husband. ah
(continued on page |
‘the parents never came to get them.”
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‘ences to run concurrently. The lesser plea
_ ‘in both counties was in exchange for his
testimony against his brother George and
‘Laws. pe
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State
- jurors deliberated about two hours, then ~
hae
Trailing The Missouri ‘Killer Pack
NO Ee
Circuit Court grand jury returned an in-
‘dictment for a charge of capital murder
against George, and one for a charge of
- first-degree murder against Norman.
The Jatter brother pleaded guilty to the
charge of conspiracy to commit capital
murder’ in St. Louis and Washington
counties, and received two 15-year sent-
The first trial was that of George Gil-
“more ’in the Glencoe slayings of the Wil-
liams couple and was held in December
of 1981. A jury of. six men and six
women listened to Norman Gilmore, the
state’s star witness, claim that his
brother, George, killed the Williams.
‘Who shot them?’! asked Chief, Trial
Attorney Steve Goldman.
**My brother, George;’’ Gilmore
sie is
/
py / 4. (continued from page 51)
“Y :
fee
shot the lady and then reloaded and shot
the man. ...I told George.the man was
heading for the front'door. George went
9 Dam: it
_and shot the man again.’'*
George sat impassively as his brother
testified about the robbery and killings.
Norman testified’ George ‘and Laws
had planned the robbery and intended to
kill the old couple to avoid leaving wit-
_nesses. Murder was decided:as more reli-
able than using masks, In the cross ex-
amination by defense attorney George E.
Schaaf, Norman was asked why he was
testifying against his brother. \*
“don’t enjoy it,” Norman replied.
The weeklong trial was marked by an
aborted escape‘ attempt in which
George’s wife was charged with aiding a
prisoner to escape, Authorities said she
tried to give her husband‘a box of clo-
thing containing-a key that would have
nutes. At 6:30 p.m.’ they brought ina.)
unlocked Gilmore’s handcuffs. , \ \ .
Ample evidence was given to the jury. ~
during the trial linking George Gilmore *»
to the robbery slayings, such as the Wil- . °”
liams’ property being recovered from.‘
either George, at the Mineral Point trailer
or at the home of a relative. Four family
members and a jail cell mate testified that
George bragged about’ the crimes, and s
Gilmore made both oral and video tape- . -
recorded statements to police about his 5G
role in the crimes. The video-taped state-
ment was shown to the jury on Friday.
Officers testified that George, whem. ~
asked why the elderly couple was robbed —
and killed, repeatedly-answered, ‘“‘We ( °
didn’t have anything better to do that.»
day.”’ es eae
During defense presentation, George «
testified and repudiated earlier state-
ments to authorities, saying he previous, -
ly admitted the killings to protect his
brother Norman...‘ ** SN
On Monday,-December 14th, the -
brought in a verdict of guilty on the two.)
capital murder charges: : ae.
Testimony and arguments began after
this in the penalty phase of the trial and.
extended over into Tuesday. The other ,_
member of the defense team, Thomas M, a
Hanna, told jurors:” “?s i?) kee, me
‘God did not give him (George) a 4
great‘deal to begin with, and whatever ;
else may be said in this case, he does not _.
deserve to have the death penalty.’". , .
“A brother of George took the stand and
testified about when a sister wrecked —
their father’s car and George accepted the ’
blame. About 15 or 16 years old, George.
was strapped to a bed and beaten uncon? |
scious with a razor strap and a whip.’ He
said the brothers were beaten several
times a week, often with a rubber hose. :
Their mother, he said, would beat the .
children on the head with pots and pans.
She would often say, ‘according to the
witness, ‘‘Maybe someday I can afford
to have a new set of pots and pans and I
won’t have to ruin.’em on you kids,”’
The prosecutor then asked the Gilmore
brother if he; as a former abused child, ©
had even had any thoughts about killing ~
others: mages”: Cia
“*No, not really,” answered the wit--
nesS. 28.) aAbe ae ee Sy”
“Jt took longer for the jury to decide on _
the death penalty or a life Sentence with! |
‘out being eligible for parole for 50 years.
On Tuesday afternoon, ’the jurors de-
liberated for four hours and fifteen mi-..
‘recommendation of death in the Missouri’
gas chamber). Ae: * eee
4
sgt Already serving the 15-year sent- cB
ae Hate
(continued on next page).
83
ae 4
rf
\ ee.
a ee ee — +. ev MEN we seewry -
EXECUTIONS: Missouri executed Larry Griffin, 40, by in-
jection for the 1980 drive-by shooting of Quintin Moss in St.
Louis. Moss had been questioned but not charged in the
slaying of Griffin's brother, Dennis. Texas executed Karl
Hammond, 30, by injection for the 1986 rape and murder of
an FBI office secretary in San Antonio while on release un-
der supervision following a rape and burglary conviction.
~“5 Re a -
SEP 13 °.9S 17298 FROM NAACP LDF
PAGE.8Ue
ny-22-86 NON 03:02 PM MOPRO "cay No, 18183632799 P01 ~~
@ N): ——Tnterested Persons = f f ? a De
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hla 11) at a, 3-4
DyME: = May 16, 1088 moet
RE: June 21 execution date in Missouri for Larry Griffin
ik
cattiber . PRA LIIM
parry Griffin, a Missouri death row inmate, is facing imminent
execution in Missouri, despite compelling evidence that he is
innocent of the crime for which he was sentenced to death. The
Missouri Supreme Court set an execution date for June 21 1995-
Larry Griffin was sentenced to death for the June 26, 1980
drive-by shooting of Quinten Moss, a known G@rug dealer- No
© physical evidence Linked Larry to the crime. In fact, fingerprints
found on the abandoned car and the weapons used in the murder aia
ngy match Larry’s fingerprints. He wags convicted on the kestimony
of one eyewitness, a career oriminal with numerous prior felony
convictions, who ironically was released from jail by St. Louis
prosecutors the very Gay Larry was convicted of capital murder in
1981.
barry’s current attorney Located the eyewitness in prison in
“ann Pan oavowitness has admitted under oath that he committed
or oy
a re
ey Semen
Naan
{FWFOe« bbe WY wae esse disguise «
perjury at Larry’s trial when he positively identified Larry an
court, when in truth he could net. It has also been learned that
the eyewitness was in the federal witness protection program at the
tima of the murder and was relocated to St. Louis with a new
ddentity because he had become a government witness against his cO-
@efendants in a 1974 murder of a Boston police officer. None of
this evidence was heard by the jury at Larry’s trial.
In addition, two new eyewitnesses to the murder have come
forward and have stated under oath that Larry was not in the car
when the shooting tock place. One of the witnesses was involved in
the shooting as the lookout man and named the three other
individuals involved in the shooting. Ironically, this lookout man
ig now also in the witness protection program because he agreed to
testify against a St. Louis drug gang regarding numerous murders
committed in St. Louig in the 195078. Based upon this man’s
testimony, several meh are serving life sentences in the federal
penatentiary, and etate prosecutors are now seeking the death
penalty against the same men.
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EXTRA 60/95 ae "Death Penalty — "23 May 1995
USA (Missouri) Larry GRIFFIN | :
Larry Griffin, black, is scheduled to be executed in Missouri on 21 June 1995. He was sentenced to death in 1980 for the
murder of Quinton Moss during a drive-by shooting.
Further investigation by Larry Griffin's current attorneys has produced new evidence that may cast doubts upon his guilt.
According to reports, no physical evidence linked Griffin to the crime. Fingerprints found on the car and weapons used
during the crime did not match Griffin's fingerprints. Griffin appears to have been convicted on the basis of identification
_ evidence by a eyewitness who has siice retracted his testimony.” arn tale es :
In addition, two new eyewitnesses to the murder of Quinton Moss have come forward and stated under oath that Griffin was
not in the car when the shooting took place. One of the witnesses was acting as a lookout man during the crime and has
named the three other individuals involved in the shooting.
The new evidence has been rejected by the federal courts as not being sufficiently credible to justify granting Griffin a new
trial.
Amnesty International opposes the death penalty in al] cases as a violaion of the right to life and the right not to be subjected
to cruel and degrading punishment as proclaimed in Article 5 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. In addition,
Amnesty International is concerned that the execution of Larry Griffin, if carried out, may violate United Nations
safeguards. The UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) Resolution 1984/50, safeguard 4, states: "Capital punishment
may be imposed only when the guilt of the person charged is based upon clear and convincing evidence leaving no doubt for
an alternative explanation of the facts."
BACKGROUND INFORMATION | |
As of 31 January 1995, there were 94 prisoners under sentence of death in Missouri. The most recent prisoner to be executed
was. Emmitt Foster on 3 May 1995. The method of execution is lethal injection. In Missouri the Governor has final clemency
authority; the Board of Pardons and Parole submits recommendations to the Governor. .
This Urgent Action appeal originated from Amnesty Intemational’s research headquarters at the International Secretariat in Londen, United Kingdom.
Amnesty International is an independent worldwide movement working for the international! protection of human rights. it seeks the relegse of men and
women detained anywhere because of their beliefs, color, sex, ethnic origin, language or religious creed, provided they have not used nor advocated
violence. These are termed prisoriers of conscience. It works for fair and prompt trials for all political prisoners and works on behalf of such people detained
without charge or triai. {t opposes the death penalty and torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment of all prisoners without
reservation.
yeoehin
Peeler cane RE SAM ep R ith nr EE aaa te, Ate REE OU Ss
= Montane
410 HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY.
taken to the supreme court of the State, whereupon the court
ordered that the execution of the sentence should be stayed until
the 6th day of June following. On the 19th day of May, 1879,
the State and prisoner were both represented in the supreme
court by their respective attorneys. Having heard the argument
of the counsel, the supreme court, after due deliberation, con-
firmed the judgment of $he lower court. The prisoner, Monroe
Guy, was executed in accordas*g with the foregoing sentence, on
the 6th day of June, 1879. “Tb was defended by Messrs. Joseph
J. Williams and James i Green, attorneys.
State vs. John Vaughn.—On the 38rd of January, 1881, John
Vaughn and Ezekiel Whitner quarreled in the town of Festus
about a blanket. The latter was shot on the sidewalk in front
of a store, on that odcasion, and three days later died from
the effects of the wound then received. When he was picked
up from the street two revolvers and a bottle of whisky were
found on his person. At the Jefferson Circuit Court, held in
that month, the grand jury found an indictment against John
Vaughn for the murder of Whitner, and on the 17th of May,
following, Vaughn was tried and acquitted. It seems that the
parties were in a drunken row when the killing took place.
On the 7th of March, 1881, a log cabin near Peverly, with
Frank Spaulding and Peter Drendel who lived therein, was con-
sumed by fire. Four men had been in the house a short time
before it burned, but two had left, and they claimed that the
house must have been set on fire after they left. No one was
ever arrested for the crime.
State vs. Milliard Huskey and Elias Huskey.—On the 5th
of September, 1880, Andrew Wilson and Martha Shultz were
both shot and killed while riding in a wagon near Ware post-
office, in the western part of Jefferson County. On the 17th of
the same month Milliard Huskey and Elias Huskey were indicted
for the murder of these persons, and on being arraigned for
trial they pleaded ‘“‘not guilty.” Separate trials were ordered, and
Milliard was tried and acquitted, and Elias was recognized to
appear_at the next term of court, at which time the prosecution
as to him was nolle prosequied.
State vs. Matthew H. Marsden.—At the May term, 1883, of
GUY, Monroe, black, hanged
eae et - rwiens ‘itusitstions a and’ ‘Rortratt.)
“tepecial
"the pteaimee of about thires’ thousand people, of all.
clasdes ind colota, Monroe Guy, © ) hanged , oe: the.
him with s pistol during an al
Methodist festival at Desoto, last
Guy was powerful and well formed. ‘This was €
hibited in bis atteinpt two dsys before ate execution
peveurhig some padeenry articles for the ‘appeoach:
ing execution, an old man named Williams being in
charge of the jail. About noon. ‘Williams wert into’
the hall of the prigon. which opens into ‘all the cella”
to give the prisoners their dinner... He. handed: Guy
his food through a little wicket in the grate doo
opening into the cell, unlocking the wicket door in.
doing so, and-then left the cell. ta, get some “water. |
While he was gone Guy thrust his hand through the
small opening and seizing the lock on the grate door
wrenched it off, and passed out into the hall by the
‘time Williams got. back with the water. He could:
thave easily escaped. by overpowering the old man, but |
he seemed bewildered, and hesitated as to what course
to take. Williams’s cries’ brought: a. crowd’ to: the
scene and Guy was secured and. placed in ‘another ©
cell, whére he’ was’ carefully. guarded until to-day.
This morning was spent by him mostly. in. consulta-_ ‘
tion with his ‘spiritual advisers. The hour of two”
‘o’clock was the time fixed for the hanging, and short. .. “4
ly before that time Sheriff Thomas J, Jones went into”
his cell; accompanied by, Bee Preachers: aba pore et
reporters, and read the death warrant to him; ’’
‘of Poticz Gazerrs.} aE za
- Suuaanono;'Mo., Jane 6.-To-day, at this place, in
Hillsboro, Mo., June 6, 1879.
~ When the reading was finished Guy remarked that .
‘he had nothing to say. He was then taken out of the.
jail and placed in a wagon, and the procession: started
for the gallows, about.s quarter of & mile distant, fol- :
lowed by the thousands who had gathered at the jail
to catch a glimpee ofthe prisoner as be was brought ;
out. Order was kept by the sheriff's guard consisting
of about forty men n armed with Souble-barreled shot-
guns. :
: While the miisters were "praying: ‘the pbleduer
broke down and sobbed ‘like’ a child, exclaiming,
‘Lord, have mercy on mé."*. When the sheriff drew:
out the Disck cap to place ton his head, Guy ‘trem.
bled and began to show considerable weakness. ‘The |
hioose was adjusted Sheriff Jotes cut the rope quickly:
with an ax, and with a dull thud the h abmscarent was.
launched into eternity, dee
‘Guy’s neck "waa broken, the pitts Seing: about.
ect, and th Gight mintes ‘he was pronounced dead.
- The body was ‘left hanging some twenty minutes,
after which it was forwarded to the prisoner's mother.
Guy was just twenty-one years oldon the day of his
execution. His was the ad ‘execution ain. the
history of Jefferson countysthe first being that of
William EAwards, in: 1868, for the murer, ‘of John |
the ep of eri Jones iat ep ormed his dis:
agreeable duty. with neatnese and clepatobe= 7").
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between thé hours of 9 A. M. and 4 P.M.” An appeal was then
STATE OF MISSOURI. 409
of Richard Bilecke was found in an upper room of the house of
Gustave Dugge. A coroner’s inquest was held over the body
and the verdict of the jury was that the deceased came to his
death by a wound inflicted by a shotgun. On the 21st of the
same month Gustave Dugge was indicted by the grand jury of.
Jefferson County for the murder of Bilecke. His trial was con-
tinued from term to term until “%ecember, 1875, when he was.
tried, and the jury disagreed and-failed: to find a verdict. The
defendant then plead guilty obmanaling iter in the third degree,
-and was fined $500 for the offense. He at once paid $100 of the.
fine, and upon learning of his insolvency, the court commuted the
other $400 to imprisonment in the county jail for five days.
State vs. William BAderbrand.—On the 29th of August,
1878, Hugo Veth, of Jefferson County, was shot with a rifle, and
died the next day from the effects of the wound received. On the
12th of January following, William Hilderbrand was indicted for
the murder of Veth, and on the 13th of May, 1881, he was tried
for the offense and acquitted.
State vs. Monroe Guy, Colored.—On the 25th of December,
1878, Monroe Guy and Aaron McPete, both colored, had an alter-:
cation at the Christmas festival at the colored church in De Soto,
and the former shot and killed the latter on the outside of the
church and near the door. Guy was arrested and taken before
Squire J. O. French, by whom he was committed to jail to await
the action of the grand jury. At the following January term of the
circuit court Guy was indicted for the murder of McPete and
tried on the 5th of January following. The verdict of the jury
was as follows:
We, the jury, find t he de But, Monroe Guy, guilty of murder in the first
degree.
[Signed] ALFRED Stewart, Foreman.
The wast day the prisoner was brought into court, when the
following ‘Sentence was pronounced by the judge: “That the
defendant, Monroe Guy, be hung by the neck till he be dead, by
the sheriff of Jefferson County, in the State of Missouri ; that
said execution take place at said county of Jefferson, in or near
the town éf Hillsboro, on Friday, the 14th day of March, 1879,
26
THURSDAY, MAY 17, 1990 *
STLLOUIS POST-DISPATCH
Killer Passes Time
With Video Games
By Tim Bryant
Of the Post-Dispatch Staff
Leonard Laws, sentenced to death
for his role in the murder of two elder-
ly people in their home, spent the final
hours Wednesday before his sched-
uled execution talking with family
members and playing video games.
At Laws’ request, no appeals were
filed in the hours leading up to the
execution, said Dale Riley, a spokes-
man for the state Department of Cor-
rections. The execution was set for
12:01 a.m. today. at the Potosi Correc-
tional Cenfer.
Wednesday was the second time in
less than a week that Missouri’s death
chamber was prepared for an execu-
tion. Winford L. Stokes Jr., 39, was
executed by injection last Friday for
the murder of a University City wom-
an. Before Stokes, two other Missouri
prisoners had been executed since
January 1989 — Gerald Smith on Jan.
.18, 1990, and George “Tiny” Mercer
on Jan. 6, 1989.
Laws appeared calm Wednesday as
he spoke to relatives and played Nin-
tendo games in an isolation area bare-
ly 35 feet from the execution cham-
ber, Riley said.
“He seems prepared,” Riley said.
“He just made it very clear that he did
not want any further appeals made on
his behalf. It’s his decision that the
appeal not go forward.”
Laws, 40, of Cadet, Mo., was sen-
tenced to death for his role in murder-
ing Charles and Lottie Williams on
Oct. 29, 1980, at the couple’s home in
Glencoe. He was part of a gang that
robbed and killed old people. Charles
Williams was 83; his wife was 72.
For his last meal, Laws requested
an eight-piece dinner from Kentucky
Fried Chicken, mashed potatoes, cole
slaw and rolls. Laws also asked for a
two-liter bottle of Pepsi-Cola.
St. Louis County Prosecuting Attor-
ney George R. “Buzz” Westfall, whose
office prosecuted Laws, said Laws and
a partner, George Gilmore, were the
“most evil” people he has seen as a
prosecutor.
“While I don’t take delight in any-
body’s death, there is no question in
my mind that the world will be a safer
place to live without him,” Westfall
said of Laws.
“These are two men who enjoyed
killing helpless people. They picked
their victims and made sure they
were dealing with what you might call
easy: prey. And then they laughed
afterward.”
The five-member state Board of
Probation and Parole voted unani-
‘mously Wednesday in Jefferson City
against commuting Laws’ death sen-
tence to life in prison. The board’s
recommendation was forwarded to
Gov. John Ashcroft at about 5:15 p.m.
About 34 hours before the time
scheduled for the execution, 27 people
in St. Louis protested Laws’ execution
during an ecumenical service at
Christ Church Cathedral, 1210 Locust
Street.
The service was sponsored by the
Eastern Missouri Coalition to Abolish
the Death Penalty.
The group is concerned that the
public is becoming accustomed to
executions.
“Our premise is that if the public
knew about capital punishment and
all its implications, there would be
widespread revulsion,” said a spokes- °
woman, Margaret Phillips.
After the service, most of the group
Paks
Leonard Laws
Killed elderly people
moved to the municipal court’s build-
ing at 1320 Market Street to hold a
candlelight vigil. Others drove to Po-
tosi to participate in a candlelight vigil
there.
George Gilmore, who is under four
death sentences, has won a Stay of
execution. The way to the execution of
Laws was opened this month when the
Supreme Court let stand lower courts’
rejections of efforts by Laws’ father,
Marvin Laws, to appeal the death sen-
tence on his son’s behalf.
Laws had been at the prison’s isola-
tion area since 11 a.m. Monday. He
spent part of the day Wednesday with
his father, a sister, a brother and a
niece. Laws and his family were sepa-
rated by a wire fence that divides the
isolation area.
Laws was sentenced to life in prison
in two other murders — that of Wood-
row Wilson Elliott, 65, of Allenton,
who was dismembered, and of Eliza-
beth Roderique, 85, of Washington
County.
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ENCYCLOPEDIA-
TORY OF St. Loul
A COMPENDIUM OF HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY
FOR READY REFERENCE.
NEW YORK, LOUISVILLE, ST. LOUIS:
THE SOUTHERN HISTORY COMPANY,
HALDEMAN, CONARD & CO., PROPRIETORS.
EXECUTIONS OF CRIMINALS.
persons, who had crushed into the jail en-
closure, while a crowd of some two hundred
were gathered together on a house on Twelfth
and Clark Avenue, to catch a distant view of
the gruesome spectacle. For Nugent consid-
erable sympathy was expressed, but his brutal
companion died unlamented.
Matt Lewis was hanged in the jail yard,
March 14, 1884, for the murder of his wife by
stabbing her, October 13, 1876. The man was
not arrested -until the following September.
The case went to trial no less than four times.
He was finally convicted November 26, 1879,
and sentenced to be hanged. Lewis was a
tough character and had been more than once
under the shadow of the scaffold. During his
several years in the jail, he succeeded to the
title of the “Father of the Jail,” a distinction
which in a murder case says much for ‘the
law's delays. Lewis left behind him a “con-
fession of his guilt, but sought to palliate his
erime by accusing his wife of infidelity.
Charles Wilson, colored, was hanged Janu-
ary 15, 1886, for the murder of William
David, on December 31, 1882. Wilson
worked on the boat “Fanny Tatum,” of
which David was mate. Owing to some dis-
agreement Wilson ran away from the boat,
but subsequently returned to demand pay-
ment of some money that he alleged was due
to him. He claimed that the mate put him
ashore and brutally drove him away. Be that
as it may, Wilson threw two missiles at Da-
vid, one of which struck him on the head.
The man died within half an hour. Wilson
was promptly arrested while trying to escape,
and was tried and convicted, December 13,
1883. The case was taken to the Court of
Appeals, and afterwards carried up to the
Supreme Court, but without avail. Wilson
met his fate bravely, dying as a Christian.
He claimed that if he had been a white man
he would never have been hanged. His case
aroused much sympathy in several quarters.
Robert Grayor was hanged December 10,
1886, in the jail yard, St. Louis, for killing
Berry evans, May 6, 1883, with a club. Ev-
ans and he had worked at Reilly &
Wolfert’s stables, and the night before
they quarreled about their work, when
Evans, Grayor said, struck him with a
whip. Next morning they met at the
stable; Evans taunted him and Grayor struck
him twice with a stick. Evans died that aft-
«rmoon, and Grayor was arrested, while hiding
715
behind a bale of hay in the loft of the stable.
He was tried and convicted April 11, 1884.
The case went to the Supreme Court, and
was twice there affirmed.
Daniel Jewell, a steamboat cook, was
hanged April 15, 1887, for the murder of his
wife by shooting, at her mother’s residence,
1118 Morgan Street. At the time of the crime
Jewell was but twenty-one years of age. It
was a case of jealousy, the young couple hav-
ing more than once quarreled and separated.
He wanted his wife to return to him, and
she refused. She accused him of carrying a
pistol, which he denied. She insisted, and
placing her hand on his pocket, felt the
weapon. He then drew the pistol, and in-
flicted a wound from which the woman died.
After the usual delays Jewell was hanged.
Alfred Blunt, a little hunchbacked negro,
was hanged in the city jail yard June 24, 1887,
for the murder of his wife, in Carondelet, May
21, 1886. The pair quarreled frequently, the
man charging the woman with not caring for
him, because he was a cripple, and with going
with other men. The woman left her hus-
band, who, meeting her, demanded that she
should return. She then proceeded to the po-*
lice station and asked that an officer should
accompany her home, as she was afraid she
would be killed if she went alone. The re-
quest was denied. Arrived at home, the pair
soon commenced quarreling. Finally the
man cut the woman’s throat with a razor, sub-
sequently crushing in ‘her head with a hatchet,
“to end her sufferings,’ as he explained.
Friendless, and clad in rags, and with a pair
of carpet slippers too large to stay upon his
feet, Alfred Blunt dropped from the gallows
unwept of all, save an aged mother. He is
described as altogether the most neglected
murderer who ever met death at the Four
Courts.
Henry Landgraf was hanged August 10,
1888, for fatally shooting Annie Fisch, his
sweetheart, March 5, 1885. Landgraf ac-
cused his mistress with being familiar with
other men, a fact she finally admitted. There-
upon he determined to kill her, freely ex-
pressing himself to that effect. His original
intention was to kill the woman at his broth-
er’s house, and he took her there apparently
for that purpose. Being refused admittance,
Landgraf operied upon the woman in the
street with a revolver. . After lingering fifteen
days she died; and for the crime the man was
Judge Delays
Execution /0-2/-.
St. Louis G 2
A federal judge yesterday de-
layed the execution of Ricky Lee
Grubbs, a convicted murderer,
hours before he was scheduled to
be put to death.
US. District Judge Carol Jack-
son delayed the execution unti] -
November 23.
i Ai gh 3soclated Press
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; » THURSDAY, OCTOBER 22, 1992.
- tion at 9:33 p.m. He was pro-
2 Ag
|
Missouri Man, 33, -
Executed For Killing:
By R.B. Fallstrom
Of The Associated Press
POTOSI, Mo. — Convicted killer
Ricky Lee Grubbs became the 26th
prisoner executed this year in the Uni-
ted States — a 30-year high — when
he received a lethal injection Wednes-
day night.
Grubbs, 33, was sentenced to die for
beating and stabbing an acquaintance
to death in 1984 and then burning the
victim’s mobile home to de-
stroy evidence.
food stamps and $30 and later set”
Thornton’s mobile home on fire to”
destroy evidence.
Late Tuesday, Grubbs was a little® -
more than an hour from his scheduled |
death at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday when °
Supreme Court Justice Harry A.”
Blackmun issued a temporary,
reprieve.
At 7:20 p.m. Wednesday, the full”
court voted 6-3 to lift the reprieve. _
The appeal for a stay was;
based on two arguments:
Grubbs spent the last day
of his life in a holding cell
near the execution cham-
ber at the Potosi Correc-
tional Center, about 60
miles southwest of St. Louis.
Grubbs lay on a gurney as
he received a lethal injec-
nounced dead at 9:35 p.m.,
said John Morris, a Missouri
assistant attorney general.
It was the first execution this year
for Missouri and the 26th in the coun-
try. Twenty-five convicts were execut-
ed in 1987; that had been the most in
any year since 47 people were put to
death in 1962. Fourteen convicts were
executed last year.
Grubbs had been on death row since
1986, after being convicted for the
beating death of Jerry Thornton, 46, of
Miner, in southeastern Missouri.
Grubbs told authorities that his
brother Randy had helped him “hog-
‘tie’ Thornton with neckties. Thorn-
ton’s throat was slashed and several of
his bones were broken.
Authorities said Grubbs had taken
Grubbs
because Grubbs was men-
tally retarded, executing”
him would be cruel and un-~
usual punishment; and that.,
there was new information ~
casting doubt on his guilt.
Amnesty International .
USA had called for a halt to.”
the execution. Executive _
Director Jack Healey said
Grubbs, one of 12 children,.”
was “borderline mentally
retarded, with a despicable history of - -
child abuse and neglect.”
Seven members of Grubbs’ family _
gathered outside the prison before the .
execution. James Grubbs, 42, said his,
brother, Ricky Grubbs, had become a.,
born-again Christian and changed his--
way of life while he was in prison. 4
“There’s no doubt about it, the pris-.,;
on thinks highly of him. Ricky is not
the man he used to be,”’ James Grubbs :>
said. aay)
Missouri has executed seven men,::
all by lethal injection, since the state
resumed the death penalty in January ::
1989. There are 76 men and three
women on death row in the state. a
* by
‘a
Re ae
-Missouri murderer put
execution nation
POTOSI, Mo. (AP) — A convicted murderer was
put to death Wednesday night in the nation’s 26th
execution this year, the most since 1962. i
Ricky Lee Grubbs, 33, was executed by injection at
Potosi Correctional Center several hours after the U.S.
Supreme Court lifted a reprieve. He was pronounced
dead at 9:35 p.m., said John Morris spokes! the
state attorney general’s office. - [7
‘ ites
punishment. Twenty-
five convicts were executed in, 1987
that had been the most in any ye
since 47 people were put to death in
1962. a .
“Grubbs went on death row in =—s :
1986 after being convicted of capital Grubbs
murder in the beating death of Jerry Thornton, 46, of
Miner in southeast Missouri. .
Thornton, an acquaintance of Grubbs, was tied up
with neckties, his throat was cut and several of his
bones were broken. Authorities said Grubbs took food
stamps and $30 and later set. Thornton’s mobile home
on fire to destroy evidence. -
‘*2G@rubbs lost appeals that were based on two
argéments: that his slight mental retardation would
make executing him cruel and unusual punishment, and
that newly discovered information cast doubt on his
guilt. : .
The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected:
_= ea A
lift the reprieve.
utd
ut to death;
’s 26th this year
Grubbs’ bid for a new trial on Monday.
~ Late Tuesday, little more than an hour before the
execution had been scheduled, Supreme Court Justice
Harry A. Blackmun issued a temporary reprieve.
Blackmun handles emergency matters from Missouri
for the high court. .
- On Wednesday evening, the full court voted 6-3 to
Blackmun ‘and justices David Souter
and John Paul Stevens each dissented separately, court
jogs F
ae.
- spokeswoman Toni House said. —
Blackmun argued for continuing the stay of execu-
tion so a U.S. District Court could examine Grubbs’
appeal. Souter wanted the case sent back to district
court on.other grounds; details ‘weren’t immediately
available. Stevens said that before acting on Grubbs’
case, the Supreme Court should decide a pending case
on whether federal judges should have the power to
block executions of inmates who raise new claims of
innocence.
Amnesty International USA had called for a halt to
the execution. Executive director Jack Healey said
Grubbs, one of 12 children, was “borderline mentally
retarded, with a despicable history of child abuse and
neglect.”
Grubbs had been calm during the day Wednesday
and asked that no family members be present, said
Dale Riley, spokesman for the prison in Potosi, about 60
miles southwest of St. Louis.
Missouri has executed seven men, all by lethal
injection, since the state resumed the death penalty in
January 1989. Grubbs was the state’s first execution
this year.
Thurs., Oct..22, 1992 M17
The Bakersfield Califoriian”
_ |
ee
2 New York Times (043-74 Pye BIE
aume: man am Coon Kapids, mwiinn., wno naa ordinance on the Bround that it Violay-
burned a cross on a black family’s ed the First Amendment right of free
roperty.
11:00 AM - 3:00 PM Eey speech.
But that conviction is now being Mr. Heffelfinger said Federal’
reviewed by the United States. Court agents had been conducting a paraile!
of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. The investigation. “Despite the Viktora
_ Placer, defense, assisted by the Minnesota ruling, it is everyone's civil right’ to
' ; ; Civil Liberties Union, is arguing that _ have access to housing free of intimi-
RAMADA HOTEL the Federal laws violate the man’s dation or threats,” he said. - oa
1800 Broschey, New York, WY 10098 in ee See pen cae a is ae
Saree panes * 200 823-8088 «(20m 7a4.a0N0» FAX: cay re. 14 = : ve)
Serene —ewnaonrnanel Killer Executed, the 26th in 92
af ype
POTOSI, Mo., Oct. 21 (AP) — A ties, his throat was cut, and several of
convicted murderer was Put to death his bones were broken. The authori-
here Wednesday night in the nation’s ties said Mr. Grubbs took food stamps
26th execution this year, the highest and $30 and later set Mr, Thornton’s
number since 1962. mobile home on fire to destroy vi-
The inmate, Ricky Lee Grubbs, 33° dence. a hig
years old, was execute y injection ae
several hours after the United States d aa day s oe he eal ra Ap
Supreme Court lifted a reprieve that eath, Mr. Grubbs los appeals based
: ; on arguments that his slight mental,
Been Hssued by Justice Harry A. retardation would make executing.
‘ him cruel and unusual punishment,
deat round eS Soy a fae an umm pishnent
year is one more than the total exe. St ais ome Me Crp tbe United
cuted in 1987, which had seen the Fiehth Cire 0 ey or , the
most executions since 47 prisoners f enth Cir a oe de. he wee
suffered the death penalty in 1969... sittin new trial. Late a ay he. was:
Mr. Grubbs also became the 183d __ little more than an nour exper,
inmate executed nationwide since the pc a a Justice Blackmun, athe
Supreme Court ruled in 1976 that han Cs for do's, ame Co rem
States could resume capital punish. Missouri for the Supr eme Court, is-
fient. _ Sued a temporary reprieve. ers
ery &. i Mr. Grubbs went on death row in : But on ae ey evening the’ full:
Lt : 1986 after being convicted of murder — Court voted 6 to 3 to lift the repriéve. .
wi ‘ t: 7a , . ; OE THE RIND OF Ft recited . Ww AVE? in the fatal beating of Jerry Thornton, Justices Blackmun, David H. Souter
J
insert coming
SS Section.
~ ~ Register and Vote elt eae ‘ich. | 146, of Miner, in Southeast Missouri. and John Paul Stevens each dissented
— 1 SPIE EL ard ak nn Oe Merman ee Us nad Mr. Thornton, an acquaintance of separately, said a Court spokeswom<
ot International Association of Clerks, Recorders, Election Officials ang Treasurers, | Mr, Grubbs, was tied up with neck- an, Toni House. Pos
/ ; : ; pee : : we
| / : to : . f ‘ . a
XX! , H — \ a 4,
is ~ a , ee a
Sig 39 ee ee
i a eine -
20) STY pue 'sjarueq Apuey ‘[eloijjo au) USM 100
aindsip ay} jo Suldeyins o1qnd ay ‘juUaWIsseseYy
[enxas Jo suo edal[e Jay 19A0 SOBseYO-1a}UN0D
pue sadieyo pape.
aBUIpsogns ajewas saw
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pajujodde Aj Mau e ‘son
“tod jesoAvus jo dospyoeq .
18H Ald e sure yno padeid eweup 6
[euoncwes ‘pajsue) & uy
SME
— ~
|
vel sa
) “accident”, ,
Pacific had ch
dryer No.7, and
‘allation of the
esumably, will
Allianz’s a.
gia-Pacific has. ad-
Ss not yet been. sus.
be. sustained, .
of Robert Wright,
troller, who admit-
6 were never Ter 4
rruption loss. would
pendix 44. This is —
. hypothetical ques
terizes this ; answer _
ash insured ties
ain loss. Once
iz that the jury be-
s ¢laim ‘that. it in-
o be a temporary a
stion then ‘fs not —
.n interruption, but
. Georgia—Pacific—
‘om business inter-
ver No. 7. The jury
a~Pacifie proved it
0. This finding is
ce.
ae amount of the
varal reasons: the
>xactly how long it
move Dryer No. 6
2r4No: 7, what the
t will be like when
‘ther the plant. will
ntenance when the
e loss has not. oc
_ make the amount
38, Allianz argues,
al loss,” The jury
f the loss on the
basis of the evidence presented. Its esti-
mate is not unreasonable.
Allianz also cites cases for the proposi-
tion that a business-interruption loss must
be actually experienced before the insured
can recover. See Metalmasters of Minne-
apolis, Inc. v. Liberty Mutual Ins. Co., 461
N.W.2d 496 (Minn.App.1990); Royal In-
demnity Co, v. Little Joe’s Catfish Inn,
Inc, 636 S.W.2d 530 (Tex.App.1982);
Berkeley Inn, Inc. v. Centennial Ins. Co.,
282 Pa.Super. 207, 422 A.2d 1078 (1980).
As the able opinion of the District Court
points out, these cases all involved busi-
nesses which were not profitable and, for
that reason, experienced no loss. Allianz
argues that a business which has sustained
no loss because it is unprofitable is equiva-
lent under the policy to a business which
has sustained no loss because there has
been no interruption. We disagree. An
unprofitable business cannot prove it failed
or will fail to earn net profits because of a
business interruption. The more likely rea-
son it will fail to earn net profits is that it
was an unprofitable business to begin with.
A profitable business like Georgia-Pacific,
on the other hand, can prove it will fail to
earn net profits because of the interruption
based on the business’s “actual experience
. before the ‘accident’ and the probable
experience [it] would have had without the
‘accident.’” Appellant’s Addendum 24.
This is exactly the evidence Georgia—-Pacif-
ic presented to the jury. We reject Al-
lianz’s argument that to be an “actual loss”
covered by the policy, the loss must have
already been experienced. The business-
interruption loss here will never be experi-
enced since it is based on an event—reins-
tallation of Dryer No. 7—that will never
occur. But Georgia-Pacific did prove that
$824,100 was a reasonable estimate of the
loss that would have been sustained if it
had chosen the least expensive option avail-
able to it under the policy.
We have upheld the District Court’s
award of damages in all respects. It fol-
lows that the award of fees and statutory
penalty, which depends on the insured’s
recovery of 80% of the amount demanded
Jo -2)- 92
JAI SSourr
GRUBBS v. DELO 463
Cite as 977 F.2d 463 (8th Cir. 1992)
in its amended complaint, must also be
affirmed.
Affirmed.
Ricky Lee GRUBBS, Appellant,
Vv.
Paul DELO, Appellee.
No. 90-1664.
United States Court of Appeals,
Eighth Circuit.
Oct. 20, 1992.
Appeal from the United States District
Court for the Eastern District of Missouri;
John F. Nangle, J.
Prior Report: 948 F.2d 1459 (8th Cir.
1991).
Before Richard S. Arnold, Chief Judge,
Beam, Circuit Judge, and Bright, Senior
Circuit Judge.
Appellant’s motion for remand and appel-
lant’s petition for rehearing and motion for
remand are denied.
BRIGHT, J., concurring and dissenting,
and will follow with an opinion.
BRIGHT, Senior Circuit Judge,
concurring in part and dissenting in part.
I agree that Grubbs’ pro se petition, as
submitted, does not entitle him to a new
hearing in this court.
However, I dissent from the denial of his
request for a stay of execution. I would
grant a ten-day stay, mubiect to further
proceedings.
These are the precipitous events leading
to execution. On September 28, 1992,
Grubbs filed a petition for rehearing and
motion to remand the case to the district
court for further proceedings. He also
asked for appointment of substitute coun-
sel.
464
On October 5, 1992, the United States
Supreme Court denied Grubbs’ petition for
certiorari. Grubbs v. Delo, — U.S. noe,
113. S.Ct. 109, — L.Ed.2dq —— (1992).
On October 8, 1992, the State of Mis-
souri ' filed its suggestions in opposition to
Grubbs’ motions. Pending resolution: of
his motions, the State of Missouri, on Octo-
ber 9, 1992, issued a warrant of execution
for 12:01 a.m., October 21, 1992.
On October 16, 1992, Grubbs timely filed
a reply response to the State of Missouri’s
suggestions in opposition to Grubbs’ mo-
tions. Most recently, on October 16, 1992,
we granted Grubbs’ motions in part, ap-
pointing substitute counsel.
I dissent from the court’s refusal to
grant a stay of execution for two reasons:
1. Newly appointed counsel had no time
or opportunity to file their views on the
pending motions or to supplement them.
2. The substance of Grubbs’ motions
supports the views of Justice Blackmar of
the Supreme Court of Missouri, who in a
concurring opinion wrote:
This ease seems to have arisen out of a
drinking session. The killing was shock-
ing and senseless, but numerous life sen-
tence cases are reported in which the
ultimate punishment is much more appro-
priate than in this case (if, indeed, we
must depart from the practice of nations
who follow the western tradition in ex-
acting the death penalty). The defen-
dant had numerous convictions, but none
for major offenses. His is an unlikely
selection for the death sentence, when
some juries assess it and some do not.
State v. Grubbs, 724 S.W.2d 494, 502 (Mo.)
(en banc) (footnotes omitted), cert. denied,
482 U.S. 931, 107 S.Ct. 3220, 96 L.Ed.2d 707
(1987).
~“T believe the new facts alleged in Grubbs’
petition justify additional consideration by
this court. Among other things, Grubbs
presented an affidavit from Dr. A.E. Daniel
who had testified for the State at Grubbs’
‘murder trial.
1. The State of Missouri here acts through appel-
lee Paul Delo.
977 FEDERAL REPORTER, 2d SERIES
Dr. Daniel, on review of additional back-
ground evidence not previously supplied to
him as a prosecution witness, gave this
new opinion:
In light of the above information, the
combined factors of severe intoxication
and low intellectual functioning, I believe
Mr. Grubbs was incapable of forming the
necessary mental intent for capital mur-
der as defined in R.S.Mo. 565.020. Petj-
tioner Ricky Grubbs lacked the mental]
capacity to deliberate and coolly reflect
upon his actions.
Exhibit A to Appellant’s Petition for Re-
hearing and Motion for Remand to the Dis-
trict Court (Affidavit of A.E. Daniel, M.D.
dated Sept. 23, 1992) p. 2.
I believe this matter justifies further con-
sideration by this panel. New counsel for
Grubbs deserves an opportunity to repre-
sent him properly before this court. |
would grant a stay of execution for ten
days in which counsel might submit a writ-
ten brief in support of Grubbs’ petition for
rehearing and motion for remand to the
district court.
I see no reason for an unseemly rush to
execution.
© @© KEY NUMBER SYSTEM
4nms
UNITED STATES of America,
Plaintiff-Appellee,
v.
Werner BRUCHHAUSEN,
Defendant—Appellant.
No. 87-5143.
United States Court of Appeals,
Ninth Circuit.
Submitted March 6, 1992.*
Decided Oct. 5, 1992. .
-’ Defendant was convicted in the United
States District Court for the Central Dis-
*The panel unanimously finds this case suitable
for decision without oral argument. Fed.
R.App.P. 34(a) and Ninth Circuit Rule 344.
U.S
Cite «
t of California, Alicemarie H. St
wire fraud, and he appealed. T!
Appeals, Canby, Circuit Judge, h
government’s potential forfeitu
in high technology products v
dant allegedly smuggled to So
ntries did not constitute “prope:
t” which would support defen:
tment, and (2) manufacturers’ ir
eing that products which’ they
fendant were not shipped to So
violation of federal law was not.
’ within meaning of wire frau:
~ Reversed, conviction vacated
‘manded.
Kozinski, Circuit Judge, conc:
led opinion. ij
| Fernandez, Circuit Judge, cor
ult and filed opinion in which
uit Judge joined.
. Criminal Law 1139...
Court. of Appeals: reviews
} © whether indictment was “insuf
i matter of law de novo. *
| Telecommunications ¢-362
: Wire fraud statute is not
4 possessory interests and can
rights in intangible property.. 1
9§ 1343. |
: 3. Telecommunications ¢=362
* Government’s potential: for
terest under Arms Export Cont |
Export Administration Act in
high technology products which
allegedly smuggled .to Soviet Blc
was too ethereal to constitute
interest,” so that government Ss
not support defendant's indictm:
fraud based on defendant’s us
achines to accomplish ae
defrauding government... 1)
Ȥ 1348; Arms Export, Control
| seq., 22 US.C.A. § 2751 ‘et
P USCA. § 401(a); Export Ad
“Judge Deloys
Execution /0 -2/ ~<a
St. Louis 7 Pe
A federal judge yesterday de-
layed the execution of Ricky Lee
Grubbs, a convicted murderer,
hours before he was scheduled to
be put to death.
US. District Judge Carol Jack-
son delayed the execution until
November 23.
—The Daily Journal, Flat River, Mo., Thursday,
se a °
eee
et ae ae
‘The
“="Daily
al
“Trade October 22; 1992
Vol. 62, No. 250
St. Francois CUNY, Mo.
By Leroy Sigman
Daily Journal Staff Writer
POTOSI — Two hours after the U.S. Supreme Court lifted a temporary
Stay of execution Wednesday night, as other death row inmates watched
the World Series, Ricky Lee Grubbs, apologized for his past deed and was .
| puttodeath. The 33-year-old Sikeston man was found guilty of first-de-
gree murder by a St. Francois County jury in 1986 and condemned to
_ death by a local Circuit Court. judge. for the killing of Jerry , Russell
_ Thorton at Miner, near Sikeston, in 1984.
It was after two days of legal maneuvering the execution by lethal injec-
_- tion occurred at 9:30 p.m. in the Potosi Correctional Center, less than three
hours before the Missouri Supreme Court’s death warrant was to expire.
R. Dale Riley, spokesman for the Department of Corrections, had ear-
lier announced three different times for the execution to be carried out
Wednesday afternoon and evening that were dependent on a ruling by the
nation’s high court.
It-was announced at one point that if the court did not reach a decision
|. -by,6p.m. the execution would be cancelled, but that position was changed
:.~ . when the Missouri Attorney General’ s Office told corrections officials the
_’ Supreme Court was still actively working toward a decision that evening.
~ Riley announced at 7:30 p.m. the court had vacated the stay of execu-.
‘tion by a vote of 6-3. The temporary stay had been issued Tuesday night.
by Justice Harry Blackmun, who said the matter should be brought before
the full court. It was not deliberated by the court until mid-afternoon after
the court had heard oral arguments on some other cases.
When told by his attorney the stay had been lifted, Grubbs showed little
€ “Ricky seemed very resolved to his fate,” Riley said. The corrections ;
kanye official said the condemned man had become very religious and spent
4 apne time with a chaplain, becoming very close with him.
cae ‘Members of the condemned man’ 's family. were also’ at the prison when :
; news of the ruling was received. They left the main prison and went to a —
.. Toped-off area just south of the prison where a candlelight binge was held
& , Tuesday night by opponents of the death penalty.
An older brother, 42-year-old James Grubbs of Lexington, Ky., told
reporters Ricky was “not the same man who did all those bad things.” He
said his brother had been converted to‘Christianity and was “at peace with
his maker.”
The.family said the change in Grubbs did not excuse his past deeds, but.
there were some who felt his childhood filled with abuse and neglect as
well as his being diagnosed as borderline mentally retarded should have
weighed more heavily on his sentence.
Riley said shortly after 9 ‘p.m. another of Grubbs’ brothers who lives in
Virginia called the prison in hopes of talking to the condemned ‘man. The
inmate had already been taken to the execution chamber and thus could
not get to the phone.
“T got the strong impression the brother had just learned of the impend-
ing execution. I think it was one of the hardest phone calls I have ever
had,” Riley said. “He was very emotional.”
The condemned man had earlier told relatives of his murder victim,
Jerry Russell Thornton, he was ‘Sorry for what he had done.
=e oy Price: 35¢ ol init Sales Tax)
Grubbs executed after stay lifted
As he was being prepared for the execution Wednesday night, Grubbs
grabbed the hand of a prison official and shook it as he said he was “sorry
for all the trouble” he had caused.
Grubbs had only one witness present for the execution, his attomey,
Cedric Brown. He had asked that his family not attend and they remained
outside.
There’ were 14 witnesses for the state, four of them members of the
media. Many of them were employees of the Department of Corrections.
While many other inmates at the maximum security prison, including’
others sentenced to death, watched the World Series on television: sets: in
their cells at 9:33 p.m., the plungers were pushed that administered lethal
doses of three drugs into Grubbs body as it lay on a guerney. In minutes
he was pronounced dead by Coroner Mal Gum of Washington County. .
Associated Press reporter R. B. Fallstrom, who witnessed the execution, |
said Grubbs had his eyes closed.when the drapes were opened before the
lethal: dose was administered.-The condemned man did not move and
when: the drugs were administered, “it looked like he was Brad going to’
Sleep, but you know better.” —
Grubbs did not have a special “last meal” Wednesday, eating spaghetti
and meatballs as did other inmates. The previous night he had steak and
lobster, a salad with bleu cheese dressing and a soft drink. ~
About an hour before the execution Grubbs was given a mild sedative,
at his request, and remained calm throughout the remaining preparations,
Riley said. Chaplain Gary Toombs stayed with up until the time of the ex-
ecution, accompanying him into the chamber.
The murder occurred in the victim’s mobile home that was set on fire to
cover up the crime, authorities said: Thornton’s body; = hands and feet,
buund with ties, was discovered by firemen.
The victim’s throat was slashed, 13 ribs broken: acid thei were severe
internal injuriés; according to testimony by a: pathologist. Authorities said.
Grubbs and a younger brother, Randy, took food: iStamps and about $30 i in.
~ cash.
Randy Grubbs, 32, is currently serving a 30-year sentence at Missouri .
Eastern Correctional Center in Pacific for the same murder.
OTF ic ee a
ax fin ct
N.0. Times-Preayune 2-4 /903 (3:3)
‘ter to keep on;
about 2,000 feet.
being removed to-
ie holdings of the
pany, three miles
ere a well will be
a
‘
e Oil Field.
Picayune}
'b. 3.—Partiles are
fleld with a view
ery. Much of the
too heavy to . go
e unless the sul-
lL the refinery? will
of a desulphurizer
aw town has been
2 from the oil field
ific people and the
lected electric line
selected depot sites
is believed that the
now build {ts spur
ing no object in
tled up with inde-
7 roads making
0.
eld has again been
er. There are only
but the past week
ympleted. There is,
yn tankage for 155,-
completed tankage.
irrels.
ared a Success,
» Picayune. ]
reb. 3.—Hon. Aladi
ay that the well
1d the Perry B
ntonfi was. an
1] was {6 feet deep
ned yesterday morn-
rock, The tirgt 415
a 12-inch pipeXthe
ored in the rock
was next put dow
k to a depth of 866
yle has been drtlled
40 feet more. This
ind was started on
located between the
&. The chief driller
nd his assistant {is
y not only put a 12-
-he hitherto uncon-
course gravel, but
hundreds of feet of
renuine oil rock has
© intervals through
, aod oll has been
turn of the drill.
rell have been press-
o ball the well, but
9 drill. ‘‘As long as
favorable,'’’ lege said
we
ean
flow. But you
tent of the Swede's. ‘Injuries, | He re-
turned late at night and appeared {ll at
ease.
sult of his trip.
He refused to talk about the re-
Yesterday while Mrs.
Larson was out of the house, Larson shot
htmself, dying in a few minutes. The
Coroner, who {s investigating the case,
has been unable to find the Swede. It {fs
thought that Larson may have hidden the
hody on bis second trip Sunday night.
Shipper and Teamster Murdered
in Their Cabin by Mexicans.
Phoentx, Ariz., Feb, 3.—Charles F. Jod-
dart, a well-Known shipper, and his
teamster, Frank Cox, have been assagsin-
ated in & cabin at Goddard Station, fifty
miles north of Phoenix, by two unknown
Mexicans, Revenge, is thonght, prompt-
ed the crime. Poise have left in search
of the assassins.
Seward Met With Foul Play.
Los Angeles, Cal., Feb. 3.—The dead
body of J. M. Sew ard, a real estate lbrok-
er and money lender, who disappeared
mysteriously last Eriday, has been found
In a lodging-house here. The head and
fave bore wounds evidently inflicted with
some sharp instrument. The former oecnu-
pants of the recom who left the place Fri-
day were named Martin, and in a mem-
mmm book, found tn Seward’s pocket,
8s an entry, showing that he ad
cd $200 on diamonds to one (7. Wd,
Martin has been missing sink
A woinan has been his
Mridayr.
panion.
Negro Murderer Hanged.
St. Louls, Feb, 3.—Charles Guerley, the
negro slayer of Rosie Higgins, with
whom he was Hiving, was hanged in the
jailyaurd to-day in the presence of several
hundred persons.
Can.
Mfarietta, Ohio, Feh. 3.—Mrs. Job
‘Hiving near (Glass. Postoff
4. and her two young
injured by an explosion:
New-
Ce, WAS
sons fatally
of what was
Com nt
Tried to Clean a sterogtyceringyfin:
Water Association to dredg
between Breaux Bridge an
It has been referred to t
on Rivers and Harbors, whl
to report it favorably with
BOGUE CHITTO
Colonel Robertson's bill, &
construction of a bridge
Chitto, in St. Tammany
passed the House and is
after in the Senate by Sena’
FREE DELIVERY
“T have had numerous C
from small towns in my
Colonel Robertson to-da
about the bill which pro
delivery service in all tow
habitants, or where the rec
1 think the bill, which is
mittee, will soon pass, and
that I ean to hurry it alonj
THE QUARANTINE
Colonel Robertson also re
from the War Departmen
the Quarantine Inspectors’
permitted to remain at P
the title to the property
Government,
OLACHITA IMPROV
WRepresentative Ranryiell
Myned by: the Departms
that Danes relating to th
of the orvachita River b,
fond dams have L
ain a few davs the co
ter and work will proceed.
NEW ORLEANS NAVA
The Committee on Nat
agreed that $35,000 shall |
to meet the increased xe
—e Ee Eo
“FROG CIRCUS’
SHOW Ss
EUNICE, FEB. 8,
When one of the most amusing mov-
ing pictures ever shown under canvas
sh OS4hSeee -———
OG ots
?
SF LOUIS POESTH= DIP RICH 6/95
State Executes Killer Of Two
\
»
|
-4.
By Stephen Kirkland
Of the Post-Dispatch Siaff ,
.. Condemned killer Frank J. Guinan was put to
| death by lethal injection early today at the Potosi -
Correctional Center after the U.S. Supreme Court” ©
denied a request for a stay of execution.
Guinan, 47, of Sullivan, Mo., was pronounced dead
at 12:08 a.m. today. Three family members ob-
served the execition.
Shortly ‘before the first of three injections of «
sodium pentathol,' Guinan raised his head and
mouthed to one of the witnesses, “I love you.”
The witness, with her hand pressed to the glass.
separating her from the room where Guinan lay dna
gurney, mouthed back, “I love you, too.” A few
seconds later, Guinan’s head fell back on the gurney ...
and he lay motionless until the blinds closed on the
executionroom, ~
Guinan had been convicted of the stabbing death’
of a fellow inmate, John McBroom, at the Missouri -
Penitentiary in Jefferson City in 1981.
Ed Reeves, Guinan’s lawyer, filed an appeal to the
Supreme Court Tuesday. Reeves contended that
there was new evidence that Guinan’s cellmate
killed McBroom. The court rejected the argument.
Guinan had been granted a stay of execution bya
federal judge in Kansas City, but the 8th U.S. Circuit
Court of Appeals in St. Louis lifted the stay Monday.
Lt. Gov. Roger Wilson did not intervene, but he
said he had conferred with Gov. Mel Carnahan and
_both agreed-that the sentence should stand. Carna-
han is of a trade mission in China.
Guinan was serving 40 years for assault and
robbery.when he and his cellmate, Richard Zeitvo-
gel, were convicted of stabbing McBroom. While on
death row, Guinan was convicted of murdering an-
other inmate; Robert Baker.
Tuesday, Guinan visited with his wife, Penny, and
three sisters. He ordered a dinner of steak, shrimp,
chicken legs, salad, cole slaw, strawberry cheese-
cake, Coke and tea, officials said.
Ed Reeves, Guinan’s attorney, said Tuesday that
the prison environment contributed to the fate of his
client., j
“Mr, Guinan’s problems were a direct result of
the horrendous conditions that existed when he was
in prison as a young man,” Reeves said.
Guinan first went to the state prison in Jefferson
City in 1964 on burglary convictions. There he was a
victim ‘of violent assaults including stabbings and
rapes, Reeves said.
Reeves said alcohol and drug abuse in prison also
contributed to Guinan’s inability to reason in times of
stress,"
Guinan is the 1 1th man executed in Missouri since
capita punishment resumed in 1989. j
aia 22
GUINAN, Frank,wh, LI MOG (Cole) October 6, 1993
“fo wera
TAIN
Missouri Executes:
ariwa
Inmate Who Killed
2 While in Prison
POTOSI, Mo., Oct. 6 (AP) .—/An
inmate who cOmmitted two mufgders
; behind bars, one of them while on death
row, was executed by injection today.
Frank J. Guinan, 47, was put to death
for killing a fellow inmate, John,Mc-
Broom, with knives made from a pair
of scissors in 1981. Mr. Guinan was
serving 40 years for robbery and as-
sault with intent to kill when hé“aiffa
cellmate, Richard Zeitvogel, stabbed
Mr. McBroom, who they said was 4n
informer. ind
-Mr. Guinan received a second death
sentence for the 1985 slaying of a fellow
death-row inmate, Robert Baker, who
was stabbed more than 50 times.” ~ .
| Mr. Guinan’s lawyer contended on
appeal that there was new evidértce
that Mr. Zeitvogel alone killed Mr. Mc-
Broom. Ma a
‘Mr. Guinan went to his death just
after midnight ‘at the Potosi Carrec-
_ tional Center, hours after the Supreme
Court denied a stay of execution.
His wife, Penny, waved goodbye arid
mouthed, ‘‘I love you,” several times
_from a window. Mr. Guinan responded,
but his words could not be heard.- -
~ In an interview in The St. Louis ‘Post-
Dispatch on Tuesday, Mr. Guinan said
he had walked into Mr. McBroom’s ¢ell
to find Mr. Zeitvogel stabbing Mr-.Mc-
Broom. ee
“TI told Rich to stop, but it was-too
' late,’’ Mr. Guinan said. aus ets
Mr. Zeitvogel was also convicted and
sentenced to death. He is on death row.
v -—
1-3
Ee,
NEW YORK TIVES,
October 7, 199%, page B14
2 More Executions Foreseen After Year’s 4th
‘By Stephen Kirkland.
- Of the Post-Dispatch Statt .
" Missouri officials say they expect to execute two
more death row inmates this year. That would
make six executions in 1993, the most since they
_Were resumed in the state four years ago.
. The fourth execution took place early Wednes-
day when Frank J. Guinan, the killer of two fellow
inmates, was put to death by lethal injection.
. Attorney General Jay Nixon said executions
have increased because death row inmates “are
running out of appeals.”
The national average from the time of conviction
to execution is about 7% years, state officials say.
The average stay on Missouri's death row was 11
. years for the four men executed this year.
a ée-women and s
row. Five n added this year. :
‘ . Nixon supports the death penalty and a speedy
. resolution to the appeals process because delays
a
bring the possibility of more violence, he said.
Guinan, 47, was executed for the stabbing death
of inmate John MéBroom in 1981. While on death
row, he also was convicted of the murder in 1985
of another inmate, Robert Baker.
“People like Guinan have gone so far beyond .
acceptable bounds,” Nixon said.
Guinan’s execution Wednesday took place a few
hours after the U.S. Supreme urt denied a delay.
Ed Reeves, Guinan's attorne , filed an appeal to
the Supreme Court on Tuesday, contending that
new evidence showed that Guinan’s cellmate killed
McBroom. .
Lt. Gov. Roger Wilson did not intervene. Gov.
Mel Carnahan met with Wilson about Guinan’s
case before the governor left on a trade mission in
' China, said Chris Sifford, his spokesman. - Both
agreed to let the execution stand, Sifford said."
The governor has commuted one death sen-
POSTDIEP ATCH, St. Louis, Missouri, October
A meee
tence and delayed an execution since he took office
in January.
Guinan was serving 40 years for assault and
robbery when he and his cellmate, Richard Zeitvo-
gel, were convicted of stabbing McBroom. Tues-
day, Guinan visited with his wife, Penny, and three
sisters. Pe aes
Reeves said Tuesday that the prison environ-
ment contributed to the fate of his client. .
“Mr. Guinan's problems were a direct result of
ee
the horrendous conditions that existed when he
was in prison as a young man,” Reeves said. —
Guinan first went to the state prison in Jefferson
City in 1964 on burglary conviction$. In prison, he,
was a victim of violent assaults, including stabbings -
and rapes, Reeves said.
Reeves said alcohol and drug abuse in prison also
contributed to Guinan’s inability to reason in times
of stress. "ia me,
- GUINAN, Frank Joseph, wh, LI MOSP (Cole) October ©, 1993 i
SEP-28-93 WED 15:32 MO RESOURCE CTR FAX NO, 8162351008 | ;
MEMORANDUM
TO: Pam Rutter
Coalition to Abolish Death Penalty
FROM: ——W. Ed Reeves, (314) 333-2396, FAX (314) 333-5462
Connie Francis, (816) 363-9373 FAX (816) 363-2799
ATTORNEYS FOR FRANK J. GUINAN
DATE: September 29, 1993
RE: Frank J. Guinan --Execution Date set for 12:01 a.m. on October 6, 1993
In January 1982, Frank J. Guinan was convicted of capital murder and sentenced
to die for the stabbing death of John McBroom at the Missouri State Penitentiary in
Even if Frank Guinan had been involved in the crime, he could not have acted with
the "cool reflection" or “deliberation” that is necessary to be eligible for the death penalty
because he has had brain damage for years due to chronic alcoholism, drug abuse, and
violence done to him over the years,
These are the primary issues that have been presented to and rejected by the
” federal courts in Mr. Guinan's case,
A. Frank Guinan was denied the effective assistance of counse! at trial
because his defense attorney at trial, Robert Hampe, failed to
investigate and present expert evidence that Mr. Guinan had brain
damage and thus was incapable of deliberation on January 25, 1981,
a necessary element of capital murder as defined under Missouri law.
William A. O'Connor, Ph.D., a clinical psychologist evaluated Mr, Guinan and
tested him extensively. Dr. O'Connor testified in a hearing before Federal District Judge
Scott O, Wright in 1992 that Frank Guinan could not have had the ability to “deliberate”
SEP-29-93 WED 15:33 MO RESOURCE CTR FAX NO, 8162361008 P, 03
at the time of homicide in 1981. No other expert has ever offered an opinion to the
contrary. No other expert has even evaluated petitioner specifically for this.
At that hearing Dr. O'Connor testified that Mr. Guinan's brain damage, though only
classified or labeled "mild to moderate", prevented him from thinking "logically or clearly
in any kind of stressful situation", and impaired his “judgment, his ability to accurately
understand a situation when there's any stress or complexity, his ability to handle any
situation that's emotionally arousing, complicated. Stressful or difficult." Dr. O'Connor
stated that under any stressful situation, Mr. Guinan cannot particularly think “in any
logical way, he will simply do the first thing that occurs to him and then he can't shift",
and that his poor judgment and inability to think under stress makes it impossible for him
to “handle any emergency situation". In a “fight situation or a stressful Situation", Mr.
Guinan can “act, but he can't think, ... {His reaction is] not a thought reaction." In short,
he could not have considered the taking of another's life with a cool and deliberate state
of mind.
Dr. O'Connor concluded that Mr. Guinan's inability to think before he acted (with
& coo! and deliberate state of mind) at the time of the offense was the result not only of
organic brain disease, however "mild" by official classification, but was also caused by
long-term polysubstance abuse. Mr. Guinan had a long history of alcoholism, since his
preteen years, and has an “exaggerated effect" with any kind of psychoactive substance.
Thus, the mental defect which had a substantial affect on Mr. Guinan's behavior would
SEP-29-93 WED 15:33 MO RESOURCE CTR FAX NO. 8162351008 P, 04
have been even more exaggerated with any degree of intoxication at the time of the
offense.
Although Dr. O'Connor testified that he did not believe that Mr, Guinan's mental
defect was so severe as to excuse all responsibility, he concluded that this mental defect
had a “substantial impairment" on Mr. Guinan's ability to think and then act appropriately.
However, the jury at Mr. Guinan's trial heard none of this. Due to the ineffective
assistance of petitioner's trial counsel, Mr. Guinan did not receive any mental evaluation
before trial, even though thie state sought the ultimate penalty -- death -- and even though
his mental state was certainly at issue, for the ability to deliberate is an essential element
of capital murder. |
When Dr. O'Connor evaluated Mr. Guinan in 1990 and 1991, he determined that
Mr. Guinan did not have the ability to deliberate at the time of the offense. To clarify any
question regarding Mr. Guinan's ability to deliberate at the time of the offense, Dr.
O'Connor prepared a sworn statement which declared:
"| can state with a reasonable degree of psychological
certainty that on January 25, 1981, Frank Guinan was
incapable of considering the taking of another's life with a cool
and deliberate state of mind."
Affidavit of William A. O'Connor, Ph.D.
B, Frank Guinan was also denied effective assistance of counsel at trial
because his defense attorney, Robert Hampe, failed to investigate and
present mitigating evidence in the penalty phase of trial.
Frank Guinan's defense attorney at trial did not investigate or present any evidence
at all in the penalty phase of trial, Yet there is a substantial mitigating story about Frank
INSIDE:
AMERICAS
CAPITAL
PUNISHMENT
INDUSTRY
ARCUTION
PROTOCOL
Stephen Trombley
CROWN PUBLISHERS, INC.
New York
(94h
SEP-28-93 WED 15:34 MO RESOURCE CTR FAX NO, 8162351008 P, 05
Guinan's life. Mr. Guinan has spent well over half his life in the Missouri Prison System.
He has been a victim of alcoholism since he was a child in elementary school, causing
him to leave school in 1959 at the age of 14, without even completing the seventh grade.
Within a few years, while still a teenager, Mr. Guinan was sentenced to Missouri State
Penitentiary on an immature non-violent offense -- for the burglary of an ex-girlfriend's
house. Within a very brief time, young Mr. Guinan was repeatedly sexually molested,
raped, and assaulted by older inmates at Te prison. He subsequently turned to heavy
use of alcohol and drugs, including highly toxic prison-made amphetamines, such as
“chicken dust" -- a recurrent pattern which is related to chronic depression. In addition
to the rapes, alcohol and drug abuse, Mr. Guinan encountered other physical and mental
trauma the year he entered Missouri State Penitentiary. In 1964, he was stabbed and
then stabbed again in 1967, pistol-whipped two years later, and suffered another head
injury with loss of consciousness in 1976 or 1977, when he was struck on the head with
a pipe.
Frank Guinan has attempted suicide at least four times over the last several years,
including one time prior to the events that led to this conviction. He has taken extensive
psychotropic. medications at Missouri State Penitentiary, both prescription and non-
prescription, including amphetamines, Percodan, Sinequan, Ativan, Elavil, and whatever
other substances were available to him since he has been incarcerated. Id. at 13, 46-47,
Dr. O'Connor's diagnosis of organic brain damage was on top of all this. The
practical significance of Mr. Guinan's history of sexual assaults, drug and alcohol abuse
SEP-29-983 WED 15:35 MO RESOURCE CTR FAX NO. 8162351008 P, 06
is that these experiences further impaired Mr. Guinan's logic and judgment. As Dr.
O'Connor testified:
If you've got someone with some degree of organic problem,
and you add something like the sexual assaults or other kinds
of conflict situations in a prison setting, then you're going to
produce some fairly serious emotional problems. . . . [It
implies further probable impairment in his actual day-to-day
judgment. ... If you take someone whose capacity to use
judgment in their thought process is impaired, then a sexual
pos assault or any other kind of highiitisk, high trauma situation is
going to have greater impact than it would on an average
person,
Testimony of William O'Connor, Ph.D.
Dr. O'Connor believes that this background and history contributed to Frank
Guinan's mental and emotional disturbance:
Mr. Guinan's experiences as an inmate at Missouri State
Penitentiary since he was only 17 years old, including many
rapes and sexual assaults upon him, and his history of drug
and alcohol abuse while living in the prison, as well as his
strong family history of alcoholism, would have greatly
contributed to Mr. Guinan's mental and emotional
disturbances as of January, 1981. .
Affidavit of Dr. William O'Connor.
. Frank Guinan is scheduled to be executed and yet the jury that recommended that
punishment heard nothing mitigating about this man's background, or his mental disorders
and ability to deliberate.
(). THANKSGIVING eve, I met with Bill Armontrout at the Depart-
ment of Corrections in Jefferson City. My Missouri odyssey had started in ©
his office three months earlier, and I filled him in on what I had learned |
during that time. .
Bill told me some stories of his time at MSP—of murder, revenge, and |
sexual jealousy among inmates. :
‘Of the ones on death row,”’ he said, “‘there’s about ten of them that
are mine, that I sent there for murder of an inmate, or murder of an officer. |
A good part of these guys on the row are my own cases.”’
He told me the story of Frankie Guinan and Richard Zeitvogel, who had |
become lovers at MSP. Frankie Guinan ended up on death row after killing 3
two fellow inmates. He and Zeitvogel stabbed John McBroom to death in
1981; then, in 1985, Guinan and Gerald Smith murdered Robert Baker. —
After Guinan was sent to death row, Zeitvogel committed another prison —
murder, strangling his cellmate, Gary Dew, with a piece of wire. Bill told :
me Zeitvogel had done it in order to be reunited with Guinan on death row. |
254
Bill said he thought of Fr:
him, and I failed. And I tl
I asked Bill if he though
it was the case that young
to embark on a life of viol
‘**You see, the thing tt
small charge. And they e1
there with the death pen
wouldn’t get time. Years
the last twenty years, we
the institution. It makes y
ones come in there, and t
in a way like you’re a failu
I wanted to know mc
Edward Earl Johnson in
been there, and that he h
out of there at two o’cloc!
just couldn’t get away fas’
‘Did you meet the inm
Bill said that he hadn’t
the end.
**What did you say?”
‘In talking with the you
you know. I said, “When
start up in there, you take
once I heard the lever rac!
And by the time I hit fifty
Bill and I had spoken |
the gruesome nature of ex
were still required to car
together a team who wou
tion as the lethal injection
“Tt takes really dedicat:
cially with the washing d
gas chamber for a year b
prepared for over a year t
Git MRE
fz wt)
Missouri Executes Man Convicted of Killing 5
POTOSI, Mo., Aug. 31 (AP) — A man
convicted of five murders was put to
death by injection early today for kill-
ing an elderly woman 11 years ago.
The condemned man, George C. Gil-
more, was declared dead at 12:10 A.M.
at the maximum-security Potosi Cor-
rectional Center in this small city in
eastern Missouri, about 60 miles south-
west of St. Louis.
The authorities say Mr. Gilmore,
who was 44 years old, and his partner,
Leonard Laws, killed five people in a
crime spree in the St. Louis, singling
out elderly or helpless people for rob-
bery and murder. Mr. Laws was exe-
cuted in May.
A brother, a niece and a fiancée who
were not identified wept and covered
their faces with their hands as officials
announced that a mixture of sodium
pentothal; Pavion and potassium chlo-
ride had been delivered through a tube
into the condemned man’s arm.
.¥.
Friday
August 31, 1990 35 cents
5-time murderer executed
POTOSI, Mo.-—-A-man convicted of
five murders was put to death by
injection early today.
George C. Gilmore, 44, was
pronounced dead at 12:10 a.m.
Gilmore was executed for the
August 1979 murder of an 83-year-old
woman. He also had received the
death sentence for three other _
murders and was given a life prison
term for a fourth.
Authorities say Gilmore and _
Leonard Laws killed five people in a
St. Louis crime spree, targeting
elderly or helpless people for robbery
and murder. Laws was executed May
17.
Wire service and staff reports
i
Strapped to a gurney and covered to
his chin by a blanket, Mr. Gilmore
Strained at first to see his friends and
appeared to say, “I love you.’”’ Then he
turned his head to the side and was
still. Two minutes later he was de-
clared dead.
“‘He had no last words,” said Dale
Riley, a prison spokesman.
A series of appeals Thursday failed
to stop the execution, the 137th nation-
wide and the fifth in Missouri since
1976, when the Supreme Court ruled
that states could resume the use of
capital punishment.
Legal Appeals Fail
jThe Supreme Court refused, by a
6-to-1 vote, to block Mi. Gilmore’s
death. Justice Thurgood Marshall, who
opposes the death penalty in all cir-
cumstances, dissented. Justice Antonin
Scalia did not take part inthe case. ~
TIMES
Federal District Judge Edward L.
SAT.
Filippine, who was named to the bench
by President Jimmy Carter in 1977,
and the United States Court of Appeals
for the Eighth Circuit, in St. Louis, also
dismissed Mr. Gilmore’s appeals
Thursday.
Mr. Gilmore was executed for killing
Mary Luella Watters, 83, in August
1979. He had also received the death
sentence for three other murders and
was given a life sentence for a fourth.
Appeals filed for Mr. Gilmore by his
lawyers, Kevin Collins and James Del-
worth, contended that mitigating evi-
dence had not been considered earlier.
Mr. Gilmore, whose parents were alco-
holics, suffered fetal alcohol syndrome
and organic brain damage, Mr. Del-
worth said.
William L. Webster, the Missouri At- |
torney General, rejected those argu-
ments.
SEPT. |,
1F90
Rewo (wev.)
GAZETTE - Jou
|
|
FRI. An6. 3! 1990
TT
| Missouri killer
is executed
UNITED PRESS INTERNATIONAL
POTOSI, Mo. — George Gil-
more, the leader of a band of thugs
who terrorized the elderly and disa-
bled for several years, was executed
by injection Friday for the murder
of an 83-year-old woman. |
Gilmore, who did not believe the
execution would be carried out and.
did not request a last meal, was
given the injection at Potosi Cor-
rectional Center at 12:05 a.m. and
was pronounced dead at 12:10 a.m.
The Supreme Court twice de-
nied a stay of execution.
In their appeals, defense attor-
neys argued that the jury that con-
victed Gilmore should have consid-
ered his impoverished childhood
and his level of education before
recommending the death penalty.
Gilmore was the leader of a gang
that robbed and murdered a num-
ber of elderly and disabled people
over several years in east-central
Missouri.
His death sentence stemmed
from the 1979 murder of Mary
Watters, who lived alone in Rob-
ertsville. She was shot twice during
a robbery.
2. - anaes oe: —_ mn we
By William H. Freivogel
Post-Dispatch Washington Bureau
WASHIN GTON
HE U.S. SUPREME COURT'S DECI-
SION on Monday to vacate the death
sentence of a Missouri man offers a new
legal chance to as many as 20 to 25 death row
inmates in Missouri and could delay the execu- -
tion of several St. Louis men, defense lawyers
say.
Richard Sindel, a St. Louis defense lawyer,
and Nancy McKerrow, a state public defender,
said that the court’s action indicates that a
Missouri jury instruction used before 1989
may be unconstitutional.
They predicted that questions about the jury
instruction could delay the execution of three
St. Louis area men who are about to run out of
appeals — Maurice O. Byrd, George C. Gil-
more and Winford Stokes.
Byrd was sentenced for killing four
workers at Pope’s Cafeteria in Des Peres in
1980, Gilmore faces death for killing an 83-
year-old woman in 1979 in Franklin County
and Stokes was convicted of strangling and _
stabbing a waitress in University City in 1978.
Together with about 20 other death row
inmates in Missouri, those three have have
challenged the constitutionality of the same -
jury instruction that was challenged by Donald
E. Petary — the Missouri man whose death
sentence was vacated on Monday by the Su-
preme Court. —
Sindel and McKerrow consider the Supreme
Court’s action in the Petary case a sign that the
sz Lou/s FPoST DISPATCH —
Death Row Inmates Get New v Appeal Route ;
—— wt eee
"Maurice O. Byrd
court considers the Missouri jury instruction to
be constitutionally suspect.
But Assistant Attorney General John M.
Morris III cautioned that it was still far from
clear whether the Supreme Court’s action in
the Petary case would benefit any of the other
death row inmates.
Petary was sentenced to death for partici-
pating with his nephew in the murder of a 12-
year-old Ottumwa, Iowa, girl in 1987. He and
the nephew had terrorized an Iowa farm fam-
ily before kidnapping the daughter and leav-
ing her dead with a slashed neck by a highway
in northeastern Missouri.
In a one-paragraph order on Monday the
Supreme Court sent the Petary case back to
the Missouri Supreme Court instructing it to
reconsider the death sentence in light of two
"George C.
~~ Winford Stokes
Gilmore
recent Supreme Court decisions.
Those decisions invalidate jury in-
structions where there is a “reasonable likeli-
hood” that a juror would come to the conclu-
sion that the only “mitigating” factors that
could be considered were those about which
all 12 jurors agreed.
Petary, like most of those on death row, was
sentenced to death under a Missouri jury in-
struction which said, “If you unanimously find
that one or more mitigating circumstances
exist sufficient to outweigh the aggravating
circumstances found by you to exist, then you
must return a verdict fixing Defendant's pun-
ishment at imprisonment for life.”
After Petary’s conviction, the Supreme
Court handed down the 1988 decision of Mills
TUESDAY APRIL 17, 19790
vs. Maryland, prohibiting jury instructions that
required all jurors to agree on a single mitigat-
ing circumstance.
The Missouri Supreme Court changed its
jury instruction after Mills. .
When Petary challenged the old instruction,
: the Missouri Supreme Court acknowledged
that its old instruction “could be read to say
that a reasonable juror could have concluded
that no piece of mitigating evidence could be
considered in [a] defendant’s favor unless it
was found to be a mitigating circumstance by
all 12 jurors.” —
But despite this acknowledgment, the Miss-
ouri Supreme Court said that the unclear in-
struction was saved by another jury instruc-
tion permitting a jury to reject the death
penalty regardless of the mitigating factors.
In a decision last month — McKoy vs.
- North Carolina — the Supreme Court rejected
an argument by North Carolina that was simi-
lar to the Missouri Supreme Court's.
In its order on Monday, the Supreme Court
told the Missouri Supreme Court to reconsider
Petary’s conviction in light of McKoy.
Last week lawyers for Byrd and Gilmore
challenged the same jury instruction in argu-
ments to the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
seeking to delay their executions.
Even if the Missouri jury instruction is ulti-
mately found to be defective, many of the
Missouri death row inmates may have trouble
getting the courts to throw out their sentences.
Recent Supreme Court decisions bar prisoners
from taking advantage of new constitutional
rules in most instances.
N
.
C
Vy,
POTOSI, Mo. (AP) — Convicted killer Le-
onard Laws was executed by lethal injection
late Wednesday night for participating in
erly couple.
He was the second Missouri death row in-
mate to be executed in the last six days and
the third this year. Of the six inmates exe-
cuted in the United States this year, three
have been from Missouri.
Laws, 40, of Cadet, Mo., also received a
life sentence for killing an elderly man born
without legs and with one deformed arm
and an 85-year-old woman.
Laws was pronounced dead at 12:09 a.m.
CDT after receiving separate lethal doses of
three drugs at the Potosi Correctional Cen-
ter. One of his last requests was that he be
allowed to die in his blue jeans instead of
gray prison pants.
He was given a Sedative at 7:30 p.m. and
in the hours before his execution, Laws
spent some time visiting with his father,
Marvin Laws. The elder Laws had filed the
last, unsuccessful, appeal in efforts to pre-
vent the execution. Laws had no last words.
Laws had six personal witnesses, includ-
ing three family members and two of his at-
torneys.
Law tilted his head back to look at his per-
sonal witnesses and smiled. One of the wit-
nesses, an unidentified woman, waved to
him. His jaw tightened and he grimaced as
the first drug, sodium pentothal, was inject-
ed. The fatal drugs were Pavion and potas-
sium chloride.
the robbery and shotgun slayings of an eld- -
“Robbing and brutally killing elderly peo-
ple for monetary gain will not be tolerated
in the state of Missouri,” Gov. John Ash-
croft said in a prepared statement. “Our
government has carried out its duty.”
Laws had been on death row since 1982
for his part in the murders of Clarence
Williams, 83, and his wife Lottie, 72, in Oc-
tober 1980. Laws and two accomplices then
attempted to burn down their house.
After the victims were tied up, Laws
threatened to cut their fingers off if they did
not tell where their money was concealed.
George Gilmore was the trigger man after
Laws’ suggestion to hit the couple in the
head with a baseball bat to cut down on
noise was rejected.
Laws then poured oil on the floor and ig-
nited it.
Gilmore is still fighting four death sen-
tences in the courts, but Laws decided to
drop any further appeals.
“He was getting close to the end of his ap-
peals, but he could have carried it on a little
longer,” prison spokesman Dale Riley said.
At 5:30 p.m. Laws ate his last meal of
“original recipe” Kentucky Fried Chicken,
cole slaw, mashed potatoes and a two-liter
bottle of Pepsi.
Laws was serving two life sentences in ad-
dition to the Williams killings.
He was convicted of killing Woodrow Wil-
son Elliott, 65, of Allenton, two weeks be-
fore the Williams shootings.- Elliott, who
was born without legs and with one arm,
was kicked. choked and stabbed in the head
Fucrow (issouan)
Sut
gS a
Laws execution third in state this year
JEFFERSON CITY (AP) — The House :
hearings, and barring Missouri from ex-
while they were younger than 16.
_ who said part of its intent is to prevent
_ inmates from filing lawsuits so. they can:
go to court.
inmate at the maximum security Potosi
; . sent to Gov: John ‘Ashcroft ‘a bill pre-
venting inmates from testifying i in per- ->
: son during most non-criminal’ court © «‘
ecuting anyone who committed murder .
The vote was 128-23 on the bill spon-
_ sored by Rep. Wayne Crump, D-Potosi, -
have a. chance to Be out. of Papen and .
- Bill prohibits executions —
of underage murderers —
’ Correctional Center filed a lawsuit t over ~
“a $25 radio, and called three other in- 4
mates as witnesses. All four men had to °. -
‘be taken to Cole County Circuit Court at '
Jefferson City by prison officials.
The death penalty section of the bill
- would bring Missouri law into line with
a 1988 ruling by the U.S. Supreme .
Court that people cannot be executed .
_ for committing murder under age 16. =
“Missouri doesn’t have a ‘statute stipu-
lating a minimum age for receiving the °.
© death penalty. However, state law does
Crump said that in one » such case, an.
say that no one under age 14 may be Rs
-.¢€riminally prosecuted. -
by Laws for $4,800 in savings he kept in a
coffee can in his one-room home.
He also was convicted in the shooting in
December 1980 of Elizabeth Roderique, 85,
of Washington County.
Laws was the 126th convict nationally to
be executed since the 1976 U.S. Supreme
Court ruling allowing states to resume use
of the death penalty.
Last Friday, Missouri executed Winford
Stokes for the strangling and stabbing of a
divorced mother of three. In January, Ger-
ald Smith was executed for beating a for-
mer girlfriend to death with an iron bar and
George “Tiny” Mercer was executed last
year for the murder of a waitress.
Until last year Missouri had held no exe-
cutions since 1965, but the state may have
as many as three more executions this year.
Riley said other death row inmates who
may be executed this year are Bobby Lewis
Shaw, Walter Blair and Larry Griffin.
Missouri currently has 72 inmates on
death row.
THURSORY Pray ¢7, (7Fo
BRUBBS, Ricky Lee, wh, le
iESiM
NEW YORK, NEW YORK
JUNE 23, 1992
‘**T HOPE in prison you suffer
emotionally for the physical and
emotional pain you have
brought others,’’ State Supreme
Court Justice Leslie Crocker
Snyder told convicted killer
David Brushingham while pass-
ing sentence on him.
David Brushingham: 39 years to life.
Brushingham was convicted in
May 19928 for the slaying of his
47-year-old sister, Marcia Brush-
ingham, in 1990 and discarding
her body in a box like trash. The
prosecution maintained that the
convicted Manhattan man killed
his sibling, a stage actress, in or-
der to guarantee himself a
greater share of their family in-
heritance. Brushingham
asserted that the victim actually
- brought about her own death
when she evicted him from her
apartment.
Justice Snyder sentenced
David Brushingham to 39 years
to life in prison for the murder.
The judge declared that if the
state had the death penalty on
8 Inside Detective
the books, that punishment
would be ‘‘too quick and pain-
less” for the convicted killer.
a
PHOENIX, ARIZONA
JULY 3, 1992
ONE OF THE nation’s older con-
victed killers was sentenced for
the slaying of a couple of his
neighbors who, he told author!-
ties, drove him to it by playing
their stereo too loud. Originally
charged with first-degree mur-
der, 94-year-old Edward Mazy
subsequently entered into a plea
bargain with prosecutors in
which he pled guilty to two
counts of attempted murder,
thus avoiding the death penalty.
He has been sentenced to five
years in prison, with a possi-
bility of parole in two years.
Mazy contended that the vic-
tims, 39-year-old Francine
Ritter and 49-year-old Alfred
Centracchio, had been bullying
him and others of his trailer-
park neighbors for a long time.
Only a few hours before the
* shooting murder, police had re-
sponded to a noise complaint
and told Ritter to lower the vol-
ume on her stereo. As soon as
the officers left, however, she
raised the volume again, accord-
ing to neighbors who supported
Mazy’s claims.
The elderly man, partly deaf
and confined to a wheelchair, de-
clared,’‘‘I got old and decided to
do it. [Ritter] had to pay for all
the torture she put me
through.” :
On the basis that this was a
unique case, the defense urged
that probation be granted to the
convicted killer. On the other
hand, Prosecutor Mike Morrison
contended that Mazy planned
the slayings, thought about
c-
them, and he should therefore
serve jail time.
In custody since the slayings,
the old man appeared to be
somewhat confused during his
sentencing. He told the court, “I
would like to get back to a nor-
mal life, get back home and
where I left off.”
-_* 2 * * we
POTOSI, MISSOURI
OCTOBER 21, 1992
SEVERAL HOURS after the -
United States Supreme Court lift- ,
ed a reprieve granted by Justice
Harry A. Blackmun, 33-year-old
Ricky Lee Grubbs was executed
by lethal injection on a Wednes-
day night. Grubbs, who became
the 183rd inmate nationwide to
be put to death since the 1976
Supreme Court ruling that per-
mitted the resumption of capital
punishment, was on Missourt’s
death row since 1986. He was
convicted for the beating murder
of 46-year-old Jerry Thornton,
an acquaintance of Grubbs’, in
Miner, a town located in the
southeastern region of the state.
According to the court record,
the convicted killer bound the
victim with some neckties, cut
his throat, and broke several of
his bones. Afterwards, the pros-
ecution maintained, Grubbs
gtole $30 and some food stamps,
and then torched the victim’s
mobile home to destroy the evi-
dence of the crime.
_Ashort time before his execu-
tion, Grubbs filed appeals based
on two separate contentions:
first, that because he had been
found to be slightly retarded
mentally, it would be cruel and
unusual punishment to execute
_ him; second, that new informa-
tion had turned up to cast doubt
on his guilty conviction. His bid
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for a new trial was rejected by
the U.S. Court of Appeals for the
Eighth Circuit on Monday, Octo-
ber 19th. Less than an hour
before his originally scheduled
execution on Tuesday, the tem-
porary reprieve came from
Justice Blackmun, who handles
emergency matters from Mis-
souri for the Supreme Court.
On Wednesday night, however,
the full court voted 6 to 3.to re-
scind the stay of execution, with
separate dissents written by Jus-
tices David H. Souter and John
Paul Stevens, as well as by
Blackmun. The execution by le-
_ thal injection went forward, and
Ricky Lee Grubbs was pro-
nounced dead at 9:35 p.m. It
was the nation’s 26th execution
in 1992, marking a 30-year
high.
* * ek ke ok ok
BROOKLYN, NEW YORK
OCTOBER 16 & 23, 1992
THE RANKS of an infamous
Vietnamese street gang, which
operates under the name Born
to Kill (BTK), were thinned con-
siderably as several members—
including the group’s founder —
wound up getting hit with
heavy-duty sentences for their
crimes. On Friday, October 16th, .
in Brooklyn Federal Court,
Judge Carol Bagley Amon sen-
tenced Lan Ngoc Tran, a top
lieutenant of the criminal band,
and Jimmy Nguyen, another
gang member, to life in prison
for two separate murders. Tran
was convicted for the slaying of
Sen Ven Ta, the owner of a Chi-
natown jewelry store, on March
10, 1991; Nguyen was convicted
for the slaying of Cuong Pham,
an employee of a Chinatown pro-
duce store, during a robbery on
August 27, 1990.
Two other gang members also
received sentences on the same
day. Hoang Huy Ngo drew a
term of 15 2/3 years and Quang
Van Nguyen caught 14 years on
convictions of racketeering and
robbery. A fifth member of the
group walked away with five
10 Inside Detective
years’ probation.
On Friday, October 83rd, the
founder and leader of BTK, 36-
year-old David Thai, faced the
music himself for several convic--
tions. The gang honcho received
two life sentences for conspiracy
Lo murder—and the murder of—
Sen Ven Ta, eight 20-year terms
for robbery, 3 years for at-
tempted bombing, and 10 years
for each of four firearms counts.
Another ranking member of the
gang, Minh Do, will be doing 12
years for robbery and extortion.
In passing sentence, Judge
Amon called the BTK gang a ‘‘vi-
olent, depraved group of people
who preyed on their own.” 600
a ee ee
RALEIGH,
NORTH CAROLINA
OCTOBER 23, 1992
MAINTAINING his innocence to
the last, 54-year-old John Ster-
ling Gardner, convicted of a
double murder committed a de-
cade ago, was executed by lethal
injection at the state prison. The
appeals filed by his lawyers,
based on the claim that the ju-
rors who had recommended the
death penalty had not been al-
lowed to hear about Gardner’s
abuse suffered as a child, were
exhausted on Thursday, October
agend, with the U.S. Supreme
Court’s unanimous vote to deny -
the condemned man a reprieve. i
According to the case record, -
it was during a six-week crime .,
spree in Winston-Salem 10 years.
ago that 21-year-old Richard Ad-._
ams and 24-year-old Kim Miller |
were slain by Gardner in a local
restaurant, After his conviction
for the two murders, Gardner
pled guilty to a third slaying —
committed in the’same spree.
“ee
Lethal needle for John Gardner.
In his final statement, Gard- ..
ner declared, ‘‘I feel deep
regret and sorrow for the vic-
tims’ families. Though they
believe that I did what I was con- :
victed of, I did not. But I feel |
sorry for them—that’s all.” fe
Members of the victims’ families
were among the witnesses to the.
execution, which was the 87th —
to be carried out in the nation
in 1992...) :
ee
BEFORE HE gave up his post in
1956, Albert Pierrepoint served
as Britain’s chief executioner for
a decade and slipped the hang-
man’s noose around the necks
of hundreds of condemned pris-
oners. Several months ago, he
reached the end of his own rope,
in a manner of speaking, when
the fates decreed that his life
had run the full length he’d
been allowed. His death came on
BRITAIN'S TOP HANGMAN
SLIPS INTO THE BIG SLEEP
Friday night, July 10, 1992, as...
he lay in his bed in a nursing
- home in Southport, a city in
northwestern England. :
Pierrepoint’s uncle and father
preceded him as the nation’s
public executioners. He followed ;
in their footsteps in 1946 and
kept the post until 1956. Dur-
ing his retirement, he and his
wife ran a pub in Much Hoole,
near Preston, located about 15 '
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THE MORE YO:
116 Fairfield
Approved by the Nr
by,
The Associated Press
POTOSI, Mo. — oe
killer Ricky ‘Lee Grubbs became Dexecutio
the 26th prisoner ‘executed © ‘this ©
year in -the. United States — a:
30-year high — when he received
a lethal . injection “at . 9:35 Pam.
Wednesday.”
die for beating. and stabbing ‘an
acquaintance to death and then
burning the victim’s mobile SOME 3
to destroy evidence.
r athe
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Grubbs, 34 was sentenced 16 wom ane outs
justices H= SI
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to destroy evidence. - | poe
Blackmun had“issued dtempo-
82 4 chad been scheduled to dies: ; °°...
Blackmun, who, handles emer-
-. ‘gency matters from Missouri for
- the high court, had thé authority
' to postpone the execution: only
. long enough to bring the anatter
. . before the full Supreme Court,
_Which then_ issued .the. ‘order
Wednesday night that sét gt asifiehis
ee orary stay.
rary, Stay in the execution. of ;
: Grubbs late Tuesday night, a little
f° more than an hour before Grubbs
The
}-—The Dally Journal, Flat River, Mo, Thursday, October 22, 1992 D |
r= Daily
Journal *
Thursday, October 22: 1992
LS
Vol: 62, No. 250
i —— —_—— _—
St. Francois County, Mo.
Single Copy Price: 35¢ (Includes Sales Tax)
4; \TEUUDS
POTOSI — Two hours after the U.S. Supreme Court lifted a temporary.
Stay of execution Wednesday night, as other death row inmates watched
the World Series, Ricky Lee Grubbs, apologized for his past deed and was
put todeath. The 33-year-old Sikeston man was found guilty of first-de-
gree murder by a St. Francois County jury in 1986 and condemned to
- death by a local Circuit Court judge. for the killing of Jerry Russell
_ Thornton at Miner, near Sikeston, in 1984, - i
Wednesday afternoon and evening that were dependent on a ruling by the
nation’s high court. eed
- It-was announced at one point that if the court did not reach a decision”
_ :by.6.p.m. the execution would be cancelled, but that position was Changed .
; When the Missouri Attorney General’s Office told corrections officials the *
~_°, Supreme Court was still actively working toward a decision that evening. ae
“Riley announced at 7:30 p.m. the court had vacated the stay of execu-.
‘tion by a vote of 6-3. The temporary stay had been issued Tuesday night.
5 by Justice Harry Blackmun, who said the matter should be brought before
the full court. It was not deliberated by the court until mid-afternoon after
_ the court had heard oral arguments on some other cases.
ee. Whea told by his attorney the Stay had been lifted, Grubbs showed little
.___“Ricky:seemed very resolved to his fate,” Riley said. The corrections’.
-. Official said ‘the condemned man had become very religious and spent
‘ becoming very close with him.
mned man’s family were also’at the prison when’
ust south of the prison where a candlelight vigil was held
by opponents of the death penalty.
a ee PS IT ae
ton, he
CACCULCd alter Stay lite
An older brother, 42-year-old James Grubbs of Lexington, Ky., told
Teporters Ricky was “not the same man who did all those bad things.” He
said his brother had been converted to Christianity and was “at peace with
his maker.” _
The.family said the change in Grubbs did not excuse his past deeds, but
there were some who felt his childhood filled with abuse and neglect as
well as his being diagnosed as borderline mentally retarded should have
- |, It was after two days of legal maneuvering the execution by lethal injec- Virginia called the prison’ in hopes of talking to the condemned ‘man. The
" tion occurred at 9:30 p.m. in the Potosi Correctional Center, less'than three inmate had already been taken to the execution chamber and thus could
“TI got the strong impression the brother had just learned of the impend-
ing execution. I think it was one of the hardest phone calls I have ever
had,” Riley said. “He was very emotional.” .
~The condemned ‘had earlier told relatives of his murder victim,
$'sorry for what he had done.
Riley said. Chaplain Gary Toombs stayed with up until the time of the ex-
= aa —-
As he was being prepared for the execution Wednesday night, Grubbs
grabbed the hand of a prison official and shook it as he said he was “sorry
for all the trouble” he had caused.
Grubbs had only one witness present for the execution, his attomey,
Cedric Brown. He had asked that his family not attend and they remained
Outside. :
“There were 14 witnesses for the state, four of them members of the
media. Many of them were employees of the Department of Corrections.
While many other inmates at the maximum security prison, including’
others sentenced to death, watched the World Series on television: sets: in.
‘their cells at 9:33 p.m., the plungers were pushed that administered lethal
‘doses of three drugs into Grubbs body as it lay on’a guemey. In minutes
he was pronounced dead by Coroner Mal Gum of Washington County.
Associated Press reporter R. B. Fallstrom, who witnessed the execution,
said Grubbs had his eyes closed.when the drapes were opened before the
lethal. dose was administered.~The condemned man did not move and
when: the drugs were administered, “it looked like he was just going to’
sleep, but you know better.” calies ge weer ee
. Grubbs did not have a special “last meal” Wednesday, eating spaghetti
and meatballs as did other inmates. The previous night he had steak and
lobster, a salad with bleu cheese dressing and a soft drink, © :
About an hour before the execution Grubbs was given a mild sedative,
at his request, and remained calm throughout the remaining preparations,
ecution, accompanying him into the chamber.
The murder occurred in the victim’s mobile home that.was set on. fire to
cover up the crime, authorities said: Thornton’s body, his hands and feet
buund with ties, was discovered by firemen. ce ee *
The victim’s throat was slashed, 13 ribs broken:and there were severe
internal injuriés, according to testimony by a pathologist. Authorities said ...
Grubbs and a younger brother, Randy, took food: stamps and about $30 in.
Randy Grubbs, 32, is currently serving a 30-year sentence at Missouri _ Pe
Eastern Correctional Center in Pacific for the same murder.’ 92
