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Thread: James Eugene Bigby - Texas Execution - March 14, 2017

  1. #11
    Senior Member CnCP Legend Mike's Avatar
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    Corpus Christi, Tarrant County prisoners get death dates

    Set for execution March 14 is 61-year-old James Bigby for the slayings of a 4-month-old boy and the child’s father during a Christmas Eve 1987 rampage that also left two other people dead. Bigby confessed to shooting Mike Trekell at his Arlington home and drowning Trekell’s infant son Jayson in a sink.

    https://www.abqjournal.com/883805/co...ath-dates.html
    "There is a point in the history of a society when it becomes so pathologically soft and tender that among other things it sides even with those who harm it, criminals, and does this quite seriously and honestly. Punishing somehow seems unfair to it, and it is certain that imagining ‘punishment’ and ‘being supposed to punish’ hurts it, arouses fear in it." Friedrich Nietzsche

  2. #12
    Senior Member CnCP Legend Mike's Avatar
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    Let's review some highlights from this case.

    Why did Bigby commit the murders?

    On the evening of December 23, 1987 and into the early morning hours of the following day, operating under a belief that his friends were conspiring to thwart a pending workers’ compensation claim he filed against his employer, Bigby murdered four people, including a four-month-old child whom he drowned in the sink.

    Bigby attempted to take the Trial Judge hostage

    Bigby was tried in state court for capital murder. During a trial recess, he retrieved a revolver from the judge’s bench, entered the judge’s chambers, pointed the gun at the judge’s head, and said, “Let’s go.” He was subdued, and trial proceeded. The prosecutor further stressed that Bigby, during his first sentencing trial, obtained a firearm and tried to escape..

    I can't wait for the antis' excuses for this guy.

    The Murders

    On the evening of December 23, 1987, Bigby went to the home of his friend, Michael Trekell, and brought two steaks for dinner. While Trekell was preparing the steaks, Bigby shot and killed him, and then drowned Trekell’s sixteen-week-old son, Jayson Kehler. Bigby then drove across town to the apartment ofanother friend, Wesley Crane. After visiting with Crane for a while,Bigby asked Crane to drive him to the store in Crane’s truck. Duringthe drive home, Bigby forced Crane to pull over and get out of thetruck at gunpoint. He shot Crane in the head, killing him, and left his body in the road. Bigby returned to Crane’s apartment complex. retrieved a bag from his car containing a pistol and a shotgun, and drove away in Crane’s truck. About 3:20 a.m. on December 24th, Bigby arrived at the home of his friend, Frank “Bubba” Johnson, and rang the doorbell. Johnson answered the door and, after a short discussion, Bigby shot him three times with the shotgun, killing him. He then fled in the truck. A massive manhunt ensued, and Bigby surrendered to police on December 26, 1987, after a stand-off at a local motel. During the stand-off, a police negotiator told Bigby, “You’re an American. You’re presumed innocent until proven guilty. Everything is going to be all right.” Bigby replied, “I’m guilty. I know it and so do you.” Bigby later confessed to the murders in writing.

    Evidence

    A fingerprint found on a wine cooler bottle at the Trekell home matched Bigby’s left middle finger. A firearms expert testified that a bullet fragment recovered from the Trekell crime scene had been fired from a .357 revolver found in Bigby’s motel room. The State next presented evidence that Bigby had been incarcerated for burglary in 1977 and for burglary of a motor vehicle in1983. The judge and several other persons connected to Bigby’s 1991 trial testified about Bigby’s attempt to kidnap the trial judge during that first trial. According to the testimony, Bigby had seized a loaded revolver from the judge’s bench, walked into chambers, pointed the gun at the judge’s head, and said, “Let’s go, Judge.” The judge immediately grabbed Bigby’s hand and, with the prosecutor’s assistance, wrestled Bigby to the ground. Two bailiffs entered the chambers and removed the revolver from Bigby’s hand. After this testimony, the State rested its case.

    https://docs.justia.com/cases/federa...0765/182909/17
    "There is a point in the history of a society when it becomes so pathologically soft and tender that among other things it sides even with those who harm it, criminals, and does this quite seriously and honestly. Punishing somehow seems unfair to it, and it is certain that imagining ‘punishment’ and ‘being supposed to punish’ hurts it, arouses fear in it." Friedrich Nietzsche

  3. #13
    Administrator Aaron's Avatar
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    Click image for larger version. 

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    Updated photo of Bigby. He hasn't aged well.
    Don't ask questions, just consume product and then get excited for next products.

    "They will hurt you. They will hurt your grandma, these people. The root cause of this is there's no discipline in the homes, they don't go to school, you know, they live off the government, no personal accountability, and they just beat people up for no reason, and it's disgusting." - Former Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters

  4. #14
    Senior Member Frequent Poster elsie's Avatar
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    I really have a certain affinity when baby killers are brought to justice.
    Proverbs 21:15 "When justice is done, it is a joy to the righteous but terror to evil doers."

  5. #15
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    I know strange how a murderer so heinous lasted so long. Him and Rolando are both young overdue for their shot of the needle.

  6. #16
    Administrator Aaron's Avatar
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    Austin Chronicle article

    Death Watch: "No Need" for Mental Tests

    James Bigby, 61, is scheduled to be the fourth Texan executed this year when he goes to the Huntsville gurney on Tuesday, March 14. The Fort Worth native has spent the last 25 years on death row after a two-day killing spree that left four people dead.

    The murders began on Dec. 23, 1987. Bigby was convinced that several of his acquaintances were conspiring against him when he arrived at his friend Mike Trekell's Fort Worth home for dinner. Trekell was cooking when Bigby shot him in the head, then drowned Trekell's 4-month-old son in the kitchen sink. He then moved on to the houses of two more friends – Calvin Crane and Frank "Bubba" Johnson – killing both. He was arrested at an Arlington hotel on Dec. 26.

    Bigby confessed to the crimes when he was arrested and again later in a written statement. At his trial, during a recess, Bigby grabbed a gun from the bench, broke into chambers, and threatened his trial judge at gunpoint. Though he was disarmed before anything happened, the incident influenced the jury's decision in determining Bigby's future dangerousness; he was convicted of capital murder in March 1991, and sentenced to death.

    Prior to his killing spree, Bigby had a history of robberies and sexual assault, which prosecutors focused on during sentencing. His defense argued their client suffered from schizophrenia and depression, and that he was a product of a neglectful upbringing. (The defense also addressed Bigby's newfound reverence for religion.) Appeals have focused on the trial counsel's failure to address Bigby's family's history – a violation of Bigby's right to assistance of counsel under the Sixth Amend*ment. Court records indicate that Bigby's mother gave away each of his siblings to relatives, which caused him to fear he too would be abandoned. Bigby also detailed his unhealthy relationship with his mother – noting that she breastfed him until he was 7 – as well as her alcoholism, and her attempted suicide.

    None of those hardships have done anything to sway any appeals court. Bigby has had no sustainable luck finding relief at the state or federal levels – however, in 2005, the district court wherein he filed his appeal vacated his death sentence after ruling that his trial jury was given inadequate instructions regarding death penalty sentencing, citing the 2001 case Penry v. Johnson. In 2006, he attended a second sentencing trial and was handed a second death sentence.

    In March 2015, Bigby filed an appeal to the Supreme Court, though the effort was rejected by SCOTUS two months later. In September 2016, the state filed a motion to issue an execution date, but according to the order written by Tarrant County Judge Robb Catalano, Bigby's counsel requested additional time. Bigby "had been uncooperative and uncommunicative with him, such that he was unable to 'rationally evaluate' the Defendant's state of mind or mental ability," wrote Catalano. Bigby's attorney filed a report stating "no need" for a mental examination on Oct. 27, 2016 – Bigby "understands the reason for his execution." An execution warrant was signed a few days later.

    If all goes the way the state intends, Bigby will be the second Tarrant County resident executed this year and 542nd in Texas since the state reinstated the death penalty in 1976.

    http://www.austinchronicle.com/news/...-mental-tests/
    Don't ask questions, just consume product and then get excited for next products.

    "They will hurt you. They will hurt your grandma, these people. The root cause of this is there's no discipline in the homes, they don't go to school, you know, they live off the government, no personal accountability, and they just beat people up for no reason, and it's disgusting." - Former Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters

  7. #17
    Administrator Aaron's Avatar
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    Man who killed a father, his infant son on Christmas Eve 1987 set to be executed

    A former Kennedale auto mechanic who vowed to go out in a blaze of glory after killing a father and his infant son in a 1987 Christmas Eve killing spree is scheduled to be executed Tuesday.

    James Eugene Bigby, 61, was convicted of capital murder in 1991 for the two slayings. He drowned Jayson Kehler, 4 months old, in a sink and shot the child’s 26-year-old father, Michael Trekell.

    Bigby was also accused of killing two other men— Calvin Wesley Crane and Frank “Bubba” Johnson — later the same day.

    During his trial for the first two slayings, defense attorneys tried to convince jurors that Bigby was insane. They called witnesses who testified that he was a paranoid schizophrenic.

    John Stickels, Bigby’s appellate attorney, said last week that his hands are tied and that Bigby has exhausted his appeals.

    “Bigby has instructed me not to do anything else,” Stickels said. “He also wrote a letter to Gov. Abbott asking him to set an execution date. And then he was brought back to Tarrant County to make sure that was what he wanted to do, and that was what he wanted to do.”

    Stickels said that Bigby has been in prison since he was 32 and may have decided that he no longer wants to live on Death Row.

    In a foiled escape attempt during his 1991 trial, Bigby grabbed a gun from behind state District Judge Don Leonard’s bench and confronted him with it in the judge’s chambers. Bigby was captured after Leonard, a bailiff and Assistant District Attorney Robert Mayfield wrestled him to the ground and took the gun.

    In 2005, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned Bigby’s sentence, but not his conviction, ruling that jurors were improperly not allowed to consider whether his mental illness was a mitigating factor. The court said that paranoid schizophrenia is a severe mental illness and that Bigby had proved he had it at the time of the crimes.

    After hearing testimony and seeing evidence from the initial trial 15 years earlier, a second jury gave Bigby another death sentence in September 2006.

    http://www.star-telegram.com/news/lo...137557343.html
    Don't ask questions, just consume product and then get excited for next products.

    "They will hurt you. They will hurt your grandma, these people. The root cause of this is there's no discipline in the homes, they don't go to school, you know, they live off the government, no personal accountability, and they just beat people up for no reason, and it's disgusting." - Former Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters

  8. #18
    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
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    MEDIA ADVISORY: James Eugene Bigby Scheduled for Execution
    Tuesday, March 14, 2017 – Austin

    Pursuant to a court order by Criminal District Court No. 3 of Tarrant County, James Eugene Bigby is scheduled for execution after 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday, March 14, 2017.

    In 1991, Bigby was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death by lethal injection for murdering Michael Trekell and his infant son Jayson Kehler. In 2005, the United States Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit overturned Bigby’s original death sentence, necessitating a retrial on punishment. Bigby was sentenced to death for a second time in 2006. Below is a summary of the evidence.

    FACTS OF THE CASE

    In its opinion denying Bigby’s petition for a writ of habeas corpus following the punishment retrial, the federal district court summarized the facts of the offense as follows:

    In late 1987, Bigby killed three friends (plus the infant son of one of them) because he believed they were conspiring with Frito–Lay to avoid paying him a workers’ compensation claim.

    On the evening of December 23, 1987, Bigby went to the home of his friend, Michael Trekell, and brought two steaks for dinner. While Trekell was preparing the steaks, Bigby shot and killed him, and then drowned Trekell’s sixteen-week-old son, Jayson Kehler. Bigby then drove across town to the apartment of another friend, Wesley Crane. After visiting with Crane for a while, Bigby asked Crane to drive him to the store in Crane’s truck. During the drive home, Bigby forced Crane to pull over and get out of the truck at gunpoint. He shot Crane in the head, killing him, and left his body in the road. Bigby returned to Crane’s apartment complex, retrieved a bag from his car containing a pistol and a shotgun, and drove away in Crane’s truck. About 3:20 a.m. on December 24th, Bigby arrived at the home of his friend, Frank “Bubba” Johnson, and rang the doorbell. Johnson answered the door and, after a short discussion, Bigby shot him three times with the shotgun, killing him. He then fled in the truck.

    A massive manhunt ensued, and Bigby surrendered to police on December 26, 1987, after a stand-off at a local motel. During the stand-off, a police negotiator told Bigby, “You’re an American. You’re presumed innocent until proven guilty. Everything is going to be all right.” Bigby replied, “I’m guilty. I know it and so do you.” Bigby later confessed to the murders in writing. A fingerprint found on a wine cooler bottle at the Trekell home matched Bigby’s left middle finger. A firearms expert testified that a bullet fragment recovered from the Trekell crime scene had been fired from a .357 revolver found in Bigby’s motel room.

    PROCEDURAL HISTORY

    In March 1991, a Tarrant County jury convicted Bigby of capital murder. After a separate punishment proceeding, Bigby was sentenced to death.

    On November 2, 1994, Bigby’s conviction and sentence were affirmed by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals on direct appeal.

    The Supreme Court denied review of Bigby’s direct appeal proceeding on June 26, 1995.

    Bigby’s application for state habeas corpus relief was denied by the Court of Criminal Appeals on February 4, 1998.

    Bigby’s initial federal petition for a writ of habeas corpus was denied by the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas, Fort Worth Division, on October 18, 1999.

    On March 8, 2005, the United States Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit vacated Bigby’s death sentence due to jury-charge error.

    The Supreme Court denied certiorari review of the 5th Circuit’s decision on October 3, 2005.

    In September 2006, a new sentencing trial was held, and Bigby was again sentenced to death.

    On October 8, 2008, the Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed Bigby’s second death sentence.

    The Court of Criminal Appeals denied Bigby’s state habeas application challenging his second death sentence on December 17, 2008.

    The Supreme Court denied certiorari review of the Court of Criminal Appeals’s decision on direct appeal on April 20, 2009.

    The federal district court denied Bigby’s federal petition for a writ of habeas corpus challenging his second death sentence on April 5, 2013.

    The 5th Circuit denied any certificate of appealability and affirmed the federal district court’s decision on December 18, 2014.

    On May 26, 2015, the Supreme Court denied Bigby’s petition for certiorari review.

    On November 1, 2016, the state trial court issued an order setting Bigby’s execution date for March 14, 2017.

    PRIOR CRIMINAL HISTORY

    The federal district court made note of the State’s evidence presented at the punishment retrial:

    The State presented evidence that Bigby had been incarcerated for burglary in 1977 and for burglary of a motor vehicle in 1983. The judge and several other persons connected to Bigby’s 1991 trial testified about Bigby’s attempt to kidnap the trial judge during that first trial. According to the testimony, Bigby had seized a loaded revolver from the judge’s bench, walked into chambers, pointed the gun at the judge’s head, and said, “Let’s go, Judge.” The judge immediately grabbed Bigby’s hand and, with the prosecutor’s assistance, wrestled Bigby to the ground. Two bailiffs entered the chambers and removed the revolver from Bigby’s hand.

    The State also presented evidence of Bigby’s extraneous, unadjudicated offenses: car theft, burglary, sale and use of methamphetamine, identity theft, credit card fraud, check fraud, other scams involving stolen rental property, and a sexual assault of a five year-old girl when he was a teenager. As an adult, Bigby regularly recruited younger men to help him steal cars and engage in other scams, several of whom testified for the State. One witness described Bigby as a full-time thief. A man who had known Bigby all of his life testified that Bigby’s workers’ compensation claim was also fraudulent.

    There was testimony that people were concerned about getting on Bigby’s bad side. Bigby once asked a friend to buy him a gun so he could kill his unfaithful girlfriend and a bunch of other people. In 1986, Bigby had threatened to kill Frank “Bubba” Johnson and take half the Fort Worth Police Department with him. Bigby’s attitude was that he would never to be taken alive and would never go back to prison.

    Meredith Perry knew Bigby in the 1980s, and she testified, among other things, that Bigby once removed the wing nuts on his mother’s crutches, causing them to collapse. Perry said Bigby also cashed his mother’s disability check and stole Perry’s prescription pain medicine to resell on the street. Bigby’s ex-wife testified that Bigby could pick locks and would enter her apartment when she was not home. She moved to a women’s shelter after Bigby had attacked her multiple times. During their separation, Bigby broke into her apartment and drilled holes in her bathroom ceiling so he could spy on her from the attic. Another female acquaintance testified that Bigby would break into her apartment as well, and when she confronted Bigby, he grabbed her by the throat, shoved her, and told her he comes and goes as he pleases.
    An uninformed opponent is a dangerous opponent.

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  9. #19
    Senior Member Frequent Poster Alfred's Avatar
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    Texas executes Fort Worth man who killed a father and an infant

    After nearly 26 years on Texas’ death row and two sentencing trials, a man convicted in the death of his friend and a 4-month-old during a Fort Worth killing spree was executed Tuesday evening.

    James Bigby, a 61-year-old with a history of paranoid schizophrenia, was convicted in the 1987 murders of Michael Trekell, 26, and Trekell’s infant son, Jayson Kehler, according to court filings. Bigby was also accused of killing Calvin Crane and Frank Johnson, but he wasn’t tried in those murders.

    Bigby told police he killed the men because he believed they were conspiring with his employer to undermine a worker’s compensation case he had filed. He said he didn’t know why he killed the baby.

    Just after 6 p.m. Tuesday, Bigby lay on the gurney in Texas’ execution chamber in Huntsville. He was injected with a lethal dose of pentobarbital at 6:17 p.m. and pronounced dead 14 minutes later, according to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. He had no witnesses there on his behalf.

    In his final statement, Bigby apologized to Grace Kehler, the mother of the infant he killed, and the families of Crane and Johnson.

    “I’m sorry it went on for a terribly long time ... I hope that my death will bring you peace and closure,” he said. “... I hope that you could forgive me, but if you don’t I understand. I don’t think I could forgive anyone who would of killed my children.”

    Aside from his statement, Bigby also wrote a letter to Kehler, apologizing again, telling her he tried to drop his appeals earlier, and blaming his old employer, Frito-Lay, for his actions.

    “Frito Lay caused my actions and they alone are to blame for what I did and it was not about money … attempts to kill me followed when I refused to settle or drop my legal suit,” he wrote.

    Bigby had not filed any late appeals before his execution, and, even though he had been on death row for more than a quarter of a century, Tuesday was the first execution date he received, according to his lawyer, John Stickels.

    “I believe that [Bigby] is resigned to the fact that he’s going to be executed, and I think he wants it over with,” Stickels told The Texas Tribune on Friday.

    The killing spree started on the evening of Dec. 23, 1987, when Bigby and Trekell were watching television and making dinner, according to court filings. Bigby shot Trekell and attempted to suffocate 4-month-old Jayson with cellophane before drowning him in the sink.

    Later that night, he visited Crane, another friend. Bigby convinced Crane to drive around to investigate whether Bigby was being followed. In the car, Bigby told Crane to pull over, and he shot him and left him dead on the road, according to an opinion from the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. Then, around 3 a.m. on Christmas Eve, the opinion said, he drove Crane’s car to Johnson’s house and shot him several times when he opened the door.

    He was arrested two days later after a SWAT standoff at a local motel. The mother of the infant, Grace Kehler, told police she knew Bigby had been hospitalized for mental illness more than once and that he had said before he wanted to go out “in a blaze of glory,” according to court documents.

    During his trial, an insanity defense was shot down, and, at one point during a recess, Bigby got a hold of a gun Judge Don Leonard kept at his bench, went into Leonard's chambers and tried to take him hostage in an apparent escape attempt, court records said. Bigby was eventually subdued, and Leonard continued to preside over the trial.

    “There’s a lot of things about this case that, over time, made the news and made this a big case,” said Helena Faulkner, Tarrant County assistant district attorney who has handled the Bigby case after his conviction.

    Bigby spent a long time on death row because he was granted a new sentencing trial in 2005. The U.S 5th Circuit Court of Appeals tossed out his original death sentence because new sentencing procedures required juries to decide whether any mitigating evidence – like Bigby’s mental illness – qualified a capital murder convict for the lesser sentence of life without parole. When Bigby was first sentenced to death in 1991, jurors were told they could “nullify” any such evidence.

    During his original trial, the defense brought up Bigby’s schizophrenia, telling the jury that he had various diagnoses and been hospitalized multiple times. A psychiatrist testified that “at the time of the offense ... Bigby was suffering from [this] serious severe mental illness and was not aware of the difference between right and wrong.”
    Still, after considering this evidence during the second trial, the jury again handed down a death sentence, essentially resetting the appeals process after Bigby had already lived 15 years on death row.

    Under current law, mentally ill convicts can be sentenced to death (though at least one Texas lawmaker is hoping to change that). Defendants can present the illness as mitigating evidence, but ultimately, it is in the jurors’ hands. In Bigby’s case, the jury did not believe his schizophrenia was a reason to give him life without parole instead.

    “Mr. Bigby was never found to be insane,” said Faulkner. “The jury rejected any claims that he had any type of mental illness or defect that would warrant not imposing a sentence of death.”

    Bigby’s execution was the second from Tarrant County this year. The next two executions scheduled are also from Tarrant. Faulkner said the uptick in scheduled executions is because cases were delayed while the county did a review of capital cases and DNA analysis.

    The execution was the fourth for Texas in 2017. Last week, the state put to death Rolando Ruiz after hours of uncertainty while the U.S. Supreme Court pondered pending appeals. Outside of Texas, only Virginia and Missouri have held executions this year — one in each of those states.

    https://www.texastribune.org/2017/03...cluded-infant/

    - - - Updated - - -

    Texas executes Fort Worth man who killed a father and an infant

    After nearly 26 years on Texas’ death row and two sentencing trials, a man convicted in the death of his friend and a 4-month-old during a Fort Worth killing spree was executed Tuesday evening.

    James Bigby, a 61-year-old with a history of paranoid schizophrenia, was convicted in the 1987 murders of Michael Trekell, 26, and Trekell’s infant son, Jayson Kehler, according to court filings. Bigby was also accused of killing Calvin Crane and Frank Johnson, but he wasn’t tried in those murders.

    Bigby told police he killed the men because he believed they were conspiring with his employer to undermine a worker’s compensation case he had filed. He said he didn’t know why he killed the baby.

    Just after 6 p.m. Tuesday, Bigby lay on the gurney in Texas’ execution chamber in Huntsville. He was injected with a lethal dose of pentobarbital at 6:17 p.m. and pronounced dead 14 minutes later, according to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. He had no witnesses there on his behalf.

    In his final statement, Bigby apologized to Grace Kehler, the mother of the infant he killed, and the families of Crane and Johnson.

    “I’m sorry it went on for a terribly long time ... I hope that my death will bring you peace and closure,” he said. “... I hope that you could forgive me, but if you don’t I understand. I don’t think I could forgive anyone who would of killed my children.”

    Aside from his statement, Bigby also wrote a letter to Kehler, apologizing again, telling her he tried to drop his appeals earlier, and blaming his old employer, Frito-Lay, for his actions.

    “Frito Lay caused my actions and they alone are to blame for what I did and it was not about money … attempts to kill me followed when I refused to settle or drop my legal suit,” he wrote.

    Bigby had not filed any late appeals before his execution, and, even though he had been on death row for more than a quarter of a century, Tuesday was the first execution date he received, according to his lawyer, John Stickels.

    “I believe that [Bigby] is resigned to the fact that he’s going to be executed, and I think he wants it over with,” Stickels told The Texas Tribune on Friday.

    The killing spree started on the evening of Dec. 23, 1987, when Bigby and Trekell were watching television and making dinner, according to court filings. Bigby shot Trekell and attempted to suffocate 4-month-old Jayson with cellophane before drowning him in the sink.

    Later that night, he visited Crane, another friend. Bigby convinced Crane to drive around to investigate whether Bigby was being followed. In the car, Bigby told Crane to pull over, and he shot him and left him dead on the road, according to an opinion from the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. Then, around 3 a.m. on Christmas Eve, the opinion said, he drove Crane’s car to Johnson’s house and shot him several times when he opened the door.

    He was arrested two days later after a SWAT standoff at a local motel. The mother of the infant, Grace Kehler, told police she knew Bigby had been hospitalized for mental illness more than once and that he had said before he wanted to go out “in a blaze of glory,” according to court documents.

    During his trial, an insanity defense was shot down, and, at one point during a recess, Bigby got a hold of a gun Judge Don Leonard kept at his bench, went into Leonard's chambers and tried to take him hostage in an apparent escape attempt, court records said. Bigby was eventually subdued, and Leonard continued to preside over the trial.

    “There’s a lot of things about this case that, over time, made the news and made this a big case,” said Helena Faulkner, Tarrant County assistant district attorney who has handled the Bigby case after his conviction.

    Bigby spent a long time on death row because he was granted a new sentencing trial in 2005. The U.S 5th Circuit Court of Appeals tossed out his original death sentence because new sentencing procedures required juries to decide whether any mitigating evidence – like Bigby’s mental illness – qualified a capital murder convict for the lesser sentence of life without parole. When Bigby was first sentenced to death in 1991, jurors were told they could “nullify” any such evidence.

    During his original trial, the defense brought up Bigby’s schizophrenia, telling the jury that he had various diagnoses and been hospitalized multiple times. A psychiatrist testified that “at the time of the offense ... Bigby was suffering from [this] serious severe mental illness and was not aware of the difference between right and wrong.”
    Still, after considering this evidence during the second trial, the jury again handed down a death sentence, essentially resetting the appeals process after Bigby had already lived 15 years on death row.

    Under current law, mentally ill convicts can be sentenced to death (though at least one Texas lawmaker is hoping to change that). Defendants can present the illness as mitigating evidence, but ultimately, it is in the jurors’ hands. In Bigby’s case, the jury did not believe his schizophrenia was a reason to give him life without parole instead.

    “Mr. Bigby was never found to be insane,” said Faulkner. “The jury rejected any claims that he had any type of mental illness or defect that would warrant not imposing a sentence of death.”

    Bigby’s execution was the second from Tarrant County this year. The next two executions scheduled are also from Tarrant. Faulkner said the uptick in scheduled executions is because cases were delayed while the county did a review of capital cases and DNA analysis.

    The execution was the fourth for Texas in 2017. Last week, the state put to death Rolando Ruiz after hours of uncertainty while the U.S. Supreme Court pondered pending appeals. Outside of Texas, only Virginia and Missouri have held executions this year — one in each of those states.

    https://www.texastribune.org/2017/03...cluded-infant/

  10. #20

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