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Thread: Thomas Bartlett "Bart" Whitaker - Texas

  1. #1
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    Thomas Bartlett "Bart" Whitaker - Texas


    Patricia and Kevin Whitaker


    Thomas "Bart" Whitaker


    Facts of the Crime:

    On December 10, 2003, in a murder-for-hire scheme, Thomas "Bart" Whitaker hired Chris Brashear, his college roommate, to kill his family so he could inherit the estimated $1.5 million family estate. After Whitaker, his mother, Patricia Whitaker, and father and his 19-year-old brother, Kevin Whitaker, returned from a college graduation celebration dinner in Bart's honor, the family was shot down. His father survived the attack.

    Whitaker was sentenced to death in Fort Bend County in March 2007.

  2. #2
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    June 24, 2009

    Death sentence in murder plot upheld

    HOUSTON (AP) - The conviction and death sentence for a suburban Houston man who arranged the killings of his mother and brother so he could collect a $1 million inheritance have been upheld by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals.

    Thomas "Bart" Whitaker didn't challenge his conviction but insisted in an appeal rejected Wednesday that his death sentence wasn't proper because his court record doesn't include an offer he made to prosecutors.

    In exchange for taking responsibility for the killings, Whitaker wanted prosecutors to take the death penalty to spare his "already victimized family the ordeal of a trial."

    Prosecutors refused the offer, and a Fort Bend County jury 2½ years ago sentenced him to death.

    http://www.connectamarillo.com/news/...aspx?id=316896

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    On June 30, 2010, Whitaker was denied a writ of habeas corpus by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals.

    Opinion is here:

    http://www.cca.courts.state.tx.us/OP...PINIONID=19860

  4. #4
    Administrator Moh's Avatar
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    On June 30, 2011, Whitaker filed a habeas petition in Federal District Court.

    http://dockets.justia.com/docket/tex...v02467/900517/

  5. #5
    The prosecution made a very wise move in rejecting Whitakers guilty plea in exchange for a sentence of life in prison. Thomas Whitaker is a scumbag, plain and simple. You look at the facts of the case and ask yourself how is a man like this not deserving of death. His family was celebrating his graduation and success. His family loved him and wanted nothing but the best for him and then he goes and murders them to inherit the familys money? What scum this man is.

  6. #6
    Senior Member CnCP Legend JLR's Avatar
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    While I get what your saying iMxth and you can have my agreement on the crime being one of the most pure evil I can recall, I gotta ask whats this execution gonna bring. From what I read, the surviving relative in the case, Whittaker's dad doesnt want to see his son executed and in respect for a man who lost so much, I feel a death sentence in this case would not be justice but yet more heartache for his father. I'm opposed to the death penalty anyway but this case is one, where despite the horrific case details, I just can't wrap my head around why we should impose the death penalty, when it will cause more suffering for the surviving victim.

    Best.

    JLR.

  7. #7
    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
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    Justice is not for the victims families. Justice is sought for the victims, and the state. Whitaker planned and succeeded in wiping out 2/3 of his immediate family. Murder for hire is an aggravating factor under Texas law. The penalty suits the crime in this case no matter what a surviving victim wishes. I see no difference in this case and that of Mark Stroman.

  8. #8
    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
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    This is the newsworthy part

    Death Row Inmates Sue Texas Governor Rick Perry For Abusive Conditions

    Thomas Whitaker, an inmate on Texas death row, has filed a class action lawsuit against Texas Governor Rick Perry, Senator John Whitmire, and the Texas Department of Criminal Justice for the inhumane and unconstitutional conditions under which the men on death row must live.


    Read the rest of the blah, blah,blah here.

    http://deathpenaltynews.blogspot.co....-governor.html
    An uninformed opponent is a dangerous opponent.

    "Y'all be makin shit up" ~ Markeith Loyd

  9. #9
    Senior Member Frequent Poster PATRICK5's Avatar
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    If you read his complaint, it's contradictory and just plain silly.
    Obama ate my dad

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    Looking at the appalling, unsanitary, and torturous details of the conditions (all stated in the source you have quoted) of the Polunsky Unit,Texas (even by US death row standards it is dreadful according to the details; in my opinion the inmates might as well be a North Korean prison!) they should theoretically win their lawsuit and the pre-2000 conditions of Texas death row should be restored for the inmates who have been death row before 2000 and granted to those who have always been at Polunsky during their time on death row.

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