Perry Williams is about to receive a death warrant.
http://www.hcdistrictclerk.com/edocs...b00QcYUQB36M0=
Perry Williams is about to receive a death warrant.
http://www.hcdistrictclerk.com/edocs...b00QcYUQB36M0=
Scheduled for September 29, 2015. Refresh the page if it doesn't show up.
http://www.tdcj.state.tx.us/death_ro...xecutions.html
Execution for Houston convicted killer postponed
The Harris County District Attorney's Office Wednesday postponed a scheduled Sept. 29 execution for Houston convicted killer Perry Eugene Williams to allow a federal judge time to appoint an appellate lawyer in the case.
Williams, 34, was sentenced to die for the September 2000 killing of Matthew Carter, who was abducted from the parking lot of a video rental store.
After forcing Carter into his own vehicle, Murphy and three accomplices drove around the area. When Carter attempted to escape, Murphy shot him in the head, officials said.
http://www.chron.com/news/houston-te...ed-6480503.php
There has never been a post-Furman execution on September 29th
Perry Williams is about to get another death warrant.
Williams has been given an execution date of July 14, 2016.
https://www.tdcj.state.tx.us/death_r...xecutions.html
Europeans make journey to Texas death row
LIVINGSTON, Texas - Death row is where convicted murderers spend years of purgatory before the final walk to the death chamber. Many of them are shunned by their own families.
But there's one group prisoners call their salvation: Europeans who send care packages, money and travel thousands of miles on a journey to death row.
About an hour north of the big city of Houston lies the small town of Livingston, an unexpected tourist destination for Europeans like Mona Buras.
"I go to school now," Buras says. "Studying theology. I want to be a prison minister."
The 45-year-old mother of two just spent 26 hours traveling from Norway to visit a pen pal.
"With Perry, I've been writing with for more than two years now," Buras says. "I get a friend. I really do."
Her friend is a man who this summer, Texas plans to execute.
"Everybody else has just really turned their back on me, mostly," death row prisoner Perry Williams says.
He's convicted of robbing and murdering a medical student in Houston nearly 16 years ago. He claims the crime was not intentional.
"A lot of stuff is really hazy because I was under the influence of PCP," Williams says.
"Who pulled the trigger on that man?" reporter Emily Baucum asks.
"It's up in the air because he swung on us," Williams responds. "The gun went off during the process."
"I don't approve of it but I think they have second chances," Buras says. "It's not my job to judge."
A Norwegian mother and a Texas prisoner - it's an unlikely friendship Williams admits is difficult to comprehend.
"I was skeptical because it was like, why do you want to help somebody that's supposed to be killing somebody?" Williams says.
The death penalty has been abolished in all but one European country. In Norway, the maximum sentence for murderers is 21 years. No prisoner there has been executed in Buras' lifetime.
"That's why I think it's strange for me," she says. "If you're American and you kill and if you're Norwegian you kill, you're still a killer. So how come we are so different in our punishment?"
Websites show Europeans how to get in touch with and even visit American prisoners. In Texas, wardens don't track where visitors are from but motels in Livingston are often full of Europeans.
In an email, a woman who visits from Switzerland writes. "It wasn't because I was bored with my life or something like that. It was a sincere interest to know why people still get executed."
Sometimes the pen-pal friendships turn romantic. We heard from a woman who's engaged to a prisoner. She writes, "They can't call overseas, so I have never been able to receive a phone call from him."
Even face to face, Buras and Williams' friendship is through a window. They say it's purely platonic - nothing sexual, but there is love.
"Yeah I love her," Williams says. "I love her because like I say, she's proved a lot to me because she's doing something my family won't even do."
"Yes, I do love him," Buras says. "It's hard to have this kind of relationship without getting to love them."
They exchange letters and poetry. Buras says because her children's university costs are paid for by the Norwegian government, she's able to send Williams money.
"I send what I have," Buras says. "If I have $50 I will send him that. If I have $10 I will send him that."
Williams says he doesn't ask for money but does spend it on hygiene products.
"Do you feel guilty taking money from her?" Baucum asks.
"Yes, that's why I never say nothing," Williams responds.
If you find Buras' behavior naïve, she understands - because she too feels a culture shock.
"The Americans would not believe what we do with our prisoners back home," Buras says.
At Norwegian prisons, instead of barbed wire there's a system to help reintegrate criminals into society.
But for Williams, the countdown is on.
"Until the last minute," he says. "Until six o'clock on July 14."
His execution will be the first time the two friends get to hug each other.
"I just appreciate her giving me a chance to show the world that I'm not a lost cause," Williams says.
As he lives his final months with remorse, Buras will be there until the end.
"To imagine him in the chamber, getting strapped down to this bed and actually getting killed - it's really, really difficult," she says.
Buras will make one more journey to death row in July when William is executed. News 4 will be there, too, to document that experience.
http://news4sanantonio.com/news/loca...exas-death-row
So only Texas executions for the rest of the year ? Do you expect any other states to join in again ?
Georgia can execute John Wayne Conner anytime and Alabama can still set dates for people
There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)
Bookmarks