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Thread: Elliot Rod Johnson - Texas Execution - June 24, 1987

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    Elliot Rod Johnson - Texas Execution - June 24, 1987

    Summary of Offense: Convicted of the 1982 killing of a Beaumont jeweler

    Victim: Joseph Granado

    Time of Death: 12:55 a.m.

    Manner of execution: Lethal Injection

    Last Meal: Cheeseburger and fries

    Final Statement: "First of all I'd like to say I'm very sorry for bringing all the hurt and pain to everyone who loved me so much. I hope all my friends find it in my heart to forgive me. Mom, don't worry about me too much because I'm on my way home. Just remember one thing: I love you, Mom."

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    June 24, 1987

    Port Arthur man executed for killing of Beaumont jeweler

    HUNTSVILLE - A 28-year-old Port Arthur man condemned in the killing of a Beaumont jeweler was executed early today after his hand-written appeal for a stay was rejected by four courts.

    Elliot Rod Johnson became the fourth Texas death row inmate this year to receive a lethal injection. With 24 executions, Texas leads the nation in the number of convicts put to death since the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976. Florida is second with 16.

    Johnson was pronounced dead at 12:55 a.m. Difficulty finding veins in Johnson's arms suitable for the intravenous needles delayed the execution for about 30 minutes, officials said. Johnson, a known drug user, received the solution in only one arm, instead of two as is customary. The injection started at 12:44 a.m.

    In his final statement, Johnson did not express regret for his victims but did apologize to his own family, especially to his mother, Luanna Johnson, 54, who is in another Texas prison.

    "First of all I'd like to say I'm very sorry for bringing all the hurt and pain to everyone who loved me so much. I hope all my friends find it in my heart to forgive me. Mom, don't worry about me too much because I'm on my way home. Just remember one thing: I love you, Mom."

    Earlier in the evening, after he received word that his final appeal had been turned down, Johnson spoke on the telephone with his mother for about 25 minutes. She began serving a six-year theft sentence at the Gatesville Unit in May.

    Maurice Andrews, 31, was convicted along with Johnson in the April 8, 1982, shooting death of Joseph Granado. The 67-year-old jeweler and Arturo Melendez, 45, an employee at his downtown Beaumont store, were gunned down during a robbery.

    Granado's daughter, Rose Moreno and her husband, Michael, waited in a small room at the prison administration building as the execution drew near. Outside the prison gates, seven opponents of the death penalty quietly conducted a candlelight vigil in protest of the execution.

    Johnson was described as calm Tuesday as he watched cartoons on television, ordered a cheeseburger and french fries for his final meal and visited with a sister, a friend and a chaplain.

    Four appeals courts Tuesday turned down the condemned man's hand-written request for a reprieve. The final denial came about 7:30 p.m. when the U.S. Supreme Court voted 6-2 against a stay.

    The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, U.S. District Judge Howell Cobb of Beaumont and the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals earlier Tuesday refused to stop the execution.

    The final court documents sought a writ of habeas corpus, a stay, an evidentiary hearing and appointment of counsel. The American Civil Liberties Union joined in his last federal appeal. Three previous execution dates had been stayed.

    In his final appeals, Johnson denied the killing. He said he remained in the car while two other men robbed the store.

    Andrews has yet to have an execution date set. Both men were charged, but never tried, in the killing of Melendez. Three other persons received lighter sentences in connection with the robbery and deaths.

    A 10th-grade dropout, Johnson joined the Army at 17, but was discharged after 20 months because he could not cope. He did odd jobs in construction and painting around Port Arthur and was twice convicted of misdemeanor drug charges.

    The killings occurred just past noon three days before Easter.

    Witnesses said two men, later identified as Johnson and Andrews, had been hanging around the jewelry store that day. The robbers made a clean getaway, but were tracked down through an informant's tip.

    Shortly after the robbery, Port Arthur's Crimestoppers program received information that Johnson and Andrews suddenly had a lot of money.

    Port Arthur police detectives were familiar with Johnson from previous drug arrests in 1979 and 1981. Police arrested Johnson and Andrews in Port Arthur the night after the killing.

    Later, they arrested Julious Malcolm Davis, 38; his wife, Brenda Davis, 29; and O'Neal MacCarthy, 36, all of Port Arthur. All, except MacCarthy, were unemployed.

    MacCarthy was a firefighter at the Texaco refinery in Port Arthur where workers were on strike at the time of the murders.

    At first, the five were charged with capital murder, but the charges were reduced for all but Andrews and Johnson. MacCarthy pleaded guilty to the murders of Granado and Melendez in October 1984. He is now serving two 30-year prison sentences and a 10-year sentence for violating terms of his probation on a narcotics conviction. In October 1983, Davis was convicted of aggravated robbery and sentenced to life in prison. His wife pleaded guilty to a theft charge in November 1984, and was placed on probation for five years.

    Johnson signed a statement the night he was arrested, blaming Andrews for shooting at the jeweler.

    Johnson's statement said he rode to Beaumont the day of the murders in a car driven by Davis. Andrews, he said, rode in a truck driven by MacCarthy.

    Andrews and Johnson walked into the store, Johnson said in his statement to police, and told Granado and Melendez to get on the floor.

    According to the statement, when the robbers had collected as much jewelry as they could carry, Johnson yelled out that Granado seemed to be reaching for a gun hidden behind a counter and saw Andrews fire at the jeweler.

    In his handwritten appeal, Johnson has a completely different version of the events leading up to the killings.

    He said Davis and Andrews were the ones that actually went into the store while he waited outside in the car.

    Johnson's stay request was based on the grounds that his appeals were not effectively pressed, that jurors unfairly considered the fact he did not take the witness stand, and that a co-defendant's attorney joined the Jefferson County district attorney's office after the capital murder trial.

    Bob Walt, an assistant to Attorney General Jim Mattox handling death penalty cases, said on Tuesday the courts have already considered and rejected the issues Johnson was again raising.

    Two other executions scheduled this week have been stayed. On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Jerry Buchmeyer of Dallas blocked the Thursday execution of Fletcher Mann, condemned for shooting to death Christopher Lee Bates during a Dallas crime spree. On Monday, U.S. District Judge Norman Black in Houston granted a stay for Carlos Santana, who was given the death penalty for killing Oliver G. Flores, 29, a security officer, during a failed $1.1 million armored car robbery in 1981. Santana had been scheduled to die Thursday.

    http://www.chron.com/CDA/archives/ar...id=1987_471542

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