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Thread: Edward R. Byrne, Jr. - Louisiana Execution - June 14, 1988

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    Edward R. Byrne, Jr. - Louisiana Execution - June 14, 1988

    Summary of Offense: Convicted for the August 1984 hammer slaying of Roberta Johnson, 25.

    Victim: Roberta Johnson

    Time of Death:

    Manner of execution: Electric Chair

    Last Meal:

    Final Statement: Asked if he had any final words, he smirked, shook his head and replied, ''Nope.''

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    June 14, 1988

    Louisiana Killer Dies in 100th Execution Since '76

    ANGOLA, La., Tuesday, June 14 — A man who robbed and fatally bludgeoned his girlfriend died early today in Louisiana's electric chair. It was the 100th execution in the United States since the 1976 Supreme Court ruling that reinstituted capital punishment.

    Lawyers for the defendant, Edward R. Byrne Jr., exhausted all their avenues late Monday, when the State Pardon Board refused to recommend a commutation of the death sentence. Shortly afterward, the United States Supreme Court refused to delay the execution.

    Other state and Federal courts also refused earlier Monday to stop the third execution in Louisiana this year and the state's 18th since the resumption of capital punishment followng the 1976 ruling.

    The 28-year-old killer was executed at the Louisiana State Penitentiary for the August 1984 hammer slaying of Roberta Johnson, 25. The defendant had admitted commiting the crime.

    Six pro-capital punishment demonstrators stood outside the prison. One carried a sign that read: ''Thanks, Sam Jones,'' alluding to the pseudonym used to protect the anonymity of the penitentiary's executioner.

    The sign-carrier identified himself as Johnny Reece of Pineville and said he felt deprived because his daughter's killer was sentenced to life imprisonment.

    ''It gives us a sense of justice to see this done to him,'' Mr. Reece said. ''It doesn't make me happy to see someone die, but it gives me a sense of satisfaction to see justice served.''

    Mr. Byrne was calm as he ate his final meal after spending much of the day alone with his lawyers, Warden Hilton Butler said. No relatives visited Mr. Byrne, and he asked for no spritual adviser, though prison chaplains would have been available if the condemned had changed his mind, said Mr. Butler.

    At Monday's Pardon Board hearing, Mr. Byrne was described by two defense attorneys, Amanda Potterfield and Nancy Baumgartner, as a sensitive, articulate poet who helped other inmates write letters to loved ones.

    Mr. Byrne, clad in blue jeans and T-shirt, claimed he never intended to kill his victim.

    ''I was planning to rob this woman all along,'' he said. ''It was all set up. There were no flaws that I could see.'' Four of the five pardon board members who heard the case voted against a lighter sentence. A fifth member was absent. The Pardon Board has no power to stop executions, but can recommend sentence reductions to the Governor. Knew She Handled Money

    Since his arrest, Mr. Byrne had admitted that he started dating Ms. Johnson because he knew she handled large sums of money at the service station where she worked. But he insisted he never meant to kill her.

    ''I just attempted to knock her unconscious,'' Mr. Byrne told the Pardon Board in a hearing that began about 14 hours before his scheduled execution. ''It didn't work.'' Mr. Byrne's application to the Supreme Court for a stay was denied with the standard dissent by Justices William J. Brennan and Thurgood Marshall, who dissent to all executions, said a Supreme Court spokeswoman, Toni House. Justices Harry A. Blackmun and John Paul Stevens indicated they also would have granted the stay, Ms. House said, but noted that it takes five justices to grant such a stay.

    A second application also was denied with dissents by Justices Brennan and Marshall, with Justice Stevens indicating he also would have granted the stay, she said. Poetry Read at Hearing

    At the Pardon Board hearing, which took place at the prison, defense lawyers had Yousef Danesh, a Southern University professor of political science, read poetry written by Mr. Byrne. Professor Danesh said he had become friends with the killer.

    Ms. Baumgartner said Mr. Byrne was a deeply remorseful about the death. But Henry Brown, the district attorney who prosecuted the case, said the defendant was a manipulative, calculating killer. The district attorney said the victim has been hit 13 to 15 times with the hammer ''with most of the blows enough to kill her.''

    http://www.nytimes.com/1988/06/14/us...xecuted&st=nyt

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