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Thread: James Messer, Jr. - Georgia Execution - July 28, 1988

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    James Messer, Jr. - Georgia Execution - July 28, 1988

    Summary of Offense: Convicted for the 1979 beating and stabbing to death of his eight-year-old niece when she fought his attempts to molest her.

    Victim: Rhonda Joan Tanner

    Time of Death: 7:23 p.m.

    Manner of execution: Electric Chair

    Last Meal: Two Burger King cheeseburgers with all the trimmings, two orders of french fries, a vanilla milk shake and a slice of lemon pie

    Final Statement: Walter Zant, the warden, asked Mr. Messer if he had any final words, and the prisoner replied that he did not.

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    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
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    July 29, 1988

    Convict Executed in Georgia

    JACKSON, Ga., July 28 — James Messer Jr. was executed in the electric chair tonight for beating and stabbing to death his 8-year-old niece when she fought his attempts to molest her.

    The 34-year-old convict was pronounced dead at 7:23 P.M., said a spokesman for the Department of Corrections, John Siler.

    Walter Zant, the warden, asked Mr. Messer if he had any final words, and the prisoner replied that he did not. Mr. Messer did ask for a prayer, and the prison chaplain, Nolan Lavelle, placed his hands on Mr. Messer's left forearm and recited a one-minute prayer. At the conclusion, Mr. Messer said, ''Amen.'' Demonstrations Outside Prison

    Outside the prison, 12 death penalty protesters sang, while about 20 people demonstrated in favor of the death penalty, including one man wearing a white Ku Klux Klan robe.

    The execution came just over an hour after the United States Supreme Court refused to halt it. Justices Thurgood Marshall and William J. Brennan dissented in a 7-to-2 vote. There was no immediate elaboration from the Court.

    The Supreme Court order followed a similar action today by the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles, which had been asked to commute Mr. Messer's death sentence to life in prison. The chairman, Wayne Snow, said the panel had concluded that ''there are insufficient grounds for further consideration'' of the commutation request. He said the board rejected a psychiatrist's testimony that Mr. Messer's ''explosive'' behavior may have been caused by brain damage.

    Mr. Messer was convicted of murdering of Rhonda Joan Tanner on Feb. 13, 1979. Prosecutors said he abducted her from her school in Cedartown, tried to molest her and then killed her when she fought him.

    He was the 13th person executed in Georgia's electric chair since the state resumed executions in 1983.

    http://www.nytimes.com/1988/07/29/us...xecuted&st=nyt

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