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Thread: Leo Edwards, Jr. - Mississippi Execution - June 21, 1989

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    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
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    Leo Edwards, Jr. - Mississippi Execution - June 21, 1989


    Linzy Don Dixon


    Leo Edwards, Jr.


    Summary of Offense: Convicted for the June 14, 1980 shooting death of a Jackson convenience store clerk.

    Victim: Linzy Don Dixon

    Time of Death: 12:15 a.m.

    Manner of execution: Gas Chamber

    Last Meal:

    Final Statement:

  2. #2
    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
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    June 22, 1989

    Man Who Called His Trial Unjust Is Executed for Mississippi Killing

    PARCHMAN, Miss., June 21 — A black man who insisted he was unjustly convicted by an all-white jury was executed in the gas chamber early today for a five-day robbery spree in which three people were slain.

    As the cyanide gas swirled around him, Leo Edwards Jr., 36 years old, of New Orleans, appeared to gasp for breath and shrug his shoulders several times. He was declared dead at 12:15 A.M., minutes after being strapped into a chair in the gas chamber.

    Mr. Edwards was the fourth person executed at the state penitentiary at Parchman and the 113th in the nation since the United States Supreme Court ruling in 1976 that allowed states to reinstate the death penalty.

    Mr. Edwards was executed for the June 14, 1980, shooting death of a Jackson convenience store clerk, Linzy Don Dixon. The robbery netted $111 and came during a spree in which two other people were killed and two were wounded.

    Mr. Edwards and the other participant in the spree, Mike White, had just escaped from the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola. Mr. White is serving two life terms after pleading guilty to murder in the deaths of the convenience store clerk and a bar owner. 'Discrimination Had No Bearing'

    Mr. Edwards's lawyers had protested that prosecutors deliberately excluded blacks from the jury, denying their client a fair trial.

    On Tuesday, the Supreme Court voted 7 to 2 against a stay of execution, and Gov. Ray Mabus rejected Mr. Edwards's plea for clemency. ''I will not stand in the way of the courts' justice,'' the Governor said. ''Leo Edwards is a mass murderer who killed in cold blood. He tried and failed to get relief in 16 appeals to the courts, and discrimination had no bearing in his case.''

    In a newspaper interview published Tuesday, Mr. Edwards maintained his innocence and insisted that he had not received a fair trial. Four different appeals courts rejected arguments that prosecutors had deliberately excluded blacks from the jury.

    ''You know how I felt when I saw the jury?'' Mr. Edwards was quoted as saying. ''I said, 'I'm dead.' ''

    http://www.nytimes.com/1989/06/22/us...xecuted&st=nyt

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    Administrator Helen's Avatar
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    August 7, 2012

    Don Linzy Dixon “2013”

    By MageeNews.com

    During his early childhood, he had it hard coming up through the years. At his death, he was labeled as a store clerk. But in the gospel music world, he was The Voice, and was respected by many great gospel artists like The Mighty Clouds Of Joy, The Violinaires, The Williams Brothers, and The Jackson Southernaires. Even to this day, no other voice in the world of gospel music stands out like the voice of Don Linzy Dixon. Yet he is unsung, and very little was recorded about his life and his contribution to gospel music.

    Don Linzy Dixon, born Linzy Don Dixon, December 6, 1953, was the son of a Baptist preacher who sang his way out of the cotton fields of Georgetown, MS and into the hearts of many. Linzy, who was the founder, creator, coordinator, songwriter, and front man of The Dixon Singers, could elevate his voice to a very high pitch, keep it there for what seemed like forever, and finally bring it back down to a fiery preaching voice. The Dixons' "Take A Message To Heaven" album, recorded in 1979, not only began pushing the group to the top of the gospel music charts , but it also made them first gospel group in the state of Mississippi to ever record a double volume album. The album contained 16 songs, five of which were recorded live. Today the "Take a Message to Heaven" album is considered a classic, and is probably one of the most sought after gospel albums of all time.

    In 1980, Don Linzy Dixon's life was cut short at the hands of Leo Edwards and Michael White for less than $100 during an early morning stick-up at a Stop-N-Go convenience store in Jackson, MS. He was only 26 years old. At the time of the his death, and even the nine years leading up to the execution of Leo Edwards, very little was mentioned of Dixon's singing career and his contribution to gospel music. The news media labeled him as a store clerk and Dixon's mark on state history was being the victim of the last person to be killed by the gas chamber.

    Now, more than 30 years after his death of a video documentary, "The Don Linzy Dixon Story," is set for completion and will be released in 2013. Memorabilia, photos of Dixon's life, interviews from his family, fans, and friends provide and in-depth look into the singer's life.

    Steve Collins, the Dixon's drummer, started researching Dixon's life in 1991. Several months later, there was a huge set back in the research when Collins realized that a few years after Linzy's death, the Dixon family home was destroyed by fire along with a life-time of recorded memories. Collins soon aborted the project until 2006, when he decided to continue the research and look for information elsewhere. He says it has been very difficult because so many years elapsed after Dixon's death before research began. However, the documentary is finally beginning to come together and its completion and release date is set for some time in 2013.

    http://www.mageenews.com/article.asp...8&categoryID=2
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
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