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Executions


Donald Moeller - South Dakota Excution - October 30, 2012



Summary of Offense: Donald Moeller was originally convicted in 1992 of the brutal 1990 rape and murder of nine-year-old Becky O'Connell, who was abducted in Sioux Falls and raped and murdered in Lincoln County. After this first conviction, which included a sentence of death, his conviction was reversed by the South Dakota Supreme Court in 1996, and Moeller was re-tried, re-convicted and re-sentenced to death in 1997 by a Pennington County jury.

Victim(s): Becky O'Connell

Time of Death: 10:24 pm

Manner of execution: Lethal Injection

Last Meal: Scrambled eggs, link sausages, tater tots, and coffee

Final Statement: The Warden asked if Moeller had any last words. Moeller replied, "No sir," then asked, "They're my fan club?"


Donnie Lee Roberts - Texas Execution - October 31, 2012



Summary of Offense: On October 15, 2003, in Polk County, Texas, Roberts demanded money from his live-in girlfriend, Vicki Bowen. She refused and Roberts shot her three times in the head, causing her death.

Victim(s): Vicki Bowen

Time of Death: 6:39 p.m.

Manner of execution: Lethal Injection

Last Meal: Even though the condemned inmate is only given dinner on their final day, the prison chef puts together two plates containing items from the full day's menu and serves them both at once. Roberts was served the following:

Plate #1: Baked chicken, mashed potatoes and brown gravy, mixed vegetables, mixed greens, northern beans, sliced bread, carrot cake

Plate #2: spiced beef roll, pinto beans, green beans, cornbread

He also received lemonade, punch, tea, and milk.
http://lastsuppersbook.blogspot.com/

Final Statement: "I'm really sorry. I never meant to cause you all so much pain," Roberts said to Bowen's father, who was seated in a chair close to the glass surrounding the death chamber. "I hope you can go on with your life.

"I loved your daughter. I hope to God he lets me see her in Heaven so I can apologize to her and see her and tell her."




Scheduled Executions


Hubert L. Michael Jr. - Pennsylvania Execution - November 08, 2012

If Hubert Lester Michael Jr. gets a stay from his scheduled Nov. 8 execution, it could be related to Hurricane Sandy or to the concoction of chemicals the state has in store to put him to death.

Michael, 56, formerly of Lemoyne, pleaded guilty to the 1993 kidnapping and murder of Trista Eng, 16, of Franklin Township, minutes before his jury was to be selected.

York County Judge John H. Chronister sentenced Michael to die in 1995 after he admitted to shooting the girl three times and dumping her body in state gamelands in Warrington Township.

Gov. Tom Corbett signed Michael's third death warrant last month.

Last week, U.S. Middle District Court Judge John E. Jones III, in response to Michael's request for a stay, ordered the commonwealth and the defense to supply him with arguments on the motion by the close of business Friday.

Both sides requested, and were granted, an extension to file those arguments because of Hurricane Sandy.

The state attorney general's office sought the extension because the storm forced the closure of government offices for two days.

The defense asked for the extension because the storm grounded planes and hindered travel to Greene State Prison in Waynesburg, where Michael is incarcerated.

Jones granted those requests, ordering the arguments to be filed by Tuesday.

Michael also is a party to a 2009 civil action brought by three death row inmates challenging the state's death penalty protocol, specifically the purity, effectiveness and source of the drugs the state uses in lethal injections.

Thursday, U.S. Magistrate Judge Martin Carlson ordered the commonwealth -- the defendant in this case -- to "identify the sources of the pharmacological agents" in the state's protocol to the inmates' counsel.

The prosecution declined to do so, asking Carlson to reconsider, arguing "the source of the drugs, as with the personnel involved with the actual execution, is protected under Pennsylvania law ...."

The commonwealth contended the drug manufacturer, if publicly identified, could "be subject to reprisal."

Carlson responded to the commonwealth's position with an order Thursday informing the prosecution there are no grounds for appeal to his ruling and "there seem to be no grounds for continuing noncompliance" with his order.

Because of Michael's "impending execution," Carlson ordered the parties to report to him on the status of the commonwealth's compliance by 2 p.m. Friday.

Court records Friday at close of business did not reflect whether the commonwealth complied with Carlson's discovery order.

In the same order, Carlson wrote that he would entertain staying his order if "the parties involved" agreed to stay "all litigation, including Michael's execution."



Brett Hartman - Ohio Execution - November 13, 2012



Ohio is asked a judge to deny a condemned killer's request to delay his upcoming execution over allegations that the state continues to deviate from its written execution policies.

The Office of Attorney General Mike DeWine says death row inmate Brett Hartman hasn't provided any proof he's at risk for severe pain during his Nov. 13 execution.

DeWine's office said in a court filing Wednesday that Hartman also hasn't provided evidence that any alleged changes to the state's written procedures would cause him suffering.

Hartman argued last month without giving examples that the state altered its procedures during April and September executions.

The 38-year-old Hartman was sentenced to die for the Sept. 9, 1997, slaying of 46-year-old Winda Snipes of Akron.




Stays Of Execution


Warren Lee Hill - Georgia

The Georgia Supreme Court will hear arguments Monday in the death penalty case of Warren Lee Hill, a man convicted of killing a fellow inmate at Lee State prison.

At issue in this high profile case is whether the Georgia Department of Corrections' recent decision to replace a three-drug cocktail with one drug for executions was subject to the state's Administrative Procedure Act, which requires public hearings before such a change may be made.

Hill was granted a stay of execution on July 23, 21012.



New Execution Dates


Richard Stokley - Arizona Execution - December 05, 2012



The Arizona Supreme Court granted a motion for a warrant of execution for death row inmate Richard Dale Stokley.

The warrant announced Tuesday sets the execution date for Dec. 5.

Stokley was convicted in the July 1991 kidnapping, rape and murder of two 13-year-old girls who went missing from a campout in Elfrida in southwestern Arizona's Cochise County. Authorities say the girls' bodies were later dumped down a water-filled mineshaft.

Stokley was convicted and sentenced to death in 1992. The Arizona Supreme Court affirmed the convictions and death sentence in 1995.

Stokley's friend, Randy Brazeal, was convicted of second-degree murder in the killings. He was released from prison last year.

The 60-year-old Stokley lost an Oct. 1 appeal in the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco.

He is currently being held at Eyman prison complex in Florence.


Manuel Pardo Jr. - Florida Execution - December 11, 2012



On Tuesday, Gov. Rick Scott has signed a death warrant for a man convicted of nine murders.

Manuel Pardo Jr. is scheduled to die by lethal injection at Florida State Prison near Raiford at 6 p.m., Dec. 11. The 56-year-old Pardo faces the death penalty for nine execution-style murders in 1986.

When police arrested him, they found a collection of Nazi memorabilia in his apartment. Pardo, who is a former Sweetwater police officer, confessed to the killings, but said his victims were drug dealers who "have no right to live." Pardo was convicted of all nine murders in 1988 and sentenced to death.


Douglas Feldman - Texas Execution - July 31, 2013

On August 24, 1998, in Plano, Texas, Feldman fatally shot a man driving an 18-wheel truck. Witnesses observed Feldman ride up beside the truck on a motorcycle and fire multiple shots into the cab of the truck, dropping back and again returning and firing additional shots into the cab of the truck.

Reports indicate that a total of 12 shots were fired into the truck resulting in the death of driver. Approximately 30 minutes later, in Dallas, Texas, Feldman rode up beside a parked 18-wheel truck and fatally shot another man. Four shots were fired on this occasion, resulting in the death of the victim.

On August 23, 1998, approximately nine shots were fired into the Central Volkswagen Dealership in Richardson, Texas, breaking windows and other items.

On September 5, 1998, a victim received two gunshot wounds in the parking lot of a restaurant in Dallas, Texas. Ballistics reports verified that all of the attacks were performed by the gun that Feldman possessed.

Feldman was sentenced to death in September 1999.





Current Death Row Inmates


Donnis Musgrove - Alabama Death Row

The Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals upheld a death penalty case.

The court ruled Friday 5-0 against Donnis George Musgrove in his second round of appeals from his capital murder conviction for the September 1986 shooting death of Coy Eugene Barron at his home in the Robinwood community near Birmingham. The court turned down Musgrove's argument that newly discovered evidence would prove him innocent.


Roy Edward Perkins - Alabama Death Row


The Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals upheld a death penalty case.


The court ruled 5-0 Friday against Roy Edward Perkins in his second round of appeals from his capital murder conviction in Tuscaloosa County. He was sentenced to die for the shooting death of Cathy Gilliam during a kidnapping in August 1990. The appeals court rejected his argument that there were errors in his trial, including the use of false evidence.


Harold Ray Memro - California Death Row

On Wednesday, the California Supreme Court denied a re-hearing for a death row inmate who was convicted of murdering three boys in Los Angeles County in the 1970s.

The denial comes about two months after the state's highest court unanimously rejected the latest appeal filed by attorneys for Harold Ray Memro, who legally changed his name to Reno while on death row in December 1994.

Memro was convicted of first-degree murder for the July 1976 slaying of 10 year-old Ralph Chavez Jr. and the October 1978 death of 7-year-old Carl Carter Jr., and of second-degree murder for the July 1976 killing of 12-year- old Scott Fowler.


Lawrence Rice - Georgia Death Row



The Georgia Supreme Court on Monday unanimously upheld the death sentence against a man who killed a woman and her 14-year-old son in their east Cobb County home.

Lawrence Rice sits on death row for the April 17, 2003, killings of Connie Mincher and her son, Ethan, a Pope High School freshman. The two victims sustained multiple wounds that a medical examiner found to be consistent with being struck repeatedly by a hatchet. Rice had a longstanding vendetta against Mincher’s husband, who once employed Rice at an Atlanta video company, prosecutors said.


Carlos Trevino - Texas Death Row



A death row inmate will get a new shot at habeas relief after the Supreme Court agreed Monday to take up his case in light of precedent that infuriated Justice Antonin Scalia earlier this year.

In granting Trevino's petition for a writ of habeas corpus Monday, the Supreme Court said it would consider only remanding the case for the circuit to consider Trevino's argument under Martinez v. Ryan.
Trevino can proceed in forma pauperis, according to the order.




New Death Sentences


Michael Carlson - Arizona Death Row



The man connected to nearly a dozen murders, including two in Marana in 2009, was formally sentenced in Superior Court on Monday.

Michael Carlson was sentenced to death for each murder and sentenced to 21 years for each kidnapping in Pima County Superior Court Monday morning.

In Septemhttp://us.mg4.mail.yahoo.com/neo/launch?.rand=649u9qc4e0mvgber, jurors found Carlson guilty of the First-Degree Murders of Kenneth Alliman and Rebecca Lofton, two of his neighbors living in Marana.

Carlson admitted in a 2009 News 4 Tucson interview to killing between 10 and 12 people, including his two Marana neighbors, since 1967. This interview was a key piece of evidence in Carlson's murder trial.

Carlson showed no emotion when the verdict was read back in September. A member of his defense team told News 4 Tucson that's because Carlson believes the decision will be overturned on appeal. All death penalty cases get an automatic appeal. Carlson has been appointed a new public defender for the appeal.


Pedro Espinoza - California Death Row



A gang member who killed a promising Los Angeles High School football player because he believed the athlete's red Spider-Man backpack linked him to an opposing gang was sentenced to death on Friday.

Pedro Espinoza had told authorities he was willing to kill for his gang, even if it meant going to death row.

Superior Court Judge Ronald H. Rose imposed that very sentence — ordering Espinoza taken to San Quentin State Prison. The judge rejected defense arguments that the 23-year-old didn't get a fair trial.

"The evidence is clear he decided to murder the victim in cold blood and bragged about the killings after," Rose said. "The defendant executed the victim as he lay on the ground defenseless."

Jamiel Shaw II was a 17-year-old standout running back when he was gunned down in 2008. He was not a gang member.


David Mills - California Death Row




David Mills became the 43rd and possibly last person from Alameda County sentenced to death Friday as a judge agreed with a jury's decision to give the 38-year-old, triple murderer the ultimate punishment.

Saying evidence presented during both the guilt phase and penalty phase of Mills' trial proved he killed three people in a calculated fashion, Alameda County Superior Court Judge Joseph Hurley ruled that Mills deserves death.

"He did not just kill three people, he wanted to kill four," Hurley said. "It is the judgment and order of this court that you should suffer the death penalty."

Mills was found guilty of killing James Martin, 28, Dale Griffin, 36, and Rebecca Martinez, 22, in 2005 during what was supposed to be a meeting in which he returned a gun belonging to Martinez's ex-boyfriend. Mills also attempted to kill Elizabeth Martinez, 34, but she survived her wounds and later identified Mills as the shooter.

Mills killed the three victims without warning as he approached a car they were sitting in and systematically began shooting the victims in the head. The shots intended for Elizabeth Martinez instead hit a pit bull that was sitting on her lap.


Shaun M. Bossee - Oklahoma Death Row




A McClain County jury deliberated just four hours Friday before returning three death sentences against Shaun Bosse, 30.

Earlier in the week, the same jury found the Blanchard man guilty on three counts of first degree murder and one count of first degree arson.

Bosse murdered a Dibble family on July 23, 2010.

Killed were Katrina Griffin and her two young children, Christian Griffin and Chasity Hammer.

Bosse stabbed Griffin and her son multiple times before locking the daughter in a closet and setting a fire in the family’s mobile home.

In all three killings, the jury found three aggravating circumstances - that the crime involved a great risk of death involving more than one person, that the murders were especially heinous, atrocious or cruel and that Bosse committed the murders to avoid lawful arrest or prosecution.

According to the law, the jurors needed to find only one aggravating circumstance to justify the death penalty.




Jury Recommended Death Sentences


Kenneth Ray Jackson - Florida



By an 11-1 vote, a jury has recommended the death penalty for a man they convicted last week of raping and murdering a Seffner mother of three.

The jury deliberated the fate of Kenneth Ray Jackson for about 90 minutes this afternoon before making its recommendation. Circuit Judge William Fuente will now decide the sentence.

Jackson's attorneys argued that his difficult childhood should weigh in favor of a life sentence, while the prosecution maintained that the brutal 2007 murder of Cuc Thu Tran justified execution.

Jackson abducted Tran during an early morning jog near her home, then raped her and stabbed her in the throat before driving her 13 miles in a stolen van and setting her and the van on fire.

Assistant Hillsborough State Attorney Scott Harmon told jurors that the murder was cold, calculated and premeditated.




Reversed/New Trials/Resentenced/Released/Commuted


Douglas Stankewitz - California Death Row



A federal appeals court set aside the capital sentence of California’s longest-serving death row inmate on Monday. The ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit tracked that of a lower court, which found that a lawyer for Douglas Ray Stankewitz failed to investigate circumstances leading up to the murder of Theresa Greybeal – namely Mr. Stankewitz’s abusive childhood and long history of substance abuse.

Mr. Stankewitz, a Native American, has been on death row in California since 1978, when he was convicted in the kidnapping and murder of Ms. Greybeal. (He was one of the first people sentenced to death after the state reinstated capital punishment in 1978. Thirteen people have been executed since then.)

In a 2-1 decision Monday, the Ninth Circuit upheld a court order that Mr. Stankewitz’s death sentence be vacated unless California officials seek to retry the capital phase of his case within 90 days or resentence him to life without parole.


Hubert Glen Sexton - Tennessee



A former Scott County man convicted of killing a Huntsville couple as they slept in 2001 will apparently have his life spared.

During Criminal Court proceedings last week, the District Attorney General’s office filed notice that it was withdrawing its motion to seek the death penalty in the case of Hubert Glenn Sexton, who was convicted of the May 2001 shooting deaths of Stanley and Terry Sue Goodman.

Sexton spent nearly a decade on death row, awaiting execution, but the state supreme court rejected that sentence in May 2012. While the high court upheld Sexton’s conviction, it ordered the case back to trial court for resentencing.

Last week’s filing included a recommendation that Sexton’s two first degree murder convictions for the Goodmans’ deaths be served consecutively.

A sentencing hearing will be held on Jan. 4.

Sexton, who will spend the rest of his life in prison, was convicted of the May 20, 2001, double homicide after the state produced significant witness testimony against him. Living in southern Tennessee at the time, Sexton had been accused of abusing one of the Goodmans’ children. According to testimony at the trial, he told acquaintances that he was going to “take care” of the problem.


Manuel Velez - Texas

Judge Elia C. Lopez of the 404th state District Court granted convicted killer Manuel Velez a continuance Thursday in his re-sentencing trial and confirmed that an evidentiary hearing for his application of writ of habeas corpus would go forward on Dec. 11.

Velez’s re-sentencing is postponed until April 15, 2013.

The state had no objection as the new date would give the district attorney time to prepare for re-sentencing.

Velez was convicted and sentenced to death in October 2008 for the death of his girlfriend’s infant son, 1-year-old Angel Gabriel Moreno, but his death sentence was overturned by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals in June.




Capital Case Guilty Verdicts


Andre Leteve - Arizona

Ricky Cummings - Texas







US Supreme Court Denials


Timothy Lamont Howard - Arkansas Death Row
Thomas Leo Springs - Arkansas Death Row
Marchand Elliot - California Death Row
Donte Hall - Florida Death Row
John Anthony Esposoti - Georgia Death Row
Joseph Williams - Georgia Death Row
Lisa Jo Chamberlin - Mississippi Death Row
Alva E. Campbell - Ohio Death Row
Elroy Chester - Texas Death Row
Robert Sparks - Texas Death Row