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Six killers were executed in December 2000.
They had murdered at least 17 people.
Six killers were issued stays of execution in December
2000. They
have murdered at least 8 people.
| Date
of scheduled execution |
State |
Victim name |
Inmate name |
Status |
|
December 5, 2000 |
Texas |
April Marie Wilson, 7 |
Garry Miller |
executed |
| Garry Miller was sentenced to die
for the November 11, 1988 kidnapping, rape and murder of 7-year-old
April Marie Wilson of Merkel, Texas. April was spending the night at
a home that Miller shared with another man and a female co-worker of
April's mom. Miller told the police that he returned home and found
April sleeping on the couch. He woke her up and took her "for a
ride". He drove to a remote area where he raped her, choked her
and then bludgeoned her to death. Her body was found by two hunters
later that day. Miller confessed to April's murder. The pickup
truck tailgate where 7-year-old April Marie Wilson was raped and murdered
served as a lectern at the trial of her accused killer. An 8-by-10
photograph of her was displayed on the prosecution table. "She was
the prettiest little thing," retired Jones County District Attorney
Jack Willingham recalled. "I set her picture up on the counsel table
as a witness that couldn't be there." Garry Dean Miller was convicted
of choking and fatally bludgeoning her. "I don't take any pride
in this," said Willingham, who retired four years ago. "But it
was just a terrible thing. You just can't imagine a human being can do
that to a child." "I don't have too much mercy for these
guys," said Gary Brown, who succeeded Willingham as district attorney
in Jones County, north of Abilene, and responded to Miller's appeals.
"They're dying a better way than their victim. That's my attitude. It's too bad you can't walk in and one day they don't know about and
just say: 'OK. Bye!' And just kill them - just like they did their
victim. I've got no mercy for this guy. There's no reason for
this stuff, for what he did to her." Miller, who worked as a bartender and laborer, was believed
to have been drinking heavily when he returned to his girlfriend's house
in Merkel, about 15 miles west of Abilene, in the early morning hours of
Nov. 11, 1988. April Wilson was the girlfriend's cousin, was staying at
her house and was asleep on a couch when Miller arrived. In a confession
to authorities, Miller said he woke up the girl and asked if she wanted to
go for a ride. In a cotton field to the north in Jones County, he raped
her on the pickup tailgate, then choked her and hit her with an object he
picked up from the ground. "He said she began to cry and
holler," Willingham said. "This little girl ... he held her on
the tailgate of his pickup and raped her. I remember him saying: 'I
told her it wouldn't hurt long.' I won't ever forget, I used it in
my closing argument," Willingham added. Miller said he used coat
hangers to drag the girl's body through some prickly pear and left her
corpse in some brush. When Miller's girlfriend awoke the next morning and
April was gone, police were notified and a search began with Miller among
the searchers. Her body was found by quail hunters and Miller was tied to
her death. Blood evidence from the tailgate was used against him.
"He'd been drinking tequila," Brown said. "God knows what
he shoved down his throat that night. Too bad it wasn't a .357 slug."
Miller, who declined repeated requests for interviews with reporters,
ordered his attorneys to not pursue appeals once the U.S. Supreme Court
refused to review his case. |
| Date
of scheduled execution |
State |
Victim name |
Inmate name |
Status |
|
December 5, 2000 |
Pennsylvania |
|
Andre Thompson |
stayed |
| There are still appeals
pending and this execution is not likely to take place on this date. |
| Date
of scheduled execution |
State |
Victim name |
Inmate name |
Status |
|
December 6, 2000 |
Virginia |
James Nathaniel Randolph, 35
Daphne Jones, 29
Nicole Jones, 9
David Jones, 4
Robert Jones, 3 |
Christopher Goins |
executed |
| A Dec. 6 execution date was set
for Christopher C. Goins, who killed 5 people in a Gilpin Court apartment
in October 1994. The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected Goins'
appeal on Aug. 31, and Richmond Circuit Judge Thomas N. Nance set the date
in a conference call with Assistant Attorney General Katherine P. Baldwin,
defense attorneys Frank Salvato and Robert Stanley Powell from Northern
Virginia, and city Commonwealth's Attorney David M. Hicks. Hicks and
Deputy Commonwealth's Attorney Claire G. Cardwell prosecuted Goins.
Salvato acknowledged in the call that he had no legal grounds to object to
the date. A last-minute stay from the U.S. Supreme Court or clemency from
Gov. Jim Gilmore appear to be the only possible obstacles to Goins'
execution. Goins, 25, was convicted of killing James Nathaniel Randolph
Jr., 35; Daphne Jones, 29; and 3 of Jones' children - Nicole, 9; David, 4;
and Robert, 3. He also was convicted of maliciously wounding Jones' other
2 children, Tamika, who was 14 at the time, and Kenya, her toddler sister.
Tamika also lost the 7-month-old fetus she was carrying at the time of the
shooting. Goins was the father of the fetus, and authorities believe that
was the motive for the shooting. Goins was sentenced to death for
murdering Robert, to life terms in the other 4 deaths and to a total of 40
years for wounding Tamika and Kenya. Tamika testified at Goins' trial in
June 1995 that she heard Goins talking to her mother shortly before the
shooting and then heard a series of shots in 2 rooms before Goins appeared
at her door and shot her 9 times. Goins also shot Kenya in the arm as
Tamika tried to shield her sister, according to Tamika's testimony.
Forensics experts testified that all the bullets and cartridge casings
came from the same firearm, and a cartridge from the same .45-caliber
Glock pistol was found in the apartment of Goins' girlfriend, witnesses
said. |
| Date
of scheduled execution |
State |
Victim name |
Inmate name |
Status |
|
December 6, 2000 |
Texas |
His own father
His own mother
Gerald Walker
Mary Alice Goss, 39
Richard Joseph Cook Jr., 36
Raymond Scott Gregg, 19
Christy Condon, 4 |
Daniel Hittle |
executed |
| Convicted capital murderer Daniel
Joe Hittle, accused of slaying seven people since 1973, was sentenced to
death for murdering a suburban Garland police officer on November 15, 1989.
Hittle was described by witnesses as a man who gleefully killed or
tortured animals and who routinely beat women and children. He was on
parole for the killings of his adoptive parents in Minnesota when he shot
Garland police officer Gerald Walker during a traffic stop. According
to testimony, Hittle returned home after being thrown out of a party at
the house of Mary Goss, 39. At home, he argued with his wife and left
carrying a shotgun. Ten minutes later, Officer Walker stopped Hittle's
pickup for speeding, and the 17-year officer was shot in the chest. Hittle
returned to the Goss house, kicked in the door and opened fire. Killed
were Ms. Goss; Richard Cook Jr., 36; Raymond Gregg, 19; and Ms. Goss'
daughter, Christy Condon, 4. Evidence showed he had to reload his 20-gauge
shotgun to kill the little girl. Police later spotted his fleeing vehicle
and exchanged fire with him until he ran out of ammunition. His shotgun
was linked to all five murders. Among the witnesses was Officer Walker's
widow, Beckie, and Jimmie George, a fellow Garland officer, who said,
"The death of Daniel Hittle will guarantee that no police officer
will ever face the danger of dealing with him again." Police
say Hittle then sped to East Dallas, where he fatally shot Mary Alice
Goss, 39; Richard Joseph Cook Jr., 36; Raymond Scott Gregg, 19; and Goss'
4-year-old daughter Christy Condon. He was convicted of capital
murder in Walker's death. Hittle, who seemed jovial and carefree
throughout the trial, said nothing, merely nodding when State District
Judge Richard Mays pronounced the death sentence. The Dallas County
jury deliberated about an hour. "He had to be stopped from
hurting anyone else," said Hittle's sister, Judy Anderson who lives
in Minnesota. At trial she testified against her brother, describing
the pain she felt when she learned that Hittle killed their parents on
their Minnesota farm in 1973. Anderson also said she felt some
remorse. "This is like a funeral," she said. "He's gone.
And despite everything he's done, he's part of the family." A
17-year veteran of the police department, Walker was the first officer in
Garland, a Dallas suburb, killed in the line of duty. Prosecutors
said that Hittle, who had a loaded 20-gauge shotgun in his car, wanted to
kill the officer because he knew having the weapon would be a violation of
his parole. Hittle was paroled in 1984 after serving 11 years in a
Minnesota prison for the murders of his adoptive parents. Witnesses
testified that for the last two decades, Hittle led a cruel life. He often
beat his wives and children, seemed to take pleasure in killing animals
and had murdered his parents after their dog scratched his truck,
according to testimony. He also often talked of killing police officers
and later bragged about killing his mother and father, witnesses said.
"Obviously a very violent, vicious human
being," said Dallas Assistant District Attorney Toby Shook, one of
the prosecutors in the police killing case. "A poster boy for the
death penalty," added Andy Beach, another of the prosecutors.
"He is the classic sociopath."
After the jury delivered the death sentence, Walker's widow, flanked by
Garland police, said jurors "did what they had to do." But Becky
Walker also said she was concerned that parole laws aren't adequately
protecting Americans. "There are other Hittles running around
out there," she said. |
| Date
of scheduled execution |
State |
Victim name |
Inmate name |
Status |
| December 7, 2000 |
Pennsylvania |
|
John Joseph Koehler Jr. |
stayed |
| There are still appeals
pending and this execution is not likely to take place on this date. |
| Date
of scheduled execution |
State |
Victim name |
Inmate name |
Status |
| December 7, 2000 |
North Carolina |
Maurice Travone Williams |
Russell William Tucker |
stayed |
| Russell William Tucker, 34, is
scheduled to die by lethal injection at 2 a.m. Dec. 7 for the 1994 slaying
in Forsyth County of Kmart security guard Maurice Travone Williams. Tucker
also is serving sentences for second-degree murder and armed robbery in
the shooting death of Winston-Salem cab driver Richard Wall. There are still appeals
pending and this execution is not likely to take place on this date. |
| Date
of scheduled execution |
State |
Victim name |
Inmate name |
Status |
|
December 7, 2000 |
Florida |
Austin Carter Scott, 56
George Larry Hill |
Edward Castro |
executed |
| Florida is scheduled to
execute a 2-time killer Thursday who has chosen not to have an attorney or
file any last-minute appeals. Edward Castro, 50, again told Judge Jack
Singbush at a Nov. 14 hearing that he was competent to represent himself
and did not want any appeals filed to save his life. "There is
nothing going on and the indication is that nothing will be going
on," Assistant Attorney General Ken Nunnelly said. "Of course
that could change 5 minutes from now." Attorneys at the state agency
in Tallahassee that handles state inmate death appeals declined comment on
the Castro case. Typically, attorneys for death row inmates file a barrage
of appeals to state and federal courts trying to get their executions
stopped. Craig Waters, a spokesman for the Florida Supreme Court, said he
cannot recall a death case which didn't come before the high court in the
final days before execution. "It is certainly unusual," he said.
"In the 14 years I've been here it has never happened."
Castro is condemned for the choking and stabbing death of 56-year-old
Austin Carter Scott, who was lured to Castro's room in Ocala by the
promise of Old Milwaukee beer. Castro told authorities he began choking
Scott before pulling a knife from his sock. "I remember looking at
his face, and it was purple. I told him, "Hey man, you've lost. Dig
it?' That's when I started stabbing him.' In all, Castro stabbed Scott 8
times in the chest. Scott also had 3 defensive wounds on his arms. The
medical examiner said the thrusts penetrated Scott's lungs and his chest
cavity filled with blood. He died within minutes. When Castro, still
covered with the victim's blood, was later arrested in Columbia County, he
confessed to the slaying and led officials to Scott's body. Castro also
told authorities he killed George Larry Hill, an interior designer he met
at a St. Petersburg bar on Jan. 4, 1987. He is serving a life term for
that murder. He told detectives he preyed on older men in hopes of getting
money and their cars. Castro is the 2nd inmate this year who has asked for
his appeals to be dropped. Appeals were filed to try to stop the execution
of Dan Patrick Hauser, after he had said he did not want to fight for his
life. He died August 25 for the 1995 slaying of a woman in the Florida
Panhandle. |
| Date
of scheduled execution |
State |
Victim name |
Inmate name |
Status |
|
December 7, 2000 |
Texas |
Allen Hilzendager, 44 |
Claude Jones |
executed |
| Claude Jones was condemned for
the 1989 robbery and murder of a Point Blank liquor store owner. Jones is
set to die by lethal injection after 6 p.m. on 12/7 for the Nov. 14, 1989,
murder of 44-year-old Allen Hilzendager, owner of Zell's liquor store in
Point Blank. Hilzendager was shot 3 times with a .357 Magnum as he turned
to retrieve a bottle of liquor that Jones had requested. While Jones took
$900 in cash from the register, he missed at least $7,000 that was
separated between two other bags stored under the register and under a
counter. After taking the money, Jones fled the scene with at least 1
accomplice, Kerry Dixon. But Jones' departure did not go unnoticed - an
area resident, Leon Goodson, and his 14-year-old daughter had heard the
shots coming from the liquor store. Goodson, who had been working on his
car, saw Jones walk behind the counter and then leave the store in a
hurry. When Goodson went to check on Hilzendager, he saw the man lying in
a pool of blood. Goodson then called the police. Law authorities searched
Jones for several weeks before the former Houston electrician was found in
Fort Myers, Fla., where he was charged with robbing a bank. While Goodson
testified at Jones' trial, there also were many others who testified,
linking Jones to the scene. Among those people testifying at the
punishment phase of the trial was one of Jones' former friends, Mark
Jordan, who said Jones admitted killing Hilzendager. Jones has an
extensive criminal record including convictions both in Texas and in
Kansas for charges ranging from burglary and robbery to murder and
assault. |
| Date
of scheduled execution |
State |
Victim name |
Inmate name |
Status |
|
December 8, 2000 |
Florida |
Sharilyn Ritchie, 34 |
Robert Glock |
stayed |
| Sharilyn
Ritchie, a 34-year-old Manatee County schoolteacher, had just parked her
car at a Bradenton mall on Aug. 16, 1983, when she was kidnapped at
gunpoint by Glock and a cohort, Carl Puiatti. They stole her wedding ring,
forced her to withdraw $100 from a bank, then drove her car north 60 miles
to Pasco County. They released her in an orange grove just south of Dade
City and handed her a sun visor, her purse and her husband's baseball
mitt. They started to
drive away, then decided to kill her because she could identify them.
Glock and Puiatti returned three times and fired numerous shots at
Mrs.Ritchie. She managed to walk about 10 yards before collapsing for the
last time. When authorities found her body, she was clutching the leather
mitt to her chest. 5 days later, Glock and Puiatti were picked up by a New
Jersey state trooper who could not read the license plate on Mrs.
Ritchie's car. Glock and Puiatti both confessed to the murder, and in 1984
they were convicted and sentenced to death by a Pasco circuit judge.
Puiatti, now 38, is still on death row. A date for his execution has not
been set. The relatives
of Sharilyn Ritchie said Wednesday that they will take no pleasure in
Glock's execution. "We forgive him," said Mrs. Ritchie's sister,
Rebecca Burke. "We have no animosity for him." Glock said
his biggest regret was that he "didn't find God sooner. Mrs. Ritchie
wouldn't be dead." UPDATE: Stayed by the Florida Supreme Court
until January 10, 2001. |
| Date
of scheduled execution |
State |
Victim name |
Inmate name |
Status |
|
December 12, 2000 |
Federal |
Thomas Albert Rumbo
Gilberto Matos
Erasmo de la Fuente |
Juan Raul Garza |
stayed |
| Juan
Raul Garza was sentenced to death under Federal law on August 10, 1993, in
the Southern District of Texas, and five violations of drug and money
laundering laws. At sentencing, the Government introduced aggravating
factors evidence of four unadjudicated murders in Mexico, in which Garza
was involved. Specifically, Garza was convicted of ordering the
murders of Thomas Albert Rumbo, Gilberto Matos, and Erasmo De La Fuente in
order to further his control over a major drug trafficking organization.
In addition to his death sentence, Garza received a life term for
conspiracy to import into the United States a quantity exceeding 1,000
Kilos of marijuana. Juan Raul Garza, 43 years old, is one of six
inmates who have been convicted under the CCE statute and who have
received a death sentence. Garza has exhausted all direct and
collateral appeals for his conviction. In accordance with Federal
regulations, the method of execution will be by lethal injection. UPDATE:
This sentence was stayed for six months by President Clinton. |
| Date
of scheduled execution |
State |
Victim name |
Inmate name |
Status |
| December 12, 2000 |
Ohio |
|
Sean Carter |
stayed |
| Carter, after anally raping his 66-year-old adoptive grandmother, killed her by stabbing her 18 times; he then stole the money from her purse. There are still appeals
pending and this execution is not likely to take place on this date. |
| Date
of scheduled execution |
State |
Victim name |
Inmate name |
Status |
|
December 19, 2000 |
Arkansas |
Leon Brown, 67 |
David Wayne Johnson |
executed |
| A man convicted of beating a
night watchman to death during a warehouse robbery was executed by
injection Tuesday. David Dewayne Johnson, 37, was convicted of
killing Leon Brown at the Little Rock Crate and Basket Co. in 1989.
Johnson made no final statement. He lost appeals that claimed his lawyer
was manic-depressive and incapable of defending an accused murderer.
Prosecutors said Johnson's fingerprints were found at the scene and items
taken from the crate company were found in Johnson's home. Gov. Mike
Huckabee denied Johnson's request for mercy. He also said delaying the
execution until after the holiday would have set it closer to Johnson's
birthday, Jan. 10. "This is in many ways an unfortunate
case," the U.S. Eighth District Court of Appeals wrote in upholding
denial of Johnson's appeal. The court's March ruling acknowledged that
Johnson's first lawyer might have been mentally ill during his trial, that
he did not press hard to admit certain testimony and that he behaved
unprofessionally during jury selection. "We nevertheless are
convinced that the governing law requires that this conviction and
sentence be upheld," the judges wrote. "We deal in specific
facts, not abstractions, and petitioner has failed to show any reasonable
likelihood that the outcome of this case would have been different even if
his lawyer had conducted himself perfectly," the opinion said. |
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