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Four killers were executed in April 2009.
They had murdered at least 4 people.
Four killers
were given a stay in April 2009. They have
murdered at least 4 people.
|
Date of scheduled execution |
State |
Victim name |
Inmate name |
Status |
| April 1, 2009 |
Pennsylvania |
Jason Bolton |
Richard Boxley |
stayed |
| On June 11, 1997, Richard
Boxley and Tito Black were in LaDonna Johnson’s home in Reading,
Pennsylvania, discussing a plan to kill the victim, Jason Bolton,
who had previously engaged in a shoot-out with Black over stolen
drug money. Tamika Johnson was present in the home while the two men
discussed their strategy and brandished weapons; Black flaunted a 9
mm handgun and Boxley held a .357 magnum revolver. Black stated that
Bolton had 48 hours to live. A short time later, Tamika Johnson left
the home and Wilson Melendez, who had sold drugs for Black, arrived.
Black introduced Boxley to Melendez and directed the men to go to
the grocery store down the street. En route, Melendez saw Bolton
walking with another man, Tyrone Bryant. Melendez then entered the
grocery store, while Boxley ran back to the house to tell Black of
Bolton’s whereabouts. Moments later, Melendez left the store and
joined Black and Boxley, who had come from the Johnson home,
presumably to confront Bolton. By this time, it was mid-afternoon
and there were children playing and people walking on the street.
Melendez, Black, and Boxley caught up with Bolton and his companion,
Bryant, and began to follow them. When they reached Sixth and
Chestnut Streets, Boxley and Black told Melendez to look around the
corner to determine Bolton’s exact location. Melendez told the men
that Bolton was near. Boxley then reached into his back pocket for
his gun, which accidentally discharged. Boxley immediately walked
around the corner, pulled the gun out of his pocket, and began
firing at Bolton. At the same time, Black shot twice at Bolton.
Bolton and Bryant then ran away from their perpetrators into a
vestibule of a nearby building, and quickly closed the door. Boxley
followed them and attempted to open the door to the building. As
Bolton and Bryant struggled to stop the door from opening, Boxley
reached his gun into the doorway, and fired into the vestibule,
killing Bolton. Bryant was not shot, but was injured when the window
glass in the vestibule shattered from the gunfire. Boxley, Black,
and Melendez immediately fled on foot and met back at the home of
LaDonna Johnson. After Boxley assured Black that he had shot Bolton,
the men celebrated Bolton’s death. By this time, Tamika Johnson had
returned. Boxley and Black told Tamika Johnson that they had killed
Bolton. Boxley and Black gave their weapons to Melendez, who hid
them in the backyard of another house in the neighborhood. After the
murder, Bryant gave a statement to police, which implicated Boxley
and Black. Also, the police recovered the murder weapons which had
been hidden by Melendez. Boxley was thereafter charged with criminal
homicide. At trial, Boxley claimed that Black and Melendez had
killed Bolton, and that he had not been involved in the murder. The
Commonwealth presented testimony from several witnesses,
establishing Boxley’s involvement in the crime. Further, medical
expert testimony demonstrated that Bolton died from a gunshot wound
to the chest and ballistics evidence established that bullet
fragments found at the murder scene had been fired from Boxley’s
.357 revolver. Boxley was convicted of first degree murder,
aggravated assault, recklessly endangering another person,
possessing instruments of crime, violating the Uniform Firearms Act,
and conspiracy, and was sentenced to death. In December 2003,
Boxley's murder conviction was affirmed but the death sentence was
overturned. After a second sentencing trial, another jury sentenced
Boxley to death on September 24, 2004. This second death sentence
was affirmed by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court on May 29, 2008.
There are still appeals pending and the execution is not expected to
take place on this date. |
|
Date of scheduled execution |
State |
Victim name |
Inmate name |
Status |
|
April 7, 2009 |
Ohio |
Winda Snipes |
Brett
Hartman |
stayed |
 Brett X. Hartman met
Winda Snipes at a bar in Akron, Ohio, sometime during 1997.
Subsequently, they engaged in sexual intercourse on several
occasions. During the late afternoon of September 9, 1997, defendant
went to Winda's apartment and brutally murdered her by tying her to
the bed, stabbing her one hundred thirty-eight times, slitting her
throat, and cutting off her hands. Hartman was convicted of
aggravated murder, kidnapping, and tampering with evidence, and
sentenced to death. In order to establish Hartman's guilt, the state
introduced statements Hartman had made to the police and to a fellow
inmate in jail, and the testimony of a co-worker that Hartman
mentioned cutting off a victim's hands as a way to eliminate
evidence in the O.J. Simpson case. The state also introduced as
evidence Hartman's bloody tee-shirt and Winda's watch recovered
from Hartman's apartment, and forensic testimony linking Hartman to
the murder. State's case Around 2:20 a.m. on September 9, 1997,
Hartman met Winda at the Bucket Shop, an Akron bar. Hartman kissed
Winda on the cheek and they talked. Thereafter, Hartman and Winda
left the bar and they went to her apartment across the street.
Around 3:00 a.m., David Morris, an acquaintance of Hartman and
Winda, left the Inn Between, another Akron bar. While walking past
Winda's apartment on his way home, Morris observed Winda and
Hartman through the upstairs window of her apartment. Morris
testified that Winda was yelling at Hartman about touching stuff
that was not his. Hartman closed the window blinds and 'obviously
she wasn't very happy about it' because she 'scolded' him and
reopened the blinds. That afternoon, at around 4:30 p.m., Winda was
observed crossing a street in a nearby business district. She was
never seen alive again. Hartman had the day off from work on
September 9. According to Richard Russell, a bartender at the Inn
Between, Hartman entered the bar at around 8:00 p.m. and appeared
nervous and hyper, and talked excessively. Thereafter, Hartman was
in and out of the bar five to six times between 9:00 and 10:30 p.m.
Hartman first contacted the police on September 9 with a series of
anonymous 911 calls, which he later admitted to. His first 911 call
at 9:59 p.m. reported the location of a mutilated body. The police
officers dispatched to Winda's address entered Winda's apartment
building and checked around, but left after finding nothing unusual.
Meanwhile, Hartman viewed the police unit's arrival and departure
while hiding behind a tree across the street. Hartman then made
another 911 call telling the police to return to the apartment
building and provided further instructions on the body's location.
Akron police officers responding to this call entered Winda's
unlocked apartment and found her naked, mutilated body lying on the
bedroom floor. Winda's leg was draped across the bed, a pair of
pantyhose tied her ankle to the bed leg, and a white plastic chair
was on top of her body. Winda's hands were cut off and have never
been found. Around 10:45 p.m., Hartman was at the Inn Between with
Morris, while police units were across the street investigating
Winda's murder. Morris, having learned that Winda had been
murdered, suggested to Hartman that he should talk to the police,
since Morris had observed Hartman at Winda's apartment the previous
evening. Shortly before midnight, Hartman approached Detective
Gregory Harrison while he was at a mobile crime lab parked outside
Winda's apartment. Hartman walked up to Harrison and said, 'I hear
it's pretty bad in there,' and asked if Harrison had 'ever seen
anything so gruesome.' Later that evening, Hartman approached
Harrison a second time and spontaneously mentioned that Winda was a
whore, 'that she slept around a lot,' and that 'he had slept with
her and he had even slept with her the night before at 3:00.' In
their final contact at around 3:00 a.m., Hartman was 'kind of
mumbling to himself' and Harrison heard Hartman say that 'she was a
whore, she was a big whore, she got what she deserved." Between
11:30 p.m. and 12:15 a.m., Hartman also approached Akron Police Lt.
John A. Lawson near the murder scene and, "rather abruptly said,
'You're going to find my semen in her and my prints over there.' "
When Lawson asked why, Hartman said he "had been with her earlier
that morning, the morning of the 9th," and that he had had sex with
her. At 12:15 a.m. on September 10, Hartman spoke to Detective
Joseph Urbank in front of the apartment building. Hartman began
their conversation by announcing that "he had sex with the victim
the night before." Moreover, Hartman said he did not know her name
but "only knew her as psycho bitch and that everybody knew that if
you got drunk and were horny you went to go see her, you went to go
see psycho bitch." Hartman also told Urbank that he went to
Winda's
apartment at 2:30 a.m. on September 9, and "she started dancing a
little bit." He "lifted her onto the bed, undressed her, and they
started having vaginal intercourse." Hartman said that he was
disappointed because Winda refused to have anal intercourse, and he
left her apartment around 3:30 a.m. However, Hartman claimed that he
did not know anything about the murder until the bartender at the
Inn Between told him about it on the evening of September 9. Around
6:00 a.m. on September 10, police took Hartman to the Akron police
station, where he was interviewed by Lawson and Urbank. During his
interview, Hartman denied making the 911 calls, and denied hiding
behind a tree across from Winda's apartment. Then, Hartman changed
a part of his story and admitted hiding behind a tree near the
murder scene. Following the September 10 police interview, the
police searched Hartman's apartment with his consent. The police
seized Hartman's bloody tee-shirt from underneath the headboard of
his bed, a pair of his jeans, and his boots. Police found a knife on
his dresser and Winda's wristwatch on Hartman's bed stand. Police
took Hartman to the police station after the search of his
apartment. While awaiting transfer to the Summit County Jail,
Hartman approached Detective John R. Gilbride and blurted out, "I
was the one that called the police" and "I'm the one that found the
body." Hartman told Gilbride he had been sexually involved with
Winda since February 1997, and had sexual intercourse with Winda
during the early morning hours of September 9. Hartman stated that
"after having sex the psycho bitch threw him out of the apartment
stating that her boyfriend was coming over." He left around 3:30
a.m. and returned to his own apartment. According to Gilbride,
Hartman said that he slept until 6:00 p.m. on September 9, and then
took the bus to the Inn Between bar around 7:30 p.m. Gilbride
testified that while going into the Inn Between bar, Hartman noticed
a light on in Winda's apartment and decided to visit her. According
to Gilbride, Hartman gained entry to the apartment through an
unlocked door and claimed that he found her dead body in her
bedroom. Hartman said that he unsuccessfully tried to pick her body
off the floor, noticed that her hands had been cut off, and "freaked
out." Thinking "I'm going to get busted for this," Hartman washed
her blood off his hands and clothes, tried wiping down everything he
touched, removed evidence linking him to her apartment, and went
home. Winda was stabbed one hundred thirty-eight times. Bruising on
her ankles indicated that she was alive when she was tied to the
bed. Additionally, sperm was found in her vagina and anus. The
medical examiner concluded that Winda had died from strangulation
and a slit throat either in the late afternoon or early evening of
September 9. Police found Hartman's bloody fingerprint on the leg of
the white chair draped over Winda's body, and police found another
of Hartman's fingerprints on Winda's bedspread. An expert witness
testified that the long linear blood patterns found on Hartman's
tee-shirt and Winda's bedspread were applied by a long-bladed
knife. Further, the blood patterns found on Hartman's tee-shirt were
applied while the tee-shirt was lying flat, and not while Hartman
was wearing it. At trial, the prosecution introduced a set of
Hartman's knives, including a meat cleaver, a knife, and a knife
sharpener that Hartman kept at the Quaker Square Hilton, where he
worked as a chef. Christopher Hoffman, a Hilton co-worker, testified
that he talked to Hartman in August 1997 about the O.J. Simpson
trial. According to Hoffman, Hartman said that Simpson could have
disposed of evidence against him by cutting off the victim's hands
and eliminating "fibers and hair and skin that might be found on the
fingernails." Bryan Tyson, a fellow inmate at the Summit County
Jail, testified that during a jailhouse conversation, Hartman
admitted that he had killed Winda. According to Tyson, Hartman said
that "he pushed himself on her, something in his mind snapped, she
was hitting him, he lost his temper, did things he regretted, killed
her." Then, Hartman said that he had "tried to make it look like a
burglary," admitted cutting off Winda's hands, and mentioned a
hacksaw, and jokingly said " 'Don't leave home without it,' like the
credit card commercial." Jessica O'Neill, an acquaintance of
Hartman, talked on the phone with Hartman on September 9. Phone
records showed that O'Neill called Hartman's apartment and spoke
with him at 3:12 p.m. and 4:50 p.m. She also claimed that she talked
with Hartman on the phone around 6:30 or 7:00 p.m. The defense also
introduced evidence suggesting an alternative suspect, Jeff Nichols.
Nichols lived across the hallway from Winda's apartment until he
moved out of his apartment around September 1, 1997. Nichols worked
as a handyman for the apartment building and had access to the
landlord's keys to other apartments. In January 1997, Jeffrey
Barnes, a friend of Winda, was visiting Winda's apartment when
Nichols came to her door. According to Barnes, Nichols "got up right
to her door and then he said, 'Slit the bitch's throat, cut her up,'
and called her a slut and all other kind of vulgar names." Barnes
reported this incident to the police upon hearing about Winda's
murder. On an evening prior to September 1, 1997, Linda Zarski, a
neighbor in Winda's apartment building, heard Winda pounding on
Nichols's door and screaming that she wanted her shirt. On another
occasion prior to the murder, Linda Kinebrew, a neighbor living at
the apartment, "heard Nichols arguing, telling Winda to let him in
and she wouldn't." Carol Parcell, Hartman's mother, provided an
alibi. Hartman lived at his mother's apartment, and Parcell claimed
that when she came home on September 9 at 6:15 p.m., her son was
sleeping in his bedroom. According to Parcell, Hartman woke up at
7:00 p.m., got ready, left the apartment at 7:30 p.m., and returned
to the apartment around 8:15 p.m. Hartman testified on his own
behalf. He admitted having sex with Winda several times over the
past year and during the early morning hours of September 9 when he
was at Winda's apartment. After having sex, Hartman returned to his
apartment at about 3:30 a.m., slept until 6:15 p.m., left his
apartment at 7:35 p.m., and returned to the Inn Between bar. Before
reaching the Inn Between, Hartman noticed that Winda's bathroom
light was on at her apartment, and he decided to visit her to see if
he could "get laid." Hartman entered Winda's apartment through an
unlocked door and found her mutilated body in the bedroom. Hartman
tried to "get her up and put her on the bed to see if there was
anything else I could help with." Hartman "freaked out" after
noticing Winda had no hands and realized he "could get in a lot of
trouble" if he was placed at the scene. Thus, he washed her blood
off his hands, wiped down the cupboards, chair handles, and anything
else he might have touched, gathered whatever items he could find
that belonged to him, and left Winda's apartment. Hartman "ran
home" and threw the items taken from Winda's apartment into a
nearby dumpster. Upon arriving home, Hartman changed his shoes and
hid the bloody tee-shirt so that his mother would not find it.
Thereafter, Hartman hurried back to the Inn Between bar and started
drinking. When he was "semi-intoxicated," Hartman made the anonymous
911 calls reporting the location of Winda's body, admitted standing
behind a tree watching the police arrive at Winda's apartment, and
later approached the police to report that he had been at the
apartment the previous evening. Hartman introduced photographs taken
of his naked body following his arrest to show the absence of
bruises and injuries. Hartman explained that a cut on his elbow had
occurred at work while he was moving crates. Hartman acknowledged
talking with Chris Hoffman about the O.J. Simpson case but did not
recall discussing anything about cutting off a victim's hands.
Hartman knew Tyson as a fellow inmate but denied making any
jailhouse admissions that he murdered Winda. Trial result The grand
jury indicted Hartman on two counts of aggravated murder, including
one count of murder with prior calculation and design and one count
of felony murder. A capital specification relating to murder during
a kidnapping was included in the felony murder count. He was also
charged with kidnapping and tampering with evidence. The jury found
Hartman guilty of all offenses and recommended death for Winda's
murder. The trial court sentenced Hartman to ten years for
kidnapping, five years for tampering with evidence, and death for
the aggravated murder of Winda Snipes. |
|
Date of scheduled execution |
State |
Victim name |
Inmate name |
Status |
|
April 7, 2009 |
Texas |
Ben "Doc"
Murray, 68 |
Jose Briseno |
stayed |
 In
late 1990, Ben Murray, the Sheriff of Dimmit County, was
investigating a burglary case. The Sheriff met with Jose Garcia
Briseno to enlist his help in solving the burglaries. Briseno was on
parole and had previous convictions for burglary, forgery and
aggravated assault. Several weeks
later, on Sunday, January 6, 1991, Ben was found dead in his home,
with numerous stab wounds and a bullet wound to the head. At trial,
testimony revealed that over five hundred dollars in cash had been
taken from Ben. Additionally, two of his pistols were missing. When Briseno was arrested, he had bandages on both hands. He told police
that he had received the cuts in a fight on the previous Friday.
While being held, he attempted to escape with several other inmates.
After their capture, one of the other inmates told authorities
statements Briseno made about the Sheriff's murder. He testified
that on the night of Ben's murder, Briseno and another defendant,
Alberto G. Gonzales, appeared at Ben's home offering to sell some
rings. Briseno and Gonzales did not have any rings for sale, but
used the ring story to gain entry to Ben's home. A struggle began,
and they stabbed Ben Murray. When Briseno and Gonzales could not
take Ben down, Briseno grabbed Ben's gun off a table and shot Ben.
Afterwards, Briseno and Gonzales stole some money from Ben's home
and hid it. The inmate also testified that during the escape Briseno
showed him the spot where Briseno had buried the gun used to kill
Ben. Briseno dug up the gun but soon disposed of it in the same
general area before the police caught the escapees. Upon being
recaptured, the inmate led the officers to the location where Briseno
had hidden the gun, and the gun was recovered. At trial, the state
introduced evidence demonstrating that blood taken from Ben's carpet
compared positively with that of Briseno. The state's serologist
testified that the enzyme markers found in the blood are shared by
Briseno and a little more than one percent of the Hispanic
population in the United States. Additional evidence submitted at
trial included bloody clothing that was found behind a sofa in a
shed in which Briseno had been staying. That clothing contained
enzyme markers consistent with Briseno's and Ben Murray's. Furthermore, a
bullet of the same caliber and brand as that used in the stolen
pistol utilized to kill the sheriff was discovered at the shed. Moreover, a
bloodhound tracked a lighter found near Ben's residence to the shed
where Briseno had been staying. A jury convicted Briseno of Sheriff
Murray's murder and sentenced him to death. Doc Murray had served as
Sheriff for almost 20 years and was survived by his wife and three
children. Alberto Gonzales received a life sentence for his part in
the crime. UPDATE: The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals granted
Briseno's motion for a stay of execution and agreed to review his
claim that the trial jury was given an unconstitutional
nullification instruction. |
|
Date of scheduled execution |
State |
Victim name |
Inmate name |
Status |
|
April 7, 2009 |
Tennessee |
Ricci Ellsworth |
Michael Rimmer |
stayed |
| During the middle 1980’s,
Michael Dale Rimmer had an on-again-off-again romantic relationship
with Ricci Ellsworth. They started dating sometime after Ricci
obtained a divorce in 1977 from her first husband, Donald Eugene
Ellsworth, by whom she had two children. At the time, Ricci was
apparently struggling with a drinking problem and Ellsworth was
experiencing drug problems. Later, after his relationship with Ricci
had come to an end, Rimmer was indicted for the aggravated assault
and rape of Ricci Ellsworth and the first degree burglary of her
residence. In 1989, he entered pleas of guilt to each charge and was
sentenced to the Department of Correction. During his incarceration,
Ricci often accompanied Rimmer’s mother, Sandra Rimmer, on visits to
the prison. Because Ricci participated in a religious program that
ministered to inmates from about 1988 to 1992, she saw Rimmer
regularly. According to Rimmer’s mother, Ricci and Rimmer displayed
an affection for each other during the prison visits. Despite this
purported renewal of their relationship, however, there was evidence
that during this period of time, Rimmer informed two inmates, Roger
LeScure and William Conaley, of his desire to kill Ricci upon his
release from the prison. He even described to LeScure how he
intended to dispose of her body. Rimmer explained to the inmates
that he blamed Ricci for his incarceration and was entitled to money
from her. Rimmer was released by the Department of Correction in
October of 1996 and began work at an auto body repair shop in
Memphis. By that time, Ricci, who was employed as a night auditor at
the Memphis Inn, had remarried Donald Ellsworth and had experienced
some success in controlling her alcohol problems. On February 7,
1997, Ricci was scheduled to begin her shift at 11:00 p.m. Her
husband awakened her and kissed her goodbye. She drove to the hotel
in her 1989 Dodge Dynasty. The only access to her office was through
a door, which was locked, or through a small opening in the glass
security window. Several hotel guests saw Ricci at her office desk
between 1:00 and 2:00 a.m. Before 2:00 a.m., one of the guests
noticed a “dark-maroonish brown” car that had been backed into an
area near the hotel entrance. Although it was raining at the time,
the trunk was open. At about 2:30 a.m., a railroad
supervisor with CSX Transportation drove to the hotel when the
management service was unable to make telephone contact with a work
crew which was staying there overnight. Because no one was at the
front desk, he entered the office area. When he heard the sound
of water running in the office restroom, he looked inside and
discovered blood splatters on the sink, the wall, the toilet bowl,
and some towels. He reported his findings to Shelby County officers
who were leaving a nearby Denny’s Restaurant. The officers notified
the hotel manager who lived on the premises. When
they investigated, they discovered signs of a struggle in the office
area. There were “puddles” of blood throughout the restroom. The
sink was cracked, and the lid had been ripped off the commode.
Police found Ricci’s purse. There was a trail of blood approximately
thirty-nine feet long that led from the restroom, through the
equipment room, office, reception area, and to the vending space.
The trail ended on the curb outside the night entrance, indicating
that Ricci may have been dragged from the restroom to the curb. Some
$600 in cash was missing from the register, and three sets of sheets
had been taken from the equipment room. Officer Robert Moore of the
Memphis Police found a green cigarette lighter under a bloody towel
and discovered Ricci’s gold ring between the office and the
bathroom. Sergeant Robert Shemwell of the homicide department
testified that during the investigation the police questioned
Richard Rimmer, Rimmer’s brother, and Richard’s ex girlfriend, Joyce
Frazier. According to Sergeant Shemwell, Rimmer appeared at his
brother’s house during the morning hours after the murder. Rimmer’s
car was muddy and so were his shoes. The back seat of the car
appeared to be wet. There was a shovel inside. Rimmer had asked
Richard Rimmer, who was a carpet cleaner, if he knew how to get
blood out of carpet. Richard Rimmer admitted that sometime after he
had learned of Ricci’s disappearance, he disposed of the shovel in a
dumpster. The police learned that Rimmer left Memphis without taking
the last paycheck he was due from his employer. He gave no notice of
his departure. He also left without taking his work tools or the
clothing he had stored in the room he occupied. On March 5, 1997,
Michael Adams, a Johnson County, Indiana deputy, stopped Rimmer,
checked the license plate number on the Honda, and determined that
the vehicle had been reported as stolen in early January. Rimmer was
arrested for possession of a stolen vehicle and public intoxication.
He registered .06 on a blood-alcohol test. A receipt in the vehicle
indicated that Rimmer was in Myrtle, Mississippi on the day after
Ricci’s disappearance. Receipts from Florida, Missouri, Wyoming,
Montana, California, Arizona, and Texas with dates ranging from
February 13, five days after the police were alerted of the crime,
to March 3, 1997, two days before Rimmer’s arrest, were found in the
vehicle. There were blood stains on the carpet and on a seat belt in
the back seat of the Honda. Subsequent testing of the stains in the
car revealed that the DNA from the blood was consistent with the
bloodline of Ricci’s mother, Marjorie Floyd, who lived in Florence,
Alabama. It was also consistent with the blood type of Ricci, as
compared through a sample previously taken from a pap smear. Frank
Baetchel, the FBI forensic expert who performed the tests, also
examined a bloody hotel towel found at the Memphis Inn, concluding
that the blood sample matched the stains found inside the Honda.
According to Sergeant Shemwell, Rimmer attempted to escape from
Indiana authorities on at least two different occasions. Initially,
they caught him trying to cut through a fence with nail clippers.
Afterward, the officers there found two home-made shanks that he had
made in his cell. While in route to Tennessee, Rimmer attempted to
escape a second time, gaining control of the extradition van, which
included three other inmates, and driving four hours before finally
being apprehended by the authorities. A third attempt took place at
the Shelby County Jail. During the course of the investigation, the
police had explored numerous leads. One report indicated that
between 1:45 and 2:00 a.m., a witness saw two white males at the Memphis Inn. It was dark and the weather
was rainy. He said that both men had blood on their knuckles and
appeared to have been fighting. The witness told officers that one of
the men, who he believed to be a clerk, was behind the hotel window
and appeared to be giving change to the other. He inferred that
the clerk was trying to get the other man, who was “very drunk,” to
leave. The witness also saw a dark-colored car “backed in front of the
night entrance.” The witness, when shown a photographic line-up, was
unable to identify Rimmer as one of the two men. Two composite
drawings were made of these individuals, based on the witness’s
descriptions. This evidence was not presented to the guilt-phase
jury. Although his testimony was presented at the resentencing
hearing through Officer Shemwell, the composite drawings were not.
Rimmer’s mother, Sandra Rimmer, testified on his behalf, confirming
that Ricci had visited Rimmer while he was in prison. She claimed
that Rimmer was innocent of the rape charge and contended that Ricci
admitted fabricating her claims, saying that her boyfriend at the
time, Tommy Voyles, was pushing her to file the charges. Ms. Rimmer
also testified that Ricci sent photographs to Rimmer while he was in
prison and “acted like” his girlfriend. Prison records indicated
that Ricci ceased visitation with Rimmer after her remarriage to
Donald Ellsworth. The defense also presented testimony by a
sociologist and mitigation specialist, Dr. Ann Marie Charvat, who
had interviewed Rimmer and had conducted a study of his background.
She testified that she had learned that Rimmer’s parents married
very young and then had three children in quick succession, Rimmer
being the middle child. Thereafter, the family moved from Memphis to
Houston, where the father was arrested for a minor offense and
placed on probation, and then to Indianapolis, where the parents
divorced. Later, the parents remarried and returned with the
children to the Memphis area. The father worked for the city
government and, when the mother left the residence to work
full-time, Rimmer, at age eleven, first began to exhibit behavioral
problems at school. Rimmer was a “C” student but, according to the
mitigation expert, would have benefitted from special education
classes. Dr. Charvat testified that Rimmer was hospitalized as an
adolescent during a time his father was being treated for mental
illness. Afterward, Rimmer was hospitalized on at least two other
occasions, one of which was the direct result of his involvement
with an older woman, possibly a teacher. Rimmer dropped out of
school in the ninth grade and began working at a gas station and in
his father’s shop. At eighteen, Rimmer was arrested and served a
prison sentence. Although the incident came about when he and some
friends attempted to purchase some marijuana, he was the only one
involved to serve a term in prison. The others received jail terms
or probationary sentences. Dr. Charvat learned that while Rimmer was
in prison, he met an inmate, Jimmy Watson, who had a relationship
with Ricci Ellsworth. When the couple broke up, Rimmer became
involved with Ricci. Upon his release from prison, he lived with
Ricci and her children, describing this period as the happiest time
in his life. Dr. Charvat also understood that Rimmer resumed his
relationship with Ricci, through prison visits, even after he had
entered his guilty pleas to the burglary and to her assault and
rape. The names of Ricci’s two children also were on the prison
visitation list. Barbara Dycus, a prison minister at the West
Tennessee State Penitentiary, testified that Ricci was engaged to
Rimmer in 1993, a year before she remarried Donald Ellsworth. She
stated that Rimmer played music, wrote gospel songs, and sang during
their religious services. Thomas Mach, another prison minister,
confirmed that Rimmer had encouraged other inmates to participate in
the various programs, including Bible study. During his testimony
and in response to a question posed by defense counsel, Mach
mentioned that he had met Rimmer on “death row.” Defense counsel
repeated the term during direct examination. Mach made two more
references to “death row” in the context of when he met Rimmer.
Throughout the resentencing hearing, the State made numerous
objections on grounds of relevancy and hearsay, most of which were
overruled. The trial court did, however, sustain at least three
objections by the State, thereby excluding some of the evidence
offered by the defense. The first was a statement by Sandra Rimmer,
who claimed that immediately before Ricci made the rape accusation,
Voyles had offered to persuade Ricci to drop the charges in exchange
for $5,000. The trial court concluded that the testimony fell
“outside the acceptable hearsay rule as it applies to this
sentencing hearing.” Although the jury also did not see the
composite drawing of the two unidentified men who were seen at the
Memphis Inn near the time of Ricci’s disappearance, the jury heard
Sergeant Shemwell testify that these drawings existed. Even though
the sentencing jury heard about the witness’s account of the two men,
the defense was not allowed to inform the sentencing jury that the
original, convicting jury did not hear evidence about these same two
men. After weighing evidence from both sides, the jury returned a
sentence of death. The sole aggravating factor was the presence of
prior felony convictions with statutory elements involving the use
of violence to the person. The jury concluded that this aggravating
factor outweighed all mitigating factors. Upon first tier review,
the Court of Criminal Appeals upheld the death sentence. The
Tennessee Supreme Court upheld the sentence in February 2008. There
are still appeals pending in this case and the execution is not
expected to take place on this date. |
|
Date of scheduled execution |
State |
Victim name |
Inmate name |
Status |
|
April 15, 2009 |
Texas |
Mary Felder, 68 |
Michael Rosales |
executed |
| In May 1998, a Lubbock
jury sentenced Michael F. Rosales to death for fatally stabbing a
68-year-old woman in 1997 while burglarizing her Lubbock home.
Rosales, 23 at the time, broke into the North Overton home of Mary
Felder during the early morning hours of June 4, 1997. Rosales was
looking for something to steal so he could get money to buy drugs.
After Mary awoke during the burglary, Rosales beat and stabbed her.
Rosales beat Mary so severely that he knocked out several of her
teeth, causing one tooth to become lodged in her vocal cords.
Rosales struck Mary in the neck, crushing her larynx, closing off
her airway, and causing her to suffocate. In addition to the
beating, Rosales also stabbed Mary with a steak knife and
needle-nose pliers. Altogether, Mary sustained 113 wounds, including
21 stab wounds, 28 incised or cut wounds, 33 blunt force injuries,
and 31 puncture wounds. Five of her wounds were of lethal force, of
which three were inflicted while she was alive. Mary's grandson
found her body, surrounded by a large amount of blood, around 4 pm
in the afternoon. She was slumped in the bedroom. The grandson had
visited her around 10 am, and again at noon on Wednesday, both times
finding the residence secure and getting no answer at the door. When
he returned a third time, he discovered one of the door's nine
window panes broken and the door unlocked. Rosales was at the crime
scene when police first arrived. Relatives and friends said Mary
bothered no one and spent her days visiting friends and family and
attending church. The only motive suggested by Mary's sister was
robbery. Mary had about $60 in cash, saved for an insurance payment,
at the time of her death. After receiving permission to search the
nearby home of one of Rosales’s friends (where Rosales stayed the
night of the murder), police discovered a white, blood-stained
T-shirt and a pair of bloody blue jeans belonging to Rosales.
Subsequent DNA testing showed that the blood on the T-shirt and
jeans was consistent with Mary Felder’s blood. Police also recovered
a pair of Nike tennis shoes belonging to Rosales that identically
matched bloody shoe prints found in Mary’s bedroom. In addition, DNA
analysis of a blood sample taken from a bathroom sink used by
Rosales was consistent with both Mary Felder’s and Rosales’s blood.
DNA analysis also linked Mary’s blood to a sample of blood taken
from the front door of the apartment where Rosales stayed the night
of the murder. When police confronted Rosales with pictures of the
bloody clothing, he confessed to killing Mary Felder. After
confessing, Rosales led police to the dumpster where he disposed of
the murder weapons. There, police found a white plastic trash bag
containing a bloody pair of needle-nose pliers, a bloody steak knife
with a 4 ½ inch blade, and a bloody two-pronged kitchen fork. DNA
testing revealed that the blood on these instruments was consistent
with that of the victim. During the punishment phase of the trial,
the State introduced evidence that at the time of committing capital
murder, Rosales was on probation in Lubbock County for the felony
offense of possession of a controlled substance. Although Rosales
had previously violated the terms and conditions of his probation
and was on intensive supervision at the time of the capital murder
on June 4, 1997, he had removed his electronic monitor and was
avoiding his probation officer at that time. In addition, Rosales
had also been previously convicted of Class A Misdemeanor theft of
property of the value of $200 or more, but less than $750, and Class
A Misdemeanor burglary of a vehicle. Both misdemeanor convictions
were in Lubbock County. Rosales had a previous execution date that
was stayed in April 2004 but it was stayed due to a claim by
Rosales's attorney that he was mentally retarded. |
|
Date of scheduled execution |
State |
Victim name |
Inmate name |
Status |
|
April 16, 2009 |
Alabama |
Leon Shaw |
Jimmy Dill |
executed |
| The
victim, Leon Shaw, drove to Terry Dill's house on the afternoon of
February 8, 1988. Leon was not supposed to be driving because he was
serving time at the Federal Work Release Center for a drug
violation. Leon was, however, allowed to leave the center to go to
work. He operated the Rose Boutique, which he owned with his wife,
Junatha Shaw. Terry Dill left the house and got in the car with
Leon. Jimmy Lee Dill was in the front seat with Leon. Leon told
Terry Dill that Jimmy Dill wanted to buy drugs from Leon. The
testimony reveals that Terry Dill was a former cocaine addict who
had sold cocaine with Leon for four years. Leon would pay Terry Dill
to bring him customers. Leon, Terry Dill, and Jimmy Dill ran into
Jacqueline Ball and Freddie Carter near a church on 85th Street.
Leon was still driving the car and Terry Dill was sitting in the
backseat behind him. Jimmy Dill was still in the front passenger
seat. Apparently, Leon and Jimmy Dill got out of the car. Leon
talked to Jacqueline Ball, and Jimmy Dill talked to Freddie Carter.
Leon was carrying a black pouch in which he normally kept cocaine
and money. Leon had at least $200 in his hand. After Ball and Carter
left, Jimmy Dill asked Leon if he would give him some cocaine until
he could get the money to pay for it. Leon refused. They left for
Druid Hills, where the work release center was located, because Leon
had to sign in at the center. When they got to Druid Hills, Leon’s
beeper went off. They all got out of the car and Leon made a
telephone call. They went to the Curb Market and Leon bought wine
coolers. Leon had a “folded wad of money.” When they left the store,
Leon had everyone in the car switch places so that the people at the
center would not see him driving. Terry Dill was now driving and
Jimmy Dill was in the backseat. Terry Dill drove to the center.
Jimmy Dill again asked Leon for cocaine. Leon told him that he would
give him the cocaine when Jimmy Dill got some money. He also showed
Jimmy Dill a half ounce of cocaine. Jimmy Dill asked for cocaine
again when they pulled up to the center. Leon went to the building.
He pulled a “big wad of money” out of his pocket. There was so much
money that it could not be rolled up. He told the case manager at
the center that he had just left the Rose Boutique and was going to
make a deposit. While Leon was inside the center, Jimmy Dill said to
Terry Dill, “You don’t believe I’ll rob him or shoot him.” Jimmy
Dill 5 On February 12, four days after Leon was shot, Terry Dill
spoke to Leon’s wife, Junatha Shaw and, later the same day,
contacted the Birmingham police. On February 18, the police
contacted petitioner, who voluntarily went to the station house and
made the statement 6 continued to talk about killing Leon. When Leon
got back in the car, Jimmy Dill said that he would shoot Leon if he
did not give him some cocaine. After they drove off, there was a
gunshot. Blood spurted onto Terry Dill. Jimmy Dill had a small
automatic pistol, approximately .25 or .22 caliber. Jimmy Dill told
Terry Dill to be quiet and keep driving. Jimmy Dill pulled the
trigger as if he was going to shoot Leon again. They eventually
stopped in an alley. Jimmy Dill searched Leon and took the money and
cocaine. Jimmy Dill then got a rag and started wiping fingerprints
off of the car. Terry Dill ran away. Jimmy Dill also ran away. Terry
Dill called his girlfriend to pick him up. He went home later that
evening. Jimmy Dill stated that he and Terry Dill were with Leon and
that they drove to North Birmingham. Terry Dill was driving the car,
Leon was on the front passenger seat, and Jimmy Dill was in the
backseat behind Terry Dill. Jimmy Dill stated that Leon’s door
opened and that he heard a shot from behind Leon. Jimmy Dill was
then asked how Leon was shot from behind without the window being
shot out of the car. Jimmy Dill then stated that Leon was actually
getting into the car when someone ran up to Leon’s door. Jimmy Dill
stated that he heard a gunshot. He and Terry Dill got out and ran.
Jimmy Dill then stated that after hearing the shot, they drove off
and a car followed them. They drove to an alley, jumped out of the
car, and ran away. Jimmy Dill stated that Leon had some cocaine in a
black bag but he did not see any money. A woman who lived near the
site of the shooting saw the car in the alley, watched the two men
leave the scene, and summoned the police, who, upon finding Leon and
realizing that he was bleeding profusely, called for an ambulance.
The court described what took place thereafter, including the
circumstances that led to Leon’s death: Leon was taken to the
University Hospital of Birmingham where emergency brain surgery was
performed. The bullet entered the left, back side of his brain. Leon
was unconscious. He had abnormal movement in his extremities which
indicates that the brain is functioning extremely abnormally. Both a
feeding tube and breathing tube were inserted. He was discharged
from the hospital on April 26, 1988, because there was nothing more
the hospital could do for him. Leon could not function independently
and required round-the-clock care. Leon eventually pulled the
feeding tube out. However, his doctor said he would not replace the
tube since he could eat and drink by mouth. Leon was readmitted to
the hospital on October 31, 1988. He never regained consciousness
and died on November 22, 1988. Leon’s doctors testified that he died
of complications from a gunshot wound to the head. Forensic evidence
revealed that the bullet removed from Leon’s head was consistent
with a .22 caliber projectile. The characteristics of the wound were
consistent with a contact gunshot wound. The jury found petitioner
guilty as charged. After a brief recess, the jury returned for the
penalty phase of the trial. The State put on one witness in its
case, parole officer Carl Michael Newman. Newman testified that
Jimmy Dill had two Alabama felony convictions and was on parole at
the time Leon was shot. The State submitted into evidence certified
copies of the two convictions. The certified copies indicated that
on October 4, 1983, Dill was convicted of theft of property in the
first degree and, on December 9, 1983, was sentenced to prison for a
term of ten years. On the same day he was sentenced for the first
conviction, Dill pled guilty to second degree robbery and was
sentenced to a concurrent ten-year prison term. Dill was on parole
on February 8, 1988, when the Leon Shaw shooting occurred. His
parole was revoked on March 15, 1988. The defense likewise presented
one witness, Jimmy Dill. His testimony was brief. Dill indicated
that he had a thirteen-month old child, a common-law wife, had
worked a number of jobs, and attended nursing school while on
parole. In its closing argument to the jury, the State argued that
the evidence (introduced during both the guilt and penalty phases of
trial) established three aggravating circumstances: the offense had
been committed by a person (1) who was under a sentence of
imprisonment; (2) who had been previously convicted of a felony
involving the use or threat of violence to the person; and (3) who,
at the time of the murder, was engaged in the commission of a
robbery. As a result, the prosecution argued, the jury should return
a death penalty verdict. Wilkinson, relying on Dill’s testimony,
urged the jury to recommend a life sentence. The jury found the
aggravating circumstances the State had cited, and, therefore,
returned a verdict calling for the death sentence. UPDATE: Just
before the execution started, Jimmy Dill said "I just hope that
God's will be done and everybody find the peace that they need. I'm
good." |
|
Date of scheduled execution |
State |
Victim name |
Inmate name |
Status |
|
April 29, 2009 |
Georgia |
Eddie Tucker |
William Mize |
executed |
| William Mark Mize
was the leader of a small group, similar to the Ku Klux Klan, called
the National Vastilian Aryan Party (NVAP). Witnesses testified that
Mize made all the decisions for the NVAP. Several witnesses also
testified that Mize displayed a single-shot 12-gauge shotgun at an
NVAP meeting and told the members that the shotgun was the kind of
weapon that the group would use because it could not be traced.
Several of Mize’s friends and co-workers were members of the NVAP,
or in the initiation process. Eddie Tucker, the victim, had filled
out an application form but was not a full member. On Saturday,
October 15, 1994, several NVAP members and applicants gathered at
Mize’s home after Mize got off from work. Those present were Mize,
Mark Allen, Chris Hattrup, Brian Dove, Samantha Doster (Mize’s
girlfriend), and Tucker. Mize told Doster that the group was going
camping that night and they all got in Mize’s car. When they were
driving, Mize told the group that there was a crack house in Athens
that he wanted “gotten rid of.” Mize stated that he wanted Hattrup
and Tucker to set the house on fire, and they stopped at a
convenience store and bought a can of lighter fluid. Hattrup and
Tucker were dropped off near the house but their attempt to set it
on fire was unsuccessful. When they rejoined the group, Hattrup told
Mize that he needed to talk with him. Hattrup also said, referring
to Tucker, that they “didn’t need anybody around that couldn’t
follow orders.” After spending an hour at a bar, Mize drove the
group to a wooded area in Oconee County. Dove and Doster were given
camping gear to carry and the group set out into the woods. No one
had a flashlight even though it was night. Tucker was in the lead,
followed by Mize, Allen, Doster, Dove and Hattrup. After they had
gone only a short distance, Hattrup passed Dove and Doster and moved
up the trail to talk with Allen and Mize. Mize told Allen to stop
Dove and Doster from continuing into the woods. At this point,
Tucker, Hattrup and Mize were out of sight in the woods ahead of
Allen, Dove and Doster. There was a shot, and Tucker exclaimed, “My
God, what did you do that for?” There was a second shot. Doster
heard Hattrup ask Mize if he had the gun and Mize replied, “No, man.
I thought you had it.” Hattrup stated, “No. He took it away from
me,” and Mize said, “If you can’t finish it I can.” Allen left Dove
and Doster and moved up the trail. Dove and Doster heard a
discussion among Mize, Allen, and Hattrup about muscle spasms and
how Tucker was still moving. There was a third shot. Dove and Doster
ran back to Mize’s car. Mize emerged from the woods holding a
shotgun and trying to break it down. Once in the car, Mize asked
everyone if they knew why it was done. Everyone nodded agreement.
Mize told the group that the same thing could happen to them if they
ran their mouth. Mize also told the group that, if asked about
Tucker, they should say that they had dropped him off at a
convenience store. While they were driving, Allen and Hattrup
noticed that the barrel of the shotgun had shattered so they stopped
at a bridge and threw the gun in a river. Later, Mize confided to
Doster that he had finished Tucker off by shooting him in the head.
The police discovered Tucker’s body several days later. He had been
shot in the back, chest and head with a shotgun. The medical
examiner testified that the back and chest wounds were inflicted by
a shotgun fired at close range. The victim’s head exhibited widely
scattered pellet wounds that failed to penetrate the skull; the head
wounds were consistent with a close-range shotgun blast that had
shattered the barrel. The medical examiner further testified that
the shots to the back and chest tore through the victim’s right
lung, but that none of the wounds were immediately fatal. The
victim’s death was due to blood loss, and it could have taken him
several minutes to die. A fragment of the shotgun barrel was
discovered about two feet from the body’s location; the gun was not
recovered. After the body was discovered but before anyone was
arrested, Chris Hattrup showed his roommate, Paul McDonald, the
newspaper article about Tucker’s death and told him what had
happened. When the crack house failed to burn, Mize asked how Tucker
had done and Hattrup responded that Tucker “didn’t do what he was
supposed to do.” Mize then said, “you know what we have to do.”
Hattrup admitted to McDonald that he shot Tucker in the back and
chest, but that Tucker was still alive. He was out of ammunition,
though, so he asked Mize for another shotgun shell and Mize gave it
to him. Hattrup then shot Tucker in the head. Hattrup also boasted
to McDonald that he was now a “hit man for the Klan.” Brian Dove
told the police what he had seen and heard that night, and he later
testified at Mize’s trial. The other four NVAP members involved in
Tucker’s death were arrested. After spending a year in jail, Doster
agreed to testify against the others and her charges were dropped.
At trial, the prosecution relied on the testimony of six principal
witnesses in addition to the crime scene investigators. Brian Dove
and Samantha Doster gave eyewitness accounts of the events before,
on, and after October 15. Paul McDonald, Chris Hattrup’s roommate,
testified about Hattrup’s statements regarding the incident. Ronald
Allen, a member of the NVAP who was not present on October 15,
testified that Mize displayed a shotgun at a meeting, and that Mize
displayed animosity toward Tucker at a meeting less than a month
before Tucker was killed. Michael Hollis, a prospective NVAP member,
also testified that Mize displayed a shotgun at a meeting. Finally,
Jeremy Phillips, a resident of the supposed crack house, testified
that he put out a fire on the night of October 15, and that a
detective later found a can of lighter fluid on the property. The
defense put on only two witnesses. Both testified that they
remembered seeing Tucker at a restaurant on October 18, more than
two days after he died (according to the crime scene investigators,
Dove, Doster, and McDonald). The defense attempted to call Chris
Hattrup, but because he had not yet finalized his plea deal, he
asserted his Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination.
Hattrup later pled guilty to murder and received a sentence of life
with no parole eligibility for twenty years. Mark Allen (who was
also present on October 15) also did not testify; the record does
not reveal whether he relied on his privilege or whether he was not
called. Allen also later pled guilty to murder. The jury convicted
Mize of malice murder. During the sentencing phase, Mize took the
stand and, while still asserting his innocence, testified that he
wanted no sentence other than death. The jury sentenced him to death
on the basis of two aggravating factors: he ordered another to
commit the murder, and the murder was outrageously or wantonly vile
(because it was accompanied by aggravated battery). |
|
Date of scheduled execution |
State |
Victim name |
Inmate name |
Status |
|
April 30, 2009 |
Texas |
LaTausha Curry, 25
|
Derrick Johnson |
executed |
| On January 21, 1999,
LaTausha Curry, age 25, lived with her parents in the Oak Cliff area
of Dallas. She owned a red, 1987 Ford Taurus. That evening she set
out for Camp Wisdom road to meet someone for a date. She never
returned. In a written confession, Derrick Lamone Johnson admitted
that he and an accomplice sexually assaulted and killed LaTausha
Curry, and in an oral statement given before the body had been
discovered, he told the police where her body could be found. The
body was found where Johnson said it would be. Johnson's
fingerprints were found in LaTausha's car, and DNA testing matched
Johnson to seminal fluid found on LaTausha's sweat pants. LaTausha
was abducted while making a call at a pay phone. At around
midnight on the evening LaTausha disappeared, Stella Wilson went to
a gas station. At the station, she noticed what she described as a
"burgundy" car occupied by two young black men. One of these men
later pointed a gun at her and demanded her purse, which she
relinquished. In court, she identified Johnson as the robber and
driver of the car. She also identified LaTausha's red Ford Taurus as
the car he was driving. About 1:30 to 2:00 a.m. on January 22nd,
Tanya Robinson, an assistant manager at a Jack-in-the-Box, was
driving home from work. She noticed behind her a reddish car
occupied by two people. The red car began to chase her and hit her
car while both vehicles were going about seventy-five miles per
hour. She stopped her car, and when the driver of the red car got
out of the car, she put the car in reverse and tried to run over
him. Robinson then drove back to the Jack-in-the-Box and asked an
employee to call the police. She then began to chase the red car to
get a license plate number. The police subsequently joined the
chase. During the chase, Officer Larry Byers saw the red car crash
and two black males run from the car. Byers identified Johnson as
the driver. Robinson caught up with the red car after the occupants
had fled and therefore was not able to identify the driver at trial.
She did, however, identify LaTausha's Ford Taurus as the car that
had chased her. LaTausha's car was impounded and searched, resulting
in the recovery of various items, including a pipe made to look like
a gun, a mace dispenser, and a cell phone. As a result of this
incident Johnson was charged with the capital murder of LaTausha
Curry under three different legal theories: murder in the course of
kidnapping, murder in the course of robbery, and murder in the
course of aggravated sexual assault. One week prior to the murder,
Johnson and his underage accomplice abducted another woman, sexually
assaulted her, and attempted to strangle her before she was able to
persuade them to take her with them to commit robberies. In the
course of twenty-four hours, Johnson committed eight robberies.
Further Johnson had prior convictions for robbery and burglary.
UPDATED: Derrick Johnson was executed for the capital murder of
LaTausha Curry. Johnson, 28, never acknowledged relatives of his
victim, LaTausha Curry, including the woman's father and two
sisters. They watched from an adjacent room and declined to speak
with reporters following the execution. |
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