September 2009 Executions
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Date of scheduled execution State Victim name Inmate name Status
September 1, 2009 Pennsylvania Sharon Saunders
Myndi McKoy
Karima Saunders  		 Jerome Marshall stayed
On January 25, 1983, James Burley, the brother of Sharon Saunders, in the company of his mother, went to the victims' apartment in the City of Philadelphia. Upon entering the apartment, James noticed that it was very hot in the apartment and that a foul odor permeated the air. Upon searching, he found the bodies of his sister, niece, and Myndie McKoy, under a mattress in one of the bedrooms. James also noticed that Sharon's stereo and speakers were missing. Upon viewing this grisly scene, James and his mother contacted the police, who immediately responded to the call and conducted an investigation. Among the items recovered during this investigation was a manila envelope containing Marshall's name and address and documents indicating the time and place where Marshall was scheduled to pick up his welfare check. On the front of the envelope was inscribed the following "Jerome and Sharon 4 ever". Armed with this information, the police conducted a search for Marshall by going to his listed address and waiting for him at the bank and by visiting his parents and aunts and uncles. As part of the search for Marshall, they went to his brother's home where the police saw the stereo and speakers that James Burley had described as belonging to his sister Sharon. The police obtained a search warrant for these items and returned to Eugene and Irene Marshall's home and seized the stereo and speakers. Irene admitted that Marshall brought these items into her home and that he sold them to Eugene. Eugene told the police that he found his brother on a corner very near to where the victims lived near their time of death, carrying a knife and that he had blood on his shirt. He also told the police that he harbored Marshall in his home for a few days and knew that Marshall returned to the victims' apartment following the murders to retrieve some of his belongings and the stereo, which he sold to Eugene. Finally, Eugene told the police that his brother had confided to him that he had, in fact, killed the women. The post-mortem examination of the victims indicated that they were all strangled to death and that the time of death was from one and one-half to five and one-half days from their discovery on January 25, 1983. Myndie McKoy's corpse also revealed that she had been stabbed in the back, which wound was listed as a contributing factor to her death. Based upon this information, a warrant for the arrest of Marshall was obtained and, following an extensive search for Marshall, he was finally apprehended on November 10, 1983, and brought to the Norristown Police Station. After some preliminary interrogation and the administration of the Miranda warnings, Marshall decided to waive those rights and give a statement which proved to be a confession. Marshall recounted that he and Sharon had been lovers and that when she told him she was to marry another he became enraged. On the day of the murders, he had sex with the twenty year old Sharon, and while she slept, he put a clothes line around her neck and strangled her to death. He then went into Myndie McKoy's room to tie her up. When she awoke and began to scream, he found a knife and stabbed her in order to quiet her and tied her up. He then dragged her into the bathroom and filled the tub up with water. She pleaded with him to leave her alone and she promised not to tell anyone and again began to scream, and then Marshall plunged Myndie's head under the water in the tub and held it there until Myndie no longer moved. Having permanently silenced Myndie, he dragged her body into Sharon's bedroom and laid her corpse next to Sharon. Marshall also admitted that he killed Sharon's two-year-old baby, Karima, by strangulation and drowning because the baby was awakened by the commotion and called out for her mother. When little Karima was dead, Marshall put her between the bodies of Sharon and Myndie and covered their bodies with a mattress. When he left the premises, he ran into his brother and then went to his brother's home where he changed his bloody shirt and stayed for a few days. He went back to the apartment to retrieve some of his belongings and took the stereo and speakers. He stated that he sold these items to Eugene and then left town because he knew that the Philadelphia police were looking for him.
 
Date of scheduled execution State Victim name Inmate name Status
September 3, 2009 Pennsylvania James Mowrey, 35  William Wright, III stayed
In 2000, William Wright was convicted of murdering 35-year-old James Mowrey, a sales manager at a door company and the husband of a woman with whom Wright had an affair. Wright lived with his mother next door to the Mowrey family in Altoona, Pennsylvania. Tammy Mowrey had known William Wright for 18 years, and had begun an affair with him in the spring of 1998. She separated from her husband of 12 years, Jim Mowrey, and lived with Wright for four months, finally reconciling with Jim Mowrey in July 1998. By this time, Tammy was pregnant with Wright's child. The Mowrey's had two older children. Jim had accepted the pregnancy and was attending prenatal classes with Tammy. However, Wright had stated to Tammy, "That baby is not going to be named Mowrey!" Tensions between the neighbors escalated as the Mowreys suspected Wright had committed a series of harassing incidents, including slashing tires on their vehicles, killing a pet rabbit and stealing items from them. At 4:00 am on Thanksgiving day, 1998, Tammy Mowrey woke up and saw Wright outside their house. She awakened her husband, who discovered that a tire had been flattened on the van the family had just purchased the previous night. Jim called the police and reported the vandalism, then confronted Wright and told him the police had been notified. Wright challenged Jim to "Come on and fight me now," but Jim said, "You're not worth it," according to testimony by Tammy Mowrey. Moments later, Wright blasted open the back door of the home, raced to the upstairs bedroom and kicked open the locked bedroom door. Jim ran into the bedroom closet. Tammy cowered in a corner and their 5-year-old son lay on the bed nearby. Tammy said, "He pointed the gun at me and said, 'Now is that baby mine or not?' I told him, 'Yes. Please calm down.'" Tammy Mowrey testified, "He shot him and Jim was crying, 'Oh, my God! Oh, my God!' He shot Jim again and he still cried. And he shot a third time and I didn't hear Jim. Then, he shot a fourth time and I didn't hear Jim." Then, according to Tammy, Wright paused to calmly reload and fired a final shot. "He looked right at him and he shot him," she said. Jim, a Little League coach, was 35 years old at the time of his death and was shot three times in the back and twice in the head. Wright fled the home as Tammy called 911. The transcription of the call depicts Tammy Mowrey crying, "He killed my husband with a gun! I thought he was going to shoot me! I can't look,  I can't look!" Police officers saw Wright drive away from the area and followed him to a trailer home eight miles outside of town. The mobile home that the standoff occurred in front of belonged to an ex-girlfriend with whom Wright was involved in a custody battle over his daughter. Wright stood face-to-face with a police officer for half an hour, each holding their gun, for half an hour. During the standoff, Wright told the officer how his life had fallen apart. He said he had lost his job, lost his kids, and blamed this all on the court system. Wright stated, "I just toasted a guy. Regardless of what you say, I'm going to jail." Seeing the growing gathering of police officers, Wright suggested that he would shoot if anyone shot at him. At another point he said that he would only shoot himself. Finally he dropped the gun and surrendered. Wright's defense attorney suggested that Tammy Mowrey had shot her husband instead of William Wright committing the murder, however no evidence to support this theory was presented. Wright had apparently cut himself as he came into the home because blood spatters inside the house were matched to his DNA. The jury needed only an hour and a half to sentence Wright to death for this crime. After the verdict, John Mowrey, the younger brother of Jim Mowrey, said, "I was kind of numb, really. This obviously was a hollow victory for  us. We got some sort of closure ... but obviously, it'll never bring my  brother back." Tammy Mowrey had a baby girl two months after her husband was killed. 
 
Date of scheduled execution State Victim name Inmate name Status
September 15, 2009 Ohio  Tryna Middleton, 14  Romell Broom  stayed
Romell Broom received a short-lived stay on Tuesday, but his appeal has been denied and execution preparations  have resumed. Broom was convicted in the 1984 slaying of Tryna Middleton after abducting her at knifepoint in Cleveland as she walked home from a Friday night football game with two friends. Tryna Middleton's mother, father and aunt planned to witness the execution on her behalf. On September 21, 1984, Tryna Middleton and two friends, Tammy Sims and Bonita Callier were at a high school football game. Middleton was fourteen years old at the time, and she was a ninth-grade student at the high school. After the football game, the three girls began walking home, and they noticed a car that they thought looked suspicious. They walked away from the car and down a different street. A car without its lights on then came towards the girls and stopped in front of them; the driver exited the car and ran past the girls. Once the girls passed by the parked car, they heard footsteps behind them and then an assailant tried to grab all of them. In the course of the struggle with the girls, the assailant said, "Come here, bitch," and he pulled out a knife. Middleton was not able to get away from the assailant, but the other two girls escaped. They ran to a nearby house where the homeowner allowed them to call their mothers and the police. The girls described the car and the assailant to the police. Approximately two hours later, Tryna's body was found in a parking lot; she had been stabbed in the chest and abdomen and there were sperm cells found in her rectum and vagina. Her friends were shown a series of photographs, but were unable to identify a suspect at this point. There were two other incidents in the same area involving young girls. On September 18, 1984, a girl was walking home when a car passed her and then stopped. When she walked past the car, the driver got out and grabbed her. He also threatened her with a knife, and he called her a "bitch." Residents who lived nearby heard the noise, and the girl was able to escape into their home. The other incident occurred on December 6, 1984, involving another girl. A car was following her as she was walking home, and as she turned a street corner, a man passed her and then grabbed her from behind. The assailant began hitting the girl, and he threw her into his car. Her younger sister observed what happened and summoned the girls' mother, who ran outside and grabbed the car door. As her mother held on to the car, the girl was able to escape through the passenger door. Two witnesses were able to get the license plate number of the car, which the police then traced to William Broom, Broom's father. When the police arrived, Broom admitted that he had been driving the car. The police then took Broom to the hospital, where both the girl and her mother identified him as the assailant. The other two witnesses to the incident also identified Broom in a line-up. The similarities between these three incidents led the police to bring in the witnesses from the other two cases to view a line-up. The victims and witnesses each independently identified Broom from the line-up; Tryna's friends also identified him in a photo array. The police discovered that Broom had been driving his girlfriend's car before it was wrecked on November 6, 1984, and one of the girls identified Broom's girlfriend's car as the one from the night of the attack on Tryna. The other girl stated that it was the same kind and color as the car used during the incident. Tests revealed that the sperm discovered in Tryna's body belonged to a person with type B blood, which is the blood type of approximately twelve percent of the population; Broom's blood is type B. A Cuyahoga County grand jury issued an indictment charging Broom with the following: (1) aggravated murder of Tryna Middleton with specifications for murder committed during the course of a kidnapping and rape; (2) rape of Tryna Middleton; (3) kidnapping of Tryna Middleton; (4, 5, 6, 7) kidnapping of the surviving victims; and (8) felonious assault of one of the surviving victims. Counts Six through Eight were severed, and Broom was tried on the first five counts in proceedings that began on September 16, 1985. The jury found Broom guilty on each of the charges, and at the end of the penalty phase, recommended a sentence of death. The state trial judge sentenced Broom to death in October 1985, for aggravated murder. In addition, Broom was sentenced to 54-80 years of incarceration for the remaining counts. "It's been twenty-five years and the pain has gotten a little bit better, but there is not a single day that I don't get up and think about her during some point in the day," said Bessye Middleton, Tryna's mother.  UPDATE: Due to difficulties in finding an appropriate vein for the lethal injection, Broom's execution has been delayed for one week by Ohio Governor Ted Strickland.
 
Date of scheduled execution State Victim name Inmate name Status
September 16, 2009 Texas Joseph Franz Hall   Stephen Moody executed 
In late September of 1991, Stephen Moody and his co-defendant, Calvin Doby drove from Houston to Dayton, Texas while accompanied by Melvin Ellis and Lloyd Larrieu. As the prosecution’s star witness, Ellis testified that, while en route, Doby asked Larrieu from whom Larrieu was getting his drugs, because Doby wanted to rob the individual. In response, Larrieu provided Doby with the name and whereabouts of Hall. According to Ellis, Moody did not participate in the conversation. On October 19, 1991, the day of the murder, Ellis, Doby, and Larrieu drove to Hall’s residence where Larrieu pointed out Hall’s house and answered Doby’s questions regarding the whereabouts of Hall’s drugs and money. Larrieu informed Doby that Hall lived with his girlfriend, Rene McKeage, kept his money in his pocket, and that Doby would know if Hall was home by the Camaro in the driveway. Doby immediately contacted Moody by telephone and the two of them met at Ellis’ residence an hour and half later. Moody and Doby then went to Hall’s residence and murdered him with a shotgun blast to the chest. On the evening of the murder, Rene McKeage and Joseph Hall were returning home from dinner when McKeage noticed two unknown men walking on the street away from the front of their house. Upon entering their residence, Rene was sitting in the bathroom when she heard Hall talking on the phone and then “somebody come rush in the house.” She heard Hall yell out her name and then heard another man’s voice screaming “Where is the money?” Rene stayed in the bathroom. She initially thought that it was the police because of the drugs that were in the house. She heard Hall say, “You’re not the cops. Let me see your badges.” Rene then heard some scuffling, and Moody walked into the bathroom and said, “stay there. Don’t move.” Moody was pointing a sawed-off shotgun at Rene. Moody left the bathroom and Rene heard him again ask Hall, “where is the money?” Hall said the money was in his pocket, and he asked Moody, “Please don’t shoot me.” Moody returned to the bathroom, and he again said to Rene, “Stay there, don’t move.” Rene said, “Okay, I won’t move,” and Moody shut the bathroom door. Rene then jumped out of the bathroom window, jumped the fence in the backyard, and ran to the next-door residence of Arthur Jesse Flores. During this time, she heard a gunshot come from inside the house. When Rene entered Mr. Flores’ residence, she said that someone had shot Hall, and she called 911. Ms. Juarez and Ms. Chavez also heard the gunshot and a scream, and saw two men walk out of the residence and back down the street. Following the murder, Doby and Moody returned to Ellis’ residence forty-five minutes later and admitted to him that they murdered Hall. Ellis testified that Doby confessed, “Man, we had some trouble over there,...we had to kill him.” Moody then responded, “Man, you know I didn’t - that I had to do it,” to which Doby replied, “Man don’t worry. Shit happens.” Ellis asked Moody if the man was dead, and Moody said, “Yeah, I shot him right in the heart.” Ellis also testified that upon the departure of Moody and Doby, he noticed the stock of a shotgun in the vehicle on the passenger’s side where Moody was sitting. Moody was indicted on October 6, 1992 for capital murder. Following a jury trial, Moody was convicted and sentenced to death in March 1993. UPDATE: Prior to his execution, Moody spoke to the victim's family and said, "To Joseph's mom and son: I was unable to respond to you in the courtroom. I can only ask that you have the peace that I do."
 
Date of scheduled execution State Victim name Inmate name Status
September 22, 2009 Pennsylvania Miriam Asencio
Manuel Santana "Nelson" Martinez		 Noel Montalvo stayed 
Noel Matos Montalvo and Milton Montalvo were both sentenced to death for the 1998 murders of Miriam Asencio and Manuel Santana Martinez. In 1995, Milton Montalvo and his wife Miriam moved from Puerto Rico to York County, Pennsylvania. By all accounts, the couple’s marriage during this time was fraught with frequent fighting and disagreements. Although unclear, the record suggests that, by March of 1998, the disagreements between the couple had worsened, prompting Milton Montalvo to move out of the apartment he had shared with Miriam. The separation from Miriam did little to quell the turbulence of their relationship, as they remained in contact with each other and continued to argue over the following month. On April 18, 1998, Milton Montalvo stopped by a local grocery store operated by an acquaintance of his, Ms. Soto. During his visit, Milton Montalvo used the store’s telephone to call Miriam about certain unemployment checks that she had allegedly received in the mail. The conversation between Milton Montalvo and Miriam soon grew acrimonious, and Milton Montalvo began shouting angrily at Miriam over the telephone. As this was occurring, Noel Montalvo entered the grocery store and walked to Milton Montalvo’s location. When Milton Montalvo hung up the telephone a few minutes later, Ms. Soto overheard him tell Noel Montalvo that he wanted to kill Miriam. Noel Montalvo then told Milton Montalvo to “leave it to him,” and that he would murder Miriam himself. That evening, Miriam and her friend, Nelson, were dancing at “Swizzles,” a local bar in York. The record indicates that at some point later in the evening, Miriam and Nelson left the bar and walked to Miriam’s apartment a few blocks away. Some time after 11:30 p.m., one of Miriam’s neighbors, Vincent Rice, awoke when he heard glass breaking on the common porch he shared with Miriam. Mr. Rice then heard Milton Montalvo exclaim, “Open the door!” Shortly thereafter, banging sounds were heard emanating from the apartment. The following day, Mr. Rice called the police after he peered into Miriam’s apartment and observed an unknown male lying on the floor inside. Upon their arrival, the responding officers observed that the door to Miriam’s apartment had a window in the center of it divided into four panes, and that the pane nearest to the door lock was broken. After further investigation, the police discovered the lifeless bodies of Miriam and Nelson lying on the floor inside. A subsequent autopsy report revealed that Miriam died from stab wounds to her eyes, blunt force trauma to her head and body, and lacerations across her neck. Nelson’s autopsy report revealed that he died from a stab wound to his chest. Shortly after the murders occurred, Noel Montalvo and Milton Montalvo drove to Ms. Soto’s home and met with her husband, Miguel Soto. During this visit, Ms. Soto, who was in a nearby bedroom, overheard Noel Montalvo and Milton Montalvo describing in gruesome detail how they murdered Miriam and Nelson earlier that night. The record indicates that police eventually learned about Noel and Milton Montalvo’s meeting with Miguel when they interviewed Ms. Soto during a subsequent police investigation. During this interview, Ms. Soto told the investigating officers that she specifically recalled hearing Noel Montalvo admit that he killed Miriam by cutting her throat and stabbing her in the eyes. A day or two after the murders, Noel Montalvo and Milton Montalvo fled Pennsylvania and drove to Florida. Milton Montalvo was captured in 1999 and extradited to York County to stand trial for the murders of Miriam and Nelson. In due course, Milton Montalvo was convicted of two counts of first degree murder and one count of burglary, and, after a penalty hearing, was sentenced to death. In contrast, Noel Montalvo remained a fugitive for several more years. In February 2002, however, agents from the F.B.I. received a tip that Noel Montalvo had moved from Florida to an apartment unit located in Hudson County, New Jersey. This tip proved accurate, as Noel Montalvo, who had changed his appearance and was living under an assumed name, was found at this location shortly thereafter. Noel Montalvo was extradited to York County to face charges in this case for homicide, conspiracy to commit homicide, and burglary. During a jury trial in March 2003, the Commonwealth presented the testimony of Miriam’s niece, Patricia Ascencio, who explained that she saw Noel and Milton Montalvo together at approximately 9:30 or 10:00 p.m. the night of the murders. Another witness, Nici Negron, testified that around 12:30 a.m., he observed Noel and Milton Montalvo sitting together in a Dodge van in an alleyway. Finally, the Commonwealth presented the testimony of Miriam’s neighbors, Mr. Rice and Mr. Fidelio Morell. Mr. Rice recounted the sounds he had heard on the night of the murders, noting that he heard glass breaking, that he heard Milton Montalvo’s voice, and that there were banging sounds that sounded like someone “wrestling.” Mr. Morrell, who lived below Miriam’s apartment, testified that he also heard Milton Montalvo’s voice on the night of the murders, that he heard Miriam say, “call the police,” and that “dragging” sounds were coming from Miriam’s apartment shortly thereafter.  Ms. Soto also testified for the Commonwealth, recounting the conversation she overheard at her grocery store between Noel Montalvo and Milton Montalvo the evening before the murders. In this regard, Ms. Soto testified that she overheard Milton Montalvo state that he wanted to kill Miriam, and that Noel Montalvo responded by stating that he would personally kill Miriam. Ms. Soto also reiterated the statements she had made to police after the murders, in which she indicated that she specifically overheard Noel Montalvo admit that he killed Miriam by cutting her throat and stabbing her in the eyes with his knife. Finally, Ms. Soto testified that, when Noel Montalvo and Milton Montalvo stopped by her house after the murders to visit Miguel, they were driving a Dodge van. In addition to Ms. Soto’s testimony, the Commonwealth introduced additional evidence in its case-in-chief to demonstrate Noel Montalvo’s consciousness of guilt. First, the Commonwealth called various witnesses who corroborated evidence that Noel Montalvo and Milton Montalvo fled Pennsylvania immediately after the murders and drove to Florida. Second, the Commonwealth introduced the testimony of an F.B.I. agent, who stated that Noel Montalvo had changed his appearance and was living under a different name while on the run. Noel Montalvo was not arrested until August 2002 when federal agents finally closed in on his whereabouts and captured him  in New Jersey as he tried to escape, naked and dangling twenty feet above ground from a window ledge. *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
September 22, 2009 Texas Heimar Prado Hurtado
Jose Luis Garcia-Castro
Danny Giraldo, 3  		 Christopher Coleman executed 
Christopher Coleman was found guilty of the December 14, 1995 capital murders of Heimar Prado Hurtado, Jose Luis Garcia-Castro, and Danny Giraldo in what was supposed to be a fake robbery scheme involving a Colombian cocaine peddler. In the early morning hours of December 14, 1995, a man approached the passenger side of a car occupied by four passengers that had stopped on a dead-end street in Houston. The man fired a gun numerous times into the vehicle. Killed by gunfire were passengers Jose Luis Garcia-Castro, Heimar Prado Hurtado, and three-year-old Danny Giraldo. Daniel’s mother, Elsie Prado, who was in the back seat, survived, although she was shot several times. Prado told police that she got a good look at the shooter and would never forget his face, and she later identified the shooter as Coleman. On December 29, 1995, Houston police learned that Coleman had been taken into custody in Lawrenceburg, Tennessee. Officers assigned to investigate the murders, flew to Tennessee that night. After waiving his Miranda rights, Coleman then gave a statement in which he admitted to being at the crime scene but denied shooting the victims. According to testimony, Coleman was paid $12,000 to take part in the scheme hatched by Genero Garcia so Garcia wouldn't have to pay an $80,000 drug debt. Garcia and another man, Derrick Graham, received life prison terms for their role in the plot.
 
Date of scheduled execution State Victim name Inmate name Status
September 24, 2009 Pennsylvania Jeanine E. Revak, 22  Donald Tedford stayed 
Donald M. Tedford, who was on work-release from the State Correctional Institution at Greensburg, lured the twenty-two-year-old victim, Jeanine Revak, to his place of employment, raped her, and then strangled her to death to prevent her from notifying the police of the rape. Tedford met Jeanine when she applied for a job at the interior decorating shop where Tedford was working on a work-release program. He was on a three-day furlough from the prison from January 10 through 13. Tedford admitted to one of the inmates that he promised Jeanine a job and called her, telling her to meet him. Tedord picked her up and brought her back to the shop. The inmate testified that Tedford "made a pass at her and she kind of drawed back, you might say jilted him." He said Tedford told him that the girl panicked and he tried to calm her down. After Tedford raped Jeanine, she wouldn't quiet down so he had to wring her neck. Jeanine's body was found on January 11, 1986. Two inmates from the Butler County Prison testified that Tedford said he had to kill Jeanine after he raped her. Following a penalty hearing at which Tedford elected to present no mitigation evidence, the same jury found two aggravating circumstances and no mitigating circumstances, and accordingly returned a sentence of death. *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
September 24, 2009 Texas Michael David Moore, 32  Kenneth Mosley stayed 

On February 15, 1997, Kenneth Mosley murdered Garland, Texas police officer Michael Moore, 32, while attempting to rob a bank in Garland. Employees called police after noticing Mosley inside the bank acting suspicious. As one of the first officers to arrive at the scene, Officer Moore entered the bank in full uniform and approached Mosley, noticing that the would-be bandit had his hand stuck in his waistband. When Officer Moore told Mosley to show him his hands, a struggle ensued and the two crashed through a glass window. Witnesses heard several shots fired before Mosley re-entered the bank through the broken window and was shot in the wrist after flashing his pistol at a second police officer. Officer Michael Moore died the afternoon of the shooting. He suffered at least four bullet wounds to the torso. Mosley claimed at trial that he walked into the bank unaware that he had a gun in his pocket and then "remembered" that he had it when the police officer working in the bank asked him what was in his hand. He claimed that he tried to pull the gun only to "get rid of it," and in the ensuing struggle, he shot the officer. However, Mosley pointed his gun at the officer and shot him several times while he was on the ground outside the bank after the struggle took them through the window. Mosley admitted that he was aware of the risks involved in pulling a gun in a crowded bank in front of a police officer.

 
Date of scheduled execution State Victim name Inmate name Status
September 30, 2009 Texas Edward Mark Caylor, 17
Kai Brooke Geyer, 15
Steven Brady Watson, 15		 John Balentine stayed 
John Lezell Balentine was sentenced to death for a triple murder. Balentine had been living with his former girlfriend, Misty Caylor, who was the sister of one of the victims, Mark Caylor, in the residence in which the murders took place. That residence was also owned by Michael Means and Balentine came to know Means in the time he lived with Misty Caylor. Ballentine contacted Means a few days before New Year's Day of 1998 and told Means that he had been thrown out of Misty Caylor's house. Officer Timothy Hardin of the Amarillo Police Department testified that he was dispatched on a shots-fired call at 2:26 a.m. on Wednesday, January 21, 1998. When Hardin arrived, the complainant stated that he thought he had heard .22 caliber shots to the east of his residence. Hardin looked around and found nothing in the complainant's backyard or the alleyway behind the house. Two other officers then arrived and offered to assist Hardin by searching the area in their vehicle. After the officers left, Hardin noticed a man, later identified as Ballentine, walking down the street two houses away from the complainant's residence. Hardin testified that when he first saw Ballentine, he had his hands in his pockets, appeared to be nervous, and was constantly looking over his shoulder in Hardin's direction. In addition, Ballentine was walking away from Hardin at a brisk pace. Hardin ordered Ballentine to stop and raise his hands in the air. Hardin then approached Ballentine, and conducted a pat-down "Terry frisk" because he "didn't know if he might be the person who had fired shots" and that he "wanted to make sure that there was no weapon on him while I was speaking to him." Hardin did not feel any weapons. Nevertheless, Hardin suspected that Ballentine may have been involved in the reported gunfire and he escorted Ballentine to the back seat of his patrol car for questioning. When Hardin asked Ballentine why he was in the area, Ballentine stated that he was walking from a Wal-Mart, which was approximately five miles away, to his sister's house, which was located several miles across town. Ballentine identified himself as "John Lezell Smith" and told Hardin that he was staying with his sister. Ballentine initially stated that he did not know his social security number but later told Hardin five of the digits. He then stated that he had planned to visit a friend in the area and agreed to let Hardin ask this friend to identify him because he did not have a driver's license or an identification card. Hardin drove Ballentine to his friend's residence. Ballentine's friend identified him as "John" and stated that he lived a block away, which contradicted Ballentine's story that he was staying with his sister several miles across town. Ballentine explained that his friend was unaware he had moved. When Hardin asked Ballentine to show him where he used to live, Ballentine gave Hardin an address that turned out to be an empty lot. Hardin asked Ballentine if he had ever been arrested in Amarillo and Ballentine replied that he had not. Hardin contacted the police dispatcher to run a records check. According to the police dispatcher, "John Lezell Smith" had been arrested for traffic warrants. Hardin again became concerned for his safety because he felt that a subject who would lie to him during questioning might "commit some type of unsafe act or conceal a weapon." Hardin placed Ballentine in handcuffs, had him exit the vehicle, and conducted a second, more thorough pat-down search. When he patted down the outside of Ballentine's front pants pocket, he felt what he thought was a small pocket knife. Hardin put his hand in Ballentine's pocket and felt that the object was actually a lighter. While Hardin was feeling the lighter, his hand touched an object that he immediately recognized as a bullet. He removed the object from the pocket and saw that it was a .32 caliber bullet. Ballentine told Hardin that he had recently been on a hunting trip and forgotten the bullet in his pocket. Hardin again placed Ballentine in the patrol car and called a supervisor who told Hardin to complete a field interview card and then release Ballentine because possession of a bullet was not against the law. Hardin returned the bullet to Ballentine and offered him a ride to his sister's house, which Ballentine accepted. The trip took five to ten minutes and Hardin dropped Ballentine off at the residence at 3:36 a.m. Hardin returned to the area where he had detained Ballentine to have another look around but found nothing. Later that day, officers for the Amarillo Police Department were called to the scene of a triple homicide that had occurred at a residence fifty yards from where Officer Hardin encountered Ballentine. Two teenage girls had gone to the house when requested to do so by the  mother of one of the victims. They found the door ajar and after entering, they found the three teenage boys in the living room where they had been sleeping, and called 911. There was no evidence of forced entry so police suspected that the killer was known to at least one of the young men. The police identified Ballentine as a suspect the day the victims were discovered. Ballentine was eventually arrested in July of 1998 in Houston. At a pre-trial suppression hearing, Ballentine moved to suppress the physical evidence obtained as a result of Officer Hardin's search. The trial court denied the motion and Hardin testified at trial about the bullet he found in Ballentine's pocket. In addition, the State introduced evidence that the three victims were killed by .32 caliber bullets and that three spent cartridge shells found at the scene of the murders were marked identically to the bullet found on Ballentine. Sergeant Paul Charles Horn, an investigator with the Special Crimes Unit in the Amarillo Police Department, was assigned to investigate the homicides. He testified at the suppression hearing that acquaintances of the victims identified "John Balentine" as a possible suspect. Investigators for the Unit also determined that "John Balentine" was the same individual as "John Lezell Smith," whom Officer Hardin encountered earlier that morning. They learned that Balentine had been staying in a building owned by Mr. Michael Means, located at 308 North Virginia Street in Amarillo. When Lieutenant Edward William Smith arrived at 308 North Virginia Street the following day, Means told him that he was not renting the residence to Balentine but that he had given him permission to stay there as a "guest" because "he felt sorry for him." Means gave written consent to search the residence. The police then searched the residence and found a receipt for the purchase of .32 caliber ammunition from a local K-Mart store. Mark Caylor had threatened Balentine because of his treatment of Mark's sister. Misty Caylor, Mark Caylor's sister and Balentine's former girlfriend, testified that she lived with Balentine for a brief period, but the relationship soured. Balentine, she said, came back to her home to patch things up, but he beat her and another boy up after she would not renew the relationship. She also told jurors that Balentine threatened to harm her family and that her brother, in turn, said he would kill Balentine. UPDATE: The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued a brief one-paragraph order stopping the lethal injection of John Balentine, set for Wednesday evening, "pending further order of this court." Balentine's appeal to the New Orleans-based 5th Circuit said lower courts had not properly resolved his earlier appeals. The Texas Attorney General's Office was appealing to get the order lifted, spokeswoman Lauri Saathoff said. It was uncertain if the state's appeal would be decided before the execution warrant expired at midnight Wednesday.
 

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