Remarkable letters of death row killers revealed

Blackleaf

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Remarkable letters of death row killers revealed
22nd September 2006



Few would win any literary prizes; and none of the authors will get the chance to improve their writing. For these are the last statements of death row prisoners executed in Texas. Since 1982, all 376 prisoners killed by lethal injection at the busiest death chambers in the U.S. have had their final words recorded by wardens and diligently transcribed onto the Department of Criminal Justice's website.

What goes through the mind of a man (only three of the 376 were women) who knows he is about to die? For many it is a final chance to protest their innocence or rage against the system. Yet for others it is an opportunity to ask for forgiveness, to thank family members for their support or to declare their love.

And while some bear the rambling mark of terror ('I guess it only hurts for a little while,' says armed robber Dominique Green) most are surprisingly eloquent and devoid of self-pity.

Several, like Betty Lou Beets - convicted of killing her fifth husband and burying him under a flowerbed in the garden - offered no final words, and some confined themselves to a succinct 'I'm ready, warden'. But others spoke at length, quoting poems and Bible passages and sending greetings to hordes of their family and friends.

One prisoner's statement was so long that the warden taking it down admitted he had gone off and done something else in the middle of it, only to return and find the man still talking.

Death Row prisoners are overwhelmingly poor and uneducated, although the statistics do not bear out the racial stereotype: since 1976 49 per cent of those executed have been white, 36 per cent black and 14 per cent Hispanic.

God features prominently in the majority of prisoners' writings. Allah is also mentioned in a handful of statements.

And while there is an undeniably depressing sameness about the messy lives, wasted opportunities and senseless crimes most of the statements allude to, there are some final words which sound upbeat, even joking.

Aaron Foust, convicted of robbery and murder, declared: 'Adios amigos, I'll see y'all on the other side. I'm ready when y'all are.'

Douglas Roberts, executed for stabbing a man to death, said 'I've been hanging around this popsicle stand way too long' and instructed guards to 'bury me deep, lay two speakers at my feet, put some headphones on my head and rock and roll'.

But perhaps the final word should go to the youngest man executed since 1982, 24-year-old Napoleon Beazley, for the 'carjacking' murder of a 63-yearold.

With an eloquence beyond his years, he said: 'Tonight we tell the world that there are no second chances in the eyes of justice. Tonight we tell our children that in some instances killing is right. No one wins tonight. No one gets closure. No one walks away victorious.'

KARLA FAYE TUCKER
EXECUTED: February 3, 1998.
AGE: 38.
AGE AT TIME OF OFFENCE: 23.
CRIME: Pickaxe double murder of Jerry Dean and Deborah Thornton.
LAST STATEMENT: Yes sir, I would like to say to all of you - the Thornton family and Jerry Dean's family - that I am so sorry. I hope God will give you peace with this. Baby, I love you. Ron, give Peggy a hug for me. Everybody has been so good to me. I love all of you very much. I am going to be face to face with Jesus now. Warden Baggett, thank all of you so much. You have been so good to me. I love all of you very much. I will see you all when you get there. I will wait for you.

MARKUM DUFF-SMITH
EXECUTED: June 29, 1993.
AGE: 46.
AGE AT TIME OF OFFENCE: 28.
CRIME: Hired a hit-man to kill his wealthy adoptive mother so he could collect his inheritance.
LAST STATEMENT: I am the sinner of all sinners. I was responsible for the '75 and '79 cases [the 1975 murder of his adoptive mother and the 1979 murder of his sister, brother-in-law and their 14-month-old son]. My trial was not just; it was not fair; they lied against me. I love all of those on Death Row, and I will always hold them in my hands. Those who stood by me, I will always love you. Jim and Judy Peterson and Chaplain Lopez, I thank you for staying by my side.

CHARLIE BROOKS JR
EXECUTED: December 7, 1982.
AGE: 40.
AGE AT TIME OF OFFENCE: 34.
CRIME: Murdered a car mechanic during a test-run of a car.
LAST STATEMENT: I, at this very moment, have absolutely no fear of what may happen to this body. My fear is for Allah, God only, who has at this moment the only power to determine if I should live or die . . . As a devout Muslim, I am taught and believe that this material life is only for the express purpose of preparing oneself for the real life that is to come ... Since becoming Muslim, I have tried to live as Allah wanted me to live.
Yes, I do. I love you. Asdadu an la ilah illa Allah, Asdadu an la ilah illa Allah, Asdadu anna Muhammadan Rasul Allah,
Asdadu anna Muhammadan Rasul Allah.
I bear witness that there is no God but Allah.
I bear witness that Muhammad is the messenger of Allah.
Inna li-Allah wa-inna ilayhi rajiun. Verily unto Allah do we belong, verily unto him do we return.

Be strong.

JEFFERY DILLINGHAM
EXECUTED: November 1, 2000. AGE: 27.
AGE AT TIME OF OFFENCE: 20.
CRIME: Killed Caren Koslow, a wealthy Fort Worth woman (as a hit-man, hired by the woman's daughter).
LAST STATEMENT: I would just like to apologise to the victim's family for what I did. I take full responsibility for that poor woman's death, for the pain and suffering inflicted on Mr Koslow [the victim's husband]. Father, I want to thank you for all of the beautiful people you put in my life. I could not have asked for two greater parents than you gave me. I thank you for all the things you have done in my life, for the ways that you have opened my eyes, softened my heart. The ways that you have taught me. For teaching me how to love, for all of the bad things you have taken out of my life. For all the good things you have added to it. I thank you for all of the beautiful promises that you make us in your word, and I graciously received every one of them. Thank you Heavenly Father for getting me off of death row and for bringing me home out of prison.
I love you Heavenly Father, I love you Jesus. Thank you both for loving me. Amen.

LARRY HAYES
EXECUTED: September 10, 2003.
AGE: 54.
AGE AT TIME OF OFFENCE: 50.
CRIME: Shot his wife Mary eight times in the head then left the scene to go to a convenience store where he shot dead the assistant, Rosalyn Robinson.
LAST STATEMENT: I would like for Rosalyn's family and loved ones and my wife, Mary's, family to know that I am genuinely sorry for what I did. I would like you to reach down in your hearts and forgive me. There is no excuse for what I did. Rosalyn's mother asked me at the trial, 'Why?' and I do not have a good reason for it. Please forgive me. As for my friends and family here - thanks for sticking with me and know that I love you and will take part of you with me. I would like to thank one of the arresting officers that I would have killed if I could have. He gave me a chance to get my life right. I know I will see Mary and Rosalyn tonight. I love you all.

JASEN SHANE BUSBY
EXECUTED: August 25, 2004.
AGE: 29.
AGE AT TIME OF OFFENCE: 19.
CRIME: Shot dead two teenage friends - Tenille Thompson and Brandy Gray - inside a mobile home while high on marijuana.
LAST STATEMENT: Yes I do. I want to tell everyone, my family, thanks for standing by me. I want to tell Mr and Ms. Gray and everyone that I didn't do what I did to hurt you all. I am sorry that I did what I did. I don't think you know the true reason for doing what I did, but Brandy and I had a suicide pact and I just didn't follow through with it. That did not come out in the trial. I am not trying to hurt you by telling you this. I am trying to tell you the truth. I want Cindy to know that I know she is out there - and Vicente Hernandez that I love them. Thank you for all you have done and I want to make sure you are alright. That is all I want to say. I am ready. See you later. I am ready.

DOUGLAS ROBERTS
EXECUTED: April 20, 2005. AGE: 42.
AGE AT TIME OF OFFENCE: 33.
CRIME: Stabbed to death a 40-year-old man he had kidnapped and stolen from.
LAST STATEMENT: Yes sir, Warden, OK I've been hanging around this popsicle stand way too long. Before I leave, I want to tell you all. When I die, bury me deep, lay two speakers at my feet, put some headphones on my head and rock and roll me when I'm dead. I'll see you in Heaven someday. That's all Warden.

DAVID MARTINEZ
EXECUTED: July 28, 2005.
AGE: 29.
AGE AT TIME OF OFFENCE: 21.
CRIME: Sexually assaulted then strangled a 24-year-old woman in a beauty spot in a park in Austin. He cut her throat with a pen knife.
LAST STATEMENT: Only the sky and the green grass goes on for ever and today is a good day to die.


MELVIN WHITE
EXECUTED: November 3, 2005.
AGE: 55.
AGE AT TIME OF OFFENCE: 47.
CRIME: Kidnapped and sexually assaulted a nine-year-old girl then bound her hands and feet, then hit her repeatedly on the head with a heavy car tool until she died.
LAST STATEMENT: Tell Beth and them I am truly sorry for the pain I caused your family. I truly mean that, too. She was a friend of mine and I betrayed her trust. I love you all. Tell momma I love her. (Recites The Lord Is My Shepherd, then The Lord's Prayer) All right Warden, let's give them what they want.

ROBERT ANDERSON
EXECUTED: July 20, 2006.
AGE: 40.
AGE AT TIME OF OFFENCE: 26.
CRIME: Kidnap and murder of fiveyearold Audrey Reeves, who was playing in a park outside his home.
LAST STATEMENT: Yes, I would like to make a short brief one, please. To Audrey's grandmother, I am sorry for the pain I have caused you for the last 15 years and your family. I have regretted this for a long time. I am sorry. I only ask that you remember the Lord because He remembers us and He forgives us if we ask Him. I am sorry.

MELVIN WHITE
EXECUTED: November 3, 2005.
AGE: 55.
AGE AT TIME OF OFFENCE: 47.
CRIME: Kidnapped and sexually assaulted a nine-year-old girl then bound her hands and feet, then hit her repeatedly on the head with a heavy car tool until she died.
LAST STATEMENT: Tell Beth and them I am truly sorry for the pain I caused your family. I truly mean that, too. She was a friend of mine and I betrayed her trust. I love you all. Tell momma I love her. (Recites The Lord Is My Shepherd, then The Lord's Prayer) All right Warden, let's give them what they want.

DAVID LONG EXECUTED: December 8, 1999.
AGE: 46.
AGE AT TIME OF OFFENCE: 33.
CRIME: Killed three women with a hatchet, one of whom was blind.
LAST STATEMENT: Ah, just ah sorry ya'll. I think I've tried everything I could to get in touch with ya'll to express how sorry I am. I never was right after that incident happened. I sent a letter to somebody, you know a letter outlining what I feel about everything. But anyway I just wanted, right after that, to apologise to you. I'm real sorry for it. I was raised by the California Youth Authority, I can't really pinpoint where it started, but really believe that's just the bottom line, what happened to me was in California. I was in their reformatory schools and penitentiary, but ah they create monsters in there. That's it, I have nothing else to say. Thanks for coming, Jack.

RICHARD J WILKERSON
EXECUTED: August 31, 1993.
AGE: 29.
AGE AT TIME OF OFFENCE: 19.
CRIME: Robbery and murder of eight people at a race track (as part of a gang).
LAST STATEMENT: This execution is not justice. This execution is an act of revenge! If this is justice, then justice is blind. Take a borderline retarded young male who for the first time ever in his life committed a felony, then contaminate his TRUE tell-all confession, add a judge who discriminates plus an ALL-WHITE JURY, pile on an ineffective assistance of counsel and execute the option of rehabilitation, persecute the witnesses and you have created a death sentence for a family lasting over ten years. I will say once again - this execution isn't justice - but an act of revenge. Killing R.J. will not bring Anil [one of his victims] back, it only justifies 'an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth'. It's too late to help R.J., but maybe this poem will help someone else out there. 'Seeing Through the Eyes of a Death Row Inmate'

Sometime I wonder why, why he? Why did he go out into the world to see?
To be out there and see what really did exist,
Now his name is written down on the
Death Row list. I can only imagine how lonesome he was all by himself.
We both knew he had no future left! His hopes and dreams became a fantasy.
He often said, 'There's nothing left of me.'
I have asked myself, why did he get involved with drugs?
He could never explain why he hung around with thugs?
Did it really make him feel like a king - Did he actually think he was capable of getting away with anything?
He knew the thought of life wasn't ticking in his head.
There's nothing left but the memory of those who lay dead.
What was did, cannot be undone. He was confessed, he was one of the guilty ones.
What would he say to the victim's family? - I'm sorry and my head wasn't on straight.
I hope you will accept my apology, even though it's too late.
I never knew I would take a life and commit a crime.
I regret it because now I have to face the lethal injection while doing death row time.
I knew I would pay with struggle and strife, But I never thought the cost would be me losing my life.


Richard J. Wilkerson Written through his sister

EDWARD ELLIS
EXECUTED: March 3, 1992.
AGE: 39.
AGE AT TIME OF OFFENCE: 29.
CRIME: Dubbed the 'bathtub slayer', drowned an elderly woman he used to do maintenance work for in an apartment block, and stole from her.
LAST STATEMENT: I just want everyone to know the prosecutor and Bill Scott are sorry sons of bitches. 'To his family he added that he loved them all.'


HENRY PORTER
EXECUTED: July 9, 1985.
AGE: 43.
AGE AT TIME OF OFFENCE: 33.
CRIME: Killing a police officer.
LAST STATEMENT: What I want people to know is that they call me a coldblooded killer when I shot a man that shot me first. The only thing that convicted me was that I am a Mexican and that he was a police officer. People hollered for my life, and they are to have my life tonight. The people never hollered for the life of the policeman that killed a 13-yearold boy who was handcuffed in the back seat of a police car. The people never hollered for the life of a Houston police officer who beat up and drowned Jose Campo Torres and threw his body in the river. You call that equal justice. This is your equal justice. This is America's equal justice. A Mexican's life is worth nothing. When a policeman kills someone he gets a suspended sentence. When a Mexican kills a police officer this is what you get. From there you call me a cold-blooded murderer. I didn't tie anyone to a stretcher. I didn't pump poison into anybody's veins from behind a locked door. I hope God will be as merciful to society as He has been to me.
I'm ready, Warden.

JEFFERY DOUGHTIE
EXECUTED: August 16, 2001.
AGE: 39.
AGE AT TIME OF OFFENCE: 31.
CRIME: Murder of an elderly couple in their antiques shop.
LAST STATEMENT: For almost nine years I have thought about the death penalty, whether it is right or wrong, and I don't have any answers. But I don't think the world will be a better or safer place without me. If you had wanted to punish me you would have killed me the day after, instead of killing me now. You are not hurting me now. I have had time to get ready, to tell my family goodbye, to get my life where it needed to be.

NAPOLEON BEAZLEY
EXECUTED: May 28, 2002.
AGE: 25.
AGE AT TIME OF OFFENCE: 17.
CRIME: 'Carjacking murder' of 63-year-old John Luttig.
LAST STATEMENT: The act I committed to put me here was not just heinous, it was senseless. But the person that committed that act is no longer here - I am. I'm not going to struggle physically against any restraints. I'm not going to shout, use profanity or make idle threats. Understand, though, that I'm not only upset, but I'm saddened by what is happening here tonight.
I'm not only saddened, but disappointed that a system supposed to protect and uphold what is just and right can be so much like me when I made the same shameful mistake.
If someone tried to dispose of everyone here for participating in this killing, I'd scream a resounding, 'No'. I'd tell them to give them all the gift that they would not give me and that's to give them all a second chance.
I'm sorry that I am here. I'm sorry that you're all here. I'm sorry that John Luttig died. And I'm sorry that it was something in me that caused all of this to happen to begin with.
Tonight we tell the world that there are no second chances in the eyes of justice. Tonight, we tell our children that in some instances, in some cases, killing is right. No one wins tonight. No one gets closure. No one walks away victorious.

DOMINIQUE GREEN
EXECUTED: October 26, 2004.
AGE: 30.
AGE AT TIME OF OFFENCE: 18.
CRIME: Aggravated robbery and murder.
LAST STATEMENT: I am not angry, but I am disappointed that I was denied justice. But I am happy that I was afforded you all as family and friends. You all have been there for me; it's a miracle. I love you. I am not as strong as I thought I was going to be. But I guess it only hurts for a little while. You all are my family. Please keep my memory alive.

BILLY VICKERS
EXECUTED: January 28, 2004.
AGE: 58.
AGE AT TIME OF OFFENCE: 47.
CRIME: Murder.
LAST STATEMENT: Yes. I would just like to say to my family that I am sorry for all the grief I have caused. I love you all. Tell Mama and the kids I love you; I love all of you. And I would like to clear some things up if I could. Tommy Perkins, the man that got a capital life sentence for murdering Kinslow - he did not do it. I did it.
He would not even have had anything to do with it if he had known I was going to shoot the man. He would not have gone with me if he had known. I was paid to shoot the man.
And Martin, the younger boy, did not know what it was about. He thought it was just a robbery. I am sorry for that. It was nothing personal. I was trying to make a living. A boy on Eastham doing a life sentence for killing Jamie Kent - I did not do it, but I was with his daddy when it was done. I was there with him and down through the years there were several more that I had done or had a part of.
And I am sorry and I am not sure how many - there must be a dozen or 14 I believe all total. One I would like to clear up is Cullen Davis - where he was charged with shooting his wife. And all of these it was never nothing personal. It was just something I did to make a living. I am sorry for all the grief I have caused. I love you all. That is all I have to say.



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