[variable]

Jan Michael Brawner

Executed June 12, 2012 at 6:18 p.m. by Lethal Injection in Mississippi



Victims:

Barbara Craft, 23
Paige Brawner, 3
Jane Craft, 47
Carl Craft, 47

Crime:

Brawner went to the home of his ex-wife, Barbara, who had custody of their daughter Paige. They lived with her parents in Tate County. Barbara had earlier threatened not to let Brawner around their daughter. He found no one at home and waited until Paige, Barbara, and Barbara's mother pulled into the diveway. After a brief conversation, Brawner became agitated and went to the truck and brought back the rifle that he had taken from the house earlier that day. When he saw Jane walking toward the bedroom, he shot her with the rifle. He then shot Barbara as she was coming toward him, and went to where Jane had fallen and “put her out of her misery.” After this, he shot Barbara again and took Paige, who had witnessed the murders, to her bedroom and told her to watch TV. After Brawner determined that Paige would be able to identify him, and in his words, he “was just bent on killing,” he went back into the bedroom and shot his daughter twice, killing her. He then waited in the house until Carl came home from work, and when Carl walked through the door, Brawner shot and killed him. Brawner stole approximately $300 from Carl's wallet, Jane's wedding ring, and food stamps out of Barbara's purse. He took Windex from the kitchen and attempted to wipe away any fingerprints he may have left. Brawner then returned to his apartment in Southaven, where he gave the stolen wedding ring to his girlfriend, asked her to marry him. When he was later questioned by police, Brawner admitted the murders.

Citations:

Brawner v. State, 872 So.2d 1 (Miss. 2004). (Direct Appeal)
Brawner v. State, 947 So.2d 254 (Miss. 2006). (PCR)
Brawner v. Epps, 439 Fed.Appx. 396 (Miss. 2011). (Habeas)

Final/Special Meal:

One DiGiorno Italian Style Favorites Chicken Parmesan pizza, One DiGiorno Italian Style Favorites Meat Trio pizza, a small salad (lettuce, pickles, black olives, tomatoes, shredded cheddar cheese with Ranch dressing), small bottle Tabasco sauce, ½ gallon brewed iced sweet tea and 1 pint Breyers Blast Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup ice cream.

Final Words:

“I can’t bring anything back. I can’t change what I’ve done. Maybe this will bring you a little peace. Thank you."

[variable]

Gary Carl Simmons Jr.

Executed June 20, 2012 at 6:16 p.m. by Lethal Injection in Mississippi



Victim:

Jeffery Wolfe, 21

Crime:

21 year old Jeffery Wolfe and his girlfriend had driven from Houston to Mississippi to collect a drug debt of between $12,000 to $20,000 owed by Simmons and Timothy Milano. When they got to Simmons' house, Simmons and Milano told Wolfe they did not have the drugs or the money. An argument erupted, and Milano fatally shot Wolfe with a .22-caliber rifle. Simmons then hog-tied and locked Wolfe's girlfriend in a foot locker, removing her later to rape her and "telling her that her life depended on how well she performed sexually. Simmons put the woman back inside the box and went into the bathroom, where he dismembered and gutted Wolfe's body in the bathtub using knives from his grocery store butcher shop. Simmons and Milano scattered the victim's remains in a bayou behind Simmons' property. Wolfe's girlfriend managed to escape from the foot locker and ran to a neighbor's house to call police. Accomplice Milano was sentenced to life in prison for his role in the crime.

Citations:

Simmons v. State, 805 So.2d 452 (Miss. 2001). (Direct Appeal)
Simmons v. State, 869 So.2d 995 (Miss. 2004). (PCR)
Simmons v. Epps, 654 F.3d 526 (5th Cir. Miss. 2011). (Habeas)

Final/Special Meal:

One Pizza Hut medium Super Supreme Deep Dish pizza, double portion, with mushrooms, onions, jalapeno peppers, and pepperoni; pizza, regular portion, with three cheeses, olives, bell pepper, tomato, garlic and Italian sausage; 10 8-oz. packs of Parmesan cheese; 10 8-oz. packs of ranch dressing; one family size bag of Doritos nacho cheese flavor; 8 oz. jalapeno nacho cheese; 4 oz. sliced jalapenos; 2 large strawberry shakes; two 20-oz. cherry Cokes; one super-size order of McDonald's fries with extra ketchup and mayonnaise; and two pints of strawberry ice cream.


Final Words:

“I’ve been blessed to be loved by some good people, by some amazing people. I thank them for their support. Now, let’s get it on so these people can go home. That’s it."

[variable]

Samuel Villegas Lopez

Executed June 27, 2012 10:37 a.m. by Lethal Injection in Arizona



Victim:

Estafana Holmes, 59

Crime:

Estefana Holmes was a poor seamstress and 59 year old grandmother who lived alone. Police found her half-naked body in her home with three major stab wounds to her head, one on her face, and 23 in her left breast and upper chest. She had been blindfolded and gagged with her own clothing, and her throat had been slit. Blood was splattered on walls in the kitchen, bathroom and bedroom. Semen found on her body matched Lopez after he was arrested in a separate rape less than a week later.

Citations:

State v. Lopez, 163 Ariz. 108, 786 P.2d 959 (Ariz. 1990). (Direct Appeal)
State v. Lopez, 175 Ariz. 407, 857 P.2d 1261 (Ariz. 1993). (Direct Appeal After Remand)
Lopez v. Ryan, 630 F.3d 1198 (9th Cir. 2011). (Habeas)

Final / Special Meal:

One red and one green chili burrito, Spanish rice, jalapeno, avocado, cottage cheese, french fries, vanilla ice cream and pineapple.

Final Words:

None.

[variable]

Yokamon Laneal Hearn

Executed July 18, 2012 06:37 p.m. CDT by Lethal Injection in Texas



Victim:


Frank Meziere, 23

Crime:

Hearn (19) and Delvin Diles (19) approached Frank Meziere (23) as he washed his car at a coin-operated car wash in North Dallas. They forced Meziere at gunpoint into his own car, then drove to a deserted area. Two other companions, Dwight Burley, 20, and Teresa Shirley, 19, followed in a second car. Hearn and Diles then shot Meziere several times in the head and upper body. The assailants then took the victim's wallet and personal items and fled in his vehicle. Meziere's body was discovered the next morning. He had twelve bullet wounds from 9 mm and .22-caliber weapons. His car was also discovered later that morning, abandoned in a shopping center parking lot. Hearn and his companions were caught on videotape by a security camera at a convenience store adjacent to the car wash. At trial, Teresa Shirley testified as an eyewitness / accomplice to the murder of Meziere.

Diles pleaded guilty to capital murder and was sentenced to life in prison. Burley and Shirley both pleaded guilty to aggravated robbery and received 10-year sentences. They were discharged in 2008.

Citations:

Hearn v. State, No. 73,371, slip op. (Tex.Crim.App. Oct. 3, 2001). (Direct Appeal)
Ex parte Hearn, 310 S.W.3d 424 (Tex. Crim. App. 2010). (PCR)
Hearn v. Cockrell, 73 Fed.Appx. 79 (5th Cir. 2003). (Habeas)

Final/Special Meal:

Texas no longer offers a special "last meal" to condemned inmates. Instead, the inmate is offered the same meal served to the rest of the unit.

Final/Last Words:

"I'd like to tell my family that I love y'all and I wish y'all well. I'm ready."

[variable]

Marvin Lee Wilson

Executed August 7, 2012 06:27 p.m. CDT by Lethal Injection in Texas



Victim:

Jerry Robert Williams, 21

Crime:

Wilson and Andrews were arrested for Possession of Cocaine based upon the testimony of an informant, Jerry Robert Williams. Wilson told a friend he was going to "get" the snitch. Five days later, Wilson confronted Williams in the parking lot of a grocery store. According to eyewitnesses, Wilson stood over Williams and beat him, saying "What do you want to be a snitch for? Do you know what we do to a snitch? Do you want to die right here?" Williams managed to run away from Wilson and made it across the street to a field, where Wilson and Andrews caught up to him. Wilson and Andrews forced Williams into the car and gunshots were heard. His nude body was discovered the next morning. The autopsy showed that he died from close range gunshots to the head and neck. Eyewitnesses to the beating testified at Wilson's trial. Andrews was sentenced to life imprisonment.

Wilson's final appeals focused upon his alleged mental retardation. IQ tests were administered throughout his life. In the first test, given at school when he was 13, he scored 73. The next test was given by Texas Department of Criminal Justice when Wilson was 29, when he scored 75. Wilson took three more IQ tests as part of the evidentiary hearing. His scores in those were 61, 75, and 79.

Citations:
Wilson v. State, 938 S.W.2d 57 (Tex.Cr.App. 1996). (Direct Appeal - Reversed)
Wilson v. State, 7 S.W.2d 136 (Tex.Cr.App. 1999). (Direct Appeal - Affirmed)
Wilson v. Cockrell, 70 Fed.Appx. 219 (5th Cir. 2003). (Habeas)
Wilson v. Thaler, 450 Fed.Appx. 369 (5th Cir. 2011). (State Habeas - Retardation)

Final/Special Meal:

Texas no longer offers a special "last meal" to condemned inmates. Instead, the inmate is offered the same meal served to the rest of the unit.

Final/Last Words:

"Give mom a hug for me and tell her that I love her. Take me home, Jesus. Take me home, Lord. I ain't left yet, must be a miracle. I am a miracle. Y’all do understand that I came here a sinner and leaving a saint. Take me home Jesus, take me home Lord, take me home Lord!”

[variable]

Daniel Wayne Cook

Executed August 8, 2012 11:03 a.m. by Lethal Injection in Arizona



Victims:


Kevin Swaney, 16

and

Carlos Froyan Cruz-Ramos, 26

Crime:

Cook, John Matzke, and Carlos Froyan Cruz-Ramos worked at a restaurant in Lake Havasu City and shared an apartment. On July 19, 1987, Cook stole some money from Cruz-Ramos. When Cruz-Ramos began searching the apartment for the money, Cook and Matzke tied Cruz-Ramos to a chair and began beating him with their fists and a metal pipe. Cook also cut Cruz-Ramos with a knife, sodomized him, and burned his genitals with cigarettes. After several hours of this torture, Matzke and Cook crushed Cruz-Ramos' throat with the pipe. When Kevin Swaney, another co-worker, arrived at the apartment, Cook forced him upstairs and showed him Cruz-Ramos' body. Cook and Matzke then tied Swaney to a chair. Matzke went to sleep while Cook sodomized Swaney. When Cook was finished, he woke Matzke and the two men strangled Swaney to death with a bed sheet. Matzke later went to the police, confessed to the murders and implicated Cook. Matzke was allowed to enter a guilty plea and was sentenced to 20 years imprisonment. He was released from prison in July 2007.

Citations:

State v. Cook, 170 Ariz. 40, 821 P.2d 731 (Ariz. 1991). (Direct Appeal)
Cook v. Schriro, 516 F.3d 802 (9th Cir. 2008). (Habeas)

Final / Special Meal:

Eggplant lasagna, garlic cheese mashed potatoes, roasted brussel sprouts, broiled asparagus, root beer soda, and ice cream.

Final Words:

"I'd like to say sorry to the victim's family. I know that's not enough . . . (significant pause) . . . Where am I? To my lawyers, thank you. Red Robin, yum. I'm done. I love you".

[variable]

Michael Edward Hooper

Executed August 14, 2012 06:14 p.m. CDT by Lethal Injection in Oklahoma



Victims:


Cynthia Lynn Roggy Jarman, 23
Timothy Jarman, 3
Tonya Jarman, 5

Crime:

Hooper dated Cynthia Jarman for more than a year until the summer of 1993. Their relationship was physically violent, and Hooper threatened to kill Cindy on several occasions. Cindy began dating his friend, Bill Stremlow and later began living with him. On December 7, Cindy drove Stremlow to work and used his car. Later that night, Stremlow's truck was found burning in a field in northwest Oklahoma City. An accelerant had been used. Cindy was never seen again. Hooper's fingerprints were later found on a whiskey bottle inside the Stremlow residence. An area rancher reported discovering blood and shell casings on his property. Police found the bodies of Cynthia Jarman and her two children, Tonya (5) and Timothy (3) buried in a shallow grave. Each had been shot twice in the head or face. Police arrested Hooper and searched his parents' home. The police recovered a .9 mm weapon Hooper had purchased several months prior to the murders. Ballistics confirmed that the shell casings near the gravesite were a match to this weapon. Police also recovered two shovels with soil consistent with soil from the grave site, and tennis shoes that matched the footprints found there. A witness testified that Hooper had visited this field several times in the past.

Citations:

Hooper v. State, 947 P.2d 1090 (Okla.Crim. App. 1997). (Direct Appeal)
Hooper v. Turnbull, 957 P.2d 120 (Okl.Cr.App. 1998). (PCR)
Hooper v. State, 142 P.3d 463 (Okla.Crim.App. 2006). (Direct Appeal After Resentencing)
Hooper v. Mullin, 314 F.3d 1162 (10th Cir. 2002). (Habeas)
Hooper v. Workman, 446 Fed.Appx. 88 (10th Cir. 2011). (Habeas)

Final/Special Meal:

A small cranberry juice, a small coffee, a small portion of blackberries, a small portion of cherries, strawberries, a peach, an apricot, a plum, a pear, an apple, a banana and an orange.

Final Words:

"Also, my family for standing by me throughout all this. I appreciate them being there for me through the hardships. I ask that my spirit be released directly into the hands of Jesus. I'm ready to go. I love you all."

[luton loyal]

[Feirefiz]

Final/Special Meal:

A small cranberry juice, a small coffee, a small portion of blackberries, a small portion of cherries, strawberries, a peach, an apricot, a plum, a pear, an apple, a banana and an orange.

Nice!

[BigFoot]

"Where am I? To my lawyers, thank you. Red Robin, yum. I'm done. I love you"

Greatest thing ever lol.