[Lion-hearted Girl]

[rapeWhistle]

Retarded or not, murder is murder.

Good riddance.

[Lion-hearted Girl]

[Lion-hearted Girl]

Texas Prepares for February 4 Execution of Donald Newbury

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Donald Keith Newbury's execution is scheduled to occur at 6 pm CST, on Wednesday, February 4, 2015, at the Walls Unit of the Huntsville State Penitentiary in Huntsville, Texas. Fifty-two-year-old Donald is convicted of the murder of 29-year-old Police Officer Aubrey Hawkins on December 24, 2000, in Irving, Texas. Donald has spent the last 12 years of his life on Texas’ death row.

Donald attended school though the sixth grade. He had previously been arrested and served time for aggravated robbery, twice. Prior to his arrest he had worked as a carpenter, an electrician, and a laborer.

In 1998, Donald Newbury was, for a third time, convicted of aggravated robbery with a deadly weapon, leading to a 99 year prison sentence. In December of 2000, Newbury was serving his time at the John B. Connally Unit, a maximum security state prison near Kenedy, Texas. Donald conspired with six other inmates - 39-year-old Joseph C. Garcia, 23-year-old Randy Ethan Halprin, 37-year-old Larry James Harper, 39-year-old Patrick Henry Murphy, Jr., 30-year-old George Rivas, and 38-year-old Michael Anthony Rodriguez - to break out of the prison. The group, lead by George Rivas, became known as the “Texas 7.” All were serving sentences of 30 years or longer, most with potential life sentences.

On December 13, 2000, around 11:20 am, the seven inmates used a variety of ploys to overpower and restrain nine civilian maintenance supervisors, four correctional officers, and three uninvolved inmates. They had planned the escape during the slowest part of the day and in areas with low surveillance. They stole a white prison truck to assist in their escape, eventually dumping it in a Wal-Mart parking lot.

After their escape, the group of seven fled to San Antonio. On December 14, they robbed a Radio Shack in Pearland to obtain money. On December 19, the four of the seven checked into an Econo Lodge motel in Farmers Branch. They decided, once again needing money, to rob Oshman’s Sporting Goods store in Irving, a nearby town. For several days they cased the store and created their plans.

On December 24, 2000, they held up to store, stealing 44 guns and over $70,000 in cash. A customer outside the store saw the hold up and called police. Officer Aubrey Hawkins responded to the call and was immediately ambushed. He suffered 11 gunshot wounds from at least five different weapons. His body was dragged out from his vehicle and run over by the group as they fled the scene.

The Texas 7 were eventually arrested, with the help of the television show America’s Most Wanted, which featured their story on January 20, 2001. Six of seven were captured, while the seventh, Larry Harper, killed himself before he could be arrested. All six surviving members were charged, convicted, and sentenced to death for the murder of Officer Hawkins. As it was unclear who actually shot Officer Hawkins, they were convicted under the Law of Parties, which allows for a person to be criminally held responsible for another’s actions if that person acts with “the intent to promote or assist the commission of the offense and solicits, encourages, directs aids, or attempts to aid the other person to commit the offense… If, in the attempt to carry out a conspiracy to commit one felony, another felony is committed by one of the conspirators, all conspirator are guilty of the felony actually committed.”

The ringleader, George Rivas was executed on February 29, 2012. Michael Anthony Rodriguez was executed on August 14, 2008, after asking that his appeals be stopped.

[rob666]

99 years for 3rd robbery, ouch

[djrizzz]

[apache]

Nice set Lion! Good reading and also cool to note that the Andrew Howard Brannan video is used in Police training academies across the county. They teach that if an person has their back turned, not listening to commands, and holding a firearm then you can shoot that person, this is from what of course I have been told

[Lion-hearted Girl]

Originally Posted by jrs155 ↗

Nice set Lion! Good reading and also cool to note that the Andrew Howard Brannan video is used in Police training academies across the county. They teach that if an person has their back turned, not listening to commands, and holding a firearm then you can shoot that person, this is from what of course I have been told

Thanks! That's interesting, I didn't know that. It sure is fascinating reading all the details about these cases

[Lion-hearted Girl]

Botched execution of Clayton Lockett could lead to return of gas chamber in Oklahoma

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A US state is considering bringing back the gas chamber after the 43-minute-long botched execution of a convicted murderer and rapist last year.

Politicians in Oklahoma have given their preliminary approval to execute prisoners by nitrogen hypoxia, which is thought to be the most humane form of capital punishment.



Republican Mike Christian, who wrote the bill that could lead to the changes, described death by toxic gas as a a “euphoric feeling”.

Oklahoma would become the first US state to bring back the gas chamber after it was removed in favour of lethal injection decades ago. If successful, Clayton Lockett’s prolonged execution will have been the catalyst.

The Senate Judiciary Committee in Oklahoma voted 9-0 to authorise death by nitrogen hypoxia as a backup method if drugs administered during lethal injection become unavailable pending a US Supreme Court inquiry.

The court is reviewing the lethal injection method after Lockett died from cardiac arrest 43 minutes into an execution that should have been immediate.

Lockett, 38, was convicted of kidnapping, beating, raping, shooting and burying alive a 19-year-old woman and sentenced to death. His execution was supposed to be simple but turned into a nightmare for the inmate, those administering the drugs and the state’s politicians.

At 6.23pm on April 29, 2014, Lockett was administered with a sedative. It took 10 minutes for doctors to declare him unconscious. He wasn’t.

Doctors tried to administer three lethal drugs but 20 minutes into the execution the prisoner was still not dead. Lockett was lifting his head and writhing on the bed. The execution was called off before Lockett died at 7.06pm from a heart attack. Autopsy results showed Lockett’s vein had collapsed and the drugs had absorbed into his tissue.

Reporter Bailey Elise McBride witnessed the execution and said Lockett was “conscious and blinking, licking his lips even after the process began”. She said Lockett was unconscious at 6.33pm and “began to nod, mumble, move body” at 6.34pm.

WHAT’S WRONG WITH LETHAL INJECTION?

The execution of Lockett was controversial before it started. He and fellow prisoner Charles Warner were to be executed in the state’s first double execution in 80 years. Not only that, they were to be the first people executed using the state’s new three-drug method.

The Supreme Court inquiry is looking into whether the sedative midazolam properly renders an inmate unconscious before the second and third drugs are administered. In Lockett’s case, it clearly did not.

Officials in Oklahoma have conceded that midazolam, used in the emergency management of seizures, is not the most effective drug for sedation. The problem is that more effective drugs are unavailable.

If lethal injection is found to be unconstitutional, Oklahoma would resort to the use of the electric chair. A third option would be the firing squad. The building of a gas chamber at Oklahoma State Penitentiary would cost taxpayers $300,000 according to Huffington Post and become the second option in place of the electric chair.

Other states are considering their options, too. Tennessee passed a law last year to bring back the electric chair if lethal drugs are ruled out. Utah is considering bringing back the firing squad, as is Wyoming, which passed legislation in January to do just that.

A total of 35 death row inmates were executed in seven US states in 2014, all by lethal injection.

Pictured: Clayton Lockett

[Lion-hearted Girl]

EXECUTION STAYED

Name: Lester BOWER



State: Texas

Update: Monday, February 9, 2015 12:24 pm EST

Texas Inmate Lester Bower Granted Stay

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Lester Leroy Bower, Jr., was scheduled to be executed at 6 pm CST, on Tuesday, February 10, 2015, at the Walls Unit of the Huntsville State Penitentiary in Huntsville, Texas. He has been granted a stay of execution.

Sixty-seven-year-old Lester is convicted of murdering 51-year-old Bob G. Tate, 39-year-old Ronald Mayes, 29-year-old Philip Good, and 52-year-old Jerry Mac Brown, on October 8, 1983, near Sherman, Texas. Lester has spent the last 30 years on Texas’ death row.

Lester received a stay of execution from the Supreme Court of the United States in order to grant the court time to consider whether they will hear his case, which includes the claim that spending the last 30 years on death row amounts to cruel and unusual punishment.

Lester was born in Kansas City, Missouri. Lester graduated from high school and college, where he played football. Lester had no previous criminal history. Prior to his arrest, he worked as a chemical salesman and enjoyed rafting, hunting, backpacking, and archery. He and his family, a wife and two daughters, moved from Colorado to Texas months before the murders.

In the fall of 1983, much to his wife’s objections, Lester Bower was contemplating purchasing and flying and ultralight aircraft. Bower, unbeknownst to his wife, called Phillip Good after seeing his ad for ultralight aircraft. Philip introduced Bower to Bob Tate, who owned an ultralight he wanted to sell.

On October 8, 1983, Bower drove out to an airport hanger to meet with Philip and Bob. According to Bower, he purchased the ultralight from them, dismantled it, and went to store it in a local gun club so his wife would not find out about his purchase. According to prosecutors, Bower “snapped” and killed Philip and Bob. He then killed Jerry Brown and Ronald Mayes when they came over to investigate.

Bower initially lied to investigators about his whereabouts on the day the four men were killed, allegedly wanted to spare his family from the attention being involved in such a case would bring.

Bower was convicted based on circumstantial evidence. Bower sold firearms on the side, had purchased prior to the murder a gun that used Julio Fiocchi .22 caliber bullets. Casings for these bullets were found on the floor of the hanger where the four men were killed. It was also believed that a silencer was used in the murders, although the murder weapon was never found.

Prosecutors said he killed the men in order to steal the plane. Parts of the plane, with the name “Tate” scratched on them was found in Bower’s garage, along with fingerprints from Jerry, decals and materials which were traditionally found on the exterior of an ultralight aircraft, receipts for Julio Fiocchi .22 caliber bullets, books and articles on weaponry and how to commit murder, instructional guides for using silencers, and manuals for construction of ultralight aircrafts. Unidentified blood stains were also found on Bower’s boots.

Five years after Bower’s conviction and death sentence, a woman came forward claiming Bower did not kill the men; her ex-boyfriend and his three friends did in a drug deal gone bad. Since then, three more witnesses have come forward confirming key pieces of the woman’s claim.

This is at least the sixth execution warrant for Lester Bower. Lester has maintained his innocence, although he is prepared to die.