Tag: william speer

William Speer Execution Scheduled For Today

william speer texas

William Speer is scheduled to be executed today, October 26 2023, by the State of Texas for a prison murder

According to court documents William Speer was serving a life sentenced for murder when he and another prisoner, Anibal Canales, would beat to death another prisoner: Gary Dickerson in July 1997 at the Telford state prison

Both William Speer and Anibal Canales would be sentenced to death.

Anibal Canales remains on Texas death row

Apparently William Speer is the leader of a large religious group on Texas death row and has spent years on death row with no discipline issues. The sister of Gary Dickerson is asking that William’s life could be spared

UPDATE – William Speer execution has been put on hold by the Texas Supreme Court

William Speer News

A Texas inmate faces execution Thursday for killing another prisoner more than 26 years ago, but the victim’s sister and religious leaders have asked authorities to spare his life.

William Speer, 49, is set to receive a lethal injection at the state penitentiary in Huntsville. He was condemned for strangling to death Gary Dickerson in July 1997 at the Telford state prison, located near New Boston in northeast Texas.

“I am so aware of the things that I’ve done. I’m so aware of the pain and the hurt that I’ve caused. I could just say that I’m sorry,” Speer said in a video submitted as part of his clemency petition to the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles.

William Speer’s lawyers say he has transformed while in prison, expressed regret for his actions and now helps lead a religious program that ministers to other death row inmates.

His attorneys have asked state and federal courts to halt the execution. One request for a stay focuses on allegations that prosecutors at his 2001 trial failed to disclose evidence, presented false testimony and that his trial lawyers failed to present evidence about Speer’s troubled childhood. They say Speer was physically and sexually abused as a child. Prosecutors have denied the allegations against them.

William Speer’s attorneys had also asked to stop his execution over claims the state’s supply of pentobarbital, the drug used in executions, was exposed to extreme heat during a recent fire, making it unsafe. A federal judge and Texas’ top criminal appeals court this week denied appeals on this claim. A similar allegation made by another inmate, Jedidiah Murphy, was unsuccessful and he was executed earlier this month.

The Texas Attorney General’s Office said the execution drugs were tested after the fire for potency and sterility. Murphy’s execution showed the state can “handle Speer’s execution in a safe and humane manner,” authorities said.

At the time of inmate Dickerson’s killing, Speer had been serving a life sentence for fatally shooting a friend’s father, Jerry Collins, at the man’s Houston area home. Speer was 16 then.

The paroles board on Tuesday voted 7-0 against commuting Speer’s death sentence to a lesser penalty. Members also rejected granting a six-month reprieve.

Speer killed Dickerson in a bid to join the Texas Mafia prison gang, prosecutors said. The gang ordered the hit after mistakenly concluding Dickerson had informed authorities about tobacco it had tried to smuggle into the prison.

Speer and another inmate, Anibal Canales Jr. were sentenced to death for the killing. Canales remains on death row.

At Speer’s trial, Sammie Martin, who is Dickerson’s only living sibling, told jurors her mother was devasted by her brother’s death.

But Martin has now asked that Speer’s life be spared

I have spent much time reflecting on what justice my brother and my family deserved,” Martin wrote in federal court documents filed this week. “In my heart, I feel that he is not only remorseful for his actions but has been doing good works for others and has something left to offer the world.”

Martin said she was never informed by prosecutors about Speer’s scheduled execution.

In court documents filed this week, lawyers with the Texas Attorney General’s Office said that despite Martin’s feelings about Speer’s execution, “the state retains its interest in deterring gang murders and prison violence, as well as seeing justice done for Dickerson.”

A group of religious leaders from around the country have also asked that Speer be spared. In a letter to the paroles board and Gov. Greg Abbott, they wrote that Speer’s religious work with other prisoners “does not excuse his actions, but it gives us a fuller picture of who Will is as a human, Christian, leader, and teacher.”

Speer would be the seventh inmate in Texas and the 21st in the U.S. put to death this year.

https://apnews.com/article/texas-execution-prisoner-killed-sister-128e902e2a702668f8b7e0e4ede588b5

William Speer Texas Death Row

william speer

William Speer was sentenced to death by the State of Texas for a prison murder. According to court documents William Speer was already serving a life sentence for murder when he and Anibal Canales beat to death a fellow inmate at the Telford Unit in Bowie County. William Speer and Anibal Canales would be convicted and sentenced to death.

Texas Death Row Inmates List

William Speer Execution Scheduled For October 26 2023

William Speer 2021 Information

NameSpeer, William
TDCJ Number999398
Date of Birth09/29/1974
Date Received10/30/2001
Age (when Received)27
Education Level (Highest Grade Completed)8
Date of Offense07/11/1997
 Age (at the time of Offense)23
 CountyBowie
 RaceWhite
 GenderMale
 Hair ColorBlack
 Height (in Feet and Inches)6′ 0″
 Weight (in Pounds)215
 Eye ColorBrown
 Native CountyHarris
 Native StateTexas

Anibal Canales 2021 Information

Anibal Canales
NameAnibal Canales, Jr.
TDCJ Number999366
Date of Birth12/1/1964
Date Received11/1/2000
Age (when Received)35
Education Level (Highest Grade Completed)10
Date of Offense7/11/1997
 Age (at the time of Offense)32
 CountyBowie
 RaceHispanic
 GenderMale
 Hair ColorBlack
 Height (in Feet and Inches)6′ 5″
 Weight (in Pounds)280
 Eye ColorBrown
 Native CountyLake County
 Native StateIllinois

William Speer More News

A man who was convicted and sentenced to death for strangling a fellow inmate at the Telford Unit in New Boston claims prosecutors violated the law during his trial.

The allegations have led a federal judge to ask Bowie County District Judge Ralph Burgess to take another look at the case.

William “Stay Puff” Speer was already serving a life sentence for shooting the father of a friend in Houston when he and Anibel “Bigfoot” Canales Jr. strangled Gary “Dirty” Dickerson to death in his Telford Unit cell on July 11, 1997.

Dickerson’s death was allegedly motivated by the men’s connection with the Texas Mafia, a prison gang.

Canales was serving a 15-year sentence for an aggravated sexual assault involving violence against a stranger. He and Speer were tried in Bowie County for Dickerson’s murder and sentenced to death. Their convictions were obtained largely as the result of other inmates who testified as witnesses for the state.

Defense attorney Craig Henry alleges that one inmate received a change in classification as a gang member as a result of his cooperation and efforts to obtain evidence incriminating Speer and Canales. That inmate was living in administrative segregation at the Telford Unit because he had been identified as a member of the Texas Mafia. Declassification from gang status meant the inmate would go from 23 hours of daily solitude with one hour of recreation to having a cell mate and living in the general population where he could socialize with other inmates and enjoy more liberty.

Speer’s trial was held in Bowie County before District Judge Jack Carter in October 2001. Burgess now presides over the court where Speer was convicted and sentenced to die. Canales was tried in 2000 and received a death sentence as well.

Since then, Speer has exhausted his appeals at the state level. Henry filed a request for post conviction relief in federal court in May 2005. However, Henry filed a request to have the proceedings halted at the federal level and moved back to the state District Court for review because he believes the state knowingly presented false testimony at Speer’s and Canales’ trials.

“Evidence developed during the post-conviction investigation by counsel for Mr. Canales demonstrates that the state suppressed material favorable evidence and knowingly presented false testimony during Mr. Speer’s trial, namely that the prisoners called to testify on behalf of the state had not received benefits in exchange for their testimony,” Henry wrote.

The case was prosecuted by Mark Mullin of the Special Prosecutors Office in Huntsville, Texas. He strongly denied the allegation he withheld information regarding incentives given to inmate witnesses at Speer’s trial.

“That did not happen and I’ll stand by that when I stand in front of God,” Mullin said. “If someone can show that I knowingly hid information about deals, I will step down as special prosecutor.”

The SPO handles many cases that stem from alleged criminal conduct in the Texas prison system. Guards, civilian staff and visitors have been prosecuted by the SPO in addition to prisoners who have committed new crimes while behind bars.

During Speer’s trial, jurors were told the inmates who testified against him received nothing in exchange for their testimonies. That belief would presumably give jurors the impression the inmates had no reason to lie and that there was little doubt they had been truthful.

“The claims are based upon the prosecution’s failure to disclose to his trial counsel that it had offered incentives to inmate witnesses in exchange for their testimony,” federal Judge T. John Ward wrote in his May 13 opinion.

The testimony of inmates was critical to the prosecution’s case. If Speer’s and Canales’ defense teams had known the inmates were being compensated for testifying, that fact could have been used by them to discredit the inmate witnesses.

Speer was represented by David Carter and Canales was defended by Jeff Harrelson and Paul Hoover.

If jurors had doubted whether those inmates whose testimony was used to convict the accused were telling the truth, the verdict rendered might have been different, Henry argues.

Henry’s motion asks the state to overturn Speer’s conviction based on the new information he claims to have been made aware of in October 2007.

Because federal courts prefer for matters to be addressed by and resolved if possible by the state courts, Ward wants the State of Texas to address the issue before he continues to address Speer’s appeal at the federal level, he wrote.

Henry said he will ask the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals for permission to have the case reviewed again by Burgess. If they allow it, Burgess will have the responsibilty of deciding whether the claims being made by Speer are supported by the facts. If he finds the prosecution did withhold information from the defense, he will then find it necessary to determine if that swayed the jury in a different direction. If a judge finds the new evidence could have changed the outcome of Speer’s trial he may overturn the conviction and the whole process would begin anew.

Henry wants the court to allow him to examine a copy of the prosecution’s file. He is also requesting permission to depose Mullin, prosecutor Candace Norris, who assisted Mullin, several of the inmates who testified in Speer’s trial and an investigator with the Special Prosecutor’s Office.

If the state courts decline to address the issue or find that the claims of prosecutors withholding information about incentives either didn’t happen or made no difference in how the jury voted, the case will again be taken up by Ward.

https://www.texarkanagazette.com/news/texarkana/story/2008/may/25/questions-surround-convictions-telford-unit-m/104483/