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Walter Moody Alabama Execution

Walter Moody was executed by the State of Alabama for the murder of a judge. According to court documents Walter Moody sent a letter bomb to Judge Robert Vance. When the US Federal Judge open the package a pipe bomb went off killing the judge. Walter Moody would be executed by lethal injection on April 19, 2018

Walter Moody More News

Getting a plainly wrapped package in the mail wasn’t all that surprising. It was the holidays, after all. What was inside was another matter. It was a bomb.

When federal appeals Judge Robert Vance opened the small brown parcel in the kitchen of his suburban Alabama home on December 16, 1989, it exploded, killing him instantly and seriously injuring his wife.

Two days later, virtually the same scenario happened again. This time, the victim was Atlanta Attorney Robert Robertson.

It wasn’t over. Two more bombs mysteriously appeared. The third, sent to the federal courthouse in Atlanta, was intercepted. A fourth was recovered after being mailed to the Jacksonville office of the NAACP. Through brave and careful work, ATF personnel defused the one bomb and Florida police bomb experts the other.

The murders and serial bombings stunned the nation. Who’d be spiteful enough to send mail bombs during the holidays?

That’s what we aimed to find out. We started with the obvious. Both men were known for their work in civil rights. But that turned out to be a red herring.

Meanwhile, with extensive help from U.S. postal inspectors, we’d gathered the remnants of the bombs and packages for our Lab to analyze, learned the path the packages had taken through the postal system, and assembled a long list of suspects.

A break came when an ATF expert was contacted by a colleague who had helped defuse one of the bombs. He thought it resembled one he’d seen 17 years before. And he remembered the name of the person who had built it—Walter Leroy Moody.

With this lead, the Bureau and its partners began an extensive probe of the events—purchases, contacts, phone calls, etc.—and ultimately linked both the exploded and unexploded bombs to each other and to Moody. Court authorized surveillance of Moody at home and in jail (he talked to himself) provided additional evidence. Other leads were followed, suspects eliminated or linked to the crimes, and detailed analysis done on every bit of evidence, information, and trail that we came across.

Over the next year, Moody’s motive became clear. We found a pattern of experimentation with bombs dating back to the early 1970s when Moody was convicted of possessing a bomb that had hurt his wife when it exploded. His conviction and failed appeals in that case had led him to harbor a long-festering resentment of the court system. His contact with Judge Vance in a 1980s case led to even deeper resentment and a personal animus that led to revenge. The other bombs, we determined, were meant to make us suspect that racism was the motive.

By the spring of 1991, with the help of prosecutor (and future FBI Director) Louis Freeh, a solid case had been developed. The trial was difficult. Moody had made every effort to conceal his connection to the bombings.

On June 28, 1991, based on the extensive investigative work of the FBI, the ATF, the IRS, the U.S. Marshals, the Georgia State Police and many others, the jury found Moody guilty of more than 70 charges and sentenced him to life in prison.

It ended up one of the largest cases in our history—and an important one, as protecting our nation’s judges is a responsibility we take very seriously.

https://www.fbi.gov/history/famous-cases/judge-vance-murder

Michael Eggers Alabama Death Row

Michael Eggers was executed by the State of Alabama for the murder of an elderly woman. According to court documents Michael Eggers would beat to death sixty seven year old woman who was attempting to help him. Michael Eggers would be executed by lethal injection on March 15, 2018

Michael Eggers More News

The state of Alabama executed Michael Wayne Eggers– an inmate who asked to die– on Thursday night at Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore. His time of death was 7:29 p.m.

This is the first execution the state has carried out this year.

Just before 6 p.m., the set execution time, the U.S. Supreme Court denied a stay of execution and announced they would not review the case. Their decision came after Eggers’ former attorney filed petitions for a stay and for a writ of certiorari on Monday.

Eggers, 50, was convicted of capital murder in 2002 for the death of 67-year-old Bennie Francis Murray. In 2016, the inmate said he wished to expedite his execution date and fired his attorneys from the Federal Public Defender’s Office in Montgomery.

Eggers’ execution started at 6:54 p.m., when the curtain to the three viewing rooms opened. The warden first read Eggers his death warrant, and then asked if he had any last words. Eggers replied, “No ma’am.”

At 6:56 p.m., Eggers gave a thumbs up signal using his hand facing the room where his brother, sister-in-law, two friends, and spiritual advisor sat, along with members of the media. One of the men in Eggers’ group gave back a sign language signal meaning, “I love you.”

At 7:00 p.m., Eggers showed signs of heavy breathing. A corrections officer performed a consciousness check at 7:03 p.m. and loudly said, “inmate Eggers,” three times. The officer also brushed Eggers’ eye and pinched him, and Eggers’ arm moved slightly.

His breathing slowed, and another consciousness check was performed at 7:09 p.m. Eggers made no movements.

At 7:12 p.m., the inmate’s breathing appeared to stop. The curtains were closed for the viewing rooms at 7:22 p.m., and Alabama Department of Corrections spokesman Bob Horton announced the time of death was officially 7:29 p.m.

Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshal issued this statement following the execution: “Michael Eggers showed no mercy towards his victim, his former employer, Bennie Francis Murray, who donated much of her personal time to helping him find a new job. On the night of her murder, Mrs. Murray gave Eggers a lift to pick up his car. Instead of showing her gratitude, Eggers rewarded her kindness by brutally beating and strangling her. He even returned to the scene of the crime to make sure she was dead. After 18 years of waiting, justice has finally been served tonight for the Murray family.”

Gov. Kay Ivey also issued a statement. She said: “When an execution is approaching, I thoroughly consider all elements of the crime committed, the procedural history of the case and any mitigating and aggravating factors which are present. With every execution, my goal is to ensure that the law is followed and that justice is ultimately served for all parties involved, including the accused and the victim. Mr. Eggers was convicted of brutally beating and then murdering Mrs. Francis Murray, who was simply trying to help him. The facts are clear, and Mr. Eggers admits, that he went to great lengths to ensure Mrs. Murray’s death and then to hide the evidence of his crime. His case has been reviewed at every level of the judiciary and has consistently been upheld, including Mr. Eggers’ own personal request to have his sentence carried out. After having considered Mr. Eggers’ wanton crime and all the factors surrounding his case, I determined it was best to allow the laws of this state to be followed and for the execution to be completed.”

Members of the media were driven to the prison just before 6 p.m., but were not allowed inside the facility until approximately 45 minutes later. Alabama Department of Corrections Commissioner Jeff Dunn said there were no issues with the execution. “It just takes time to get the inmate prepared,” he said. “There was nothing unusual about that.”

“This execution went exactly according to our protocol,” Dunn said.

No representatives from the victim’s family witnessed the execution, and none provided a statement to Dunn.

Following the execution, several of the men with Eggers’ friends and family shook the hands of corrections officers inside the viewing room and thanked them.

Eggers’ final meal was the same meal that was served to the general population: Chicken creole, dirty rice, turnip greens, cornbread, cream corn, cake, and a grape drink. He also ate breakfast, which consisted of eggs, grits, prunes, two biscuits and gravy.

Eggers made no phone calls in the past two days. Wednesday, he was visited by his son, brother, sister-in-law, and five friends. Today, he was visited by his brother, sister-in-law, and ten friends.

As a special request, Eggers asked that no attorneys be allowed to visit him or witness his execution. He did allow his brother, sister-in-law, two friends, and his spiritual advisor to witness. Alabama Department of Corrections spokesman Bob Horton confirmed that each of those people will attend the execution.

The execution comes after years of Eggers seeking to represent himself during his legal proceedings, firing his attorneys from the Federal Public Defender’s Office in Montgomery, and asking the state to expedite his execution. A federal judge declared him competent to waive his appeals, and the 11^th Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed that decision last year.

In 2002, Eggers was convicted of capital murder for the December 2000 killing of 67-year-old Bennie Francis Murray. Murray and her husband owned a carnival concessions business that traveled with various carnivals for Kissel Rides and Shows, but lived in Talladega when they weren’t on the road.

According to court records and previous stories from the Birmingham News, Eggers worked as a short-order cook for the Murrays until September of 2000 when he moved to Jasper. In late December of that year, then 33-year-old Eggers called Murray and asked for his job back. She said that the carnival was on a break until the next spring, and that the converted trailer where several of their employees lived had no room for another person at the time. On Dec. 28, he called back and asked Murray to pick up him and his teenage son from the bus station in Birmingham. She picked then up and the three went to Talladega.

On Dec. 30, 2000, Eggers asked Murray to drive him and his son back to their home in Jasper. She agreed, and the three left in her white 1988 Chevrolet pickup truck.

After dropping off his son at the Jasper apartment, Eggers asked Murray to drive him to his car in Nauvoo. Again, Murray agreed to drive Eggers. On the way to Nauvoo, Eggers told police he and Murray got into a fight, and he beat her unconscious. He said he then pushed her out of the truck, and he took off.

Eggers said after he left, he worried that Murray was still alive and he “wasn’t going to let her stay out there suffering,” court records show; so, he went back, and kicked her and choked her. According to court records, “Eggers then dragged Francis into nearby woods where she could not be seen from the road and, because he believed she was still alive at that point, he put a tree limb on her throat and stood on it in an effort to kill her.”

Eggers was arrested in Kissimmee, Florida, about one week after Murray disappeared. Police found Murray’s abandoned truck in Kentucky earlier that day, and discovered someone had used her ATM card several times in the state on Dec. 31 and on Jan. 1, 2001. He was found in Florida after being tracked through telephone calls.

After his arrest Eggers led police to the missing woman’s unburied body, which still was underneath the tree limb, in a wooded area in northwest Walker County.

Eggers was found guilty by a Walker County jury at his 2002 trial, and the jury voted 11-1 to recommend the death penalty. Circuit Court Judge James Brotherton followed the jury’s recommendation.

Eggers spoke at his sentencing hearing. “I stand before you today, not to beg for my life or seek your sympathy. I am asking for a sentence of death… my actions cannot be justified,” he said.

The Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals later upheld his conviction and death sentence.

In 2014, Eggers was appointed lawyers from the Federal Public Defender’s Office in Montgomery to handle his appeals. The inmate, however, said he wanted to fire his attorneys and waive future appeals.

A federal hearing was held in April 2016 to determine Eggers’ competency. Both Eggers, his former lawyers’ expert witness Dr. Kenneth Benedict, and the state’s expert Dr. Glen King testified. Following the hearing, a federal judge ruled Eggers competent to give up his rights to appeal and dismiss his lawyers, and the 11^th Circuit Court of Appeals later agreed.

In December, Assistant Federal Defender John Palombi asked the 11^th Circuit Court of Appeals to hold a rehearing on the case with its full panel of judges, but they denied his request.

Eggers’ execution date was set in January.

As of Thursday morning, the U.S. Supreme Court had not ruled on Palombi’s petition for a stay of execution. Monday, the lawyer filed for a stay and for a writ of certioari, or a request to review the case. “Michael Eggers is severely mentally ill,” one of the filings states. “His testimony and filings are strong evidence of the irrationality of his reasons for wanting to terminate present counsel and to abandon his appeals.”

Tuesday, the Alabama Attorney General’s Office filed responses to Palombi’s requests. “While appointed counsel may speculate about the reasons Eggers wanted to discharge his counsel and waive his appeals, the fact remains that he is competent to do so,” the AG’s filing to the Supreme Court states.

In a filing on Wednesday, the federal defender’s office, however, countered to the U.S. Supreme Court that Eggers isn’t competent.

“Michael Eggers is delusional and has been equivocal on the issue of whether he wants to be executed for over 15 years. This Court should stay his execution and take this case to examine the important issues surrounding the execution of the mentally ill, in particular, whether a death-sentenced inmate should be allowed to expedite his execution with the help of the State, when what he truly desires is to represent himself.”

His former attorneys argued to the nation’s highest court they believe the 50-year-old inmate is delusional and wasn’t competent when he dropped his appeals and asked the courts to “expedite” his execution. The U.S. Supreme Court denied their petitions on Thursday evening, before the execution was set to begin.

Eggers execution date is the third one the state has faced this year. First, Vernon Madison was set to be executed on January 25, but the U.S. Supreme Court stayed his execution. On February 22, the state was set to execute Doyle Lee Hamm–a 61-year-old inmate who has been on death row over 30 years for killing a motel clerk in Cullman. After a brief delay, the state attempted to execute Hamm, but couldn’t find a vein to insert the catheter needed for the lethal drugs. At approximately 11:30 p.m., 30 minutes before the death warrant expired, the state called off Hamm’s execution.

If executed, Eggers would be the first inmate to be put to death this year.

There is one other execution already scheduled for 2018: Walter Lee Moody.

Moody is set to die on April 19, and at 83-years-old is the oldest inmate currently on Alabama Death Row., Earlier this year, Moody had his request for a review of his appeal rejected by the U.S. Supreme Court. The next day the Alabama Attorney General sought an execution date from the Alabama Supreme Court.

Moody was convicted of killing U.S. 11^th Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Robert S. Vance. Vance died Dec. 16, 1989, and his wife, Helen, was seriously injured after the judge opened a package that had been sent to his home, detonating a pipe bomb. A similar bomb killed a lawyer in Atlanta two days later.

Moody was linked to the crimes through a similar bomb nearly two decades earlier that had injured his wife when it exploded. His prosecution in that case led to his resentment of the courts leading up to the 1989 bombings.

https://www.al.com/news/birmingham/2018/03/michael_eggers_set_to_die_thur.html

Christopher Price Alabama Execution

Christopher Price was executed by the State of Alabama for the murder of a minister. According to court documents Christopher Price would attack Bill Lynn outside of the home where the minister was stabbed and slashed with a sword. Christopher Price would be executed by lethal injection on March 31, 2019

Christopher Price More News

An Alabama inmate convicted of stabbing a minister nearly three decades ago died by lethal injection Thursday night, officials said.

Christopher Lee Price’s execution was carried out at 8:12 p.m. ET. at William C. Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore, Bob Horton, a spokesman for the state Department of Corrections, said in an email to CNN. Price was pronounced dead at 8:31 p.m. ET, according to Horton.

“Tonight, the family of Pastor Bill Lynn, who was brutally murdered nearly 30 years ago, has finally seen Lynn’s killer face justice,” Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall said in a statement.

Marshall said Price was “fighting until the very end to avoid facing the consequences of his heinous crime.”

The execution went ahead after the US Supreme Court narrowly denied a request for a stay from the 46-year-old inmate. Justices Stephen Breyer, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor dissented. It was the second time the nation’s highest court has addressed Price’s case.

In a narrow decision in April, the Supreme Court ruled that Price’s execution could go forward hours after Price’s death warrant in Alabama had expired.

Price had argued the lethal injection protocol would cause him severe pain and asked that the state use lethal gas as an alternative. Two lower courts agreed to put the execution on hold.

But after Marshall petitioned the Supreme Court, the majority agreed to lift the stay of execution. The court said that Price had waited too long to make his claim.

Death row inmates in Alabama had the choice back in 2018 to elect to “be executed via nitrogen hypoxia” but that Price did not do so, the majority said in the unsigned order.

“He then waited until February 2019 to file this action and submitted additional evidence today, a few hours before his scheduled execution time,” the majority held.

Breyer, joined by the three other liberal justices on the high court, penned a dissent.

Price and an accomplice wielded a sword and a knife in 1991 and stabbed Lynn to death, according to the state attorney general’s office.

“On December 22, 1991, Bill Lynn was wrapping Christmas gifts for his grandchildren when he was ambushed outside his home, slashed and stabbed with a sword dozens of times,” Marshall said in an earlier statement.

“His killer has dodged his death sentence for the better part of three decades by employing much the same strategy he has pursued tonight – desperately clinging to legal maneuverings to avoid facing the consequences of his heinous crime,” the statement said.

Earlier on Thursday, Price released a statement to his victim through his attorneys.

“I am so terribly sorry to the victim and his family for my crime. Neither he nor his family deserved what I did. Nobody deserves that,” he said.

https://www.cnn.com/2019/05/30/us/christopher-lee-price-execution-alabama/index.html

Michael Samra Alabama Execution

Michael Samra was executed by the State of Alabama for multiple murders. According to court documents Michael Samra and Mark Duke would murder Randy Duke, his fiancée Dedra Mims Hunt, and her two daughters, 6-year-old Chelisa Nicole Hunt and 7-year-old Chelsea Marie Hunt. Michael Samra who was 19 at the time was sentenced to death. Mark Duke was sixteen and sentenced to life without parole, Michael Samra would be executed by lethal injection on May 16, 2019

Michael Samra More News

An Alabama Death Row inmate was executed by lethal injection Thursday night, more than 22 years after the quadruple slaying of a family in Pelham.

Michael Brandon Samra, 42, was executed at William C. Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore. The Alabama Supreme Court set his execution date in April.

Samra was 19 when he and his co-defendant, then 16-year-old Mark Anthony Duke, were charged with killing Mark Duke’s father Randy Duke, his fiancée Dedra Mims Hunt, and her two daughters, 6-year-old Chelisa Nicole Hunt and 7-year-old Chelsea Marie Hunt. Samra was convicted of capital murder in 1998 after confessing, and was sentenced to death for his role in the killings.

The curtains opened to the execution chamber at approximately 7:09 p.m. When approached by the warden, Samra smiled.

His last words were a prayer. “I would like to thank Jesus for everything he’s done for me,” he said. “I want to thank Jesus for shedding his blood for my sins. Thank you for your grace Jesus, amen.”

Samra lied on the gurney with his eyes open, facing the witness room that contained his two attorneys, his spiritual adviser, and members of the media. At 7:14 p.m., his eyes closed.

One minute later, his chest heaved three times. His breathing appeared labored for several minutes.

Samra did not respond to a consciousness check, performed by a corrections officer at 7:17 p.m. Two minutes later, he stretched both hands and slightly raised his left arm, then curled his fingers and dropped his arm.

The curtain to the chamber closed at 7:26 p.m. The official time of death was 7:33 p.m., according to prison officials.

Samra’s attorneys appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, arguing his age at the time of the 1997 slaying should prohibit him from being executed, but the nation’s highest court ruled Tuesday they would not review the case and would not stay Samra’s execution.

Gov. Kay Ivey also refused a reprieve for Samra, the prisoner’s lawyer said. One of his attorneys, Steven Sears, said he received the denial from Ivey’s office about eight hours before the execution.

Following the execution, Ivey released a statement: “For more than 20 years, the loved ones of Randy, Dedra and the two young daughters Chelisa and Chelsea have mourned an unbearable and unimaginable loss. Four lives were brutally taken far too soon because of the malicious, intentional and planned-out murders by Michael Brandon Samra.

“Alabama will not stand for the loss of life in our state, and with this heinous crime, we must respond with punishment. These four victims deserved a future, and Mr. Samra took that opportunity away from them and did so with no sense of remorse. This evening justice has been delivered to the loved ones of these victims, and it signals that Alabama does not tolerate murderous acts of any nature.

“After careful consideration of the horrendous nature of the crime, the jury’s decision and all factors surrounding the case, the state of Alabama carried out Mr. Samra’s sentence this evening. Although this can never recover the lives lost, I pray that their loved ones can finally find a sense of peace.”

Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall issued a statement following the execution, detailing the crime. He added, “Randy Duke was shot in the head. Dedra Hunt was shot multiple times as she attempted to flee with one of her daughters. Samra and Duke then proceeded to kill both of the young girls, cutting their throats. Samra was convicted of capital murder in 1998 and received his just punishment: a sentence of death. After too many years of delay, justice has finally been served. Tonight, we pray for the victims and for their families, that they might find peace and closure.”

Alabama Department of Corrections Commissioner Jeff Dunn spoke after the execution and read a statement from the Mims and Hunt family. “This has been a painful journey. Today justice has been carried out,” it said. The statement also included thanks for all police and investigative agencies who worked on the case. “We ask that you keep all families involved in your prayers,” the statement said.

Dunn did not give any reasons for the hour delay, and said to his knowledge there were no problems preparing the inmate for the procedure.

Wednesday, Samra was visited by six friends, two attorneys, and his spiritual adviser. He also made a phone call to his father. Thursday, he was again visited by six friends and his spiritual adviser.

Samra did not eat breakfast Thursday and did not request a last meal. He did not have any special requests.

Six witnesses from the victims’ families witnessed the execution, along with two attorneys from the Alabama Attorney General’s Office

According to court records filed by the Alabama Attorney General’s Office to the U.S. Supreme Court, Mark Duke and Samra brought two guns to Randy Duke’s home on March 22, 1997, where the teenagers planned to kill everyone inside.

Mark Duke fatally shot his 39-year-old father in the head, while Samra shot Hunt in the face. Although injured, 29-year-old Hunt fled upstairs with her daughters. Hunt and Chelisa sought shelter in an upstairs bathroom, while Chelsea hid under a bed.

Samra and Mark Duke ran after them, and Mark Duke shot and killed Hunt after he kicked in the bathroom door. Then, out of bullets, Mark Duke got two knives and pulled Chelisa from behind the shower curtain and slit her throat. The teens then pursued Chelsea, who was fighting back from under the bed. As she struggled, Mark Duke held her down and Samra slit her throat.

Mark Duke was also originally sentenced to death, but his sentence was later overturned and changed to life in prison pursuant to a U.S. Supreme Court ruling banning execution for offenders who committed their crimes while they were juveniles. He was 16 at the time of the slaying.

According to court records, Mark Duke came up with the murder plot because Randy Duke refused to allow him to use a pickup truck. He was called the “mastermind” of the plot.

Samra’s attorneys, Sears and Alan Freedman, have argued in court filings that the Eighth Amendment bans the execution of offenders- like Samra- who were under the age of 21 at the time of their crimes.

In 2005, the U.S. Supreme Court banned execution for people who were under the age of 18 at the time of their crimes. Sears has said this ruling should be modified due to “evolving standards of decency.”

In his U.S. Supreme Court petition, Samra’s attorneys argue the 2005 rule should be extended to include offenders up to the age of 21 at the time of their crimes. “The mitigating qualities of youth do not dissipate the day a youthful offender turns 18 years old,” the petition states. “Since [the 2005 decision], scientific studies have shown that during a person’s late teens and early 20’s, the brain continues growing and undergoes rapid changes in self-regulation and higher-order cognition.”

Last week, Sears sent a letter to Ivey asking for a reprieve until another state’s supreme court can decide whether offenders who committed their crimes under the age of 21 should be eligible for the death penalty.

Sears wrote in the letter, “The question of whether the U.S. Constitution permits the execution of 18-to-21-year-old offenders is percolating in the courts and is currently pending in the Kentucky Supreme Court. The Kentucky case arose after a trial court judge ruled that the reasoning supporting the U.S. Constitution’s ban on executing juvenile offenders extends to those over the age of 21. To prevent a miscarriage of justice and ensure that Alabama does not carry out an unconstitutional execution, Samra respectfully requests a reprieve until the Kentucky Supreme Court has ruled on the question that would determine whether Samra is categorically eligible for the death penalty.”

The U.S. Supreme Court petition also mentions the Kentucky case and states, “Also, there is a burgeoning national consensus against executing young adult offenders. Since [the 2005 ruling] was decided, only 13 states have handed down 4 new death sentences to offenders under 21, and a majority of states, 30, would not permit the execution of a youthful offender. Notably, one Kentucky court, surveying the scientific research and national consensus, has concluded that Eighth Amendment line drawn in Roper must now be drawn at 21.”

“In the 14 years since this Court decided [case law], society’s standards have evolved rapidly to the point that the line drawn [in the 2005 case] can no longer be justified. Accordingly, Samra has shown a reasonable likelihood that he will prevail on his Eighth Amendment claim… Before it is too late, this Court should ensure that the Eighth Amendment does not categorically preclude him from receiving the law’s most severe and irreversible penalty.”

“Finally, to the extent that Samra relies on a supposed national consensus against imposing capital punishment on persons who were under the age of twenty-one when they committed capital murder, his claim is meritless. There is no such consensus, which is made most obvious by Samra’s failure to point to a single state that has specifically eliminated the death penalty for defendants who are between the ages of eighteen and twenty-one when they murder their victims,” the Alabama AG’s Office wrote.

“Simply put, Samra’s allegation does not withstand scrutiny. His ‘national consensus’ and ‘clear and growing trend’ are made up out of whole cloth. Rather than citing to any instance in which any state has adopted his position, Samra points to two red herrings… What Samra ignores is that all of the states that fall in these categories still retain the death penalty as a sentencing option for persons who committed capital murder between the ages of eighteen and twenty-one. At bottom, Samra has failed to show a ‘clear and growing trend’ because there is none.”

Samra’s attorneys have also argued that putting Samra to death isn’t just, since the crime’s mastermind Mark Duke is spending his life in prison. Sears called the quadruple slaying a “terrible tragedy,” but said he and his co-counsel “don’t think that killing one more person is going to help.”

“It’s not fair to kill the small fish and let the whale go,” Sears said, referring to Mark Duke’s sentence change. Sears said the fact Samra was several years older than his friend at the time of the slaying has made more of a difference than anything in the case.

The lead investigator on the case at the time, and now the mayor of Helena, Mark Hall said he believes it’s time Samra face his punishment. “I am not surprised by the request for a stay by the offender, but I’m reminded that the innocent victims of these horrific and senseless murders– two adults and two small children– did not have that option on that terrifying night when they were brutally murdered,” Hall wrote in a statement.

“…Convicted murderers, who have exhausted all means of the possibility of acquittal in a capital murder case should serve every day, every hour and every minute of the sentence they were given, and that includes the death penalty when it is imposed.

Those innocent victims, and the families of those victims, deserve no less.”

Two other men, David Collums and Michael Ellison, were convicted of lesser crimes in the case and served time in prison. They have since been released.

Another execution is scheduled Thursday in Tennessee, that of 68-year-old Don Johnson, who was condemned to die for the 1984 suffocation of his wife.

https://www.al.com/news/birmingham/2019/05/michael-samra-convicted-of-killing-4-in-1997-to-be-executed-thursday.html

Domineque Ray Alabama Execution

Domineque Ray was executed by the State of Alabama for the murder of a teenage girl. According to court documents Domineque Ray would stab to death Tiffany Harville. Domineque Ray was also serving multiple life sentences for murdering two teenage boys the year before Tiffany Harville murder. Domineque Ray would be executed by lethal injection on February 7, 2019

Domineque Ray More News

Alabama has executed Domineque Hakim Marcelle Ray for the 1995 slaying of a 15-year-old Selma girl, after the U.S. Supreme Court lifted a federal appeals court stay based on the inmate’s request to have his Muslim spiritual adviser at his side when he dies.

Ray’s execution by lethal injection was set for 6 p.m. at Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore. The U.S. Supreme Court lifted the stay about 8 p.m., and the execution began at 9:44 p.m.

The curtains to the viewing room closed at 10:05 p.m, and the official time of death was 10:12 p.m.

His execution comes 20 years after being put on death row, and while he was also serving time for the killings of two teenage boys who were slain the year before Tiffany Harville was fatally stabbed. For the boys’ killings, he was sentenced to life in prison.

Ray’s last words were in Arabic. He made a hand signal consisting of a closed fist with his index finger pointed and looked toward the viewing room where two of his attorneys and spiritual adviser were sitting, along with members of the media.

No representatives of the victim’s family attended.

Several minutes after the execution began, Ray lifted his head and looked at his arm. When a correctional officer performed a consciousness check a few minutes later, Ray did not respond.

One of Ray’s attorneys from the Federal Defenders of the Middle District of Alabama, Spencer Hahn, said after the execution, “Domineque was a devout Muslim and a human being. He was a son, a father, a brother. He wanted equal treatment in his last moments. I am beyond appalled at the willingness of Steve Marshall and the State of Alabama to treat a human being differently because he was part of a religious minority. We are better than this.”

ADOC Commissioner Jeff Dunn said after the execution that the department is prepared to carry out more executions this year. When asked if the department would be changing their protocol to exclude chaplains of any faith from the execution chamber, as mentioned in an earlier court filing, Dunn said currently the ADOC “has not made any changes to the formal protocol.”

Dunn also said the department “relies very heavily” on volunteer chaplains who visit the prison, but the ADOC hires chaplains based on a state registry.

Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall issued a statement after the execution: “For 20 years, Domineque Ray has successfully eluded execution for the barbaric murder of a 15-year-old Selma girl. In 1995, Ray brutally deprived young Tiffany Harville of her life, repeatedly stabbing and raping her before leaving her body in a cotton field. A jury gave him a death sentence for this heinous crime. A year before, Ray had also taken the lives of two teenage brothers, Reinhard and Earnest Mabins. Tonight, Ray’s long-delayed appointment with justice is finally met.”

The U.S. Supreme Court lifted the stay of execution after voting 5-4 in favor of the state. Justices Elena Kagan, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer, and Sonia Sotomayor dissented.

Kagan issued a dissenting opinion. “Under [the state’s] policy, a Christian prisoner may have a minister of his own faith accompany him into the execution chamber to say his last rites. But if an inmate practices a different religion— whether Islam, Judaism, or any other — he may not die with a minister of his own faith by his side. That treatment goes against the Establishment Clause’s core principle of denominational neutrality,” she wrote.

The opinion states, “Here, Ray has put forward a powerful claim that his religious rights will be violated at the moment the State puts him to death. The Eleventh Circuit wanted to hear that claim in full. Instead, this Court short-circuits that ordinary process — and itself rejects the claim with little briefing and no argument — just so the State can meet its preferred execution date.”

At approximately 6:30 p.m., ADOC Spokesperson Bob Horton said Ray was visited Wednesday by his uncle, brother, sister-in-law, attorney, and Muslim spiritual adviser. Thursday, he was visited by two attorneys and his spiritual adviser. Also on Thursday, Ray made calls to family members and attorneys.

For breakfast, he had milk, eggs, jelly, prunes, two biscuits, and potatoes. Ray refused the last meal of the day. He made a special request to have his spiritual adviser, or imam, in the execution chamber.

In his final days, Ray was at the center of several legal battles.

An appeal and motion for a stay of execution was filed to the U.S. Supreme Court after the U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals granted Ray a stay of execution on Wednesday. Both Ray’s attorneys and the Alabama Attorney General’s Office filed several briefs throughout the day Thursday, before the court ultimately made their ruling just after 8 p.m.

Ray’s attorneys filed a federal lawsuit last week claiming Ray’s religious freedom was being violated because the Alabama Department of Corrections would not allow his imam to be in the execution chamber. Officials told Ray he would be allowed to meet with his imam up until being prepared for execution, the lawsuit claims, but the imam would have to watch the execution in a witness room with two-way glass. The ADOC also said they wouldn’t remove the Christian chaplain who is typically in the execution chamber.

Horton said the department follows protocol “regardless of the chaplain’s spiritual belief or that of the inmate.” Horton said the ADOC protocol “only allows approved correctional officials, that includes the prison’s chaplain, to be inside the chamber where executions are lawfully carried out. The inmate’s spiritual adviser may visit the inmate beforehand and witness the execution from a designated witness room that has a two-way window.”

Chief U.S. District Judge Keith Watkins of the Middle District of Alabama held a hearing last Thursday and issued an order the next day denying the stay of execution.

Ray’s lawyers from the Federal Defenders for the Middle District of Alabama appealed Watkins’ ruling to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, and Wednesday the appeals court vacated Watkins’ ruling and issued a stay of execution, writing in its order: “Notably, Alabama did not provide the Court with any affidavit from the Warden or from any other prison official addressing in any way why there were not lesser measures available to protect its interests and provide the same faith-based benefits to Christians and non-Christians alike. Nor did Alabama offer anything from its Chaplain or from anyone else about the perceived risks or the things that a cleric might need to learn in order to undertake this solemn and sensitive task. Alabama has presented us with nothing in support of its claims.”

The appeals court noted in its order that the clerk should “expedite” the appeal “so that we may promptly resolve these claims.”

The Alabama Attorney General’s Office appealed that ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday afternoon. They said in their motion to the nation’s top court that the 11th Circuit “missed the mark.” The filing said, “It was bad enough that the court amended Ray’s pleadings for him. But worse still is that the court’s Establishment Clause analysis and proposed remedy make no sense. The Eleventh Circuit’s holding that the State had favored one denomination over another might make sense if the State allowed only Christians to bring their preferred spiritual advisers into the execution chamber, but the State forbids anyone who is not employed by ADOC into the execution chamber.”

Attorneys for the ADOC said while they wouldn’t allow Ray’s imam to be in the execution chamber, as he isn’t an ADOC employee, they would allow Ray to expel the chaplain from the room. The judge granted Ray’s request in his order that the ADOC must remove the chaplain from the execution chamber, and make sure he can’t be seen by Ray during the procedure.

The inmate’s volunteer Muslim imam, Yusef Maisonet, said there are prayers required of a Muslim before he dies and that Ray needs his assistance to die honoring his faith.

“I know the things that are required of Muslims before they die,” Maisonet, imam of Masjid As Salaam in Mobile, told AL.com. “We want to make sure his last words are, ‘There is no God but God, and Muhammad is his prophet.’”

Maisonet said he would also read Ray verses from the Quran, the holy book of Islam, so that those are the last words Ray hears. “As he’s going through his transition, I can read from the Quran, and he can leave with that on his spirit,” Maisonet said

Ray was given access to a Quran on Thursday after his lawyers argued in a Wednesday filing that the inmate spent two nights without it. Ahead of a scheduled execution, the ADOC moves a condemned inmate to a cell near the execution chamber, called a death watch cell. According to the filing, Ray was without his Quran since being moved into that cell on Tuesday.

The attorneys also asked for Ray to be executed by nitrogen hypoxia, a newly approved method of execution in the state. There are more than 50 death row inmates who have chosen to die by the new method, but they made their elections by the June 2018 deadline implemented by the state. According to Watkins’ order, Ray claimed to have waited until January to make his election because in June, Ray’s religious beliefs hindered him from choosing the nitrogen hypoxia method.

Watkins dismissed Ray’s nitrogen hypoxia request.

Dunn said Thursday night the ADOC is working with the AG’s Office to develop a protocol for executions by nitrogen hypoxia, but has no timeline on when that protocol might be finalized and ready to implement.

The AG’s Office described Harville’s killing in a recent federal court filing: “On a midsummer evening in 1995, fifteen-year-old Tiffany Harville was taken to a cotton field outside of Selma, Alabama, by Dominique Ray and Marcus Owden. Regrettably, Tiffany did not know what sort of person Ray was. If she had known that Ray and Owden had previously murdered thirteen-year-old Reinhard Mabins and his eighteen-year-old brother Earnest, then perhaps the horrific events that occurred in that cotton field could have been avoided. But she did not know, and that night, Ray and Owden raped Tiffany and stabbed her repeatedly as she cried out her final prayer: ‘God, help me.’ Then they left her abused body in that cotton field, where her bones would be found almost a month later.”

Previous court documents said Harville’s throat was also cut and that when her body was found off County Road 62 by a farmer, the teen’s purse with approximately $6 was missing and her underwear was gone.

The case went unsolved for over two years, before Owden talked to police in 1997 after experiencing a “spiritual awakening,” court records state. He implicated himself and Ray in the crime, and Ray was arrested shortly after. He was convicted in 1999.

Owden pleaded guilty to the slaying and testified at Ray’s trial, where records state he detailed the “raw brutal” sexual abuse the men inflicted on Harville before stabbing her in the head and slashing her throat. Owden is currently serving a sentence of life in prison without parole at William Donaldson Correctional Facility.

Records state Earnest and Reinhard Mabins were shot to death inside their home on February 4, 1994, because they refused to join a gang with Ray and Owden. Owden confessed to the Mabins killings at the same time he confessed to his role in the Harville case. In February 1999, several months before the Harville trial, Ray was convicted of capital murder for the Mabins brothers’ deaths and was sentenced to life in prison.

Owden’s testimony at the Harville trial was the focus of Ray’s appeal at the state level. Court records say Owden was “suffering from serious mental illness, including schizophrenia with hallucinations and delusions, at and before the time of Ray’s trial, rendering Owden an unreliable witness.” That appeal was filed last year, because attorneys said in the complaint they had just learned of Owden’s medical history.

That appeal was dismissed by a Dallas County judge, and Owden’s attorneys also appealed that case to the U.S. Supreme Court.

https://www.al.com/news/montgomery/2019/02/courts-weigh-mans-religious-rights-in-holding-up-alabama-execution.html