Thomas Springs was sentenced to death by the State of Arkansas for the murder of his estranged wife. According to court documents Thomas Springs would drive head on into his estranged wife’s vehicle. He would get out of his car and walk over to her vehicle where he smashed her face off of the dashboard before returning to his vehicle and grabbed a knife. Thomas Springs would go back to his wives vehicle and stabbed the woman multiple times. Thomas Springs would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death.
Race BLACK Sex MALE Hair Color BLACK Eye Color BROWN
Height 68 inches Weight 172 lbs.
Birth Date 06/25/1962
Initial Receipt Date 11/18/2005
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Thomas Springs More News
A Sebastian County jury voted unanimously Wednesday to sentence Thomas Leo Springs to death by lethal injection for the murder of his estranged wife, Christina Springs.
On Tuesday the five-man, seven-woman jury found Thomas Springs, 43, guilty of capital murder and two counts of aggravated assault in connection with a Jan. 21 attack on his wife at the intersection of North Greenwood and Rogers avenues. Witnesses testified during the three-day trial that Springs deliberately rammed a car occupied by three people, one of them his wife, then stabbed his wife to death as she sat in the car.
The jury deliberated for about 3 1/2 hours before returning a sentence of death for capital murder and six years in prison and a $10,000 fine for each count of aggravated assault, with the sentences to run consecutively.
The jury found that all three of the aggravating factors alleged by Sebastian County Prosecuting Attorney Steve Tabor existed, including previous violent felonies committed by Springs; endangerment of other peoples’ lives in the commission of the crime; and commission of the crime in an especially cruel or depraved manner.
The jury was required to find that at least one aggravating factor existed before it could impose the death penalty. The only other possible penalty was life in prison without parole.
Jurors also found that several of the mitigating factors alleged by Chief Public Defender John Joplin existed, including Springs’ emotional distress over the fact that his wife had left him and taken their children, but there was no mitigating factor that all 12 jurors agreed on.
In death sentence cases, an appeal is automatic.
After the sentence was announced, three of the six children Thomas and Christina Springs had together were allowed to make statements. Thomas Springs cried as Joshua Mooring, 13, Matthew Mooring, 15, and Chantelle Mooring, 18, spoke in turn.
“I forgive you,” Chantelle Mooring said to her father, after noting that she will never be able to tell her mother she is getting married, and her mother will never get to be a grandmother.
Springs also was allowed to speak. Sobbing loudly, he told his children he was sorry, told them to take care of each other and said he deserved to die.
In interviews after the trial, attorneys for both sides described the case as tragic.
“It was a tragedy to begin with, and it’s a tragedy the way it ended,” said Cash Haaser, one of the public defenders who represented Springs.
Tabor said he felt “an overwhelming sense of sadness about the whole affair” but said the jury “worked hard, they paid close attention, and I think they reached the verdict that the law calls for them to make.”
Joshua Mooring said after the trial that he believed his father should have received a life sentence.
“I will now be an orphan when my dad gets the death penalty,” he said.
Matthew Mooring spoke of feeling a mix of emotions about his father.
“I feel bad for him and I love him, but sometimes people make mistakes, and he made one. I wish what happened hadn’t happened. I wish I was with my mom right now,” he said.
Laura Eagle, one of Christina Springs’ sisters, said the sentence did not relieve her pain.
“We thought there would be closure, but it wasn’t a good feeling,” she said.
Kelly Repking, another of Christina Springs’ sisters, said she also felt no closure, but she hoped that good would come from Thomas Springs’ execution.
“Hopefully this will send a message to abusers that domestic violence needs to stop,” said Repking, who was in the vehicle with her sister when Thomas Springs attacked and killed his wife.
The defense called three witnesses Wednesday before resting its case.
Shelly Blanton, who was Thomas Springs’ supervisor at Whirlpool, described him as a good worker and said his eyes lit up when he talked about his children. Blanton said Springs’ demeanor was “down and quiet” after his wife and children moved out in December.
Greg Kannady, Springs’ pastor, testified that Springs was “someone who really cared about his family.”
Jennifer Springs, Thomas Springs’ sister, testified that her brother phoned her, crying, at 4 a.m. after his wife and children moved out.
Tabor told jurors that none of the witnesses for the defense lived with Thomas and Christina Springs.
“None of them saw the dark side of Thomas Springs, that habitually abuses, that habitually is violent to others,” he said.
Joplin urged jurors not to take Springs out of his children’s lives forever. He reminded the jury that on Tuesday one of the children, 12-year-old Jacob Springs, asked his father if someday he would explain why he did what he did.
“You’re not going to get an answer from a tombstone that says Thomas Leo Springs,” Joplin said.
Mickey Thomas was sentenced to death by the State of Arkansas for the murder of two women during a robbery. According to court documents Mickey Thomas who was in the middle of a crime spree would enter the Cornerstone Monument Co. where he would fatally shoot two women inside of the store. At the time of the murders Mickey Thomas was facing charges of sexual assault in another part of the State. Mickey Thomas would be arrested, charged and sentenced to death
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Mickey Thomas More News
On June 14, 2005, DeQueen Police found the bodies of two women at Cornerstone Monument Company after receiving a call about a possible
break in. Mona Shelton, the owner of the company, had been beaten and shot once in the head. Donna Cary, a customer, had been shot once in the head at close range. Police received a report of a black male with a white bag walking away from the front of Cornerstone Monument Company and getting into a pewter or copper-colored Ford Mustang with an Oklahoma license plate. Police broadcast this description to area law enforcement officers, and at 11:27 a.m., Trooper Jamie Gravier of the Arkansas State Police spotted the Mustang traveling west near the Oklahoma-Arkansas border. Gravier attempted to stop the vehicle, and a high-speed chase ensued into Broken Bow, Oklahoma.
Oklahoma police ultimately located the vehicle parked behind the Broken Bow residence of Hazel Thomas, [Thomas’s] mother, but the driver had already left the area. That same afternoon, police received a report that a black male with a gun had just stolen a Broken Bow resident’s Mercury Cougar. The Oklahoma authorities spotted the vehicle, and they were able to apprehend [Thomas].
[Thomas] waived extradition to Arkansas and was charged in Sevier County with two counts of capital murder in the deaths of Mona Shelton and Donna Cary. The case was transferred to Pike County where [Thomas] was convicted of two counts of capital murder and was given a sentence of death for each count.
Billy Thessing was sentenced to death by the State of Arkansas for the murder of an elderly woman. According to court documents the victim, sixty seven year old Mattie Basinger, was found dead in her home. The woman had been stabbed multiple times. One of Billy Thessing friends would go to the police and tell them of Thessing involvement. Billy Thessing would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death.
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Height 69 inches Weight 180 lbs.
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Initial Receipt Date 09/20/2001
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Billy Thessing More News
On February 17, 2003, Susan Basinger Sweet went to the home of her mother, Mattie Basinger, a sixty-seven year old cancer survivor. She discovered that Ms. Basinger’s car was not there. She sent her son, Jeremiah, into the home first, but Susan and her children entered subsequently and found Ms. Basinger dead. They immediately went outside and called the Little Rock Police Department.
Takeisha Gilbert, a patrol officer for the department, was the first police officer to arrive at the scene. She observed blood throughout the house and found Ms. Basinger’s body in the bedroom. The autopsy later revealed that Ms. Basinger had a total of six stab and cutting wounds on multiple parts of her body. She also received blunt force wounds to her head.
Two of the stab wounds were in her cheek region, which caused bleeding inside her mouth. The bleeding in her mouth caused her to aspirate blood into her trachea that subsequently went into her lungs. The medical examiner testified at trial that Ms. Basinger was alive when she received all these injuries. He concluded Ms. Basinger was alive and breathing in her own blood for ten to fifteen minutes before a blunt force trauma to her head caused her death.
On February 17, 2003, Pam McNew went to the Benton Police Department to talk to police officers after seeing a news report on television about Ms. Basinger’s murder. She testified at trial that Thessing, a friend since childhood, came to her house late on the evening of February 11, 2003. She saw him in her yard when she returned from the store. He was burning trash in her front yard. They both went into her house, and he told her that he had killed someone earlier that evening. He then went back outside and brought in some groceries, a television set, vitamins, unfilled prescription slips, and a large Bible. Ms. McNew also told the authorities that the car he drove to her house was the car that belonged to Ms. Basinger. She later found Ms. Basinger’s wheelchair in her shed. Police officers also found silverware and credit cards on the premises which were taken from Ms. Basinger.
Ms. McNew further stated that Billy Thessing had tried to convince her fiancé, who was also at her house, to go with him to burn down Ms. Basinger’s home so he could try to make the murder look like an accident. At the ensuing trial, Ms. McNew testified that she, Thessing, and her fiancé used crack cocaine together that night. Although Ms. McNew did not believe Thessing at first, she later ordered him to leave her house, because she had a child and because she did not want to get in trouble herself. She stated that Thessing left in Ms. Basinger’s car. The police officers came and recovered all the things Thessing had left at her home. Ms. McNew received a $400 reward for going to the police.
Also on February 17, 2003, Thessing wrecked Ms. Basinger’s car and was arrested by a Benton police officer for public intoxication. Inside Ms. Basinger’s car, police officers found a pair of boots with Ms. Basinger’s blood on them. Additionally, police investigators found Thessing’s fingerprints in Ms. Basinger’s home.
On April 16, 2003, the prosecuting attorney filed a four-count information against Billy Thessing, charging him with capital murder, residential burglary, and theft by receiving property valued in excess of $2500.00. The information further charged Thessing with misdemeanor theft by receiving property valued at less than $500.00. The information added that Thessing was a habitual offender with four or more prior felony convictions.
Before trial, Billy Thessing moved for an order that he was incompetent to stand trial. He was later judged competent to stand trial at a pretrial hearing. He was tried and convicted of all four charges against him. He was sentenced to death for the capital murder charge.
Justin Anderson was sentenced to death by the State of Arkansas for the murder of an elderly woman. According to court documents Justin Anderson fatally shot the victim, eighty-seven-year-old Clara Creech, who was found dead in the front yard of her home. After the murder Justin Anderson attempted to rob her home. Justin Anderson was convicted and sentenced to death.
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Birth Date 03/24/1981
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Justin Anderson More News
On the morning of October 12, 2000, eighty-seven-year-old Clara Creech was found shot to death in the front yard of her home. During the investigation into her death, police investigators obtained Anderson’s name as a suspect in Ms. Creech’s murder. After talking with Anderson’s brother, Maurice, who implicated Anderson in the Creech murder, state police officers went to Anderson’s home in Lewisville. Anderson was nineteen years old at the time. At about 2:30 p.m. that same day, Anderson, according to Sergeant Jeff Jester of the Arkansas State Police, was advised that he was free to leave, that he was not under arrest, and that the police wanted him to accompany them downtown to answer some questions. He was handcuffed and went with the state police officers to the Lafayette County Sheriff’s Office. At some point during this time frame, Anderson was advised of his Miranda rights.
At 5:50 p.m. that afternoon, Anderson completed and signed a Miranda rights form, after being read his rights. State police officers then questioned him regarding Ms. Creech’s death. The entire police interrogation lasted approximately six hours, with two to three breaks. At no time during the initial interrogation did Anderson admit to any involvement in Ms. Creech’s murder.
Following the initial interview, Maurice Anderson asked to see his brother. After Justin Anderson returned from visiting his brother, Sergeant Jester observed that he was visibly upset. He asked Justin Anderson if he or his brother had killed Ms. Creech. Justin Anderson responded that he had killed Ms. Creech and agreed to give a statement. Upon the arrival of Jerry Digman, a criminal investigator with the Arkansas State Police, Anderson was advised of his right to silence and right to an attorney. The interview, conducted at 1:48 a.m. on October 13, 2000, was tape recorded. At that time, Anderson said he understood his Miranda rights and that he understood he had the right to remain silent and the right to an attorney. He stated that he was ready to talk and told the investigators that he “shot the old lady in the back.” He then stated that he hid the gun he had used in a vacuum cleaner. He also provided additional details about the murder, such as what he was wearing at the time.
Specifically, Anderson told police that he shot Ms. Creech at 9:00 a.m. “outside ․ by the road” while she was bending down, after he approached her from the back. He further told the investigators that he tried to get into her house by kicking the front door. At that time, Anderson told the investigators that he had found the gun used in the killing behind the trash barrel. He added that he had never shot anybody before, although it had crossed his mind about shooting somebody. He further stated that there was “just something” in him, that life seemed unimportant, and that there was no reason he picked Ms. Creech.
At the conclusion of that interview, Anderson was arrested. He took the investigators to a gun which was located near the Masonic Lodge. On their return to the Lafayette County jail, Investigator Digman mentioned the recent shooting of a truck driver, but Anderson said he did not want to talk about it until they returned to the sheriff’s office. On reaching the sheriff’s office, Anderson gave a second statement to the investigators at 2:26 a.m. After confirming that he still understood his rights, Anderson admitted to shooting a truck driver whose vehicle was parked at the In and Out (hereinafter, the “Solvey” case).1 He further admitted that he had broken into a home a few weeks before the truck incident to steal the two guns which he had used in shooting the truck driver and Ms. Creech.
Anderson was charged with premeditated and deliberate capital murder.
Kenneth Isom was sentenced to death by the State of Arkansas for the murder of an elderly man. According to court documents Kenneth Isom would force his way into a home where he would sexually assault and elderly woman then attempted to kill her. Kenneth Isom would murder an elderly man inside of the home. Kenneth Isom was convicted and sentenced to death.
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Height 71 inches Weight 211 lbs.
Birth Date 06/03/1967
Initial Receipt Date 12/20/2001
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Kenneth Isom More News
Kenneth Isom, a Drew County man sentenced to death in December 2001 for the stabbing and bludgeoning death of a 79-year-old Monticello man and the rape and attempted murder of the man’s elderly caretaker, has lost another appeal.
The 51-year-old death row inmate contended that the Drew County Circuit Court abused its discretion in dismissing his petition for a writ of error coram nobis because the State suppressed evidence (a Brady violation), limiting discovery for an evidentiary hearing, and denying his motion that Circuit Judge Sam Pope recuse.
The Arkansas Supreme Court found that the Drew County Circuit Court did not abuse its discretion in dismissing his Isom’s petition, did not abuse its discretion in limiting discovery, and did not abuse its discretion in denying the motion for recusal.
“I am pleased with the ruling but very unhappy that the jury’s verdict has not yet been implemented,” said 10th Judicial District Prosecutor Thomas Deen.
Shortly before 8 p.m. on April 2, 2001, a man knocked on the door of 79-year-old William “Bill” Burton’s mobile home in Monticello where he was being cared for by a 71-year-old woman. The woman answered the door, and the man pushed his way inside and demanded money.
Wielding a pair of broken scissors, the man ordered Burton and the woman to lie on the floor of the mobile home where Burton was stabbed and beaten with a lamp. The woman was raped, choked, and beaten. They were discovered the following morning by a neighbor who called police.
Burton died, but the woman survived the attack and subsequently picked Kenneth Isom, then 34, from a photo lineup. At trial, she pointed to Isom in the courtroom, identifying him as her assailant.
In addition to the woman’s eyewitness account of the crimes, DNA evidence indicated there is a one in 57 million chance that another male of the black race is the man who raped the woman.
A Drew County jury in 2001 convicted Isom of capital murder, attempted capital murder, aggravated robbery, residential burglary, and two counts of rape. He was sentenced to death for the capital-murder and received two life sentences for the rapes, a life sentence for aggravated robbery, 60 years for attempted capital murder and 40 years for residential burglary. All of his sentences were ordered to be served consecutively.
His convictions were affirmed on direct appeal. Subsequently, the Arkansas Supreme Court upheld the denial of Isom’s Rule 37 petition (ineffective assistance of counsel) and a petition for additional DNA testing. Isom later filed an application for a writ of habeas corpus in federal court. The federal district court ordered Isom to return to state court to exhaust his state remedies.
In a 4-3 decision in May 2015, the Arkansas Supreme Court ruled Isom was entitled to new hearing in Drew County Circuit Court to consider eight claims. In June 2015, Isom filed a petition for writ of error coram nobis in Drew County Circuit Court. A writ of error coram nobis is a remedy that is available in compelling circumstances to address fundamental errors. The hearing for the petition was set for December 2015.
Before the hearing, Isom moved for discovery and for the recusal of Circuit Court Judge Sam Pope. Both motions were denied. In its order denying discovery, the Drew County Circuit Court said any witnesses or evidence that Isom’s attorneys needed could be subpoenaed to the hearing. Following the hearing and the submission of post-hearing briefs, the circuit court dismissed Isom’s petition. Isom appealed that decision.
In reinvesting the Drew County Circuit Court with jurisdiction to consider Isom’s claims, the Arkansas Supreme Court tasked the circuit court with resolving factual disputes raised in Isom’s application. When acting as a fact-finder, the circuit court determines the credibility of witnesses, resolves conflicts and inconsistencies in testimony, and assesses the weight to be given the evidence.
Isom asserted in his petition that the surviving victim was shown two photo-lineups that included his picture: a lineup of stock photographs on April 4, and a poster-sized lineup of enlarged photographs on April 5. He claimed that when the woman was shown the stock photographs, she failed to identify him as her attacker. The Drew County Circuit Court disagreed.
On appeal, Isom contends that the circuit court erred in finding that there was no failed identification on April 4.
To provide context for Isom’s arguments, the Arkansas Supreme Court quoted extensively from the Drew County Circuit Court’s order which stated that it is Isom’s burden to convince the court that a photo line-up was shown to the woman on April 4, 2001 and he failed to do so.
According to the Drew County Circuit Court’s order, the photo lineup was in fact shown to the woman April 5, 2001, at about 12:54 p.m. when she was a patient in the Intensive Care Unit of Drew Memorial Hospital in Monticello. The photo lineup was admitted at Isom’s trial.
Isom, however, argued that a photo lineup was shown by the police investigators to the woman on April 4, 2001, based on a nurse’s note, which stated: “Police here asking for (the surviving victim) to ID suspect from photos. Attempts ID. Police officers to enlarge photos and bring them back tomorrow. (The surviving victim) agrees to view enlarged photos tomorrow.”
The nurse who wrote the note testified at the hearing. She said she had no independent memory of what occurred and offered no testimony about what she meant by “attempt.”
The Court considered additional evidence on that particular issue as well. At Isom’s trial, the surviving victim was questioned on cross-examination by defense counsel about her identification, specifically the photo lineup she viewed on April 5, 2001. The text of that cross-examination follows:
Q: And you looked at the picture?
A: (Nodding affirmatively)
Q: Did you have your glasses on when you looked at the pictures?
A: I’m not sure about the day. They brought me some, a smaller sheet of pictures, and they told me to be sure that, to take time to look at them real good and everything. And I told them it might be better to wait till I got my, some glasses, you know, well, my glasses were all broke up at Bill’s (murder victim’s) house. And so (the eye doctor) fixed a pair of glasses for me. And so that’s when I looked at the pictures again and I picked out, I picked out the man.
The initial emergency room report of (the surviving victim’s) admission to Drew Memorial Hospital shows she was admitted to the emergency room on April 3, 2001 at 9:36 a.m. Other evidence reflects she was transported there by ambulance. The chief complaint being “assaulted.” Other portions of the exhibit show she complained of sexual assault the night before. She had numerous injuries described in the exhibit, including multiple bruises and lacerations in her facial area, and facial fractures. A doctor’s note, dated April 4, 2001, indicated that the woman’s “orbits are particularly swollen and known fractures are present. Her eyes are bloodshot and hemorrhagic conjunctivitis.” The doctor further noted that an ophthalmic consultation would be obtained. The records further note such a consultation took place the same day at 11:45 a.m. The Court was unable to read all of the note but could read enough to find that eye injuries were confirmed by the examination.
Prior to trial, a motion was filed to suppress a photo line-up that was admitted into trial evidence. At a hearing on that motion, a police investigator and eye doctor both testified. The police investigator testified that he was unaware of any other lineup being shown, but there was some discussion in several places of a prior photo line-up. The proof showed that the woman had been assaulted on the evening of April 2. On April 5, two police investigators went to Drew Memorial Hospital to see her. A police investigator testified that the woman had been given some medications to “calm her.” They spoke with her, but she could not see them because her eyes were swollen shut and she needed her glasses, so they decided to wait to show her the photo line-up.
During the delay, the eye doctor’s lab prepared another set of glasses for the woman, to replace the glasses broken in her attack. The eye doctor testified that he took the new glasses to the hospital and fitted them on the woman because of the swelling on her facial area. He further testified that she stated after they were fitted she could see the clock on the wall across the hospital room, actually telling them the time from the clock.
Later, after that fitting at 12:54 p.m., three police investigators went back to the hospital and showed the woman the photo line-up at issue which was admitted at trial and from which Isom was identified.
“From all this evidence, both direct and circumstantial, the Court is of the firm conclusion that no second array, which is the basis of this argument, was shown to (the victim) on April 4 or April 5,” the Arkansas Supreme Court said. “Since the Court finds that this prepared photo array was not in fact shown to (the woman), it follows that this was not in fact evidence favorable to defendant within the meaning of Brady. This argument is thus rejected.
Having set out the relevant findings, the Arkansas Supreme Court turned its attention to Isom’s contention that the Drew County Circuit Court erred in finding that there was no failed identification on April 4. Isom argued that the Drew County Circuit Court erred in (1) discounting the nurse’s note, (2) relying on the woman’s misquoted testimony, and (3) crediting a police investigator’s suppression-hearing testimony.
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