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Arthur Goode Florida Execution

Arthur Goode was executed by the State of Florida for the sexual assault and murder of a nine year old boy. According to court documents Arthur Goode had been arrested and convicted of molesting two children however he was sent to a State mental hospital. Arthur Goode would flee from the hospital and soon after would sexually assault and murder nine year old Jason VerDow. Before he could be arrested Arthur Goode would kidnap another boy who he brought to Washington DC. While in Washington Goode would kidnap another boy who he later murdered. Arthur Goode would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death. Arthur Goode would be executed by way of the electric chair on April 5 1984

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Arthur Frederick Goode III, the former Hyattsville resident convicted of killing a small boy in Florida and another in Fairfax County, died in the electric chair in Florida State Prison yesterday after tearfully apologizing to his parents and expressing remorse for what he had done.

Goode, 30, received the death penalty for the murder of 9-year-old Jason Verdow of Cape Coral, Fla., in 1976. Ten days after committing the crime, he raped and killed 10-year-old Kenneth Dawson of Falls Church, for which he received a life sentence in Virginia.

Goode had said in interviews and letters to the parents of his victims that he was proud he killed the boys and would continue to molest and kill if he were released. But as he was strapped into the electric chair at the state prison in Starke, his tone became somber

“I want to apologize to my parents,” he said, his voice trailing off and tears welling in his eyes. “I have remorse for the two boys I murdered. It’s difficult for me to show it.”

Goode was executed less than six hours after Elmo Patrick Sonnier, 35, was electrocuted in Angola, La., for the November 1977 killing of two teen-aged sweethearts abducted from a lovers’ lane.

Yesterday was the first time two persons have been executed on the same day since the Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976. Goode was the 18th person executed in the United States since 1976 and the seventh person executed this year.

Michael Dawson, whose son’s body was found March 20, 1976, in a wooded area near Tysons Corner, had requested “a front-row seat” at Goode’s execution but was turned down by Florida officials.

Dawson learned of Goode’s death at 7:30 yesterday morning while listening to the radio at his Falls Church home. He spoke with the superintendent of Florida State Prison, Richard Dugger, a few hours later.

“He told me it probably would have done me more harm than good to have been down there to witness it,” Dawson said. “But I don’t know. I lost something. I don’t have the words to express it, the hurt, but I feel a little bit better this morning.

“At least I won’t have to hear his mouth and see his mouth anymore running on the television,” Dawson said.

At the time of his conviction in Virginia, the state did not impose the death penalty. It has subsequently been reinstated.

The fathers of the couple killed in Louisiana were permitted to witness the execution of Sonnier at Angola State Prison.

Just before a black hood was pulled over his head, Sonnier turned to Godfrey Bourque, father of Loretta Bourque, 18, and to Lloyd LeBlanc, father of David LeBlanc, 16, and, staring at LeBlanc, said: “Mr. LeBlanc, I can understand the way you feel.

“I have no hatred in my heart,” Sonnier continued. “As I leave this world . . . I ask to have your forgiveness.” LeBlanc nodded and said “yes.”

Lawyers worked until almost the hour of execution for both men trying to get the sentences stayed, but the Supreme Court rejected last-minute bids for each.

Goode had treated his crimes cavalierly almost from the moment he was arrested, taunting the parents of his victims, conducting his own defense for the Florida killing, abusing his parents, who insisted that he was insane and worked tirelessly to prevent his execution, and frequently appearing on television as a self-styled expert on child molesters.

Prison officials said Goode wrote 10 to 15 letters a day, mostly to public officials and members of the news media because he was forbidden years ago to continue writing to the parents of his victims.

The Washington Post has received continuous correspondence from him since he was first arrested in Fairfax County in March 1976. His final letter to the Post is dated “3-29-84” and reads in its entirety: “Dear Editor, The Washington Post, Wash, D.C. Very Urgent! My ‘execution’ is scheduled for next week (4-5-84) and I demand it be carried out! Please arrange to come ‘interview’ me immediately. Sincerely Arthur F. Goode III 038781.”

As recently as Wednesday at a prison news conference, Goode had said he had no remorse for the killings, demanded to be executed and said his final wish was to have sex with a little boy.

Prison officials said that after Goode spoke with his parents for the last time just after midnight, he seemed to realize that, in Superintendent Dugger’s words, “This time there would be no last-minute stay. I think until then he really thought there would be.”

At 4:45 a.m. yesterday Goode ate a final meal of steak, baked potato, buttered cauliflower and broccoli, half a gallon of ice cream, and a dozen chocolate chip cookies.

“He ate with gusto,” said prison spokesman Vernon Bradford.

Dugger led Goode to the electric chair and held a microphone to carry his last words to 12 witnesses.

“I’m very upset,” Goode said as he was strapped into the chair. “I don’t know what to say, really. How much time do I have?”

Dugger did not answer, and Goode then issued his apology.

A black gag was placed across his mouth and a hood was dropped over his face, and at 7:03 a current of 2,000 volts was sent through his body. His body jolted, his fists clenched, and then his body relaxed. He was pronounced dead at 7:08.

A funeral home in Florida said Goode’s body would be sent to Hyattsville for burial. Goode is survived by his father and mother, who live in Pine Island, Fla., and three older sisters.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1984/04/06/repentant-goode-executed-in-florida/c9ce2ab5-cd69-4c6a-8271-41efb4b60e21/

James Adams Florida Execution

James Adams was executed by the State of Florida for the murder of a man during a robbery. According to court documents James Adams had escaped from a Florida prison where he was serving a 99 year sentence for rape when he attempted to rob Edgar Brown who he would beat to death with a fireplace poker. James Adams would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death

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Urging other death row inmates to ”keep on fighting,” James Adams died in the electric chair today for murdering a rancher, becoming the first black executed in Florida in 20 years.

Mr. Adams, 47 years old, who had maintained his innocence and charged that race played a part in his convictions, was pronounced dead at 7:11 A.M. The United States Supreme Court, voting 5 to 4, cleared the way for his execution Wednesday night by overruling a lower court that granted a stay so it could review whether Florida’s death penalty laws were racially discriminatory.

The stocky, muscular man told reporters earlier he ”wouldn’t hesitate to walk like a man” to his death. He did just that.

‘I Have Only Love’

”To all the men on death row, keep on fighting because it is wrong and immoral,” Mr. Adams said after being strapped into the chair where four others have died since 1979. ”I have no animosity toward anyone. I only have love.”

Mr. Adams was convicted of the murder of Edgar Brown of Fort Pierce, a prominent rancher and former St. Lucie County sheriff’s deputy. Mr. Brown was beaten to death with a poker in a robbery at his home on Nov. 12, 1973, and a witness said he had seen Mr. Adams running from the scene.

At the time, Mr. Adams was an fugitive from Tennessee, where he had served 10 years of a 99-year sentence for rape.

In an interview Tuesday, Mr. Adams said he was ”railroaded” in each crime because he was a poor black and the victims were white.

But Gov. Bob Graham, who signed Mr. Adams’s death warrant, said there was no reason to grant a reprieve as requested by defense attorneys and opponents of the death penalty.

Al Brown, the victim’s son, said: ”I don’t care what they do to him. I have mixed feelings about the whole thing.” ‘A Terrible Mistake’

The family of James Adams, one of 14 children of parents who were sharecroppers, insisted the wrong man was executed. ”He has never killed anyone and Governor Graham is making a terrible mistake,” relatives said in a statement distributed in Tallahassee.

The Rev. Ernie Brunelle, a Roman Catholic priest from Gainesville, who was among 30 death penalty opponents outside Florida State Prison, said, ”The fact he was tried by a male, all- white jury, that means a great deal.” About 50 others protested at the Capitol in Tallahassee.

Carl Shriner Florida Execution

Carl Shriner was executed by the State of Florida for the murder of a store clerk during a robbery. According to court documents Carl Shriner would shoot and kill Judith Ann Carter during a robbery at a convenience store. Carl Shriner would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death. Carl Shriner would be executed by way of the electric chair on June 20 1984

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Carl Shriner, who spent most of his 30 years behind bars but found ‘the light’ on death row, died in the electric chair today for the murder of a young mother in a convenience store holdup.

Shriner, who was sent to reform school when he was 8, died at 7:12 a.m. in the wooden electric chair at Florida State Prison

He was the 20th man executed in the United States since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976, and the sixth in Florida — twice as many as any other state.

After he was strapped into the chair, the lanky Shriner read a final statement from a paper held in front of him by Prisons Superintendent Richard Dugger.

‘Many of my friends have mentioned for me to look for the light,’ Shriner said in a steady voice. ‘But I already saw the light when I accepted Christ years ago. Only now I get to go stand in it and enjoy it with the Lord.’

Shriner nodded to his attorney, Ken Lawrence, one of 25 people in the witness chamber. When black-hooded executioner — hired for $150 a job through classified advertising — threw the switch, up to 2,000 volts surged through Shriner’s body. His chest heaved and his fists clenched, and the body did not relax until the current was turned off 90 seconds later

Prison spokesman Vernon Bradford said Shriner spent a sleepless night meeting with his minister, the Rev. Fred Lawrence, and ate a hearty last meal of steak, potatoes, corn on the cob, salad, cantaloupe, strawberries and ice cream.

‘He ate everything from the cream on the strawberries to the ice cream in the cantaloupe,’ said Bradford.

Shriner then took a shower and was shaved in preparation for the 7 a.m. EDT execution in the three-legged, oaken electric chair called ‘Old Sparky’ by the 219 men and one woman on Florida’s death row.

About 40 demonstrators, nearly all of them agaist the death penalty, gathered in pre-dawn fog outside the gate of the sprawling Florida State Prison.

Shriner told reporters Monday he had found Christ in prison and was prepared to die.

‘Spiritually I ain’t scared, but physically, as long as I’m in this human form, I’m scared,’ Shriner said.

He was sentenced to die for the Oct. 22, 1976, murder of Judith Ann Carter, 34, during the robbery of a Gainesville convenience store where she worked. Mrs. Carter, the mother of four young children, was shot five times.

Shriner, one of 10 children of a Cleveland window washer and his wife, who now lives in Phoenix, Ariz., had been released from a Florida prison only 23 days before the murder after serving most of a five-year term for robbery in Miami.

He admitted driving the getaway car, but another man, whom he refused to name, killed Mrs. Carter. That claim was never made at his trial.

Shriner was first scheduled to be executed April 21, 1982, but the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta intervened after attorneys claimed he had ineffective trial counsel.

The Atlanta court intervened again Monday, but lifted the temporary stay late Tuesday, saying his claims of ineffective trial counsel had ‘either been previously determined, have no merit or constitute an abuse of the writ.’

Defense lawyers then went to the Supreme Court, which took only 90 minutes to vote 6-2 vote not to block the execution.

Shriner said he felt sorry for Mrs. Carter’s family, but added ‘I don’t know the people personally. My family loves me just like your family loves you.’

He said neither his parents, nor any of his seven brothers and two sisters could afford to come across country from Phoenix to witness the execution

https://www.upi.com/Archives/1984/06/20/Carl-Elson-Shriner-who-spent-most-of-his-30/2409456552000/

David Washington Florida Execution

David Washington was executed by the State of Florida for three murders that were committed during a ten day period. According to court documents David Washington would go on a crime spree over ten days that would leave three people dead and would also include the crimes of torture and kidnapping. David Washington would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death. David Washington would executed by way of the electric chair on June 13, 1984

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David Washington, a former choirboy who stabbed three people to death, died in the electric chair today after holding his daughter on his knee and telling her ‘I want you to do better.’

‘I’d like to say to the families of all my victims, I’m sorry for all the grief and heartache I brought to them,’ Washington said after he was strapped into the electric chair. ‘If my death brings them any satisfaction, so be it

Washington, 34, the second black man executed in the South in two days and the 22nd man put to death since the Supreme Court dropped its capital punishment ban in 1976, died at 7:09 a.m. He was the seventh man executed in Florida, more than any other state.

The tall, slender condemned man also had last words for the 220 men he left behind on Florida’s death row.

He stumbled several times over the words and explained ‘I’m kind of nervous, that’s all.’

‘To all the guys on death row, I’d like to say don’t bow down to defeat … without a fight.’

Washington entered the death chamber with a small smile on his face and chuckled at the words of one of the guards who escorted him

The condemned man met with his wife and his 12-year-old daughter Florence late Thursday night. The Rev. Joe Ingle said Washington sat her on his lap, lifted her chin and told her ‘I’m the one who got me here.’ ‘

The tall, slender condemned man also had last words for the 220 men he left behind on Florida’s death row.

He stumbled several times over the words and explained ‘I’m kind of nervous, that’s all.’

‘To all the guys on death row, I’d like to say don’t bow down to defeat … without a fight.’

Washington entered the death chamber with a small smile on his face and chuckled at the words of one of the guards who escorted him.

‘I want you to do better,’ he told the sobbing child. ‘I want you to set some goals for yourself and I want you to hit the books.’

Washington made his daughter repeat what he had said, Ingle reported, and the little girl left in tears. ‘Her heart was broken,’ Ingle said. ‘They were leading her daddy away to kill him

I don’t think there was a day he was here that he didn’t hate himself for what he had done,’ Ingle said.

The parents of Arthur Goode, sex-killer of two small boys who was executed April 5, were among about 40 death penalty protesters standing under a full moon outside the state prison as day began to break.

‘We thought we’d try to do a little good,’ said Mildred Goode. ‘I think if it was enough people it would make a difference.’

Ivon Ray Stanley, 28, died in the Georgia electric chair Thursday for the 1976 slaying of an insurance agent.

Washington was to have been part of the first double execution in the United States in 19 years, but the Supreme Court Thursday upheld a stay for Jimmy Lee Smith, who was scheduled to die a few minutes after Washington.

Smith, described by prison officials as ‘delighted,’ was moved out of the death chamber he had shared with Washington near ‘Old Sparky,’ the grim name given the electric chair by inmates at the Florida State Prison.

The high court rejected Washington’s final appeal late Thursday night, eight hours before he died.

Washington was awakened at 4:30 a.m. EDT and ate heartily of fried shrimp, fried oysters, french fries, hot rolls, vanilla ice cream and lemonade for his last meal.

https://www.upi.com/Archives/1984/07/13/David-Leroy-Washington-a-former-choirboy-who-stabbed-three/3676458539200/

Ernest Dobbert Florida Execution

Ernest Dobbert was executed by the State of Florida for the murders of two of his children. According to court documents Ernest Dobbert would murder his daughter Kelly Ann, 9, on Dec. 31, 1971. Two months later Ernest Dobbert would murder his son seven year old Ryder. Both children endured months of beatings before their deaths. Ernest Dobbert would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death. Ernest Dobbert would be executed by electric chair on September 7 1984

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Ernest John Dobbert Jr., called ‘the most hated man on Florida’s death row’ for the torture deaths of his young daughter and son, went to his death in the electric chair as 20 people outside the prison cheered and applauded.

Dobbert, 46, was pronounced dead at 10:09 a.m. EDT after the Supreme Court denied his last-minute appeal. He accepted his death calmly with a tight-lipped smile and made no final statement

Prison Superintendent Richard Dugger asked, ‘Ernest Dobbert, do you have any last words?’

‘No, No,’ Dobbert said, shaking his head.

Then Dobbert, who said he had become a born-again Christian, winked twice at the Rev. Melvin Biggs of Lynchburg, Va., and his attorney, William P. White, an assistant puiblic defender from Jacksonville, Fla.

He mouthed several words at the two which looked like, ‘I love you.’

As the power was turned on, Dobbert’s fists clenched and then became progressively purple. His head and legs shaved and barefoot, Dobbert wore a new navy blue suit and white shirt.

Outside the sprawling lime-green prison, about 20 pro-death penalty activities cheered and applauded when the execution was announced. About 30 anti-capital punishment protesters gathered nearby and sang hymns

There was a sign in a late-model car following the hearse that carried Dobbert’s boby which said, ‘When murderers die, justice lives.’

Dobbert, a former tire recapper, spent his final hours with his family, including his 17-year-old daughter — the sister of the two children he killed. He refused a final meal.

Dobbert was the sixth man executed in Florida’s oaken electric chair this year and the eighth to die in the state since the Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976. He was the 23rd executed in the United States since the ban was lifted.

Dobbert, a lanky, 200-pound native of Milwaukee, Wis., was convicted of first-degree murder for strangling his daughter, Kelly Ann, 9, Dec. 31, 1971, and sentenced to death. He also was convicted of second-degree murder for the death of his son, Ryder, 7, who died two months after Kelly Ann as the result of constant beatings.

Dobbert, who had claimed to be a victim of child abuse himself, had been scheduled to be part of a double execution Thursday. But he received a stay until today, and Nollie Lee Martin, also a convicted killer, was granted an indefinite delay while his appeal was heard

The Supreme Court, with Justices Thurgood Marshall and William Brennan dissenting, rejected Dobbert’s final appeal at 1:30 a.m. in Washington. Prison spokesman Vernon Bradford said Dobbert ‘was calm and resigned’ when he heard the court’s decision.

‘I think he probably anticipated the decision. I think he felt that way yesterday when the appeals court turned him down,’ Bradford said.

Dobbert, who had been scheduled to die in Florida’s electric chair twice before, was turned down by the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta late Thursday and attorneys had rushed his case to the nation’s highest court.

The Atlanta appeals court allowed a temporary stay it had granted Dobbert earlier in the week to expire at 10 a.m. today and state prison officials set his execution for that hour.

Dobbert’s history of venting his violent rages on his children made him ‘the most hated man on Florida’s Death Row,’ officials said. Dobbert admitted beating his children, but denied killing any of them.

Bradford said Dobbert made no request for a special meal and when a breakfast of chipped beef on toast was brought to him, he turned it down.

He was visited late Thursday and early today by several family members including his mother Catherine Dobbert; sister Katherine Sartore; and 17-year-old daughter Honore. She was the little girl who Dobbert abandoned on the steps of a Fort Lauderdale, Fla., hospital when she was 5 while he was fleeing police following the murders.

https://www.upi.com/Archives/1984/09/07/Ernest-John-Dobbert-Jr-called-the-most-hated-man/7003641742736/