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William Mitchell Mississippi Execution

William Mitchell was executed by the State of Mississippi for the sexual assault and murder of a woman. According to court documents William Mitchell who was released from prison earlier in the year would grab Patty Milliken when she was leaving the convenience store would be sexually assault and murdered. William Mitchell would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death. William Mitchell would be executed by lethal injection on March 22, 2012

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A Mississippi man was executed Thursday for the 1995 slaying of a woman who disappeared from convenience store where she worked in Biloxi.

William Mitchell, 61, was pronounced dead at 6:20 p.m. Thursday after a lethal injection.

Asked whether he wanted to say anything before the chemicals were pumped into his veins, Mitchell emphatically said, “No.”

Dressed in a red jumpsuit, wearing black-and-white sneakers, Mitchell appeared to lick his lips, took a deep breath and exhaled and then yawned. Moments later he closed his eyes and officials pronounced him dead.

Mitchell was convicted in the Nov. 21, 1995, slaying of 38-year-old Patty Milliken, who disappeared after walking out of the Majik Mart convenience store where she worked to have a cigarette with Mitchell.

Her body was found the next day under a bridge. She had been “strangled, beaten, sexually assaulted and repeatedly run over by a vehicle,” according to court records.

Mitchell was convicted of capital murder in Harrison County in 1998.

Two members of Milliken’s family — son, Williams Burns; and a sister, Rosemary Riley — witnessed the execution.

Corrections Commissioner Chris Epps said Mitchell didn’t want any of his own relatives to witness it, but noted that Mitchell’s lawyers were present. Earlier Thursday, he was visited by a brother and two sisters.

Epps said Mitchell was talkative earlier in the day.

“Just small talk … nothing about what he was on death row for,” Epps said.

Mitchell’s last meal request was for fried shrimp and oysters, ranch dressing, two fried chicken breasts, a strawberry shake and a soft drink. Epps said Mitchell ate very little of the meal, but asked for a sedative.

The Mississippi Supreme Court and the U.S. Supreme Court earlier Thursday declined to stop Mitchell’s execution.

Gov. Phil Bryant issued a statement that he would not halt the execution.

“After reviewing the case of William Mitchell and the crime he committed, I will not stand in the way of the scheduled execution. My thoughts and prayers are with the family and friends of Patty Milliken, who fell victim to this horrible act of violence,” Bryant said in the statement.

Mitchell’s body will be turned over to his sister Gerolyn Mitchell and Brinson Funeral Home in Cleveland, Miss.

Court records show Mitchell, had been out of prison on parole for less than a year for a 1974 murder when he was charged with raping and killing Milliken.

According to court records, Mitchell, as a young adult, served in the Army but by the 1990s, he had a long criminal record and had spent much of his adult life behind bars. He was charged twice with beating women in 1973. In 1974, he was charged with killing a family friend and stabbing her daughter.

In his petition to the Supreme Court, Mitchell had argued the Mississippi courts denied his right to due process by failing to address his challenge that was based on his lawyers’ inadequate representation. He said the courts just ignored the issue by saying it had already been adjudicated elsewhere.

Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood in his brief to the Supreme Court said the issues raised by Mitchell were nothing new and were rejected by other courts

https://www.gulflive.com/mississippi-press-news/2012/03/mississippi_executes_prisoner.html

Larry Puckett Mississippi Execution

Larry Puckett was executed by the State of Mississippi for the sexual assault and murder of a woman. According to court documents Larry Puckett would sexually assault and murder Rhonda Hatten Griffis, who was his bosses wife. Larry Puckett who was an 18 year old former Eagle Scout would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death. Larry Puckett would be executed by lethal injection on March 20 2012

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A Mississippi man who was an 18-year-old Eagle Scout when he was charged with murder was executed Tuesday for the 1995 sexual assault and slaying of the wife of his former boss.

Larry Matthew Puckett, 35, was put to death by injection and pronounced dead at 6:18 p.m. Tuesday, authorities said. Puckett was convicted of the Oct. 14, 1995, killing of Rhonda Hatten Griffis, a 28-year-old mother of two who lived northeast of Hattiesburg in Petal.

While Puckett’s supporters claimed that the woman’s husband killed her in a jealous rage, the victim’s mother said she found Puckett in the home holding an axe handle, which prosecutors said was used in the killing.

“I caught him in her house with the club in his hand,” Nancy Hatten told The Associated Press on Friday. “Her husband wasn’t anywhere on the premises at the time. He drove up later.”

Griffis’ husband found his wife’s battered body in the living room, according to court records. Puckett had worked as a landscaper for Griffis’ husband, and the crime occurred weeks before Puckett was scheduled to leave for basic training with the Navy.

Puckett, who ran from the home, was captured two days later. He confessed to being at the Griffis’ home to burglarize it, but claimed Griffis’ husband killed her, according to court records. Puckett was sentenced to death on Aug. 5, 1996.

Supporters who insisted Puckett was innocent rallied Monday at the state Capitol in Jackson alongside the man’s mother, Mary Puckett. They raised a sign that read “Take a Stand, Save Matt” and many wore black T-shirts with words in white lettering: “Save Matt.”

But Gov. Phil Bryant refused to grant a reprieve after the U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday afternoon denied his final petition. Bryant said in a statement as the execution hour loomed that he had reviewed the case but decided against intervening.

“In light of Mr. Puckett’s having been convicted by a jury of his peers more than 15 years ago and after a review of the facts associated with his case, I have decided not to grant clemency and will not delay the execution,” Bryant’s statement said. “My thoughts and prayers are with the victim’s family.”

Earlier, Puckett spent his final hours receiving his parents, brothers, uncle and a spiritual adviser at the Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman, where the death chamber is housed. He requested a last meal of Macadamia nut pancakes, shrimp and grits, ice cream cake, caramel candy and root beer.

Mississippi Corrections Commissioner Chris Epps said the man’s mood was “somber” in the hours before the execution. Epps said he talked to Puckett about his childhood and becoming an Eagle Scout, but he did not want to talk about the crime for which he was convicted.

“He said there’s more to the story and he denied committing the crime,” Epps said.

Epps said Puckett requested that his relatives and lawyer not watch the execution. Griffis’ parents were on the witness list.

Thousands of people had signed an online petition in support of Puckett, insisting on his innocence. They had hoped to persuade Bryant to stop the execution.

Puckett has spent much of his time on death row writing letters to friends and family and essays on a variety of topics, including musing about what it will be like to be executed.

“Now picture yourself surrounded by big burly men with firm grips on you as they direct you to the execution chamber. The excitement and base fear course through you like no other time in your life. You sweat, you pant, you want them to stop. They won’t, they can’t, the whole process is inexorable,” he wrote on a website that prints prisoners’ letters. “Ironically, at the moment of your death your body proves to you are the most alive.”

Puckett has requested that his body be released to his mother, Mary Puckett.

Mary Puckett said at Monday’s rally that her son’s treatment was unfair from the start.

“Like a lot of people, I thought if someone was convicted of a crime, they were probably guilty,” Puckett said. “But if this can happen to us, it can happen to anyone.”

Hatten said she’s convinced the right man was convicted in her daughter’s death. Hatten described her daughter as a woman who deeply loved her husband and children and stayed busy taking care of them.

An only child, Griffis was nearly finished with college when she became pregnant and dropped out to make a home. She hoped someday to finish her degree in social work at the University of Southern Mississippi.

“She loved us and helped us and did what she could do for us,” Hatten said. “She was always a joy to us.”

Another Mississippi death row inmate, William Mitchell, 61, faces scheduled execution Thursday. Mitchell had been out of prison on parole for less than a year for a 1975 murder when he was charged with raping and killing Patty Milliken, 38.

Milliken disappeared on Nov. 21, 1995, after walking out of a convenience store where she worked in Biloxi to have a cigarette with Mitchell. Her body was found the next day under a bridge. She had been strangled, beaten, sexually assaulted, and repeatedly run over by a vehicle, according to court records.

https://www.gulflive.com/mississippi-press-news/2012/03/larry_matthew_puckett_executed.html

Edwin Turner Mississippi Execution

Edwin Turner was executed by the State of Mississippi for the murders of two men during an armed robbery. Accordin to court documents Edwin Turner was robbing gas stations and in the process would shoot and kill two men Eddie Brooks and Everett Curry in two different robberies. Edwin Turner who attempted to kill himself when he was eighteen by shooting himself in the head with a rifle would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death. Edwin Turner would be executed by lethal injection on February 8, 2012

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Mississippi inmate Edwin Hart Turner was executed Wednesday evening for killing two men in a 1995 robbery spree after the courts declined to stop the execution based on arguments that he was mentally ill.

Turner, 38, was administered a lethal injection and died at 6:21 p.m. CST at the Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman, authorities said. The inmate was convicted of killing the two men while robbing gas stations with a friend, Paul Murrell Stewart, in a spree that netted about $400. Stewart, 17 at the time, testified against Turner and was sentenced to life in prison.

Turner was strapped on a gurney wearing white shoes and one of the red prison jumpsuits issued to death row inmates. When a microphone was lowered to his mouth, he said, “No” when asked if he had a final statement. Then the chemicals began flowing through tubes into his body. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath and had the appearance of falling asleep .

Turner was convicted of capital murder in the deaths of Eddie Brooks and Everett Curry. Brooks was shot to death while working at Mims Turkey Village Truck Stop in Carroll County. Curry was shot to death while pumping gas at the nearby Mims One Stop.

Mississippi Department of Corrections spokeswoman Suzanne Singletary said a sister and cousin of victim Eddie Brooks watched the execution. The brother and son of his other victim, Everett Curry, also witnessed it. They were escorted out of the witness room after the execution, saying nothing as they were led away. Turner had requested that none of his family watch the execution, though two of his attorneys were listed to be witnesses.

The U.S. Supreme Court refused late Wednesday to block the execution. Earlier in the day, Gov. Phil Bryant had refused to grant a reprieve, saying after a review of the case, “I have decided not to grant clemency for his violent acts.”

Earlier, Turner’s lawyers had object ed to the pace of events in the scheduling of the execution.

“Execution was set in this case with only 13 days’ notice – a procedure that would be illegal in most other states. Mississippi has created a time crunch and forced both the courts and the Governor to respond to this most serious of cases with inadequate time and consideration,” said Richard Bourke, director of the Louisiana Capital Assistance Center.

James Craig, another LCAC attorney representing Turner, had persuaded U.S. District Judge Carlton Reeves on Monday to temporarily block the execution after arguing a Department of Corrections policy prevented Turner from getting tests that could prove he was mentally ill when he killed the two men

That petition said Mississippi is one of 10 states that permit someone who suffered from serious mental illness at the time of the offense to be executed. Turner’s lawyers wanted the court to prohibit the execution of mentally ill people as it did with inm ates considered mentally retarded.

On Wednesday, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans overturned the stay.

Corrections Commissioner Chris Epps said Turner was talkative in the hours before the execution Wednesday but declined to discuss the crimes for which he was sentenced to death. Asked if Turner seemed mentally ill, Epps said of the visit with the prisoner in those final hours: “No, not to me. He appears to be on the ball.”

There’s little dispute that Turner killed two men while robbing gas stations, then went home and had a meal of shrimp and cinnamon rolls before going to sleep.

Turner’s lawyers argued in the petition to the U.S. Supreme Court that he inherited a serious mental illness. They argued that his father is thought to have committed suicide by shooting a gun into a shed filled with dynamite and his grandmother and great-grandmother both spent time in the state mental hospital.

Turner’s attorneys say he also was se verely disfigured during a suicide attempt at 18 by putting a rifle in his mouth and pulling the trigger.

Craig said Turner spent three months in the State Hospital at Whitfield being treated for mental problems after slitting his wrists in another suicide attempt in 1995 – prior to the killings later that year. He said Turner was diagnosed with depression that year and given the antidepressant medication Prozac. Craig believes Turner was misdiagnosed and that Prozac compounded his problems.

But state Attorney General Jim Hood Hood has said Turner’s lawyers were bringing up old arguments that had been rejected by the courts before.

“We argue that his mental health claims have been fully addressed, and that this present action is nothing more than an attempt to re-litigate a claim that has been properly adjudicated at every turn,” Hood said in a recent statement.

Turner was convicted of killing the two men while robbing gas stations with a friend, Paul Murrell Stewart, in a spree that netted about $400. Stewart, 17 at the time, testified against Turner and was sentenced to life in prison.

According to court records, Stewart said he and Turner were drinking beer and smoking marijuana when they decided to arm themselves with rifles and rob a store Dec. 13, 1995. They picked Mims Turkey Village Truck Stop on Mississippi’s U.S. Highway 82, where 37-year-old Eddie Brooks was working

Turner shot Brooks in the chest, according to Stewart. He said the two went behind the counter but couldn’t open the cash register, not even when Turner shot at it. An enraged Turner then “placed the barrel of his gun inches from Eddie Brooks’ head and pulled the trigger,” the court records said.

The two left empty-handed and drove nearby to Mims One Stop, where 38-year-old prison guard Everett Curry was pumping gas. Stewart went inside to rob the store while Turner forced Curry to the ground at gunpoint.

“As Curry was plea ding for his life, Turner shot him in the head,” the records said.

Turner and Stewart went back to Turner’s house, where they ate dinner and fell asleep. When they awoke, deputies were knocking at the door.

https://www.gulflive.com/mississippi-press-news/2012/02/edwin_hart_turner_executed_for.html