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John Rook North Carolina Execution

John Rook was executed by the State of North Carolina for the sexual assault and murder of a woman. According to court documents John Rook would kidnap the victim who was later sexually assaulted before being run over by a car. John Rock would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death. John Rook would be executed by lethal injection on September 19 1986

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Wearing his favorite cowboy boots and proclaiming ‘Freedom, freedom — at last, man!’ John Rook was executed by injection today for the rape and murder of a 25-year-old nurse.

Rook, 27, lost his bid for a stay on 5-4 Supreme Court vote shortly before midnight EDT and was wheeled into the Central Prison execution chamber about 2 a.m. wearing a Harley-Davidson T-shirt, blue jeans and his Dingo boots.

Freedom, freedom — at last, man! It’s been a good one,’ said Rook, a feisty inmate who stood 5-foot-4 with braided, waist-length blond hair and a beard that hung midway down his chest.

John Rook, whose execution had been postponed five times, received a lethal injection of the muscle relaxant procuronium bromide and was pronounced dead at 2:11 a.m., corrections spokeswoman Renee McCoy said.

‘He seemed to be very peaceful,’ said witness Lisa Shell. ‘He took several deep breaths (and) sighs and then there was a sunken impression on his chest.’

John Rook was convicted of killing Ann Marie Roche, 25, a Raleigh nurse he abducted and raped during a 1980 drinking spree. The woman was beaten with a tire iron, slashed with a knife, run over with a car and left to die in an isolated field, police said. Her body was still warm when found the next day — evidence her death had been long and painful, experts said

John Rook ordered a final meal of 12 hot dogs ‘all the way’ Thursday but only ate three, McCoy said. He made a point of telling officials that he planned to wear his Harley-Davidson T-Shirt and Dingo boots to the execution chamber.

John Rook was the 66th person nationwide and the third in North Carolina to be executed since the reinstatement of capital punishment in 1976. Velma Barfield, a 54-year-old grandmother put to death in 1984, was the state’s last execution.

Texas leads the nation in the number of post-1976 executions with 18.

John Rook had asked the Supreme Court to grant the stay on grounds the death penalty discriminates against males, poor people and those whose victims are white. Rook and Roche were white.

Rook’s attorneys said in asking Gov. Jim Martin to grant clemency that the state is partly to blame for failing to intervene in Rook’s family situation. Rook’s brother said their father once stripped young Rook naked and beat him with a belt until he bled, and often gave Rook liquor and beer as early as age 4 to watch him get ‘stone drunk.’

Martin’s decision not to grant clemency came about 12 hours before the scheduled execution.

https://www.upi.com/Archives/1986/09/19/Rook-executed-for-killing-nurse/5028527486400/

James Hutchins North Carolina Execution

James Hutchins was executed by the State of North Carolina for the murders of 3 police officers. According to court documents James Hutchins would have an argument with his daughters that turned violent and the police were called. The first two responding officers Captain Roy Huskey, 42, and Deputy Owen Messersmith, 58 would be shot and killed. James Hutchins would take off and be later pulled over by a North Carolina State Trooper who did not know that he was wanted for the two murders. State Trooper Robert L. “Pete” Peterson, 37, would be shot and killed. James Hutchins would later be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death. James Hutchins would be executed on March 16, 1984 by lethal injection

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James W. Hutchins was executed by lethal injection early this morning for the slayings of three law officers almost five years ago.

Gov. James B. Hunt Jr. had refused on Thursday to halt the execution. Mr. Hutchins, who had asked his lawyers to drop all appeals, was the 15th convict put to death since the United States Supreme Court reinstated capital punishment in 1976, and the third to die by lethal injection. The latest occurred Wednesday when James David Autry was executed in Texas.

Mr. Hutchins, 54 years old, visited with his wife, Geneva, on Thursday at Central Prison in Raleigh. He also met with a minister from his native Rutherford County, where the slayings occurred after Mr. Hutchins and his daughter, Charlotte, argued over the amount of alcohol in a bowl of punch for a high school graduation party.

A Department of Correction spokesman, Patty McQuillan, said the condemned man twice refused to order a last meal, but ate a steak sandwich and drank a soft drink about 1 P.M. He spent the evening reading a newspaper and 14 letters he had received, including one from his son, Jamie, she said. He also visited with his wife again and called Jamie and spoke to him for about two minutes.

The last execution in North Carolina was on Oct. 27, 1961, when Theodore Boykin went to the gas chamber for the rape and murder of a Duplin County housewife.

Mr. Hutchins selected as his method of execution a lethal injection of drugs, sodium thiopental, to induce a deep sleep and the paralytic drug procuronium bromide to cause death.

He was sentenced to die in September 1979 fort the shooting deaths of Sheriff’s Deputy Owen Messersmith and Highway Patrol Trooper Robert L. Peterson. He also received a life sentence for the death of another deputy, Roy Huskey. The deputies were killed answering a call for help from Mr. Hutchins’s daughter. The trooper was killed as he pursued James Hutchins as he fled in a car after the killings.

Velma Barfield Execution

Velma Barfield was the first woman to be executed in the United States after the resumption of capital punishment. Velma Barfield who was classified as a serial killer would be convicted of one murder but would confess to six murders. Velma Barfield was executed on November 2, 1984 by lethal injection.

Velma Barfield was born on October 29, 1932 in South Carolina to an abusive father and a mother who would not intervene. Velma would escape her home by getting married at seventeen to Thomas Burke. Unfortunately Velma would suffer medical issues and have to undergo a hysterectomy which would lead to her abusing pain killers.

Soon after the marriage began to fall apart with Thomas Burke starting to drink and Velma worsening drug addiction. Thomas Burke would pass out on April 4, 1969 and Velma would take their kids and leave the home. When they returned the house was completely burnt down to the studs.

Velma Barfield would get married again in 1970 to Jennings Barfield who would die a year later from heart complications.

In 1974 Velma Barfields mother Linda began to have health problems and began to have severe vomiting and nausea. Linda would be admitted to the hospital and recover. At Christmas the same year Linda would be readmitted into the hospital with the same illness and would die within hours

In 1976 Velma Barfield began to work as a personal assistant for an elderly couple, Montgomery and Dollie Edwards. Montgomery Edwards would die in January of 1977 of the same illness that killed Velma’s mother Linda. A month later Dollie Edwards would die a few months later of the same.

In 1977 Velma worked for another elderly couple, Record and John Lee, John would die from a severe stomach illness a few months later.

The last victim was Rowland Stuart Taylor, who was dating Velma Barfield and a relation to Dollie Edwards, would end up dying after he was fed arsenic. Turns out Velma was stealing from Rowland and she was worried that he would find out.

Authorities would exhume the body of her second husband, Jennings Barfield and it turned out he died from arsenic poisoning

Velma Barfield was only charged with the murder of Rowland Taylor, which she was convicted and sentenced to death. Velma would confess to the murders of Linda Bullard, Dollie, and John Henry Lee.

Velma Barfield would be executed on November 2, 1984 by lethal injection

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After two marriages ended with the death of her husbands, by 1977 Velma Barfield was in a relationship with Stuart Taylor, who was a widower and tobacco farmer. As she had been doing for years, she forged checks on Taylor’s account to pay for her addiction to prescription drugs. Fearing that she had been found out, she mixed an arsenic based rat poison into his beer and tea. Taylor became very ill and Velma volunteered to nurse him. As his condition worsened she took him to hospital where he died a few days later.

Unfortunately for her there was an autopsy which found that the cause of Taylor’s death was arsenic poisoning and Velma Barfield was arrested and charged with his murder. At the trial her defense pleaded insanity but this was not accepted and she was convicted. The jury recommended the death sentence. Velma appeared cold and uncaring on the stand and actually gave the District Attorney a round of applause when he made his closing speech.

Velma Barfield later confessed to the 1974 murder of her own mother (in whose name she had taken out a loan) and of two elderly people, John Henry Lee (by whom she was being paid as a housekeeper/caregiver) and Dollie Edwards (a relative of Stuart Taylor). Velma Barfield always attended the funerals of her victims and appeared to grieve genuinely for them.

The body of her late husband, Thomas Barfield, was later exhumed and also found to contain traces of arsenic. Velma denied that she had killed him. Her motives for these four murders were the same. She had misappropriated money from her victims and then according to her, tried to make them ill so she could nurse them whilst finding another job to enable her to repay the money. Needless to say, the jury was less than impressed by this defense.

Velma Barfield gained notoriety as the “Death Row Granny,” becoming the first woman to be executed in the U.S. since 1962, and the first since the reinstatement of the death penalty in 1976.

http://www.clarkprosecutor.org/html/death/US/barfield029.htm

Frequently Asked Questions

Velma Barfield FAQ

Why Was Velma Barfield Executed

Velma Barfield was executed for one murder however she confessed to six more

When Was Velma Barfield Executed

Velma Barfield was executed on November 2, 1984