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Chester Wicker Texas Execution

Chester Wicker was executed by the State of Texas for the kidnapping and murder of a college student. According to court documents Chester Wicker would kidnap the 22 year old college student, Suzanne Knuth who he later tried to sexually assault before she was strangled and buried alive. Chester Wicker would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death. Chester Wicker would be executed by lethal injection on August 26, 1986

Chester Wicker More News

Chester Lee Wicker flew into a rage hours before his execution, then quietly went to his death by injection Tuesday for choking and burying a college student alive on an isolated beach in 1980.

The lethal dose of drugs was administered at 12:10 a.m., and Wicker was pronounced dead 10 minutes later.

His only words while strapped to a gurney for the execution were, ”I love you,” spoken to Judith Lamblion, his only personal witness whom prison officials described as a spiritual adviser.

He was the third person put to death in a week in Texas and the 18th since the state resumed executions in 1982. Texas leads the nation in executions since the Supreme Court lifted its ban on the death penalty in 1976. His was the 65th execution in the nation since capital punishment was resumed.

Wicker, who would have turned 38 Thursday, was convicted of kidnaping and murdering Suzanne C. Knuth, 22, a part-time librarian and student at Lamar University in Beaumont. Wicker choked Knuth and buried her alive April 4, 1980, on an isolated peninsula east of Galveston.

Grains of sand were found in Knuth`s lungs.

Wicker`s quiet demeanor on the gurney contrasted to his behavior Monday afternoon.

Prison officials reported that Wicker flew into a rage in his Death Row cell after spending five hours with his mother, grandfather and Lamblion.

When Wicker was returned to his cell from the visit, he threw his electric fan on the floor and stomped on his bag of belongings. Officials said they were unsure what triggered the outburst.

He then calmed down, and Monday evening said, ”OK, I am ready,” after hearing the Supreme Court had rejected his request for an appeal.

He ate a last meal of lettuce, tomatoes and two cartons of milk.

In their unsuccessful appeal for a Supreme Court stay, Wicker`s lawyers argued the state`s death penalty law should be struck down because people convicted of murdering whites are executed more often than those found guilty of killing blacks. Wicker and Knuth were white.

Wicker was arrested 17 days after the murder and led police to the shallow grave where Knuth was buried.

Before murdering Knuth, Wicker was convicted of rape and sentenced to 10 years in prison in 1971, but was paroled after serving less than two years. Eight days after his parole, he was arrested in Galveston and charged with aggravated assault and attempted rape. He was sent back to the state prison in 1973 on a seven-year sentence.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1986-08-27-8603040053-story.html

Larry Smith Texas Execution

Larry Smith was executed by the State of Texas for the murder of a store clerk during a robbery. According to court documents Larry Smith and Gloster Smith would rob a 7-11 and in the process Larry would shoot and kill the store clerk. Larry Smith would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death. Gloster Smith received a life sentence. Larry Smith would be executed by lethal injection on August 22, 1986

Larry Smith More News

With the execution of two men this week, Texas has put to death 17 people — more than any other state — since 1977 and plans at least one execution per month for the rest of this year, the attorney general said Friday.

Larry Smith, 30, was put to death by injection early Friday for murdering a convenience store manager during a $25 robbery. His execution was the second in Texas in 48 hours. Another death row inmate is scheduled to die Tuesday.

After Larry Smith was pronounced dead, Attorney General Jim Mattox said he expects at least one execution a month in Texas during the remainder of 1986. Two inmates scheduled to die on consecutive days in September are not expected to win stays.

‘I think it will gradually grow more and more, and I think the inmates on death row are sensing, and their lawyers are sensing, that factor, and are gradually realizing there are few issues that affect all cases that remain to be litigated,’ Mattox said.

Although the Supreme Court lifted the nationwide ban on capital punishment in 1976 and the first execution came the next year, Texas didn’t reinstate the practice until 1982.

In just four years, however, Texas is leading the nation in executions, with seven of the 17 executions this year.

As Larry Smith awaited death, he said from the gurney, ‘All I want to do is tell my mother that I love her and to continue on without me and tell her may God bless her. I also want to tell the other guys on death row to continue their struggle to get off death row. That’s about it.’

As the lethal dose of drugs took effect, Smith’s eyelids fluttered several times. He coughed loudly three times before making a choking noise twice and taking a final gulp of air. He was pronounced dead at 12:24 a.m. CDT.

A series of federal courts, including the Supreme Court, rejected requests to block Smith’s execution in the hours before his death.

Another death row inmate, Chester Lee Wicker, is to be executed Tuesday for the 1980 murder of Suzanne C. Knuth. She was abducted from a Beaumont shopping center, choked and buried alive on a Bolivar Peninsula beach

https://www.upi.com/Archives/1986/08/22/With-the-execution-of-two-men-this-week-Texas/7520072256505/

Randy Woolls Texas Execution

Randy Woolls was executed by the State of Texas for a brutal murder. According to court documents Randy Woolls would rob a ticket seller at a drive in movie theater. Randy Woolls would attack the woman who was stabbed repeatedly before being set on fire. Randy Woolls would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death. Randy Woolls would be execute by lethal injection on August 20 1986

Randy Woolls More News

An addict helped technicians find veins in his drug-scarred arms as he was executed today for beating, slashing and burning to death a mother of four at a drive-in movie theater where she worked.

″I’d like to say goodbye to my family,″ Randy Lynn Woolls, 36, said in a final statement. ″I love all of them.

″I’d like to tell the people fighting against the death penalty to continue their work. I’d like to say I’m sorry for the victim and family, and I wish there was something I could do to make it all right.″

Woolls was pronounced dead at 12:23 a.m., said Attorney General Jim Mattox.

″He was helpful in flexing his fist in attempting to make his veins come out,″ Mattox said. ″He said because he was a heavy drug user, people would have a difficult time finding his veins.″

The injections were made near a tattoo of a buzzard grasping a syringe on his right arm and pictures of the Grim Reaper and a swastika on his left arm.

The U.S. Supreme Court and Gov. Mark White on Tuesday rejected appeals.

Woolls is the 16th Texas inmate put to death since the state resumed executions in 1982 and the fifth this year. He was the 63rd person executed in the United States since the death penalty was restored in 1976.

Woolls said he was introduced to drugs about age 13 and that drug use was responsible for each of his three prison sentences.

″My whole complaint is that I’m being executed for a crime I can’t remember committing,″ he said. ″I was flipped out on drugs.

″I don’t know what’s supposed to be done with me. I don’t know whether I deserve a life sentence. I feel death is a little severe for something that was a mistake.″

The condemned killer said he was high on Valium injections and malt liquor on June 16, 1979, when Betty Stotts, 44, of Kerrville, was killed.

″They said I beat this woman down with a tire tool, cut her throat, then I piled everything in the booth on top of her and set it on fire,″ Woolls said recently. ″Then while this booth is on fire, I’m sitting there selling tickets to people coming into the show. Then I get in her car and drive inside the show and am sitting inside the show in her car when the cops got there. It’s obvious I was out of my mind.″

Kerr County District Attorney Ron Sutton, who prosecuted Woolls’ case, said an autopsy showed Mrs. Stotts was still alive when Woolls set her on fire.

″We had him in the theater in her car. Her blood was on money in the car,″ Sutton said. ″There was no question about guilt or innocence. The punishment was well deserved for the crime he did.″

Mrs. Stotts’ daughter, Deborah, said her mother was a deeply religious person who had a such a premonition of death that she left her husband and four children letters written just a few days before her slaying.

In the letters, found after her death, Mrs. Stotts told her family she would not always be with them in body, but would in spirit.

https://apnews.com/article/332199ef1aabad366a5ee4d90483427e

Kenneth Brock Texas Execution

Kenneth Brock was executed by the State of Texas for the murder of a store manager. According to court documents Kenneth Brock was robbing a convenience store when police showed up. Kenneth Brock would take the store manager hostage and when police began to move in the man was fatally shot. Kenneth Brock was arrested, convicted and sentenced to death. Kenneth Brock would be executed on June 19 1986 by lethal injection

Kenneth Brock More News

A man convicted of killing a convenience store clerk went quietly to his death Thursday, an execution the victim’s father tried to stop.

″OK, ’bye,″ Kenneth Albert Brock said to relatives witnessing the execution as the lethal drugs flowed into his right arm as he lay in the death chamber at the Walls Unit.

″Kenneth, I love you,″ said his sister, Nancy Dodson. He replied: ″I know.″

Brock, 37, then took about eight more deep breaths and snored before falling silent.

Mrs. Dodson called for her brother three times, crying softly and holding a tissue while her husband embraced her. ″Kenneth, can you hear me?″ she asked.

Doctors pronounced him dead at 12:18 a.m.

Brock, a Marine deserter, was convicted in the May 21, 1974, shooting death of Michael Sedita, 31, manager of a convenience store in Houston.

On Tuesday, the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles refused to commute Brock’s death penalty to life imprisonment.

″Killing Kenneth Brock is wrong. It will not change what has happened to my son,″ Joseph M. Sedita of Houston, the victim’s father, told the board Tuesday.

″Killing Kenneth Brock will not ease my suffering or my wife’s suffering or the loss of Michael,″ he added. ″Two wrongs don’t make a right. I could not be at peace if Kenneth Brock dies.″

Former Harris County District Attorney George Jacobs, who prosecuted the case 11 years ago, also had asked the parole board to revoke Brock’s sentence. Jacobs said Brock did not deserve to die.

Jacobs said Brock took Sedita hostage into nearby woods after a police officer saw him robbing the store.

″In the excitement, the gun could have gone off,″ he said. Jacobs said the gun may have fired accidentally because of a hair trigger.

Harris County District Attorney John B. Holmes Jr., whose office argued against granting a reprieve, said Jacobs’ opinion was inconsistent with the way he handled the case.

″If he felt that death was not an appropriate penalty at the time, maybe he shouldn’t have tried it as a death penalty case,″ Holmes said.

Brock spent his final morning packing, watching television, and talking with other inmates. He was calm and congenial as he talked with his mother, six sisters, a brother-in-law, and a friend. His last meal was a double cheeseburger with mustard, french fries and a Dr Pepper.

Brock’s execution was the fifth in Texas this year and the 15th since the death penalty was resumed in 1982. The state still has 232 convicts on death row, and Attorney General Jim Mattox said he anticipated at least one execution a month for the rest of the year.

https://apnews.com/article/425f338f9c0c4b01bb1439eebcb2d65d

Michael Gonzales Texas Death Row

Michael Gonzales was sentenced to death by the State of Texas for a double murder committed during a robbery. According to court documents Michael Gonzales would break into his neighbors home and when the couple awoke Gonzales would stab both of them to death. Michael Gonzales would be arrested ,convicted and sentenced to death

Michael Gonzales 2021 Information

Michael Gonzales

Inmate Number – 999174

Gonzales

Michael

09/01/1973

Hispanic

04/21/1994

Michael Gonzales More News

A man convicted of killing his neighbors decades ago now has a date set for his execution.

Michael ‘Spider’ Gonzales, 50, was in court on Wednesday for a hearing to decide the date. The date has now been set for March 8, 2022.

Gonzales was charged with the murders of Manuel and Merced Aguirre back in 1995.

An investigation found that Gonzales was burglarizing the couple’s home when they woke up. Gonzales then stabbed Manuel and Merced several times.

Gonzales then stole a VCR, a microwave oven, a camera, a .22-caliber revolver and a purse. He was arrested later that day.

He was sentenced to death on December 12, 1995. He has been on death row ever since.

https://www.cbs7.com/2021/09/01/execution-date-set-michael-spider-gonzales/

Michael Gonzales Other News

Michael Dean “Spider” Gonzales sat quietly as his execution orders were read aloud and signed by Ector County Judge John Shrode of the 358th District Courtroom.

Gonzales’ execution by lethal injection is scheduled for sometime after 6 p.m. March 8, 2022, at the Correctional Institutions Division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice at Huntsville.

The hearing took place Wednesday afternoon, which also happened to be Gonzales’ 48th birthday.

The occupied gallery in the 358th District Courtroom listened silently to the execution orders.

Gonzales entered the courtroom quietly and left without saying anything to the gallery. The gallery was also asked by the courtroom bailiff to not say anything and make any hand gestures toward Gonzales who was wearing thick-rimmed glasses, his black hair still combed from front to back with a full beard that featured grey hairs poking through his mask.

Gonzales was sentenced to death for the April 22, 1994, stabbing deaths of Manuel and Merced Aguirre, and has been going through appeals since his initial 1995 conviction and 2009 resentencing.

The Aguirres were longtime neighbors of Gonzales.

According to court records, Gonzales was convicted of the offense of capital murder on Dec. 7, 1995. On Dec. 8, 1995, the court sentenced Gonzales to death in accordance with the findings of the jury. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed the conviction and sentence and denied the defendant’s initial state habeas application. The defendant was retried on punishment in 2009.

On May 7, 2009, the court again sentenced the defendant to death in accordance with the findings of the jury, the court records show. The Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed the sentence and subsequently dismissed the defendant’s state habeas application.

Judge signs ‘Spider’ Gonzales’ execution order