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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

Carl Shriner More News

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/

Ivon Stanley Georgia Execution

Ivon Stanley was executed by the State of Georgia for the murder of an insurance agent. According to court documents Ivon Stanley and Joseph Thomas planned to rob the victim, Clifford Floyd. The two men would kidnap the victim, bring him to a remote location where he was shot and buried alive. Joseph Thomas would be arrested first and would confess to the murder which lead to the arrest of Ivon Stanley. Ivon Stanley would be convicted and sentenced to death. Ivon Stanley would be executed by way of the electric chair on July 12 1984, Joseph Thomas would be initially be sentenced to death however later would be sentenced to life

Ivon Stanley More News

Ivon Stanley, a killer who buried his victim alive, died in Georgia’s electric chair shortly after midnight Thursday but two Florida killers facing the nation’s first double execution in 19 years a few hours later won temporary stays.

The Supreme Court rejected Stanley’s final appeal at 11:47 p.m. EDT, 18 minutes before he was led into the death chamber at Jackson Diagnostic Center south of Atlanta

Stanley, 28, a black high school dropout with an IQ of 81, was pronounced dead at 12:24 a.m. EDT.

He was the 21st man executed in the United States and the second in Georgia since the Supreme Court dropped its ban on the death penalty in 1976.

Stanley’s grandmother, mother, brother and sister-in-law joined 17 other people in a grassy field outside the prison. At 12:15 a.m., the appointed time of Stanley’s death,. a woman took a candle from his mother’s hands and blew it out.

Stanley had no last words and refused to see a minister several times in the ours before he died. He was impassive and expressionless before the death hood was dropped over his face and the switch was thrown to send the deadly voltage through his body.

A three-judge panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta denied a stay of execution for Stanley earlier Wednesday.

Late Wednesday the 11th Circuit Court granted a temporary stay for Jimmy Lee Smith, 30, and 2 hours later U.S. District Judge Eugene Spellman, of Miami, granted a reprieve for David Lee Washington, both of whom were scheduled to die one after the other beginning at 7 a.m. in the electric chair at Starke, Fla.

Both stays were temporary, however, and the Florida death warrants allow their executions up to noon on Friday.

Spellman granted Washington a stay until 6:59 a.m. EDT Friday to give the Atlanta appeals court time to consider his case. The Atlanta court ordered a 9:30 a.m. hearing Thursday on Smith’s appeal.

Washington, 34, a former choir boy, high school drummer and confessed triple murderer whose 1976 violent rampage over 9 days stunned Dade County, was to have died first, followed by Smithj 7 a.m. Thursday.

Florida has already executed six men since 1976, more than any other state.

Washington is black; Smith is white.

Stanley was taken to Georgia’s ‘death watch’ cell next to the death chamber at noon Wednesday, and authorities said his only request was for vanilla ice cream. His last meal also consisted of squash and peanut butter cookies

In Florida, officials said Washington and Smith were in holding cells about 12 feet apart next to the death chamber. They could not see each other but could communicate if they wished. Apparently they had little to say to each other, according to prison spokesman Vernon Bradford.

Stanley and another man, Joseph Edward Thomas, 28, were convicted of the robbery-murder of Clifford Floyd, a prominent Bainbridge, Ga., insurance man who was robbed, beaten, shot and buried alive in 1976.

Thomas is still on Georgia’s death row.

‘He’s innocent. As a child he was always looking to help someone,’ said Eliza Yulee, the grandmother who reared Stanley, as she brushed back tears at a news conference at Atlanta City Hall Tuesday.

Mrs. Yulee said she once told Ivon to kill a chicken for a family meal, but he couldn’t do it. She said he refused to retaliate when he was provoked by school bullies.

Stanley’s father deserted the family before he was born, and his mother often treated him coolly, according to documents filed with the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles.

https://www.upi.com/Archives/1984/07/12/Ivon-Ray-Stanley-a-killer-who-buried-his-victim/6101458452800/

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

David Washington More News

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/

Timothy Baldwin Louisiana Execution

Timothy Baldwin was executed by the State of Louisiana for the murder of an elderly blind woman during a robbery. According to court documents Timothy Baldwin was attempting to rob his neighbors home when he was beat to death the elderly blind woman with a frying pan. Timothy Baldwin would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death. Timothy Baldwin would be executed by way of the electric chair on September 10, 1984

Timothy Baldwin More News

Timothy Baldwin, a former Cub Scout leader convicted of beating an 85-year-old blind woman to death with a frying pan, was electrocuted early today at the Louisiana State Prison.

Mr. Baldwin’s last appeal, to the Supreme Court, was rejected late Sunday afternoon. His lawyer, William Quigley, said there was nothing more he could do on his client’s behalf.

Mr. Baldwin was pronounced dead at 12:13 A.M., according to Department of Corrections officials in Baton Rouge.

Before the execution, Mr. Baldwin, 46 years old, ate the bacon and tomato sandwiches he requested and telephoned relatives.

”He’s calm, he’s collected,” the prison warden, Frank Blackburn, said of Mr. Baldwin hours before the condemned man was electrocuted. ”He pretty well feels there’s nothing left in the way of appeals.”

About 50 people marched outside the Governor’s mansion early Sunday evening to protest Mr. Baldwin’s execution, the fourth in Louisiana in the past nine months.

”We think it’s wrong for the state to kill people,” said Nick Trentacosta of Louisiana Citizens Against the Death Penalty. ”It brutalizes our society.”

The Supreme Court voted 7 to 2 late Sunday afternoon to let the execution proceed. Justices William J. Brennan Jr. and Thurgood Marshall dissented from the ruling, but there was no further comment from the court, a spokesman in Washington said.

Mr. Baldwin was convicted of killing Mary James Peters, the godmother of his youngest son and a neighbor in West Monroe, La. She was beaten to death with a skillet, a telephone and a stool.

Securities belonging to the victim were found in Mr. Baldwin’s van, and a traveling companion testified that Mr. Baldwin had told him of the crime.

The dead woman was found by a Meals-on-Wheels worker 12 hours after the April 4, 1978, attack.

The elderly woman, semicomatose with a fractured cheek bone and shattered jawbone, died in a hospital the next day. An autopsy listed brain hemorrhages as the cause of death. Federal Courts Act

Within four hours Friday, two lower Federal courts refused to block Mr. Baldwin’s execution.

The effort was rejected by Judge Nauman Scott of Federal District Court in Alexandria and by the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in New Orleans. His lawyer filed an application for a stay late Friday in Washington with Justice White.

Gov. Edwin Edwards, who has expressed opposition to the death penalty, had already refused to intervene. He made his decision after a visit to Mr. Baldwin on Death Row and one to a woman charged as his accomplice, who is in a state prison for women.

Helen Ginger Roberts of Alexandria, a lawyer for Timothy Baldwin, asserted in the request for a stay that a plea-bargaining system used in Ouachita Parish was unfair to Mr. Baldwin.