Dec. 3
TEXAS----execution
Texas executes man for corrections officer's death
A Texas inmate was executed Tuesday evening for the death of a corrections
officer during a short-lived escape from prison 6 years ago.
Jerry Martin, 43, had requested that no additional appeals be filed on his
behalf, clearing the way for his lethal injection.
From the death chamber gurney, Martin told relatives of the slain corrections
officer that he was sorry. "I wish I could take it back, but I can't," he said.
"I hope this gives you closure. I did not murder your loved one. It was an
accident. I didn't mean for it to happen, but it happened. I take full
responsibility."
Martin was serving a 50-year sentence for attempted capital murder when he and
another inmate, John Falk Jr., broke away from a work detail outside a
Huntsville-area prison on Sept. 24, 2007. In the ensuing chaos and gunfire, a
59-year-old prison officer on horseback, Susan Canfield, suffered fatal head
injuries. Martin and Falk sped away in a stolen pickup truck but were quickly
captured.
Canfield's husband and daughter were among the people watching Tuesday through
a window in the death chamber.
Martin told his own friends and a brother, watching through another window,
that he loved them. "You know I'm at peace. God is the ultimate judge. He knows
what happened."
He took a deep breath, then snored as the drug took effect. He was pronounced
dead 11 minutes later at 6:27 p.m. CST.
More than 200 corrections officers stood outside the prison in formation as the
execution was taking place. Next to them was a riderless horse. A large photo
of Canfield was displayed at the steps leading to the prison front door.
"This is a great day and justice has been done," Canfield's husband, Charles, a
retired Houston police officer, said after watching Martin die. "I heard what
he said. I accept what he said. Do I give it any credibility? No, sir, I don't.
"The fact is he was escaping. ... I don't care if you intend it or not. You
committed the act and, in this state, thank God we live in one where capital
murder exists and where that punishment exists."
Martin's execution was the 16th and last scheduled for this year in Texas,
which carries out capital punishment more than any other state.
"There really isn't much I can say," one of Martin's attorneys, David Schulman,
said last week. "He doesn't want us to do anything and he's made that clear.
"He is not crazy. This is not some delusional thing."
The day of the break, Martin and Falk were among about 75 inmates working in a
vegetable patch outside the Wynne Unit prison at the northern edge of
Huntsville, just a few miles from the death chamber at the Texas Department of
Criminal Justice Huntsville Unit.
Authorities said the getaway began when Martin used the ruse of a broken watch
to get close to an officer and snatch a weapon. He tossed it to Falk and ran to
steal the truck, hit Canfield and sped off as shots were being fired. Her head
struck the truck, killing her.
The prisoners abandoned the pickup about a mile away and carjacked a woman at a
bank drive-thru. Huntsville police pursuing them shot out a tire in that car
and the inmates fled on foot.
Falk, a convicted murderer with a life term, was apprehended within an hour.
Martin was caught a few hours later, hiding in a tree.
Martin was convicted in 2009 for Canfield's death. Falk is awaiting a retrial
after a judge declared a mistrial in Falk's capital murder case.
Martin becomes the 16th and final condemned inmate to be put to death this year
in Texas and the 508th overall since the state resumed capital punishment on
Dec. 7, 1982. Martin becomes the 269th condemned inmate to be put to death in
Texas since Rick Perry became governor in 2001.
Martin becomes the 36th condemned inmate to be put to death this year in the
USA and the 1356th overall since the nation resumed executions on January 17,
1977.
The 16 executions this year in Texas are about average in recent years for the
state that accounts for nearly 1/2 of the 36 executions in the U.S. so far in
2013. Florida is 2nd with 7. Texas has at least 6 scheduled for the early
months of 2014.
(sources: Associated Press & Rick Halperin)
************************************
David Dow talks about the death penalty, specifically Texas
stats:http://www.ted.com/talks/david_r_dow_lessons_from_death_row_inmates.html
(source: ted.com)
KANSAS:
Murder Charges In Deaths Of Mother, 3 Children | Death Penalty Possible
The man being held connection with the deaths of a Parsons mother and her 3
children has officially been officially charged with murder, Kansas Attorney
General Derek Schmidt announced on Tuesday.
David Cornell Bennett, Jr., could face the death penalty if he's convicted of
killing 29 year-old Cami Jo Umbarger and her three children. Schmidt added, as
an alternative to the capital murder charge, he's also filed for counts of
first degree premeditated murder, in addition to on count of rape and 2 counts
of criminal threat.
If convicted of capital murder, Bennett would face either death or life in
prison without parole.
The Cherryvale man is set to appear in an Oswego courtroom on Wednesday. He is
currently being held in the labette Co. jail on $5 million bond.
Schmidt said his office has stepped in at the request of the Labette Co.
Attorney.
Umbarger and her children were found dead Nov. 25 at their Parsons home.
Authorities have not said how they died.
(source: WIBW)
CALIFORNIA:
Death penalty has taken a long and winding road
Jury now has to decide whether Iftekhar Murtaza, convicted of murdering his
ex-girlfriend's sister and father, should be executed. But capital punishment
is a lengthy process in California, and inmates are more likely to die of
natural causes.
After finding Iftekhar Murtaza guilty of killing his former girlfriend's sister
and father, jurors have another question to answer: Does he deserve to die for
his crimes?
Orange County courts held hearings on 9 capital cases in 2013, and so far,
juries have concluded on death for 2 men. Like the case of Murtaza and the
burned bodies found in Irvine, many have been splashed across headlines for
years.
Rodney Alcala, 70
A jury in 2010 sentenced the serial killer to death for 5 murders, including
that of a 12-year-old Huntington Beach girl.
Sometimes known as the "'Dating Game' killer" for his appearance on the TV show
during his crime spree, Alcala sexually assaulted, tortured and strangled four
women in Los Angeles County between 1977 and 1979.
Officials also released more than 100 photographs taken by Alcala in the '70s
that they believe could contain more victims. In 2013, he was sentenced to 25
years to life in New York for two additional murders.
Alejandro Avila, 38
The Lake Elsinore man was sentenced to death in 2005 for abducting, abusing and
killing 5-year-old Samantha Runnion.
The abduction had taken place in 2002 as the girl was playing outside her
Stanton home. After her body was found in Lake Elsinore, DNA linked him to her
sexual assault. Her DNA was also found in his car, potentially left behind by
her tears.
The high-profile case accelerated the state's adoption of the Amber Alert
system,and also led Samantha's mother to create The Joyful Child Foundation,
which promotes education on children's safety.
Randy Kraft, 68
The Long Beach computer programmer was sentenced to death in 1989 for killing
16 men, but his victims might number much higher.
What prosecutors described as a scorecard containing 65 names was found in his
car when he was stopped on suspicion of drunken driving in 1981 in Mission
Viejo. Inside the Toyota Celica, police found a murdered Marine in the
passenger seat.
If the coded scorecard did refer to murder victims, Kraft could be among the
most prolific serial killers in U.S. history.
Death Row -- Men are housed at San Quentin State Prison, 12 miles north of the
Golden Gate Bridge. Women are housed at Central California Women's Facility in
Chowchilla.
-- San Quentin was built in 1852 by inmates, who slept on a prison ship in the
San Francisco Bay while the facility was completed.
-- The women's facility opened in 1990 and sits on 640 square acres in the
state's Central Valley.
[source: California Department of Corrections]
(source: Orange County Register)
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