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Keith Williams Executed For 3 California Murders

Keith Williams was executed by the State of California for three murders

According to court documents Keith Williams would murder Miguel and Salvador Vargas as well as the murder and sexual assault of Lourdes Meza. The murders were committed to cover up the robbery of a vehicle

Keith Williams would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death

Keith Williams would be executed by lethal injection on May 3 1996

Keith Williams Photos

Keith Williams Case

Victims, Miguel and Salvador Vargas, were found lying face down on the floor in their rural Merced residence on October 9, 1978. Both had been shot in the back of the head. Five days later, Lourdes Meza’s body was discovered in a field some distance from the residence. She had been raped and shot four times.

The investigation revealed that two days earlier, the three victims had gone to a rummage sale at the home of the co-defendant, Robert Leslie Tyson and his wife, Karon Tyson. The defendant, Keith Daniel Williams, was also present. At the sale, Williams offered to buy Miguel Vargas’s car for $1,500. Williams wrote out a personnel check and agreed to wait for the pink slip until the check had cleared the bank.

According to the co-defendant’s wife, Karen Tyson, once the victims had left, Williams began saying that he should have killed them. Mrs. Tyson also stated that Williams continued to talk about the “Mexicans” the next day, stating he was going to “blow them away and take back the check.” He also said that he would need her husband for cover. Mrs. Tyson said that Williams and her husband left for the victim’s home in Merced around 4:00 p.m. on Sunday, October 8.

Mr. Leon Macias, the uncle of the two male victims, was at the Vargas home when the defendant and co-defendant arrived some time before 9:00 p.m. Mr. Macias stated that he, his nephews, Lourdes Meza, his daughter and her girlfriend, and the defendant and co-defendant sat around the dining room table discussing the sale of the car. After some time, his daughter and her friend left and Salvador went upstairs to bed. Mr. Macias stayed until 9:30 p.m., translating for Miguel, then left, telling Miguel that he would return in the morning and go with him to cash the check.

When Macias returned the next morning at 9:00 a.m., there was no answer at the door. He did not investigate. Later, after learning that Miguel had not shown up for work the previous night, Macias returned to the Vargas home and found his nephews murdered. Lourdes Meza was not in the home. Investigators later determined that Lourdes was kidnapped and that she was raped repeatedly before being shot.

Co-defendant, Robert Leslie Tyson, received three concurrent 25-year-to-life sentences for his part in the crimes.

https://www.cdcr.ca.gov/capital-punishment/inmates-executed-1978-to-present/keith-daniel-williams/

Benjamin Brewer Executed For Karen Joyce Stapleton Murder

Benjamin Brewer was executed by the State of Oklahoma for the murder of Karen Joyce Stapleton

According to court documents Benjamin Brewer would force his way into the home of his neighbor Karen Joyce Stapleton. The woman would be sexually assaulted and stabbed multiple times. Brewer would sit on her couch and watch TV while the woman died

Benjamin Brewer would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death

Benjamin Brewer would be executed by lethal injection on April 26 1996

Benjamin Brewer Photos

Benjamin Brewer Case

Admitted killer Benjamin Brewer was executed early today as 20 people – none of his choosing – watched.

Brewer, 38, was declared dead at 12:10 a.m. He was executed by lethal injection for the 1978 stabbing death of a Tulsa woman, Karen Joyce Stapleton.

Brewer declined to make a final statement, witnesses said.

In a prepared statement, members of Stapleton’s family said after the execution: “We wish it had not taken 17 1/2 years for his final appeal to be exhausted; that is far too long

“We came here tonight to witness Mr. Brewer’s execution, and to see his final breath.”

Tulsa County Sheriff Stanley Glanz, a witness to the execution, said: “He closed his eyes within seconds after the process began. When the second injection started was when the heavy breathing started … you could see the veins on his neck. On the third one (injection), he quivered a bit.”

Five relatives of Brewer’s victim witnessed the execution. The inmate declined to select any witnesses.

Brewer’s final day was spent in a holding cell next to the execution chamber. He was moved into the cell about 8 a.m. Thursday.

Penitentiary spokeswoman Lee Mann said Brewer worked crossword puzzles and had access to a TV and a telephone.

His last appeal was turned down by the U.S. Supreme Court about 2:30 p.m. Thursday.

“In talking to him this morning, he figured that (the denial) would probably happen,” said Ron Ward, warden at Oklahoma State Penitentiary.

Brewer refused to order a final meal and instead received what other inmates had for dinner: pork chops, mashed potatoes and gravy, greens, bread and ice tea.

He became the seventh Oklahoma inmate to be executed since 1990.

Stapleton’s father and four siblings became a footnote in Oklahoma history as the first victim’s relatives to watch a killer’s execution under a new state law.

Stapleton’s relatives watched by closed-circuit television from a room below the execution chamber.

Other witnesses to Brewer’s execution included prison officials, media members, Glanz and District Attorney Bill LaFortune.

A small crowd of protesters held a candlelight vigil outside the prison gates. Standing in a circle, individuals read Bible passages and said prayers for the victim’s and Brewer’s families in the chilly air.

The Rev. Bill Ross of the Oklahoma City Diocese said the group had been asked if they had any mercy for the victim.

” We are called to a higher standard beyond anger … Forgiveness,” Ross said

Earlier in the day, Attorney General Drew Edmondson said he expected 20 state death penalty cases to progress rapidly in the next 12 to 18 months because of a new federal law.

Edmondson said the decision to watch an execution would be a personal choice for victims’ family members, but it is a welcome option.

“I know that this family that is here tonight is grateful that they have the opportunity to witness the execution. I think it’s part of an increasing awareness of victims’ rights.”

The average appeal time has been 12 years, but Edmonson expects it to change to five to six years.

“Seventeen years is almost as much time as Karen Stapleton was alive on this Earth,” he said.

Brewer went to death row in 1979 for Stapleton’s Aug. 16, 1978, death. The accounting student, 20, was stabbed more than 20 times.

Within hours, Brewer was seen driving Stapleton’s car. The murder weapon and one of Stapleton’s rings were found in his knapsack.

Brewer confessed.

Edmondson said Brewer confessed to sexually assaulting Stapleton, and then “he sat on her couch and watched her as she died.”

The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals overturned his conviction in 1982 and ordered a new trial. The court cited a prosecutor’s “prejudicial theatrics” – including stabbing a photo of the victim.

Benjamin Brewer was retried and given the same sentence a year later.

He gained some notoriety in 1982 when he joined three other death row inmates, including Roger Dale Stafford, in a four-day hunger strike.

The killers sent letters to the media and to the American Civil Liberties Union with complaints of cold food, slow mail and irregular access to medical treatment and chapel services

Prison officials have described Benjamin Brewer as a quiet and fairly cooperative inmate .

He filed a motion a few years ago seeking to have his attorneys removed, saying he was dissatisfied.

His current attorney, Jeremy Lowrey, had filed several appeals in recent weeks

https://www.oklahoman.com/story/news/1996/04/26/state-executes-benjamin-brewer/62357172007/

James Clark Executed For 2 Delaware Murders

James Clark was executed by the State of Delaware for the murders of his adoptive parents

According to court documents James Clark was released early from prison where he spent time for attempting to murder a three year old girl. Clark would then murder his adoptive parents a month after he was released in hopes of getting his inheritance early: Elizabeth and James B. Clark Sr

James Clark would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death

James Clark would be executed by lethal injection on April 19 1996

James Clark Case

A man who spent most of his life behind bars was executed by injection today for killing his adoptive parents in May 1994, a month after getting out of prison early for good behavior.

The man, James B. Clark Jr., 39, was pronounced dead at 12:20 A.M. at the Delaware Correctional Center near here.

Mr. Clark shot his father, James B. Clark Sr., 72, twice in the head and twice in the chest as he sat in a chair in their home. He then went upstairs and shot his mother, Elizabeth Clark, 71, in the head as she lay in bed.

Within a month, Mr. Clark, who had been jailed for violating probation, confessed. He pleaded guilty and refused to appeal his sentence. Prosecutors said he killed his parents for insurance money because he could not make it on his own

Mr. Clark had a violent past. The sentencing judge noted that he had been expelled from two preschools and severely beat a second-grade classmate. Then there was a long period of psychological counseling and special schools.

In 1973, when he was 16, Mr. Clark abducted a 3-year-old girl, choked tried to strangle her and, then left her for dead. For that attack, he served served 21 years of a 30-year sentence before being released in April 1994.

His early release from prison was based on credits for good behavior, even though he failed to participate in any rehabilitative programs and was repeatedly disciplined for fighting and breaking prison rules.

The deaths of Mr. Clark’s parents prompted an outcry over the state’s early release procedures, and legislation is pending to eliminate unearned “good time.”

Just before he was executed, James Clark yelled to his lawyer, Jerome Capone, “Hey, Jerry, hey listen, my soul is free, man. I’m in no more pain, you know. Thanks for everything, all right?”

Doyle Williams Executed For 2 Missouri Murders

Doyle Williams was executed by the State of Missouri for a double murder

According to court documents Doyle Williams would rob the office of Dr. A. H. Domann and stole a number of prescription pads. Later that day Williams tried to forge the doctors signature and would be arrested at a pharmacy. Williams would then decide the only way to beat the case was to murder the doctor

Doyle Williams would murder Dr. A. H. Domann and then later murder Kerry Brummett for testifying against him

Doyle Williams would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death

Doyle Williams would be executed by lethal injection on April 10 1996

Doyle Williams Case

Doyle J. Williams, who spent more than 14 years on Missouri’s death row for killing two men, was executed Wednesday by lethal injection, authorities said. He was pronouced dead at 12:36 a.m.

Williams, 49, appealed the death sentence numerous times, but the Supreme Court cleared the way for the execution late Tuesday by a 5-4 vote. In St. Louis, about 60 miles northeast of Potosi Correctional Center where the execution took place, protesters held a candlelight vigil in hopes of a last-minute decision reversing the sentence. ‘Doyle has helped so many people in keeping the peace on death row and keeping people’s sanity so they could communicate effectively with their attorneys,’ said David Hemingway, one of Williams’ former defense lawyers. ‘Since he’s been therefor so long, he’s been a first-hand witness to the carelessness with which the death penalty has been inflicted on people,’ Hemingway said.

Hemingway and about 40 others gathered outside the Municipal Courts building in St. Louis about three hours before the sentence was to be imposed, holding signs protesting the death penalty. However, Missouri Attorney General Jay Nixon said Williams had manipulated the legal system, delaying his ultimate penalty repeatedly since his conviction in 1981. Williams was convicted of killing two men who could have testified against him in court. He was sentenced to life in prison for the 1980 murder of Dr. A.H. Domann, who had not signed a prescription form Williams forged to obtain drugs.

He received the death penalty after a conviction for conspiring with a girlfriend and an accomplice in a burglary to kill Kerry Brummett, a witness who could have linked Williams to the burglary. Brummett was handcuffed and brutally beaten near the Missouri River, authorities said. He apparently ran into the river to escape and drowned.

Missouri is second only to Texas for the number of executions performed in the state, said Margaret Phillips of the Eastern Missouri Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty. Two people have been executed this year, and six death sentences were carried out in 1995, she said.

https://www.upi.com/Archives/1996/04/10/Convicted-killer-put-to-death/6330829108800/

Richard Moran Executed For 3 Nevada Murders

Richard Moran was executed by the State of Nevada for three murders

According to court documents Richard Moran would rob a saloon where he would shoot and kill Sandra Devere, 24, and Russell Rhodes, 27. Nine days later Moran would murder his ex wife Linda Vandervoort and attempted to kill himself

Richard Moran would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death

Richard Moran would be executed by lethal injection on March 30 1996

Richard Moran Photos

Richard Moran Case

A defense lawyer raced against the clock today to gain a stay of execution for Las Vegas killer Richard Moran, who would be the first Nevada inmate since 1961 to be put to death against his will.

Barring a late court order, Moran, 42, will be strapped to a gurney and wheeled into a second-floor room at the Nevada State Prison at 12:01 a.m. He then will be injected with a lethal dose of unidentified drugs with the “death needle.”

Within minutes, he will be dead, if all goes according to the plan. The room formerly served as the gas chamber until Nevada changed its method of execution in 1983.

On Thursday, a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals turned down the plea of Michael Pescetta, an assistant federal public defender from Las Vegas.

“We reject Moran’s argument that he is actually innocent of the death penalty,” Judge David Thompson wrote. The court said Moran failed to prove there was a miscarriage of justice in the case.

Pescetta immediately asked the full 9th U.S. Circuit Court to consider the case and postpone the execution. But he didn’t hold out much hope for success. “It’s a little late for optimism.”

A spokesman for Gov. Bob Miller said there has been no request to delay the execution except one made in mid-March by Catholic Bishops Daniel Walsh of the Diocese of Las Vegas and Phillip Straling of the Diocese of Reno. Miller said then he was not inclined to grant a delay.

Capital punishment opponents plan to protest tonight at the prison, about three miles from downtown Carson City.

In Las Vegas, a vigil organized by the American Civil Liberties Union and the Episcopal Church is set for 9 p.m. in front of the Clark County Courthouse.

Executions are late at night or in the early morning to discourage demonstrators and also for prison security. All the inmates will be locked down.

Five men have been executed in Nevada since the state reinstated the death penalty in the mid-1970s. The last was Thomas Baal, who died June 3, 1990. But they have all voluntarily withdrawn their appeals and agreed to the execution.

Thayne Archibald, who kidnapped a man in California and killed him in Washoe County, was the last man who was executed against his will. Senate Majority Leader Bill Raggio, R-Reno, was the prosecutor in that case.

There were 77 murderers on death row.

As for Moran, “he’s resigned to die, always hoping it won’t happen,” said the Rev. James Kelly, chaplain at the state prison in Ely, where Moran was housed until his transfer to Carson City two weeks ago.

The priest arrived at the Ely prison about 1 1/2 years ago and had frequent talks with Moran.

“He’s very quiet and devoted,” Kelly said. “He’s very remorseful but he knows that doesn’t help the family” of the victims.

As a last meal, Moran has requested lasagna, chicken Parmesan, a salad and ice cream, which will be served about 6 p.m.

About noon today, he was scheduled to be transferred to the “last-night cell.” He will be housed there until he is taken to the death chamber.

Moran has been spending his final days making telephone calls and reading. “He’s doing fine. He’s calm,” said Glen Whorton, prison spokesman.

Before coming to prison, Moran did not read much. But Kelly says he’s “a good reader” now, primarily of religious publications.

“He’s ready to accept the consequences,” the priest said. “He’s not blaming anybody for this.” Kelly was with Moran during the final day.

Dr. Jack Jurasky, a psychiatrist, wrote after examining Moran, “It is the story of an ordinarily law-abiding intelligent member of society who became involved with alcohol and drugs to such an extent that he lost his wife, his job and placed his entire future in serious jeopardy.”

This case, Jurasky said, “presents a severe indictment to anyone who would argue about the deadly and addictive qualities of cocaine abuse.”

Moran worked as a roofer in New York but came to Las Vegas with a friend to look for a job around 1978. For 5 1/2 years, he was a bartender at the Bingo Palace.

During those years, he got more heavily into drugs, including cocaine, and would go two and three days without sleep.

He lost his job because of a change in personality brought on by the drug use. He used up all his money buying cocaine.

“My whole life has been drugs,” he related in 1984 before he pleaded guilty. His marriage to Linda Vandervoort lasted less than a year.

During heavy bouts with drugs and liquor, he would black out at times. And he maintains he doesn’t remember much about going into the Red Pearl Saloon, shooting two people, carrying out the cash register and then setting the place on fire to destroy the evidence.

Moran entered the Red Pearl Saloon on Aug. 2, 1984, and shot bartender Sandra Devere, 24, and off-duty cook Russell Rhodes, 27. Nine days later, he pumped five bullets into Vandervoort, 26, killing her

https://lasvegassun.com/news/1996/mar/29/death-row-inmate-goes-reluctantly/