Michael Moore was executed by the State of Texas for the murder of Christa Bentley
According to court documents Michael Moore left a bar and would head to the home of Christa Bentley. Moore would force his way into the home and Christa began to scream. Moore would stab her multiple times before shooting her. Moore would flee the home and was pulled over a short time later. Turns out Moore target was Christa Bentley teenage daughter and that Moore had a notebook of over three hundred teenage girls that he would stalk and harass
Michael Moore would be convicted and sentenced to death
Michael Moore would be executed by lethal injection on January 9 2002
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When Was Michael Moore Executed
Michael Moore was executed on January 9 2002
Michael Moore Case
Michael Patrick Moore, 38, was executed by lethal injection on 9 January in Huntsville, Texas for the murder of a homeowner during a burglary.
In February 1994, Moore, then 30, drove up to the Copperas Cove home of Christa E. Bentley, 35, sometime after 2:00 a.m. He was dressed in black and he approached the home carrying a crowbar. He found the back door unlocked, so he laid the crowbar down on the porch and entered. He removed his black shirt, laid it on a chair in the dining room, and headed toward the bedrooms. When he heard the sound of a female voice calling out a name, he mumbled something back and went into the bathroom. Christa Bentley got out of bed, went into the bathroom, saw Moore, and started screaming. According to Moore, he tried to push Bentley away, but she grabbed him and kept screaming. Moore stabbed Bentley several times in the chest, then shot her. He then ran out of the house and drove off. Bentley’s 14-year-old son, Roger, awoke, found his injured mother, and called 911. Christa Bentley died within a few minutes from multiple stab wounds.
A police officer in a patrol car spotted Moore driving at night with his headlights off and speeding, so he followed him and turned his police lights on. Moore led the police on a high-speed chase for about 20 miles down a two-lane country road. Eventually, he slowed down and jumped out of the car and attempted to flee on foot, then the police caught him. While he was in police custody, Moore was connected to the murder of Christa Bentley, and he confessed.
In his confession, Moore told police that he had been out drinking and playing pool that night, and after last call, he decided to “look into getting some income.” He explained that he was broke and behind in rent, and had written numerous bad checks. He chose the Bentley home because he had seen Christa Bentley’s daughter, “T.R.”, standing outside in front of the house one day. Bentley told the police he had previously seen T.R. Bentley in a Copperas Cove High School yearbook, looked up her address, and knew she lived at that house. He also said that he had stolen the knife and gun used in the crime from two different residences in Copperas Cove. (Moore assumed that T.R. Bentley was at home the night of the crime, but she was at a friend’s house.)
A jury convicted Moore of capital murder in October 1994. At his punishment hearing, the state introduced a notebook written by Moore entitled “The Girls of Copperas Cove.” In this notebook, Moore had listed the names and addresses of 300 teenage girls. Many of these girls, including T.R. Bentley, testified that Moore had stalked, harassed, and threatened them. Moore also wrote letters to several of the girls, in which he threatened to rape them.
Moore had no prior criminal convictions, but the state introduced evidence that Moore twice set fire to his house as a child, that he had threatened to kill his parents, and tried to stab his younger brother with a pair of scissors. During his nine-year service in the Navy, Moore was AWOL three times and was convicted of larceny. Also, the state introduced evidence of several burglaries of homes listed in Moore’s notebook, which often took place when the victims were home.
A jury gave Moore the death sentence in November 1994. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed the conviction and sentence in October 1996. Moore lost seven subsequent actions in state and federal court, and was scheduled to be executed on 27 March 2001. On 26 March, Moore filed another petition, and the Court of Criminal Appeals granted him a temporary stay of execution. The court dismissed this appeal in November 2001. When his execution date was reset, Moore did not take any further action to attempt to have it stopped.
Moore’s attorneys contended that Moore did not deserve the death penalty because he was abused as a child, spent some time in a foster home, and was jilted by his fiancé two weeks before they were to be married.
In a death row interview, Michael Moore took full responsibility for his actions. “I can cry all I want about how people beat me,” he said. “The fact is, none of that contributed. I was the one who walked into that house that night.” “I can blame it on abuse from my parents but the fact of the matter is, I did it, and there is nobody else to blame.” He said that he was motivated to burglarize the Bentley home because of the day he drove by the house and saw T.R. Bentley standing outside. “I saw her and it stuck in my mind.” He also apologized for the crime. “I am sorry for what I have done,” he said. “I have since become a Christian. I didn’t believe in the death penalty before, and still don’t.”
At his execution, Michael Moore apologized to the victim’s relatives. “I’ll start by saying I love all of you,” he said, choking back tears. “I am sorry. If I could think of a word in the vocabulary stronger — you need to hear something stronger — you deserve it. I’m sorry. I can’t take back what I have done. I have asked Christ for forgiveness and I ask that you forgive me.” As the lethal injection was flowing into Moore’s body, his family sang “Amazing Grace.” He was pronounced dead at 6:32 p.m.
