Edward Pickens was executed by the State of Arkansas for a murder committed during a robbery
According to court documents Edward Pickens and two accomplices would enter a grocery store and take seven people hostage. Seventy six year old Wesley Noble would be shot and killed. A female store clerk would be sexually assaulted. Another man would be murdered and all others would be injured
Edward Pickens would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death
Edward Pickens would be executed by way of the electric chair on May 11 1994
Edward Pickens FAQ
When was Edward Pickens executed
Edward Pickens was executed on May 11 1994
How was Edward Pickens executed
Edward Pickens was execute by way of the electric chair
Edward Pickens Case
On October 20, 1975, in the afternoon, Edward Pickens, Antonio Clark and Sherwood Gooch entered a rural grocery store in Casscoe, Arkansas, armed with a sawed-off shotgun and a .22 caliber pistol. During the robbery of the store owner, the female store clerk and seven customers, two of the robbers sexually assaulted the female store clerk. After the robbers made all of the victims lie face down on the floor, they shot them. Seven of the victims were shot in the back of the head with the pistol; several of the victims were shot a second time after the shooter reloaded the pistol. Two of the victims died, including Wesley Noble, who had been shot a second time. Edward Pickens and Clark were dark-complexioned black men; however, Gooch was a light-complexioned, “Spanish-appearing” man. The store owner implicated petitioner and Clark in the shootings. He testified that the dark-complexioned men did the shooting, not the light-complexioned man. Another witness testified, however, that petitioner had the shotgun during the robbery. The female store clerk testified that petitioner had the pistol; however, she did not know whether he fired the shots.
Later that day Memphis police, acting on a tip, chased and stopped a stolen vehicle carrying petitioner, Clark and Gooch. Although the occupants of the car fled, petitioner and Gooch were quickly apprehended. The car contained items taken during the grocery store robbery. Petitioner was found wearing the female store clerk’s wedding ring when he was arrested. When petitioner was interrogated by Memphis and Arkansas police officers, he admitted to participating in the grocery store robbery, but he identified Clark as the shooter and denied that he fired any of the shots. Petitioner was convicted of capital felony murder and sentenced to death. Proceedings on direct appeal and for state and federal post-conviction relief followed.
https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/F3/4/1446/525572/
Edward Pickens Execution
Convicted killers Jonas Hoten Whitmore and Edward Charles Pickens were executed by lethal injection Wednesday in the first double execution in the United States since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976.
Whitmore, 50. of Crossett, Ark., convicted of the 1986 stabbing death of former Montgomery County Clerk Essie Mae Black during a robbery at her home, was declared dead at 8:08 p.m CDT.
Whitmore made no final statements before he was put to death.
Pickens, 44, of Detroit, convicted of the 1975 shooting death of Wesley Noble, 76 of Casscoe, during a grocery store holdup, was declared dead exactly one hour later at 9:08 p.m. CDT. Before he died, Pickens thanked the prison ministers for their attention to death row inmates and told them to ‘keep up the good work.’ He also said goodbye to fellow inmates.
Each man took seven minutes to die, an unusually fast rate, according to prison officials who said death usually doesn’t come for 14 to 18 minutes after the injection of the fatal solution.
This was the first double execution in Arkansas since Oct. 28, 1960, and the fifth and sixth executions in the state since 1976. Prison officials prefer to carry out the executions on the same night to alleviate some of the stress on prison employees.
A triple execution is expected to be scheduled later this summer when three death row inmates’ appeals are expected to be exhausted at the same time.
https://www.upi.com/Archives/1994/05/11/Double-execution-in-Arkansas/7525768628800/
