Frank Chandler was executed by the State of North Carolina for the murder of Doris Poore
According to court documents Frank Chandler would break into the home of ninety year old Doris Poore. When the woman would confront Chandler she would be beaten to death
Frank Chandler would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death
Frank Chandler would be executed by lethal injection on November 12 2004
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Frank Chandler FAQ
When Was Frank Chandler Executed
Frank Chandler was executed on November 12 2004
Frank Chandler Case
Frank Ray Chandler, whose death sentence for accidentally killing a woman during a 1992 robbery was opposed even by some capital punishment supporters, was executed early Friday for the crime. Chandler, 32, was put to death by injection at Central Prison for killing 90-year-old Doris Poore, who surprised him when he broke into her house on a misguided search for drugs.
He lay on a gurney, raising his head several times to look at the gathered witnesses, then reclined and closed his eyes as he awaited the lethal injection. When it was administered, he gave two sharp breaths, then stopped breathing. Chandler was pronounced dead at 2:13 a.m., a Corrections Department spokeswoman said.
He had been visited in his final hours by his parents, brother and sisters, who remained at the prison until they were obliged to leave him at 11 p.m. None stayed to witness the execution. “He didn’t want his family here because of the horror of it,” said Mark Rabil, one of three defense attorneys who remained as witnesses. Poore’s great-granddaughters also witnessed the execution, but had no comment.
Poore, who lived alone in Mount Airy, was killed on Dec. 11, 1992. Her body was found the following day by a housekeeper. Chandler’s fingerprints were found in the house and he was arrested less than a month later. He testified at his trial that he was looking for marijuana and thought he had broken into the house of drug users. Poore died of head injuries she suffered when Chandler, startled in the dark by her scream, swung his hand and hit her.
The jury agreed with prosecutors that he killed Poore “for pecuniary gain” during his attempted theft, an “aggravating factor” that made him eligible for the death penalty. But State Supreme Court Justice Robert Orr, a death penalty supporter, argued that Chandler shouldn’t be executed since he didn’t kill Poore for money. “I think the whole pecuniary gain aggravator has been stretched well beyond the intent of the law,” Orr said Thursday. “This case stretched it even farther.” Orr, who stepped down from the court in July, had urged Gov. Mike Easley to stop the execution, but Easley rejected a request for clemency about six hours before the execution.
Mount Airy police Maj. Gray Shelton, who helped investigated the slaying, said the community was outraged by Poore’s death. Poore’s daughter, Lucy Browne, said her mother couldn’t drive but took frequent trips with friends and was active in church and senior citizen organizations. “She was such a nice lady,” said Poore’s son-in-law John Browne. “Everybody knew her.”
