Gregory Johnson was executed by the State of Indiana for the murder of Ruby Hutslar
According to court documents Gregory Johnson would break into the home of eighty two year old Ruby Hutslar. Johnson would beat the elderly woman to death before robbing the home and setting it on fire
Gregory Johnson would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death
Gregory Johnson would be executed by lethal injection on May 25 2005
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When Was Gregory Johnson Executed
Gregory Johnson was executed on May 25 2005
Gregory Johnson Case
Gregory Scott Johnson was executed by lethal injection at 12:28 a.m. today at the Indiana State Prison for stomping 82-year-old Ruby Hutslar to death in 1985.
Tuesday afternoon, Gov. Mitch Daniels rejected Johnson’s plea for time to determine if he could donate part of his liver to his ailing sister. Later, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected Johnson’s final appeal.
Gregory Johnson’s final words, according to prison officials, were: “Everyone has been professional.” After the execution, a handwritten statement from Johnson was distributed. In it, he expressed hope that his sister would survive even without his liver. “There are those who claim that Debi will have a new liver three weeks after being placed on the list. I’ll be watching from above and expect her to be recuperating at that time,” he wrote.
But he was critical of the Indiana Parole Board for refusing to believe he sincerely wanted to help his sister, that he could have changed in 20 years. The board, he wrote, violated the Indiana Constitution, which states the penal code is “founded on the principles of reformation, and not of vindictive justice.” He then thanked others for their prayers. “I’ll see you on the other side,” he wrote.
Gregory Johnson’s view of the penal system was not shared by the great niece of his victim. Judy Woodard, Union City, said early today that her great-aunt now can rest in peace. “It’s been a long time. I’m so glad it’s over,” she said. “Justice has been done.”
About 20 protesters had gathered outside the prison several hours before the execution for a candlelight vigil. “Deep inside, there are spiritual values in all people,” Marti Pizzini, Michigan City, said at the vigil. “We are on the side of right, and we will prevail.”
Unlike at some past executions, there were no pro-death penalty demonstrators at the prison. There was, however, the usual anti-execution gathering outside the governor’s residence, at 46th and Meridian streets, though it attracted fewer people than the previous execution. “There is only one logical reason for the death penalty, and that’s vengeance. We’re better than that,” said Bonnie Johnson, 62, a retired French teacher from Franklin.
Almost 12 hours before Gregory Johnson was scheduled to die, Daniels denied a final plea for mercy. Johnson hoped his liver could help his sister Debra Otis. But Daniels said he had found no reasonable grounds to spare Johnson’s life. “If his proposal had turned out to create a clear, demonstrated medical advantage to his sister, I might well have considered a brief postponement to seek a way to fulfill the request,” Daniels said in a written statement. “The advice of medical experts, including Debra Otis’ own specialist, was definitive that she should not pursue a procedure with Mr. Johnson as donor, but rather will be better served by accepting transplanted organs through the conventional process.”
Johnson was convicted in 1986 of felony murder for stomping Hutslar to death inside her Anderson home and then burning it down.
Tuesday, after meeting with his attorneys, he spent several hours with two spiritual advisers until about 10 p.m., when he was moved to a holding cell where he watched television, alone, waiting to be moved to the execution chamber, said Java Ahmed, a spokeswoman for the Department of Correction. Johnson selected five witnesses for his execution; prison officials would not identify them.
He had eaten his traditional last meal Monday, joined by his attorneys, said Barry Nothstine, a prison spokesman. He had ribs, pulled pork, sauteed mushrooms, soda and chocolate cheesecake (he wanted Oreo pie, but they were out); for his attorneys, he ordered pizza. Johnson is the third inmate in Indiana executed this year, the most in one year in the state since 1949.
In a one-page letter to Daniels on Tuesday, Drs. A. Joseph Tector and Dr. Hwan Y. Yoo, both of Clarian Health Partners in Indianapolis, stated that “quite apart from any legal, ethical or other questions, Gregory Scott Johnson is not a medically appropriate organ donor for his sister, Debra Otis.” Tector is Clarian’s organ transplant director, and Yoo is Otis’ specialist. Tector said Daniels asked him to summarize his and Yoo’s views. The governor’s request came in a roughly 15-minute phone call Friday, which Tector took between liver transplants. Tector said Daniels’ primary concern was that executing Johnson on time not put his sister in harm’s way.
The physicians assured Daniels that Johnson’s execution would not jeopardize her health, Tector said. In their letter, the physicians stated Johnson was an unsuitable donor due to his exposure to hepatitis B, his obesity and unspecified “hereditary factors.” It would have been possible to use only part of Johnson’s liver so he could be kept alive for execution later, but such transplants are not preferable, the doctors said. Otis is in poor health in an Anderson nursing home. She is likely to need a full liver and kidney from a donor found through regular transplant channels, the physicians concluded. Given her blood type and condition, they said, she is likely to be given preferential treatment on the transplant list. “By way of a hypothetical example,” the physicians noted, “had Ms. Otis joined the waiting list last Wednesday (May 18), there would already have been two opportunities to perform the needed transplant.”
The physicians also stated they did not want to jeopardize the Clarian Transplant Center’s compliance with guidelines set by the United Network for Organ Sharing, which has “a clear position against allowing condemned prisoners to donate organs.” Tector said Clarian’s transplant center, one of the nation’s largest, also has done no split-liver procedures in the past four years, because such procedures are frowned upon for adult patients. Tector said Otis would be eligible to join the transplant list after she recovers from a broken back and an infection. Otis, 48, appeared this week on NBC’s “Today” show and other programs as experts discussed the propriety of harvesting organs from a condemned killer.
The Indiana Supreme Court denied Johnson’s last state appeal Friday. The Indiana Parole Board on Friday recommended against allowing the transplant and another request for clemency. Johnson claimed the Madison County prosecutor had concealed evidence and noted his case had not been given a full legal review because of a mistake by his lawyer. Attorney Michelle F. Kraus filed his federal appeal a day late, prompting his case to be rejected in August 2004. An unsuccessful round of federal appeals likely would have kept Johnson alive for several more years.
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