Henry Hunt was executed by the State of North Carolina for two murders
According to court documents Henry Hunt would murder Jackie Ransom for $2,000. Hunt was paid by Jackie wife Dottie. A few days later Hunt would murder Larry Jones who was allegedly talking to the police about the Ransom murder
Henry Hunt was arrested, convicted and sentenced to death
Henry Hunt would be executed by lethal injection on September 12 2003
Henry Hunt Photos
Henry Hunt FAQ
When Was Henry Hunt Executed
Henry Hunt was executed on September 12 2003
Henry Hunt Case
A man who challenged the mixture of drugs used in executions went stoically to his death for two slayings early Friday after courts and the governor rejected his appeals. “It’s a good day to die,” was the final statement of Henry Lee Hunt, 58, who was executed by injection at Central Prison in Raleigh.
Hunt, a Lumbee Indian, was the first American Indian to be executed by the state of North Carolina since capital punishment resumed in 1977. A total of 25 have been executed in that period and 201 inmates remain on death row. Lethal doses of drugs began flowing into Hunt just after 2 a.m. and he was pronounced dead at 2:17 a.m.
Hunt’s lawyers had challenged the state’s mixture of drugs but the state Supreme Court rejected the challenge and overturned a lower court stay. The U.S. Supreme Court also rejected Hunt’s appeals and Gov. Mike Easley refused to change the sentence to life in prison.
Hunt was sentenced to death for two 1984 slayings, one the contract killing of a man whose wife wanted him dead and the other of a police informant in Robeson County. District Attorney Johnson Britt said the killings had weighed on the minds of the victims’ families for Robeson for 19 years. “We can truly say that justice has been served in this case,” Britt said after watching Hunt die.
Hunt’s supporters pointed to an affidavit from co-defendant Elwell Barnes in which Barnes said he was guilty, not Hunt. The affidavit didn’t become known until after Barnes died in prison and courts have rejected it. “The death penalty is wrong,” said James Jones, a Robeson County man who was among more than 50 death penalty opponents outside the prison. “Innocent people can be put to death. If it wasn’t for DNA, think how many innocent people might have died.” Hunt’s brother, R.D. Hunt, said the execution brought a sense of relief and finality to his family. “My brother is a warrior,” R.D. Hunt said. “My brother is a warrior in heaven now.”
As he was wheeled on a gurney into the execution chamber, Hunt looked through a thick glass window at his son and another brother, among the 15 witnesses watching the execution. The relatives wore yellow head bands like those Hunt usually wears and Hunt winked at them. Other witnesses included Hunt’s lawyers, his priest and four retired investigators from Robeson County.
The execution went forward after the state Supreme Court sided with prosecutors Thursday and vacated a stay issued by a Robeson County judge who said execution procedures should be reviewed. Defense lawyers had asked the courts to review whether the state should use two drugs, not the three it now uses, for lethal injections. Justices said the Legislature didn’t intend to limit the drugs or chemicals that can be used when it included the word “only” in the statute enacted in 1998. The intent was to outlaw lethal gas and use only injection, the court said. Hunt’s lawyer argued that state law requires the use of two types of drugs – a fast-acting barbiturate and a paralytic agent. Attorney Steven Holley said the state illegally added potassium chloride, which stops the heart, to the mixture.
This was the second time Hunt had received a stay of execution that eventually was overturned by the state’s highest court. In January, lawyers won a stay while the court decided that the state’s indictment form was constitutional. Jurors convicted Hunt in the death of Jackie Ransom, whose wife paid to have him killed to make her second marriage legal. He also was convicted of killing Larry Jones, a police informant prosecutors said knew about Ransom’s killing. Four other people were sentenced to prison for their roles in the killings. All but one has since died.
http://www.charlotte.com/mld/charlotte/news/breaking_news/6749656.htm
