John Nixon was executed by the State of Mississippi for the murder of Virginia Tucker
According to court documents John Nixon and two accomplices would enter the Tucker household. Shots were fired at Virginia Tucker husband who managed to escape unharmed. Virginia would be shot point blank in her head causing her death
John Nixon would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death
John Nixon would be executed by lethal injection on December 14 2005
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John Nixon was executed on December 14 2005
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The state executed its first inmate in three years at 6:25 p.m. today when John B. Nixon Sr. was pronounced dead at Mississippi State Penitentiary.
His mood changed from cheerful and chatty to somber and withdrawn as the time of his execution grew near, state corrections officials said at 4 p.m. ‘He’s not playing anymore,” Mississippi Department of Corrections Commissioner Chris Epps said. “Time is caving in on Mr. Nixon, and it appears to me that he is realizing that.”
Epps and officials observed Nixon in Unit 17 of the Mississippi State Penitentiary during a portion of his visitation with family this afternoon. Earlier in the day, Nixon told Epps he did not commit the crime but knew who did. Nixon will have his last meal and a shower from 4-4:30 p.m. He will be able to call for his spiritual adviser from 4:30 to 5 p.m.
The quote Nixon gave his attorneys to pass on to media this morning — “That I was where I would be/then should I be where I am not/ here I am where I must be/where I would be I cannot” — was taken from a Mother Goose poem titled “Katy Cruel.”
Nixon was convicted of killing Rankin County resident Virginia Tucker for $1,000 and shooting her husband Thomas Tucker in 1985. Elester Ponthieux, Virginia Tucker’s ex-husband, hired Nixon to kill Tucker. He is serving a life sentence for his role in the crime.
Thomas Tucker survived the shooting and witnessed Nixon’s execution. At age 77, Nixon is the oldest person executed in the United States since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976. Earlier this morning Nixon said he was sorry for himself and the Tucker family.
“Condemned man’s mood turns somber as execution nears,” by Kathleen Baydala. (December 14, 2005)
Condemned killer John B. Nixon Sr.’s mood changed from cheerful and chatty to somber and withdrawn as the time of his execution grew near, state corrections officials said at 4p.m. ‘He’s not playing anymore,” Mississippi Department of Corrections Commissioner Chris Epps said. “Time is caving in on Mr. Nixon, and it appears to me that he is realizing that.”
Epps and officials observed Nixon in Unit 17 of the Mississippi State Penitentiary during a portion of his visitation with family this afternoon. Earlier in the day, Nixon told Epps he did not commit the crime but knew who did.
Daryl Neely, policy adviser for Gov. Haley Barbour, said a last-minute pardon is not likely. Barbour reviewed Nixon’s request for clemency last week and denied it over the weekend. “We do have communication in place should it change,” Neely said, noting he will speak to the governor before 6 p.m.
Nixon will have his last meal and a shower from 4-4:30 p.m. He will be able to call for his spiritual adviser from 4:30 to 5 p.m. The quote Nixon gave his attorneys to pass on to media this morning — “That I was where I would be/then should I be where I am not/ here I am where I must be/where I would be I cannot” — was taken from a Mother Goose poem titled “Katy Cruel.”
Epps said Nixon might recite that portion as his final words.
Nixon is scheduled to die by lethal injection at 6 p.m. He was convicted of killing Rankin County resident Virginia Tucker for $1,000 and shooting her husband Thomas Tucker in 1985. Elester Ponthieux, Virginia Tucker’s ex-husband, hired Nixon to kill Tucker. He is serving a life sentence for his role in the crime. Thomas Tucker survived the shooting and will witness Nixon’s execution.
At age 77, Nixon will be the oldest person executed in the United States since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976. After Nixon is put to death this evening, his body will be loaded into a hearse and his sister Paige Walden will claim him, Epps said. Earlier this morning Nixon said he was sorry for himself and the Tucker family.
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