Johnile DuBois was executed by the State of Virginia for the murder of Philip Council
According to court documents Johnile DuBois and accomplices would rob a store. When the clerk, Philip Council, did not open the register fast enough he was beaten then fatally shot by DuBois
Johnile DuBois would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death
Johnile DuBois would be executed by lethal injection on August 31 1998
Johnile DuBois Photos
Johnile DuBois Case
Johnile DuBois, a parolee convicted of killing a mentally disabled convenience store clerk in 1991, was executed tonight at the Greensville Correction Center here.
DuBois, 31, was put to death by injection a few hours after Gov. James S. Gilmore III refused a clemency request.
On Friday, the U.S. Supreme Court voted 7 to 2 to deny DuBois’s final appeal and stay request.
Asked for a final statement, DuBois said: “I send love to my family and friends and everyone who knows them. That’s it.”
DuBois did not apologize to the family of the slain man, Philip C. Council, 39. Larry Traylor, a Department of Corrections spokesman, said 11 members of Council’s family witnessed the execution.
Gilmore has refused to stop any of Virginia’s eight executions since he took office in January. In a two-paragraph statement, he said he thoroughly reviewed DuBois’s clemency petition but found no reason to intervene
DuBois, then 25, and three teenage accomplices robbed the In-A-Hurry store in Portsmouth on Nov. 20, 1991. DuBois was the only robber who was armed.
When Council, who suffered from a mental disability resulting from a car accident, did not open the cash register quickly enough, the unarmed robbers jumped the counter and beat him. DuBois then shot Council in the chest.
At the time, DuBois was the father of nine children whom he did not support and made $2,500 a month selling drugs, according to court records. He had been convicted of larceny, assault, firearm possession and probation violations prior to the shooting.
DuBois pleaded guilty and cooperated with prosecutors. In return, a prosecutor promised not to seek the death penalty, but Circuit Court Judge Johnny E. Morrisson was not bound by the agreement and sentenced DuBois to death
In 1995, Gilmore — then the attorney general — tried to have DuBois executed after a new federal law limited the amount of time death row inmates have to file appeals. A day before the execution date, a federal appeals court ruled that the law could not be applied retroactively.
Virginia has four more executions scheduled before the end of October. The state executed nine people last year, more than any other state except Texas