Jonas Whitmore was executed by the State of Arkansas for a murder and robbery
According to court documents Jonas Whitmore was invited into the home of sixty two year old Essie Mae Black. Jonas Whitmore would stab the woman repeatedly and then stole money and items from the home
Jonas Whitmore would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death
Jonas Whitmore would be executed by way of the electric chair on May 11 1994
Jonas Whitmore FAQ
When was Jonas Whitmore executed
Jonas Whitmore was executed on May 11 1994
How was Jonas Whitmore executed
Jonas Whitmore was executed by way of the electric chair
Jonas Whitmore Case
On the afternoon of August 14, 1986, the body of sixty-two-year-old Essie Mae Black was found in the bedroom of her home in Mount Ida, Arkansas, lying between two beds (Tr. 770, 779). She had been stabbed at least ten times in her front and back, her throat had been cut, and an “X” had been carved into the right side of her face (Tr. 820, 910-11, 916, 919-20). It was determined that $150 was missing from Mrs. Black’s purse (which was found with its contents spilled out on a bed next to the body) and that $126 was missing from a kitchen drawer (Tr. 838, 844-46). A knife and clothing belonging to petitioner were found in a wooded area stained with blood of the same type as Mrs. Black (Tr. 889-91, 927-29, 932, 946, 953, 968-69, 1111, 1121, 1141). The labels had been removed from the clothes but were found in the same general area (Tr. 889-90, 895).
Jonas Whitmore was arrested on September 23, 1986, in Roundup, Montana and returned to Arkansas where, after a change of venue to Scott County, he was tried on a charge of capital murder (Tr. 18, 196, 239, 459-63). At trial, petitioner testified that on August 14, 1986, he was in Mount Ida looking for property to rent or buy and that he stopped at the home of Mrs. Black to ask her if she knew of any cheap trailer houses or property to rent or own in the area (Tr. 1060-63, 1096-99). Not knowing of anything right off hand, Mrs. Black invited petitioner inside her home to see if she could be of any help (Tr. 1063). Once inside, Mrs. Black sat down at a kitchen table and asked petitioner to hand her a purse that was sitting on what he described as a “buffet counter top or china closet or something that looked like [an] old antique” (Tr. 1064). Petitioner handed Mrs. Black the purse and a wallet or checkbook that had fallen out, and asked permission to use the restroom (Tr. 1064-65). When he emerged from the restroom, Mrs. Black was in the hallway talking on the telephone in an attempt to provide him with the information he was seeking (Tr. 1064-65, 1100, 1102-03, 1105-08). Petitioner testified that Mrs. Black mentioned a newspaper, which he noticed lying on the floor in the bedroom, and that when he bent down to pick it up, he experienced a “flashback” of his mother[2] (Tr. 1066-69, 1107-09, 1116). Exactly what happened next is not clear, but petitioner remembers his hand was moving “up and down” as he was telling Mrs. Black “don’t mom, don’t,” and remembers later walking to his car with blood all over him (Tr. 1070, 1114-17, 1143). He testified that when he left the residence, Mrs. Black was sitting on the bed “whimpering” (Tr. 1070, 1114-16, 1118, 1129). Petitioner drove down the highway and pulled off into a wooded area where he removed the labels from his clothes and discarded the clothes because they were bloody (Tr. 1120-21, 1124). He washed his hands and the knife he was carrying but threw the knife away when he was unable to remove the blood (Tr. 1123-24). He later threw his shoes away, and drove into the town of Hot Springs, Arkansas, where he purchased a “fancy card” for his wife and a carton of cigarettes with a one-hundred-dollar bill (Tr. 1130-31). He later purchased gas with another one-hundred-dollar bill[3] (Tr. 1132).
*1109 Petitioner was convicted of capital murder by a jury in the Scott County, Arkansas, Circuit Court and, following the penalty phase of his bifurcated trial, sentenced to death by lethal injection. The Arkansas Supreme Court affirmed his conviction and sentence on direct appeal, Whitmore v. State, 296 Ark. 308, 756 S.W.2d 890 (1988), and denied his request to proceed under Rule 37 of the Arkansas Rules of Criminal Procedure. Whitmore v. State, 299 Ark. 55, 771 S.W.2d 266 (1989).
https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/FSupp/834/1105/1646603/
