Larry Gilbert and his brother JD Gleaton were executed by the State of South Carolina for the murder of Ralph Stoudemire
According to court documents Larry Gilbert and JD Gleaton would rob a gas station in which they would murder the owner Ralph Stoudemire.
Larry Gilbert and JD Gleaton would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death
Larry Gilbert and JD Gleaton were executed by lethal injection on December 4 1998
Larry Gilbert Case
Half brothers who robbed and murdered a gas station owner in 1977 were executed Friday after spending more than two decades on South Carolina’s Death Row while their sentences were overturned twice and then reinstated.
Larry Gilbert, 43, died by lethal injection at 6:37 p.m. and J.D. Gleaton, 53, at 7:16 p.m. at the Broad River Correctional Institution, prisons spokesman John Barkley said.Gilbert quickly glanced at three of Ralph Stoudemire’s four adult children in the witness chamber as attorney Lewis Burke read his final statement.
“Larry Gilbert wanted me to say that he is sorry for the pain that he has caused everyone, especially the Stoudemire family and his own,’ Burke said.
Two of the children cried and held hands. Gleaton later refused to look at them, keeping his eyes locked on the ceiling.
His lawyer, John Blume, said Gleaton also apologized but complained that he was punished twice
“I have served a life sentence on Death Row for over 21 years, and now I have to be executed,’ Gleaton said in his statement.
There was about a 15-minute delay before the first procedure began as prison officials awaited word on final appeals in Washington. Outside the prison, the victim’s widow cried after the executions were carried out.
It was a long time coming ... Now our family can rest,' an emotional Betty Stoudemire Slusher said.My mind is with J.D. and Larry’s mother. My heart and prayers.’
Two last-ditch appeals were denied by the U.S. Supreme Court by 7-2 votes. Justice John Paul Stevens would have granted a stay in both instances.
He was joined first by Justice Stephen Breyer and then by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
It was the first time since the court reinstated the death penalty in 1976 that two brothers were executed on the same day, said Richard Dieter, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center.
South Carolina last executed two inmates on the same day in 1962.
Slusher lobbied for Gilbert and Gleaton’s executions since the beginning, but decided not to witness them. “I thought when this day came that I wouldn’t be sad, that I would be happy, but I am. Let’s face it, we’re taking two men’s lives,’ she said beforehand.
Slusher, wearing a red jacket with red rose in her lapel, gathered with death-penalty supporters outside the prison.
Many wore “Remember Ralph Stoudemire’ stickers and gold ribbons in honor of victims’ families.
I would tell (the inmates) I have forgiven them, and if they really are Christians like they say they are, they're going to a better place,' Slusher said about an hour before the executions.My husband will be waiting there in heaven and he’ll say, ‘Come on, brothers. Let’s go fishing.’ ‘
The area was roped off as supporters and protesters were kept about 100 yards apart.
On the other side was Carolyn Gleaton, the inmate’s sister. “They’ve already served a life sentence, and now they’re going to take their lives,’ she said.
Slusher later said her fight has just begun. “I will be back and working with victims’ families to be sure that nobody has to go through an ordeal like this,’ she said.
Gilbert and Gleaton did not respond to attempts to contact them in prison. Their 21 years, 1 month and 27 days on Death Row is longer than any other South Carolina inmate, officials said. Dieter said an Arizona man, Jose Ceja, spent 23 years and a month on Death Row before he was executed
Gilbert told his mother, Lizzie, he was prepared to die.
Larry said J.D. has been downhearted and hasn't been able to sleep,' she said.He said they’ve turned their lives over to God. They know they’ve got to be going to a better place.’
She said she would stay at their Salley home during the executions.
I just don't think it's right,' she said.They say my boys killed a man, and they’re going to kill my boys.’
Barkley said Larry Gilbert asked for fish, cornbread, salad, french fries, pecan pie and tea for his last meal. Gleaton wanted a cinnamon roll, banana pudding, cheese and orange juice.
Authorities said the pair, both high on drugs, entered Stoudemire’s Lexington County gas station July 12, 1977, to rob it.
Gleaton stabbed the 44-year-old Stoudemire five times, including once in the heart, and Larry Gilbert shot him.
In 1979, the state Supreme Court ordered a new sentencing trial because of a prosecutor’s remarks. The men were resentenced to death.
In 1996, U.S. District Judge C. Weston Houck said they deserved an entirely new trial because of improper jury instructions. The full 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reinstated the death sentences, saying jurors would have convicted the men anyway.
Gov. David Beasley refused to grant clemency, despite a plea for mercy for condemned inmates from Bishop David Thompson, leader of the more than 116,000 Roman Catholics in South Carolina