Larry Hutcherson was executed by the State of Alabama for the murder of Irma Gray
According to court documents Larry Hutcherson would break into the home of eighty nine year old Irma Gray. When the woman would surprise him Hutcherson would stab her multiple times causing her death
Larry Hutcherson would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death
Larry Hutcherson would be executed by lethal injection on October 26 2006
Larry Hutcherson Photos
Larry Hutcherson FAQ
When Was Larry Hutcherson Executed
Larry Hutcherson was executed on October 26 2006
Larry Hutcherson Case
Larry Eugene Hutcherson was executed Thursday night by lethal injection for the 1992 killing of an 89-year-old Mobile woman who was nearly decapitated in her home.
Hutcherson apologized to the victim’s family in a brief final statement and asked for forgiveness. “I’m so very sorry for hurting you like this. It’s been a long time coming. If I could go back in time and change things, I most certainly would. I hope this gives you closure and someday find forgiveness for me.”
A chaplain knelt beside the gurney and held Hutcherson’s left hand and both prayed as he died. He was pronounced dead at 6:18 p.m. Hutcherson, 37, was executed for the killing of Irma Thelma Gray, who was assaulted and had her throat cut on June 26, 1992 as she confronted Hutcherson around midnight burglarizing her house.
“He’s so guilty — very, very guilty,” said Gray’s daughter, Fran Sprott. “Our family is completely united in this execution. We’ve been ready for 14 years. He’s had two trials,” said Sprott, who lived about three miles from her mother, a native of Clarke County. Sprott, 69, who witnessed the execution with her sister, 73-year-old Thelma Pierce told reporters afterward there was no closure for her family. “The only person who got closure there in that room was him,” Sprott said. “We have to live on with what he did for the rest of our lives.”
The U.S. Supreme Court rejected Hutcherson’s appeal Thursday afternoon. Hutcherson’s attorney, Al Pennington of Mobile, said Hutcherson did not want to ask Gov. Bob Riley for clemency. Pennington said Hutcherson “didn’t want to beg.”
Prison officials said beginning at 9:30 a.m. Hutcherson met with 23 family members, including his ex-wife, Tracie Havens, and daughter Candace Hutcherson, who took home his letters, photos and three Bibles. Hutcherson had a breakfast of grits and eggs, but made no request for a final meal. He said he would eat from a vending machine with family members. He was described as very calm.
In his confession at his 1996 retrial, Hutcherson said he had taken six Valium tablets and had consumed a lot of whiskey at the Tarpon Lounge near the victim’s home before committing the burglary and murder, according to the trial record. Gray’s throat had been cut so severely that she was almost decapitated, according to trial testimony. Her body was lying on the kitchen floor. There was also evidence she had been sodomized. Hutcherson left his driver’s license and other evidence at the crime scene. And he returned the next day to steal an air conditioner, microwave and more of Gray’s belongings, according to his confession. He said he sold some and gave some away.
After the Alabama Supreme Court reversed Hutcherson’s first conviction, he pleaded guilty to capital murder in 1996, and a Mobile County jury recommended the death penalty by an 11-1 vote. A judge adopted the jury’s penalty. Hutcherson thanked the judge for the death sentence and his conviction became final on June 19, 1999.
About a dozen relatives of the victim headed for a Atmore motel to keep an execution vigil.
Alabama’s last execution occurred Sept. 22, 2005, when John W. Peoples died by lethal injection at Holman Prison. There are currently 192 inmates on Alabama’s death row
