Lawrence Colwell was executed by the State of Nevada for the murder of Frank Rosenstock
According to court documents Lawrence Colwell and his girlfriend Merillee Paul would set up Frank Rosenstock. Rosenstock would be lured to a hotel room where he would be robbed and murdered
Lawrence Coldwell would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death
Lawrence Colwell would be executed by lethal injection on March 26 2004
Lawrence Colwell Photos
Lawrence Colwell FAQ
When Was Lawrence Colwell Executed
Lawrence Colwell was executed on March 26 2004
Lawrence Colwell Case
Without offering any last statement or apology, Lawrence Colwell Jr. was executed by lethal injection Friday for the “thrill killing” of an elderly tourist in Las Vegas in 1994. Colwell went to his death voluntarily, having waived his appeals. He could have stopped the execution at any time before the lethal drugs entered his system.
Colwell, in handcuffs, was led into the execution chamber at the Nevada State Prison at 8:52 p.m. from a cell across a hallway where he spent the last hours of his life and where he ate his last meal. Colwell, 35, was strapped down on a padded table by correctional officers and a needle was inserted into his right arm. The needle fed three drugs into his bloodstream: one to render him unconscious, one to stop his breathing and the third to stop his heart. He closed his eyes upon entering the execution room and never opened them or said a word. He was pronounced dead at 9:08 p.m.
Department of Corrections Director Jackie Crawford, speaking outside the prison gates after Nevada’s 10th execution since 1979, said Colwell had no last words. Colwell pleaded guilty and was sentenced to death in 1995 for strangling and robbing Florida tourist Frank Rosenstock, 76, in 1994 in a room at the Tropicana. “We asked him, did he want to say anything, and he said, `Absolutely not,’ ” Crawford said. Colwell took no sedative prior to his execution, she said. “But he did smoke a lot of cigarettes,” Crawford said.
While Colwell had nothing to say, the victim’s two children, Terry Rosenstock and Mindy Dinburg, did make a statement after witnessing his death. “After 10 years of following this case from our homes in New York and New Jersey, and countless trips to Nevada to face our dad’s killer in court, today we feel that our family finally has justice,” Terry Rosenstock said. Rosenstock said his father “was a family man and always thought of others before himself. It is impossible to put our grief and anger over the loss of our dad into words.” “The tenth anniversary of his murder was just a few days ago,” he said. “The execution has made us relive this horror.”
But Rosenstock said he will return to Nevada in May, when Colwell’s accomplice, Merilee Paul, is scheduled for a parole hearing. Rosenstock will speak against her parole. Paul pleaded guilty to first-degree murder for her role in the death of Rosenstock and is serving a life prison term with the possibility of parole.
Colwell’s parents were at Nevada State Prison for the execution, but they did not witness their son’s death or speak to the media. Among those attending the execution as official witnesses were Attorney General Brian Sandoval, Clark County District Attorney David Roger and Michael Hillerby, Gov. Kenny Guinn’s chief of staff. None of the witnesses made any comment after the execution.
Waiting nearby was Colwell’s attorney, Assistant Federal Public Defender Michael Pescetta. Pescetta was there to file a stay to stop the execution if Colwell had asked him to do so. U.S. District Judge Howard McKibben said at a competency hearing for Colwell earlier this month that he would sign such a stay right up to the last minute if necessary. It remained uncertain until about 7 p.m. Friday whether Colwell would go through with his execution. Fritz Schlottman, a spokesman for the Department of Corrections, said Friday morning that Colwell’s behavior had changed, raising questions about whether he would seek a stay.
Lawrence Colwell had been meeting with his parents and legal advisers who were urging him to continue with his appeals. At about 7 p.m., Pescetta visited with Colwell to read a letter the inmate had written. While the contents were not released, Colwell wrote that he would not halt his execution. In the end, Colwell went through with his plans without any display of emotion. He first announced his intention to be executed at a hearing in Clark County District Court in February. He ate his last meal of pizza, a cheeseburger, fruit and cola at about 4 p.m.
Voluntary executions are the norm in Nevada. Nine of the 10 men executed since October 1979 have chosen death rather than pursue legal appeals. The execution that preceded Colwell’s occurred in April 2001, when Sebastian Bridges waived his appeals and was put to death for murdering Hunter Blatchford, 27, in the Las Vegas desert in 1997.
A group of about 40 people opposed to the death penalty held a candlelight vigil outside the prison grounds prior to the execution Friday. “The death penalty is a direct act of violence against human life,” said the Rev. Chuck Durante, co-chairman of the Life, Peace and Justice Commission of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Reno, in a prepared statement. Durante led the group in songs, including, “We Shall Overcome,” on the shoulder of the road across from the prison. Nearby, lone pro-death penalty protester Chris Daugherty of Carson City held a sign that said: “Nevada is the Old West. Hang him high.” “This guy deserves to go somewhere else,” Daugherty said. “He doesn’t belong here with us.”
Lawrence Colwell did not grant any interviews to the media. At his sentencing hearing in 1995, he asked a three-judge panel to sentence him to death for killing Rosenstock. “I took his life for no reason. No reason at all. It wasn’t for the money. It was for the kicks of it, I guess. “It was like taking a walk in the park, taking a drive down the street,” he said. “The act itself was committed that easily, and it was uncalled for.”
At the same hearing, former Clark County District Attorney Stewart Bell said Lawrence Colwell “has been headed for the death penalty since he was a youth, 12 years old or younger.” Bell said Colwell received his first conviction at the age of 12 for burglarizing a school in Oregon and continued to have trouble with the law throughout his youth. At the age of 18, the high school dropout used a rifle to kidnap his former girlfriend in Oregon. He went to prison in August 1988 for that crime and was released on parole in June 1993. Bell said Colwell continued to commit crimes after his release and later headed for Michigan with his girlfriend, Paul, to set up a marijuana farm. The pair soon ran out of money, he said, and in March 1994 headed to Las Vegas.
http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2004/Mar-27-Sat-2004/news/23533528.html