Michael Thompson was executed by the State of Alabama for the murder of Maisie Gray
According to court documents Michael Thompson would go into a Attalla convenience store where he would abduct the clerk Maisie Gray who would be driven to a remote location, forced her into a well and shot her several times. Thompson would drive to his girlfriend’s home where he would get more bullets, returned to the well and fired several more shots to ensure Maisie Gray was dead
Michael Thompson would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death
Michael Thompson would be executed by lethal injection on March 13 2003
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When Was Michael Thompson Executed
Michael Thompson was executed on March 13 2003
Michael Thompson Case
James Rodgers saw no reason to take pity on Michael Eugene Thompson, the man put to death Thursday night for abducting Rodgers’ mother from the convenience store where she worked, forcing her into a well and shooting her to death more than 18 years ago. “I don’t feel sorry for him,” Rodgers said after the execution at Holman Prison near Atmore. “It was his actions that brought all this about.” Added Rodgers’ sister, Evelyn Elliott of Attalla, “He died a very painless death. I wish my mother had a chance to feel no pain.”
Thompson, 43, became the second Alabama inmate executed by lethal injection after the U.S. Supreme Court turned back his attorney’s petition claiming Gov. Bob Riley failed to hold a proper clemency hearing. He was convicted in the abduction and shooting death of Maisie Carlene Gray, 57, who had been working at the Attalla convenience store about three weeks when she was robbed and forced into a car trunk on Dec. 10, 1984.
Thompson was pronounced dead at 7 p.m., an hour after his execution was scheduled. The procedure didn’t begin until 6:37 p.m. because doctors couldn’t find a vein where they could insert the IV into his arm, prisons spokesman Brian Corbett said. He made no final statement, but mouthed the words “I love you” to a friend, Mary Ann Gardner. Gardner, a death penalty opponent from Roswell, Ga., had asked Riley to grant clemency to Thompson. None of Thompson’s family attended the execution, though he met with about 15 visitors Thursday, including his mother, three brothers and a spiritual adviser. He was served a last meal of fried catfish, potato logs, cole slaw, hush puppies, salad and water at about 1:15 p.m. and appeared in good spirits, Corbett said.
Elliott said she was disappointed that Thompson showed no remorse toward her or her two brothers who watched him die. “He did not look in our direction or offer any apology,” Elliott said. “It was horrible … but if anyone deserved to die, it was him.”
Attorneys for Thompson had skipped a clemency hearing with Riley on Tuesday, saying the governor made comments over the weekend that showed he had already made up his mind the execution should take place. Thompson’s attorneys chose instead to appeal to the state Supreme Court, which denied their request for a stay and an order that a clemency hearing be provided before an impartial person. In earlier rounds of appeal, Thompson’s attorneys had argued their client was provided inadequate counsel during trial, including that his lawyers assumed Thompson was guilty, said attorney Marjorie Smith. Those arguments were rejected in federal appeals court. “If you’re defending somebody you don’t start out by saying `Yeah, he did this,'” she said.
According to court records, Thompson forced the store clerk into his car trunk and drove to Blount County, where he made her get into a well and then shot into the well until he ran out of ammunition. Then he drove to pick up his girlfriend, obtained more ammunition, and fired seven or eight more shots into the well to make sure Gray was dead, according to court records.
Elliott said she and her family are still unsure what prompted the robbery that resulted in her mother’s murder. She has said that Thompson has claimed he wanted money to buy Christmas presents, but the family questions that.
http://www.timesdaily.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?Date=20030314&Category=APN&ArtNo=303140545&Ref=AR
