Michael Van McDougall was executed by the State of North Carolina for the murder of Diane Parker
According to court documents Michael Van McDougall would talk his way into his neighbors home and attempted to abduct Diane Parker and her roommate. When the women began to fight back Van McDougall would stab both women multiple times with Diane Parker dying from her injuries
Michael Van McDougall would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death
Michael Van McDougall would be executed by lethal injection on October 18 1991
Michael Van McDougall Photos
Michael Van McDougall Case
A man who killed one woman and seriously wounded another in a drug-induced knife attack 12 years ago was executed by lethal injection at the state prison here early today.
The 36-year-old prisoner, Michael Van McDougall, became the fourth person executed by North Carolina, and the 156th in the nation, since the United States Supreme Court allowed the death penalty to be restored in 1976.
Mr. McDougall, a former drug dealer, was convicted in 1980 of fatally stabbing a neighbor, Diane Parker, after talking his way into her Charlotte home on Aug. 21, 1979. Ms. Parker, 27, was stabbed 22 times. Her roommate, Vicki Dunno, was stabbed nine times but survived. 11th-Hour Appeal Turned Down
Testimony at Mr. McDougall’s trial showed that he had injected himself with up to five grams of cocaine before going to his neighbors’ house. He woke Ms. Parker and Ms. Dunno shortly before 3 A.M. and pleaded for help, saying that his wife had cut herself and that he needed to call a doctor. Once inside the house, he grabbed a butcher knife and attacked the women.
In various appeals, Mr. McDougall contended that he had been inadequately represented. But state and Federal courts rejected his arguments.
On Thursday the United States Supreme Court turned down his 11th-hour appeal and refused to grant a stay of execution. There were no recorded dissenting votes among the Justices.
Opponents of capital punishment held a prayer service at a local church Thursday night and then marched to the prison for a candlelight vigil that lasted until Mr. McDougall was put to death. “We want to affirm that all human life is sacred,” said one of the protesters, Collins Kilburn, executive director of the North Carolina Council of Churches.
Mr. McDougall said “O.K.” and appeared to wink at his lawyer just before he was executed. About a minute after he began to receive the lethal injection, his head jerked slightly and his body became still. He was pronounced dead at 2:20 A.M.
