Norman Newsted was executed by the State of Oklahoma for the murder of Lawrence Buckley
According to court documents Norman Newsted would fatally shoot taxi driver Lawrence Buckley during a robbery
Norman Newsted would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death
Norman Newsted would be executed by lethal injection on July 8 1999
Norman Newsted Case
The flow of lethal drugs into Norman Lee Newsted’s veins appeared to startle the murderer, who was put to death 15 years after robbing and killing an unsuspecting cab driver.
Newsted, 45, was the 100th inmate executed by the state of Oklahoma. He was condemned for firing two bullets into the back of cab driver Larry Donnell Buckley’s head. The driver died in 1994 after picking up Newsted at Tulsa International Airport.
Newsted gave no last statement before the execution started at 12:06 a.m. Thursday. As the drugs began flowing into his tattooed arms, however, he turned to Warden Gary Gibson with widened eyes and exclaimed, “I can taste it!
About a minute later, he closed his eyes. At 12:09, a pulse was visible beating in his neck and his face and arms began to change color, from white to blue to purple. Newsted was declared dead at 12:12 a.m.
Two of Buckley’s brothers, two sisters, a brother-in-law and a family minister witnessed the execution. As the execution began, the victim’s family tapped and banged several times on the one-way glass separating them from media and official witnesses.
Newsted was visible through a window in a wall separating the witness room from the death chamber and did not appear to notice.
In a statement, Buckley’s survivors spoke of the 15 years they have endured the pain, anger and grief of his death.
“Time has not eased our pain and suffering, but we feel this execution will close this door and allow the hurt to stop,” the family said.
Buckley, 26, was working a second job driving a cab to care for his wife and children when he was killed. He picked up Newsted on Feb. 20, 1984, and Newsted asked to be driven to his sister’s home.
They had trouble finding the address and eventually stopped at a church, where Newsted called his sister and asked her to pick him up. He returned to the car and shot Buckley
The cab, with Buckley’s body inside, was later found in a creek.
Newsted was arrested at his sister’s house with Buckley’s empty wallet nearby. He claimed he shot Buckley because the cabbie tried to rob him with a knife.
Days before Buckley died, Newsted had been involved in a triple slaying at The Playhouse bar in Cedar City, Utah. Police there say they believe Newsted shot the victims, barmaid Patricia Frei, 23, and customers Robert Bull, 33, and Ronald B. Schmid, 24, but the killing shots were later fired by a second person in the robbery-murder.
Both Newsted and Douglas Edward Kay were later convicted in that case, and Newsted received a life sentence.
Wednesday night, about 50 people gathered outside the Oklahoma prison’s gate. Death penalty opponents prayed and sang as part of a candlelight vigil.
Norman Newsted, the 17th Oklahoma prisoner executed since the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1977, was visited by his lawyers in his last hours. No members of his family visited the prison