Pernell Ford was executed by the State of Alabama for a double murder
According to court documents Pernell Ford would break into a home and would stab to death 74 year old Willie C. Griffith and her daughter, 42 year old Linda Gail Griffith before robbing the home and fleeing
Pernell Ford would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death
Pernell Ford would be executed by way of the electric chair on June 2 2000
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When Was Pernell Ford Executed
Pernell Ford was executed on June 2 2000
Pernell Ford Case
A man convicted in the 1983 stabbing deaths of a disabled woman and her daughter was executed by electrocution early today. Pernell Ford, 35, was pronounced dead at 12:12 a.m. In a lengthy final statement, Ford told Warden Charlie Jones he wanted to apologize to the family of his victims for the pain and suffering he had caused. Awaiting execution, Ford recited biblical passages, took deep breaths and at times closed his eyes and rested his head on the back of the electric chair, said Alabama Department of Corrections Commissioner Mike Haley.
Murdered during burglary
Ford was condemned for the murder of Willie C. Griffith, a 74-year-old disabled woman, and her daughter, 42-year-old Linda Gail Griffith, during a burglary at their home in Jacksonville, in northeast Alabama. Both were stabbed multiple times. Ford, then 18, was found in Illinois driving Gail Griffith’s car and wearing bloody clothes. Prosecutors said he confessed.
Wore sheet during trial
During his trial, he wore a sheet during the penalty phase and said he wanted the victims’ bodies brought to court so God could resurrect them. Calhoun County District Attorney Joe Hubbard, the prosecutor in the case, has said he believes Ford acted mentally ill in an attempt to avoid execution. Ford dropped his appeals and fired defense attorney LaJuana Davis in 1997. Davis won a stay of execution for Ford last July after raising questions about his sanity. But a federal appeals court ruled last November that Ford was competent to drop his appeals and fire his attorney.
http://www.apbonline.com/cjsystem/justicenews/2000/06/02/execution0602_01.html
