Richard Whitley was executed by the State of Virginia for a robbery and murder
According to court documents Richard Whitley would go over to his elderly neighbors home to discuss the recent separation from his wife
For whatever the reason Richard Whitley would attack the sixty one year old woman who he would choke, wrap a rope around her throat and cut her throat with a pocketknife
Richard Whitley would be arrested months later driving the victim’s car and would confess to the murder
Richard Whitley would be convicted and sentenced to death
Richard Whitley would be executed by way of the electric chair on July 6 1987
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When was Richard Whitley executed
Richard Whitley was executed on July 6 1987
How was Richard Whitley executed
Richard Whitley would be executed by way of the electric chair
Richard Whitley Case
The evidence leaves no doubt that Whitley killed Phebe Parsons, his next-door neighbor. The 63 year-old widow lived alone, and the crime, committed the night of July 25, 1980, a Friday, was not discovered until the following Monday. The investigating officers found a mass of dried blood on the floor inside the front door and a trail of blood leading to Mrs. Parsons’ nude body which was lying beneath a pile of clothes and other articles on the floor beside her bed. Her blood-soaked clothing and a link from a watchband (later identified as Whitley’s) lay on the floor near the front door. The home was in disarray and the victim’s wallet was missing from her purse which was hanging on a hook near the back door.
An autopsy revealed a neck laceration 4¾” long, gaping to 2″, a ligature mark on the neck, a ½” cut on the forehead, and several abrasions and contusions on the upper back and right elbow. An umbrella of conventional design had been inserted into the *165 vaginal cavity, puncturing the vaginal wall and bruising the small intestine. A collapsible umbrella had been forced into the rectal cavity, piercing the wall and damaging a major artery. The medical examiner testified that there was “very little evidence of hemorrhage” in either cavity, a circumstance which indicated that “the individual had little, if any, heartbeat at the time they were inserted or was dead.” In his opinion, death was caused by the neck wound or strangulation.
According to several statements Whitley made to the police, all of which were admitted into evidence, Whitley had gone to Mrs. Parsons’ home early in the evening of July 25 to use her telephone. He called his employer, Garry Monohan, who agreed to come to Whitley’s home to repair his “broken down” car. When two hours had passed and Monohan had not arrived, the defendant returned to Mrs. Parsons’ home and made a second call. As he approached the front door to leave, Mrs. Parsons stopped him and “we were talking about my wife and going to church and everything and the next thing I know she was dead.” Whitley explained to the officers that “there had been some trouble” with his wife’s 10 year-old daughter by a previous marriage and that both had left him.
Whitley admitted that he had choked Mrs. Parsons with his hands, strangled her with a rope, and cut her jugular vein with a Boy Scout pocketknife as she prayed for her life. He lifted her from the floor near the front door, dragged her to the bedroom, and attempted, without success, to place her on the bed. He did not remember removing her clothes or inserting the umbrellas in her body, and he denied that he had engaged in any sexual conduct. Abandoning his effort to get her body on the bed, he “ransacked” the house, “looking for a gun.” Finding none, he took Mrs. Parsons’ car keys and credit cards from her purse, replaced the purse on its hook, left by the back door, and fled in Mrs. Parsons’ car. Arrested in Florida, Whitley confessed his guilt and waived extradition.
Mrs. Parsons’ daughter testified that, during the month before the murder, Whitley had indicated an interest in buying a car she owned. Called as a defense witness, Whitley’s employer testified that he had paid Whitley his wages, $112.45, on the day of the crime. Monohan was never asked to verify Whitley’s statement that he had telephoned him that night.
https://law.justia.com/cases/virginia/supreme-court/1982/811071-1.html
