Robert Conklin was executed by the State of Georgia for the murder of George Crooks
According to court documents Robert Conklin and George Crooks were in a relationship that ended badly. Conklin would stab Crooks in the ear with a screwdriver before dissecting his body
Robert Conklin would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death
Robert Conklin would be executed by lethal injection on July 12 2005
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When Was Robert Conklin Executed
Robert Conklin was executed on July 12 2005
Robert Conklin Case
A parolee who fatally stabbed a lawyer with whom he had a relationship and dismembered the victim’s body after the murder was executed Tuesday. Robert Conklin, 44, was given a lethal injection at the state prison in Jackson for the March 26, 1984, murder of George Crooks, 28. Conklin was pronounced dead at 7:44 p.m.
Minutes earlier, the U.S. Supreme Court had rejected two petitions for a stay of execution. It was Georgia’s third execution this year.
Conklin had no final statement but did ask for a final prayer, after which he said “Amen.” Sherri Parker, a friend of his, sat in the second row of witnesses. When Conklin was strapped to the gurney and before the chemicals were administered, he said “hello” and smiled at her. She waved back.
As the chemicals were administered he looked at her and said “Goodbye.” His chest heaved and his head tilted backward, and the woman started crying uncontrollably and left the chamber. The victim’s brother, Jim, and sister-in-law represented the family as witnesses.
On the evening of the murder, Crooks went to Conklin’s Atlanta apartment. Conklin says he invited Crooks over to tell him that he wanted to end their relationship. But, prosecutors say Conklin’s intent was to kill Crooks. Conklin’s bid for clemency was denied earlier Tuesday by the state parole board. Also Tuesday, the state Supreme Court, in a 5-2 decision, denied Conklin’s request for a stay of execution. Chief Justice Leah Sears said in a dissenting opinion that Conklin’s trial was unfair and his conviction and sentence were “manifestly unjust.”
Conklin says he was fending off an attempted rape at the time of the attack. Prosecutors say Conklin acted with malice and after stabbing Crooks with a screwdriver, he cut up the victim’s body and disposed of the pieces in trash bags and a garbage disposal to avoid being caught. Last week, defense lawyers filed a motion challenging Conklin’s incarceration. The lawyers said Conklin deserved a new trial and they asked a judge to at least hold a hearing at which Conklin can offer proof for his self-defense claims. In the clemency petition, defense lawyers presented an affidavit from the former medical examiner who performed the autopsy on Crooks’ body. The doctor, Saleh Zaki, wrote of Crooks’ death that he does not “believe that this was necessarily an intentional murder case.”
Defense lawyers also included in the petition documents that show Conklin led a productive life while in prison, attending church services and completing a bachelor of arts program offered by Western Illinois University. He even solicited pen pals on an Internet site sponsored by a group opposed to the death penalty. But Crooks’ brother said before the execution Tuesday that Conklin was after money and that is why he committed the murder. Jim Crooks said Conklin should pay with his life. “It’s been 21 years of appeals. Enough is enough,” said Jim Crooks, 56.
A year before the killing, Conklin was released on parole from prison in Illinois following burglary, theft and robbery convictions in Princeton, Ill., Eureka, Ill., and Joliet, Ill., a Georgia parole board spokeswoman said. Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard said last week that he believed Conklin deserved to be executed.
Conklin requested as his last meal filet mignon wrapped with bacon, de-veined shrimp sauteed in garlic butter with lemon, a baked potato, corn on the cob, asparagus with hollandaise sauce, French bread, goat cheese, cantaloupe, apple pie, vanilla bean ice cream and iced tea. Prison officials said he ate the entire meal, cleaning two plates.