Robert Duckett was executed by the State of Oklahoma for the murder of John Howard
According to court documents Robert Duckett would escape from prison and soon after would be picked up hitchhiking by John Howard. Howard attempted to help Duckett giving him a place to live and lining up work. However Duckett would beat John Howard to death using a fireplace poker
Robert Duckett would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death
Robert Duckett would be executed by lethal injection on July 8 2003
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When Was Robert Duckett Executed
Robert Duckett was executed on July 8 2003
Robert Duckett Case
A man who beat an Oklahoma City resident to death with an ashtray stand and fireplace poker died for the crime Tuesday in Oklahoma’s death chamber. Robert Don Duckett, 39, received a heart-stopping injection and was pronounced dead at 6:16 p.m., becoming the state’s 11th inmate executed this year. He had not tried to stay his execution at the last minute, having already exhausted his appeals.
In his final statement, Duckett asked for forgiveness. “I just want to apologize and hope my family forgives me. I love them very much, and I hope they never forget that. Let’s go,” he said, and the execution began.
Duckett was a 24-year-old prison escapee in October 1988 when he killed John E. Howard, 53, with whom he briefly shared an apartment. Howard’s severely beaten body was found in the apartment with his hands and feet bound with wire. Prosecutors said Howard was killed because he wanted Duckett to move out. The defense alleged that Howard made a homosexual pass at Duckett, who suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder after a prison rape. Duckett was serving time for a 1983 robbery and beating when he escaped from prison in 1987. Prosecutors also presented evidence that he had beaten and robbed an 85-year-old man in 1982.
Howard’s brother, Tom, said Howard had recently returned from New York to help him with his Oklahoma City convenience store business. John Howard had given Duckett a job working in one of the stores. Mark Howard said his father was known for taking people in and helping them out. Both men planned to witness the execution. “It means the man who took my father’s life will not be allowed to have that opportunity anywhere else, with anyone else,” Mark Howard said.
Duckett spent his final hours visiting with his parents. He was served his requested last meal of a small pizza, a chili cheese coney, a half-gallon of cookie-dough ice cream and a vanilla Coke.
An appeals court last year refused to overturn Duckett’s death sentence despite condemning retired Oklahoma County District Attorney Bob Macy’s handling of the case. “Macy’s persistent misconduct, though it has not legally harmed the defendant in the present case, has without doubt harmed the reputation of Oklahoma’s criminal justice system and left the unenviable legacy of an indelibly tarnished legal career,” 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals judges wrote.
