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Thomas Baal Executed For Frances Maves Murder

Thomas Baal was executed by the State of Nevada for the murder of Frances Maves

According to court documents Thomas Baal would rob Frances Maves as she was checking her shuttle bus. When she was only able to give Baal a twenty dollar bill he became upset and stabbed her to death

Thomas Baal would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death

Thomas Baal would be executed by lethal injection on June 3 1990

Thomas Baal Case

Thomas Baal, who killed a woman in a robbery because she had given him only $20, was executed by lethal injection early today after opposing his parents’ legal effort to keep him alive.

The 26-year-old convicted killer was pronounced dead nine minutes after a mixture of three lethal drugs was pumped through tubes into his arms at 7:05 A.M. as he lay strapped on a table in the old gas chamber at the Nevada State Prison.

The warden, Pete Demosthenes, said the condemned man’s last words to him were ”Send my love to my mama and my papa.”

The execution came hours after the United States Supreme Court voted, 5 to 4, to cancel a Federal appeals court ruling blocking the execution. The execution was Nevada’s 5th and the nation’s 129th since the Supreme Court cleared the way for states to resume use of the death penalty in 1976.

The condemned man, who stabbed a bus driver to death in Las Vegas in the 1988 robbery, was described as relieved after hearing of the High Court’s decision.

”He was glad it was finally going forward, and he started to make phone calls to friends and relatives,” said a prison spokesman, Glen Whorton.

The Supreme Court voted just after midnight to cancel a stay granted Saturday by the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, in San Francisco. The stay had been requested by Edwin and Doris Baal of Mesa, Colo., over their son’s objections.

The appeals court had held that a lower Federal court in Reno had erred in not holding an evidentiary hearing on the competency of Mr. Baal, who had a history of mental problems. The Justices who voted to erase the stay and allow the execution were William H. Rehnquist, Sandra Day O’Connor, Antonin Scalia, Byron R. White and Anthony M. Kennedy. Voting to keep the stay were Justices Thurgood Marshall, William J. Brennan Jr., Harry A. Blackmun and John Paul Stevens.

Mr. Baal was placed on the table 25 minutes before the injection started. He looked through viewing windows at the 24 witnesses and spoke to one of them, Dan Seaton, the Deputy District Attorney for Clark County, who had prosecuted him for the murder

Mr. Seaton said he could not tell what Mr. Baal was saying, even though the convict slowly mouthed a few words. After that, the condemned man appeared to talk to himself and then closed his eyes as the injection started.

The Supreme Court was asked by the Nevada Attorney General’s office to cancel the stay. The prosecution’s petition included a statement from Mr. Baal saying he was not insane or incompetent and adding, ”I want to have this execution over with so that I can pay my debt.”

His parents said they were shocked that prosecutors went to their son’s cell at the Nevada State Prison to get the statement.

Inmate’s Brain Damage

The parents contended that Mr. Baal’s long-term mental problems and brain damage prevented him from making a rational decision about his appeals.

Last week, when one stay of execution was issued, Mr. Baal had threatened to escape and commit more crimes if sent to a mental institution instead of being executed

The victim, Frances Maves, 34, died Feb. 26, 1988, after being robbed and stabbed as she was checking her shuttle bus at the Hughes Air Terminal in Las Vegas.

In his confession, Mr. Baal said that she gave him $20 when he demanded money but that he demanded more, and a struggle ensued. ”You shouldn’t have done that,” he said in the confession. ”Now you pay. I sentence you to death.” She was stabbed repeatedly and died hours later.

Richard Moran Executed For 3 Nevada Murders

Richard Moran was executed by the State of Nevada for three murders

According to court documents Richard Moran would rob a saloon where he would shoot and kill Sandra Devere, 24, and Russell Rhodes, 27. Nine days later Moran would murder his ex wife Linda Vandervoort and attempted to kill himself

Richard Moran would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death

Richard Moran would be executed by lethal injection on March 30 1996

Richard Moran Photos

Richard Moran Case

A defense lawyer raced against the clock today to gain a stay of execution for Las Vegas killer Richard Moran, who would be the first Nevada inmate since 1961 to be put to death against his will.

Barring a late court order, Moran, 42, will be strapped to a gurney and wheeled into a second-floor room at the Nevada State Prison at 12:01 a.m. He then will be injected with a lethal dose of unidentified drugs with the “death needle.”

Within minutes, he will be dead, if all goes according to the plan. The room formerly served as the gas chamber until Nevada changed its method of execution in 1983.

On Thursday, a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals turned down the plea of Michael Pescetta, an assistant federal public defender from Las Vegas.

“We reject Moran’s argument that he is actually innocent of the death penalty,” Judge David Thompson wrote. The court said Moran failed to prove there was a miscarriage of justice in the case.

Pescetta immediately asked the full 9th U.S. Circuit Court to consider the case and postpone the execution. But he didn’t hold out much hope for success. “It’s a little late for optimism.”

A spokesman for Gov. Bob Miller said there has been no request to delay the execution except one made in mid-March by Catholic Bishops Daniel Walsh of the Diocese of Las Vegas and Phillip Straling of the Diocese of Reno. Miller said then he was not inclined to grant a delay.

Capital punishment opponents plan to protest tonight at the prison, about three miles from downtown Carson City.

In Las Vegas, a vigil organized by the American Civil Liberties Union and the Episcopal Church is set for 9 p.m. in front of the Clark County Courthouse.

Executions are late at night or in the early morning to discourage demonstrators and also for prison security. All the inmates will be locked down.

Five men have been executed in Nevada since the state reinstated the death penalty in the mid-1970s. The last was Thomas Baal, who died June 3, 1990. But they have all voluntarily withdrawn their appeals and agreed to the execution.

Thayne Archibald, who kidnapped a man in California and killed him in Washoe County, was the last man who was executed against his will. Senate Majority Leader Bill Raggio, R-Reno, was the prosecutor in that case.

There were 77 murderers on death row.

As for Moran, “he’s resigned to die, always hoping it won’t happen,” said the Rev. James Kelly, chaplain at the state prison in Ely, where Moran was housed until his transfer to Carson City two weeks ago.

The priest arrived at the Ely prison about 1 1/2 years ago and had frequent talks with Moran.

“He’s very quiet and devoted,” Kelly said. “He’s very remorseful but he knows that doesn’t help the family” of the victims.

As a last meal, Moran has requested lasagna, chicken Parmesan, a salad and ice cream, which will be served about 6 p.m.

About noon today, he was scheduled to be transferred to the “last-night cell.” He will be housed there until he is taken to the death chamber.

Moran has been spending his final days making telephone calls and reading. “He’s doing fine. He’s calm,” said Glen Whorton, prison spokesman.

Before coming to prison, Moran did not read much. But Kelly says he’s “a good reader” now, primarily of religious publications.

“He’s ready to accept the consequences,” the priest said. “He’s not blaming anybody for this.” Kelly was with Moran during the final day.

Dr. Jack Jurasky, a psychiatrist, wrote after examining Moran, “It is the story of an ordinarily law-abiding intelligent member of society who became involved with alcohol and drugs to such an extent that he lost his wife, his job and placed his entire future in serious jeopardy.”

This case, Jurasky said, “presents a severe indictment to anyone who would argue about the deadly and addictive qualities of cocaine abuse.”

Moran worked as a roofer in New York but came to Las Vegas with a friend to look for a job around 1978. For 5 1/2 years, he was a bartender at the Bingo Palace.

During those years, he got more heavily into drugs, including cocaine, and would go two and three days without sleep.

He lost his job because of a change in personality brought on by the drug use. He used up all his money buying cocaine.

“My whole life has been drugs,” he related in 1984 before he pleaded guilty. His marriage to Linda Vandervoort lasted less than a year.

During heavy bouts with drugs and liquor, he would black out at times. And he maintains he doesn’t remember much about going into the Red Pearl Saloon, shooting two people, carrying out the cash register and then setting the place on fire to destroy the evidence.

Moran entered the Red Pearl Saloon on Aug. 2, 1984, and shot bartender Sandra Devere, 24, and off-duty cook Russell Rhodes, 27. Nine days later, he pumped five bullets into Vandervoort, 26, killing her

https://lasvegassun.com/news/1996/mar/29/death-row-inmate-goes-reluctantly/

Roderick Abeyta Executed For Donna Martin Murder

Roderick Abeyta was executed by the State of Nevada for the murder of Donna Martin

According to court documents Roderick Abeyta would break into the home of his former girlfriend Donna Martin in search of drugs and money. Abeyta would fatally shoot the woman before fleeing

Donna Martin would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death

Donna Martin would be executed by lethal injection on October 5 1998

Roderick Abeyta Photos

Roderick Abeyta Case

Roderick Abeyta was executed early today by lethal injection for the murder of his former Las Vegas girlfriend while weeping relatives of the victim looked on.

His last words, according to state Prison Director Bob Bayer, were “expressions of true remorse” and hope that his death “would help in the healing process for the family.”

Three members of the immediate family of Donna Martin stood in the front row as witnesses, only about 18 inches from the death chamber. They watched as the 46-year-old Abeyta was strapped to a table and given an injection of three deadly drugs. The chemicals started flowing into his left arm at 12:13 a.m., and he was pronounced dead at 12:15 a.m.

The Martin family members were not identified, and they left by car without talking to reporters. The three women held hands and occasionally wiped away tears as they watch Abeyta die.

“Everything went smoothly,” Bayer said. However, the execution was delayed several minutes because of troubles locating a “good vein” for a backup needle in case the first injection failed. Abeyta had collapsed veins because of his previous drug use.

“He (Abeyta) tried to assist in what vein might work,” Bayer said. The inmate suggested the second needle go in his left arm also, and he flexed his hand to help in the process.

Abeyta, who did not pursue additional court appeals in his behalf, never looked at the 24 people in the room who were witnessing the execution. There were nine official witnesses, eight members of the news media plus prison staff and a representative of the office of Gov. Bob Miller.

Outside the Nevada State Prison, where the execution took place, there were about 30 protesters, some carrying candles and others holding signs that said, “Stop The Violence” and “Stop the Killing.” The group was led by the Rev. Chuck Durante, a Catholic priest from Reno, in chanting hymns and praying for Abeyta, the victim and both families.

Abeyta spent much of his final day on the telephone, including a call to a Reno television station. He had visits from Chaplain Al Fry of the prison in Carson City and from the Rev. Jim Kelly, chaplain of the prison in Ely where death-row inmates are housed.

He ate the regular prison meal of Salisbury steak, stewed tomatoes, tossed salad, a potato and iced tea. His only special request was for vanilla ice cream.

Traditionally the inmate is sedated about an hour before the execution so that he won’t offer any resistance. But Abeyta requested he not be given any drugs ahead of time. “He wanted to meet his maker with a clear mind,” the prison director said.

“From the religious point of view, he (Abeyta) didn’t want to escape accountability,” Bayer said.

State Archivist Guy Rocha said Abeyta was the 69th person executed in Nevada since 1860.

Abeyta was the seventh person to die since 1977 after the death penalty was reinstated. The most recent prior execution was March 30, 1996, when Richard Moran of Las Vegas was put to death.

Five guards led Abeyta into the cream-colored death chamber on the second floor of the prison. He wore jeans, a light-colored shirt and white Nike basketball shoes.

His hands and legs were strapped to the table, and there were four other straps over the rest of his body. Abeyta stared at the ceiling, without looking at any of the witnesses who were bunched along the rail outside the chamber.

The shades to the three windows in the chamber were drawn after Abeyta was secured. Those witnessing the execution waited in mostly in silence.

When the shades were lifted 25 minutes later, the “death needles” had been injected. Abeyta continued to look at the ceiling. He closed his eyes and took two deep breaths. He was dead two minutes after the chemicals started to flow into his veins.

Among those witnessing the execution was Michael Pescetta, a deputy federal public defender who was ready to file an appeal to stop the execution if Abeyta gave the word. But Abeyta “was resolute” in wanting to be executed, prison officials said.

Also on hand was Sen. Lawrence Jacobsen, R-Minden, the senior member of the Nevada Legislature, and Gordon Absher, press secretary for the governor. Prison officials said the official witnesses also included two prosecutors and a member of the staff of Attorney General Frankie Sue Del Papa.

Abeyta had been in and out of prison during much of his life. He was living with Martin, 38, in 1989 when he reconciled with his wife, Barbara. But after a fight with Barbara, he and his half-brother, Casey Korsmo, started on a drinking spree.

They wanted drugs so they went to the Martin home where they broke a window to gain entrance. Martin was apparently passed out from drug use. When the two could not find any narcotics, Abeyta sat on her back, grabbed her hair and shot her twice in the head.

Korsmo is serving a life term in prison with the possibility of parole after his guilty plea to first-degree murder for his role in the case.

Extra security was on duty at the prison for the execution, but Bayer said there were not any problem with the inmates during the day

https://lasvegassun.com/news/1998/oct/05/abeyta-executed-for-89-lv-murder/

Alvaro Calambro Executed For 2 Nevada Murders

Alvaro Calambro and Duc Huynh were sentenced to death by the State of Nevada for a double murder

According to court documents Duc Huynh was fired from his job at a U-Haul store. He would go back the next day with Alvaro Calambro and murdered Peggy Crawford and Keith Christopher during a robbery

Alvaro Calambro and Duc Huynh were arrested, convicted and sentenced to death

Duc Huynh would take his own life on Nevada death row

Alvaro Calambro would be executed by lethal injection on April 5 1999

Alvaro Calambro Photos

Alvaro Calmbro Case

ondemned double-murderer Alvaro Calambro was executed at Nevada State Prison shortly after 9 p.m. Monday after authorities rejected an 11th-hour request for a stay filed by his native Philippines.

Calambro, 25, a Filipino national, refused to file his own appeal to stop his death by injection for the January 1994 hammer-crowbar murders of two U-Haul employees in Reno.

Calambro was led through an old submarine door into the prison’s death chamber following a final meal of steak, rice, corn, apple pie and a Sprite soda.

The condemned inmate was strapped to a gurney with eight car seatbelts. His last words, according to Prisons Director Bob Bayer, were: “I regret it.”

Bayer then asked him if he was ready and Calambro assented with a nod. He looked away from witnesses as the intravenous injections began, and was declared dead two minutes later, at 9:06 p.m.

The injections included an overdose of a “downer” that put him to sleep. A second injection stopped his breathing, and the third stopped his heart.

“It was too easy,” whispered Betty Crawford, mother of murder victim Peggy Crawford, as she and other witnesses walked out of the death chamber viewing room.

George Christopher, brother of the second murder victim, Keith Christopher, said as he watched Calambro die he felt “a sigh of relief for my parents, for all they’ve been through.”

Christopher, who wore a T-shirt that depicted his dead brother, said he was glad to hear Calambro expressed remorse, adding, “At least he was man enough to stand up for himself and accept his punishment.”

“There’s no elation,” said Clarence Crawford, Peggy’s father. “The law worked in our case. This is justice.”

But “we will never be back like we were because we don’t have our daughter,” Crawford said.

Calambro and accomplice Duc Huynh were convicted of the murders during a $2,400 robbery in January 1994 at the U-Haul business.

Crawford had a tire iron driven through her skull, while Christopher’s head was crushed by repeated blows from a ball-peen hammer.

Huynh also got a death sentence, but hanged himself at Ely State Prison.

About two dozen death penalty opponents held a candlelight vigil outside the prison to protest the execution.

“We are joining in this vigil to express our unconditional opposition to the death penalty and our unconditional opposition to the execution of Alvaro Calambro,” said Nancy Hart, coordinator of Reno Amnesty International.

She said Calambro was “borderline retarded” and suffered from serious mental illness. “Although his condition does not excuse his crimes, it certainly justifies sparing his life.”

Philippine officials tried to stop the execution by arguing it would violate the Vienna Convention treaty because they weren’t immediately notified that Nevada authorities had arrested Calambro in 1994.

The petition was filed earlier Monday with the Nevada Board of Pardons, chaired by Gov. Kenny Guinn. He said all members of the board felt a hearing on the request was unwarranted.

Other board members include Attorney General Frankie Sue Del Papa and all seven justices of the Nevada Supreme Court.

Guinn, in office since January, said the execution “has been an ordeal that I will never forget. But I will also never forget the brutal, gruesome murders that took two innocent people and will forever leave behind sorrow and pain for the families whose lives were impacted by this horrible act.”

With Calambro’s execution, eight men have been executed in Nevada since the death penalty was reinstated in 1977. One woman and 83 men remain on Nevada’s death row

https://lasvegassun.com/news/1999/apr/05/nevada-executes-double-murderer/

Sebastian Bridges Executed For Hunter Blatchford Murder

Sebastian Bridges was executed by the State of Nevada for the murder of Hunter Blatchford

According to court documents Sebastian Bridges met his wife while he was serving time in a California prison. His wife would flee to Nevada before he was released. Sebastian would invite her and her boyfriend Hunter Blatchford over so she could collect her property. When they showed up Hunter Blatchford would be shot and killed

Sebastian Bridges would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death

Sebastian Bridges would be executed on April 21 by lethal injection

Sebastian Bridges Photos

Sebastian Bridges FAQ

When Was Sebastian Bridges Executed

Sebastian Bridges was executed on April 21 2001

Sebastian Bridges Case

A convicted killer who could have stopped his execution by asking for an appeal died by injection after screaming to prison officials that he should be allowed to live. Yelling I killed nobody, nobody,'' Sebastian Stephanus Bridges, 37, was executed late Saturday for shooting Hunter Blatchford and letting him bleed to death in the desert outside Las Vegas. Bridges could have stopped the execution at any time by saying he wanted to appeal, but did not. Instead, he pleaded with prison officials to let him live, shouting,You want to kill me like a dog.”

Walt Blatchford, the victim’s father, traveled from Tennessee to view the execution. He stared silently at Bridges through a glass viewing window. “There is a somewhat twisted man there,” he said after the execution. I didn't take any of that seriously. I didn't take it personally.'' Bridges had said his estranged wife Laurie shot Blatchford but that he took the blame out offatal, unconditional love and loyalty to her.”

Defense attorney Michael Pescetta was twice brought into the execution chamber to try to get Bridges to change his mind about appealing. He died protesting his innocence and the unfairness of the process _ yet he was unwilling to stop it,'' Pescetta said. The Rev. Chuck Durante, who led a protest vigil outside Nevada State Prison, said Bridges' death for the 1997 killing amounted to a state-assisted suicide.For Christians this day is in the octave of Easter,” the Catholic priest said. “From Easter Day until a week later we celebrate life and hope. And tonight the state celebrates death.”

Bridges appeared calm as he was strapped to a gurney 10 minutes before his scheduled 9 p.m. execution, but broke down minutes later. He screamed that prison officials should halt the execution, but finally said, I will not stop it.'' As the injections began, Bridges raised his head, looked wildly at Blatchford, and screamed,This is murder.” Prison Director Jackie Crawford said Bridges’ last words were, You have no justification to kill me. It's just wrong. It's just wrong.'' Bridges was pronounced dead at 9:18 p.m.He said I could stop it,” Crawford said. “But he was the only one who could stop it.” Bridges, who was executed wearing a brown double-breasted Pierre Cardin suit and shiny, new black shoes, was consoled by his minister and a prison chaplain.

Earlier in the week, Gov. Kenny Guinn said he wouldn’t block the execution, Nevada’s ninth since the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated capital punishment in 1977 and the first since 1999. There have been 707 executions countrywide since 1977. Bridges, who changed his name from Carl Coetzer, had sent word to the South African government to keep out of the case.

http://www.apbnews.com/newscenter/breakingnews/2001/04/23/story_bizzare_execution.html