Walter Correll was executed by the State of Virginia for the murder of Charles W. Bousman
According to court documents Walter Correll and two accomplices would kidnap Charles W. Bousman who was brought to a remote location and murdered
Walter Correll would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death
Walter Correll would be executed by lethal injection on January 4 1996
Walter Correll Photos
Walter Correll Case
A man who stopped a passing motorist, stole his car and killed him with a hunting knife was executed by injection tonight, becoming the fourth condemned murderer put to death in Virginia in the last three months.
Walter Milton Correll Jr., 34, was pronounced dead at 9:13 p.m., 45 minutes after Gov. George Allen (R) refused to grant him clemency and a day after the U.S. Supreme Court turned down his final appeal.
Correll made no final statement and asked his family not to attend, but he telephoned his father, mother and sister at their home in the Roanoke area a half-hour before his death to bid them farewell. A Baptist who converted to Catholicism last summer, Correll was visited Saturday by Bishop Walter F. Sullivan and spent most of his last day with five clergy members.
The Rev. James C. Griffin, Catholic chaplain to death row inmates, said Correll changed during his nine years on death row and, though resigned and in control tonight, went to his death regretting the path he chose in life.
“He seemed remorseful for being in this situation and his lifestyle, meeting the wrong people,” Griffin said. “He was very remorseful that his lifestyle led to his dying tonight.”
Correll’s attorneys had argued that his confession was unconstitutional and that the crime was committed by either of two accomplices. The attorneys claimed that those accomplices took advantage of his borderline-retarded IQ and placed the blame on him to get lighter sentences. The high court and Allen dismissed those claims, saying the evidence pointed to Correll.
His execution at Greensville Correctional Center was the first of the year in the United States but just the latest in an accelerating series in Virginia. The five executions in 1995 tied the state’s modern record for a year, and if the current pace continues, the 1996 total could be more than twice that
The increased momentum stems in part from new laws intended to reduce death row appeals, part of a national trend that led to a modern record of 56 executions across the country last year. Advocates of such changes have argued that endless litigation has diluted the effectiveness of capital punishment, while critics complain that a rush to judgment could result in the execution of innocent people.
Correll’s conviction stemmed from a night in 1985 when he and two other men decided to steal a car. While his accomplices hid, Correll stood on a street in Roanoke and stopped a car driven by Charles W. Bousman Jr., 24, then signaled for the others to emerge from hiding.
After choking Bousman, stealing his wallet and dumping him into the trunk, Correll and the others drove south to a wooded area in Franklin County and hauled the unconscious victim out of the car. According to court records, Correll took a hunting knife he found in the car and threw it into Bousman’s chest twice, and another man used it to slit Bousman’s throat.
Correll, then a house painter, ultimately confessed during a police interrogation, and one of his compatriots testified against him at trial, as did two other acquaintances who said he told them of his involvement. Correll later tried to retract the confession and claimed that it was unconstitutional because he had asked for a lawyer and had not been granted one.
Correll was the 30th man executed in Virginia since the Supreme Court restored the death penalty in 1976.