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when an execution is scheduled
Execution Watch with Ray Hill
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on any day an execution is scheduled in Texas.
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Past Executions and Programs
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Gayland Bradford
Thursday, October 14, 2010 at 6:00 pm
Execution
Was sentenced to death in the slaying of a security guard. His attorneys say his execution would be unconstitutional because he is mentally retarded. Bradford was convicted in the shooting death of Brian Williams during a robbery at a south Dallas convenience store in 1988. Bradford's IQ was tested as 68 by the Texas Department of Corrections when he was a 17-year-old first offender.
Backpage on Gayland Bradford
Guests:
·Robert Rosenberg
   A Houston attorney, he has been handling death row cases since the 1980s. As a civil rights lawyer, he has represented clients on behalf of the American Civil Liberties Union.
·Gloria Rubac
·Bill Pelke
   President and co-founder of Journey of Hope, he authored a book of the same name detailing the 1985 murder of his grandmother by four high-school girls. Pelke supported the ringleader's death sentence initially, but a spiritual transformation led him to join an international campaign that succeeded in sparing her life. The retired steelworker works full time to abolish the death penalty.

Larry Wooten
Thursday, October 21, 2010 at 6:00 pm
Execution
Sentenced to death in 1998 at age 39 following his conviction in the robbery-murders of an elderly couple in Paris, Texas, for whom he had worked as a handyman. The state's highest criminal court in 2004 granted him a new trial on his claim that could not be executed because he is mentally retarded. The trial, held in the same Lamar County District Court where he had been convicted and sentenced to death, found that he was not retarded.
Backpage on Larry Wooten
Guests:
·Gloria Rubac
·Jim Skelton
   Our show's legal analyst, Jim is an educator who has worked as a prosecutor and as a defense attorney in capital cases.
·Scott Cobb
   President of the Texas Moratorium Network, he is active in lobbying efforts to end the death penalty. He has organized lobby days, conducted grassroots training, drafted anti-death penalty legislation and organized many protests against capital punishment. A principle organizer of the annual March to Abolish the Death Penalty, he has lobbied every Texas legislature since 2001 to declare a moratorium on the death penalty.

 
Past Executions
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Peter Anthony Cantu
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
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Execution
One of a group of teenagers convicted of raping and killing two teenage Houston girls in 1993. Cantu, who was 18 at the time of the slayings, and four companions -- all 17 or 18 -- received death sentences. Two have been executed. Two others had their sentences commuted to life after the U.S. Supreme Court barred the death penalty for those under 18 at the time of their crimes. The slayings led to a Texas law allowing victims' families to view the execution of murderers. International controversy erupted around the execution two years ago of co-defendant José Medellín when it was revealed that he was not notified of his right to meet with Mexican consular officials.
Backpage on Peter Anthony Cantu
Guests:
·Jim Skelton
   Our show's legal analyst, Jim is an educator who has worked as a prosecutor and as a defense attorney in capital cases.
·Dennis Longmire
·David M. Oshinsky
   A Pulitzer Prize-winning historian, he holds the Jack S. Blanton Chair in History at the University of Texas at Austin and is Jacob K. Javits visiting Professor at New York University. He recently published CAPITAL PUNISHMENT ON TRIAL: FURMAN V. GEORGIA AND THE DEATH PENALTY IN MODERN AMERICA. Oshinsky's other books include POLIO: AN AMERICAN HISTORY, which won a Pulitzer in 2006, and "WORSE THAN SLAVERY": PARCHMAN FARM AND THE ORDEAL OF JIM CROW JUSTICE, winner of the Robert F. Kennedy Book Prize.
·Dave Atwood
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Derrick Leon Jackson
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
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Execution
Condemned in 1998 for the stabbing deaths of Houston Grand Opera tenors Richard Alan Wrotenbery and Forrest G. Henderson, both 31, during an apparent robbery in their Houston apartment 10 years earlier. Jackson, formerly of Missouri City, has insisted on his innocence. He was linked to the slayings by DNA evidence and a bloody fingerprint on the apartment door. The discovery of widespread problems at the HPD crime lab led investigators from the Harris County District Attorney's office in 2003 to order a retesting of the evidence in Jackson's case.
Backpage on Derrick Leon Jackson
Guests:
·Robert Rosenberg
   A Houston attorney, he has been handling death row cases since the 1980s. As a civil rights lawyer, he has represented clients on behalf of the American Civil Liberties Union.
·Kenneth Williams
   A professor at Southwestern Law School in Los Angeles, he was slated to be a visiting lecturer at Houston's South Texas School of Law during the 2010-2011 academic year. Williams is a nationally regarded authority on capital punishment. A member of the Death Penalty Litigation Committee of the State Bar of Texas, he has authored numerous articles and spoken at professional forums around the country on capital punishment. Williams, who continues to represent inmates on Texas death row, has been successful before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit and the U.S. District Court in obtaining new trials and hearings for inmates convicted and sentenced to death in violation of their constitutional rights.
·Charlie Doyle
   A transplanted New Yorker, he and his wife Pat are members of the Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty. They established a vigil to be held on execution nights at St. Patrick Cathedral in El Paso.
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Michael Perry
Thursday, July 1, 2010
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Execution
confessed to authorities that he killed 50-year-old Sandra Stotler in her home near Conroe in 2001, then recanted, saying police had beat the confession out of him. He claims he was in jail on an unrelated traffic charge during the period the state's medical examiner pinpointed as the time of death. He blames co-defendant Jason Aaron Burkett for the shotgun slayings of Stotler and later Stotler's son, Adam, and Adam's friend, Jeremy Richardson.
Backpage on Michael Perry
Guests:
·Robert Rosenberg
   A Houston attorney, he has been handling death row cases since the 1980s. As a civil rights lawyer, he has represented clients on behalf of the American Civil Liberties Union.
·Otis Maclay
   A broadcast veteran, he often co-hosts KPFT’s The Monitor on Monday nights and is technical director of Execution Watch. A former program director of KPFT, Otis came to Houston from KPFT’s sister station in New York, WBAI.
·Gloria Rubac
·Daniel P. Wirt, MD
   A Houston-area physician, he has been active for many years in efforts to abolish the death penalty and to improve health care for Americans. His political essays have appeared in CounterPunch.
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Jonathan Green
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Execution
Convicted and sentenced to death in 2002 by an all-white jury in the murder of a 12-year-old white girl in Dobbin, Texas, a small town 60 miles northwest of Houston. Green, who is African-American, suffers from mental illness, is functionally illiterate and is probably mentally retarded, according to his attorneys. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2002 that the execution of mentally retarded people is illegal because it is cruel and unusual punishment.
Backpage on Jonathan Green
Guests:
·Otis Maclay
   A broadcast veteran, he often co-hosts KPFT’s The Monitor on Monday nights and is technical director of Execution Watch. A former program director of KPFT, Otis came to Houston from KPFT’s sister station in New York, WBAI.
·Jim Skelton
   Our show's legal analyst, Jim is an educator who has worked as a prosecutor and as a defense attorney in capital cases.
·Gloria Rubac
·Daniel P. Wirt, MD
   A Houston-area physician, he has been active for many years in efforts to abolish the death penalty and to improve health care for Americans. His political essays have appeared in CounterPunch.
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David Lee Powell
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
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Execution
On death row more than three decades, Powell was convicted in the 1978 slaying of an Austin police officer. The U.S. Supreme Court refused to review Powell's death sentence in 2009. He was sent to death row three separate times, including retrials. Powell's attorneys said his due-process rights were violated when prosecutors held back documents indicating his girlfriend might have fired the fatal shots. Of the 322 people on Texas death row, only five have been there longer than Powell. He would be the state's longest-serving death row inmate to die by lethal injection. Excell White was executed in 1999 after 24 years.
Backpage on David Lee Powell
Guests:
·Robert Rosenberg
   A Houston attorney, he has been handling death row cases since the 1980s. As a civil rights lawyer, he has represented clients on behalf of the American Civil Liberties Union.
·Richard H. Burr
   Devotes his law practice entirely to death penalty defense. Formerly in charge of the NAACP Capital Punishment Project, Burr was litigation director for Houston's now-defunct Texas Resource Center, which helped represent death row inmates. In many years of capital defense work, his high-profile clients have included Gary Graham and Timothy McVeigh. Burr and his wife, Mandy Welch, organized the Texas Defender Service to continue the work of the Resource Center.
·John Hollway
   Attorney and author of KILLING TIME, about John Thompson's 18-year struggle from death row to freedom following his wrongful conviction for the murder of a white hotel executive. Thompson, who is black, was exonerated after evidence of his innocence -- long hidden by prosecutors -- came to light weeks before his execution. He has since won a $14 million civil judgment against the New Orleans DA's office, slated for review in fall 2010 by the U.S. Supreme Court.
·Gloria Rubac
·Dennis Longmire
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George Jones
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
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Execution
Convicted in the 1993 robbery-murder of Forest Hall, who was abducted from the parking lot of a Dallas shopping mall. Jones' attorneys say his verdict and sentence were reached unfairly, because the trial judge wrongly allowed Dallas County prosecutors to exclude a prospective juror perceived as friendly to the defense. In a capital trial, a single holdout juror can mean the difference between life and death.
Backpage on George Jones
Guests:
·Scott Christianson
   A writer, investigative reporter and historian, he is the author of The Last Gasp: The Rise and Fall of the American Gas Chamber. It includes little-known facts about the gas chamber, including links to the eugenics movements and American-German collaboration to produce lethal hydrogen cyanide. Among his other books is With Liberty for Some: 500 Years of Imprisonment in America, winner of the Robert F. Kennedy Book Award Distinguished Honors and a Choice Outstanding Book Award.
·Jim Skelton
   Our show's legal analyst, Jim is an educator who has worked as a prosecutor and as a defense attorney in capital cases.
·Gloria Rubac
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John Alba
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Execution
Alba, 54, was convicted in the 1991 shooting death of his wife, Wendy Alba. He was arrested in Plano, Texas, following a standoff with police in which he held a gun to his head and threatened to pull the trigger. A federal court in 2000 overturned his death sentence because a psychologist testified improperly at his trial that jurors should consider the fact that he is Hispanic in deciding punishment. Alba had a second punishment trial, at which a Collin County jury imposed the death penalty.
Backpage on John Alba
Guests:
·Robert Rosenberg
   A Houston attorney, he has been handling death row cases since the 1980s. As a civil rights lawyer, he has represented clients on behalf of the American Civil Liberties Union.
·Nancy Bailey
·Dennis Longmire
·Crystal Halprin
   An Austin business owner and wife of death row inmate Randy Halprin. Crystal has made her voice heard at legislative hearings on the Texas law of parties. Other states have laws of parties, which hold accomplices accountable for the actions of killers, but only Texas permits the death penalty for accomplices.
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Rogelio Cannady
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
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Execution
Cannady was in prison on a life sentence in 1993 when he was charged with killing his cellmate at the McConnell Unit in Beeville. The victim was serving 15 years for murder. Cannady was the first Texas prison inmate prosecuted under a 1993 statute permitting a charge of capital murder against an offender serving 99 years or life on a previous murder conviction. His personal diary entries have been posted by a friend at http://deathwatchjournal.wordpress.com/
Backpage on Rogelio Cannady
Guests:
·Joe Krause
   Coordinates execution-day vigils of TCADP's Brownsville chapter, which gather at 802 and Paredes Line, 5:00-6:00 PM.
·Jim Skelton
   Our show's legal analyst, Jim is an educator who has worked as a prosecutor and as a defense attorney in capital cases.
·Dennis Longmire
·Chris Castillo
   National-Texas outreach coordinator for Murder Victims Families for Reconciliation, Chris started his career as a reporter for a Texas newspaper and was covering the court beat when he learned his mother, Pilar Castillo, had been murdered in her Houston home. Soon afterward, he began working with crime victims through a group that takes them into prison to help inmates see the impact of their crimes.
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Billy John Galloway
Thursday, May 13, 2010
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Execution
Billy John Galloway was condemned for the slaying of a man in Greenville, east of Dallas. Galloway, Kevin Varga (May 12 date) and two women were arrested in the September 1998 robbery and beating death.
Backpage on Billy John Galloway
Guests:
·Robert Rosenberg
   A Houston attorney, he has been handling death row cases since the 1980s. As a civil rights lawyer, he has represented clients on behalf of the American Civil Liberties Union.
·Gloria Rubac
· Esteban Rogelio Garcia
   Raised in Bryan, Texas, Garcia was a heroin addict at 14, a convict at 19 and spent nearly two decades in and out of prison for various petty crimes before getting out for good. A self-educated lawyer, he wrote The United States Jailhouse Lawyer's Manual. Garcia is most recently the author of the autobiographical Journey Into My Soul. He lives in Texas, where he works as a legal writer and consultant.
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Kevin Varga
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
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Execution
Kevin Varga was condemned for murder of a man in Greenville, east of Dallas, during a 1998 robbery by Varga, Billy John Galloway (May 13 execution date), and two women. The women pleaded to lesser charges.
Backpage on Kevin Varga
Guests:
·Sandrine Ageorges-Skinner
   French wife of Texas death row resident Hank Skinner, active in the fight to exonerate her husband and to abolish capital punishment altogether. She chairs the International Committee of the Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty and represents TCADP on the steering committee of the World Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty.
·Otis Maclay
   A broadcast veteran, he often co-hosts KPFT’s The Monitor on Monday nights and is technical director of Execution Watch. A former program director of KPFT, Otis came to Houston from KPFT’s sister station in New York, WBAI.
·Lavette Ulichnie
   An organizer of monthly execution vigils at St. Philip the Apostle Catholic Church in Lewiston, Texas, near Dallas.
·Jim Skelton
   Our show's legal analyst, Jim is an educator who has worked as a prosecutor and as a defense attorney in capital cases.
·Dennis Longmire
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Samuel Bustamante
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
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Execution
Bustamante was one of four people charged in the 1998 fatal stabbing of 27-year-old Rafael Alvarado of Richmond. His attorney requested clemency from the state, arguing that Bustamante received inadequate representation from his state-appointed appellate attorney, who missed critical filing deadlines and failed to conduct any additional investigation of his client's background, which included serious abuse as a child. Courts rejected Bustamante's arguments that his execution would be unconstitutional because he is retarded, with a tested IQ of 71.
Backpage on Samuel Bustamante
Guests:
·Sandrine Ageorges-Skinner
   French wife of Texas death row resident Hank Skinner, active in the fight to exonerate her husband and to abolish capital punishment altogether. She chairs the International Committee of the Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty and represents TCADP on the steering committee of the World Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty.
·Robert Rosenberg
   A Houston attorney, he has been handling death row cases since the 1980s. As a civil rights lawyer, he has represented clients on behalf of the American Civil Liberties Union.
·Mark Miller, Fr.
   The Odessa, Texas, priest leads a public vigil at St. Joseph's Catholic Church from 5 to 6 p.m. on any day the state puts someone to death.
·Gloria Rubac
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William Berkley
Thursday, April 22, 2010
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Execution
Berkley, a native of Germany, was living in El Paso and had just turned 21 when he and Michael Jacques were arrested in March 2000 and charged with the murder of a woman whose body had been found in the northeast section of the city.
Backpage on William Berkley
Guests:
·Paris Carriger
   On Dec. 6, 1995, he came within hours of being executed for a murder he did not commit. Carriger had been on Arizona's death row since 1978. The real murderer, whose false testimony had convicted Carriger, confessed to the crime in 1987. But by then Carriger had exhausted his rights to appeal, and the Arizona courts refused to grant him a new trial. More than a thousand letters supporting Carriger's plea for a new trial poured into Arizona. At the last moment, a federal court issued a stay. Carriger was granted a new trial by the 9th Circuit in December, 1997 because of the new evidence. In January, 1999, he accepted a plea to a lesser offense and was immediately released from prison. Further details of Carriger's ordeal are in "The Wrong Man" by Beth Hawkins and Kristin Solheim, Tuscon Weekly, December 1993.
·Jim Skelton
   Our show's legal analyst, Jim is an educator who has worked as a prosecutor and as a defense attorney in capital cases.
·Dennis Longmire
·Dave Atwood
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Franklin Alix
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
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Execution
Convicted in the January 1998 slaying of a man at an apartment complex in Houston, Alix is among hundreds of defendants whose DNA evidence was submitted for retesting because of questions about the way it was processed by the Houston Police Department's crime lab. An investigation of the lab found that an analyst failed to report potentially exculpatory DNA test results from a murder that was cited in the penalty phase of Alix's capital murder trial.
Backpage on Franklin Alix
Guests:
·Steve McVicker
   As a crime reporter for the Houston Chronicle, he provided extensive coverage of scandalous conditions, methods and lack of controls in the HPD crime lab. More recently, his book, I Love You Phillip Morris, about a con artist who escaped from Texas prisons four times, was made into an eponymous film starring Jim Carrey and Ewan McGregor.
·Jim Skelton
   Our show's legal analyst, Jim is an educator who has worked as a prosecutor and as a defense attorney in capital cases.
·Gloria Rubac
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Henry Watkins Skinner
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Execution
Condemned to die for the 1993 murders of his girlfriend and her two adult sons in the Texas Panhandle town of Pampa, "Hank" Skinner has always insisted he is innocent. Northwestern journalism students investigating his conviction found numerous inconsistencies in the state's case. His supporters have encountered a wall of resistance from the state their efforts to obtain testing of additional crime scene evidence gathered by police. If the execution goes on as scheduled, protesters plan to gather outside the death house in Huntsville, where our reporters will provide live coverage.
Backpage on Henry Watkins Skinner
Guests:
·Jim Skelton
   Our show's legal analyst, Jim is an educator who has worked as a prosecutor and as a defense attorney in capital cases.
·Gloria Rubac
·Dave Atwood
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Joshua Maxwell
Thursday, March 11, 2010
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Execution
Convicted in the shooting death of an off-duty Bexar County Deputy Sheriff in an alleged three-state crime spree 10 years ago with girlfriend Tessie McFarland, who is serving a life sentence. Dubbed the "Natural Born Killers" couple, their case sold many newspapers and was fodder for the true-crime television series Wicked Attraction.
Backpage on Joshua Maxwell
Guests:
·Kobutsu Malone, Ven.
   Venerable Kobutsu Malone is an ordained American Rinzai Zen Buddhist priest and co-founder of the Engaged Zen Foundation, a nonprofit that establishes contemplative meditative practices in prisons and encourages prison reform. He has been involved in death row chaplaincy since 1996, when he served as spiritual adviser for his student, Jusan Frankie Parker, during his execution by the State of Arkansas. He was spiritual adviser for another student, Amos Lee King, during his 2003 execution in Florida.
·Jim Skelton
   Our show's legal analyst, Jim is an educator who has worked as a prosecutor and as a defense attorney in capital cases.
·Gloria Rubac
·Dave Atwood
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Michael Sigala
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
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Execution
Convicted of slaying a couple in their Plano apartment during a robbery in August of 2000. In appealing his death sentence, Sigala argued that the testimony of a psychiatrist was improperly limited at trial. Dr. Laura Slaughter had planned to testify that Sigala had a history of mental illness and suffered from bipolar disorder. The prosecution prevented the jury from hearing the diagnosis.
Backpage on Michael Sigala
Guests:
·Jim Skelton
   Our show's legal analyst, Jim is an educator who has worked as a prosecutor and as a defense attorney in capital cases.
·Dennis Longmire
·Dave Atwood
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Henry Watkins Skinner
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Execution
***DELAYED TILL 3/24/2010*** Hank Skinner was condemned to die for the 1993 murder of his live-in girlfriend and her two adult sons in the small Texas town of Pampa, Henry "Hank" Skinner has always insisted he is innocent. Northwestern journalism students investigating his conviction found that Skinner's trial defense was inadequate and that forensic testing of evidence was incomplete.
Backpage on Henry Watkins Skinner
Guests:
·Jim Skelton
   Our show's legal analyst, Jim is an educator who has worked as a prosecutor and as a defense attorney in capital cases.
·Gloria Rubac
·Dave Atwood
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Gary James Johnson
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
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Execution
Convicted of murdering ranch manager James M. Hazelton, 28, and Peter J. Sparagana, 23, in 1986, as they investigated a report of a burglary at Triple Creek Ranch outside Huntsville, Texas. Johnson's brother, co-defendant Terry Johnson, struck a deal with prosecutors that spared him from the death penalty, in exchange for testifying against Gary Johnson.
Backpage on Gary James Johnson
Guests:
·Rich Woodward
   An organizer of vigils in College Station on execution days, sponsored by the Brazos Valley chapter, Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty.
·Leo Freeman
   In 1973, he was the first person arrested for a capital crime in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court's Furman decision. After Freeman spent 8-1/2 years on Texas Death Row, Ramsey Clark took his case, eventually getting his sentence reduced to prison time. Freeman maxed out in March 2009.
·Jim Skelton
   Our show's legal analyst, Jim is an educator who has worked as a prosecutor and as a defense attorney in capital cases.
·Gloria Rubac
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Kenneth Mosley
Thursday, January 7, 2010
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Execution
Kenneth Mosley, 51, was condemned for the February 1997 shooting death of Garland, Texas, Officer Michael David Moore, who was responding to a 911 call about a robbery at a bank. Mosley's appellate attorneys argued he should have a new hearing, because his trial attorneys failed to object to victim impact testimony from the officer's wife and did not call witnesses to testify about Mosley's drug and alcohol addictions. The Supreme Court gave Mosley a reprieve in September one day before he was to be executed, but the panel later declined to hear his appeal.
Backpage on Kenneth Mosley
Guests:
·Richard D. Vogel
   A political reporter and editor of the website, "From the Left," at www.combatingglobalization.com, he recently wrote the article, "The Demise of the Death Penalty in the US." On his site, Mr. Vogel follows the effects of globalization on working people and their communities. He contributes to the socialist magazine Monthly Review.
·Jim Skelton
   Our show's legal analyst, Jim is an educator who has worked as a prosecutor and as a defense attorney in capital cases.
·Gloria Rubac
·Dave Atwood
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Bobby Wayne Woods
Thursday, December 3, 2009
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Execution
Believed by some experts to be mentally retarded, Woods was convicted and sentenced to die for the April 1997 slaying of Sarah Patterson. The girl and her 9-year-old brother were abducted from their home. She was killed when her throat was slashed. Her brother, Cody, was choked into unconsciousness but survived. Attorneys are seeking a stay so they may present evidence that Woods' execution would be unconstitutional because of diminished mental capacity.
Backpage on Bobby Wayne Woods
Guests:
·Jim Skelton
   Our show's legal analyst, Jim is an educator who has worked as a prosecutor and as a defense attorney in capital cases.
·Gloria Rubac
·David C. Fathi
   Director of the US Program at Human Rights Watch, Fathi is a seasoned civil rights lawyer specializing in the death penalty and other criminal justice issues. Human Rights Watch seeks to defend and protect human rights by focusing international attention where rights are violated and holding oppressors accountable: http://www.hrw.org.
·Dave Atwood
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Robert Lee Thompson
Thursday, November 19, 2009
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Execution
Thompson and a co-defendant robbed a convenience store. On their way out, Thompson, armed with a .25-caliber pistol, and Sammy Butler, with a .38-caliber pistol, fired at the clerk. Butler, who was later sentenced to life in prison, shot the fatal bullet. Thompson was convicted under the law of parties and sentenced to death. He has sought clemency from Gov. Rick Perry and the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles on the grounds that his punishment should not be worse than that of the person who fired the fatal shot.
Backpage on Robert Lee Thompson
Guests:
·Jim Skelton
   Our show's legal analyst, Jim is an educator who has worked as a prosecutor and as a defense attorney in capital cases.
·Harold Dutton, Rep.
   A Houston attorney and veteran lawmaker, Rep. Dutton is a member of the House Corrections Committee and a strong proponent of legislation to reform the Texas law of parties so that non-killers convicted under the law would not be subject to the death penalty. He has lobbied Gov. Perry to spare the life of Robert Thompson.
·Gloria Rubac
·Dave Atwood
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Danielle Nathaniel Simpson
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
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Execution
Simpson and three teenage co-defendants were burglarizing the Palestine, Texas, home of an 84-year-old white woman on Jan. 26, 2000. When the woman came home unexpectedly. They robbed her, taped her mouth, bound her hands and feet, put her in the trunk of her vehicle, drove to the Nueces River, tied a rope with a block to her, and threw her into the river. Simpson and his co-defendants were in possession of the victim's vehicle at the time of their arrest.
Backpage on Danielle Nathaniel Simpson
Guests:
·Rick Halperin, Prof.
   Prof. Halperin teaches history and human rights at Southern Methodist University, where he is director of the Human Rights Education Program. A longtime human rights activist, he is the former chairman of the board of Amnesty International and has led a number of civil disobedience actions against the death penalty at the US Supreme Court in Washington.
·Jim Skelton
   Our show's legal analyst, Jim is an educator who has worked as a prosecutor and as a defense attorney in capital cases.
·Gloria Rubac
·Dave Atwood
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Gerald Cornelius Eldridge
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Execution
Convicted in the shooting deaths of former girlfriend Cynthia Bogany and her 9-year-old daughter, Chirrisa Bogany. Eldridge broke into Bogany's apartment and shot the daughter as she slept on a couch. After chasing Cynthia's boyfriend from the apartment, he returned to the living room and shot in the shoulder the 7-year-old son he had with Cynthia. He then chased Cynthia onto a stairwell outside the apartment and shot her.
Backpage on Gerald Cornelius Eldridge
Guests:
·Leo Freeman
   In 1973, he was the first person arrested for a capital crime in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court's Furman decision. After Freeman spent 8-1/2 years on Texas Death Row, Ramsey Clark took his case, eventually getting his sentence reduced to prison time. Freeman maxed out in March 2009.
·Jim Skelton
   Our show's legal analyst, Jim is an educator who has worked as a prosecutor and as a defense attorney in capital cases.
·Gloria Rubac
·Dave Atwood
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Yosvanis Valle
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
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Execution
Valle, a Cuban national who prosecutors say joined a prison gang while incarcerated for a previous crime, was convicted of forcing his way into the Pasadena, Texas, home of Jose Martin Junco on June 7, 1999, stealing drugs, money and weapons, and shooting Junco to death.
Backpage on Yosvanis Valle
Guests:
·Randolph Roth, PhD
   A professor of History and Criminology at Ohio State, he is the author of AMERICAN HOMICIDE, an exhaustive look at homicide rates in the U.S. vs. other countries since colonial times. In seeking to explain why the U.S. is the world’s most homicidal affluent society, he concludes it is largely a function of the country's youth, compared with European nations. Higher homicide rates, he says, are associated with reduced: confidence in government, trust in government officials and sense of kinship with fellow citizens.
·Jim Skelton
   Our show's legal analyst, Jim is an educator who has worked as a prosecutor and as a defense attorney in capital cases.
·Dennis Longmire
·Dave Atwood
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Khristian Oliver
Thursday, November 5, 2009
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Execution
Oliver was 20 when he and three juveniles burglarized the home of an East Texas farmer on March 17, 1998. The farmer, a 64-year-old white man, came home unexpectedly, saw the burglars, got his rifle, and shot and wounded a juvenile. Oliver responded by shooting the owner with a handgun, seizing his rifle, and using it to beat him. The jury that convicted Oliver consulted the Bible during sentencing deliberations that resulted in the death penalty.
Partial Show audio
Backpage on Khristian Oliver
Guests:
·Jim Skelton
   Our show's legal analyst, Jim is an educator who has worked as a prosecutor and as a defense attorney in capital cases.
·Gloria Rubac
·Dave Atwood
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Reginald Blanton
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Execution
According to prosecutors, Blanton and a co-defendant shot and killed a 20-year-old friend of Blanton's during an April 2000 robbery in San Antonio during which jewelry was stolen and later pawned for $79.
Backpage on Reginald Blanton
Guests:
·Jim Skelton
   Our show's legal analyst, Jim is an educator who has worked as a prosecutor and as a defense attorney in capital cases.
·Gloria Rubac
·Dave Atwood
·Daniel P. Wirt, MD
   A Houston-area physician, he has been active for many years in efforts to abolish the death penalty and to improve health care for Americans. His political essays have appeared in CounterPunch.
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John Uzell Balentine
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Execution
On 01/21/98 in Amarillo, Texas, Balentine fatally shot 3 white males, 17 year old Edward Mark Caylor, 15 year old Kai Brooke Geyer and 15 year old Steven Brady Watson, once each in the head with a 32-caliber pistol. Balentine entered the residence during the night, and committed the murders while the victims were sleeping.
Backpage on John Uzell Balentine
Guests:
·Jim Skelton
   Our show's legal analyst, Jim is an educator who has worked as a prosecutor and as a defense attorney in capital cases.
·Gloria Rubac
·Dave Atwood
·Daniel P. Wirt, MD
   A Houston-area physician, he has been active for many years in efforts to abolish the death penalty and to improve health care for Americans. His political essays have appeared in CounterPunch.
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Kenneth Mosley
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Execution
On February 15, 1997, Mosley murdered a white male police officer while attempting to rob a bank in Garland. Employees called police after noticing Mosley inside the bank acting suspicious. As one of the first officers to arrive at the scene, the victim entered the bank in full uniform and approached Mosley, noticing that the would-be bandit had his hand stuck in his waistband. When the officer told Mosley to show him his hands, a struggle ensued and the two crashed through a glass window. Witnesses heard several shots fired before Mosley re-entered the bank through the broken window and was shot in the wrist after flashing his pistol at a second police officer. The victim died the afternoon of the shooting. He suffered at least four bullet wounds to the torso.
Backpage on Kenneth Mosley
Guests:
·Jim Skelton
   Our show's legal analyst, Jim is an educator who has worked as a prosecutor and as a defense attorney in capital cases.
·Gloria Rubac
·Dave Atwood
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Christopher Coleman
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
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Execution
On December 14, 1995 in Houston, Coleman and two co-defendants murdered three men during a drug deal. Four men were shot by Coleman, but one survived to identify him as the gunman.
Backpage on Christopher Coleman
Guests:
·Jim Skelton
   Our show's legal analyst, Jim is an educator who has worked as a prosecutor and as a defense attorney in capital cases.
·Gloria Rubac
·Dave Atwood
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Stephen Lindsey Moody
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
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Execution
Convicted in the robbery and murder of 28-year-old Joseph F. Hall in Houston. Moody and a co-defendant followed Hall to his home, forced their way inside, and demanded money and drugs. While Hall, who was crippled, begged for his life, Moody shot him at close range with a sawed-off shotgun. Moody and his accomplice then fled with $1200 in cash from the home. Moody later told his co-defendant that he shot Hall because he kept trying to get up from the ground.
Backpage on Stephen Lindsey Moody
Guests:
·Scott Cobb
   President of the Texas Moratorium Network, he is active in lobbying efforts to end the death penalty. He has organized lobby days, conducted grassroots training, drafted anti-death penalty legislation and organized many protests against capital punishment. A principle organizer of the annual March to Abolish the Death Penalty, he has lobbied every Texas legislature since 2001 to declare a moratorium on the death penalty.
·Dennis Longmire
·Dave Atwood
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David L. Wood
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Execution
Convicted in the abduction and stabbing death of 24-year-old Ivy Susanna Williams of El Paso. Williams was one of six female murder victims found in the desert around El Paso between June and August 1987. Wood was also indicted in the five other murders. Nearly a year after her disappearance on March 14, 1988, Williams' remains were found buried in the desert a short distance from U.S. Highway 54.
Read interview of David Wood on Associated Content (click here)
Backpage on David L. Wood
Guests:
·Gloria Rubac
·Dave Atwood
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Tracy Beatty
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Execution
Convicted of: On July 25, 2003, in Smith County, Texas, Beatty strangled his mother, a sixty-two year old white female, placed her in the bathtub for two days and then buried her in a shallow grave in their backyard.
Guests:
·Gloria Rubac
·Dave Atwood
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Roderick Dasha Newton
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Execution
Convicted of carjacking (with another man) a 20-year old Hispanic male, forcing him to an ATM at gunpoint, then shooting and killing him.
Backpage on Roderick Dasha Newton
Guests:
·Gloria Rubac
·Dave Atwood
Return to Top

Kenneth Mosley
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Execution
Convicted of murdering a white male police officer while attempting to rob a bank in Garland. Employees called police after noticing Mosley inside the bank acting suspicious. As one of the first officers to arrive at the scene, the victim entered the bank in full uniform and approached Mosley, noticing that the would-be bandit had his hand stuck in his waistband. When the officer told Mosley to show him his hands, a struggle ensued and the two crashed through a glass window. Witnesses heard several shots fired before Mosley re-entered the bank through the broken window and was shot in the wrist after flashing his pistol at a second police officer. The victim died the afternoon of the shooting. He suffered at least four bullet wounds to the torso.
Guests:
·Gloria Rubac
·Dave Atwood
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Terry Hankins
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
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Execution
On 08/26/2001, in Mansfield, Hankins shot his wife (34 year old white female) one time in the head while she was sleeping, resulting in her death. The next day, Hankins shot his stepchildren (a 12 year old white male and a 10 year old white female) in the same manner, causing their deaths. After his arrest, Hankins told authorities where to find the bodies of his 55 year old father and his 20 year old sister, whom he murdered in 2000.
Backpage on Terry Hankins
Guests:
·Jim Skelton
   Our show's legal analyst, Jim is an educator who has worked as a prosecutor and as a defense attorney in capital cases.
·Gloria Rubac
·Dennis Longmire
·Dave Atwood
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Michael Lynn Riley
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
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Execution
Riley's execution stems from the robbery and fatal stabbing of a convenience store clerk 23 years ago in Quitman. Riley turned himself in to police hours after the slaying. His execution was stayed in 2005 to allow an investigation of claims he is mentally retarded, which would make his execution unconstitutional. When Riley was a teenager, an evaluation at Terrell State Hospital put his IQ at 67. An IQ of 70 is considered the threshold for mental retardation. Riley's execution date coincides with the birthday of Malcolm X, who said: "“It isn’t the white man who is racist, but it’s the American political, economic, and social atmosphere that automatically nourishes a racist psychology in the white man.”
Backpage on Michael Lynn Riley
Guests:
·Gloria Rubac
·Ester King
   Well-known Houston activist in the Black Power movement in the 60s.
·DeLoyd Parker
   The Executive Director of SHAPE.
·Dave Atwood
·Billy Wayne Sinclair
   Billy Wayne Sinclair, a former death row inmate whose sentence was commuted to life, honed his writing skills and taught himself law during 40 years in Louisiana prisons. Paroled in April 2006, he is a paralegal in Houston and author of two books based on his prison experience.
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Derrick Lamone Johnson
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Execution
Convicted in the death of a 25-year-old woman during the commission of a robbery. The courts indicated that Johnson and a co-defendant beat the victim about the head with a board and then suffocated her with a shirt and a sweater.
Backpage on Derrick Lamone Johnson
Guests:
·Gloria Rubac
·Dave Atwood
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Michael Rosales
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Execution
Convicted of killing a 60-year-old woman during the commission of a burglary. Rosales claimed he did not know she was home. When he was discovered, he grabbed a kitchen knife and stabbed her 137 times, then struck her with a hard object resulting in her death.
Backpage on Michael Rosales
Guests:
·Les Breeding
   Les Breeding has worked with political issues and the Texas Legislature for the last 25 years. He has served as the director of a peace group located adjacent to Pantex, the country's nuclear weapon assembly plant (Peace Farm); as a legislative aide and as legislative director for members of the Texas House of Representatives (John Hirschi and Lon Burnam); and as a state and national board member of the country's largest grassroots peace organization (Peace Action). He is currently a college instructor (Virginia College) and owns a consulting firm where he has conducted legislative research for litigation attorneys for the last 13 years (Capitol Research). Image Location: http://www.capitolresearch.us/email_sig/les_sig_pic3.jpg
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Jose Garcia Briseno
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Execution
(Invited Guest: LULAC Drctr Francisco Rodriguez) Convicted in the January 1991 murder of Dimmit County Sheriff Ben "Doc" Murray. Murray was killed inside his home in Carrizo Springs following a violent struggle with Briseno and his accomplice, Alberto Gonzales. The sheriff suffered numerous stab wounds with a knife found buried in his chest. He had also been shot once in the head.
Backpage on Jose Garcia Briseno
Guests:
·Gloria Rubac
·Dave Atwood
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Luis Salazar
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Execution
Sentenced to death for his conviction in the murder of a 28-year-old woman who was stabbed to death Oct. 11, 1997, by an intruder who sneaked into her Fort Worth home through a window.
Backpage on Luis Salazar
Guests:
·Kelly Howe
   Board Member, Pedagogy and Theatre of the Oppressed, and PhD candidate in the University of Texas at Austin's Department of Theatre and Dance, Performance as Public Practice Program. She helped present The Eye and Tooth Project in Austin.
·Kathleen Juhl
   Professor of theatre at Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas, where she has been teaching theatre for social change since 1987.<br> Dr. Juhl is co-editor of a book entitled Radical Acts: Theatre and Feminist Pedagogies of Change
·Gloria Rubac
·Dave Atwood
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James Edward Martinez
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Execution
Convicted of a double murder that occurred in Fort Worth on September 21, 2000, when 20 shots were fired into a vehicle, resulting in the deaths of a 20-year-old man and and 29-year-old woman.
Guests:
·Lupe Salinas
   A professor at Texas Southern University’s Thurgood Marshall School of Law, he has been a district court judge in Houston and a federal prosecutor. His article, “Is It Time to Kill the Death Penalty?” was referenced by Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens in the 2008 Baze v. Rees decision confirming the constitutionality of lethal injection.
·Gloria Rubac
·Dave Atwood
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Kenneth Wayne Morris
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Execution
Condemned in the fatal shooting of a Houston businessman in 1991 during a burglary gone bad. Morris's date comes nearly six years after he won a last-minute reprieve over concerns that putting him to death would violate the Supreme Court's prohibition on executing the mentally retarded.
Backpage on Kenneth Wayne Morris
Guests:
·Njeri Shakur
   Njeri Shakur has been an anti-death penalty activist since participating in a 1997 memorial observance for people executed in Texas. She was one of a handful of free-world people invited by prisoners into death row in 1999 to negotiate an end to a hostage crisis.
·Gloria Rubac
·Dave Atwood
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Willie Earl Pondexter, Jr.
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
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Execution
Convicted of burglarizing the Clarksville home of an 85-year-old woman and fatally shooting her in the head. She was sleeping when Pondexter and at least one accomplice broke into her home. After shooting the woman with a 9mm pistol, the intruders took $18 from her purse and fled in her car. Cases are pending against accomplices.
Backpage on Willie Earl Pondexter, Jr.
Guests:
·Nancy Bailey
·Gloria Rubac
·Gabriel Solis
   Associate director, Texas After Violence Project, a non-profit that seeks to understand the full effects of violent crime and capital punishment and to engage communities in thinking collectively, critically, and constructively about responses to violence.
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Johnny Ray Johnson
Thursday, February 12, 2009
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Execution
A native of Austin, he was condemned for the rape and beating death of a woman in Houston in 1995. Johnson, 51, was convicted in the death of Leah Joette Smith. She is described in court documents as a cocaine addict Johnson offered drugs in exchange for sex, then beat to death when she used the drugs and reneged.
Backpage on Johnny Ray Johnson
Guests:
·Jim Skelton
   Our show's legal analyst, Jim is an educator who has worked as a prosecutor and as a defense attorney in capital cases.
·Gloria Rubac
·Dave Atwood
·Christina Swarns
   Directs the Criminal Justice Project of the NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund, headquartered in New York. Her unit recently won a major victory in the case of a Texas death row prisoner.
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Dale Devon Scheanette
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
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Execution
Dale Devon Scheanette, who identifies himself as a Cajun from Monroe, Louisiana, is scheduled to be executed in the 1996 slaying of 22-year-old Wendie Prescott of Arlington, a teacher's aide.
Backpage on Dale Devon Scheanette
Guests:
·Jim Skelton
   Our show's legal analyst, Jim is an educator who has worked as a prosecutor and as a defense attorney in capital cases.
·James R. Acker
   Dr. Acker is an author and a professor at the highly regarded School of Criminal Justice at SUNY-Albany. Death penalty law is a principal area of scholarship. Most recently, he co-edited the 2009 book, The Future of America's Death Penalty: An Agenda for the Next Generation of Capital Punishment Research.
·Dennis Longmire
·Dave Atwood
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David Martinez
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
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Execution
Convicted in the slayings of his girlfriend and her 14-year-old son inside their San Antonio home. Both victims were beaten to death with a baseball bat. Following his arrest in San Marcos two days after the murders, Martinez said he grabbed the bat and began to beat his girlfriend when she awoke to find him standing over her in the bedroom. Fearful that her son might discover his murdered mother, he walked into the living room where he was sleeping and struck him repeatedly in the head with the bat. He did not harm the boy's 10-year-old sister, telling her instead to go to her grandmother's home next dore and not return. No motive was offered for the killings.
Backpage on David Martinez
Guests:
·John Holbrook
   John is a fine-art photographer and private investigator who has worked as a court-appointed investigator on capital murder cases in North Texas. His startling series of photographs of inmates on Texas Death Row are featured in an exhibit that opened in October 2008 at the Norwegian Opera house in Oslo, sponsored by Amnesty International. His website: <a href="http://www.holbrookphoto.com" target="New">www.holbrookphoto.com</a>.
·Jim Skelton
   Our show's legal analyst, Jim is an educator who has worked as a prosecutor and as a defense attorney in capital cases.
·Gloria Rubac
·Dave Atwood
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Ricardo Ortiz
Thursday, January 29, 2009
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Execution
Sentenced to death after being convicted of murdering Geraldo Garcia, his cellmate at El Paso County Jail, in 1997 by administering a deliberate overdose of heroin.
Was he set up by the state? Read Jim Skelton's backpage.
Backpage on Ricardo Ortiz
Guests:
·Jim Skelton
   Our show's legal analyst, Jim is an educator who has worked as a prosecutor and as a defense attorney in capital cases.
·Hooman Hedayati
   An Iranian student at the University of Texas at Austin, Mr. Hedayati is president of Texas Students Against the Death Penalty and Students Against the Death Penalty. He sits on the advisory board for Campus Progress at the Center for American Progress.
·Gloria Rubac
·Dave Atwood
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Virgil Martinez
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
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Execution
Convicted of fatally shooting a 27-year-old Hispanic female, her two children (a 3-year-old Hispanic female and a 6-year-old Hispanic male), and an 18-year-old Hispanic male during the nighttime on 10/1/96.
Backpage on Virgil Martinez
Guests:
·Kristin Houle
   Executive director of Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, Ms. Houle previously served as a Soros Justice Fellow with the group, doing public education about the execution of people with severe mental illness.
·Jim Skelton
   Our show's legal analyst, Jim is an educator who has worked as a prosecutor and as a defense attorney in capital cases.
·Dennis Longmire
·Dave Atwood
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Larry Ray Swearingen
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Execution
Convicted of kidnapping and strangling a 19 year old white female on 12/8/1998.
Backpage on Larry Ray Swearingen
Guests:
·Jim Skelton
   Our show's legal analyst, Jim is an educator who has worked as a prosecutor and as a defense attorney in capital cases.
·James R. Acker
   Dr. Acker is an author and a professor at the highly regarded School of Criminal Justice at SUNY-Albany. Death penalty law is a principal area of scholarship. Most recently, he co-edited the 2009 book, The Future of America's Death Penalty: An Agenda for the Next Generation of Capital Punishment Research.
·Gloria Rubac
·Dave Atwood
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Reginald Perkins
Thursday, January 22, 2009
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Execution
Convicted of strangling his 64 year old black female step-mother on 12/04/2000, resulting in her death. Her body was found in the trunk of her vehicle in a parking garage.
Backpage on Reginald Perkins
Guests:
·Linda White, Ph.D.
   Dr. White is active in the Victims Outreach Program of the Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty. The program seeks to organize anti-death penalty family members of murder victims.
·Kelly Epstein
·Jim Skelton
   Our show's legal analyst, Jim is an educator who has worked as a prosecutor and as a defense attorney in capital cases.
·Dave Atwood
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Frank Moore
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
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Execution
Convicted in the January 1994 shooting deaths of Samuel Boyd, 23 and Patrick Clark, 15, outside a San Antonio nightclub. The two victims were shot with a .30-caliber rifle as they sat in a car outside the Wheels of Joy Club. Boyd was shot in the chest and Clark in the head following an argument with Moore inside the club. Both died at the scene. Prior to his arrest, Moore reportedly threatened to kill family members of witnesses if they cooperated with the police investigation.
Backpage on Frank Moore
Guests:
·Scott Cobb
   President of the Texas Moratorium Network, he is active in lobbying efforts to end the death penalty. He has organized lobby days, conducted grassroots training, drafted anti-death penalty legislation and organized many protests against capital punishment. A principle organizer of the annual March to Abolish the Death Penalty, he has lobbied every Texas legislature since 2001 to declare a moratorium on the death penalty.
·Jim Skelton
   Our show's legal analyst, Jim is an educator who has worked as a prosecutor and as a defense attorney in capital cases.
·Dennis Longmire
·Dave Atwood
Return to Top

José Garcia Briseño
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Execution
*** DELAYED TILL APRIL 7, 2009 *** Convicted in the January 1991 murder of Dimmit County Sheriff Ben "Doc" Murray. Murray was killed inside his home in Carrizo Springs following a violent struggle with Briseño and his accomplice Alberto Gonzalez. The sheriff suffered numerous stab wounds inflicted with a butcher knife found buried in his chest. He had also been shot once in the head. Briseño and Gonzales reportedly killed Murray to avenge previous arrests he had made against them.
Guests:
·Jim Skelton
   Our show's legal analyst, Jim is an educator who has worked as a prosecutor and as a defense attorney in capital cases.
·Gloria Rubac
·Dave Atwood
Return to Top

Curtis Moore
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
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Execution
He was sentenced to death 12 years ago in the abduction-murder of Henry Truevillian in Fort Worth during a 1995 drug deal-turned-robbery. Since age 12, Moore had been in and out of state custody.
Backpage on Curtis Moore
Guests:
·Jim Skelton
   Our show's legal analyst, Jim is an educator who has worked as a prosecutor and as a defense attorney in capital cases.
·Dennis Longmire
·Dave Atwood
·Bryan McCann
   Has been active for the past several years in the Austin chapter of the <a href="http://www.nodeathpenalty.org" target="New">Campaign to End the Death Penalty</a>,
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Robert Hudson
Thursday, November 20, 2008
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Execution
Convicted in the May 7, 1999 stabbing death of a 35-year-old black female and the attempted murder of her 9-year-old son. Hudson caught the victim with another man and stabbed her 7 times in the upper torso with a knife. The victim's son tried to intervene and Hudson slashed him 2 times in the throat with a knife. The victim died at the scene and her son ran out of the apartment to a neighbor, who called police. Hudson was arrested at the scene.
Backpage on Robert Hudson
Guests:
·Steve Hall
   Director of the Stand Down Texas Project, he was chief of staff to the Attorney General of Texas from 1983-1991 and an administrator of the Texas Resource Center from 1993-1995. A former journalist, he has worked for the U.S. Congress and several Texas legislators. The blog is at http://standdown.typepad.com.
·Nadamo Münter
   A resident of Solingen, Germany, near Cologne, Nadamo is a member of Amnesty International, which gave him Hudson’s name and mailing address. Nadamo became friends with Hudson through their correspondence, which begam about a year ago.
·Jim Skelton
   Our show's legal analyst, Jim is an educator who has worked as a prosecutor and as a defense attorney in capital cases.
·Gloria Rubac
·Dave Atwood
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Rogelio Cannady
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Execution
Convicted of: On October 10, 1993, Cannady who was serving a life sentence caused the death of a 55-year-old Hispanic male Texas prison inmate inside a medium-custody housing area at the McConnell Unit in Beeville. Cannady beat the victim who was Cannady's cellmate with a steel lock attached to a belt and kicked him repeatedly in the head with steel-toed boots. The victim who was serving 15-year sentence for murder died two days later.
Cannady was the first Texas prison inmate to be prosecuted under a 1993 statute that allows for capital murder convictions if the offender is serving 99 years or life as a result of previous murder convictions.
From TDCJ:
"The execution date for Cannady was withdrawn today [11/17/08], subject to further order of the court."
Guests:
·Sylvia Garza
   Ms. Garza heads the Rio Grande Valley chapter of the Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty. On Oct. 25, 2008, she led a contingent from the Valley to Houston for the March to End Executions. Ms. Garza's son, Robert Garza, is on death row. The Valley chapter sometimes holds a vigil in front of the Hidalgo County Courthouse in Edinburg when there is an execution.
·Jim Skelton
   Our show's legal analyst, Jim is an educator who has worked as a prosecutor and as a defense attorney in capital cases.
·Gloria Rubac
·Dave Atwood
Return to Top

Eric Cathey
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Execution
Convicted in the September, 1995 abduction and murder of Christina Castillo in Houston. Cathey and several others abducted Castillo from the parking lot of her apartment complex and attempted to force her to tell them about her boyfriend's drug and money dealings. When Castillo refused to give them any information, she was driven to a vacant lot in northeast Houston and shot three times in the head.
Backpage on Eric Cathey
Guests:
·Lily Hughes
   Active in the Austin chapter of the Campaign to End the Death Penalty.
·Jim Skelton
   Our show's legal analyst, Jim is an educator who has worked as a prosecutor and as a defense attorney in capital cases.
·Gloria Rubac
·Dave Atwood
Return to Top

Denard Manns
Thursday, November 13, 2008
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Execution
Convicted of: On 11/18/1998 in Killeen, Manns entered the home of a 26 year old white female. He sexually assaulted the victim, then shot her in the head and chest, resulting in her death. Manns took credit cards and cash from the residence and fled in the victim's vehicle. A U.S. district judge in Waco, Texas, had ordered Manns' execution, originally scheduled for Aug. 20, be delayed until Nov. 13 because he has been without counsel since his attorney was removed from the case.
Backpage on Denard Manns
Guests:
·Kelly Epstein
·Justin Cox
   A reporter for the Killeen Daily Herald, Justin covered the final phase of the Manns story. Recently, he broke the story of Richard Tabler making high-profile calls from his cell on death row with a smuggled cell phone. Justin involuntarily became part of the story when Tabler called him, wanting to talk.
·Jim Skelton
   Our show's legal analyst, Jim is an educator who has worked as a prosecutor and as a defense attorney in capital cases.
·Dave Atwood
·Billy Wayne Sinclair
   Billy Wayne Sinclair, a former death row inmate whose sentence was commuted to life, honed his writing skills and taught himself law during 40 years in Louisiana prisons. Paroled in April 2006, he is a paralegal in Houston and author of two books based on his prison experience.
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George Whitaker III
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
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Execution
Convicted in the shooting death of 17-year-old Shakeitha Shanta Carrier of Crosby. Whitaker had been dating the victim's sister who had recently left him because of his abusive behavior. On the day of the murder, Whitaker drove to his former girlfriend's parents' home outside Crosby and told her mother, Mary, that he was returning some of her belongings. Told to leave them on the porch, Whitaker pulled a .45 caliber pistol and forced his way inside. He forced Mrs. Carrier and her 5-year-old daughter, Ashley, into the living room where he shot Mrs. Carrier once in the chest. He followed the fleeing Ashley upstairs where he confronted Shakeitha and shot her once in the head. He then pistol-whipped Ashley fracturing her skull in two places. Returning downstairs he saw Mrs. Carrier fleeing through the front door. Retrieving more bullets from his vehicle, he cornered Mrs. Carrier behind the house and shot her a second time in the chest. Both Mrs. Carrier and Ashley survived their wounds although Mrs. Carrier suffers from partial paralysis in her right arm and hand. Shakeitha died at the scene. Whitaker was traced to his apartment where he attempted to elude police by jumping out a window. Police shot him in the hip when he appeared to be reaching for a pistol.
From the Houston Chronicle
Copyright 2008 by The Houston Chronicle

The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles unanimously voted Monday to turn down condemned man George Whitaker's request for a reprieve.

The board dismissed Whitaker's appeal in which he argued that jurors should have been told that he only would be eligible for parole after he served 40 years in prison.

With all of his appeals exhausted, Whitaker, 37, is set to enter Texas' death chamber Wednesday.

He was sentenced to die for the June 15, 1994, shooting death of Shakeitha Carrier, 17, a sister of his former girlfriend Catina Carrier, who had broken off their relationship two months before.

Carrier's mother, Mary Carrier, was shot twice in the attack, and her sister Ashley, 5, was severely pistol-whipped. His execution is scheduled for Wednesday.
Backpage on George Whitaker III
Guests:
·Marilyn Gambrell
   Founder of No More Victims, a program to help the children of prisoners break the family cycle of incarceration. A former parole officer and administrator for the state of Texas, Gambrell is also the author of a series of books. She was portrayed by Jami Gertz in the Lifetime movie <i>Fighting the Odds: The Marilyn Gambrell Story</i>.
·Jim Skelton
   Our show's legal analyst, Jim is an educator who has worked as a prosecutor and as a defense attorney in capital cases.
·Gloria Rubac
·Dave Atwood
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Elkie Taylor
Thursday, November 6, 2008
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Execution
Convicted in the robbery and murder of 64-year-old Otis Flake in Fort Worth. Taylor and an accomplice forceably entered Flake's home and tied him up. The two then packed up several items from the home, including dishes, pots and pans, and a television later selling them for a total of $16. A friend of Flake's found him dead inside his bedroom later in the day. He had been strangled with two wire coat hangers.
Guests:
·Roland B. Moore III
   Moore is a Yale-educated, fifth-generation Texan. A veteran of the state and federal Courts as both a trial lawyer and an appellate lawyer, he does many criminal cases and is very familiar with the writ system. He'll discuss something of great concern to capital-case defendants: the problems associated with post-conviction writs and the narrow review permitted by federal law.
·Jim Skelton
   Our show's legal analyst, Jim is an educator who has worked as a prosecutor and as a defense attorney in capital cases.
·Dennis Longmire
·Dave Atwood
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Gregory Wright
Thursday, October 30, 2008
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Execution
Convicted of: On 03/21/1997, in DeSoto, Wright broke into the home of a white female. The victim was stabbed to death with a knife. Wright took many items from the home and left the scene in the victim's vehicle.

Free Greg Wright Web Page
Backpage on Gregory Wright
Guests:
·Mary Penrose, PhD
   Professor Penrose is a member of the legal team that worked on Wright’s appeals. Her areas of emphasis include human rights, civil rights and habeas corpus. She teaches at Texas Wesleyan University-Fort Worth
·Peter Bellamy
   Began corresponding with Wright after applying to a UK organization called Human Writes, www.humanwrites.org, which finds penpals for US death row inmates. Bellamy, a retired educator living near London, became convinced of Wright’s innocence.
·Nancy Bailey
·Jim Skelton
   Our show's legal analyst, Jim is an educator who has worked as a prosecutor and as a defense attorney in capital cases.
·Gloria Rubac
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Eric Nenno
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
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Execution
Convicted in the rape and murder of 7-year-old Nicole Benton in Hockley. Nenno lured the young girl to his home and attempted to rape her. He choked her to death when she began to cry and resist. He then raped her repeatedly. Nenno hid Benton's nude body in his attic until neighbors went to police two days later and told them he had earlier been accused of fondling a child. Under questioning, Nenno confessed to killing Benton and led police to her body.
Backpage on Eric Nenno
Guests:
·Nancy Bailey
·Jim Skelton
   Our show's legal analyst, Jim is an educator who has worked as a prosecutor and as a defense attorney in capital cases.
·Gloria Rubac
·Dennis Longmire
Return to Top

Bobby Woods
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Execution
Convicted of: On April 30, 1997, Woods entered the home of his ex-girlfriend through an open window. Woods sexually assaulted the 11 year old white female, then abducted her and her 9-year-old male brother. Woods severely beat the 9-year-old boy about the head, resulting in serious injury, and cutting the throat of the 11-year-old victim, resulting in her death.
Backpage on Bobby Woods
Guests:
·Jim Skelton
   Our show's legal analyst, Jim is an educator who has worked as a prosecutor and as a defense attorney in capital cases.
·Gloria Rubac
·Dave Atwood
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Joseph Ray Ries
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
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Execution
Convicted of: On 02/22/99, in Cumby, Texas, Ries and the co-defendant broke into the residence of a 64-year old white male who was asleep at the time. They shot the victim in the head with a 22-caliber pistol and then took his car. Property belonging to the victim was later pawned.
Backpage on Joseph Ray Ries
Guests:
·Jim Skelton
   Our show's legal analyst, Jim is an educator who has worked as a prosecutor and as a defense attorney in capital cases.
·Gloria Rubac
·Dave Atwood
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Kevin Watts
Thursday, October 16, 2008
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Execution
Convicted of: On March 1, 2002, in San Antonio, Texas, Watts entered a restaurant and fatally shot 1 Asian male and 2 Asian females. Watts then kidnapped a fourth victim, a Asian female, sexually assaulted her and took her to codefendant Bolden's residence where he allowed Bolden to sexually assault her.
Backpage on Kevin Watts
Guests:
·Nancy Bailey
·Leslie Lytle
   A prominent activist in the movement to abolish capital punishment, Lytle is author of a book released this month by Northeastern University Press, "Execution’s Doorstep: True Stories of the Innocent and Near Damned". It's about the lives of five former death row inmates who are now free. Lytle has an M.A. from Antioch University, serves on the board of the Tennessee Coalition to Abolish State Killing, writes for the community newspaper in Sewanee, Tennessee, and edits the journal of the Cumberland Center for Justice and Peace, of which she is executive director. For more information, go to www.executionsdoorstep.com.
·Jim Skelton
   Our show's legal analyst, Jim is an educator who has worked as a prosecutor and as a defense attorney in capital cases.
·Gloria Rubac
·Dennis Longmire
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Alvin Andrew Kelly
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
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Execution
Convicted in the shooting deaths of three people including an 18-month old child on April 30, 1984. According to TDCJ, 'records indicate the killings may have been drug related.
Backpage on Alvin Andrew Kelly
Guests:
·Jim Skelton
   Our show's legal analyst, Jim is an educator who has worked as a prosecutor and as a defense attorney in capital cases.
·Gloria Rubac
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Joseph Ries
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Execution
Convicted of: On 02/22/99, in Cumby, Texas, Ries and the co-defendant broke into the residence of a 64-year old white male who was asleep at the time. The victim was shot in the head with a 22-caliber pistol and his car was taken. Property belonging to the victim was later pawned.
Guests:
·Jim Skelton
   Our show's legal analyst, Jim is an educator who has worked as a prosecutor and as a defense attorney in capital cases.
·Gloria Rubac
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William Murray
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Execution
Convicted of: On 02/10/98, in Kaufman, Texas, during the nighttime hours, a 93-year old female was beaten, strangled and raped . Law enforcement officers responded to a call concerning the victim at her residence. When the officers arrived, they found the residence to be in disarray and appeared to have been ransacked. They found the victim in the bedroom, nude from the waist down with wounds and bruising on and about her head area. The victim also had an Ace bandage tied around her neck and into her mouth, which was soaked with blood. It was stated that the victim's death was caused by strangulation and blunt force injuries. The subject confessed to entering the residence and ransacking it. The subject admitted that he physically and sexually assaulted the victim, and wrapped an Ace bandage around her face and mouth. The subject admitted he removed some change from a jar and a small knife.
Backpage on William Murray
Guests:
·Jim Skelton
   Our show's legal analyst, Jim is an educator who has worked as a prosecutor and as a defense attorney in capital cases.
·Gloria Rubac
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Charles Hood
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Execution
Convicted of: The November 1989 murders of Ronald Williamson and Williamson's girlfriend, Traci Lynn Wallace, 26. The two were found shot to death inside Williamson's home in Plano, Texas. Hood was living at Williamson's home and also worked for Williamson. Following the murders, Hood attempted to cash a $500 check forged against Williamson's company account. Hood was arrested in Vergennes, Indiana while driving WIlliamson's car.
His previously scheduled execution June 17 was halted when the death warrant expired before it could be carried out. His attorneys announced Aug. 19 that they'd file a petition in civil court asking to take the depositions of former state District Judge Vera Sue Holland and former Collin County District Attorney Tom O’Connell.
They've refused to answer questions about whether they may have tainted Hood's 1990 trial by engaging in a romance.
Backpage on Charles Hood
Guests:
·Jim Skelton
   Our show's legal analyst, Jim is an educator who has worked as a prosecutor and as a defense attorney in capital cases.
·Gloria Rubac
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Gregory Wright
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Execution
Convicted of: On 03/21/1997, in DeSoto, Wright broke into the home of a white female. The victim was stabbed to death with a knife. Wright took many items from the home and left the scene in the victim's vehicle.

Wright's attorneys say approved DNA tests have excluded him as a contributor to the DNA on the knife used in the slaying. They say the new evidence, plus a recent successful polygraph test, indicate Wright is innocent, as he claims.
Free Greg Wright Web Page
Backpage on Gregory Wright
Guests:
·Jim Skelton
   Our show's legal analyst, Jim is an educator who has worked as a prosecutor and as a defense attorney in capital cases.
·Gloria Rubac
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Jeffery Wood
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Convicted of: On 01/02/1996, in Kerrville, Wood and one co-defendant robbed a service station, murdering the white male attendant in the process. Wood and the co-defendant took the store safe, a cash box, and a VCR containing a security tape. The value of cash and checks was estimated to be $11,350.

Wood was not in the store when his co-defendant pulled the trigger. His case raises issues about the 'party' statute which says anyone involved in a capital offense is equally culpable.
Save Jeff Wood Website
The Other Save Jeff Wood Website

Sidebar from the Houston Chronicle, August 20, 2008

At least three Texas death row inmates have been executed under the law of parties, which makes accomplices as liable as the actual killer in capital murder cases.

• Carlos Santana, 40, executed in 1993 for the death of 29-year-old security guard Oliver Flores during a failed $1.1 million armored car heist in Houston. His co-defendant, James Meanes, the triggerman, was executed in 1998.

• Joseph Starvaggi, 34, executed in 1987 for fatally shooting Montgomery County probation officer John Denson, 43, during a Magnolia home burglary. An accomplice, G.W. Green, 49, was executed in 1991; a third man, Glenn Martin, got life in prison.

• Doyle Skillern, 49, was executed in 1985 for the murder of Department of Public Safety narcotics officer Patrick Allen Randel. Skillern claimed an accomplice, Charles Victor Sanne, was the gunman. Sanne got a life sentence.

Source: Death Penalty Information Center and the Texas Department of Criminal Justice Web site
Backpage on Jeffery Wood
Guests:
·Jim Skelton
   Our show's legal analyst, Jim is an educator who has worked as a prosecutor and as a defense attorney in capital cases.
·Gloria Rubac
·Dave Atwood
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Denard Manns
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Execution
Convicted of: On 11/18/1998 in Killeen, Manns entered the home of a 26 year old white female. He sexually assaulted the victim, then shot her in the head and chest, resulting in her death. Manns took credit cards and cash from the residence and fled in the victim's vehicle.
A U.S. district judge in Waco, Texas, ordered Manns' execution, originally scheduled for Aug. 20, be delayed until Nov. 13 because he has been without counsel since his attorney was removed from the case.
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Michael Rodriguez
Thursday, August 14, 2008
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Execution
Convicted of: While on escape from TDCJ, Rivas and 6 co-defendants robbed a sporting goods store at gunpoint. An Irving police officer was murdered outside the store as Rivas and co-defendants left the scene.
The Connally Unit, a maximum security prison southeast of San Antonio from which the Texas 7 escaped, had a history of prisoner attacks on guards and was short staffed by almost two dozen correctional officers the day of the breakout, according to published reports following the escape.
Summary of the Case
Guests:
·Jim Skelton
   Our show's legal analyst, Jim is an educator who has worked as a prosecutor and as a defense attorney in capital cases.
·J. C. Mosier
   Former HPD detective, now Administrative Chief at the Harris County Precinct 1 Constable's Office.
·Gloria Rubac
·Brian Olsen
   Executive Director of the Correctional Officers' Union
·Billy Wayne Sinclair
   Billy Wayne Sinclair, a former death row inmate whose sentence was commuted to life, honed his writing skills and taught himself law during 40 years in Louisiana prisons. Paroled in April 2006, he is a paralegal in Houston and author of two books based on his prison experience.
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Leon Dorsey
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
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Execution
Convicted of: On 4/4/1994 during the night in Dallas, Dorsey entered a video store and used a 9 millimeter pistol to rob and kill a 26 year old white male employee and a 20 year old white male employee.
Background on Dorsey Case
Guests:
·Rick Halperin, Prof.
   Prof. Halperin teaches history and human rights at Southern Methodist University, where he is director of the Human Rights Education Program. A longtime human rights activist, he is the former chairman of the board of Amnesty International and has led a number of civil disobedience actions against the death penalty at the US Supreme Court in Washington.
·Patricia Harrington
   Director of the City of Houston Mayor's Anti-Gang Office.
·Jim Skelton
   Our show's legal analyst, Jim is an educator who has worked as a prosecutor and as a defense attorney in capital cases.
·Gloria Rubac
·Dennis Longmire
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Heliberto Chi
Thursday, August 7, 2008
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Execution
29 years old. Convicted of murdering a clothing-store manager during a robbery seven years ago in Arlington, Texas.
Heliberto Chi is a citizen of Honduras. As in the case of Jose Medellin and the 50 other Mexican citizens covered by the Avena ruling, Chi was not advised of his right to consular notification when he was arrested. Unlike the Mexican citizens, however, Chi is not covered by the International Court of Justice's Avena ruling
Backpage on Heliberto Chi
Guests:
·Terence O'Rourke
   An attorney, he represented the government of Hondorus in the Heliberto Chi case. He is a professor of international studies at the University of St. Thomas in Houston.
·Luis Vera
   National legal advisor for the Washington-based Hispanic advocacy organization LULAC, or League of United Latin American Citizens. LULAC opposes the death penalty and promotes, among other things, equality in the treatment of Latinos by the criminal justice system.
·Jim Skelton
   Our show's legal analyst, Jim is an educator who has worked as a prosecutor and as a defense attorney in capital cases.
·Billy Wayne Sinclair
   Billy Wayne Sinclair, a former death row inmate whose sentence was commuted to life, honed his writing skills and taught himself law during 40 years in Louisiana prisons. Paroled in April 2006, he is a paralegal in Houston and author of two books based on his prison experience.
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Jose Medellin
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
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Execution
Convicted of gang-related murder of two girls. Was not allowed to contact the Mexican consulate.
Executed shortly before 10PM after 5-4 decision in the Supreme Court. One member of the supreme court, justice Stephen Breyer wrote however, that to permit the execution would place the US "irremediably in violation of international law and breaks our treaty promises."
Guests:
·Jim Skelton
   Our show's legal analyst, Jim is an educator who has worked as a prosecutor and as a defense attorney in capital cases.
·Gloria Rubac
·Billy Wayne Sinclair
   Billy Wayne Sinclair, a former death row inmate whose sentence was commuted to life, honed his writing skills and taught himself law during 40 years in Louisiana prisons. Paroled in April 2006, he is a paralegal in Houston and author of two books based on his prison experience.
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Larry Davis
Thursday, July 31, 2008
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Execution
Guests:
·Nancy Bailey
·Lee Greenwood
   Active in Texas Death Penalty Abolition Movement and in the Texas Democratic Party. Her late son, Joseph Nichols, was executed in Huntsville on March 7, 2007, despite the fact that his fall partner admitted to the killing. The prosecution, after successfully seeking the death penalty against Joseph’s fall partner as the shooter, changed its version of events so the gun was in Joseph’s hand. This eliminated the need to seek death under Texas’ controversial law of parties statute.
·Jim Skelton
   Our show's legal analyst, Jim is an educator who has worked as a prosecutor and as a defense attorney in capital cases.
·Gloria Rubac
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Derrick Sonnier
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
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Execution
Guests:
·Piers Bannister
   Death penalty team coordinator for London-based Amnesty International and author of its annual report on the death penalty.
·Marvin Zalman
   Professor and interim chair, Department of Criminal Justice, Wayne State University, Detroit. His work in constitutional criminal procedure focuses on state power vs. individual liberty. Zalman was lead author of a study published in the spring 2008 JUSTICE QUARTERLY on the number of actually innocent people convicted of felonies each year in the U.S.
·Jim Skelton
   Our show's legal analyst, Jim is an educator who has worked as a prosecutor and as a defense attorney in capital cases.
·Gloria Rubac
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Carlton Turner
Thursday, July 10, 2008
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Execution
Convicted of killing his parents when he was 19 in 1999.
There was substantial evidence that Carlton was severly abused by his parents.
Guests:
·Rev. Frederick D. Haynes III
   Senior pastor of Friendship-West Baptist Church, one of the largest churches in Dallas, with more than 8,000 members. The church is known for its works to advance social justice and to help the poor and disenfranchised. Dr. Haynes was one of three finalists in May 2008 for president of the NAACP.
·Jim Skelton
   Our show's legal analyst, Jim is an educator who has worked as a prosecutor and as a defense attorney in capital cases.
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Regular Guests
· Dave Atwood  
  A member of board of directors and past president of the Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, he reports from TCADP's execution vigils in Houston.
· Dennis Longmire  
  Professor of criminal justice at Sam Houston State University and a frequent participant in Huntsville vigils.
· Gloria Rubac  
  A long-time activist against the death penalty and leader of the Death Penalty Abolition Movement, she reports from outside the death chamber in Huntsville.
· Kelly Epstein  
  A long-time death penalty abolitionist and regular at the vigils outside the death chamber in Huntsville.
· Nancy Bailey  
  Houston death penalty coordinator for Amnesty International, board member of Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty.
Hosts
· Ray Hill  
  Host and co-founder of EXECUTION WATCH, Ray did time in Texas prisons and has lost a number of friends to the Texas execution machine. Since his release in 1975, the Houston native has won four federal suits against the City of Houston for police abuses, including the landmark, First-Amendment U.S. Supreme Court decision: Houston v. Hill, in which he is referred to as "citizen provocateur." Ray's many awards include the ACLU-Houston's 2005 Lifetime Achievement Award. In 1980, he founded the unique Prison Show, which he continues to produce and host on Friday nights on KPFT.
· Jim Skelton  
  Our show's legal analyst, Jim is an educator who has worked as a prosecutor and as a defense attorney in capital cases.
News
Monday, August 9, 2010
Rare Photos of Death Row 
Some rare photos of the living and
visiting quarters inside death row were
released by TDCJ recently as the result
of a Freedom of Information request by
attorney Yolanda Torres. The photos,
with commentary by a death row inmate,
were posted recently on Facebook.


Death Row Photos on
Students Against the Death Penalty
Facebook Page (click here)
 
Close News