softheart
05-27-2003, 07:34 PM
Rest in peace BK you are finally free and you have gone home. You are going to be missed by so many.
:(
softie
May 27
OKLAHOMA-----execution
Man executed for 1990 double homicide
A man who killed at least 5 people was put to death in McAlester Tuesday
for murdering a Noble County couple in 1990.
Robert Knighton, 62, was pronounced dead at 6:32 p.m., shortly after the
fatal drug injection began.
Knighton shot and killed Richard and Virginia Denney at their farm near
Tonkawa on Jan. 8, 1990, during a 3-day crime spree that began with the
murders and robbery of 2 men in Clinton, Mo.
He and 2 co-defendants came away from the Denney residence with $61 and a
beat-up pickup truck.
Among the witnesses on Knighton's behalf was Sue Norton of Arkansas City,
Kan., the adopted daughter of Richard Denney. Norton forgave and
befriended Knighton during his trial had been in McAlester since last week
to spend time with him before his death.
"This is the 1st time in his life that he feels like he's doing something
right," Norton said the day before the execution. "It took him this to
realize he spent over 50 of his years living totally against God."
Norton's sister, Maudie Nichols of Oxford, Kan., also planned to attend.
Denney's biological daughter, Nichols forgave Knighton at his clemency
hearing last week but has said he should pay for the murders with his
life.
"I think anybody that does any kind of crime should have to stand
accountable for what they do," she said. "I don't make the laws."
Knighton served 17 years in a Missouri prison for manslaughter, kidnapping
and robbery before going to a halfway house in Kansas City, Mo., where he
befriended Lawrence Brittain, a teenager on probation for auto theft.
They escaped and the 2, along with Knighton's girlfriend Ruth Renee
Williams, stole a van in Kansas City and drove to Clinton, Mo., where
Knighton shot Frankie T. Merrifield and his stepson, Roy E. Donahue, after
the group had been drinking together. They left with money, beer and 3
weapons, including a .38-caliber revolver used to kill the Denneys.
The fugitives found the Denneys' rented farmhouse as the van was running
out of gas.
Denney, 62, came out of his house as the three pulled into his driveway.
Knighton forced him into the house at gunpoint and shot Denney once in the
chest, then shot and killed Virginia Denney, 64.
Brittain was convicted of 2 counts of murder and sentenced to life in
prison on each count. Williams was charged with 2 counts of accessory
after the fact and received a 15-year prison sentence on each count.
Last week, the state Pardon and Parole Board voted 4-0 against sparing
Knighton's life. The state attorney general's office argued there was no
way Knighton deserved clemency.
"Who knows how many people he's killed?" said Assistant Attorney General
Robert Whittaker. "We only know of 5. He has hurt enough families."
Knighton becomes the 8th condemned inmate to be put to death this year in
Oklahoma and the 63rd overall since the state resumed executions in 1990.
Oklahoma trails only Texas (304) and Virginia (88) in the number of
executions carried out since the death penalty was re-legalized in America
on July 2, 1976.
Knighton becomes the 35th condemned inmate to be put to death this year in
the USA and the 855th overall since America resumed executions on January
17, 1977.
(sources: Oklahoman and Rick Halperin)
:(
softie
May 27
OKLAHOMA-----execution
Man executed for 1990 double homicide
A man who killed at least 5 people was put to death in McAlester Tuesday
for murdering a Noble County couple in 1990.
Robert Knighton, 62, was pronounced dead at 6:32 p.m., shortly after the
fatal drug injection began.
Knighton shot and killed Richard and Virginia Denney at their farm near
Tonkawa on Jan. 8, 1990, during a 3-day crime spree that began with the
murders and robbery of 2 men in Clinton, Mo.
He and 2 co-defendants came away from the Denney residence with $61 and a
beat-up pickup truck.
Among the witnesses on Knighton's behalf was Sue Norton of Arkansas City,
Kan., the adopted daughter of Richard Denney. Norton forgave and
befriended Knighton during his trial had been in McAlester since last week
to spend time with him before his death.
"This is the 1st time in his life that he feels like he's doing something
right," Norton said the day before the execution. "It took him this to
realize he spent over 50 of his years living totally against God."
Norton's sister, Maudie Nichols of Oxford, Kan., also planned to attend.
Denney's biological daughter, Nichols forgave Knighton at his clemency
hearing last week but has said he should pay for the murders with his
life.
"I think anybody that does any kind of crime should have to stand
accountable for what they do," she said. "I don't make the laws."
Knighton served 17 years in a Missouri prison for manslaughter, kidnapping
and robbery before going to a halfway house in Kansas City, Mo., where he
befriended Lawrence Brittain, a teenager on probation for auto theft.
They escaped and the 2, along with Knighton's girlfriend Ruth Renee
Williams, stole a van in Kansas City and drove to Clinton, Mo., where
Knighton shot Frankie T. Merrifield and his stepson, Roy E. Donahue, after
the group had been drinking together. They left with money, beer and 3
weapons, including a .38-caliber revolver used to kill the Denneys.
The fugitives found the Denneys' rented farmhouse as the van was running
out of gas.
Denney, 62, came out of his house as the three pulled into his driveway.
Knighton forced him into the house at gunpoint and shot Denney once in the
chest, then shot and killed Virginia Denney, 64.
Brittain was convicted of 2 counts of murder and sentenced to life in
prison on each count. Williams was charged with 2 counts of accessory
after the fact and received a 15-year prison sentence on each count.
Last week, the state Pardon and Parole Board voted 4-0 against sparing
Knighton's life. The state attorney general's office argued there was no
way Knighton deserved clemency.
"Who knows how many people he's killed?" said Assistant Attorney General
Robert Whittaker. "We only know of 5. He has hurt enough families."
Knighton becomes the 8th condemned inmate to be put to death this year in
Oklahoma and the 63rd overall since the state resumed executions in 1990.
Oklahoma trails only Texas (304) and Virginia (88) in the number of
executions carried out since the death penalty was re-legalized in America
on July 2, 1976.
Knighton becomes the 35th condemned inmate to be put to death this year in
the USA and the 855th overall since America resumed executions on January
17, 1977.
(sources: Oklahoman and Rick Halperin)