Execution fails to unite family

Relatives of a killer's victims remain split over
whether justice was served.

McALESTER -- A family tree splintered by the death
penalty was put on display Tuesday at the execution of
a double-murderer from Missouri.

"Me, I'm happy," said Maggie Lange of Enid, the oldest
daughter of Virginia Denney, one of killer Robert
Wesley Knighton's victims. "He took my mother's life
while she was drinking a cup of coffee. Is that a way
to die? I don't think so."

Asked if justice was served by Knighton's execution,
Lange didn't hesitate.

"You betcha. You betcha," she said. "He got 13 more
years than they did."

Knighton was put to death for the Jan. 8, 1990,
slayings of Virginia Denney, 64, and her husband,
Richard Denney, 62, at their Noble County farmhouse.

Lethal drugs were injected in to Knighton at 6:25
p.m., and he was pronounced dead seven minutes later.

The adopted daughter of Richard Denney, Sue Norton,
witnessed the execution in a separate viewing room
from other relatives of the victims.

"He just went to heaven," Norton said shortly after
Knighton seemed to take his last breath. "And we all
just became murderers."

Knighton, 62, turned toward Norton before receiving
the lethal injection, thanked his attorneys and told
Norton he was "really sorry for everything I've done."


"I'll see you again someday. God bless you."

Norton gave him the thumbs-up sign. As the toxic drugs
flowed into his bloodstream, Knighton's chest rattled
dozens of times before his face turned red and his
body went limp.

Norton forgave Knighton for the killings 12 years ago,
and the pair became friends, to the chagrin of
Norton's kin, including Maudie Nichols, Richard
Denney's biological daughter.

"It's been rough not having my dad," Nichols said.
"It's been rough trying to learn to deal with all her
forgiveness.

"I no longer have to wake up to the nightmares I've
had. I'm hoping it gets easier with each day. I'll see
if I sleep tonight."

At her motel Monday night, Nichols mistakenly received
a call from Knighton that was intended for Norton.
Nichols, who briefly spoke to the inmate, said she
forgave him years ago but still doesn't feel like he
is truly sorry for his actions.

"I wasn't willing to take the chance of letting him
stay in the population so he could do it again,"
Nichols said. "I would feel somewhat responsible if I
had let him off the death row."

An inmate who spent roughly 30 years in prison before
the slayings, Knighton had been convicted of
manslaughter, robbery and kidnapping in Missouri.

He walked away from a Kansas City, Mo., halfway house
and met up with Lawrence Brittain, a teenager who was
on probation for auto theft.

The pair, along with co-defendant Ruth Renee Williams,
stole a van in Kansas City and drove to Clinton, Mo.,
where they shot Frankie T. Merrifield and his stepson.


The three made their way to the Denney residence,
where Richard Denney greeted them as they pulled into
his driveway and asked for directions. After they
forced Richard Denney into the house at gunpoint,
Knighton shot him once in the chest as he pleaded for
his life.

Knighton also shot Virginia Denney in the chest.

The Denneys were robbed of $61 and a battered pickup.
After being spotted driving the Denneys' truck,
Knighton, Williams and Brittain were arrested in
Canadian, Texas, later that day.

Brittain was convicted of two counts of murder and
received two life sentences. Williams was charged with
two counts of accessory to murder after the fact and
received two 15-year terms.

(source: Tulsa World)