softheart
06-14-2003, 10:55 AM
INDIANA----execution
In Michigan City, prison officials executed Lafayette taxi driver
Joseph
Trueblood early today for the shooting deaths of his ex-girlfriend and
her
2 children.
Trueblood, 46, was moved into a holding cell at the Indiana State
Prison
Thursday night. Shortly after midnight, he was placed on a gurney and
rolled to the white-painted execution chamber, where prison officials
administered a lethal dose of drugs via intravenous feeds in each arm.
Prison officials pronounced Trueblood dead at 12:24 a.m.
The U.S. Supreme Court denied a stay of execution for Trueblood about 8
p.m. Thursday. The court had refused without comment to reconsider the
case earlier this week, and Gov. Frank O'Bannon on Wednesday rejected
his
clemency request.
Earlier this week, Trueblood told reporters he did not intend to
cooperate
with authorities in his death. He rejected the traditional last meal
and
said he did not want his body to be autopsied.
A LaPorte Superior Court judge on Thursday issued a temporary
restraining
order preventing an autopsy by the state Department of Correction
following Trueblood's execution.
Don Pagos, a Michigan City attorney representing Trueblood, argued
there
was no point in an autopsy since the cause of death would be known. A
final ruling was expected Friday.
Trueblood said he did not want any of his family members to witness his
execution. His witnesses were to be his 3 appeals lawyers and the Rev.
Thomas McNally, a Roman Catholic priest.
McNally and family members were among Trueblood's visitors during his
last
full day on death row.
Another visitor was Katie Pawski of Chicago, a 25-year-old University
of
Notre Dame graduate who addressed about 20 anti-death penalty
protesters
outside the prison gates Thursday night.
"He's a human being with humanity and compassion," said Pawski, who met
Trueblood while doing prison outreach while attending Notre Dame.
"Nobody deserves to die. Killing creates more victims," she said.
Trueblood, 46, was condemned for the 1988 murders of Susan Bowsher of
Lafayette and her children, 2-year-old Ashelyn Hughes and 1-year-old
William E. Bowsher. Prosecutors said he shot the woman and children to
death after learning that she intended to return to her ex-husband.
Trueblood said the deaths resulted from a suicide attempt by Susan
Bowsher.
Trueblood told the parole board last month that he, Bowsher and her
children were driving on a rural road outside Lafayette when she pulled
out a handgun and shot Ashelyn. He described Bowsher as suicidal.
He said he tried to wrestle the gun from Bowsher with one hand as he
drove
with the other. The gun went off twice more, with the 2nd shot hitting
William in the head. He said Bowsher then shot herself twice and that
she
was wounded so badly he fatally shot her in an act of mercy.
The parole board chairman, however, called Trueblood's account "wholly
improbable." Relatives and friends of Bowsher have called his story a
lie
and have asked for the execution to be carried out.
Trueblood becomes the 2nd condemned inmate to be put to death in
Indiana
this year and the 11th person overall since the state resumed capital
punishment in 1981 after 20 years without any. Kevin Hough was executed
May 2 for the 1985 murders of 2 men in Fort Wayne.
Trueblood becomes the 38th condemned inmate to be put to death this
year
in the USA and the 858th overall since America resumed executions on
January 17, 1977.
(source: Associated Press
In Michigan City, prison officials executed Lafayette taxi driver
Joseph
Trueblood early today for the shooting deaths of his ex-girlfriend and
her
2 children.
Trueblood, 46, was moved into a holding cell at the Indiana State
Prison
Thursday night. Shortly after midnight, he was placed on a gurney and
rolled to the white-painted execution chamber, where prison officials
administered a lethal dose of drugs via intravenous feeds in each arm.
Prison officials pronounced Trueblood dead at 12:24 a.m.
The U.S. Supreme Court denied a stay of execution for Trueblood about 8
p.m. Thursday. The court had refused without comment to reconsider the
case earlier this week, and Gov. Frank O'Bannon on Wednesday rejected
his
clemency request.
Earlier this week, Trueblood told reporters he did not intend to
cooperate
with authorities in his death. He rejected the traditional last meal
and
said he did not want his body to be autopsied.
A LaPorte Superior Court judge on Thursday issued a temporary
restraining
order preventing an autopsy by the state Department of Correction
following Trueblood's execution.
Don Pagos, a Michigan City attorney representing Trueblood, argued
there
was no point in an autopsy since the cause of death would be known. A
final ruling was expected Friday.
Trueblood said he did not want any of his family members to witness his
execution. His witnesses were to be his 3 appeals lawyers and the Rev.
Thomas McNally, a Roman Catholic priest.
McNally and family members were among Trueblood's visitors during his
last
full day on death row.
Another visitor was Katie Pawski of Chicago, a 25-year-old University
of
Notre Dame graduate who addressed about 20 anti-death penalty
protesters
outside the prison gates Thursday night.
"He's a human being with humanity and compassion," said Pawski, who met
Trueblood while doing prison outreach while attending Notre Dame.
"Nobody deserves to die. Killing creates more victims," she said.
Trueblood, 46, was condemned for the 1988 murders of Susan Bowsher of
Lafayette and her children, 2-year-old Ashelyn Hughes and 1-year-old
William E. Bowsher. Prosecutors said he shot the woman and children to
death after learning that she intended to return to her ex-husband.
Trueblood said the deaths resulted from a suicide attempt by Susan
Bowsher.
Trueblood told the parole board last month that he, Bowsher and her
children were driving on a rural road outside Lafayette when she pulled
out a handgun and shot Ashelyn. He described Bowsher as suicidal.
He said he tried to wrestle the gun from Bowsher with one hand as he
drove
with the other. The gun went off twice more, with the 2nd shot hitting
William in the head. He said Bowsher then shot herself twice and that
she
was wounded so badly he fatally shot her in an act of mercy.
The parole board chairman, however, called Trueblood's account "wholly
improbable." Relatives and friends of Bowsher have called his story a
lie
and have asked for the execution to be carried out.
Trueblood becomes the 2nd condemned inmate to be put to death in
Indiana
this year and the 11th person overall since the state resumed capital
punishment in 1981 after 20 years without any. Kevin Hough was executed
May 2 for the 1985 murders of 2 men in Fort Wayne.
Trueblood becomes the 38th condemned inmate to be put to death this
year
in the USA and the 858th overall since America resumed executions on
January 17, 1977.
(source: Associated Press