MommaHen
07-01-2003, 06:59 PM
Gilbert executed
2003-07-01
By The Associated Press
McALESTER, Okla. - An Ohio man was executed Tuesday for killing a security guard during a deadly multistate crime spree.
Lewis Eugene Gilbert was pronounced dead at 7:11 p.m. after receiving a lethal mix of drugs at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary.
Gilbert, of Newcomerstown, Ohio, had also been sentenced to death in Missouri for killing William and Flossie Brewer, and had confessed to killing Ruth Lucille Loader in Ohio, authorities said.
Ruddell's husband, Eddie Ruddell, said before the execution that he is still too upset to visit her grave. The death penalty was the only appropriate punishment for Gilbert, he said.
"I think it'll bring closure to the whole thing and Roxy will finally get the justice that she deserves," he said. "She was a warm, caring person, loved everybody, did anything for anyone that asked."
Ruddell said the crime has had a lasting impact.
"It destroyed lives," he said. "It totally just destroyed lives."
Prosecutors in Gilbert's Oklahoma trial said he and Eric Elliot started the spree in Ohio, where they approached Loader's home.
Gilbert and Elliot kicked in the back door and tied Loader up. They stole $40 and her car, then put her in the trunk, authorities said. They took her to the woods, where they shot her in the head three times. Her remains haven't been found.
Gilbert and Elliot then drove Loader's car to Missouri, where they approached the Brewers' home. They knocked on the door and asked to use the telephone.
They held the Brewers at gunpoint, marched them into the cellar and shot each of them in the head three times, authorities said.
Ruddell and had gone fishing after her shift as a security guard at Lake Stanley Draper when Gilbert and Elliot approached her, intending to steal her pickup.
They took her to a nearby wooded area and forced her to sit under a tree as they rummaged through her purse, took her keys and stole $2 or $3.
Ruddell told the pair she wouldn't call police if they didn't hurt her, but Gilbert reportedly thought she was lying and grew angry, authorities said.
Elliot tied Ruddell's hands and Gilbert shot her three times in the head and once in the back of the neck.
Gilbert and Elliot were arrested in New Mexico, where they admitted to Ruddell's killing and confessed to the murders of Loader and the Brewers.
Elliot is serving a sentence of life in prison without parole.
Gilbert's attorneys in Missouri worked until the last minute Tuesday trying to get the execution stayed. The U.S. Supreme Court returned a request for a stay of execution to a lower court for consideration.
The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals denied the request and it returned to the U.S. Supreme Court, which then rejected it. The execution was delayed for about an hour.
Gilbert's Oklahoma death sentence was base partly on evidence from the Missouri case.
Gilbert is the 148th inmate executed in Oklahoma, and the 10th this year.
For his last meal, Gilbert dined on a half-gallon of vanilla ice cream, a box of assorted cones and a box of Whoppers.
2003-07-01
By The Associated Press
McALESTER, Okla. - An Ohio man was executed Tuesday for killing a security guard during a deadly multistate crime spree.
Lewis Eugene Gilbert was pronounced dead at 7:11 p.m. after receiving a lethal mix of drugs at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary.
Gilbert, of Newcomerstown, Ohio, had also been sentenced to death in Missouri for killing William and Flossie Brewer, and had confessed to killing Ruth Lucille Loader in Ohio, authorities said.
Ruddell's husband, Eddie Ruddell, said before the execution that he is still too upset to visit her grave. The death penalty was the only appropriate punishment for Gilbert, he said.
"I think it'll bring closure to the whole thing and Roxy will finally get the justice that she deserves," he said. "She was a warm, caring person, loved everybody, did anything for anyone that asked."
Ruddell said the crime has had a lasting impact.
"It destroyed lives," he said. "It totally just destroyed lives."
Prosecutors in Gilbert's Oklahoma trial said he and Eric Elliot started the spree in Ohio, where they approached Loader's home.
Gilbert and Elliot kicked in the back door and tied Loader up. They stole $40 and her car, then put her in the trunk, authorities said. They took her to the woods, where they shot her in the head three times. Her remains haven't been found.
Gilbert and Elliot then drove Loader's car to Missouri, where they approached the Brewers' home. They knocked on the door and asked to use the telephone.
They held the Brewers at gunpoint, marched them into the cellar and shot each of them in the head three times, authorities said.
Ruddell and had gone fishing after her shift as a security guard at Lake Stanley Draper when Gilbert and Elliot approached her, intending to steal her pickup.
They took her to a nearby wooded area and forced her to sit under a tree as they rummaged through her purse, took her keys and stole $2 or $3.
Ruddell told the pair she wouldn't call police if they didn't hurt her, but Gilbert reportedly thought she was lying and grew angry, authorities said.
Elliot tied Ruddell's hands and Gilbert shot her three times in the head and once in the back of the neck.
Gilbert and Elliot were arrested in New Mexico, where they admitted to Ruddell's killing and confessed to the murders of Loader and the Brewers.
Elliot is serving a sentence of life in prison without parole.
Gilbert's attorneys in Missouri worked until the last minute Tuesday trying to get the execution stayed. The U.S. Supreme Court returned a request for a stay of execution to a lower court for consideration.
The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals denied the request and it returned to the U.S. Supreme Court, which then rejected it. The execution was delayed for about an hour.
Gilbert's Oklahoma death sentence was base partly on evidence from the Missouri case.
Gilbert is the 148th inmate executed in Oklahoma, and the 10th this year.
For his last meal, Gilbert dined on a half-gallon of vanilla ice cream, a box of assorted cones and a box of Whoppers.