softheart
07-09-2003, 08:25 AM
July 8
OKLAHOMA---execution
Oklahoma City killer put to death
In McAlester, a man who beat an Oklahoma City resident to death with an
ashtray stand and fireplace poker died for the crime Tuesday in Oklahoma's
death chamber.
Robert Don Duckett, 39, received a heart-stopping injection and was
pronounced dead at 6:16 p.m.
He had not tried to stay his execution at the last minute, having already
exhausted his appeals.
Duckett was a 24-year-old prison escapee in October 1988 when he killed
John E. Howard, 53, with whom he briefly shared an apartment. Howard's
severely beaten body was found in the apartment with his hands and feet
bound with wire.
Prosecutors said Howard was killed because he wanted Duckett to move out.
The defense alleged that Howard made a homosexual pass at Duckett, who
suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder after a prison rape.
Duckett was serving time for a 1983 robbery and beating when he escaped
from prison in 1987. Prosecutors also presented evidence that he had
beaten and robbed an 85-year-old man in 1982.
Howard's brother, Tom, said Howard had recently returned from New York to
help him with his Oklahoma City convenience store business. John Howard
had given Duckett a job working in one of the stores.
Mark Howard said his father was known for taking people in and helping
them out.
Both men planned to witness the execution.
"It means the man who took my father's life will not be allowed to have
that opportunity anywhere else, with anyone else," Mark Howard said.
Duckett spent his final hours visiting with his parents. He was served his
requested last meal of a small pizza, a chili cheese coney, a half-gallon
of cookie-dough ice cream and a vanilla Coke.
An appeals court last year refused to overturn Duckett's death sentence
despite condemning retired Oklahoma County District Attorney Bob Macy's
handling of the case.
"Macy's persistent misconduct, though it has not legally harmed the
defendant in the present case, has without doubt harmed the reputation of
Oklahoma's criminal justice system and left the unenviable legacy of an
indelibly tarnished legal career," 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
judges wrote.
Duckett becomes the 11th condemned inmate to be put to death this year in
Oklahoma and the 66th overall since the state resumed capital punishment
in 1990. Oklahoma trails only Texas (306) and Virginia (88) in the number
of executions since the United States Supreme Court re-legalized the death
penalty on July 2, 1976.
Duckett becomes the 42nd condemned inmate to be put to death this year in
the USA and the 862nd overall since America resumed executions on January
17, 1977.
(source: Associated Press)
OKLAHOMA---execution
Oklahoma City killer put to death
In McAlester, a man who beat an Oklahoma City resident to death with an
ashtray stand and fireplace poker died for the crime Tuesday in Oklahoma's
death chamber.
Robert Don Duckett, 39, received a heart-stopping injection and was
pronounced dead at 6:16 p.m.
He had not tried to stay his execution at the last minute, having already
exhausted his appeals.
Duckett was a 24-year-old prison escapee in October 1988 when he killed
John E. Howard, 53, with whom he briefly shared an apartment. Howard's
severely beaten body was found in the apartment with his hands and feet
bound with wire.
Prosecutors said Howard was killed because he wanted Duckett to move out.
The defense alleged that Howard made a homosexual pass at Duckett, who
suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder after a prison rape.
Duckett was serving time for a 1983 robbery and beating when he escaped
from prison in 1987. Prosecutors also presented evidence that he had
beaten and robbed an 85-year-old man in 1982.
Howard's brother, Tom, said Howard had recently returned from New York to
help him with his Oklahoma City convenience store business. John Howard
had given Duckett a job working in one of the stores.
Mark Howard said his father was known for taking people in and helping
them out.
Both men planned to witness the execution.
"It means the man who took my father's life will not be allowed to have
that opportunity anywhere else, with anyone else," Mark Howard said.
Duckett spent his final hours visiting with his parents. He was served his
requested last meal of a small pizza, a chili cheese coney, a half-gallon
of cookie-dough ice cream and a vanilla Coke.
An appeals court last year refused to overturn Duckett's death sentence
despite condemning retired Oklahoma County District Attorney Bob Macy's
handling of the case.
"Macy's persistent misconduct, though it has not legally harmed the
defendant in the present case, has without doubt harmed the reputation of
Oklahoma's criminal justice system and left the unenviable legacy of an
indelibly tarnished legal career," 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
judges wrote.
Duckett becomes the 11th condemned inmate to be put to death this year in
Oklahoma and the 66th overall since the state resumed capital punishment
in 1990. Oklahoma trails only Texas (306) and Virginia (88) in the number
of executions since the United States Supreme Court re-legalized the death
penalty on July 2, 1976.
Duckett becomes the 42nd condemned inmate to be put to death this year in
the USA and the 862nd overall since America resumed executions on January
17, 1977.
(source: Associated Press)