sherri13
07-22-2002, 11:16 AM
July 18, 2002
'I'm guilty ... I shot the guy ... I'm sorry'
PARCHMAN — It took 15 years for Tracy Alan Hansen to run out of legal appeals
but only about 10 minutes for him to be put to death Wednesday.Fifteen years
after he killed state Trooper David Bruce Ladner by pumping one bullet in his
shoulder and another in his back, Hansen paid with his life by lethal
injection at the State Penitentiary at Parchman."I don't mind dying if it
gives you closure," Hansen said to the Ladner family before the drugs were
pumped into the IVs in his arms.State Pathologist Steven Hayne pronounced
Hansen dead at 6:32 p.m., about 10 minutes after the lethal injection began,
state Department of Corrections officials and media witnesses said.Media
witnesses said Hansen gave a rambling speech before he was put to death.
Witnesses said prison officials finally removed the microphone, beginning the
lethal injection process even as he continued speaking." 'I'm guilty. I shot
the guy. I panicked. I was running from the law. I shouldn't have had a gun,'
" witnesses quoted Hansen as saying. " 'I didn't want to kill him.' "He
apologized to the Ladner family, saying: "I'm sorry, but I know sorry doesn't
mean much to some people," adding he hoped Ladner's family would now be able
put the tragedy behind them.The execution appeared painless, with Hansen
exhaling once and closing his eyes, the eight media witnesses said."Justice
was done," Herman Cox, a Gulfport attorney who acted as spokesman for the
Ladner family, said after the execution. Ladner's brother, Kirk, and the
slain trooper's two sons witnessed the execution, as did Cox.Cox, who
prosecuted Hansen as an assistant Harrison County district attorney in 1987,
said Hansen died painlessly.That wasn't the case for Ladner, who died 36
hours after being shot in the back with Hansen's second bullet, he said. "May
God have mercy on Tracy Hansen," Cox said.Hansen and his girlfriend Anita
Krecic were wanted in Florida at the time for a string of robberies
stretching from Fort Lauderdale to Gainesville. Convicted of capital murder,
Krecic is serving a life sentence at the Central Mississippi Correctional
Facility in Rankin County.Sixty Ladner family members, friends and law
enforcement officers arrived by chartered bus from Gulfport at the
penitentiary at 3:40 p.m. The bus was escorted by Mississippi Highway Patrol
vehicles.Tracy Alan Hansen's body will be cremated by the American Cremation
Society of Memphis.Hansen was talkative and appeared anxious Wednesday before
his execution, MDOC spokeswoman Jennifer Griffin said. She said Hansen also
mailed 23 letters, but her staff doesn't know who they went to.
Hansen's last meal consisted of broiled lobster, shrimp, scallops and crab
meat served with clarified butter and cocktail sauce. He also had fried fish
fillet and oysters with tartar sauce, a Pepsi and chocolate morsels.Hansen's
attorneys, Charles Press and Debra Sabah, who witnessed the execution, said
their client was "remorseful and wishes the best for the Ladner
family."Hansen requested that none of his family witness his execution, but
the condemned inmate made calls Wednesday to his father Lawrence Hansen of
Orlando, Fla. Efforts by The Clarion-Ledger to reach Hansen's family,
including his father, were unsuccessful Wednesday.Other calls Hansen made
Wednesday were to longtime friend Rhea Abbott of Aberdeen, Wash., who
operates a prison ministry and lost a son and daughter-in-law to a violent
crime.Abbott said Hansen should have been punished, but not put to death.
"There were extenuating circumstances, and he has shown nothing but
remorse."Numerous Hansen supporters, many from foreign countries, sent
letters to Gov. Ronnie Musgrove asking him to grant clemency. Musgrove
refused.In a statement after the execution, the governor said: "There are too
many other death penalty cases still awaiting some type of resolution.
Fifteen years is too long for the families of the victims and the state of
Mississippi to wait for justice to be served."Attorney General Mike Moore,
who witnessed the execution, said he hopes it will bring some closure for the
Ladner family.Moore said he gave the OK for the execution after his office
checked as late as 5:55 p.m. Wednesday to make sure no stays had been
granted.A small group of protesters gathered about 90 minutes before Hansen's
execution at the gates of the penitentiary. A smaller group of supporters of
victims stood nearby.
'I'm guilty ... I shot the guy ... I'm sorry'
PARCHMAN — It took 15 years for Tracy Alan Hansen to run out of legal appeals
but only about 10 minutes for him to be put to death Wednesday.Fifteen years
after he killed state Trooper David Bruce Ladner by pumping one bullet in his
shoulder and another in his back, Hansen paid with his life by lethal
injection at the State Penitentiary at Parchman."I don't mind dying if it
gives you closure," Hansen said to the Ladner family before the drugs were
pumped into the IVs in his arms.State Pathologist Steven Hayne pronounced
Hansen dead at 6:32 p.m., about 10 minutes after the lethal injection began,
state Department of Corrections officials and media witnesses said.Media
witnesses said Hansen gave a rambling speech before he was put to death.
Witnesses said prison officials finally removed the microphone, beginning the
lethal injection process even as he continued speaking." 'I'm guilty. I shot
the guy. I panicked. I was running from the law. I shouldn't have had a gun,'
" witnesses quoted Hansen as saying. " 'I didn't want to kill him.' "He
apologized to the Ladner family, saying: "I'm sorry, but I know sorry doesn't
mean much to some people," adding he hoped Ladner's family would now be able
put the tragedy behind them.The execution appeared painless, with Hansen
exhaling once and closing his eyes, the eight media witnesses said."Justice
was done," Herman Cox, a Gulfport attorney who acted as spokesman for the
Ladner family, said after the execution. Ladner's brother, Kirk, and the
slain trooper's two sons witnessed the execution, as did Cox.Cox, who
prosecuted Hansen as an assistant Harrison County district attorney in 1987,
said Hansen died painlessly.That wasn't the case for Ladner, who died 36
hours after being shot in the back with Hansen's second bullet, he said. "May
God have mercy on Tracy Hansen," Cox said.Hansen and his girlfriend Anita
Krecic were wanted in Florida at the time for a string of robberies
stretching from Fort Lauderdale to Gainesville. Convicted of capital murder,
Krecic is serving a life sentence at the Central Mississippi Correctional
Facility in Rankin County.Sixty Ladner family members, friends and law
enforcement officers arrived by chartered bus from Gulfport at the
penitentiary at 3:40 p.m. The bus was escorted by Mississippi Highway Patrol
vehicles.Tracy Alan Hansen's body will be cremated by the American Cremation
Society of Memphis.Hansen was talkative and appeared anxious Wednesday before
his execution, MDOC spokeswoman Jennifer Griffin said. She said Hansen also
mailed 23 letters, but her staff doesn't know who they went to.
Hansen's last meal consisted of broiled lobster, shrimp, scallops and crab
meat served with clarified butter and cocktail sauce. He also had fried fish
fillet and oysters with tartar sauce, a Pepsi and chocolate morsels.Hansen's
attorneys, Charles Press and Debra Sabah, who witnessed the execution, said
their client was "remorseful and wishes the best for the Ladner
family."Hansen requested that none of his family witness his execution, but
the condemned inmate made calls Wednesday to his father Lawrence Hansen of
Orlando, Fla. Efforts by The Clarion-Ledger to reach Hansen's family,
including his father, were unsuccessful Wednesday.Other calls Hansen made
Wednesday were to longtime friend Rhea Abbott of Aberdeen, Wash., who
operates a prison ministry and lost a son and daughter-in-law to a violent
crime.Abbott said Hansen should have been punished, but not put to death.
"There were extenuating circumstances, and he has shown nothing but
remorse."Numerous Hansen supporters, many from foreign countries, sent
letters to Gov. Ronnie Musgrove asking him to grant clemency. Musgrove
refused.In a statement after the execution, the governor said: "There are too
many other death penalty cases still awaiting some type of resolution.
Fifteen years is too long for the families of the victims and the state of
Mississippi to wait for justice to be served."Attorney General Mike Moore,
who witnessed the execution, said he hopes it will bring some closure for the
Ladner family.Moore said he gave the OK for the execution after his office
checked as late as 5:55 p.m. Wednesday to make sure no stays had been
granted.A small group of protesters gathered about 90 minutes before Hansen's
execution at the gates of the penitentiary. A smaller group of supporters of
victims stood nearby.