softheart
02-17-2004, 11:49 PM
Feb. 17
OKLAHOMA----execution
Tulsa killer Cleary executed by state
In McAlester Norman Richard Cleary was put to death Tuesday for the 1991
shooting death of a Tulsa housekeeper.
Cleary was pronounced dead at 6:14 p.m., said Jerry Massie, spokesman for
the Oklahoma Department of Corrections.
Cleary, 38, was convicted in 1993 for the murder of Wanda Neafus, 44, who
worked as a housekeeper at a Tulsa home Cleary and an accomplice were
trying to burglarize.
On Dec. 6, 1991, Cleary and Kenneth Chandler knocked on the doors of
several homes in the upper-class Maple Ridge neighborhood in Tulsa before
ending up at the home of Richard Schafer, where Neafus was working.
The 2 men had intended to simply rob the house, according to court
testimony, but a gun fell out of Chandler's coat and the situation quickly
changed.
Cleary led Neafus around the house at gunpoint and finally shot her when
she didn't have the combination to a basement safe, authorities have said.
Neafus was found slumped over in a chair. She had been shot 5 times in the
face, head and neck.
Neafus' purse and a cane that had been purchased at the Smithsonian
Institution were the only items homeowners determined had been stolen.
Prosecutors claimed Cleary acted so Neafus could not identify him to
police.
Public defenders had argued that Cleary was unable to make quick decisions
properly because of childhood abuse and an accident in which he was hit by
a car.
They claimed he should be given clemency because his trial attorney failed
to present that evidence.
Cleary becomes the 2nd condemned inmate to be put to death this year in
Oklahoma, and the 71st overall since the state resumed capital punishment
in 1990. Tyrone Peter Darks was put to death last month for the 1994
shooting death of his ex-wife, Sherry Goodlow. Hung Thanh Le is scheduled
to die Feb. 26 and a March 9 execution is scheduled for David Jay Brown.
Cleary becomes the 13th condemned inmate to be put to death this year in
the USA and the 898th overall since America resumed executions on January
17, 1977.
(sources: Associated Press & Rick Halperin)
OKLAHOMA----execution
Tulsa killer Cleary executed by state
In McAlester Norman Richard Cleary was put to death Tuesday for the 1991
shooting death of a Tulsa housekeeper.
Cleary was pronounced dead at 6:14 p.m., said Jerry Massie, spokesman for
the Oklahoma Department of Corrections.
Cleary, 38, was convicted in 1993 for the murder of Wanda Neafus, 44, who
worked as a housekeeper at a Tulsa home Cleary and an accomplice were
trying to burglarize.
On Dec. 6, 1991, Cleary and Kenneth Chandler knocked on the doors of
several homes in the upper-class Maple Ridge neighborhood in Tulsa before
ending up at the home of Richard Schafer, where Neafus was working.
The 2 men had intended to simply rob the house, according to court
testimony, but a gun fell out of Chandler's coat and the situation quickly
changed.
Cleary led Neafus around the house at gunpoint and finally shot her when
she didn't have the combination to a basement safe, authorities have said.
Neafus was found slumped over in a chair. She had been shot 5 times in the
face, head and neck.
Neafus' purse and a cane that had been purchased at the Smithsonian
Institution were the only items homeowners determined had been stolen.
Prosecutors claimed Cleary acted so Neafus could not identify him to
police.
Public defenders had argued that Cleary was unable to make quick decisions
properly because of childhood abuse and an accident in which he was hit by
a car.
They claimed he should be given clemency because his trial attorney failed
to present that evidence.
Cleary becomes the 2nd condemned inmate to be put to death this year in
Oklahoma, and the 71st overall since the state resumed capital punishment
in 1990. Tyrone Peter Darks was put to death last month for the 1994
shooting death of his ex-wife, Sherry Goodlow. Hung Thanh Le is scheduled
to die Feb. 26 and a March 9 execution is scheduled for David Jay Brown.
Cleary becomes the 13th condemned inmate to be put to death this year in
the USA and the 898th overall since America resumed executions on January
17, 1977.
(sources: Associated Press & Rick Halperin)