Latest news with #deathrow
Associated Press
18 hours ago
- General
- Associated Press
New district attorney in California county withdraws from historic death penalty resentencing
Alameda County's new district attorney is rejecting her predecessor's recommendations to resentence people on death row — recommendations triggered by a historic review of systemic prosecutorial misconduct. Records obtained by CalMatters show at least four cases in which District Attorney Ursula Jones Dickson has moved to withdraw resentencing motions filed under Pamela Price, who was recalled from office in November. Price launched the review roughly one year ago, after U.S. District Court Judge Vince Chhabria mandated that her office investigate 35 death penalty cases for prosecutorial misconduct dating back to the 1980s. His order cited 'strong evidence that, in prior decades, prosecutors from the office were engaged in a pattern of serious misconduct, automatically excluding Jewish and African American jurors in death penalty cases.' Price ultimately recommended resentencing 30 people, the majority people of color, after finding that their constitutional rights had been violated. Of those, 20 people have had their day in court and were resentenced to terms less than death under Alameda County Superior Court Judge Thomas Stevens. But that effort came to a halt when Price was ousted. Her resentencing team was disbanded, according to court records and interviews with former staffers. And the 10 resentencing recommendations awaiting a ruling were reassigned to Alameda County Superior Court Judge Armando Pastran, a former prosecutor. The Alameda County Board of Supervisors appointed Jones Dickson, a former judge, to her post in February. Her office began filing motions to withdraw recommendations less than two months later, contending that Price and her team made flawed legal arguments and failed to sufficiently contact victims and their family members. The 'motion is based on a substantive reevaluation of the facts of the case, legal analysis…consideration of petitioner's prior crimes, and new information about the victims' wishes,' wrote deputy district attorney Emily Tienken in one of the filings. The decision to reverse course signals one of the first major policy changes the office has adopted since Price's departure. 'It's absolutely disgraceful,' said Michael Collins, senior director at Color of Change, a racial justice organization that called on the Attorney General's Office to support Price's review and launch its own investigation. 'It's scandalous that this has happened and now they're trying to bury the cases. The people whose lives were destroyed — the people who were given unconstitutional trials are not getting any indemnification.' In an interview with CalMatters, Price said her office was looking to achieve justice and it was not driven by politics. 'It was very disturbing,' said Price. 'If this is the practice and you're doing it in these types of cases, what's to say you're not doing it in other types of cases as well? So our concern was that we had a huge task ahead of us.' The Alameda County District Attorney's Office did not respond to requests for an interview for this story. At a press conference marking her first 100 days in office, Jones Dickson on Thursday did not directly answer a question about her stance on the death penalty cases. 'I don't have a plan to specifically review any death penalty cases that are pending,' she said. 'We are already in the midst of doing that. It looks like the prior administration started that process and so there are cases that are still pending that we're reviewing and evaluating and filing motions on and doing the things that lawyers do. But I don't have a policy at this point regarding choosing cases to pull for resentencing.' Jonathan Raven, an executive at the California District Attorneys Association, said not every district attorney is going to agree on a specific case. 'Any district attorney is always going to review policies and practices, and review the decisions of the prior district attorney, which I think is what the voters would want – or certainly, the board of supervisors,' he said. Disparities in death penalty sentences Decades of research has documented racial bias in the application of the death penalty. In a brief submitted to the California Supreme Court challenging the administration of the state's death penalty scheme, legal advocacy organizations wrote that Black and Latino defendants are roughly six to nine times more likely to be sentenced to death than all other defendants. Gov. Gavin Newsom cited that legacy when he suspended the death penalty in California six years ago. But voters have consistently upheld the death penalty as a policy, and almost 600 people incarcerated in state prisons have been sentenced to death. Allegations of racially discriminatory jury selection practices in Alameda County were first raised in 2005 by a former prosecutor in a sworn declaration. Roughly 20 years later, Price announced that her office had uncovered evidence of those violations. Jury selection notes disclosed by Price's office revealed that past Alameda County prosecutors had been illegally tracking and striking potential jurors on the basis of race and religion for decades. In one instance, prosecutors described a prospective Black female juror as a 'Short, Fat, Troll.' Prosecutors wrote of another prospective juror, 'I liked him better than any other Jew but no way.' Those findings served as the basis for Judge Chhabria's order and quickly became priority for Price's team, which had already been resentencing many other types of cases. According to Price and former staffers, the office assembled a team of victim witness advocates who contacted all of the survivors they were able to identify. Appeal reached California Supreme Court The team spent months reviewing cases, including the conviction of Grayland Winbush. Winbush, a Black man, was sentenced to death in 2003 following the murder of Erika Beeson during a robbery. He was 19 at the time of the crime. In court filings, attorneys for Winbush argued that his constitutional rights were violated when prosecutors removed all Black prospective jurors and relied on racial stereotypes to characterize him as a superpredator. In January, Price's office recommended that he be resentenced to 30 years to life, acknowledging that his case had 'become a reference point in discussions of jury selection misconduct.' In return, Winbush agreed that he would no longer continue appealing his sentence. But roughly three months later, Jones Dickson withdrew the original recommendation 'based on carefully considered victim impact and up-to-date legal analysis.' Attorneys for Winbush held that the office has no factual or legal ground to revoke its recommendation, maintaining that 'withdrawing a recommendation on a whim or based on 'a change in the political winds'' is not valid. The motion 'perpetuates, rather than confronts and remedies, the widespread race-based misconduct that led a federal judge to direct the office to review its death penalty cases,' wrote appellate defense attorney Rebecca Jones. 'The original resentencing petition filed by the (Alameda County District Attorney's Office) is a piece of its attempt to redress systemic bias reflected by the jury selection in Mr. Winbush's case.' Alameda County Superior Court Judge Pastran will decide whether to grant Jones Dickson's revocation of Winbush's resentencing recommendation in the months ahead. In another case, Jones Dickson is pulling the resentencing recommendation for Giles Albert Nadey, who was convicted and sentenced to death in 2000 for murdering a young woman. The case came up for argument in the California Supreme Court last year, around the same time that Price's office had surfaced evidence of prosecutorial misconduct, but did not consider that evidence and ultimately upheld the death sentence. In a divided opinion, the court looked at a prosecutor's decision to dismiss five of six Black women from Nadey's jury pool and determined the deputy district attorney had valid reasons to strike them, such as his perceptions of their political leanings. 'We conclude in each instance the prosecutor's reasons were inherently plausible and supported,' the court ruled in a 5-2 decision, citing evidence from jury questionnaires and the prosecutor's questioning of the stricken jurors. In a dissent, Justice Goodwin Liu referred to the federal court ruling that directed Price to review death penalty cases. The 'decision is particularly jarring given what has come to light in federal court regarding capital jury selection in Alameda County around the time that Nadey was tried,' Liu wrote. ___ This story was originally published by CalMatters and distributed through a partnership with The Associated Press.
Daily Mail
3 days ago
- General
- Daily Mail
Fans of 'Deadpool' killer Wade Wilson make desperate plea as convicted killer is 'driven to the brink' in prison
Deadpool killer Wade Wilson whined about being 'driven to the brink' in prison as two fellow death-row murderers - including his former cellmate - have repeatedly threatened his life behind bars. The 30-year-old double murderer, who was sent to death row over the gruesome 2019 slayings of Kristine Melton, 35, and Diane Ruiz, 43, has a loyal fanbase desperately trying to rescue him. Dubbed the 'Deadpool Killer' as he shares a name with the Marvel character, Wilson embarked on his hours-long crime spree in Cape Coral simply 'for the sake of killing.' His supporters - some of whom have called themselves the 'Wade Wilson Wives' - write him letters and advocate his innocence despite having never met the killer. On Wednesday it emerged that Wilson had complained to one of these women, who runs an online community in support of him, about how unsafe he feels behind bars. 'Threats... coupled with isolation, has driven him to the brink,' she wrote. The woman issued an urgent plea to correctional facilities, naming two other inmates - Daniel Craven and Peter Avsenew - as direct threats to Wilson's safety. Craven is on death row after he murdered his cell mate with the intention of starting a race riot in prison. He repeatedly stabbed the man with a makeshift shank. On Wednesday it emerged that Wilson had complained to one of these women, who runs an online community in support of him, about how unsafe he feels behind bars Craven was already serving a life sentence for the murder of his lover's husband, handcuffing him and drowning him in a dog bowl. And Avsenew was convicted of a brutal 2010 double murder in which he beat two men beyond recognition and shot them several times, before sealing their car and credit cards and going on a shopping spree. According to prison documentation seen by a review of the duo's conduct was completed and authorities determined there was 'no confirmed threat' which would require Wilson to receive additional protection inside the prison. The woman who raised the initial complaint argued in her response to the prison that 'the systemic issues of violence and the dismissal of inmates' complaints have plagued Florida's correctional facilities for decades. 'We are witnessing how the system deliberately allows inmates to be eliminated by the hands of others, creating conditions where survival is nearly impossible.' Wilson's terror behind bars comes shortly after revelations of his lengthy disciplinary record since arriving on death row. According to a 163-page disciplinary report, Wilson has repeatedly broken prison rules to wind up in confinement, barred from visitors and access to the outside world. He allegedly tried to smuggle out an autographed, handmade drawing to a woman he referred to only as 'Sweet Cheeks', with instructions to auction it off to the highest bidder. 'Due to my fame and the rarity of my signed work, this should sell quick and rake in the $,' he wrote. And Avsenew was convicted of a brutal 2010 double murder in which he beat two men beyond recognition and shot them several times, before sealing their car and credit cards and going on a shopping spree Pictures of 'Deadpool Killer' Wade Wilson reveal he has had a dramatic transformation behind bars as he languishes on death row previously revealed Wilson was being held in 'disciplinary confinement' inside Union Correctional Institution after he was transferred from Lee County. As per his disciplinary confinement, he's currently not eligible for regular guests or visitation rights. This has also been a point of contention among his loyal followers, who have bombarded the prison with complaints he is being treated unfairly. These women have turned the other cheek to the gruesome manner in which he carried out his crimes. Wilson's crime spree began on the afternoon of October 6, 2019, when he met Melton at a live music bar and went home with her. Wilson strangled her to death inside her home in Cape Coral the next day, where her body was found. The same day, Ruiz was reported missing after she was seen being asked for directions by Wilson while on her walk to work. He was driving a car he stole from Melton's home after he murdered her, which Ruiz got into before she was also strangled to death. The killer was arrested on October 8 2019 In testimony from Wilson's father, it was said that he went on to 'run her over until she looked like spaghetti.' Ruiz's body was found three days later in a field behind a Sam's Club. Wilson was also convicted of a number of charges, including the battery of his ex-girlfriend Melissa Montanez, 41, the burglary and theft of two homes, and the grand theft auto of Melton's car. Even still, Wilson's swooning fanbase wrote desperate letters to the judge in his case pleading for his freedom, and have stood by him even through the recent release of unflattering jailhouse photos which prove his appearance is a far cry from before his arrest. A trove of photos taken from the killer's Lee County jail approved tablet show Wilson is missing teeth and has gained weight in custody. The pictures were taken on his tablet, which snaps a picture every time it is accessed to ensure it is only being used by the inmate approved to use it. In one of the photos, Wilson's jaw appears to be out of alignment as he displays his missing and cracked teeth. And in another he wears what appears to be a bandage around his head, with a white bandana in a separate photo. The pictures, which were taken between 2023 and late 2024, show Wilson in a disheveled state and from unflattering angles, documenting a range of hairstyles, from a shaved head to longer curly locks.
The Sun
6 days ago
- The Sun
Inside ‘Indonesia's Alcatraz' surrounded by impenetrable jungle where inmates are forced on death marches and executed
THIS hellish island prison dubbed 'Indonesia's Alcatraz' sees death rows inmates held in "excruciating" conditions before they face jungle death marches and firing squad executions. Nusakambangan Island is home to a number of brutal jails where inmates are left waiting to die in foul overcrowded cells with meagre rations. 21 21 21 21 21 Lawyers who have worked on cases for inmates on the island said the prison island is the source of "numerous human rights violations". Yosua Octavian, who works for the Legal Aid Institute in Indonesia, said all of his clients who have been imprisoned on the infamous island say they "would never want to be there again". And human rights lawyer Ricky Gunawan, who represented a death row inmate on the island all the way up until his execution, told The Sun prisoners only get three days notice before their barbaric execution. He said during these "excruciating" 72 hours, prisoners are kept in isolation cells and only allowed brief contact with their legal team until their demise. Also monikered " execution island", the sprawling prisons are located off the Cilacap coast in central Java. The island stands as a symbol of Indonesia's tough war on drugs. The least horrific conditions for prisoners on the 212-square-kilometres island involve inmates undertaking manual labour. Meanwhile, those on death row face the prospect of being blindfolded, led by chain to a jungle, tied to a pole and shot by a firing squad. The island is known for giving prisoners minimal contact with the outside world - including legal aid which inmates are given "inconsistent access" to. Moment ten 'armed & dangerous' inmates break out of jail through hole in cell Media outlets who want to visit will also find it extremely difficult to obtain a licence to enter the prison complex. Gunawan explained that the island is "quite restricted" for visitors, and that "additional costs and multiple security checks before the visit" make the journey much more inconvenient. "It's very hard for families to reach out," he said, explaining how this isolation takes a heavy mental toll on inmates. Octavian confirmed this fact and said that visitors require " a lot of time and cost" to get there - including the families of inmates. They are even discouraged to travel due to the islands terrifying reputation. "Families do not dare to go there," he claimed. Past allegations of torture and mistreatment from human rights groups continue to plague the prisons' fearful reputation. In March 2019, viral footage in Indonesia showed shackled prisoners being dragged across gravel by prison guards while on their way to Nusakambangan. 21 21 21 The horrifying footage of the men sparked backlash as it showed the degraded men with red marks on their bare backs. Case worker Octavian said: "Regarding human rights violations in [these] prison conditions, they are actually quite numerous." He recalled travelling to the island by boat in December 2024 to meet a client while two convicts lay next to him with "their feet and hands shackled and handcuffed". An intimidating "special police offer carrying an AK-47 rifle and wearing a mask" also kept them in line. "Even their faces were covered with black cloth, so they couldn't see," Octavian said. After officers told him that this practice was enforced to make sure the convicts could not resist or escape, he thought that this reasoning was "far-fetched and unreasonable". He said: "That constitutes an inhumane act." Human rights lawyer Gunawan confirmed the harsh reality of life on Nusakambangan Island, explaining what nutrition is like on a day-to-day basis. "Food in general is not adequate," he said, adding that prisoners receive barely any meals each day. "It's like very basic, just rice and very little portions." 21 21 21 One prisoner at Narkotika reportedly complained that the food provided was so bad that they lost 20kg in three months and suffered from food poisoning. The human rights expert also said that the horrific cells within the notorious prison complex were "overcrowded". "So, for example, if it's only for one person, they put maybe 4 or 5 persons [in each cell]," he said. But the lawyer also said that those who want "better food" or even their own cell can bribe officers to escape the harrowing conditions. He described corruption in Indonesian prisons as "rampant". Nusakambangan Island served as a penal colony when Indonesia's Dutch rulers started holding prisoners there over a century ago. But those colonial cells have since been decommissioned - while new modern prisons have propped up across the island. Out of the eight total operational facilities on the dreaded island, the most pleasant is an "open" prison, where inmates work in fields and carve gemstones to be used for jewellery. Meanwhile, one of the most notorious maximum-security prisons, Narkotika, is infamous for its ghastly conditions - and exclusively houses drug offenders. Octavian claimed that Karanganyar was another jailhouse which had a similarly grim reputation. He said: "There is one special prison with a 'high risk' status, which is above the 'maximum' status. That prison is called Karanganyar." 21 21 All of Octavian's clients who were transferred to Nusakambangan Island had to "go through Karanganyar Prison first". "When I asked all my clients, they said they would never want to be there again," he said of the particularly horrific slammer. Detailing its conditions, he said: "There, each inmate occupies one cell alone and is monitored by CCTV cameras in every cell. "All activities can be seen and known at any time by the officers." He added that "everyone there definitely experiences psychological pressure", and highlighted Karanganyar as the "most troublesome" jailhouse there. 24-hour surveillance standards are also implemented at Narkotika, according to Prison Insider. They also reported that inmates are allowed to walk in front of their cells for one hour per day - provided they are handcuffed, leg-cuffed and under strict supervision. Prison worker Octavtian added that there is no special facility for women on the island, and therefore "all prisons are only inhabited by adult males". Aside from Narkotika and Karanganyar, the other jailhouses are named: Besi, Batu, Kembang Kuning, Pasir Putih, Permisan and Terbuka. Human rights lawyer Gunawan represented death row inmate and alleged "drug convict" Humphrey Jefferson Ejike before he was executed on the island in July 2016. 21 21 21 The Nigerian priest, known as Jeff, was tortured after his arrest in 2003 before serving the last 12 years of his life on the infamous island. His lawyer Gunawan told The Sun: "He was tortured when he was at the police investigations, you know, beaten. "Mainly beaten with chairs, the police stomped on his feet - that kind of physical torture." After being forced to "confess" to dealing drugs he was tried and sentenced to death in 2004 before being booked in on the island. Gunawan remembered the emotional day he said goodbye to Jeff in July 2016 before he was chained up and taken to an ominous killing field. The Nigerian national handed his glasses and sports watch to Gunawan before he faced a 10-man executioner squad - nine of which were given fake rubber bullets. A doctor also marked a point on Jeff's heart to improve visibility during the midnight execution. Gunawan, who was made to stay at the prison as Jeff was escorted out, recalled: "I could roughly hear the sound of the guns of the firing squad." Condemned offenders are also given the option of wearing a blindfold, according to Gunawan. They can also choose to stand, sit or kneel before they are tied to a post and shot. Jeff's corpse was brought back to the prison, where the lawyer verified the priest's identity. 21 21 21 Gunawan believes the 72 hours before execution are the most agonising for inmates like Jeff. "I think mostly the three days, some would say these are more excruciating," he said. "Because they finally understood that there's a date now for executions." He emphasised "the psychological element" because of "the prolonged uncertainty of execution dates". The two most notorious killing sites are known as the Nirbaya and Li-musbuntu shooting fields. Indonesian law states that prisoners sentenced to death must be isolated - in the same way Jeff was - before they are executed. But the isolation cells are also used to detain misbehaving prisoners who commit acts of violence, including self-harm and suicide attempts. Indonesia's no-nonsense approach to narcotic criminals has been compared to the brutal efforts of former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte. At the end of last year, KontraS recorded that there were 530 prisoners on death row in Indonesia, with 88 of them being foreigners. Notable executions on Nusakambangan Island by Harvey Geh 2008: The notorious "Bali bombers", Imam Samudra, and brothers Amrozi bin Nurhasyim and Ali Ghufron were executed for a series of attacks which killed 202 people, including 88 Australians in 2002. 2014: Shortly after being elected in 2014, Indonesian President Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo ordered the resumption of death row executions after an unofficial moratorium introduced in 2010. 2015: Australian nationals Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran were executed by firing squad on April 29 after they were convicted of heading the Bali Nine drug ring and sentenced to death in 2006. Six other convicted drug smugglers were also executed on the same day in Besi prison on the island, while a ninth female Filipino convict was spared at the last minute. 2016: On July 29, one Indonesian national and three Nigerian drug convicts, including Humphrey Jefferson Ejike, were killed by firing squad on the island. 10 convicts who were supposed to be killed alongside them had a last-minute stay of execution. Indonesia executed 23 people between 2013 and 2016, and there have been no recorded executions since then - although hundreds more death sentences have been handed out. Former Indonesian President Joko Widodo drew criticism after renouncing a moratorium on capital punishment and ordering enforcement officers to shoot drug dealers. Incumbent president and ex-army general Prabowo Subianto has made more of an attempt to repatriate foreign convicts in an effort to improve his international reputation. But the leader has stopped short of closing the infamous execution prison. Another example of alleged abuse came in 2012 when prisoner Johan Teterissa was beaten using electric cables at Batu Prison on the island, according to Amnesty International. He was initially arrested after taking part in a peaceful demonstration in Ambon. Amnesty said: "The guards whipped Johan Teterissa's back with electric cables causing him to bleed. "He has not received any medical treatment following the beating." The latest Brit to face the possibility of life on the island is Thomas Parker. He is accused of importing and trafficking more than a kilogram of MDMA into Bali, and now faces the death penalty if found guilty. And in February, it was reported that Britain's "most prolific" rapist Reynhard Sinaga could be moved from his maximum security cell in the UK to Nusakambangan Island. Indonesian law minister Yusril Ihza Mahendra said his country was in "early talks" with the UK government regarding a potential extradition or prisoner swap.
Daily Mail
23-05-2025
- Daily Mail
Death row inmate says ‘I didn't kill her' as he's executed at 75 for murdering his estranged wife and sons
The oldest inmate on death row had some fiery words for Tennessee's governor as he was executed for murdering his estranged wife and her teenage sons. Oscar Franklin Smith, 75, was killed by lethal injection on Thursday morning for the 1989 murders of Judith Smith and her sons, Jason and Chad Burnett. Smith has always maintained his innocence in the grisly murders, and as he lay strapped to a gurney at the Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville he claimed the justice system was broken. He noted that Governor Bill Lee - who made a last minute decision to stop Smith's execution in 2022 - 'has the last word' on allowing executions to continue. 'He's a damned fool if he doesn't realize we've got [innocent] men at Riverbend waiting to die,' the 75-year-old said in his three-minute final statement, according to the Nashville Banner. 'I'm not the first, and I won't be the last,' he said. Smith could later be heard insisting, 'I didn't kill her' in the moments before visible signs of respiration stopped and he was pronounced dead at 10.47am. Witnesses to the execution said they saw no obvious sign that the injection had begun after his final statement, but noted that Smith's speech became labored as he spoke with his spiritual adviser - who was allowed into the execution chamber under an agreement with state officials. She was seen performing a final liturgy, reading from scripture and at one point singing I'll Fly Away. Smith was convicted of fatally stabbing and shooting Judith Smith, her 13-year-old son Jason Burnett and 16-year-old son Chad Burnett at their Nashville home shorty before midnight on October 1, 1989. Prosecutors argued that the couple were going through a contentious divorce and were fighting over custody of their three-year-old twins. When the murders occurred, Smith was also facing domestic violence charges for allegedly assaulting his wife. At his trial, two of Smith's co-workers testified that he had solicited them to kill Judith, noting that he had a history of threats and violence against her and her boys. He even told one of his co-workers that he threatened to kill the boys because he said Judith treated them better than the twin children they shared, according to the Tennessean. Smith had also taken out insurance policies on all three victims, prosecutors noted. They also played the audio of the 911 call, in which they said Chad could be heard screaming, 'Frank, no.' Franklin is Smith's middle name, and one that prosecutors said he used regularly. But Smith has long denied the murders and allegations of domestic violence and death threats, claiming he, his wife and the boys had spent the day together and later that night, he said he left Judy's house with their twins, whom he dropped off at his mother's house while he left for a job in Kentucky. His claims, however, were refuted by the fact that his car was seen at the victim's home the night of the crime. A handprint found at the scene also matched Smith's left hand - including his two missing fingers. Smith was ultimately sentenced to death by a Davidson County jury in July 1990, and faced multiple execution dates that were rescheduled due to the COVID pandemic and moratoriums to review the state's lethal injection process, WPLN reports. It had turned out that the lethal drugs the state was using for executions were not properly tested for endotoxins - a step in its own required protocol, and Gov. Lee granted Smith a temporary reprieve. The corrections department, though, has since issued new guidelines for executions - this time involving just one drug, pentobarbital. Those guidelines are now the subject of a lawsuit, which claims the state was likely using pentobarbital purchased on the 'gray market' because even though it is legal, major manufacturers have banned its use in executions. That could increase the chance of torturous effects coming from a lethal dose, attorneys representing death row inmates argued, pointing to studies showing people executed with the drug experienced pulmonary edema - a form of lung damage, where fluid buildup creates a drowning sensation. 'It can create a sense of suffocating or drowning that has been likened by experts to the sensation intentionally induced by the practice of waterboarding, an unambiguous form of outright torture,' the lawsuit claims, according to the Nashville Banner. In the last week of the Biden administration, the Department of Justice issued a report criticizing the use of pentobarbital in lethal injections, saying it comes with too high a risk of 'unnecessary pain and suffering.' Attorneys representing Smith therefore asked the state for a reprieve of his execution once again, but Lee denied the request on Tuesday. He was then seen breathing slowly, with his face turning red and then blue, before he was pronounced dead. Still, witnesses to the execution said it look like he simply fell asleep, according to the Tennessean. Among those witnesses were Judith Smith's sister, Terri Osborne, and brother, Mike Robirds, who spoke to reporters afterwards while standing in front of large portraits of their sister and nephews. 'The pain of losing Judy, Chad, and Jason is something we will continue to carry,' Osborne said. 'Not a moment goes by that we don't miss them. We miss the sound of Judy's voice on the other end of the phone. We miss the excitement of planning Chad's driving lessons. And we miss the pure joy of hearing Jason's laughter.' The tragic deaths are a reminder of the devastating consequences of domestic violence, she continued. 'We know it is an incredibly hard thing to do to leave a spouse who is abusing, but pray that this case becomes a call to action, encouraging those in danger to seek help before it´s too late,' Osborne said. The murders were brutal, Robirds added. 'No one should have to live in fear like our sister did,' he said. 'And no family should have to endure a loss like ours.' Meanwhile, federal public defender Amy Harwell eulogized Smith as she reiterated questions about the state's use of pentobarbital in executions. 'Oscar Smith was a beloved child of God,' she said. 'He will be remembered for his cantankerous, curmudgeonly brand of kindness, as well as his skill with leather crafts. 'Because an autopsy would violate Oscar's deeply held religious beliefs, we will never know for sure whether he experienced the torture of pulmonary edema while Tennessee took his life. 'We do know, however, from the dozens of autopsies that have been performed on those executed by pentobarbital, that this execution method causes excruciating pain and suffering,' Harwell concluded. 'Our state should stop poisoning people to death in this cruel manner.' At a nearby field, nearly 40 protesters gathered in opposition of the death penalty. Among them was Christina Isbell, who said she opposes executions on a religious basis. 'For me, it´s just all about what God teaches,' Isbell said. 'And that is, even though somebody else may commit a horrible crime, you don´t go do that to them as well.' William Burgess was the lone person standing in a fenced off area for death penalty supporters outside the prison. He said he owned a car lot across the street from the home where Smith murdered his family members. Burgess said he was one of the first one to see the bodies. 'He lived too long,' Burgess said of Smith. 'Waste of taxpayers' money.'
Daily Mail
23-05-2025
- Daily Mail
Furious final words of death row's oldest inmate as he is executed for murdering his estranged wife and sons
The oldest inmate on death row had some fiery words for Tennessee 's governor as he was executed for murdering his estranged wife and her teenage sons. Oscar Franklin Smith, 75, was killed by lethal injection on Thursday morning for the 1989 murders of Judith Smith and her sons, Jason and Chad Burnett. Smith has always maintained his innocence in the grisly murders, and as he lay strapped to a gurney at the Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville he claimed the justice system was broken. He noted that Gov. Bill Lee - who made a last minute decision to stop Smith's execution in 2022 - 'has the last word' on allowing executions to continue. 'He's a damned fool if he doesn't realize we've got [innocent] men at Riverbend waiting to die,' the 75-year-old said in his three-minute final statement, according to the Nashville Banner. 'I'm not the first, and I won't be the last,' he said. Smith could later be heard insisting, 'I didn't kill her' in the moments before visible signs of respiration stopped and he was pronounced dead at 10.47am. Witnesses to the execution said they saw no obvious sign that the injection had begun after his final statement, but noted that Smith's speech became labored as he spoke with his spiritual adviser - who was allowed into the execution chamber under an agreement with state officials. She was seen performing a final liturgy, reading from scripture and at one point singing I'll Fly Away. He was convicted of fatally stabbing and shooting his estranged wife, Judith Smith, her 13-year-old son Jason Burnett and 16-year-old son Chad Burnett at their Nashville home shorty before midnight on October 1, 1989 Smith was convicted of fatally stabbing and shooting Judith Smith, her 13-year-old son Jason Burnett and 16-year-old son Chad Burnett at their Nashville home shorty before midnight on October 1, 1989. Prosecutors argued that the couple were going through a contentious divorce and were fighting over custody of their three-year-old twins. When the murders occurred, Smith was also facing domestic violence charges for allegedly assaulting his wife. At his trial, two of Smith's co-workers testified that he had solicited them to kill Judith, noting that he had a history of threats and violence against her and her boys. He even told one of his co-workers that he threatened to kill the boys because he said Judith treated them better than the twin children they shared, according to the Tennessean. Smith had also taken out insurance policies on all three victims, prosecutors noted. They also played the audio of the 911 call, in which they said Chad could be heard screaming, 'Frank, no.' Franklin is Smith's middle name, and one that prosecutors said he used regularly. But Smith has long denied the murders and allegations of domestic violence and death threats, claiming he, his wife and the boys had spent the day together and later that night, he said he left Judy's house with their twins, whom he dropped off at his mother's house while he left for a job in Kentucky. His claims, however, were refuted by the fact that his car was seen at the victim's home the night of the crime. A handprint found at the scene also matched Smith's left hand - including his two missing fingers. Smith was ultimately sentenced to death by a Davidson County jury in July 1990, and faced multiple execution dates that were rescheduled due to the COVID pandemic and moratoriums to review the state's lethal injection process, WPLN reports. It had turned out that the lethal drugs the state was using for executions were not properly tested for endotoxins - a step in its own required protocol, and Gov. Lee granted Smith a temporary reprieve. The corrections department, though, has since issued new guidelines for executions - this time involving just one drug, pentobarbital. Those guidelines are now the subject of a lawsuit, which claims the state was likely using pentobarbital purchased on the 'gray market' because even though it is legal, major manufacturers have banned its use in executions. That could increase the chance of torturous effects coming from a lethal dose, attorneys representing death row inmates argued, pointing to studies showing people executed with the drug experienced pulmonary edema - a form of lung damage, where fluid buildup creates a drowning sensation. 'It can create a sense of suffocating or drowning that has been likened by experts to the sensation intentionally induced by the practice of waterboarding, an unambiguous form of outright torture,' the lawsuit claims, according to the Nashville Banner. In the last week of the Biden administration, the Department of Justice issued a report criticizing the use of pentobarbital in lethal injections, saying it comes with too high a risk of 'unnecessary pain and suffering.' Attorneys representing Smith therefore asked the state for a reprieve of his execution once again, but Lee denied the request on Tuesday. He was then seen breathing slowly, with his face turning red and then blue, before he was pronounced dead. Still, witnesses to the execution said it look like he simply fell asleep, according to the Tennessean. Among those witnesses were Judith Smith's sister, Terri Osborne, and brother, Mike Robirds, who spoke to reporters afterwards while standing in front of large portraits of their sister and nephews. 'The pain of losing Judy, Chad, and Jason is something we will continue to carry,' Osborne said. 'Not a moment goes by that we don't miss them. We miss the sound of Judy's voice on the other end of the phone. We miss the excitement of planning Chad's driving lessons. And we miss the pure joy of hearing Jason's laughter.' The tragic deaths are a reminder of the devastating consequences of domestic violence, she continued. 'We know it is an incredibly hard thing to do to leave a spouse who is abusing, but pray that this case becomes a call to action, encouraging those in danger to seek help before it´s too late,' Osborne said. The murders were brutal, Robirds added. 'No one should have to live in fear like our sister did,' he said. 'And no family should have to endure a loss like ours.' Meanwhile, federal public defender Amy Harwell eulogized Smith as she reiterated questions about the state's use of pentobarbital in executions. 'Oscar Smith was a beloved child of God,' she said. 'He will be remembered for his cantankerous, curmudgeonly brand of kindness, as well as his skill with leather crafts. 'Because an autopsy would violate Oscar's deeply held religious beliefs, we will never know for sure whether he experienced the torture of pulmonary edema while Tennessee took his life. 'We do know, however, from the dozens of autopsies that have been performed on those executed by pentobarbital, that this execution method causes excruciating pain and suffering,' Harwell concluded. 'Our state should stop poisoning people to death in this cruel manner.' At a nearby field, nearly 40 protesters gathered in opposition of the death penalty. Among them was Christina Isbell, who said she opposes executions on a religious basis. 'For me, it´s just all about what God teaches,' Isbell said. 'And that is, even though somebody else may commit a horrible crime, you don´t go do that to them as well.' William Burgess was the lone person standing in a fenced off area for death penalty supporters outside the prison. He said he owned a car lot across the street from the home where Smith murdered his family members. Burgess said he was one of the first one to see the bodies. 'He lived too long,' Burgess said of Smith. 'Waste of taxpayers' money.'
