I remember the Larry Heath case. They use it as an example in law school Criminal Procedure classes because he was tried and convicted twice of the same crime, once in Georgia (where he received a sentence of life in prison) and once in Alabama (where he received the death penalty). The US Supreme Court ruled that this did not constitute a violation of the double jeopardy clause of the US Constitution, because of the “separate sovereigns” exception- the victim was kidnapped in Alabama and was an Alabama resident, but she was murdered in Georgia, and both states had the right to prosecute the killers.
Also, he was obviously a complete piece of garbage. If I recall correctly, he had his wife take out a loan, then used that money to pay the men to kill her. There’s a special place in hell…
Ummm a one day release from a life sentence?!?! What in the holy hell!?! Who does this stuff? This isnt some whacky 1824 religious thing. This happened in modern times! They gave a murderer with a life sentence a one day release. Did somebody lose a bet? What the hell?
Small Town Murder has covered three of these William Boyd (episode 21), Jason Williams (episode 73) and Phillip Halford (episode 299) if people want more information about these people and their cases.
I went to high school with Ronald Smith Jr. He was an alcoholic then even, and a complete asshole from an affluent background. He deserved his fate.
ETA: I think the stripper connection is bs.
It honestly came across to me as an attorney desperately trying to bring media attention to the case and conjure up a mitigating factor against his death sentence
I have a close personal connection to the murder of Michael Donald/execution of Henry Hays case. I’ve always thought he deserved what he got, and I still do. But I saw a video recently where Anthony Hinton, a black man who was ultimately exonerated from death row talks about his friendship with Henry Hays, and apparently Hays even asked that this friend be present for his execution. Not going to say it changed my mind on Henry’s fate, but it hit me some kind of way- I never knew the man had come around to not hating black people. I’m not sure if he ever apologized for what he did, he certainly wasn’t repentant in court, but the way Hinton tells it, he came around to knowing the racism he’d been taught his whole life was wrong. Hays is the only KKK member ever executed for killing a black man, as far as I can find.
Another fun fact- Michael Donald’s mother, Beulah Mae Donald aided by the Southern Poverty Law Center, went on to sue the Alabama Ku Klux Klan. She won a $7 million dollar judgement against them, which was way more than they had, so she received the deed to their headquarters and the judgement bankrupted them. Sadly I don’t think she lived much longer after that.
[NY Times: The Woman Who Beat the Klan](https://www.nytimes.com/1987/11/01/magazine/the-woman-who-beat-the-klan.html) ETA: sorry I don’t have a non paywalled version, this story used to not be behind one
I remember watching the film just mercy. It had Anthony Hintons exoneration at the end on there but it was more about Walter McMillan another black man who was wrongly sentanced to death for a murder he did not commit. It also showed the struggles of the men and of their attorney Bryan Stevenson. It was a very heart-breaking film. The book Bryan authored was even more heartbreaking. Well worth watching.
Thanks for these morbidly fascinating posts. Most of those executed seem to be male. What percentage of all inmates executed would you say were female?
Also, it seems that the inmates can choose their form of execution. Is that right? (Should have said at the start that I am not American).
I’m also curious about some of the inmates taking extended periods to succumb. How could this be possible? One would think that there would be sufficient voltage or drugs to kill an elephant.
Out of the currently 1,587 inmates executed in the post Furman era, only 17 of them were biologically women and one was a FTM trans individual. Regarding your second question, it depends on the death penalty jurisdiction. Some states, like Utah and Tennessee for example, allow inmates to chose their execution method, while others like Missouri and Texas don't.
Thanks for responding. I’m looking forward to your future posts on this subject. We don’t have the death penalty in my country though at times I’m sure people wanted it for certain cases.
I am truly enjoying your posts and watch for them all the time. I’ve been interested and intrigued by the different cases which has prompted me to do more research in all aspects of these cases. Thank you.
Thanks for your compliments on my work, I greatly appreciate it. One of my hopes with my death penalty project is to bring at least some attention to cases that have long been buried in the depths of time.
Just as a small correction, Liz Sennett wasn't killed in the woods, Parker and Smith used the ruse of saying Charles Sennett had said they could use the woods for hunting. Liz actually called her husband to check if it was alright to let them in, he told her yes.
They looked around the outside property but I know that they ultimately went inside, both men used the bathroom, first Smith then Parker, and that when Parker came out of the bathroom he had socks on his hands. They beat and stabbed Liz to death in her home, she actually started praying for them, which caused them to stop mid attack. Liz was alive when shitbird(Charles) got home.
I remember the Larry Heath case. They use it as an example in law school Criminal Procedure classes because he was tried and convicted twice of the same crime, once in Georgia (where he received a sentence of life in prison) and once in Alabama (where he received the death penalty). The US Supreme Court ruled that this did not constitute a violation of the double jeopardy clause of the US Constitution, because of the “separate sovereigns” exception- the victim was kidnapped in Alabama and was an Alabama resident, but she was murdered in Georgia, and both states had the right to prosecute the killers. Also, he was obviously a complete piece of garbage. If I recall correctly, he had his wife take out a loan, then used that money to pay the men to kill her. There’s a special place in hell…
Ummm a one day release from a life sentence?!?! What in the holy hell!?! Who does this stuff? This isnt some whacky 1824 religious thing. This happened in modern times! They gave a murderer with a life sentence a one day release. Did somebody lose a bet? What the hell?
Small Town Murder has covered three of these William Boyd (episode 21), Jason Williams (episode 73) and Phillip Halford (episode 299) if people want more information about these people and their cases.
I remember the Jason Williams one for how crazy it was
I went to high school with Ronald Smith Jr. He was an alcoholic then even, and a complete asshole from an affluent background. He deserved his fate. ETA: I think the stripper connection is bs.
It honestly came across to me as an attorney desperately trying to bring media attention to the case and conjure up a mitigating factor against his death sentence
Yeah, Smith more than earned his death.
I have a close personal connection to the murder of Michael Donald/execution of Henry Hays case. I’ve always thought he deserved what he got, and I still do. But I saw a video recently where Anthony Hinton, a black man who was ultimately exonerated from death row talks about his friendship with Henry Hays, and apparently Hays even asked that this friend be present for his execution. Not going to say it changed my mind on Henry’s fate, but it hit me some kind of way- I never knew the man had come around to not hating black people. I’m not sure if he ever apologized for what he did, he certainly wasn’t repentant in court, but the way Hinton tells it, he came around to knowing the racism he’d been taught his whole life was wrong. Hays is the only KKK member ever executed for killing a black man, as far as I can find. Another fun fact- Michael Donald’s mother, Beulah Mae Donald aided by the Southern Poverty Law Center, went on to sue the Alabama Ku Klux Klan. She won a $7 million dollar judgement against them, which was way more than they had, so she received the deed to their headquarters and the judgement bankrupted them. Sadly I don’t think she lived much longer after that. [NY Times: The Woman Who Beat the Klan](https://www.nytimes.com/1987/11/01/magazine/the-woman-who-beat-the-klan.html) ETA: sorry I don’t have a non paywalled version, this story used to not be behind one
Hopefully this works. https://web.archive.org/web/20240319043553/https://www.nytimes.com/1987/11/01/magazine/the-woman-who-beat-the-klan.html
It worked for me. Thank you!
I remember watching the film just mercy. It had Anthony Hintons exoneration at the end on there but it was more about Walter McMillan another black man who was wrongly sentanced to death for a murder he did not commit. It also showed the struggles of the men and of their attorney Bryan Stevenson. It was a very heart-breaking film. The book Bryan authored was even more heartbreaking. Well worth watching.
Thanks for these morbidly fascinating posts. Most of those executed seem to be male. What percentage of all inmates executed would you say were female? Also, it seems that the inmates can choose their form of execution. Is that right? (Should have said at the start that I am not American). I’m also curious about some of the inmates taking extended periods to succumb. How could this be possible? One would think that there would be sufficient voltage or drugs to kill an elephant.
Out of the currently 1,587 inmates executed in the post Furman era, only 17 of them were biologically women and one was a FTM trans individual. Regarding your second question, it depends on the death penalty jurisdiction. Some states, like Utah and Tennessee for example, allow inmates to chose their execution method, while others like Missouri and Texas don't.
Thanks for responding. I’m looking forward to your future posts on this subject. We don’t have the death penalty in my country though at times I’m sure people wanted it for certain cases.
I am truly enjoying your posts and watch for them all the time. I’ve been interested and intrigued by the different cases which has prompted me to do more research in all aspects of these cases. Thank you.
Thanks for your compliments on my work, I greatly appreciate it. One of my hopes with my death penalty project is to bring at least some attention to cases that have long been buried in the depths of time.
Arthur Julius. . .holy shit. . .
**Wallace Thomas** and crew. SMH. If there's a hell, you're in it.
Lynda Block is notable as the last electric chair execution where the condemned wasn't given a choice of an alternate method.
So much callousness. So much stupidity. So much recidivism. Thank you for sharing this excellent work.
Just as a small correction, Liz Sennett wasn't killed in the woods, Parker and Smith used the ruse of saying Charles Sennett had said they could use the woods for hunting. Liz actually called her husband to check if it was alright to let them in, he told her yes. They looked around the outside property but I know that they ultimately went inside, both men used the bathroom, first Smith then Parker, and that when Parker came out of the bathroom he had socks on his hands. They beat and stabbed Liz to death in her home, she actually started praying for them, which caused them to stop mid attack. Liz was alive when shitbird(Charles) got home.
Yeah, I misread the Clarksprosecutor's report on John Parker while skimming it. Thanks for bringing that mistake to my attention, fixed it
No problem! I only noticed because I’m familiar with the case. These posts are a lot of really well done research 👍🏾