TX - James Byrd Jr dragged to death in Jasper, 7 June 1998

[Cappuccino]

I can't imagine anything would make a condemned person's last day a happy one but this guy's "last meal" was way over the top, much as the murder for which he was convicted. When I read what he ordered, I saw it as more of a slap-in-the-face demand rather than a legitimate request. I don't suppose the arrogance of it has had quite the impact he imagined.

I'm sorry, but I was ashamed to be an American when these white supremacist punks took it upon themselves to brutally murder an innocent man based on nothing more than the color of his skin.

I can only hope his execution will have the intended impact on those who aspire to the evil that led to it.

BBM.

I am certain it has had exactly the impact he wanted it to have. Approx. 40% of Death row inmates in Texas are black, and we all know how this "man", (and I use the term loosely), felt about black people. I'm sure he's delighted, wherever he is, that he managed one last act of nastiness against them.

 

[Nova]

and rightly so... He murdered his children. Let me guess, you are going to say something about the fact that the arson report has been argued, right?

By his own admission Willingham was woken by his oldest girl, he left her to die in his bedroom, didn't even attempt to search out his baby twins and bolted out of the house. He sat on the lawn doing nothing until a neighbor called him out & ONLY then did he tell her to call 911. He didn't attempt to enter the house again to search for his children, but he did make the effort to move his car so that it wouldn't be damaged by the heat from the flames.

The next night be was drinking and partying & told everyone who would listen that his $$$ worries were over because now everyone would be sending them $$$. He was more upset about the fact that he had lost sit dart set in the fire than the fact that his 3 babies were dead.

Oh yeah, and he admitted to his wife that he did it (and also a fellow inmate...) When she refused to write a letter on his bealf to the courts he told her that he was glad he killed her babies.

...and then at his execution he flipped her off and called her all sorts of lovely names.

There is ZERO proof that anyone executed has ever been innocent. Willinghan is just the anti's posterboy because one report is in dispute.

This sounds like pro-d.p. propaganda to me. The pro-d.p. crowd (I don't mean Jenni personally) will make up anything to avoid admitting the obvious, that we sometimes execute innocent people.

As I understand it, everything about Willingham's story was eventually verified by arson experts. The one lie Willingham eventually admitted was that he couldn't bring himself to go into the younger children's rooms which were already ablaze. And as one investigator put it, people should withhold judgment as to what they would do in the face of a major fire; the instinct to flee tends to be overpowering.

 

[Jenni979]

No worries, I AM big-time pro-dp...

The forensic investigatory tools don't point to innocence or that the fire was set accidentally, the new reports only point to inconclusive evidence on one small part of the case. The 5th Circut Court of Appeals said that even if you believe the Hurst report there was enough evidence even without the forensic evidence to convict Willingham.

Willingham changed his story 27+ times & even his own attorney has come out and said that Willingham is/was guilty of the murders (“The real fact of the matter is that Willingham was guilty. He wasn’t innocent. He really set that fire and killed those kids.” -Martin).


Besides, Willingham was given the DP for multiple child murder, not arson/murder.

 

[Fairy1]

BBM.

I am certain it has had exactly the impact he wanted it to have. Approx. 40% of Death row inmates in Texas are black, and we all know how this "man", (and I use the term loosely), felt about black people. I'm sure he's delighted, wherever he is, that he managed one last act of nastiness against them.

You're absolutely right and I thought about that after I posted. Though I truly doubt he was clever enough to devise such a far-reaching consequence, it's definitely possible.

 

[YESorNO]

Killer of James Byrd, Jr., John William King, asks U.S. Supreme Court to take case
A Texas man awaiting execution in a notorious hate crime is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to save him.

June 28, 2018

"John William King, 44, filed an appeal with the high court on Tuesday, asking the justices to find that a federal appeals court erred in rejecting his case.
King, along with co-defendants Lawrence Russell Brewer and Shawn Berry, were convicted of the dragging death of 49-year-old James Byrd in June 1998.

Brewer was executed in Texas on September 21, 2011. King remains on death row. Berry was sentenced to life in prison...

Texas has not set an execution date for King."

Killer of James Byrd, Jr., John William King, asks U.S. Supreme Court to take case
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[YESorNO]

In Texas, a Decades-Old Hate Crime, Forgiven but Never Forgotten

"JASPER, Tex. —
Sometime after church but before dinner, Sgt. James Carter of the Jasper County Sheriff’s Office knocked on the front door of James and Stella Byrd’s home. He stepped into the living room, removed his white cowboy hat and bowed his head. Then, with a somber look on his face that the Byrds still remember years later, he delivered the news that their son James Byrd Jr. was dead.

The horrific circumstances surrounding his death they would learn later: Chained by his ankles to a pickup truck by three men, he had been dragged three miles, murdered before the sun rose that Sunday morning 20 years ago....

The family forgave Mr. Byrd’s three killers long ago and made peace with Jasper, the small East Texas town where they have lived for three generations. But as the nation faces a spread in bias crime incidents, the family wants to ensure the public remembers one of the worst hate crimes of the 20th century. In the years since Mr. Byrd’s death, both state and federal hate crime laws bear his name.

As part of the 20th anniversary, the Byrd Foundation for Racial Healing has announced plans to open a museum in Jasper and digitize an anti-hate oral history project....

In Texas, a Decades-Old Hate Crime, Forgiven but Never Forgotten

(Betty Boatner and Thurman Byrd at their brother’s grave in the Jasper City Cemetery. The family forgave Mr. Byrd’s three killers long ago and made peace with Jasper, the East Texas town where they have lived for three generations.CreditWilliam Widmer for The New York Times)
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[YESorNO]

Texas AG fights appeal of Byrd killer on death row

September 25, 2018

"Prosecutors in the case of a man convicted in the dragging death of an African-American in Jasper 20 years ago say the U.S. Supreme Court should not hear his appeal just because he “disagrees with the result” of a lower court.

John William King, one of three Jasper men convicted of lynching James Byrd Jr. in 1998, appealed to the high court in June, saying that he was denied due process during the 1999 trial in which he was sentenced to death. The U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals said he could appeal on only one of his claims, that his lawyers failed to effectively present his case of actual innocence...."

Texas AG fights appeal of Byrd killer on death row
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[JerseyGirl]

Supreme Ct. refuses to review John King appeal of death sentence in Byrd dragging death

The Supreme Court today released its decision to deny the review. The decision is expected to clear the way for a judge to set an execution date for King.

 

[YESorNO]

Execution date looms for Jasper dragging-death killer

December 21, 2018

"One of the most painful chapters in Southeast Texas history moved closer to resolution on Friday when a judge in Jasper County signed the execution warrant for the last of three white men convicted in the dragging death of a black man on a country road there 20 years ago.

John William King, whose latest round of appeals was denied by the U.S. Supreme Court in late October, now faces execution by injection on April 24...."

https://www.chron.com/news/article/Execution-warrant-signed-for-Jasper-man-convicted-13484973.php
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Byrd: "The Life & Tragic Death of James Byrd Jr "

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[YESorNO]

Execution date set for James Byrd Jr. killer (with clip)

January 23, 2019

"John William King, the last of two Jasper men sentenced to death in the dragging death of James Byrd Jr. 20 years ago, has been given an official execution date.

State District Judge Craig Mixson signed a death order in December for King's execution, which has been set for April 24 by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice...."

Execution warrant signed for Byrd killer
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[YESorNO]

Final Execution Set in James Byrd Jr.'s 1998 Murder Case (with clip)

February 26, 2019

"... After numerous appeals, King was also sentenced to death by lethal injection. It is scheduled for April 24.

"I'm gonna be there. Yea. I'm not gonna watch it, I've seen too many people die in my life. But I am gonna be sitting outside on the grounds when it happens," said Rowles, now the Newton County sheriff.

Harris will be there too. "It won't bring James back, but justice was served. In history you find out very seldom two white men put to death for killing a black man. And so you have history there."

Byrd's family marked the 20th anniversary of his death last year...."

Final Execution Set in James Byrd Jr.'s 1998 Murder Case
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[YESorNO]

Texas Board of Pardons and Parole denies John William King 120 day reprieve

April 22nd 2019

"AUSTIN/JASPER COUNTY — The Texas Board of Pardons and Parole voted 7-0 Monday afternoon not to recommend a 120 day reprieve to John William King, convicted and sentenced to death for the capital murder of James Byrd Jr.

The Board also voted 7-0 not to recommend commutation.

King is scheduled for execution this Wednesday in Huntsville for the June 1998 dragging death of Byrd Huff Creek Road in Jasper County...."

https://cbsaustin.com/news/local/te...e-denies-john-william-king-120-day-reprieveon
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James Byrd Jr.’s Family Ready for Execution of Racist Who Dragged Him to Death
It’s been 20 years since three men chained Byrd to a pickup truck—shocking the nation’s conscience.

04.23.19

"Louvon Byrd has already watched one man die for the horrific hate crime against her brother. Later this week, she intends to do it again.

John William King, the ringleader of a trio of racists who dragged James Byrd Jr. to death 20 years ago, is set to be executed by the state of Texas on Wednesday. Louvon will witness the lethal injection, barring the success of any last-minute appeals.

“He’s trying to save his life by all means necessary,” she told The Daily Beast. “But he did live 20 years longer than my brother… and I think that speaks a lot. The punishment would be just to take an injection and go to sleep, and even at that I still think he’s getting off easy.”..."

James Byrd Jr.’s Family Ready for Execution of Racist Who Dragged Him to Death

 

[PrairieWind]

Only a few hours left. I remember this horrific crime like it was last week. Can't believe its been so long. Some final justice delivered.

 

[AzPistonsGirl]

and I can't believe this happened only 20 years ago. 20 years ago in this country.

Staunchly anti-DP, but justice is not for me to decide. I hope this brings peace and resolution. And it keeps the conversation going.

 

[PrairieWind]

and I can't believe this happened only 20 years ago. 20 years ago in this country.

Staunchly anti-DP, but justice is not for me to decide. I hope this brings peace and resolution. And it keeps the conversation going.

It is hard to believe that people like King still exist in this country. I honestly can't understand that mentality.

 

[YESorNO]

The Latest on the execution of John William King

April 24, 2019

"4:30 p.m. UPDATE
Still no word from the U.S. Supreme Court on the scheduled 6 p.m. execution of Jasper hate killer John William King. His attorneys are continuing to press for a stay before King is to die by injection.

The Texas Department of Criminal Justice has blocked off the street in front of the Huntsville Unit, an imposing red-brick prison known colloquially as "The Walls," as part of the preparation for the execution.

TDCJ chief spokesman Jeremy Desel has been briefing the gathering reporters on King's activities.

At this moment, King is being held in a small holding cell about 4 steps (10 feet) from the execution chamber. He has not requested any spiritual advisers, but a pair of chaplains are available to him to facilitate his use of the telephone and, if needed, to talk about other matters...."

The Latest on the execution of John William King

 

[YESorNO]

Mark Adkins‏ @newzmark 1h1 hour ago
Mark Adkins Retweeted Ronnie Crocker

We have a great team on the ground for the execution of John William King who committed a horrific racial hate crime in Jasper TX in 1998.

---Ronnie Crocker‏Verified account @rcrocker
A dreary day in Huntsville. No protesters yet outside the Walls, where the King execution is scheduled to take place after 6.

 

[YESorNO]

Rusty Surette‏Verified account @KBTXRusty 1h1 hour ago
Happening now in Huntsville where protestors have gathered to oppose the lethal injection at 6 pm of John William King Jr for the 1998 racially-motivated dragging death of James Byrd Jr. in Jasper TX

(video clip: Rusty Surette on Twitter )

 

[YESorNO]

Nick Natario‏Verified account @NickABC13 1h1 hour ago
Here’s a look outside the prison in Huntsville where John William King will be executed. He’s convicted for killing James Bryd Jr. As far as I know, everything is still a go for the 6:00 pm execution. I’m live on @abc13houston at 6:00 pm with the latest. https://abc13.com/society/letter-tells-story-of-avowed-racist-who-killed-james-byrd-jr/5267113/ …

 

[YESorNO]

Jerry T. Combes‏ @JayTeeBird 1h1 hour ago
Jerry T. Combes Retweeted 12NewsNow

His name was James Byrd Jr..

---12NewsNow‏Verified account @12NewsNow
HUNTSVILLE, Texas (AP) - Prison officials say condemned killer John William King is stoic as he awaits execution for the death of a black East Texas man who was chained to the back of a truck and fatally dragged along a road nearly 21 years ago.