New York Times Complains About The Death Penalty. Here Are 11 People Who Will Receive It, And What They Did.

The New York Times ran a piece on Sunday in which they interviewed four people who had witnessed death penalty executions. Two of them were not bothered by the executions and were happy to see justice prevail; the other two described it as a deeply disturbing experience.

While that might sound like a balanced article, particularly for the Times‘ standards, the two who were more distraught at the executions are placed at the end of the piece, leaving the reader with the horrified witnesses’ accounts as the final word. The New York Times also promoted the piece on Twitter by highlighting a quote from one of the people who was appalled at the execution:

Here are 11 people who were or will be executed this year and what they did to deserve it.

1. Marcel Williams. Williams kidnapped 22-year-old Stacy Errickson at a gas station in 1994, forcing her to withdraw $350 from various ATMs. He then raped, beat and murdered her through “asphyxiation from strangulation”: (H/T: Heavy)

The physical evidence established a violent physical assault by appellant against the victim. Injuries to her head indicated deep bruising to her neck and to her face. The victim was bound with her hands behind her back. The medical testimony further indicated her death was by asphyxiation from strangulation.

Errickson was the mother of two children. Williams was executed on Monday.

2. Jack Jones. In 1995, Jones returned a couple of books he had borrowed from a store to book-keeper Mary Phillips; he later came back saying he was going to rob the store. He raped and murdered Phillips, 34, strangling her with a cord from a coffee pot and beating her over the head. Jones also tied Phillips’ 11-year-old daughter, Lacy, to a chair and choked her until she lost consciousness, proceeding to hit her in the head numerous times with the barrel of a gun. When investigators arrived, they thought Lacy was dead, until she regained consciousness while they were investigating the crime scene. Jones said that he had committed crimes because he held a vendetta against the police for not doing anything after his wife was raped.

Lacy, now Lacy Phillips Manor, told a local ABC affiliate that “closure will only come through execution.” Jones was executed on Monday.

3. Steven Long. Long admitted to murdering 11-year-old Kaitlyn Briana Smith, who went missing in May 2005 after she slept over at a friend’s house in a mobile home, where Long had been staying. Long left her body under an abandoned home, which was discovered by her grandfather the next day. According to court records, “Kaitlyn’s autopsy revealed defensive abrasions and evidence of a prolonged and violent sexual assault.” The jury quickly and unanimously agreed on a death penalty verdict; one juror was in tears while describing Long’s crime as “horrific.” Long appealed his death sentence on the grounds that he was “intellectually disabled”; his appeal was denied.

Long’s criminal record also includes assaulting his pregnant wife, sexually assaulting a 13-year-old girl, and participating in a prison riot. He is slated to die on June 28.

4. Robert Van Hook. Van Hook lured David Self to his place after having drinks with him at a gay bar in Cincinnati in 1985. Van Hook strangled and murdered Self with a kitchen knife. Van Hook was eventually captured by police six weeks later and admitted to the heinous crime. Van Hook is slated for execution on November 18.

5. Kenneth Williams. Williams had carjacked high-schoolers Dominique Hurd, a cheerleader, and Peter Robinson in a parking lot, threatening them with a gun and forcing them to take money out of various ATMs. Williams then shot both students; Robinson survived but Hurd did not. Williams only received a life sentence for this, prompting him to sneer at the victims’ families, “You thought I was going to die, didn’t you?” But Williams later received a death sentence after he broke out of prison and robbed and murdered a 57-year-old farmer, Cecil Boren, and was caught after he crashed into a truck. The driver of that truck, Michael Greenwood, died in the crash. Williams admitted to two other murders in prison.

Williams’ execution is scheduled for Thursday.

6. Gary Otte. According to Cleveland.com:

On Feb. 12, 1992, Otte shot 61-year-old Robert Wasikowski in the head and stole $413 after talking his way into Wasikowski’s home at the Pleasant Lake apartment complex. The next day, Otte forced his way into Sharon Kostura’s apartment in the same complex and shot her in the head. He stole $45, car keys and a checkbook from the 45-year-old woman.

A Cuyahoga County court convicted Otte guilty of two counts of aggravated murder and other crimes later that year. His received death sentences for both of the killings.

His execution is scheduled for June 13.

7. Tilon Carter. Tilon Carter and his girlfriend, Leketha Allen, robbed 89-year-old veteran James Eldon Tomlin at the urging of Allen’s mother. Tomlin suffered beatings to his head and was bound face-down on the floor with duct tape; he died from “positional asphyxia.” Carter has claimed that they never meant to kill Tomlin, but Allen testified that Carter had been bragging about it. Carter will be executed on May 16.

8. Raymond Tibbetts. In 1997, Tibbetts murdered his wife, Judith Crawford, after they got into a heated argument about Tibbetts’ addiction to crack cocaine. After “fatally beating and stabbing his wife,” Tibbetts proceeded to murder Frederick Hicks, who was letting Tibbetts and Crawford stay at his house after hiring Crawford as a caretaker. Tibbetts was sentenced to death and is scheduled for execution on July 26.

9. Juan Castillo. Castillo’s girlfriend, Debra Espinosa, coaxed a local rapper, 19-year-old Tommy Garcia Jr., into “a secluded area for drugs and sex” in 2003. Castillo and another man waited for the two to arrive. Castillo held a gun at Garcia and ordered him to relinquish his money. Garcia attempted to flee but was shot and murdered by Castillo. Castillo will be executed on May 24.

10. Robert Melson. In 1994, Melson and Cuhuatemoc Hinricky Peraita robbed a Popeye’s restaurant at midnight, forcing the four employees present to hand over money from a safe. The employees were ordered into the restaurant’s freezer, where Melson shot them all. Only one of the employees survived. Melson is scheduled for execution on June 8.

11. Kosoul Chanthakoummane. Chanthakoummane was sentenced to death for beating, biting and stabbing to death a real estate agent named Sarah Walker in 2006 at a home she was showing. His attorneys argued that it was a robbery gone wrong. He is scheduled for execution on July 19.

H/T: Death Penalty Information Center

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