Slackers.
Posted on 02/04/2009 8:17:00 PM PST by fallingwater
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — While he was strapped onto a prison gurney awaiting execution, inmate Steve Henley said he hoped for peace for the family of the couple he was convicted of killing.
And Henley proclaimed, as he had since 1985, that he wasn't guilty of murdering Fred and Edna Stafford and setting their home on fire.
Henley was put to death by lethal injection early Wednesday after exhausting all legal appeals a few of hours before the execution.
"I'd like to say I hope this gives Fred and Edna's family some peace," Henley said in his last statement. "From my experience in life it won't. The death of a family member never brings anything but pain."
Henley talked with his two adult children who were watching from an execution viewing room at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution until he said he could feel the cocktail take effect.
His daughter, Leanne, blew him a kiss, and his son, Gregory, gave a thumbs-up. Henley's sister, Stephanie Worley, and son-in-law also attended.
"Stop that crying," Henley told his family as he playfully stuck out his tongue. "Y'all are a pitiful bunch."
Henley's head then rolled back onto the gurney, and he began to snore.
Stacy Rector, his spiritual adviser of 10 years, led the family's recitation of the Lord's Prayer as they clung to each other. Leanne Henley vomited into a trash can between her feet.
A nephew of the victims also witnessed the execution from a separate room.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
Outside the prison in subfreezing temperatures, 66 death penalty opponents gathered around space heaters and held posters as they protested the execution.
"This has been a long journey for Steve," said Rector, who also serves as executive director of the Tennessee Coalition to Abolish State Killing. "He was very concerned about the Stafford family and left in peace."
Henley was sentenced to death for killing the Staffords, who lived near his farm in Jackson County, about 65 miles northeast of Nashville.
The couple, ages 64 and 67, were found dead in their burned-out farmhouse in 1985. Investigators initially thought their deaths were accidental, but an autopsy concluded both had been shot. The autopsy also found that Edna Stafford was still alive when the fire was set.
The chief witness at the trial was a co-defendant who testified that Henley was drunk, high on drugs and angry over a debt he believed the Staffords owed his grandparents.
Henley blamed the murders on the co-defendant, who served five years in prison and successfully finished parole last year.
Henley's lawyer launched 11th-hour maneuvers to try to delay the execution. But the U.S. Supreme Court and Gov. Phil Bredesen rejected Henley's request to postpone the execution until he could pursue a bid for clemency and have his death sentence commuted to life in prison. Henley's challenge to the state's lethal injection procedures also was turned aside.
Attorney Paul Davidson said Henley was "at peace with where he is" after learning his petitions were denied.
"I told him that I believed he would shortly be in a better place," Davidson said.
Tennessee has carried out five executions since the death penalty was restored in 1976.
After the execution, Gregory Henley read a statement from the family.
"I forgive the state of Tennessee for executing our loving Daddy," he said. "I want them to know I am praying for both our sides of the family and Fred and Edna Stafford's family. But I also want you to know you are executing an innocent man."
I for the death penalty, my initial reaction is TN might have executed an innicent man, especially after I read his words from his websote below. I would like to hear the states version of what happened.
Home PageMy name is Steve Henley. I am a 55 year old man who has spent the last 23 ... Because of my wrongful conviction and imprisonment, my two children grew up ...
www.stevehenley.org/steveswords.html
Real UNBIASED source you have there pal! The convicts own website.
Slackers.
On the other hand, a rejection of capital punishment ensures that guilty men survive to walk the earth and claim new victims, causing new tragedies and ripping the hearts out of additional families. Judicious use of capital punishment is an excellent way to save innocent lives and prevent future tragedies.
So, the risk of occasionally executing an innocent man is absolutely warranted, IMO.
Have you ever been to Jackson County TN. Are you aware of past allegations of corruption there in the Sheriffs dept. I’m for the death penalty but I’ve not read anything in the news to make me convinced he was guilty without a doubt. Like I said, I would like to hear the states version. I googled it and couldn’t find a good argument from the state.
Executing the wrong people also ensures that guilty men survive to walk the earth...
So, the risk of occasionally executing an innocent man is absolutely warranted, IMO.
As long as it isn't your loved one, right?
It is unusual for a condemned man to plead innocence all the way to his execution. It must be troubling to the victims' families as well.
These heaters gave huge amounts of greenhouse gases. And the opponents left a massive carbon footprint from all their old beat up VW microbuses.
If my loved one went through trial after trial and appeal after appeal, and had spent 10 years on death row seeking every possible way to avoid the death penalty, and if ... at the end of all of that ... if the day of execution came, I would be sad. But I would still support capital punishment.
Our standard is not NO doubt at all. Our standard is beyond a reasonable doubt. Reasonable is, of course, up to the jury.
That is one of the most asinine statements I have ever read! Do you get your ideas about jurisprudence from movies and TV shows? Don't you know that NO ONE in prison is guilty of a crime, based on their own testimony.
I have to agree. There is nothing gained from killing the innocent (as this may very well be). Executing an innocent man is a case of legal ***up. There are no excuses for failure.
12 people heard the state's version. 12 people heard the convict's version. They went with the state.
I think trial transcripts are public domain. You may be able to buy them.
No, that’s not true. However, his case seems “fishy” and his personality doesn’t give any hints of taint.
It would be, if it had ever happened!
I am generally in favor of the death penalty. However, I am concerned that in the appeals process, the only thing judged are legal decisions. I would like someone to take a second look at the actual evidence.
I used to be for the death penalty. Then there were several cases that DNA proved the guy didn't do it.
Then there was a case where the FBI falsified evidence against four men, to keep their snitch from being caught. The snitch later killed at least one more person.
If I am remembering correctly, two died in prison and the other two were finally released after 30 years.
You really think it has NEVER happened? You think the system has been perfect, with all the various humans involved?
It’s extremely rare but it does happen.
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