Fletcher to sign death warrant on Baze

WAVE 3 TV ^ | August 21, 2007 | Associated Press

[Stonewall Jackson]

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) -- Governor Fletcher's office has announced that the governor plans to sign a death warrant for a convicted murderer.

Fletcher spokeswoman Jodi Whitaker says the governor is expected to sign the warrant for Ralph Baze Wednesday, setting an execution date for September 25th.

Baze was condemned to death in 1993 for killing Powell County Sheriff Steve Bennett and Deputy Arthur Briscoe.

It would be the first execution in the state in eight years.

There have been no executions in Kentucky since Fletcher took office in 2003. The state has executed two men since reinstating the death penalty in 1976.

Kentucky has 40 death-row inmates, including 11 who have been there for more than two decades.

[Stonewall Jackson]

I just heard this on the radio on my way home.

Apparently, Deputy Briscoe had gone to Baze's home to serve a warrant from Ohio, but Baze had refused to cooperate, so the deputy left to get help in the form of Sheriff Bennett. When they returned to the house a short while later, Baze ambushed them with a high-powered hunting rifle.

[Stonewall Jackson]

FYI

[Theodore R.]

This still won’t help Fletcher win; the state is moving back to its Democratic roots. People in KY gave the GOP a chance, and the party proved lacking from the standpoint of Kentucky preferences.

[Jaysun]

Perhaps the EU will chime in on this one too.

[SLB]

I remember when this happened. As with all murders it left so many behind. Maybe they will have closure with this.

Now the question surfaces - will Fletcher grant a stay or go ahead since the election is just around the corner?

[Joe Boucher]

“Baze was condemned to death in 1993”
There is no excuse for this persons execution to have taken this long. And still there is little hope for it happening when scheduled.
The victim and families should not have to wait this long for finality.

[Westlander]

'including 11 who have been there for more than two decades.' Hey Kentucky! Send the criminals up here to Michigan where they will get 3 hots and a cot for the rest of their lives. No executions, 1.7 billion state deficit, Highest unemployment rate in the USA. Dem der convicted criminals need some vacation time.

[Stonewall Jackson]

They actually have that part wrong, he was sentenced to death in early 1994, but it is still a long time.

I went to the Kentucky Department of Corrections website and found a list of all forty death-row inmates. One guy was given the death penalty back when Jimmy Carter was President!!!

Here's a list of the years in which they were given the death penalty.

1980 - 1

1982 - 2

1983 - 3

1984 - 2 (one was retried and reconvicted in 1991)

1985 - 1

1986 - 3

1987 - 1

1988 - 1

1991 - 1

1992 - 2

1993 - 1

1994 - 2

1996 - 1

1997 - 2

1998 - 4

1999 - 2

2000 - 3

2001 - 3

2004 - 1

2005 - 1

2006 - 3

[Old Sarge]

Agreed. Kentucky is going blue and will no doubt never look back.

[Stonewall Jackson]

Apparently, the State Supreme Court had ordered a retrial. Here's the info from the KY Dept. of Corrections.

SANBORN, PARRAMORE LEE, DOB 8-3-45, Sanborn was originally tried and found guilty of capital murder on March 8, 1984. The court imposed the death sentence on March 16, 1984. The Kentucky Supreme Court’s reversal of Sanborn’s conviction in June, 1988 resulted in a new trial in October, 1989. Sanborn was again found guilty of murder, kidnapping, rape and sodomy in a retrial in Louisville, Kentucky and sentenced to death May 14, 1991 in Henry County. The victim, Barbara Heilman a Henry County woman, was killed on October 12, 1983.