Oklahoma executes 11th inmate

Associated Press ^ | July 9, 2003 | Associated Press Staff

[MeekOneGOP]

Oklahoma executes 11th inmate

Man, 39, was convicted of beating roommate to death in 1988

07/09/2003

Associated Press

McALESTER, Okla. – A man who beat an Oklahoma City resident to death with an ashtray stand and fireplace poker was executed for the crime Tuesday in Oklahoma's death chamber.

Robert Don Duckett, 39, was pronounced dead at 6:16 p.m., becoming the state's 11th inmate executed this year.

In his final statement, Mr. Duckett asked for forgiveness.

"I just want to apologize and hope my family forgives me. I love them very much, and I hope they never forget that. Let's go," he said, and the execution began.

Mr. Duckett was a 24-year-old prison escapee in October 1988 when he killed John E. Howard, 53, with whom he briefly shared an apartment. Mr. Howard's severely beaten body was found in the apartment with his hands and feet bound with wire.

Prosecutors said Mr. Howard was killed because he wanted Mr. Duckett to move out. The defense alleged that Mr. Howard made a sexual advance toward Mr. Duckett, who suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder after a prison rape.

Mr. Duckett was serving time for a 1983 robbery and beating when he escaped from prison in 1987. Prosecutors also presented evidence that he had beaten and robbed an 85-year-old man in 1982.

Mr. Howard's brother, Tom, said Mr. Howard had recently returned from New York to help him with his Oklahoma City convenience store business. John Howard had given Mr. Duckett a job working in one of the stores.

Mark Howard said his father was known for taking people in and helping them out.

"It means the man who took my father's life will not be allowed to have that opportunity anywhere else, with anyone else," Mark Howard said.

Mr. Duckett spent his final hours visiting with his parents. He was served his requested last meal of a small pizza, a chili cheese coney, a half-gallon of cookie-dough ice cream and a vanilla Coke.

An appeals court last year refused to overturn Mr. Duckett's death sentence despite condemning retired Oklahoma County District Attorney Bob Macy's handling of the case.

"Macy's persistent misconduct, though it has not legally harmed the defendant in the present case, has without doubt harmed the reputation of Oklahoma's criminal justice system and left the unenviable legacy of an indelibly tarnished legal career," 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals judges wrote.

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Online at: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dallas/tsw/stories/070903dntexokexecute.9c5b9.html

[martin_fierro]

A fifteen year-long rush to judgment (they could've rushed a little more).

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[Rodney King]

"Macy's persistent misconduct, though it has not legally harmed the defendant in the present case, has without doubt harmed the reputation of Oklahoma's criminal justice system and left the unenviable legacy of an indelibly tarnished legal career,"

Funny, considering that Macy is pretty much a local hero.

[Born Conservative]

"I just want to apologize and hope my family forgives me. I love them very much, and I hope they never forget that. Let's go," he said, and the execution began.

That's odd; if he was so remorseful, why didn't he apologize to the family of the VICTIM...