Posted on 12/02/2002 6:11:42 PM PST by jbstrick
Thacker Makes Surprise Guilty Plea Monday December 02, 2002 3:05pm Posted By: Kevin King
Jury Selection Begins Today In Thacker Trial Pryor - A man already facing the death penalty in Tennessee, has now pleaded guilty to killing a Bixby woman.
Steven Thacker entered a guilty plea in court Monday as jury selection in his trial was scheduled to start. Thacker was charged with rape, kidnapping and murder in the death of Laci Dawn Hill in December 1999.
Thacker said he wanted to spare Hill's family the pain of a trial.
Larry Griffin was Laci Hill's only relative in court when the plea was announced. He said the trial would have been especially painful for Laci's husband and her parents.
"They could have handled it," Griffin says. "But I'm glad they don't have to, It's a huge relief. It's been hard enough the past three years."
Thacker was convicted and sentenced to die in Tennessee last year in the murder of tow truck driver Ray Patterson, less than two weeks after Hill's death.
It's believed Thacker killed Hill after responding to a classified ad in a newspaper. Hill was reported missing on December 23rd. Thacker was later seen using her ATM card to buy gifts at a local department store. Six days after her disappearance, Hill's body was found in an abandoned shack near Chouteau.
Griffin says he heard Thacker spell out every detail to the judge.
"He said he initially was going to take her money and let her go," Griffin said. "Then he decided it was too much of a risk to get caught so he went back and killed her. Thats was shocking, not prepared for that."
Thacker allegedly fled the state and is accused in the murder of a third person, Forrest Boyd of Aldrich, Missouri. The manhunt ended a day later after the body of the Tennessee tow truck driver was found.
Sentencing in Hill's murder is scheduled for December 17th. Thacker could face the death penalty for Hill's murder, but will likely never serve time in Oklahoma because of his death sentence in Tennessee.
Copyright 2002 KTUL, Inc.
This is a real shame. Tennessee hasn't executed anybody in more than 40 years. Oklahoma justice tends to be fairly swift.
Do you think we can make it 10 feet, instead of a mile? The needle can be inserted quicker.
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