http://www.thedeathhouse.com/deathhousenewfi_314.htm
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. - Former Army Ranger Louis Jones Jr. was executed Tuesday morning by lethal injection for the rape and murder of a female soldier in Texas, singing a religious hymn as he was being put to death.
Jones' fate was sealed when the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday refused his appeal and President George Bush rejected his plea for clemency.
Jones, 53, was executed at the United States Penitentiary. He became the third condemned murderer executed under the federal death penalty laws since 1963. He was pronounced dead at 7:08 a.m.
When asked if he had a last statement, Jones said that "Although the Lord hath chastised me forth, he hath not given me over unto death.” As he lay on the execution gurney he began singing a religious hymn.
Jones was given his death sentence for the murder of Pvt. Tracie McBride, 19. Jones beat her to death with a tire iron after sexaully assaulting her. Jones snatched her at gunpoint from a base laundry at Goodfellow Air Force Base in San Angelo, Tex., and imprisoned her at his home.
Jones' lawyers had argued that exposure to nerve gas during the Gulf War damaged Jones' brain and made him uncontrollably violent. Jones had no criminal record before murdering McBride.
His appeals exhausted, Jones had sent a letter to Bush asking to be spared from the execution gurney in return for life in prison without parole.
"Aside form the horrible crimes and sins which I committed...I am truly sorry for the terrible pain and suffering I have left with her famly and friends of which they continue to suffer."
Jones become a born again Christian in prison.
In the modern era of the death penalty, three federal prisoners have now been executed. Before Jones, Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh and drug lord Juan Raul Garza went to the federal death chamber here. Bush refused to commute the sentence of Garza and McVeigh had waived his appeals and wanted to be executed.
Nerve Gas Damaged Brain?
Jones'lawyer and supporters claimed that the former Master Sergeant was not fully responsible for the murder because chemical exposure during the Gulf War damaged his brain.
They say Jones was one of thousands of soldiers explosed sarin, a nerve gas, during the Gulf War. Government prosecutors have disputed the nerve gas claim.
Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison had gone as far as saying that Jones should receive a brain scan to determine if any damage was done.
Victim's Family: Jones No Hero
A former Army Airborne Ranger, Jones took part in the Grenada and Gulf War campaigns. During the Gulf War, he was awarded a Commendation Medal for meritorious service and later was promoted to Master Sergeant.
But the family of McBride told a local newspaper from Texas that they don't want to hear the word "hero" attached to Jones' name.
Kidnapped From Laundry Room
Jones, who retired from the Army in 1993 after 22 years, confessed to the abduction and murder of McBride.
McBride had arrived on the base just eight days before and was taken by Jones at gunpoint from a base laundry room.
Prosecutors said Jones sexually abused McBride, gagging her and keeping her inside a closet at his San Angelo home. Later, he drove her to an isolated area in Coke County, about 20 miles from the city, where he beat her to death with a tire iron.
Jones led investigators to her body 12 days later.
Defense lawyers stated in court documents that Jones had recently broken up with his wife and attacked McBride because she resembled his ex-wife.
Key Issue: Sentencing Options
A key legal issue in the case was whether the trial court was required under the Eight Amendment to instruct the jury what would happen to Jones if they did not return a death sentence.
At his trial in Lubbock, Tex., Jones' lawyers asked the judge to tell the jury that if they were unable to unanimously agree on sentencing, the judge would sentence Jones to "life without possibility of release," but the court refused.
Two jurors, who said they initially did not want to sentence Jones to death, later said they switched their votes to death after they were led to believe that failure to bring back a death sentence could mean Jones would receive a "lesser sentence."
In writing the majority opinion, Justice Clarence Thomas stated that the Constitution does not require the instructions on sentencing options and the jury was not misled.
The dissenting opinion was written by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. She wrote that a new sentencing hearing should be held and that the jury be accurately informed of the sentencing options if the panel did not want to condemn Jones to death.
Conviction of the kidnapping count had given Jones an automatic life prison sentence.
The sentencing issue went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, which in June 1999 upheld the verdict in a narrow 5-4 vote.
History of Federal Executions
Between 1927 and 1963, the federal government executed 34 convicted killers, rapists and kidnappers found guilty under various federal statutes. These included spies, kidnappers and even several rapists who did not kill.
The Capital Punishment Research Project reports that, in total, 340 persons have been executed in the history of the federal government.
After 1963, the federal death penalty remained on the books, but was never changed or updated to reflect new legal guidelines that came after the Supreme Court ruled death penalty statutes unconstitutional in 1972.
But that changed when the Federal Death Penalty Act of 1994 was passed.
What started off in 1988 as a federal statute to allow the government to seek death sentences against "drug kingpins" was later expended to allow the Department of Justice to seek the death penalty for about 60 crimes, including treason, drug-related murders, genocide and even the murder of a federal prisoner.
The first person executed under the act was Oklahoma City bomber McVeigh on June 19, 2001. Eight days later, Garza was executed.
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MY BIGGEST LIES:
1- I love you!
2- The check is in the mail!
3- I wont cum in your mouth!
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. - Former Army Ranger Louis Jones Jr. was executed Tuesday morning by lethal injection for the rape and murder of a female soldier in Texas, singing a religious hymn as he was being put to death.
Jones' fate was sealed when the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday refused his appeal and President George Bush rejected his plea for clemency.
Jones, 53, was executed at the United States Penitentiary. He became the third condemned murderer executed under the federal death penalty laws since 1963. He was pronounced dead at 7:08 a.m.
When asked if he had a last statement, Jones said that "Although the Lord hath chastised me forth, he hath not given me over unto death.” As he lay on the execution gurney he began singing a religious hymn.
Jones was given his death sentence for the murder of Pvt. Tracie McBride, 19. Jones beat her to death with a tire iron after sexaully assaulting her. Jones snatched her at gunpoint from a base laundry at Goodfellow Air Force Base in San Angelo, Tex., and imprisoned her at his home.
Jones' lawyers had argued that exposure to nerve gas during the Gulf War damaged Jones' brain and made him uncontrollably violent. Jones had no criminal record before murdering McBride.
His appeals exhausted, Jones had sent a letter to Bush asking to be spared from the execution gurney in return for life in prison without parole.
"Aside form the horrible crimes and sins which I committed...I am truly sorry for the terrible pain and suffering I have left with her famly and friends of which they continue to suffer."
Jones become a born again Christian in prison.
In the modern era of the death penalty, three federal prisoners have now been executed. Before Jones, Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh and drug lord Juan Raul Garza went to the federal death chamber here. Bush refused to commute the sentence of Garza and McVeigh had waived his appeals and wanted to be executed.
Nerve Gas Damaged Brain?
Jones'lawyer and supporters claimed that the former Master Sergeant was not fully responsible for the murder because chemical exposure during the Gulf War damaged his brain.
They say Jones was one of thousands of soldiers explosed sarin, a nerve gas, during the Gulf War. Government prosecutors have disputed the nerve gas claim.
Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison had gone as far as saying that Jones should receive a brain scan to determine if any damage was done.
Victim's Family: Jones No Hero
A former Army Airborne Ranger, Jones took part in the Grenada and Gulf War campaigns. During the Gulf War, he was awarded a Commendation Medal for meritorious service and later was promoted to Master Sergeant.
But the family of McBride told a local newspaper from Texas that they don't want to hear the word "hero" attached to Jones' name.
Kidnapped From Laundry Room
Jones, who retired from the Army in 1993 after 22 years, confessed to the abduction and murder of McBride.
McBride had arrived on the base just eight days before and was taken by Jones at gunpoint from a base laundry room.
Prosecutors said Jones sexually abused McBride, gagging her and keeping her inside a closet at his San Angelo home. Later, he drove her to an isolated area in Coke County, about 20 miles from the city, where he beat her to death with a tire iron.
Jones led investigators to her body 12 days later.
Defense lawyers stated in court documents that Jones had recently broken up with his wife and attacked McBride because she resembled his ex-wife.
Key Issue: Sentencing Options
A key legal issue in the case was whether the trial court was required under the Eight Amendment to instruct the jury what would happen to Jones if they did not return a death sentence.
At his trial in Lubbock, Tex., Jones' lawyers asked the judge to tell the jury that if they were unable to unanimously agree on sentencing, the judge would sentence Jones to "life without possibility of release," but the court refused.
Two jurors, who said they initially did not want to sentence Jones to death, later said they switched their votes to death after they were led to believe that failure to bring back a death sentence could mean Jones would receive a "lesser sentence."
In writing the majority opinion, Justice Clarence Thomas stated that the Constitution does not require the instructions on sentencing options and the jury was not misled.
The dissenting opinion was written by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. She wrote that a new sentencing hearing should be held and that the jury be accurately informed of the sentencing options if the panel did not want to condemn Jones to death.
Conviction of the kidnapping count had given Jones an automatic life prison sentence.
The sentencing issue went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, which in June 1999 upheld the verdict in a narrow 5-4 vote.
History of Federal Executions
Between 1927 and 1963, the federal government executed 34 convicted killers, rapists and kidnappers found guilty under various federal statutes. These included spies, kidnappers and even several rapists who did not kill.
The Capital Punishment Research Project reports that, in total, 340 persons have been executed in the history of the federal government.
After 1963, the federal death penalty remained on the books, but was never changed or updated to reflect new legal guidelines that came after the Supreme Court ruled death penalty statutes unconstitutional in 1972.
But that changed when the Federal Death Penalty Act of 1994 was passed.
What started off in 1988 as a federal statute to allow the government to seek death sentences against "drug kingpins" was later expended to allow the Department of Justice to seek the death penalty for about 60 crimes, including treason, drug-related murders, genocide and even the murder of a federal prisoner.
The first person executed under the act was Oklahoma City bomber McVeigh on June 19, 2001. Eight days later, Garza was executed.
----------------------------------------
MY BIGGEST LIES:
1- I love you!
2- The check is in the mail!
3- I wont cum in your mouth!
