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Post by Stormyweather on Sept 21, 2011 18:22:38 GMT -6
Lawrence Brewer, convicted in Jasper dragging death, has been executedJASPER, TX (KTRE) - One of three suspects in one of the most grisly hate crime murders in recent Texas history has himself been put to death. Appeals to the courts for 44-year-old Lawrence Russell Brewer were exhausted and no last-day attempts were filed to keep him from execution after 6 Wednesday evening in Huntsville. Brewer requested an extensive last meal that included two chicken fried steaks, a triple-meat bacon cheeseburger, fried okra, a pound of barbecue, and a pint of ice cream. It has been 13 years since the nation learned of the brutal dragging death of James Byrd Jr., a black man chained to the back of a pickup truck and dragged along Huff Creek Road in Jasper to his death. Brewer, a purported white supremacist, was condemned for fastening 49-year-old James Byrd Jr. to the truck on June 7, 1998. Byrd's decapitated body, first thought to be animal road kill, was found the next day. Witnesses told investigators they saw Byrd walking on a road not far from his home in Jasper during the early morning hours of June 7. Byrd lived off disability checks. He did not have a car and walked where he needed to go. Another witness saw Byrd in the bed of a pickup truck. Testimony during the trial indicated Brewer, John King and Sean Berry drove out into the county about 10 miles and stopped along the rural road. A fight started, ending with Byrd being tied to the truck bumper with a 24 ½ foot logging chain. Evidence indicated Byrd was dragged for three miles, then dumped near a church and cemetery, his remains leaving a bloody trail. Investigators identified Byrd's body from fingerprints taken from the headless torso. Prior to Byrd's murder, Brewer had served a prison sentence for drug possession and burglary. "Today is a good day as well as a sad day and what I mean by that is that I'm okay because I have gotten peace with everything and the sad thing about it is that he says he has no remorse and that saddens me," said Betty Boatner, Byrd's sister. Boatner still lives in Jasper and says she often visits her brother's grave. She says even though their parents taught them about forgiveness it was a still a process for them to forgive their brother's killer. "We forgave him. We didn't convict him." "I don't want him to die because it's easy. All he's going to do is go to sleep. My father didn't have that choice to go to sleep," said Renee Mullins, Byrd's daughter. Byrd's son also spoke out against the execution. Two of Byrd's sisters planned to attend Wednesday's execution. Byrd's mother, Stella, died last year. The horrific murder of Byrd set into motion a call for special hate crime laws in Texas. It later led to the Federal October 22, 2009 Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, commonly known as the Matthew Shepard Act. President Barack Obama signed the bill into law on October 28, 2009. There were two others convicted in Byrd's murder. John King is serving a death row sentence in Polk County. His case is still under appeal and no execution date has been set. Sean Berry is serving a life sentence in Brazoria County. The racism stigma lingers in the small town, some say, pointing to a recent attempt to oust three black city council members who helped confirm a black man as police chief. Many others say the label is unfair. www.kold.com/story/15519223/man-convicted-in-jasper-dragging-death-executed
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Post by Stormyweather on Sept 21, 2011 21:54:24 GMT -6
Hate crime killer executedHUNTSVILLE - As the sisters of his victim watched solemnly but dry-eyed, Lawrence Russell Brewer was executed Wednesday for the 1998 Jasper dragging murder of James Byrd Jr. - a racially motivated killing that stunned the nation. He was the first of two Byrd killers to be put to death. A third killer was sentenced to life in prison. Brewer, 44, made no final statement before the lethal drugs were started at 6:11 p.m. He was declared dead 10 minutes later. Brewer, visibly pale, looked toward the witness room occupied by his parents and brother. He did not make eye contact with Byrd's two sisters and niece, who occupied an adjoining witness room. Tears began to form in his eyes as he breathed heavily and died. Clara Taylor and Louvon Harris, the victim's sisters, stood silently as the execution took place. "Tonight we witnessed the next step toward complete justice for James - the execution of Lawrence Brewer for his part in this brutal murder," Taylor said afterward. "Hopefully today we have been reminded that racial hatred and prejudice can lead to tragic consequences for both the victim and his family as well as the perpetrator and his family." Taylor said she was "still processing" the execution. "Maybe in the midnight hour I'll process it," she said. "It was quick and sobering." Taylor said she wanted to hear a final statement from the killer, but also was afraid of what he might say. "My understanding is he had no remorse, he was unrepentant," she said. " … It could have gone in any direction." Brewer's relatives, who wept during the execution, made no public statement. Shocked the nationThe Byrd killing, occurring in Deep East Texas, the portion of the state most closely tied to the American South and its history of lynching, shocked and sickened the nation. Byrd, 49, was abducted as he walked along a Jasper road, beaten, urinated on and dragged about 2 miles behind a pickup by log chains attached to his ankles. He was decapitated when his body struck a culvert. Brewer and his accomplices, John William King and Shawn Allen Berry, dumped their victim's mangled body at an African-American cemetery and went to eat barbecue. Investigators found Brewer's DNA on a cigarette and beer bottle at the crime scene and Byrd's blood on his shoes. The brutality of the crime fueled efforts to enact state and federal hate crime laws. Jasper County law officers who recently visited Brewer on death row said he expressed no remorse. King, like Brewer, was sentenced to die for the crime; Berry was sent to prison for life. Prison authorities, who - uncertain of the number or nature of protests the execution might spawn - ringed the Walls Unit with extra guards. But raucous protests never developed. By late afternoon, dozens of demonstrators - including African-American comedian Dick Gregory - assembled in an area near the prison set aside for protests. "Any state killing is wrong," he said. "If Adolf Hitler were to be executed, I would be here to protest … I believe life in prison is punishment. Execution is revenge." Among outnumbered capital punishment supporters was Sam Houston State University political science student Josh Ruschenberg, who lofted a sign urging reinstatement of "Ol' Sparky," the state's decommissioned electric chair. "I've always been for the death penalty," he said. "I think the state should be able to assess the maximum punishment for maximum offenses. The crime they committed was so heinous." Didn't eat final mealPrison officials said Brewer, whose appeals were exhausted, appeared to be in good spirits hours before the execution and joked with the prison warden and chaplain. Brewer ordered - but did not eat - a final meal of two chicken fried steaks, a triple-meat bacon cheeseburger, a cheese omelet, a large bowl of fried okra, three fajitas, a pint of Blue Bell ice cream, and a pound of barbecue with a half loaf of white bread. Brewer and King - both members of a white supremacist gang - met at Tennessee Colony's Beto Unit, where Brewer was serving time for burglary and drug possession. www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Hate-crime-killer-executed-2182684.php
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Post by Deleted on Sept 21, 2011 23:21:19 GMT -6
This was a crime that made headlines around the world for weeks. Especially at the time of the crime and when King was on trial because he was the apparent leader of the trio.
Ironically in death Brewer was overshadowed by the Davis execution
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Post by Breka on Sept 21, 2011 23:36:31 GMT -6
Thanks a lot , Stormyweather for your continuous good work informing all the interested !
Justice have been done - god bless the murder victims !
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Post by Matt on Sept 21, 2011 23:58:24 GMT -6
What a scumbag. Good riddance.
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Post by Stormyweather on Sept 22, 2011 8:11:46 GMT -6
Unfortunately the third guy didn't get the dp.Third Defendant Is Convicted In Dragging Death in TexasJASPER, Tex., Nov. 18— A Texas jury found a man guilty of capital murder today but spared him from execution for helping drag a black man to death in one of the grisliest racial killings in recent American history. The defendant, Shawn Allen Berry, the last of three white men to be tried in the case, was sentenced to life in prison. The two other men have been sentenced to death. The jury of seven women and five men, all white, deliberated about 10 hours before reaching its verdict. It then heard more testimony before taking two hours to decide Mr. Berry's punishment. He must serve at least 40 years in prison before he has a chance of parole. After the verdict was read, Mr. Berry, 24, comforted his weeping girlfriend, Christi Marcontell. Prosecutors said Mr. Berry was one of three men who killed James Byrd, 49, on June 7, 1998, by chaining him to Mr. Berry's pickup truck and dragging him near Jasper. The other men were John William King and Lawrence Russell Brewer. Mr. King and Mr. Brewer murdered Mr. Byrd, prosecutors said, because they were avowed racists who had joined a white supremacist gang in prison and wore racist tattoos. Mr. Berry was not known to share their beliefs, but probably joined in for the thrill, they said. In the punishment phase, nine people testified that Mr. Berry did not meet the death-penalty test of being a future threat to society. The jury announced it would have no comment. But a statement read in court by the jury foreman said, ''We stand together as a group.'' Mr. King, 25, and Mr. Brewer, 32, were convicted after separate trials this year. They are appealing. Mr. Berry, the manager of a local movie theater, testified on Tuesday that Mr. King and Mr. Brewer had decided to attack Mr. Byrd after Mr. Berry, drinking beer and driving around town with the other two, offered him a ride. Mr. Berry said he had tried to intervene when Mr. King and Mr. Brewer began the beating, but froze in fear when Mr. King told him that the same thing would happen to anyone who loved blacks. He watched while Mr. Byrd was killed, he said. But prosecutors said that Mr. Berry had Mr. Byrd's blood on his clothes and that he might have been driving the truck while Mr. Byrd was being dragged. www.nytimes.com/1999/11/19/us/third-defendant-is-convicted-in-dragging-death-in-texas.html?ref=shawnaberry
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Post by Stormyweather on Sept 22, 2011 8:17:01 GMT -6
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Post by zd3925 on Sept 22, 2011 8:20:58 GMT -6
Adios,dirtbag
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Post by Stormyweather on Sept 22, 2011 10:09:10 GMT -6
Last night Lawrence Russell Brewer was executed in the state of Texas for James Byrd Jr.'s death. Here is his version on the witness stand. Here's his sob story on the stand.Defendant Says He Didn't Mean to Take Part in Dragging DeathBRYAN, Tex. Sept. 17— A man accused in the dragging death of a black Texas man sobbed on the stand today and said he ''didn't mean to cause his death.'' The defendant, Lawrence Russell Brewer, said it was another man who is awaiting trial, Shawn Allen Berry, who slashed the throat of James Byrd Jr. before chaining him to the back of a pickup truck and dragging him along a country road. The crime is seen as one of the grisliest racist killings in years. ''I didn't mean to cause his death,'' Mr. Brewer said. ''I had no intentions of killing nobody. I don't know what you mean by kidnapping.'' Mr. Brewer, 32, said the slashing occurred on a remote Jasper County logging road during a fight between Mr. Byrd and John William King, the first of three white men tried for Mr. Byrd's murder in June 1998. Mr. King was convicted in February and sentenced to death. According to earlier accounts, the men picked up Mr. Byrd as he walked home from a party. Mr. Brewer testified today that the fight began after Mr. Berry stopped the truck to take some steroids. Mr. Brewer said he heard glass breaking and saw Mr. King and Mr. Byrd fighting. ''I don't know what to do,'' Mr. Brewer testified. ''When I go around the corner of the truck, I tried to kick Byrd in his side.'' Mr. Brewer said he then tried to separate Mr. King and Mr. Byrd. ''That's when I heard snapping of Shawn's knife,'' he said. ''He popped it open. Shawn came around and I guess cut his throat. Everything stood still just a moment. Byrd slid down the side of the truck.'' Mr. Brewer said Mr. Berry chained Mr. Byrd to the truck and kicked him several times. ''We heard that chain coming out of the back of the truck, rattling, vibrating the back of the truck,'' he said. Mr. Brewer testified that as the truck was speeding down the road, they all felt the body hit a culvert. A pathologist has testified that Mr. Byrd, 49, was still alive until that moment, when he was decapitated. Asked to look at the gruesome photos of Mr. Byrd's remains, Mr. Brewer sobbed and refused, saying, ''I don't want to look at them.'' Mr. Brewer said that before the killing, ''I intended to break up the fight. If I knew the results, I would have gone to the cops.'' Mr. Brewer had prefaced his remarks by saying he wanted to ''clear up everything'' regarding his role in Mr. Byrd's death. As Mr. Brewer's lawyers began their defense today, they acknowledged that he was at the scene of the slaying. Mr. Brewer said he had a history of burglaries, drug use and parole violations that eventually put him in a state prison. He said he joined a racist inmate group, the Confederate Knights of America, so he would fit into the hostile environment and make it out of the Texas prison alive. He said he accepted an invitation to join the group and received its tattoos for protection. Earlier in the trial, the prosecution said that far from being a passive follower, Mr. Brewer was an ''exalted cyclops'' or top leader of the group. His voice shaking and trembling, Mr. Brewer said he hid from gang members the fact that he was married to a Hispanic woman and had a son. He said that when his wife visited the prison and brought his son, he tried to keep other inmates from seeing him with them. The defense rested its case after Mr. Brewer's testimony, which lasted most of the day. Closing arguments were set for Monday, when the case should go to the jury. www.nytimes.com/1999/09/18/us/defendant-says-he-didn-t-mean-to-take-part-in-dragging-death.html?ref=shawnaberry
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Post by oslooskar on Sept 22, 2011 13:19:23 GMT -6
One of three suspects in one of the most grisly hate crime murders in recent Texas history has himself been put to death. "suspects"?
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Post by whitediamonds on Sept 22, 2011 15:23:06 GMT -6
One of three suspects in one of the most grisly hate crime murders in recent Texas history has himself been put to death. "suspects"? Suspects? That sounds like a PTO comment
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Post by Stormyweather on Sept 22, 2011 15:27:11 GMT -6
Suspects? That sounds like a PTO comment Why not the three people of interest?
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Post by whitediamonds on Sept 22, 2011 15:40:02 GMT -6
Suspects? That sounds like a PTO comment Why not the three people of interest? Hey, off topic just now while sitting here, not sure if true or a link to, but stated TX prisons will not have last meals for killers anymore !!!! On the news..ABC
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Post by unkelremus on Sept 22, 2011 16:01:24 GMT -6
Texas prisons end special last meals in executions HOUSTON — Texas inmates who are set to be executed will no longer get their choice of last meals, a change prison officials made Thursday after a prominent state senator became miffed over an expansive request from a man condemned for a notorious dragging death. Lawrence Russell Brewer, who was executed Wednesday for the hate crime slaying of James Byrd Jr. more than a decade ago, asked for two chicken fried steaks, a triple-meat bacon cheeseburger, fried okra, a pound of barbecue, three fajitas, a meat lover's pizza, a pint of ice cream and a slab of peanut butter fudge with crushed peanuts. Prison officials said Brewer didn't eat any of it. "It is extremely inappropriate to give a person sentenced to death such a privilege," Sen. John Whitmire, chairman of the Senate Criminal Justice Committee, wrote in a letter Thursday to Brad Livingston, the executive director of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Within hours, Livingston said the senator's concerns were valid and the practice of allowing death row offenders to choose their final meal was history. "Effective immediately, no such accommodations will be made," Livingston said. "They will receive the same meal served to other offenders on the unit." That had been the suggestion from Whitmire, who called the traditional request "ridiculous." www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44631059/ns/us_news/No more Dr.Peppers
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Post by Stormyweather on Sept 22, 2011 16:04:32 GMT -6
Texas prisons end special last meals in executions No more Dr.Peppers Now that's just cruel.
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Post by oslooskar on Sept 23, 2011 11:20:52 GMT -6
Suspects? That sounds like a PTO comment Why not the three people of interest? Because in this great nation of ours we don't put "suspects" or "people of interest" to death.
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Post by Stormyweather on Sept 23, 2011 11:47:15 GMT -6
Why not the three people of interest? Because in this great nation of ours we don't put "suspects" or "people of interest" to death. Well according to that article we put one of two suspects to death. I thought they were done being suspects once convicted.
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Post by oslooskar on Sept 23, 2011 22:26:23 GMT -6
I thought they were done being suspects once convicted. Me too!
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Post by moonlight on Sept 24, 2011 5:29:55 GMT -6
And I'm looking for the execution of John King. I want to see him dead as quickly as possible.
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Post by oslooskar on Sept 26, 2011 11:11:25 GMT -6
And I'm looking for the execution of John King. I want to see him dead as quickly as possible. His existence offends me!
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Post by Stormyweather on Sept 26, 2011 11:34:29 GMT -6
And I'm looking for the execution of John King. I want to see him dead as quickly as possible. His existence offends me! How about Suzanne Basso?
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Post by oslooskar on Sept 26, 2011 13:37:03 GMT -6
She is no less evil than John King or Mr. Brewer.
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Post by moonlight on Sept 26, 2011 14:10:03 GMT -6
His existence offends me! How about Suzanne Basso? The ugly slot should go down as well but for me a hate crime murder is more heinous and more despicable than any other murder. Indeed, John king was the master mind of James Byrd's murder and I find it very disturbing this dirtbag is still alive. I already said in one of my previous posts Texas has her duty to prove the entire world she is a place where ALL are entirely equal regardless of ethnic extraction, gender, religion OR race. Those evil people from Jaspar by their deeds wanted to restore the awful days when blacks were lynched by the white mob. By annihilating the dirtbag Brewer Texas sent a clear message to the world she's committed for the egalitarian ideas the pillars of the American people. Only the complete elimination of the other undesirable element, John King, can assure Texas never returns to the dark days of the 50s of the racial discrimination against its black citizens.
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Post by Stormyweather on Sept 26, 2011 14:36:32 GMT -6
How about Suzanne Basso? The ugly slot should go down as well but for me a hate crime murder is more heinous and more despicable than any other murder. I wouldn't exactly call what Suzanne Basso did nicer crime. How can we say what she did wasn't hateful? She obviously didn't love the guy.
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Post by arizonavet on Sept 26, 2011 14:43:12 GMT -6
Yeah, I knew this piece of sub-human excretment would be "fast-tracked".... He's a biggoted, percieved right winger.... No political "hay" to be made here..... Not Texas' fault....we were willing to "do" all of the sentenced this month.... Black or white....left or right....just "do-em".
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