James Beathard

[Mr Seabrook]

This guy innocent? Unbiased information seems to be hard to come by in this case. Anyone know of a good source for FACTS about this rather than the offender's claims?

[Deleted]

www.txexecutions.org/reports/197.asp
The above appears unbiased.

After reading his whole story, I must say....alot of things are sound in his account of what happened.

Unfortunately, unless the case is reopened there is no telling......now.

Bobbie

[Charlene]

Guest-Mr said:

This guy innocent? Unbiased information seems to be hard to come by in this case. Anyone know of a good source for FACTS about this rather than the offender's claims?

Interesting letter to the editor of the Austin Chronicle:

Death Penalty: Up Close & Personal
Louis:

Thank you for taking the time to read my letter. I am writing to express my feelings about a portion of your "Top 10s of 2000" article. I would like to preface this letter by saying thank you for bringing us articles that need to be heard. It is comforting to know that you will continue reporting on the subjects that the mainstream media has deemed too controversial to mention.

That being said, I am pro-death penalty. I never really surface the reasons why until I think back to my seventh-grade year when my stepfather let me go to a triple murder case trial. My stepfather was the elected sheriff of Trinity County at the time and you can bet that in a small town that was all that was going on. My sister and I even broke into his briefcase and saw pictures of the murder scene.

Your article subsectioned "Top 10 Executions" ["The Year That Wasn't," Jan. 5] made the general statement that James Beathard "probably was not guilty" and received questionable representation. I can say that some small-town indigent defense attorneys lack experience and have to work with the prosecutors to actually help them on certain cases. I will concede that point and admit that is not a great situation for the defendant.

I want everyone who is reading this to know that I not only went to Alabama to pick up a key witness who told us endless stories of how evil Mr. Beathard and his accomplice were, but that I also met the defendants on multiple occasions. I will save you details of the trial that was written up by several national magazine publications. Basically for a $3 million insurance policy, Mr. Beathard and Gene Hathorn murdered Mr. Hathorn's parents at point-blank range.

If I would not have seen those pictures I would still not be in favor of the death penalty. The first picture I saw was of Gene Hathorn's five-year-old brother curled up in his closet, shot point-blank with a shotgun right between his eyes.

I'm sorry about this long rant but I just want people to know that James Beathard and Gene Hathorn are guilty. No question about it. Mr. Beathard had a smile all the way through his trial to make all of the sympathizers feel sorry for him. Congratulations to your staff for making people feel sympathy for him again. I am glad James Beathard died for his actions.

Thank you for your time,

Charles Stover

[Mr Seabrook]

Thanks for the replies.
Beathard's story is believable if not sensational. The question that continues to come to me is this: Why wasn't there any media attention paid to this case if he were possibly innocent? The media lives for this kind of stuff yet there was almost no coverage. On the other hand, in the Gary Graham case the media was in an all-out frenzy and Graham was so obviously guilty.

[Deleted]

Guest-Mr said:

Thanks for the replies.
Beathard's story is believable if not sensational. The question that continues to come to me is this: Why wasn't there any media attention paid to this case if he were possibly innocent? The media lives for this kind of stuff yet there was almost no coverage. On the other hand, in the Gary Graham case the media was in an all-out frenzy and Graham was so obviously guilty.

Good question.
I always used to think this, cause there are so many cases out there, some get some attention, others more and others none.
I went in search on the net to find out at the time and here is what I found again today:
www.asmallvictory.net/archives/003327.html
Which are personal views and good ones. Alot ring true.

or this post.......
www.houseogroove.com/cuppa/archives/000761.html

I personally think if the person fits into the `ideal` of the good American, they get the `air` time.
Having the right contacts, being approachable, etc are factors that make the media take a shine to someone and publish their story. Makes good reading and sound bites, ups their ratings and sells newspapers.
If the story doesn't look like it will get the last two I mentioned, it never sees the light of day.

Shame really, cause at the end of the day, it should be equal and for the people.

Take care,
Bobbie

[Macklin]

here is a link to everything that went on in the courts in the appeals process....read this and you will plainly see the man was
guilty.


James Beathard appeals process:

www.ca5.uscourts.gov/opinions/pub/96/96-40760-CV0.HTM