My personal eyewitness experience to an execution in Texas; it was no 'Dead Man Walking' scene

My personal eyewitness experience to an execution

Before March 25, 1999, I had never witnessed an execution. All I knew about an execution was what I had read, had seen in the movies. On TV and in some movies, an execution is more suggestive than the actual showing of it. Real executions are nothing like the scene in Dead Man Walking, where the condemned killer is strapped to an upright gurney so that he can face families and witnesses. That is not the way they do it in Texas.

The above date was the year my cousin, Charles Henry Rector, was executed by the State of Texas. He had been on death row since September 2, 1982. Today, twelve years later the memory is still lives with me. 

After Charles’ execution, his plea of innocence piqued my curiosity. I began a research journey into his case. I read everything I could find, including trial transcripts, police reports from Austin and Killeen, Texas, news stories, his appeals. I’ve pulled some of that information to help write his blog. But first, my one and only experience observing an execution.

The Texas execution chamber is housed next to this larger 
pink building.

The Pink Building

Inmates awaiting execution are housed in a holding cell in Huntsville, Texas, located in downtown. The huge building is a deep pink facility that stretches a couple of blocks. Inmates relocated in this building will be executed unless they get a stay from the governor. 

Inmates can be seem looking out onto the streets from behind barred windows. The actual execution chamber is located behind the pink building. In the center of the room is a gurney covered by a clean white sheet, a pillow and five straps to hold down the inmate’s arms, legs and mid-section just in case the condemned tries to get off the table. On each side of the gurney are two padded arms rests with thick straps on each side. (see photo below)

There is a slanted mirror to the left in the 9 foot by 12 foot chamber. Tubes that carry sodium thiopental, pancuronium bromide, and potassium chloride (this was the deadly cocktail in 1999) are fed through the small square opening in the wall. Relatives of the condemned and those of the victim observe the execution through different windows in different rooms, separated by a cement wall. They cannot see or hear each other.

Stepping into the execution chamber, witnesses eyes zoom immediately to the inmate lying on the gurney, securely strapped down. Charles appeared composed and resigned to his fate. It was somewhat startling (for me) to see him lying on his "death bed" in such quiet silence. He was dressed in a freshly laundered white (pants and short sleeve shirt) prison uniform. A white sheet covered him from mid-chest to his feet. A intravenous needle was attached to his left his arm. The warden and a priest were in the chamber with him, which is tradition. The chamber was solemn, calm and silent. I am told that at the time of death an inmate may lose control of his bodily functions, the reason for the sheet.

Prior to preparation for an execution, a condemned inmate can order a last meal. He or she will have 30 minutes to eat (3:20 to 4 pm). All visitations are stopped at 12:30 pm, except for the chaplain. Charles' last meal consisted of three tacos, three beef enchilada, french fries and a strawberry shake. Inmates can refuse the last meal. Loosing one's appetite at the last minutes seems normal. It is not mandatory that they eat what they ordered. After the meal the inmate takes a shower, and changes into clean pants and shirt. After this the prepping process continues.  A medically trained person inserts an intravenous catheter into the inmate's arm. The process is completed before relatives and witnesses arrive to witness the execution.

When the execution is completed, and the inmate is announced deceased, families of the executed inmates and relatives of the victim do not walk out together. Nor did they enter the chamber simultaneously. In the administration building they never see each other. If a witness or family member needs counseling prior to the execution, the service is provided. Everyone is escorted to the chamber about 30 minutes before the execution. In Texas all executions are scheduled for 6:00 p.m.  After the execution concludes families are free to talk to the media.

Strapped and ready

Texas' well used execution chamber

Charles looked in our direction when we stepped into the death chamber, taking our place at the picture window.  There were no chairs in the chamber like in the movies. We all stood at the window to watch the execution. Unsure I would be able to watch the execution, I told prison personnel prior to the execution that I wanted to leave soon after  Charles made his last statement. She understood and said that could be arranged. I tried to watch but I could watch him die. 

As I told him earlier in a telephone conversation: “Take your soul to a higher place. Texas can kill your body but not your soul.” Observing him displayed on the gurney, I looked at him and pointed upward.

I cannot imagine what Charles Henry Rector, my first cousin, was feeling lying there, an intravenous needle in his left arm, ready to die for a crime he said he was not guilty of committing. During a last minute telephone call that was not supposed to happen, Charles, in an upbeat mood, declared his innocence. The telephone call is too long to write about in this blog. I'll just say that God was on my side that depressive afternoon. Maybe I'll write about it another day.

As is the custom, the warden asked Charles if he had any thing to say. Charles, who had learned to write poetry and rap songs, said he did. He spoke into the microphone suspended above his head. The warden pulled it down close to Charles's mouth so everyone could hear him. He looked at his sister, Gigi and said:

The first statement I would like to make it’s to my sister. I want her to know that every thing that is said, every move that is made, every motion I hold is true to my heart. I hold it in my soul.

I want you to know that I am not guilty and I will say this to the family. I did not kill your daughter. Take it the way you want. Sorry for the pain.

Sister, I love you and will be there with you, to help you. I want to talk to you about being there . . . You know what I am saying. I want to thank you, thank you for the words. The dying words, you know. They mean a lot. Make sure he knows what I want him to know.

I want to quote a song that I wrote called "God Living with Us 24 Hours." It goes:

Tell the kids I love them and I’ll be there. That’s all I have to say.

He thanked me, football star Thomas "Hollywood" Henderson and his sister for coming to his execution. 

Turning to talk to the murdered girl's five family members, Charles said, "I want you to know that I am not guilty. And I will say this to this, I did not kill your daughter. Take it the way you want. Sorry for the pain".

After Charles said what he wanted to say, the warden then signaled the hidden death deliverers to proceed with the execution. I told the guard to open the steel door. I stepped into the early evening air, feeling sick to my stomach. I went back the waiting room in the pink building, my whole body shaking. I waited for the execution to end. The experience was very dramatic for me. I don't think it will ever leave me.

Charles was pronounced dead at 6:22 p.m. After the execution and death was confirmed, Charles's body was taken from the execution chamber to a waiting hearse. Usually, the body is either delivered to the family's mortuary of choice or buried by the state. The condemned, in a prearrangement, can request that his or her body be donated to the state's anatomical board for the purpose of medical research.

Public execution poll: To view or not to view

A  poll taken in 2001 asked this  question: ”Should the public be able to view executions?”  Respondents were divided: 23% said yes; 23% were against; 19% felt executions should be viewed by family members only; and 17% said executions should be private.

Hundreds of reporters and photographers, some from as far away as New York and Chicago,  were dispatched to Owensboro to cover what was then the country's first hanging of a woman. At least 20,000 people descended on the town to witness the execution. Bethea walked toward the gallows shortly after sunrise and was pronounced dead at around 5:45 a.m. that same day.

In 1936, reporters blasted what they called the 'carnival in Owensboro.' Many scholars say Bethea's execution -- and the coverage it received -- led to a banning of public executions in America. (NPR, May 1, 2001)