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) 

The Georgia execution of Troy Anthony Davis brought back unpleasant memories

On Wednesday, September 21, 2011, Americans and people all over the world were cognizant that Troy Davis, a 42-year-old Africa American man from Georgia, was going to be executed for a crime he said he did not commit. Previously, he had requested a polygraph test, but the request was blocked by prison officials. Davis's lawyer petitioned the Supreme Court to stop the execution, but the request denied without explanation. The four hours wait to get the word from the Supreme Court was an intense nail-biter. The Court was Davis's the last hope. 

Ed Jackson, reporter for The Guardian, a British newspaper, was in Georgia for the execution. He wrote, "Even if you set aside the issue of Davis's innocence or guilt, the manner of his execution tonight is cruel and unnatural.

"If the execution goes ahead as expected, it would be the fourth scheduled execution date for this prisoner. In 2008 he was given a stay just 90 minutes before he was set to die. Experts in death row say such multiple experiences with imminent death is tantamount to torture".

After the Supreme Court's decision was announced, Davis was wheeled into Georgia's death chamber at 10:53 pm.  He was pronounced dead at 11:08. Amy Goodman of Democracy Now interviewed radio journalist Jon Lewis after the execution. He related with happened.

"Basically, it went very quietly. The MacPhail family and friends sat in the first row. Warden read the order, asked if Troy Davis had anything to say. And Davis lifted his head up, looked at that first row, and made a statement, in which he said—he wanted to talk to the MacPhail family and said that, despite the situation you’re in, he was not the one who did it. He said that he was not personally responsible for what happened that night, that he did not have a gun.

"He said to the family that he was sorry for their loss, but also said that he did not take their son, father, brother. He said to them to dig deeper into this case, to find out the truth. He asked his family and—his family and friends to keep praying, to keep working and keep the faith. And then he said to the prison staff, the ones he said 'who are going to take my life,' he said to them,  'May God bless your souls.' Then he put his head back down, the procedure began, and about 15 minutes later it was over."'

At the conclusion of the prosecution and defense attorney summations, August 28, 1991, it took a jury less than two hours to find of Troy Davis guilty of murder, aggravated assault, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony and obstruction of a law enforcement officer. 

Addressing the jury Davis pleaded that his life be spared. He asked the jury to " .  .  . just give me a chance. That's all I ask. He told the jury he was charged with "offenses I didn't commit". On August 30, 1991, after seven hours of deliberation, the jury recommended that Davis get the death penalty. He had three execution dates and three stays before September 21, 2011.

Davis was the eldest child of four. He was the son of Korean War veteran Joseph Davis, and Virginia Davis. They divorced when Davis was young. He grew up in a middle class neighborhood in Savannah, Georgia.

Troy Anthony Davis

Mark MacPhail

 What happened the night officer McPhail was killed

In the early morning hours of August 19, 1989, several people including Troy Davis and Sylvester “Redd” Coles, were hanging out near a Burger King parking lot adjoined to a Greyhound bus station in Savannah, Georgia.  Coles started arguing with a homeless man named Larry Young, demanding that Young give him a beer.

As Young walked away, he was pistol-whipped, the gun striking his head. Police officer Mark MacPhail, serving off-duty as a security guard at the bus station, responded to a call for help. As he came running to Young’s rescue he was shot and killed by the same man who had attacked Young. The day after the shooting Coles went to the police station with his lawyer and said Troy Davis was the shooter.

Seven eyewitnesses who said they saw what happened, later recanted their testimony. Endeavoring to correct their original testimony was not convincing enough to derail Davis's execution. The last ray of hope was killed when the U. S. Supreme Court denied a stay. Reportedly, there was no physical evidence connecting Davis to the fatal shooting.

Watching the pending execution of Troy Anthony Davis on television Wednesday night I felt jittery, overcome with nervous energy. I could not explain my reaction to myself or anyone else. I got on my treadmill, where I walked for one solid hour. And then I remembered the day I got a letter from my cousin, Charles H. Rector, informing me that his execution date had been set. I felt a burst of nervous energy, so much so that I ironed clothes I had set aside for almost a year. I felf lost and helpless. I finally concluded I was reliving that March 25, 1999 execution in Texas all over again.

Mark MacPhail was 27 years old when he was killed in 1989. He was married and the father of a two-year-old daughter and an infant son. He joined the Savannah Police Department in 1986 after spending six years in the military as a Army Ranger. The son of an Army Colonel, MacPhail was a patrol officer for three years. In 1989, seeking a career change within the police department, he applied to train as a mounted policeman.

Mark MacPhail was laid to rest August 22, 1989 at the Trinity Lutheran Church.

Charles Henry Rector: Was he guilty of murder and rape beyond a reasonable doubt?

 Family Genealogy

The Texas judicial system said “Yes” but facts in his case said “No.”

Supposedly, Carolyn "Katy” Davis was kidnapped from her apartment October 17, 1981, by Charles Rector, 27, Howard Ray Simon, 21, and Michael Anthony Miller, 21. All three were on parole and lived in the same halfway house on East 12th Street in Austin, Texas. There were no eyewitnesses putting Rector in Davis’s apartment. Someone at the complex came forward, and said he saw two Black men walking towards Davis’s apartment, neither of which were identified. Investigators told the media the intruders climbed through a second-floor window to gain entrance to the apartment. No ladder was found under the window.

Charles Henry Rector

Police reports that I read stated that when they arrested Rector near the crime scene, he was alone and shirtless. The night was humid. He had no bruises or scratches on his body. The area where Davis’s body was found the next day was grassy and muddy.

Some important facts involving Charles Rector’s case

A)  One defense lawyer involved in the case said that without Howard Ray Simon’s testimony the case against Rector would “definitely be a circumstantial case.” Another source said it would be a strong circumstantial case, but admitted that without Simon there are no witnesses to put Rector either with Davis or in the victim’s apartment. (Austin American Statesman)

B)  Simon hightails it to Dallas after the murder/rape. He is caught and returned to Austin. He makes a confession implicating himself, Rector and Michael Anthony Miller. He escapes the Travis County jail and goes on the run again. A few weeks later he is shot and killed by a Logansport teenager after a robbery in Louisiana.

C)  Scattered clothing was found in the area near Davis’s nude body on the lake. Police were unsure who they belonged to.

D)  Reportedly, Rector was arrested after returning to the scene of crime to look for a knife he left. At the trial the prosecution did not present the knife that would put Rector in Davis’s apartment.

E)  This is an excerpt from a police report: “. . . a ‘78 Ford, stolen and recovered at the Hyde Park Parking Garage. Officer James Beck, reporting officer, wrote in his police report that it was seen at 2:30 a.m. I went to the police garage, observed a lot of mud. While caliche grass and mud [are] comparable to that found on the clothing of Howard Simon of whose clothes I had gotten after 3 a.m. Rector’s car had no grass or dirt that put it at the crime scene. There was no dirt or cut grass on the pants or shoes he was wearing despite prosecutors saying he was on the lake committing the act of murder against Davis.”

F)  A firearms expert testified that the caliber of pistol found in Charles Rector’s car may have been involved in the slaying, but ballistic tests proved inconclusive.

G)  In a confession Michael Anthony Miller said the three of them– Charles Rector and Howard Simon--returned to halfway house with Carolyn Davis sitting in the back seat.  Miller wanted to change clothes.

H)  Soil and hair taken from Charles Rector’s car did not match those found on Carolyn Davis’s body.

I)  According to Scott Eby, a witness on the night of the crime, (from original police report, page 47) he said he heard someone walking outside his apartment. He heard a female scream, and then a splash as if someone had fallen into the swimming pool. He said he looked out his window and saw the backside of one Black man and heard the voice of more than one person. He described what they were wearing. However, by the time Charles Rector went to trial, his testimony had changed.

J)  Officer William Matthews testified that he noticed some stolen items in the trunk of Rector’s car at the end of "high speed chase" (approximately 20 to 25 MPH). He testified that Rector was wearing a pair of tight blue jeans, a pair of beige shoes, no shirt. Williams testified that Rector had some of the victim’s jewelry in his blue jean's pockets, was wearing a high school class ring bearing her initials. He testified that Rector was not wearing underwear.

K)  A pair of men’s underwear and a pair of pantyhose were found near the crime scene. Neither item was testified to at Charles Rector’s trial. There was no forensic report as to who the underwear and pantyhose belonged to.

L) From the beginning of the trial jurors were told the state’s case was based on circumstantial evidence, and there were no eyewitnesses to the murder/rape of Carolyn Davis.

M)  The Austin American Statesman wrote that defense lawyers spent most of Thursday morning trying to discredit Bayardo’s testimony about the time of death. The medical examiner said Davis died about 11 p.m. Oct. 17, an hour before Rector was arrested.

Charles Henry Rector, 1999

**In a letter dated March 23, 1999, Charles Rector wrote:  “Even though we now have the evidence that I was in the custody of the Austin Police Department at the time the deceased in my case was being murdered, I can’t get the court to give me a hearing so that I could show the court the evidence. So, I may just die because I don’t have the money to pay a attorney to get me a hearing . . . I am filing a motion on my own and just maybe the court will hear my motion . . .”

N)  Joe Irvin, Carolyn Davis’s stepfather, identified Michael Miller in court as one of two men who returned to Davis’s apartment soon after killing her. Minutes after the men were spotted, Charles Rector was arrested a few blocks away.

O)  Citing a lack of evidence, jurors on Friday acquitted Anthony Miller of the 1981 murder of Carolyn “Katy” Davis.

Medical examiner in denial

Travis County Medical Examiner Roberto Bayardo was one of only two defense witnesses. The other, private investigator Don Cripps, said Bayardo told him in December that Davis died between 1 a.m. and 3 a.m. Oct 18--after Rector already was in custody (Austin American Statesman). The medical examiner denied he made that statement to the investigator.

With the death of Howard Simon, Michael Anthony Miler cut a deal with prosecutors. He was acquitted of all charges.  Miller’s parole officer said Miller had not violated his parole while spinning records in a night club, breaking his curfew.

It took 1 1/2 hours for an all-White jury-- seven men, four women-- to find Charles 
Henry Rector guilty of rape and murder. The prosecution was shocked at the jury’s speeding decision, but praised them for finding Rector guilty “beyond a reasonable doubt.”

There was no doubt in the mind of the prosecution and jury that Rector could abduct 
Carolyn Davis, drive across town to an isolated location on Town Lake, repeatedly 
rape her, shot her in the head, hold her head underwater until she drowned, drive back to her complex to search for a knife he thought he left behind. There was no mud or grass on the jeans he was wearing, no matching dirt on his shoes, no scratches or marks on his body. He did all this from between 9 p.m. and 11 p.m., the time he was arrested.

Supposedly, Rector and Miller were seen running from the apartment. Supposedly, they were seen by a fingerprint's expert and Davis's stepfather. I assume Miller ran in a different direction. Charles was sitting alone in his car when police approached him. Supposedly, Charles had run a couple of blocks to his parked car. He got into the car, waiting for Miller. A policeman approached the car. Charles started the engine and engaged the officer in a "high speed" chase.

Like Troy Anthony Davis, Charles Henry Rector pleaded innocent of the crime for which he was charged. Unlike Davis, there were no protests against Rector’s execution. But like Davis, Rector did not have money to hire a qualified attorney. Before his trial began Rector refused to plead guilty in exchange for life in prison. He said he was not guilty. He was not willing to accept a plea deal.

In an interview with Michael Graczyk, Houston Chronicle, Rector told him, “I’m not sorry 
to have not taken the life sentence. I’d rather die than say I’m guilty. It’s not my crime. It’s not my nature to kill for blue jeans. Come on, it would take an animal to kill for a pair of blue jeans.”
 

Rector was the 172nd prisoner to be executed since Texas resumed its death penalty in December 1982 when Charles Brooks, an African American, became to the first condemned to die by lethal injection. In 1999, 17 Whites, 11 Blacks and seven Hispanics were executed. As of December 2009, the death penalty has been authorized in 36 stares. Texas leads the nation with the number executions since reinstated in 1976 after a brief moratorium. 

Gary Graham and a single eyewitness conviction

Gary Graham

 "Whoever kills a person, the murderer shall be put to death on the testimony of witnesses; but one witness is not sufficient testimony against a person for the death penalty." Numbers 35:30

 On June 23, 2000 a controversial execution took place in Texas. It was not a first for the Lone Star State. This pending execution drew media attention, anti-death penalty protests and noted civil rights activists. The death row inmate was Gary Graham, 36, an African American. He was convicted on the word of one eyewitness. 

Frank Jarrett, chairman of the Board of Pardons and Paroles, said of the witness: “She was credible” compared to the other witnesses who testified for Graham. He said the woman never wavered from her testimony whereas the other witnesses changed their stories.

Gary Graham was convicted in 1981. He claimed he was  innocent of the shooting death. He was 17 when he was charged with the 1981 armed robbery and shooting death of Bobby Lambert outside a Houston supermarket. Graham was convicted primarily on the testimony of one witness, Bernadine Skillern, who testified that she saw the killer's face for a few seconds through her windshield from a distance of 30-40 feet.

Many  capital murder cases are decided without the benefit of an eyewitness. A number of criminal defense attorneys have stated that they prefer it when there is an eyewitness. It gives them a chance to create reasonable doubt. Harris County defense attorney Robert Morrow said, "I see there's an eyewitness and I see an opportunity."

Another local defense lawyer, Floyd Freed, said, " . . .  it certainly gives me more hope at trial" if the prosecutors present an eyewitness. Death penalty cases are usually decided on confessions, physical evidence, and/or circumstantial evidence. In Graham's case there was no confession or  physical evidence. The circumstantial evidence was so weak, prosecutors had to base the  majority of their case on Bernadine Skillern's testimony.” (Texas Execution Information Center).

Two other witnesses, both of whom worked at the grocery store, said they got a good look at the assailant. They said Graham, who has a criminal record, was not the killer. They were never interviewed by Graham's court appointed attorney, Ronald Mock. They were not called to testify at  his trial. Three of the jurors who voted to convict Graham signed affidavits saying they would have voted differently had all of the evidence been available.

Gary Graham’s execution was postponed for three hours while lawyers appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court for clemency. The request was denied. His court appointed lawyer initiated a lawsuit against the Board of Pardons and Paroles. He said the Board it refused to grant a reprieve.

Gerald Garrett

In an interview with Board of Pardons and Paroles Chairman Gerald Garrett in 2000, he told me, "In the Gary Graham case we kept getting information from different people; different resources that felt they had information that was important enough to be considered. So I extended the deadline twice to accommodate the additional information.”

Garrett said they were criticized for making a decision on the day of Graham's execution. Addressing public's conception of the Board faxing and telephoning their decisions, Garrett said they have a set "due date" to respond to an application. Board members independently review "this information and then on a certain day, we ask them to get the information back to Austin. It is sent back to us by fax."

Gov. George Bush, then a presidential candidate, said the decision was in the hands of the Board. In Texas, the Board has power over the governor in death penalty cases. The Board voted 14-3 against a 120-day reprieve; 12-5 against computation to a lesser sentence and 17-0 against a conditional pardon.

Among the witnesses to Graham’s execution were civil rights activists Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton. Given there were so much doubt about Graham’s guilt, Jackson asked Bush to delay the execution. Like all governors preceding him, Bush believed that capital punishment is just, and is a reliable deterrent against crime.

“There are many doubts as to whether Graham, who was 17 at the time of his arrest, actually killed grocery clerk Bobby Lambert on May 13, 1981, during a robbery attempt. There is no physical evidence linking Graham to the crime. His conviction was based primarily on the testimony of one eyewitness, whose identification of Graham is disputed by other eyewitnesses.

“Texas State Senator Rodney Ellis has called on the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles to hold a public hearing on the Graham case. The 18-member board, which generally votes by fax, plans to vote privately on Thursday and issue a decision at noon, only six hours before Graham is to be put to death. Usually the board meets prior to the scheduled day of execution. The board, comprised of Bush appointees earning $80,000-a-year salaries, has only commuted one death sentence since Bush took office in 1995.” (World Socialist Web Site, June 22, 2000)

Doubts on the minds of Graham supporters:

A) Only one of six witnesses identified Graham. 
B) The gun found on Graham did not fire the bullet that killed Lambert.
 C) Four witnesses said Graham was someplace else when the robbery/murder took place.

Graham is not willing to succumb to the executioner 

According to an eyewitness, Graham violently fought his appointment with death. He had to be restrained and physically carried to the death chamber. He was wrapped in a white sheet to subdue him. As Graham struggled to stave off the execution he continually proclaimed his innocence.

In a long last statement, Graham said: I would like to say that I did not kill Bobby Lambert. That I'm an innocent black man that is being murdered. This is a lynching that is happening in America tonight. There's overwhelming and compelling evidence of my defense that has never been heard in any court of America. What is happening here is an outrage for any civilized country to anybody anywhere to look at what's happening here is wrong. I thank all of the people that have rallied to my cause. They've been standing in support of me. Who have finished with me. I say to Mr. Lambert's family, I did not kill Bobby Lambert. You are pursuing the execution of an innocent man.

I want to express my sincere thanks to all of ya'll. We must continue to move forward and do everything we can to outlaw legal lynching in America. We must continue to stay strong all around the world, and people must come together to stop the systematic killing of poor and innocent black people. We must continue to stand together in unity and to demand a moratorium on all executions. We must not let this murder/lynching be forgotten tonight, my brothers. We must take it to the nation. We must keep our faith.

We must go forward. We recognize that many leaders have died. Malcom X, Martin Luther King, and others who stood up for what was right. They stood up for what was just. We must, you must brothers, that's why I have called you today. You must carry on that condition. What is here is just a lynching that is taking place. But they're going to keep on lynching us for the next 100 years, if you do not carry on that tradition, and that period of resistance. We will prevail. We may loose this battle, but we will win the war. This death, this lynching will be avenged. It will be avenged, it must be avenged.

The people must avenge this murder. So my brothers, all of ya'll stay strong, continue to move forward. We will prevail. We will keep marching. Keep marching black people, black power. Keep marching black people, black power. Keep marching black people. Keep marching black people. They are killing me tonight. They are murdering me tonight.” 

Graham refused a last meal. 

Anti-death penalty protesters

Charles H. Rector: His last letter from death row

Family Genealogy

Charles Henry Rector, 1999 photo

Who will cry for me when I die?

who will cry for me 
when I die?
will my children cry?
my father? my brothers?
my sisters? my friends?
will my mother cry
out from her
own lonely grave?
years ago she too wondered:
who will cry
for me when I die? 

 poem by dorothy charles banks

Charles Henry Rector 1954-1999 

 (1982 photo)

Lola Mae Edwards Chism

Charles Henry Rector came into the world April 16, 1954; born to Lola Mae Edwards Rector and Charles Daniel Rector. He was the first child for his father and the second for his mother. When he reached puberty, if not before then, Charles’ life took control of him, moving him too fast, pushing him onto the wrong lane of life. He found himself stuck in this dramatic lane until he landed on death row, charged with murder and rape of a White woman. By then it was too late rewrite the script for less drama in his life. It was too late to correct all past mistakes sitting on his in his lap, keeping him company on death row in Texas. 

Charles and his mother had a stormy relationship. Nevertheless, he was her favorite, even though she had three daughters. However, she loved them all in her own way. None of them were physically abused or neglected.

Charles' father and Lola Mae separated when he was a small child. He had no contact with his father after he left Texas, and relatives on his father's side did not keep in contact with him or Lola Mae.

While sitting on death row, starring at the  future he would never have, Charles did not lose faith that a miracle would happen. Transcripts from his trial and court testimony suggested his guilt was questionable. His court appointed lawyer was as useless as Donald Duck pretending to be F. Lee Bailey. He refused to let Charles testify. Charles wanted to testify and tell his side of the story about the night he was accused of a double crime.

After Charles was executed, I decided to go to the Austin County Courthouse to read his court transcripts. I thought they were housed at the Courthouse, but they on file at another location. That's when luck led to me to a clerk who directed me to the correct location. I went to there several times and was allowed to read the trial transcripts. I scanned copies for over a month or so, nonstop. 

At home I read the transcripts carefully. I needed no attorney to tell me that something went terribly wrong with the trial. But that's what happens when a defendant is too poor to hire a capable attorney. Red flags hopped off pages of the transcripts like Mexican jumping beans. 

I learned that the victim's boyfriend rearranged pieces of furniture in the living room before calling the police. This puzzled me. There was no explanation in the police report explaining his actions.  Charles supposedly climbed a trellis to gain entrance into the apartment through a window. A trellis is a frame of latticework used as support for climbing plants. It is not strong enough to hold a small child, let alone an adult trying to climb it like a ladder. Unless it was custom made out of steel, a cheap trellis will crumble under a heavy plant. His attorney did not inject this information into the trial.

In addition to the transcripts I also made copies of police reports the night of Charles's arrest. He gave up his right to have an attorney present when the police questioned him. The report stated that Charles said he had not committed a crime, so he saw no reason to have an attorney present.  They fooled him, telling him he had nothing to worry about. That move was a big mistake. Charles sealed his own fate.

After reading the transcripts I contacted an attorney to see if he would look at them. I wanted to see if, perhaps, Texas has executed another innocent man. I had no other course of action in mind. I just wanted to affirm my suspicions. The attorney was reluctant to look at the transcripts, and advised me that Charles had been executed already, and there was nothing I could do. I was willing to pay him to look at the transcripts, but he had no interest in looking at them. That let me know that no other reputable attorney would read the transcripts.

Charles was briefly married to Mabel O. Kekeocha, a woman from Africa. The marriage took place July 1, 1981.  They got married so that she could get a green card.  The marriage was a charade. They divorced August 31, 1984. They had no children together. 

While on death row Charles became a prolific poet and song writer, mostly rap. He even got interested in art. I got his first and only drawing a few days before his execution. Despite his pending fate, Charles kept alive his dreams of getting his music produced. His dream died with him. Having death lay next to him on his prison bunk, Charles did not shrink from what was awaiting him. He never lost faith that a miracle would happen.

In a brief letter dated February 20, 1998, Charles wrote to me: Sorry I’m just now writing you back, but as you know my mother died December 12, and that took a lot out of me because I loved the girl very much. So it’s taken me some time to deal with the fact that she would die before me. But I’m getting my head back together because I know I'll see her on the other side.

This last letter from Charles speaks for itself. Two days later he was executed.

March 23, 1999

Dear Dorothy,

I hope this letter to you find and all the family in the very best of health, and doing good. As you know by now I’m writing what looks like will be the last letter to you, and I wish to let you know that all of you are in my thoughts.

I have an execution date of March 25, 1999, and just about all of my counsel can do is file a motion for clemency, because he has no resources. I should say I have no money so he’s giving up. Even though we now have the evidence that I was in custody of the Austin Police Department at the time of the deceased was being murdered, I can’t get the court to give me a hearing so that I can show the court the evidence. So I just might die. I don’t have the money to pay an attorney to get me a hearing.

I am filing a motion on my own, and just maybe the court will hear my motion. It’s my last appeal. I don’t think the court is going to do the right thing. So they can just kiss my ass. That’s the way I feel about it. I have very little fear of death so I’m really ready for what they push my way. I know that they can’t make an innocent man guilty with a foul execution because they can’t execute the truth. I feel you can feel me and understand what I’m saying.

I have you and Jr. (Ernest Smith) on the list to come and see me off, but you may not get this letter in time. If not, then tell my Dawg Jr. that I love him, because he’s the only brother I know, and I know that he feels the same way about me. I will see him and all the family in another time and space. They are about to come to get me, so I must say Peace Out.

With love to all the family

Charles H. Rector

***Charles Henry Rector, 45, was executed by the State of Texas March 25, 1999, 6 p.m in Huntsville, Texas. He left behind to mourn his sisters Gigi Edwards, Barbara Jean Edwards, and Linda Gray, a host of cousins, nieces and nephews. He is preceded in death by his mother Lola Mae Edwards Chism, his grandmother Imogene Gray, his great-grandmother Leora (Leola) Fowler Sterling, his great-grandfather Mose (Mozell) Fowler, and several cousins. Rest in peace. 

Below are a couple of news reports regarding the rape and murder

Austin American-Statesman
Monday Morning Edition
Oct. 19, 1981

Lake yields body of kidnap victim

By Jerry White
American-Statesman Staff

A nude body pulled from Town Lake Sunday afternoon was that of a 22-year-old woman abducted Saturday after she returned home to find a burglar in her North Austin apartment, authorities said.

Police were considering filing murder charges Sunday against a 27-year-old man arrested on burglary and kidnapping charges three hours after the woman disappeared.

“This is the kind of case that makes me wish I was in a different profession,” said Municipal Judge Steve Russell, who presided at the suspect’s first court appearance. “It’s the kind of thing that could have happened to anybody.”

Authorities said the suspect, Charles Henry Rector, was on a pass from an Austin halfway house for parolees and drug abusers.

The victim, Carolyn Davis, was abducted about 9 p.m. Saturday from the La Paz Apartments, 402 W. 39th St. She had just arrived home from grocery shopping and had carried the first of four bags of groceries into the second-floor apartment when she was confronted by the intruder.

Police arrived at the scene about 9:15 p.m. Saturday after a neighbor reported hearing a scream. Officers found indications that the intruder entered through an open second-story window, but Davis was missing. The apartment had been ransacked and several items, including two guns, were missing.

About 2 p.m. Sunday, a group of people walking dogs found her body floating face down in Town Lake about 100 yards down river from Red Bud Trial near Tom Miller Dam.

Police officers said the body was unmarked. They said the Travis County Medical Examiner’s Office would have to determine the cause of death. Police were unsure whether some scattered clothes found in the area belonged to the victim.

Rector was arrested near West 38th Street and Speedway about 11:55 p.m. Saturday.

The suspect, who lived at the Community Cross Road Home, 2935 E. 12th St., was arrested after police saw him rummaging through the trunk of a parked car, Russell said. A spokesman for the home would not say why Rector was living there but said he had been there only “for a very short time.”

“He saw police and jumped in the car and drove off with the trunk of the car still open,” Russell said.

After a short chase, police stopped his car and found articles in the trunk allegedly taken from Davis’ apartment, Russell said. Police also found Davis’ high school class ring in Rector’s pocket, Russell said.

Rector was charged Sunday with burglary with intent to commit theft and kidnapping, Russell said. Rector remained in City Jail Sunday night in lieu of $50,000 bond.

Police Sunday night were contemplating whether they had enough evidence against Rector to charge him with murder.

“The police are compiling all of the information they have right now to see if they can charge him (with murder),” Phil Nelson, assistant district attorney said. “It will be up to them whether or not he will be charged.

A detective said, “We’re trying to get all the information together right now. Everything right now is still under investigation.”

Davis and her boyfriend had lived in the apartment since the first week of September, said her stepfather, Joe Irvin.

“They had just moved in,” Irvin said. “Why would they have been robbed? Why would the burglar pick their apartment?”

Davis’s neighbors were asking themselves the same thing Sunday.

“It had been quiet here all day (Saturday),” Don Hueske, apartment manager said. “We had always felt relatively safe here. There are a lot of people wondering how close it came to being them instead of her.”

Hueske said he was in his apartment when the abduction took place. He said he heard the scream but didn’t think anything of it.

“There are always a lot of people wandering around here, doing their laundry and stuff like that. No one ever thought anything like this could happen."

Austin American-Statesman
Saturday, Morning
August 21, 1982

 Rector given death for Davis murder 

By Steve Sellers
American-Statesman Staff

A district court jury Friday sentenced Charles Rector to death by injection for the murder last October of Carolyn “Katy” Davis.

The seven-man, five-woman panel ruled that Rector was “a continuing threat to society.”

       

The death sentence was announced after little more than an hour of deliberation.

       

Rector, 27, was found guilty Thursday of the Oct. 17, 1981, shooting and drowning death of Davis, 22, whose bruised and naked body was found about noon the next day in Town Lake.

       

The young woman had just returned to her UT-area apartment from a shopping trip when she was abducted and robbed. Rector was wearing the victim’s blue jeans and was carrying her rings and necklaces when he was arrested.

       

Rector remained impassive when the sentence was announced. When asked later if there was anything he could do now, Rector replied, “Nothing, except for money, and I ain’t got none.”

       

Rector’s mother, Lola Chism, walked to the defense table and knelt behind her son after the verdict was read. “Peter didn’t cry, and you shouldn’t either,” she said. She was referring to the biblical Peter.

       

District Judge Tom Blackwell set formal sentencing for 2 p.m. Sept. 2. He said an appeal to the Court of Criminal Appeals is automatic in capital murder cases.

       

Prosecutors Phil Nelson and Rosemary Lehmberg said they were pleased with the swiftness of the deliberations. “It was a good jury and they did a good job. I’m not really surprised at all,” Nelson said.

       

District Attorney Ronald Earle said he hoped the quick verdict and sentence “send a message to criminals in our community.”

       

“The public is mad and they’re not going to put up with this kind of crime. And this shows the criminals just how mad people are,” he said.

       

Earle and the prosecutors met privately with jurors after the death sentence was announced. Afterward, several members of the jury said they had decided not to comment on their deliberations.

       

Nelson said the jurors “didn’t seem to show a great deal of emotion” during the 10-minute meeting. “There was some relief, but there was nothing traumatic,” he said.

       

Earlier Friday, in an emotional closing comment to jurors during the punishment phase of the trial, Nelson said it was “abundantly clear that when Charles Rector wants something, he kills.

       

He said Rector’s criminal record--a murder conviction in 1974, two robbery convictions in 1973 and two untried robbery charges in 1981--indicated the defendant should not be given “a second chance.”

       

Regardless of the jury’s decision, Nelson added, “A death warrant will be issued.” He said the death warrant would either have Rector’s name on it, “or it will be a blank one, and Charles Rector will fill in the name (of another victim).”

       

Throughout most of the two week-trial, Rector remained calm and showed little emotion. During the final minutes of the trial Friday morning, though, Rector on two occasions interrupted witnesses called to discuss his criminal record.

       

The first time to he interrupted a witness, lead defense attorney Rip Collins told him to “shut up,” and on the second occasion Collins remarked, “Are you going to handle this or am I?”

       

Rector soon asked to be excused from the courtroom for the remainder of the trial. Judge Blackwell denied his request.

Austin American-Statesman
January 7, 1984

Parolee is sentenced in church theft 

Anthony Michael Miller, acquitted a year ago in the abduction, rape and murder of Katy Davis, was sentenced Friday to 15 years in prison for a burglary at the First Baptist Church of Austin.

Miller, 22, was one of three parolees arrested in October 1981 and charged with capital murder in the killing of Davis.

One suspect in the Davis killing, Howard Ray Simon, escaped from jail and was shot to death after a robbery in Louisiana. Another suspect Charles Rector, was convicted in 1982 of capital murder and sentenced to death.

Miller was charged with the Sept. 1 with burglary of the church at 509 Trinity St. 

***Also see September 27, 2011 post on Charles Rector