[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, WYO.

[Rick Halperin]

Sept. 10



TEXAS----execution

Houston man executed in deaths of estranged lover, her brother


Willie Tyrone Trottie, condemned for the murder of his estranged wife and her 
brother, went to his death in Texas' execution chamber Wednesday offering 
apologies to his victims' family.

As relatives of Barbara Canada and Titus Canada embraced and sobbed, Trottie 
smiled faintly, called their names and said, "I hope this brings you some 
closure. Stay strong. I am going home to be with the Lord.

"Find it in your hearts to forgive me. I'm sorry," he continued. "Jesus take me 
home."

Trottie, 45, was declared dead at 6:35 p.m. - 30 minutes after the lethal 
injection of pentobarbital began flowing.

Later, relatives of the victims issued a statement saying they were "glad to 
see justice finally served all these years later. It is time for our family to 
end this chapter and move on."

Trottie's case gained national attention earlier this year when he shared his 
views concerning his crime, death row and capital punishment with the online 
publication, gawker.com. In his letter, Trottie denounced his pending execution 
as a "murdercution."

The former Houston security guard's death sentence grew out a romantic 
relationship that ended on May 3, 1993 in a bloody shootout at the Canada 
family home. Trottie insisted that he had fired his 9 mm semi-automatic "in the 
heat of passion," only after he had been wounded by shots fired by his 
estranged lover's brother. Trottie said he had gone to the residence to borrow 
a car.

Accounts of the fatal night included in court documents, though, indicate 
Trottie's appearance at the Canada home came after repeated threats that he 
would murder Barbara Canada if she failed to return to him. "Bitch, I told you 
I was going to kill you," he said as he pumped 11 bullets into the 24-year-old 
woman's body. Titus Canada, 29, was shot twice in the head, and the pair's 
mother and sister also were wounded.

Trial witnesses testified that Trottie frequently telephoned his former lover 
at home and work and that, on one occasion, he bumped her car with his vehicle 
at highway speeds.

In response to the threats and harassment, Barbara Canada obtained a 
restraining order barring further contact.

In state and federal appeals filed days before the scheduled execution, 
Trottie's lawyers argued that Canada - mother of Trottie's young son - 
continued their intimate relationship despite the court order. Arguing that 
Trottie had suffered from ineffective representation, they said that jurors in 
their client's first trial never heard such testimony - testimony that might 
have lent credence to his claims of passion and self-defense.

16 years passed, they told appeals courts, before prosecutors told Trottie's 
legal team that a trial witness had privately conceded that Canada "probably 
had messed with (Trottie's) mind."

According to court documents, Trottie and Canada began dating in 1989, later 
living together in a common-law marriage. They separated 3 years later.

In an 11th-hour filing Tuesday with the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, 
Trottie's lawyers questioned whether state prison officials were truthful when 
they asserted pentobarbital to be used in the execution would remain potent and 
pure. Lawyers asked the court to issue a stay and schedule oral arguments 
concerning the compounding pharmacy-produced drug.

Trottie becomes the 8th condemned inmate to be put to death in Texas this year, 
and the 516th overall since the state resumed capital punishment on december 7, 
1982. Trottie becomes the 277th condemned inmate to be put to death in Texas 
since Rick Perry became Governor in 2001.

Trottie becomes the 29th condemned inmate to be put to death this year in the 
USA and the 1388th overall since the nation resumed executions on January 17, 
1977.

(sources: Associated Press & Rick Halperin)

***************************************

Executions under Rick Perry, 2001-present-----277

Executions in Texas: Dec. 7, 1982-present----516

Perry #--------scheduled execution date-----name---------Tx. #

278------------Sept. 17------------------Lisa Coleman---------517

279------------Oct. 15------------------Larry Hatten----------518

280------------Oct. 28------------------Miguel Paredes--------519

281------------Jan. 14------------------Rodney Reed-----------520

282------------Jan. 21-------------------Arnold Prieto--------521

283------------Jan. 28-------------------Garcia White---------522

284------------Feb. 4--------------------Donald Newbury-------523

285------------Feb. 10-------------------Les Bower, Jr.-------524

286------------Mar. 18-------------------Randall Mays---------525

(sources: TDCJ & Rick Halperin)






WYOMING:

Wyoming should retain death penalty


Wyoming has the death penalty and needs to use it to punish killers.

It's the right thing to do.

There is a sense of urgency for the good people of Wyoming to shout loud on 
this issue. That's because lawmakers, pushed by church leaders and others, may 
try to ban the death penalty in 2015.

Bills to end the death penalty in Wyoming are being formulated by the Joint 
Judiciary Interim Committee this week at the University of Wyoming by lawmakers 
who believe putting murderers to death with lethal injections is brutal and 
inhumane.

Tell that to the family of Hildegard Volgyesi of Clark, slain in March 2013 by 
the now-incarcerated Stephen Hammer.

Hammer's friends now say he was a "scared kid" who was "out of his mind" on 
drugs and hanging out with a bad crowd when he killed Mrs. Hildegard.

Regardless, the former oil field worker made a deal to go to prison for life 
for his unspeakable crime. He said: Lock me up; don't kill me. The prosecution 
agreed, with the caveat that he could never seek parole. Ever. So the judge 
gave him "life without parole."

1 year later, Hammer has changed his mind. He wants freedom - some day. 
Hammer's friends have written impassioned letters to District Judge Steven 
Cranfill seeking that possibility.

Hammer tells the judge in his letter: "1 action does not define who I am or who 
I'm going to be."

How arrogant. Of course it does. Most everyday people believe: Once a killer, 
always a killer.

Church folk are more forgiving. Many take the tack that "revenge" - an eye for 
an eye - is not what civilized people do.

But when it comes to cold-blooded murderers - like the freaks who decapitated a 
man near Clark in January and Myron Friday, the Cody man who stabbed his wife 
Julie with a screwdriver 40 times while killing her in February 2012 - should 
we treat them like the civilized people they're not?

They lost that entitlement when they killed people.

Forget parole for any killer. The people a killer kills can't resume their 
lives. Why should you, Mr. Murderer?

Dozens of readers are outraged that Hammer and murderers like him breathe the 
same air as decent people.

Robert Johnston is among the few Enterprise readers who say parole is 
reasonable. He says that would be OK - "in 100 years."

Tammy Frank says keep the original deal with a killer and live with it.

Dozens of Enterprise readers say murderers deserve death.

James Johnston and Kasey Cape say, "Just hang him."

Wes Livingston would make an example of any killer with "public execution by 
firing squad on the courthouse lawn."

Clay Lynn has the best eye-for-an-eye answer: "Maybe they should let the 
victim's husband decide."

Murderer Tanner VanPelt made the same deal as Hammer - life without parole. But 
he's not asking for parole. VanPelt knows he was lucky to escape with his life.

The question for lawmakers remains: Should murderers die?

Reader Melissa Bushman votes yes. A murderer, she says, "should get the same 
chance at a life that he allowed" his victim.

(source: Hawke Fracassa; Cody Enterprise)