[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----ARKANSAS

[Rick Halperin]

April 24




ARKANSAS----execution

Arkansas death row inmate Jack Jones executed


Jack Harold Jones was put to death by the state of Arkansas Monday night by way 
of lethal injection.

Authorities began administering the execution drugs at 7:06 p.m. and Jones was 
pronounced dead at 7:20 p.m., according to the Arkansas Department of 
Correction.

Asked if he had any last words, Jones said the following:

"Well, I just want to let the James family and Lacey [know] how sorry I am. I 
can't believe I did something to her. I tried to be respectful from the time I 
took and become a better person. I hope I did better. I hope over time you 
could learn who I really am and I am not a monster. There was a reason why 
those things happened that day. I am so sorry Lacey, try to understand I love 
you like my child."

Jones also gave a written statement to his attorney to read:

"I want people to know that when I came to prison I made up my mind that I 
would be a better person when I left than when I came in. I had no doubt in my 
mind that I would make every effort to do this. I'd like to think that I've 
accomplished this. I made every effort to be a good person - I practiced 
Buddhism and studied physics. I met the right people and did the right things. 
There are no words that would fully express my remorse for the pain that I 
caused."

Jones, 52, was convicted and sentenced to death in the 1995 rape and murder of 
34-year-old Mary Phillips at her accounting office in Bald Knob. He was also 
convicted of the attempted murder of Phillips' 11-year-old daughter Lacy.

Following the execution, Lacy told the media, "I'm glad it's done."

The Supreme Court of the United States denied two requests for a stay for 
Jones, allowing for the execution to proceed.

Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge released a statement following the 
execution:

"This evening, Lacey Phillips Manor and Darla Phillips Jones have seen justice 
for the brutal rape and murder of their mother, Mary Phillips. Mary was 
performing her job as a bookkeeper in Bald Knob on June 6, 1995, when she was 
strangled to death with a coffee pot cord while her 11-year-old daughter Lacey 
clung to life a few feet away after being choked and beaten. The Phillips 
family has waited far too long to see justice carried out, and I pray they find 
peace tonight."

Jones is the second Arkansas death row inmate to be executed in less than a 
week.

Jones becomes the 2nd condemned inmate to be put to death in Arkansas this year 
and the 29th overall since the state resumed capital punishment in
1990.

Jones becomes the 8th condemned inmate to be put to death this year in the USA 
and the 1450th overall since the nation resumed executions on January 17, 1977.

(sources: KATV and Rick Halperin)