White supremacist executed in Texas for dragging death of black man

[webfact]

White supremacist executed in Texas for dragging death of black man

By Brendan O'Brien

 

FILE PHOTO: Sheriff Billy Rowles (C) and Texas Ranger Ronnie McBride (R) escort John William "Bill" King, 24, through a Jasper County Courtroom as the punishment phase of the dragging death trial continued February 24. King was found guilty Feb. 23, of capital murder for the death of James Byrd Jr./File Photo

 

(Reuters) - A white supremacist convicted of killing James Byrd Jr. in 1998 by dragging the 49-year-old black man behind a truck in one of the most notorious hate crimes of modern times was executed in Texas on Wednesday.

 

John William "Bill" King, 44, was put to death by lethal injection and pronounced dead at 7:08 p.m. (0008 GMT Thursday) at the state’s death chamber in Huntsville, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice said in a statement.

 

The department said King wrote a last statement that read: "Capital Punishment: Them without the capital get the punishment."

 

King, along with Shawn Berry and Lawrence Brewer, was accused of kidnapping Byrd while he hitchhiked in Jasper, Texas, on June 7, 1998.

 

Prosecutors said the men dragged him behind their 1982 Ford pickup truck for 3 miles (5 km) before dumping his body in front of an African-American church. A "KKK" engraved lighter was among the evidence police found at the scene, court documents showed.

 

The gruesome killing spurred the passing of the James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Act, strengthening punishments for hate crimes in Texas. The murder, along with that of Matthew Shepard, a gay University of Wyoming student who was beaten and left to die tied to a fence, was also the genesis of the federal hate crimes prevention act passed in 2009.

 

King was found guilty of capital murder and sentenced to death in 1999. He was a member of a white supremacist gang and spoke of starting a race war while in prison for a previous crime. He also talked about initiating new members by having them kidnap and murder black people, court documents showed.

 

(Reporting by Brendan O'Brien in Milwaukee; Editing by Bill Tarrant, Cynthia Osterman and Peter Cooney)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2019-04-25

[Thainesss]

2 minutes ago, webfact said:

A white supremacist convicted of killing James Byrd Jr. in 1998 by dragging the 49-year-old black man behind a truck in one of the most notorious hate crimes of modern times was executed in Texas on Wednesday.

 

Good. Hope it was painful, and I hope it gives the family of James Byrd at least a little bit of justice and at least a little closure. 

[bdenner]

While I sit on the fence when it comes to capital punishment I can't come to terms over the extraordinary period between sentencing and execution. 20 years for appeals and bureaucracy - at what cost to the victims family emotionally and the community financially???

[Tug]

Good but not painfull enough and much to quick

[RotBenz8888]

 

17 minutes ago, Tug said:

Good but not painfull enough and much to quick

Texas should dust of their "old sparky" for selected cases.

[Kasane]

Justice delayed is justice denied.

[brewsterbudgen]

Good but not painfull enough and much to quick

Sounds like you'd prefer the Saudi system. Would crucifixion make you happier?

Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk

[nahkit]

2 hours ago, brewsterbudgen said:

Sounds like you'd prefer the Saudi system. Would crucifixion make you happier?

Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk
 

Out of the door. Line on the left. One cross each.

Always look on the bright side of life.

[car720]

2 hours ago, brewsterbudgen said:

Sounds like you'd prefer the Saudi system. Would crucifixion make you happier?

Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk
 

If he murdered the victim by crucifixion then yes.  I have oft wondered why the punishment does not reflect the crime.  Why wasn't this guy dragged behind a truck for 3 miles?

[UnkleGoooose]

RIP

[geoffbezoz]

3 hours ago, brewsterbudgen said:

Sounds like you'd prefer the Saudi system. Would crucifixion make you happier?

Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk
 

Perhaps there would have been a certain poetic justice if this pile of white c$ap was sentenced to being dragged for 3 miles behind the Sheriffs pick-up.

[bannork]

1 hour ago, UnkleGoooose said:

RIP

I agree- rot in purgatory.

[AgMech Cowboy]

5 hours ago, brewsterbudgen said:

Sounds like you'd prefer the Saudi system. Would crucifixion make you happier?

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Hanging would have been okay.

[Ulic]

He will not be missed. 

[Jonnapat]

Justice at last, even in Texas !!!

[rgraham]

Sounds like much too peaceful compared to the death faced by his victim.

[arithai12]

10 hours ago, bdenner said:

While I sit on the fence when it comes to capital punishment I can't come to terms over the extraordinary period between sentencing and execution. 20 years for appeals and bureaucracy - at what cost to the victims family emotionally and the community financially???

Or, at what gain for the scores of lawyers involved.

[Paul Henry]

I don't think he will rot in PURGATORY as it is a place to expiate your sins before going to Heaven.

He will rot in HELL. A place for all white supremacists including POTUS.

[bannork]

17 minutes ago, Paul Henry said:

I don't think he will rot in PURGATORY as it is a place to expiate your sins before going to Heaven.

He will rot in HELL. A place for all white supremacists including POTUS.

Unfortunately for him, he won't ever get out of purgatory because he has no conscience. There was never a moment of remorse or regret regarding the murder he committed, or indeed the murders he advocated 

[Pique Dard]

killing another fellow human being because you don't fancy his color is beyond comprehension! nobody was asked to be born white, black, yellow or brown

[Bundooman]

21 hours ago, bdenner said:

While I sit on the fence when it comes to capital punishment I can't come to terms over the extraordinary period between sentencing and execution. 20 years for appeals and bureaucracy - at what cost to the victims family emotionally and the community financially???

That's because people like you sit on the fence.

[johnnysunshine]

Maybe they should have dragged him and his cohorts behind their pick-up truck instead of jail time to advise nefarious characters like him what the new punishment will be for this kind of crime!    

[Andrew65]

On 4/25/2019 at 2:49 AM, RotBenz8888 said:

 

Texas should dust of their "old sparky" for selected cases.

...but don't we risk becoming just the same as the people that commit horrific crimes when we condone barbaric methods of execution/killing, like cooking someone alive in the electric chair?????

[car720]

1 hour ago, Benroon said:

of course we do but you're never going to get that past the knuckle draggers (until its one of their family that is wrongly executed!)

So, Garde Ta Foy, we are to presume that you attended Magdalene.  Though most Cambridge people that I have associated with are not quite so sarcastic.

[GinBoy2]

I'm also terribly conflicted about Capital Punishment.

 

Of course there are always miscarriages of justice, people can spend their whole lives in prison for crimes they didn't commit.

 

But then, there is a man dragged behind a car for three miles a gruesome death, a gay young man beaten to death and tied to a fence and left to die, a child raped and murdered, truly heinous crimes.

 

Where do we draw the line?

 

The reason why death sentences are so protracted is because the legal system also wrestles with that balance

[MickeyDelux]

an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.

[Langsuan Man]

14 hours ago, MickeyDelux said:

an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.

Or safe from that one bastard 

[Basil B]

As a person who opposes the death penalty I find it hard to defend my views when there are people like that wasting oxygen...

 

I suppose the only thing I can say as a person who doesn't believe in any religion I do not know if there is a hell awaiting him, but there again I do not know if any country has a a penal system that could give him justice he deserves, "a life worse than hell".