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March 7

TEXAS----execution:

Sobbing and seeking repentance, a former used car salesman accused of
being a sadistic rapist was executed today for sexually abusing and
killing a Montgomery County teen almost 11 years ago.

"I'm sorry for what you had to go through. I am so sorry what you all had
to go through," Dennis Dowthitt, 55, said twice. "I can't imagine losing
2 children. If I was you all I would've killed me. I am really sorry
about. I really am."

His voice was choked with emotion. Holding back tears, he looked at
members of his victim's family and had difficulty speaking, then added,
"Gracie was beautiful and Tiffany was beautiful. You had some lovely
girls and I am sorry. I don't know what to say."

Dowthitt was condemned for raping and fatally slashing and stabbing Grace
Purnhagen, 16, in an attack where the girl's 9-year-old sister, Tiffany,
also was strangled.

His voice shaking and his body quivering against the leather restraints,
Dowthitt turned away from witnesses as the injection began and then fell
limp.

Among the witnesses, his sister sobbed uncontrollably and a friend
watching knelt on the floor. He was pronounced dead at 6:18 p.m. CST, 7
minutes after the lethal dose began.

Dowthitt's son, Delton, 16 at the time of the 1990 murders, testified
against his father and under a plea bargain accepted a 45-year prison
term for Tiffany Purnhagen's death. He remains imprisoned, with an
additional term for escape in 1995, but becomes eligible for parole late
next year.

On Tuesday, Dowthitt lost an appeal before the U.S. Supreme Court. The
Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles, voting 18-0, refused his clemency
request Monday.

His attorneys again went to the Supreme Court on Wednesday, asking the
justices to review the case even as the inmate requested a final meal.
Less than 90 minutes before his scheduled punishment, however, the high
court denied a request for a reprieve and refused to reconsider the case.

"I'm frustrated the system takes so long," Linda Purnhagen, whose
daughters were killed, said. "The kids got no appeal. He was their judge,
jury and executioner."

Grace Purnhagen and Delton Dowthitt had been acquaintances. With her
younger sister in tow at a bowling alley the evening of June 13, 1990,
Grace accepted a ride from the Dowthitts and wound up in a wooded area in
south Montgomery County not far from their home in Oak Ridge North.

Court documents showed while Grace and Delton Dowthitt talked nearby,
Dennis Dowthitt tried to molest the younger girl, who resisted and ran
screaming to her sister.

Delton Dowthitt testified that when his father told him the girls had to
be killed, Delton strangled Tiffany with a rope. Dennis Dowthitt attacked
Grace, first unsuccessfully trying to rape her, then cutting her throat
and raping her with a beer bottle before stabbing her in the chest.

The decomposing bodies of both girls were found 3 days later. Witnesses
told of last seeing the girls outside the bowling alley talking with the
Dowthitts in a pickup truck.

A psychologist testified the elder Dowthitt, while impotent, was a
sadistic rapist who received pleasure by using objects like bottles to
cause pain through sex. At the punishment phase of his trial, 2 of his
daughters testified how they were assaulted or molested by their father.

"If we're going to have the death penalty in Texas, then if it doesn't
fit this case, it doesn't fit -- ever," said Barbara Hale, a former
Montgomery County assistant district attorney who prosecuted Dowthitt.

Dowthitt, who declined to speak with reporters in the weeks leading up to
his execution, acknowledged to police he was at the murder site but
blamed the deaths on his son.

"They didn't have the information they needed, that's all," he said while
being led from the courtroom after a jury in 1992 decided he should be
put to death. "I'm not guilty."

Linda Purnhagen noted her younger daughter now has been dead longer than
she lived and that Dowthitt remained alive over the years.

"I don't think that's right," she said.

Dowthitt was among at least 10 condemned Texas prisoners with execution
dates over the next several months. Next on the lethal needle list is
Michael Moore, 37, set to die March 28 for the 1994 murder of a Copperas
Cove woman during a burglary at her home.

Dowthitt becomes the 5th condemned inmate to be put to death this year in
Texas and the 244th overall since the state resumed capital punishment on
December 7, 1982.

Dowthitt becomes the 17th condemned inmate to be put to death this year
in the USA and the 700th overall since America resumed executions on
January 17, 1977.

(sources: Associated Press & Rick Halperin)

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

Hey all
It's friday night, and Sheila has gone back home.
Bobbie is dead, and as he said before they killed him:
I am going to be with Jesus-
which I believe is the one thing that kept me sane,and
Sheila strong enough to even stand on her two feet.

Sheila is a remarkable woman, - for days and days we
have talked and prayed and hoped , and talked some
more, and she has wept and sobbed and shared her pain
with me, and all up till the last few hours she still
hoped. She and Bobbie had 12 pictures taken few hours
before he got killed, and Bobbie looks victorious. I
cannot find another word than that- victorious.
And perhaps that was how he felt- he was loved, and he
was able to give love, and he knew he was on his way
home to our savior- that is what life is all about, so
simple it is , and Bobbie found the truth.

We were about 25 people outside FSP when he died, and
Sheila was one of them. along with her doughter and 2
grankids.
And we enter this twilight zone were the world is
nolonger real, and all there is to hold on to, is the
grace of God. Sheila just did it- she stood there in
her agony while they killed the love of her life,
because she wanted people to see that Bobbie was
loved.
When the reporters came, God just took over and Sheila
turned into this strong woman who could cry with
dignaty infront of them all, and say: this is wrong,
you have killed a man who have felt remorse from day
one, and now, 20 years later, you kill him and make
another family victims. I am a victim and my kids and
grandkids are victims.
Killing is wrong and this is nothing but state
approved 1 degree murder.
And she said she would go on in the fight against the
death penalty.
And when the reporters left, she turned into Sheila
again,and tears started rolling and she said, :"They
killed him Hannah, this morning we were having fun,
and now he is gone. I am going to miss him so."

Today we called to ask if sheila could see Bobbie's
body, and an officer from FSP callled back and gave
her permission.
then we called the funeral home, and they would not
allow it.
THey had made a extensive Cranial autopsy on him!!!!!
For what?????

So Sheila went home, and she is nolonger a wife but a
widow.
and the world is one beautiful christian brother
short.
and nobody understand why, and some couldn't care
less, and some is happy about him being dead.
Oh how I wish for God to move in his people, and let
them SEE.

Going to a protest is one thing, going there with a
dear friend is another. This is something I will
never get used to, no matter how many times I try it.
One of the last things Sheila said when we were
hanging around each otheres neck weeping , Was: next
time we weep, it will be tears of happiness because
James is coming home.
Sheila is a remarkable woman indeed.

Love and peace to you all
hannah

hannahfloyd@yahoo.com
********************************************************************

THE TRAGIC DEATH OF RICKY JONES: EXECUTED IN SPITE OF INNOCENCE

There are only a few prisoners on Texas Death Row that I personally know.
Ricky Jones was one of them. Ricky was executed by the State of Texas on
August 22, 2000, despite strong claims of innocence. His lawyers asked the
state for time to conduct DNA testing that they believed would prove
Ricky's innocence, but the authorities, intent on having the execution
proceed without a hitch, denied their request. It would not have taken
long to run these tests. I have never understood why Texas seems so intent
on executing people rather than saving their lives.

I came to know Ricky because some of his friends from Italy who believed in
his innocence asked if we could videotape an interview of him which they
would use to raise money for his legal defense. The interview was done at
the Ellis Unit Death Row in Huntsville, Texas, by Ray Hill of the KPFT
Prison Program. My son, Richard, who is good with a videocamera, taped the
interview.

I traveled to Ft. Worth a couple of times with our Italian friends, Arianna
and Biagio, to meet Ricky's lawyer and family. His lawyer, William Harris,
expressed his belief that Ricky was innocent of the murder which put him on
death row. The evidence in the case pointed to the boyfriend of Ricky's
sister.
I wrote and visited Ricky a number of times over the years. He appreciated
the friendship and always expressed thanks for the help that people were
giving him, particularly his European supporters. He always maintained his
innocence.

Friends who visited Ricky a few days prior to his execution noted how pale
and drawn he looked. This was undoubtedly due in part to the stress of his
pending execution. However, I suspect it was also due to the solitary
confinement conditions at the Terrell Unit where the death row prisoners
are now housed.
Prisoners are kept in tiny 9X5 foot cells for 23 hours a day. They are no
longer allowed to recreate together during their one hour out of the cell.
The work program that existed at the Ellis Unit has been eliminated. The
arts and crafts program has been curtailed. Church services are no longer
allowed. There are no TVs. These conditions of isolation cause mental
problems and would certainly be considered cruel and unusual punishment by
any society that dared to call itself "civilized".

A few hours before the execution, Ricky's family and friends visited with
him via telephone from the Hospitality House in Huntsville. I really did
not want to talk to him because I didn't know what to say. (What do you
say to a man who is about to be executed?) In spite of his innocence, we
had failed to save his life. However, I summoned up my courage and talked
to him for a few minutes. I told Ricky that I admired his courage under the
worst of circumstances and would be praying for him. I also vowed to him
that we would continue our fight against the death penalty in Texas. In a
voice of quiet despair, Ricky expressed thanks for my friendship and for
doing what we could to help him.

Ricky's execution was witnessed by four of his close supporters from
Europe. His last words were "I want the victim's family to know that I
didn't commit this crime. I didn't kill your loved one. Sharon Wilson,
y'all convicted an innocent man and you know it. There are some lawyers
hired that are gonna prove that, and I hope you can live with it. To my
family and loved ones, I love you. Thank you for supporting me. Y'all
stay strong. Warden, bring it on...."

The rest of us stood outside the prison to honor Ricky's life and to
protest what was happening inside the prison walls. The pain was
excruciating for all of us, but particularly for Ricky's friends from Europe.

Following the execution, a number of us went to the Huntsville Funeral Home
where we understood we could touch Ricky's body and say goodbye to him.
No one, including close family members, had been able to touch Ricky while
he was in prison because contact visits are not allowed. This holds true
even on the day of execution. Personally, I consider this extreme cruelty
on the part of the prison system.

However, when we arrived at the funeral home, the proprietor refused to
show us Ricky's body, saying that he did not have the "authority" to do so.
This obstruction by the proprietor of the funeral home meant that some of
Ricky's friends from Europe who could not attend the funeral in Ft. Worth
would never see him again. In my opinion, this was part of the disrespect
of families and friends of prisoners which is so common in the prison
system.

Ricky, we say goodbye to you for now, but we want you to know that you did
not die in vain. Your death, like those before and after you, will help
bring down this evil system of executions which has such a grasp on Texas.
We will remember you, our brother.

Dave Atwood, President
Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty

(This essay is dedicated to Ricky Jones and his supporters in Europe:
Arianna Ballotta and Biagio Santoro, Wendy and Jakob Schmid, Michela and
Carlo Mancini, and Marianne Zimmer.)

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Reiner Stensgaard Goldau
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Page Updated Tue May 1, 2001 10:08am EDT