Sentenced to death on December 23, 2003. That was our original goal. But eventually Higgs started to pull away from her. Last updated on April 20, 2023 (Dates are subject to change as a result of stays and appeals.) Yet, like Montgomery, both men have legal claims that have never been fully adjudicated. Summary:Cramer and Fackrell stabbed fellow inmate Leo Johns at the federal prison in Texas. He beat and raped them both . Sentenced to death in 1996; overturned in 2019 and upheld in 2020. 0:23. It's likely none of the about 50 remaining men will be executed anytime soon, with Biden signaling he'll end federal executions. "He received a fair trial and was convicted and sentenced to death by a unanimous jury for a despicable crime," U.S. District Judge Peter Messitte wrote in a Dec. 29 ruling. His death sentence was the first imposed in the modern era of the federal system in Maryland, which abolished the death penalty in 2013. This 2015 photo provided by Shawn Nolan Chief, Capital Habeas Unit Community Federal Defender Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, shows Dustin Higgs at the Federal Prison in Terre Haute, Ind. Among those he pardoned last month is a Prince Georges County police officer who was convicted of violating the civil rights of a Latino immigrant the same year Higgs arrived on death row. Johnson has an intellectual disability that should make him ineligible for execution and Higgs hasconvinced a federal court to schedule an oral argument on whether his execution would violate federal law based in part on the fact that he was convicted in Maryland, which abolished the death penalty in 2013. State of conviction: Eastern District of Texas. And a lot of the times, it turns out that what theyre telling me is really the truth. Police, after all, rely upon myriad tactics to get suspects and witnesses to talk, including threats and promises that can provide a powerful incentive to lie. The duo targeted Castro-Rodriguez because he previously intervened to help a Bureau of Prisons Employee being attacked by another inmate. When Dustin first came home from the hospital, I was there, Wingate said. He scouted the couple at the campground in a homemade sniper suit and shot them with a rifle. Some 3 miles in the opposite direction, in a brick building on the banks of the Wabash River, is the federal death chamber. The two arguedand she took down his information. Three people died in the bombingsand hundreds injured. Ortiz's role was limited to being present at the time of the murder. Havenners claims were corroborated by Gloria himself in a 2004 interview conducted by an investigator working with Higgss legal team at the Federal Community Defender Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. The bodies were tied with weights and dumped in a reservoir near. Dustin didnt threaten me. Montgomery, 52, was executed by lethal injection at the U.S. Penitentiary in Terre Haute. President Donald Trumps Justice Department resumed federal executions last year following a 17-year hiatus. In fact, she was instrumental in exposing the abuse. (Co-defendant of Corey Johnson & Richard Tipton). After Higgs initially denied anyinvolvement to police, a pair of his associates, Victor Gloria and Willis Haynes,were arrested together on federal drug charges, prompting what an investigator would later describe as an incredible confession from Gloria. Death sentence commuted by. On May 4, 1999, a jury in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas found Lee guilty of numerous offenses, including three counts of murder in aid of racketeering, and he was sentenced to death. Davis was sent to death row for his role in the crimes. When the boys my age would beat me up, my sister would leap into action and protect her little brother, he said. When a marshal called from a death-chamber phone to ask if there were any impediments to proceeding with Higgs execution, he kept his mask on and shoved the receiver under it. If all five planned executions proceed, a total of 13 federal prisoners will have been. Aware at that point that something was amiss, one of the women asked if they were going to have to walk from here and Higgs responded something like that, according to court documents. Ill do the makeup and Ill do the embalming and all that, Wingate said. The three men chased after the women in Higgs van. State of conviction:District of South Carolina. Her aunt worked as a nurse and the two had driven back to New York in time for her shift. A woman's loud sobs echoed for several minutes from a room reserved for Higgs' family as his eyes rolled back in his head before he stopped moving. That argument is set for January 27 12 days after Higgs is supposed to die. Summary:Rodriguez plucked college student Dru Sjodin, 22, from a mall in Grand Forks and killed her. (Co-defendant of Brandon Basham). Convicted of kidnapping, raping, and murdering a child in. Convicted in 2016 on 162 counts, including murder in aid of racketeering, racketeering conspiracy, conspiring to murder another rival, receiving and transporting stolen liquor across state lines, and money laundering. After robbing and shooting the victims with a stun gun, Lee covered their heads with plastic bags, sealed the bags with duct tape, weighed down each victim with rocks, and threw the family of three into the Illinois Bayou in Arkansas. Federal executions began as the coronavirus pandemic raged through prisons nationwide. Thats all it takes to support the journalism you rely on. Sentenced to two life terms plus 20 years. List of notable current and former inmates at the US Penitentiary, Terre Haute, List of inmates at the United States Penitentiary, Terre Haute, List of death row inmates held by the United States federal government, kidnapping, sexual assault and fatal stabbing of university student Dru Sjodin, List of people executed by the United States federal government, List of people executed in the United States in 2001, List of people executed in the United States in 2003, List of people executed in the United States in 2020, List of people executed in the United States in 2021, U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th circuit, Capital punishment by the United States federal government, "Executions Under the Federal Death Penalty", "Court of appeals affirms death penalty for Gabrion", "Marvin Gabrion's death penalty reinstated in 1997 killing of young mother", "First Federal Death Sentence in Non-death penalty state overturned", "Kenneth Jamal Lighty - Federal Death Row", "Rodriguez sentenced to die for killing Dru Sjodin", "Dylann Roof is now on federal death row in Indiana", "Federal executions to resume next month at Terre Haute prison", "Lezmond Mitchell, the only Native American on federal death row, is executed", "Woman on death row at Fort Worth prison has execution date moved again amid legal battle", "Lisa Montgomery arrives at Terre Haute execution facility, official confirms", "The last federal inmate on death row from Connecticut is spared execution, sentenced instead to life in prison for a horrifying, triple murder", "Death sentence tossed, new hearing ordered for man convicted in 1999 OHP trooper killing", "United States of America, Plaintiff-appellee, v. Bountaem Chanthadara, Defendant-appellant, 230 F.3d 1237 (10th Cir. TERRE HAUTE, Ind. Higgs, 48, was pronounced dead at 1:23 a.m. Its just a feeling of maybe this can slow down your execution. With the inauguration of Joe Biden on January 20, even a short delay would change everything. Chinese-American organized crime boss. Execution scheduled for Wednesday, July 15, 2020. The officer, Stephanie Mohr, had a history of using her police dog to threaten and attack people of color. 23; and Tanji Jackson, 21. (Co-defendant of Corey Johnson & James H. Roane Jr.). Barnette then drove the mans car to Roanoke and broke into his ex-girlfriend's home that she shared with her mother. This 2015 photo provided by Shawn Nolan Chief, Capital Habeas Unit Community Federal Defender Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, shows Dustin Higgs at the Federal Prison in Terre Haute, Ind. Looking for answers in the life of a killer, First US federal execution of woman since 1953 scheduled, Second death row inmate executed in Indiana, Russia launches pre-dawn missile attack on Ukraine, Chaos at port as thousands rush to leave Sudan. Co-defendant Christopher Vialva was also executed for the crime. In 2014, she was recognized by then-Attorney General Eric Holder for her superior performance securing a conviction in a murder-for-hire case that had previously sent the wrong man to prison. So I want to be the last face he sees before he leaves.. Ruben Garcia Salinas and Manuel Garcia Salinas were killed. (Co-defendant of Billie Allen). Prosecutors said the victims were killed regardless of whether the ransoms were paid. Prosecutors said the victims were killed regardless of whether the ransoms were paid. Higgs is scheduled to be executed on Friday, Jan. 15, 2021, at the federal prison in Terre Haute. Summary: Raid, formerly known as Odell Corley, was sentenced to death for a bank robbery in Porter that ended in the death of two bank employees. Clevelands was also the last presidency during which the number of civilians executed federally was in the double digits in one year, 1896. Some members of the execution teams also have also tested positive for the virus. Roane was implicated in three of the slayings. there was an outpouring of support for Montgomery after her execution date was announced last fall. State of conviction:Western Districtof North Carolina. You can fix the hair. With the Justice Department appealing Chutkans ruling, Wingate is trying to focus on making the most of her time with Higgs. Convicted for actions stemming from an attempted bank robbery committed with several others during which two bank employees were killed. (AP) The Trump administration early Saturday carried out its 13th federal execution since July, an unprecedented run that concluded just five days before the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden an opponent of the federal death penalty. Veteran private investigator Sharon Weidenfeld had been working on murder cases in Prince Georges County for years when she was hired to work on Higgss defense. As the lethal injection of pentobarbital began to flow into his veins, Higgs looked toward a room reserved for his relatives and lawyers. Agofskywas already serving a life sentence for robbing a Missouri bank along with his brother, Joseph. -- The Trump administration early Saturday carried out its 13th federal execution since July, an unprecedented run that concluded just a few days before the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden -- an opponent of the federal death penalty. He did not apologize for anything he did on the night 25 years ago when the women were shot by another man, who received a life sentence. Convicted for his involvement in a carjacking and the deaths of a couple visiting Texas. In a tribute following her death in 2017, the Justice Department highlighted her role in convicting the sole two death row defendants in the District of Maryland, ensuring that the interests of the United States were fully vindicated. Weidenfeld had a slightly different description of Johnston. He tried to steal three money orders and a wallet, according to the Savannah Morning News. Hagers accomplices said they worked for Hager, a crack cocaine dealer at the time, and received life sentenced after testifying against him. There have been 50 federal executions carried out since 1927. State of conviction: Eastern District of Tennessee. State of conviction: Eastern District of Virginia. Hardy received a life sentence. Dustin Higgs, convicted for killing three women in a Maryland wildlife refuge in 1996, was the third to receive a lethal injection last week at the federal prison in Terre Haute, Ind. Abelardo Arboleda Ortiz 53 11581-045 Serving a life . On October 14, 2004, a jury in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Iowa found Honken guilty of numerous offenses, including five counts of murder during the course of a continuing criminal enterprise, and he was sentenced to death. Her time of death was 1:31 a.m., more than seven hours after her originally scheduled time of execution . Prosecutors said the menreceived more than $1 million in ransom. Wingate plans to be a witness. Tweet. State of conviction:Southern District of Ohio. We dont have ads, so we depend on our members 35,000 and counting to help us hold the powerful to account. Haynes persuaded them to get into the vehicle. DNA evidence linked Torrez to the attack, which also exonerated Laura Hobbs father who spent five years in prison for the murders after giving a false confession. At Hayness trial in August 2000, which ended in a life sentence, the government argued that he had not been intimidated by Higgs into shooting the women. Sentenced to death in 1998 for ordering the murder of 3 people in Norfolk, Virginia. It was the first time she had seen Higgs in person in four years. Convicted and sentenced to death for the killing of his ex-girlfriend, as well as another man in a carjacking. . CHICAGO (AP) A second federal inmate scheduled to be put to death next month in a series of executions by the Trump administration has tested positive for COVID-19, his lawyers said Friday.. All rights reserved. Robinson a wholesale drug dealer then operating in five states killed Shelton in a case of mistaken identity. Shortly afterward, at Higgss trial, the same prosecutorscast Higgs as the dominant player who had coerced Haynes into doing his bidding. Convicted and sentenced to death for the kidnapping and death of a woman following an escape from prison. Also killed the girl's mother. Currently, 16 inmates have been executed, and a further 41 inmates are imprisoned on death row awaiting execution.[1][2][3]. But her victim's family and friends say the murder committed by Montgomery was so horrific that she deserved to be put to death regardless of her mental health. Higgs, the last federal inmate facing execution before President Donald Trump leaves office was sentenced to death for the killings of three women in a Maryland wildlife refuge in 1996. Since receiving her execution date, she'd been placed on suicide watch in an isolated cell. Three executions are scheduled for next week, but their status . In 2000, a federal jury in Maryland convicted Higgs of murder and kidnapping in the killings of Tamika Black, 19; Mishann Chinn, 23; and Tanji Jackson. Here are the 46 men on federal death row whose trip to the execution chamber were paused. Montgomery's lawyer, Kelley Henry, said that everyone who had participated in the execution "should feel shame". Who would hold party elites accountable to the values they proclaim to have? Murderer sentenced: Why Fields killed Charles and Shirley Chick, State of conviction:District Court of Maryland. State of conviction:Western District of Arkansas. Wingate was hopeful too. It could be a gang lord or a murderous carjacker or a drug smuggler, the Sun reported. And so it all ended - as many death penalty cases do - in an 11th hour flurry of legal filings that pitted Montgomery's legal team against lawyers for the Department of Justice, who were urging the execution forward. Gloria said Jackson made threats as she left the apartment with the other women and appeared to write down the license plate number of Higgs van, angering him. Had defense attorneys been aware of this deal, he added, they certainly would have used it to challenge Glorias credibility. State of conviction: Southern District of Florida. (Co-defendant of Ricardo Sanchez Jr.). Consider what the world of media would look like without The Intercept. Higgs had a traumatic childhood and lost his mother to cancer when he was 10, Higgs Dec. 19 petition for clemency petition said. Date of execution Age Register number Details Under President Timothy McVeigh: 1997 June 11, 2001 . They are now going to go through the pain we experienced, she said. More recently, he has described what he wants his legacy to be. Prosecutors said heshot the nurse and former patient, who wasinvalid, six times at point-blank range, the Associated Press reported. Lisa Montgomery was sentenced to death in 2007, Protesters demanding an end to the death penalty gathered outside the prison in Terre Haute, Indiana, Legal challenges failed to commute sentence, The secret mine that hid the Nazis' stolen treasure. Johnsons family was ecstatic over the news, according to his spiritual adviser, who had to explain to them that this would not necessarily stop the execution. It sickened her that he had been scheduled to die on January 15 Martin Luther King Jr.s birthday. An appeals court in Boston overturned his death sentence in July 2020 after the court said the judge at his trial did not ensure the jury was unbiased against him. After 11 executions waved through by the U.S. Supreme Court, few are optimistic that Johnson or Higgs will be spared. 43 F Terre Haute International Airport Station | Report. Three executions are scheduled for next week, but their status remains in limbo due to last-minute legal challenges. I have also wrote a children book, and a book comprised of my reflective thoughts. The goal, he said, is to make a difference, to honor his family, and to bring them out of poverty., He also worries about how his execution will impact Wingate if it goes through. Summary:Known as the Boston Marathon bomber, Tsarnaev planted pressure cookerswith help from his brother. Its likely none of the around 50 remaining men will be executed anytime soon, if ever, with Biden signaling hell end federal executions. DaQuan Darby visits his father, Dustin Higgs, at the federal penitentiary in Terre Haute, Ind., in 2014. State of conviction:North District of Georgia. For the past 20 years, Wingate has regularly spoken to Higgs on the phone. The latest execution was postponed twice - first by Covid-19, then by a judge - until a Supreme Court ruling cleared the way for it to take place in the early hours of Wednesday. Police wanted him in connection with a series of bank robberies, and hed evade them by carjacking vehicles then killing their drivers so they wouldnt identify him. I know you didnt., People will give statements to the police and tell them one thing and then when I interview them, theyll tell me something else. The conviction in Davis death was his third murder hed been found guilty of in 15 years. The lead prosecutor in Higgss case, Deborah Johnston, was an assistant states attorney in Prince Georges County before she became a federal prosecutor. Summary:Jackson confessed and was later convicted of the kidnapping, rape and murder of a 22-year-oldKaren Styles going for a jog in Asheville. The arson left six people dead, including for children. -- The Trump administration early Saturday carried out its 13th federal execution since July, an unprecedented run that concluded just a few days before the inauguration of President-elect Joe. Among those prisoners who got covid-19 last month were Higgs and former drug trafficker Corey Johnson, who was executed Thursday. The men allegedly demanded a total of more than $5.5 million from relatives and associates, and received more than $1 million from victim's relatives. Summary:Sanders was sentenced to death for the kidnaping and murder of a 12-year-old girl in Louisiana. Summary: A jury recommended a death sentence for Savagefor 12 murders he committed and directed in the late 1980s through 2004. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy, File) Read Less National and World Six days is all I pray for. Sentenced to death on August 27, 2008; died in 2021 from brain cancer. The number of federal death sentences carried out under Trump since 2020 is more than in the previous 56 years combined, reducing the number of prisoners on federal death row by nearly a quarter. She admitted to feeling some hope after he tested positive in December. killer 40-year-old Brandon Bernard who was put to death at a penitentiary in Terre Haute, Indiana. Before Montgomery's execution, the last woman to be executed by the US government was Bonnie Heady, who died in a gas chamber in Missouri in 1953, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. Lisa Montgomery - the only female inmate on federal death row in the US - has been executed for murder. the scheduled executions of five death . Even if Higgs did not direct Haynes to shoot Chinn, Jackson, and Black, he still would have been eligible for the death penalty undera felony murder prosecution. Convicted and sentenced to death for the carjacking, kidnapping, and death of a restaurant owner. Torrezs convictions connected in the murders of three women, one of whom he raped, influenced the jury to hand him a death sentence. "The government stopped at nothing in its zeal to kill this damaged and delusional woman," she said in a statement. (AP) The Trump administration early Saturday carried out its 13th federal execution since July, an unprecedented run that concluded just five days before the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden an opponent of the federal death penalty. Not since the waning days of Grover Cleveland's presidency in the late 1800s has the U.S. government executed federal inmates during a presidential transition, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. Catherina Voss and her boyfriend received life sentences. Asked if he had any last words, Higgs was calm but defiant, naming each of the women prosecutors said he ordered killed. Manuel Flores: 62788-079 Serving a life sentence Hitman for Juan Raul Garza, who was executed by the federal government in . Summary:A federal jury in South Carolina recommended a death sentence against Council for carrying out an armed robbery at aCresCombank and pulling the trigger on a teller and bank manager killing them both. Here are bios of the four condemned killers provided by the bureau of prisons: Amember of a white supremacist group, Lee murdered a family of three, including an 8-year-old girl. Higgs arrived on federal death row in January 2001, just five months before the execution of Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh. With the help of one of Higgss friends on death row, Wingate raised enough money to visit her brother for the first time. She was pronounced dead at 01:31 (06:31 GMT). "I'd like to say I am an innocent man," he said. Higgs was 23 on the evening of Jan. 26, 1996, when he, Haynes and a third man, Victor Gloria, picked up the three women in Washington, D.C., and drove them to Higgs apartment in Laurel, Maryland, to drink alcohol and listen to music. A Kansas woman was executed Wednesday for strangling an expectant mother in Missouri and cutting the baby from her womb, the first time in nearly seven decades that the U.S. government has put to death a female inmate. The Supreme Court outlawed the death penalty at state and federal level in 1972 but reversed the decision four years later. This is a list of notable current and former inmates at the United States Penitentiary, Terre Haute. The execution chamber was constructed just after the passage of the 1994 crime bill, but the surrounding penitentiary predates even the interstate. Neither did Wilkinson, who prosecuted Higgss case alongside Johnston and still works for the Justice Department. Although her recollections are sketchy, she remembered conducting a key interview with Glorias ex-girlfriend, Katrina Havenner, in September 2000. Tipton was convicted in six of the murders. Gloria turned to ask Higgs what he was doing, but saw Higgs holding the steering wheel and watching the shootings from the rearview mirror, said the 2013 ruling by a three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. After giving birth to her own daughter in 1990, Wingate enlisted in the Army, the best of a limited set of options. In their phone calls, Wingate said, Higgs has told her what it is like on the day after an execution. Mitchell stabbed the 63-year-old woman to death and drove off for around 40 miles (64km) with her lifeless body in the vehicle along with her granddaughter. Higgs had a traumatic childhood and lost his mother to cancer when he was 10, the petition said. by Sentenced to death in 1993; died in 2019 of natural causes. Less than a year before the murders, in July 1995, the Baltimore Sun reported that federal prosecutors were on the lookout for cases that might warrant the death penalty. Instead of taking them home, Higgs drove them to a secluded spot in the Patuxent National Wildlife Refuge, federal land in Laurel. Former New Orleans police officer who ordered the murder of a young woman who witnessed his beating of a witness. Former prison guard convicted of killing two campers on federal land while wearing a homemade sniper suit. Neither these AP materials nor any portion thereof may be stored in a computer except for personal and noncommercial use. The interstate leads all the way to Baltimore, where Wingates brother, Dustin Higgs, had been sentenced to die more than 20 years earlier. TERRE HAUTE, Ind. Louds sobs of a woman crying inconsolably began to echo from the witness room reserved for Higgs family as his eyes rolled back in his head, showing the whites of his eyes. Convicted and sentenced to death for a drug-related murder. Agreeing tobe a witnessforthe government in exchange for a lesser sentence,Gloria testifiedthat thethree menhad been hanging out with Chinn, Jackson, and Black in Higgss apartment when Jacksonrejected Higgs. On the night Lisa Montgomery was executed by the Trump administration, Alexa Cave Wingate arrived at the Springhill Suites in Terre Haute, Indiana, at 9 p.m. The fourth has been set for Aug. 28. The next day, she was sentenced to death. Share. Convicted and sentenced to death for involvement in the drug-related killing of a family, including two children. Yet such red flags are often not enough to stop an execution.

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