Teresa Lewis, 41, was executed die by lethal injection. (AP) Posted on 09/23/2010 8:23:49 PM PDT by Inappropriate Laughter
Teresa Lewis, 41, was executed die by lethal injection. (AP)
JARRATT, Va., Sept. 23 - Teresa Lewis, who plotted with a young lover to kill her husband and stepson for insurance money, became the first woman executed in Virginia in nearly 100 years Thursday night when she was killed by lethal injection.
Authorities pronounced Lewis dead at 9:13 p.m.
Lewis's case generated passion and interest across the world. The European Union asked Virginia Gov. Robert F. McDonnell (R) to commute her sentence to life, citing her mental capacity. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad cited the case at an appearance in New York.
It began on an October night nearly eight years ago, when Lewis prayed with her husband, slipped into bed next to him and waited for her two conspirators to come inside the door she had left unlocked. The two men showed up about 3:15 a.m., opened fire, then fled.
After the shooting, Lewis waited about half an hour to call 911. Her stepson, Charles "C.J." Lewis, died quickly. But her husband, Julian Lewis, whose body was riddled with bird shot, was alive and moaning "baby, baby, baby" when police arrived.
SNIP
Lewis is the 12th woman to be executed in the United States since capital punishment was reinstated in 1976. The most recent was in Texas in 2005, when Frances Newton was killed by lethal injection for shooting her husband and two children.
On Saturday, Lewis was moved to the Greensville Correctional Center, site of Virginia's death house. She requested her final meal: fried chicken, sweet peas with butter, German chocolate cake and Dr. Pepper, corrections officials said.
Her supporters never said that Lewis was innocent or that she shouldn't be punished. But they said she did not deserve to die because she was borderline mentally retarded,...
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Her husband and her step son also did not deserve the death penalty using not painless method of injection, but murdered
with multiple bullet wounds and whimpering in pain and still alive when the police arrived at the murder scene.
Not only that but she is also a coward and conspirator. The murder would not have happened unless she wanted it and ordered it.
She had the son killed because the policy was on him, not the husband.
She then had her 16 year old daughter perform sex with one of the hitmen, in a parking lot.
Buh bye ! Good riddance !
The court conducted a post-sentencing hearing and clarified its decision regarding the imposition of the sentences of death.The court stated that the defendant’s sentences of death were based upon the statutory vileness predicate because her acts reflected a depravity of mind. The court also concluded that the actual murderers had committed aggravated batteries upon each victim and those aggravated batteries were imputed to the defendant.
Julian Clifton Lewis, Jr., had been employed for several years by Dan River, Inc. His first wife, who had been ill for a long time, died in January 2000. In March or April 2000, Julian Lewis met the defendant, who was also employed by Dan River. The defendant began to live with Julian Lewis at his home in Danville in June 2000. Subsequently, Julian Lewis married the defendant.
In December 2001, Julian Lewis’ older son, Jason Clifton Lewis, died in a car accident. Julian Lewis was the beneficiary of his son’s life insurance policy, and Julian Lewis received proceeds in excess of $200,000. He placed those proceeds in a draft account with Prudential Securities, Inc. The proceeds of the account were accessible only by use of drafts bearing the signature of Julian Lewis.
In February 2002, Julian Lewis purchased a five-acre parcel of land in Pittsylvania County. He also purchased a mobile home and placed it on the property, where he and the defendant resided.
In August 2002, Julian Lewis’ younger son, Charles J. Lewis, an Army reservist, was required to report for active duty with the National Guard in Maryland. According to Lieutenant Michael Booker, Charles Lewis’ commanding officer, Lewis made estate arrangements in the event he died while on active duty.; Charles Lewis executed a will and identified his father as his primary beneficiary and his stepmother, the defendant, as the secondary beneficiary. Charles Lewis obtained a policy of life insurance in the amount of $250,000 payable in the event of his death. He designated his father as the primary beneficiary of the life insurance policy and the defendant as the secondary beneficiary.
In the autumn of 2002, Rodney L. Fuller and Matthew J. Shallenberger met the defendant at a retail store. Prior to this meeting, the defendant did not know these men. After a conversation, Shallenberger and the defendant exchanged telephone numbers and began to communicate frequently. Shallenberger and the defendant discussed the possibility that Shallenberger, with Fuller’s help, would kill Julian Lewis, and they would share any insurance proceeds that the defendant might receive.
One day, the defendant and her 16-year-old daughter, Christie Bean, met Shallenberger and Fuller at a parking lot in Danville. Christie, who had never met Fuller previously, had sexual intercourse with him in one car while the defendant and Shallenberger engaged in sexual intercourse in another vehicle. On a later date, Fuller and Shallenberger went to the defendant’s home where she performed a “lingerie show” for the men, and she had sexual intercourse with both men.
On October 23, 2002, the defendant met Shallenberger and Fuller at a shopping center in Danville. The defendant went to a bank and obtained $1,200 in cash that she gave to the men to use to purchase firearms and ammunition to kill Julian Lewis. Antwain D. Bennett, an acquaintance of Shallenberger, used the money to purchase three firearms. Two of the firearms were shotguns. Additionally, Bennett purchased ammunition for the weapons.
On that same date, the defendant told Shallenberger and Fuller the route that Julian Lewis traveled from his place of employment to his home. The men planned to kill Julian Lewis and “make the murder look like a robbery.”While the defendant remained at her home, the men were “to follow and stop Julian Lewis on the highway and kill him.” The plan, however, was unsuccessful.
Consequently, the defendant, Shallenberger, and Fuller decided to kill Julian Lewis at his home on October 30, 2002. They also decided to kill his son, Charles Lewis, when he returned to Virginia to attend his father’s funeral and share the proceeds from Charles Lewis’ policy of life insurance. However, when the conspirators learned that Charles Lewis would be with his father at the mobile home on October 30, 2002, they decided to kill him and his father simultaneously.
During the early morning of October 30, 2002, Shallenberger and Fuller drove a vehicle past the Lewis’ home about three times. The men did not stop their vehicle because they observed that lights were on in the home. Eventually, Shallenberger and Fuller entered the residence through a rear door that the defendant had unlocked. Each man carried one of the shotguns that had been purchased with the $1,200 cash the defendant had given them. Shallenberger and Fuller awakened the defendant, who was in bed with her husband. told the defendant, “Teresa, get up.” The defendant got out of her bed and walked into the kitchen, and she heard gunshots. Shallenberger shot Julian Lewis several times. The defendant went to the bedroom where her husband lay bleeding, retrieved Julian Lewis’ pants and wallet, and returned to the kitchen with Shallenberger.
Fuller entered a room that was occupied by Charles Lewis. Fuller shot Charles Lewis three times. Then Fuller went to the kitchen where he observed the defendant and Shallenberger “pulling money from a wallet.” Fuller told the defendant and Shallenberger that Charles Lewis “wouldn’t die.” Fuller got Shallenberger’s shotgun and returned to the bedroom occupied by Charles Lewis where Fuller shot him two more times. The men retrieved most of the shotgun shells, and they divided $300 in cash that had been taken from Julian Lewis’ wallet.
After shooting the victims, Shallenberger told the defendant that he was sorry she “had to go through something like this; hugged her and kissed her; and the men left.” The defendant waited about 45 minutes after the “last shot was fired,” and she made a telephone call to her former mother-in-law, Marie Bean. Next, she made a telephone call to her best friend, Debbie Yeatts.
On Wednesday morning, October 30, 2002, approximately 3:55 a.m., the defendant placed a telephone call to emergency response personnel in Pittsylvania County. She reported that an intruder had entered her home and shot her husband and his adult son. She stated that both men were dead. She said that she had been in the bed with her husband when an intruder armed with a pistol entered her bedroom and said, “Get up.” Her husband told her to go into the bathroom, and her husband asked the intruder, “What’s going on?” The defendant said that her husband was shot four or five times while she was in the bathroom. She reported that the shooting had occurred at 3:15 or 3:30 a.m.
Sheriff deputies Harris Silverman and Corey Webb arrived at the murder scene at approximately 4:18 a.m., 23 minutes after the defendant made the telephone call to the emergency response personnel. The deputies met the defendant at the front door of her home, and she stated that her husband’s body was on the floor in one bedroom and that her stepson’s body was in another bedroom. When Deputy Webb entered the master bedroom, he learned that Julian Lewis was alive. Julian Lewis “made slow moans” and uttered, “[B]aby, baby, baby, baby.” Deputy Webb asked the victim his name, and he responded, “Julian.” Deputy Webb asked Julian Lewis if he knew who had shot him, and the victim responded, “My wife knows who done this to me.”
While the deputies tried to assist the victims, Deputy Webb observed the defendant conversing on the telephone, and he heard her state, “I told C.J. [Charles Lewis] about leaving that back door unlocked.” Julian Lewis died in his residence. When Deputy Webb informed the defendant that her husband and stepson were dead, she did not appear upset.
Investigator J.T. Barrett of the Pittsylvania County Sheriff’s Office arrived at the murder scene approximately 7:00 a.m. on October 30, 2002. Barrett interviewed the defendant twice. Investigator Keith N. Isom also interviewed the defendant. During one of the interviews, the defendant claimed that her husband had physically assaulted her a few days before his death, and she denied knowledge of her husband’s killer. She said that she would not kill her husband or have him killed.
Investigator Barrett asked the defendant what she and her husband did before they went to bed on the night of the murders. She said that she talked with her husband, and that they prayed together. She told her husband that she was going to pack his lunch, and he went to sleep. She prepared a lunch and placed it in the refrigerator. She wrote a note on the lunch bag that stated, “I love you. I hope you have a good day.” A picture of a “smiley face” was drawn on the bag and inscribed in the “smiley face” was the message, “I miss you when you’re gone.”
Mike Campbell, Lewis’ supervisor, testified that Julian Lewis did not use bags to bring his lunch to work. Rather, Julian Lewis took his lunch to work in a blue and white cooler.
Investigator Isom interviewed the defendant again on November 7, 2002. During this interview, the defendant admitted that she had offered Matthew Shallenberger money if he would kill her husband. After the interview, the defendant again spoke with Investigator Isom. The defendant told Isom that she had met her husband’s killer at a retail store and that he was from New York. The defendant stated that she had “let him in” her mobile home, and he shot both Julian Lewis and Charles Lewis, took some money, and left. She told the investigator that she had agreed to give Shallenberger half of the insurance proceeds that she expected to receive, but she changed her mind and decided to keep all the money. She informed the investigator of Shallenberger’s address, and Isom and the defendant went to Shallenberger’s residence where she identified him.
On November 8, 2002, the defendant, who was in the Danville City Jail, requested to speak with Investigator Isom. He interviewed her at the jail, and she told Isom that Rodney Fuller was also involved in the murders of her husband and stepson. The defendant also stated that her daughter had assisted with the murders. The defendant “acknowledged that after the shooting and after the men left the house [on the night of the murders], she had waited about thirty minutes to call 911.”
On the day of the murders, the defendant made a telephone call to Campbell and told him that her husband had been killed, and that she wanted his paycheck. Campbell informed the defendant that she could not retrieve the paycheck before 4:00 p.m. on that day. The next day, October 31, 2002, the defendant again called Campbell and asked for Julian Lewis’ paycheck. Campbell responded that he could not give the paycheck to her.
More...
http://caselaw.findlaw.com/va-supreme-court/1138688.html
In December 2001, Julian Lewis’ older son, Jason Clifton Lewis, died in a car accident. Julian Lewis was the beneficiary of his son’s life insurance policy, and Julian Lewis received proceeds in excess of $200,000. He placed those proceeds in a draft account with Prudential Securities, Inc. The proceeds of the account were accessible only by use of drafts bearing the signature of Julian
In August 2002, Julian Lewis’ younger son, Charles J. Lewis, an Army reservist, was required to report for active duty with the National Guard in Maryland. According to Lieutenant Michael Booker, Charles Lewis’ commanding officer, Lewis made estate arrangements in the event he died while on active duty.; Charles Lewis executed a will and identified his father as his primary beneficiary and his stepmother, the defendant, as the secondary beneficiary. Charles Lewis obtained a policy of life insurance in the amount of $250,000 payable in the event of his death. He designated his father as the primary beneficiary of the life insurance policy and the defendant as the secondary beneficiary.
Wow that’s amazing, so we’re talking $450,000?
Exactly, Charlie Manson never killed anyone, he just told people to do it, and that asshole is still alive.
Can’t be worse than California. Death row here is called die-of-old-age row. Appeals are allowed to go on for 25+ yrs.
green river killer who probably killed 40 women....Life...
the killer who murdered 13 that we know of here in my area..life...although he was tried in another jurisdiction and got the chair..still with us though.....
the reason these guys got Life instead of the chair is because they "agreed" to tell info about where some of the victims were...
which means that if you kill a LOT of people, chances are you can weasel your way out of the chair with "information"....
its never a joyful day when someone gets the dp.....but its necessary...
The victims are just as dead and would still be alive if she hadn't "solicited" for murder. The reason the law says the person paying for the crime is just as guilty is so that people won't do things like that. Death is a deterrent, believe it or not. Hopefully the two a**hats she hired to kill were also killed in turn.
As for her mental capacity, if she had the brains to dream this up she can't be too "diminished". I know you didn't mention that but the article did and I thought I would throw it in, gratis.
Wow! Isn't he the great humanitarian?
I disagree. Teresa Lewis not only moved to have her husband and step-son murdered, but she involved three other people and took them all down with her.
If she had done nothing, her husband and step-son would be alive and those three other people (the men she contracted with and her teenage daughter who she prostituted out to the two men) wouldn't have done any of what they did. She set the entire process in motion. Without her, this specific series of crimes would not have occurred.
I am in favor of the death penalty in general, but often have problems with it in specific cases. In this case, it was proper and fair. Slaughtering family members for money is a big no-no.
You really see a serious difference between hiring two guys to kill your innocent family members and shooting them yourself? They aren’t any less dead and the intent isn’t any less evil.
Why?
Karla Faye Tucker. She killed two people in their bed with a pickax while committing a robbery.
When her time to belly up to the gurney came, an unbelievable number of people came to her defense, including Newt Gingrich.
I hope she really changed and made peace with her maker. God will sort these things out.
Only God can know what was in her heart. Becoming Christian means that God forgives us for our sins. Being Christian does not mean we don't have to face whatever punishment the state has planned. It is not a Get Out of Jail Free card and it upsets me whenever people who are facing punishment try to use their faith to get themselves out of self-imposed jams.
Even Ted Bundy tried that ruse before he was finally executed.
Before murder, one might try:
annulment
separation
divorce
abandonment
etc.
There are those who hate justice.
Justice should never be held hostage.
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