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Ohio Man Executed for 1983 Fatal Robbery
Las Vegas Sun (via AP) ^ | January 14, 2004 | Andrew Welsh-Huggins

Posted on 01/14/2004 4:46:42 PM PST by Bonaparte

Ohio Man Executed for 1983 Fatal Robbery

By ANDREW WELSH-HUGGINS
ASSOCIATED PRESS

LUCASVILLE, Ohio (AP) - A murderer whose claims of mental retardation were rejected by the courts was executed Wednesday after struggling with guards and pleading for his life until the last moment.

Lewis Williams, 45, was put to death by injection for fatally shooting a 76-year-old woman during a robbery at her Cleveland home in 1983.

Four guards were needed to lift the 117-pound Williams from his knees and pry his hand off the edge of a table before carrying him into the death chamber. As he was strapped to the execution table he cried, "I'm not guilty. God, help me."

At least nine guards restrained him as they prepared his arms and inserted needles. One guard standing at his head alternately restrained him and patted his right shoulder to comfort him.

Williams repeatedly shook his head and tried to lift himself off the preparation bed. He yelled several times, then rested his head and spoke, appearing to whisper or chant quietly.

Williams kept pleading even as the warden pulled the microphone away after his final official statement: "God, please help me. God, please hear my cry." He was pronounced dead at 10:15 a.m.

His mother, Bonnie Williams, 66, sobbed in an adjacent room separated by a window.

"It was an awful thing to watch," assistant state public defender Stephen Ferrell said. "The struggle caught us by surprise. He didn't seem to be like that this morning."

It was the first time witnesses in Ohio saw members of the execution team insert the needles that delivered the lethal drugs into the condemned inmate's arms.

The decision by the Department of Rehabilitation and Correction to allow the process to be viewed settled a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union in September, said prisons system director Reginald Wilkinson.

Wilkinson said officials would review what happened with Williams.

"I would say it was disturbing. I would say it was traumatic," Wilkinson said. "It was probably as traumatic as anything our staff has gone through."

Williams was executed for shooting Leoma Chmielewski in the face during a robbery in her home. A footprint on the victim's nightgown matched his shoe, and gun residue was found on a jacket at his mother's house the day he was arrested.

Williams professed his innocence and disputed the evidence against him in a death row interview with The Associated Press last month. He said he was in Chmielewski's house the night she died but left before she was killed.

His execution, originally set for June, was delayed while a judge considered his claim that he was mentally retarded and therefore ineligible for the death penalty. The judge rejected the claim after an expert hired by Williams' attorneys found that he was not mentally retarded.

Williams was the ninth inmate executed in Ohio since the state resumed the death penalty in 1999.


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; US: Ohio
KEYWORDS: deathpenalty; execution; lewiswilliams; ohio; retarded
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To: Bonaparte
Tragic. Every comment I've read is a flip so what about the thug that met his maker.

Not one word about the trauma, and if you don't think it was traumatic, you're a blooming idiot, suffered by the guards who's duty it was to carry this out. I imagine most of the guards were good men, and good men don't naturally come to putting to death a man who's pleading for his life. I feel very, very, very sorry for those men.

21 posted on 01/14/2004 8:00:48 PM PST by Melas
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To: bonehead4freedom
I have leaned towards the concept of one appeal, one year to carry it out through the courts, then the electric chair.

(Not this lethal injection BS. They are doing a procedure that is normally reserved for and carried out on animals, and these bastrads are much lower on the food chain than that, especially if they rape and viciously murder someone, as Johnny Penry did. I want these bleeding heart murderer loving @#$%&*+ to look at the crime photos and then tell me killers deserve a more humane death than their victims.)

22 posted on 01/14/2004 8:29:00 PM PST by Houmatt (Kooldawg is a coward.)
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To: Melas
One of the reasons that I don't believe in the death penalty is because of the impact it has on those that carry out the execution. I imagine the scene will haunt the guards forever.
23 posted on 01/14/2004 8:37:12 PM PST by flutters (God Bless The USA)
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To: flutters
One of the reasons that I don't believe in the death penalty is because of the impact it has on those that carry out the execution. I imagine the scene will haunt the guards forever.

One of the reasons that I do believe in the death penalty is because of the impact it has on those who get caught and convicted for preying on innocent 76 year old women in their homes. I know that those who are executed for these heinous crimes will never be able to prey on anyone else -- forever.

24 posted on 01/14/2004 9:15:16 PM PST by Col Freeper
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To: Bonaparte
He said he was in Chmielewski's house the night she died but left before she was killed.

Well then, I hope they catch the real killer and execute him, too.

25 posted on 01/14/2004 9:18:42 PM PST by Lancey Howard
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To: Col Freeper
If they performed the execution in the middle of the prison yard, with the inmates watching, it might be effective.

I just don't agree with the death penalty. My father was murdered and I didn't want the man that killed him to get the death penalty (he didn't). I understand its causes and affects, but disagree with it just the same.
26 posted on 01/14/2004 9:38:13 PM PST by flutters (God Bless The USA)
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To: Bonaparte
A footprint on the victim's nightgown matched his shoe, and gun residue was found on a jacket at his mother's house the day he was arrested.

Sounds like pretty flimsy evidence to me. I've probably got a lot of gun residue all over the place, seeing as how I own four of them.

Did they ever find the gun?

27 posted on 01/15/2004 1:10:19 PM PST by mvpel (Michael Pelletier)
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To: mvpel
The link in post #4 gives some more information. His cousin lived across the street from the lady and he admitted he was at her house the night she was killed and was seen an hour before her body was found. Also, two inmates testified that he confessed to killing the woman.
28 posted on 01/15/2004 8:07:39 PM PST by flutters (God Bless The USA)
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To: mvpel
"...pretty flimsy evidence..."

At trial, the evidence was strong. His footprint on her nightgown was convincing, since she was wearing that same nightgown when her badly beaten body was found and right under that footprint was a crushing injury to her chest, consistent with that footprint. After he had used a blunt object to beat her head and neck, and after he had shoved the barrel of his gun in her mouth and blown her brains out, he stomped her chest as her lifeless body lay on the floor. And there was much more evidence. The jury didn't have much trouble finding him guilty.

29 posted on 01/16/2004 12:33:48 AM PST by Bonaparte
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To: Bonaparte
In that case, nevermind.
30 posted on 01/16/2004 11:04:07 AM PST by mvpel (Michael Pelletier)
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To: flutters
If they performed the execution in the middle of the prison yard, with the inmates watching, it might be effective.

I think you missed my point. I wasn't talking about it being effective on other inmates, just on the one who committed the murder of the 76 year old woman. He will no longer roam free in society preying on little old ladies.

I'm not arguing with your position on the death penalty, just stating mine. Sorry to hear about the murder of your Father.

I am curious however. Given a scenario that your Father's murderer escaped/was released from prison (life sentences aren't really life sentences), and was about to murder you and/or another member of your family, or for that matter, any other innocent citizen, and could only be stopped by killing him.

Given the chance to defend yourself or other innocents in this scenario, would you kill this murderer before he could claim another innocent victim, or perhaps support the efforts of someone else who would stop him by killing him?

31 posted on 01/16/2004 3:17:04 PM PST by Col Freeper
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To: Col Freeper
I'm not arguing with your position on the death penalty, just stating mine. Sorry to hear about the murder of your Father.

Thank you. I honestly understand your position. I seldom announce mine, especially on a conservative board. I'm vastly conservative and generally toe the party line except when it comes to the death penalty. To me, it is a very secret and personal issue.

Given the chance to defend yourself or other innocents in this scenario, would you kill this murderer before he could claim another innocent victim, or perhaps support the efforts of someone else who would stop him by killing him?

You bet I would. Self-defense is a whole new ballgame. If I had a gun, a few years ago I probably would have shot the man that put a gun to my head during a robbery. I'm also in line for a CCW permit as soon as they become available. I understand that if I carry it, pull it out to defend myself, then I'd better be prepared to shoot to kill.

I think you missed my point. I wasn't talking about it being effective on other inmates, just on the one who committed the murder of the 76 year old woman. He will no longer roam free in society preying on little old ladies.

Sorry if I missed your point. It wasn't intentional. But the perp wasn't roaming free...he was in prison, living a miserable life among like creatures, stewing about his crime, and reliving his actions over and over.

32 posted on 01/17/2004 6:48:09 PM PST by flutters (God Bless The USA)
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To: flutters
I imagine these guards steel themselves against what it is that might haunt them and probably get counseling if they have trouble handling it. I'm sure they have no trouble remembering what it is the scum is being executed for and that thought eases their consciences. They have nothing to be ashamed of.
33 posted on 01/17/2004 6:57:21 PM PST by rabidralph (All your debate are belong to us.)
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To: rabidralph
I didn't say they should be ashamed. Even though it is their job, they would have to believe in the death penalty if they are to live with themselves at the end of the day. I don't know much about how the participants are selected, do you? I wonder if it is voluntary.
34 posted on 01/17/2004 7:10:25 PM PST by flutters (God Bless The USA)
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