Posted on 08/26/2004 8:14:57 AM PDT by Dubya
HUNTSVILLE - A 28-year-old Tyler man was executed Wednesday for killing two teen-age girls after spending hours drinking and smoking marijuana with them in Cherokee County in 1995.
In a final statement, Jasen Shane Busby thanked his family for "standing by me" and expressed love for them. He turned to relatives of his victims and said he "didn't do what I did to hurt you all. I am sorry that I did what I did."
"I don't think you know the true reason for doing what I did, but Brandy and I had a suicide pact, and I just didn't follow through with it," he said.
"That did not come out in the trial. I am not trying to hurt you by telling you this. I am trying to tell you the truth."
Busby was pronounced dead at 6:20 p.m. He was the 11th Texas prisoner executed this year.
James Vernon Allridge, 41, of Fort Worth is scheduled to die tonight. He was convicted of killing clerk Brian Clendennen while robbing a convenience store in February 1985.
Busby was arrested within an hour after cousins Tennille Thompson, 18, and Brandy Gray, 16, were shot at a residence in Antioch, just west of Jacksonville. Christopher Kelley, then 18, was shot in the neck but called for help. He identified Busby as the gunman and testified against him.
Busby was caught with Kelley's red pickup. Ammunition from the weapon used in the slayings was scattered in the back of the truck.
Investigators reported that Busby and the victims had been drinking and smoking marijuana for hours. Busby, then 19, confessed to police but argued later in appeals that the confession was the result of drug intoxication, including LSD. The courts rejected the argument.
In letters he wrote to friends while in jail awaiting trial, Busby described the slayings in graphic detail. In unsuccessful appeals, he contended that authorities improperly viewed and made copies of the letters.
Hope he burns in hell for the pain he caused.
NO LOSS for the human race. I just hope that he never reproduced himself. A big boon to the gene pool.
Stalled for nine years ...
Good riddance. Don't let the door to hell hit you on the way down.
Ban alcohol!
We'll help you keep that promise.....
Aug. 26, 2004
Remorseful store clerk killer set to die Thursday
MICHAEL GRACZYK
Associated Press
HUNTSVILLE, Texas - Condemned inmate James Allridge describes himself as quiet, not so much a talker but a doer, and a workaholic.
"Life takes us on a bunch of different courses," Allridge says. "You just have to try to find your path."
One of those paths 19 years ago earned Allridge a death sentence - scheduled to be carried out Thursday evening - for killing a convenience store clerk in Fort Worth during a $300 robbery.
It's the same fate that confronted his brother, Ronald, who was put to death in 1995 for killing a woman during the robbery of a Fort Worth fast-food restaurant.
In all, the brothers were tied to the slayings of three people during a two-month crime spree that targeted convenience stores and fast-food places.
"I am deeply regretful any of this has happened," Allridge said last week from death row, adding that he would like to express his sentiments to the relatives of his victim. "This should never have happened."
He acknowledged his "difficult situation" but called himself "literally the eternal optimist."
The crime wave appeared to be out of character for Allridge, who had no previous criminal record. He was described as a good student and hard worker but someone who fell under the control and demands of an older violent brother who intimidated him.
Allridge's supporters contended he was rehabilitated during his nearly two decades in prison. They also say jurors who convicted him and decided he should die for killing 21-year-old clerk Brian Clendennen didn't know enough about his abusive childhood and his dominating brother. The argument, in a clemency petition rejected earlier this week by the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles, also was included in an appeal in the federal courts that sought to spare Allridge's life.
That didn't sit well with Clendennen's relatives.
"My brother didn't even have a chance at life," Shane Clendennen told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. "People who say the death penalty is wrong haven't gone through this... All I have is a picture and a grave site."
Allridge would be the 12th Texas inmate executed this year and the second in as many evenings.
Jasen Shane Busby, 28, of Tyler, was put to death Wednesday for a double slaying in Cherokee County in East Texas more than nine years ago.
Busby was arrested within an hour after cousins Tennille Thompson, 18, and Brandy Gray, 16, were gunned down at a mobile home in Antioch, just west of Jacksonville. A third person was shot in the neck but managed to call for help, identified Busby as the gunman and testified against him. All had been partying together and court records indicate they had been smoking marijuana.
Busby, in a brief final statement in which he said he was sorry, contended he and Gray had a suicide pact "and I just didn't follow through." Nine minutes later, at 6:20 p.m., he was pronounced dead.
Allridge's appeal was similar to the one filed on behalf of Busby as attorneys challenged the way Texas juries decide death penalties. Busby's appeal was rejected by the U.S. Supreme Court about 2 1/2 hours before he was executed.
The appeals also contended a life prison term is the maximum sentence a judge can impose if a jury can't agree on the so-called special issue questions that can lead to a death sentence. But the appeals argued a death sentence based on a jury's answers to those questions is a "tail that wags the dog" escalation of the statutory maximum sentence and improper under recent Supreme Court decisions.
Allridge spent some of his time on death row creating artwork sold on an Internet site. His work attracted the attention of actress Susan Sarandon, a death penalty opponent who visited the prisoner last month.
"She came to see me as a friend," Allridge said. "It wasn't about publicity. I don't know her as Susan Sarandon the movie star."
Sarandon, 57, won an Academy Award for her portrayal of anti-capital punishment crusader Sister Helen Prejean in "Dead Man Walking." Prejean was on Allridge's list of witnesses scheduled to attend his execution Thursday
On the net:
Allridge Web site: http://www.deathrow.at/allridge/
Texas prison system Allridge summary: http://www.tdcj.state.tx.us/statistics/deathrow/drowlist/allridj.jpg
Good to see a court that REJECTS intoxication as an excuse for crime.
OK with me. I don't think the dope heads will like that though.
OK with me. I don't think the dope heads will like that though.
Good thing Jesus showed us the way by avoiding alcohol in his ministry. Oh wait, changing water into wine was his 1st miracle. I guess we'll just have to go back to having people be responsible for their own actions instead. Oh well.
There's just got to be beer in heaven !
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Jasen: "I coulda had a V-8!"
Don't forget the current jelly.
OK with me.
Really? Have you heard how that worked out last time we tried it?
Your the one that said it, not me. Are you one of them?
Not only the dope heads, but most of America will not like that. Most Americans enjoy their drink, and don't want the torrent of crime that would ensue if it were banned.
One incedent 10 years ago. How many American each day smoke and drink for hours, but don't go out and kill afterwards. The article makes it sound like there is a correlation there that isn't
Too many people sit around smoking and drinking when they should be out doing crimes.
OK with me. I don't think the dope heads will like that though.
Dope dealers would love such an opportunity to expand their business.
They're only making a paltry $400 billion/year as it is.
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