JOHNNY RAY CONNER
Posted on 08/24/2007 9:01:45 PM PDT by Dubya
HUNTSVILLE -- Apologizing directly to his victim's relatives but calling his punishment unjust, Johnny Ray Conner was executed Wednesday evening for killing a Houston convenience store clerk during a failed robbery in 1998.
Conner was the 400th person executed in Texas since executions resumed in December 1982.
Conner, 32, asked for forgiveness repeatedly and expressed love for his family and the family of Kathyanna Nguyen, the woman he killed.
He first asked the warden his name and for permission to speak longer than the usual two to three minutes and to have Nguyen's daughter pointed out to him through the windows to the witness rooms.
He specifically asked one of her relatives to look at him, but she remained turned to the side with her hands clasped in prayer.
"This is destiny. This is life. This is something Allah wants me to do," he said in his lengthy statement.
"I want you to understand. I'm not mad at you. When I get to the gates of heaven I'm going to be waiting for you. Please forgive me."
He went on: "What is happening to me is unjust, and the system is broken."
He was pronounced dead at 6:20 p.m.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected Conner's contention that his trial attorneys were deficient for not investigating a leg injury that left Conner with a limp. The disability would have prevented him from running from the store.
Witnesses who identified Conner as the gunman told of seeing a man running from the scene. None mentioned a limp.
A federal judge agreed with the argument and granted Conner a new trial. A federal appeals court disagreed and overturned that ruling this year, clearing the way for Conner's execution.
Conner's trial lawyers said the injury was never an issue because Conner told them his broken leg had long been healed.
Lyn McClellan, the Harris County prosecutor who tried the case, said Conner's complaint was a fabrication.
"They had video of him in jail walking down the hallway just fine without any limp," he said. "That's the problem with some made-up defense. You've got to live it out all the time or you get caught."
The prospect of Texas executing its 400th prisoner prompted an outcry from death penalty opponents.
"Johnny Conner's execution represents 400 instances of failed public policy for Texans," the Austin-based Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty said.
The European Union, which opposes capital punishment and bans it in its 27 nations, urged Gov. Rick Perry to stop Conner's execution and impose a death penalty moratorium.
Perry spokesman Robert Black brushed aside the criticism.
"Texans long ago decided that the death penalty is a just and appropriate punishment for the most horrible crimes committed against our citizens," he said.
Nguyen, 49, was shot in the head on a Sunday afternoon in May 1998. Julian Gutierrez, a customer walking into the store to pay for gas, interrupted the holdup, tried to run back outside and was shot in the shoulder.
"The clerk was in one of those cubicles where they have this bulletproof glass," McClellan said. "He was able to get his gun in there, and it was kind of like being in a shooting gallery."
Gutierrez survived and was among at least three people to identify Conner, whose fingerprint was found on a bottle.
The next scheduled execution is Tuesday. DaRoyce Mosley was condemned for his part in the slayings of four people during the robbery of a bar in Kilgore in 1994.
JOHNNY RAY CONNER
ROP alert.
He is not mad at them, thats rich!
In Texas, the governor can’t do anything but provide a single 30 day stay of execution. He cannot commute the sentence unless the Texas Board Of Pardon And Parole first recommends it. He cannot commute or overturn a sentence unless the board recommends it - so the people urging Perry to do just that are idiots.
You're not going to heaven, and you're not getting 72 virgins. Burn, Mooj, burn.
“The European Union, which opposes capital punishment and bans it in its 27 nations, urged Gov. Rick Perry to stop Conner’s execution and impose a death penalty moratorium.”
Idiot Europeans never bothered to look into Texas law. The governor doesn’t have that power.
But then, it’s the EU. They never bother checking reality before opening their mouths.
You got what you deserved, Johnny Ray Connor. You will have to answer to God for what you did. Allah won’t be there for you.
Sorry, but this defective human didn't "love" anyone, let of all the family of his prey. But it's good to hear that another dark force has been snuffed out. IMO, murderers, child molesters, and terrorists should be tortured to death, but any method that resulting their death is OK with me.
allah will meet johnny ray at the gates of hell.
What I love most about Texas is when they have a vicious a-hole who deserves to die,THEY KILL HIM !!!
That stood out to me too. He’s not mad at them for him killing an innocent woman? If I were them and I had even an inkling of forgiveness in my heart, that would’ve killed it.
Kill us and we kill you back.
The MSM and their ‘Rat puppet-masters developed a cottage industry of sliming Gov. George Bush over that very issue, starting around 1997. Things went downhill from there....
Yup. And while it may take us a bit longer to do it than some would like, we still do it faster than anyone else. And, you know, it’s not like the SOB is going anywhere in the meantime.
Are you kidding? I totally admire Texas for having the intestinal fortitude to execute evil people. In my state of Massholechusetts we’re only good at killing innocent unborn babies !!!
“”He specifically asked one of her relatives to look at him, but she remained turned to the side with her hands clasped in prayer.
“This is destiny. This is life. This is something Allah wants me to do,” he said in his lengthy statement.
“I want you to understand. I’m not mad at you. When I get to the gates of heaven I’m going to be waiting for you. Please forgive me.”
He went on: “What is happening to me is unjust, and the system is broken.” “”
When I read his actions, I don’t see humility, I see subtle aggression, a final attack.
“Look at me”-control
“This is destiny. This is life.(Allah)”- You people aren’t controlling this sentence.
“When I get to the gates of heaven I’m going to be waiting for you.”- A final threat
“What is happening to me is unjust, and the system is broken.”- speaks for itself
This is sad. I wish some Christians could have gotten to him earlier in his life.
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