Credit where credit is due.
The actor portraying "Garibaldi," Jerry Doyle, had overheard Doyle saying that in real life by Straczynski, so Straczynski included it in a script.
Regards,
Posted on 06/26/2024 7:50:10 PM PDT by DoodleBob
A Texas man who admitted he kidnapped, sexually assaulted and fatally shot an 18-year-old woman in 2001 was executed Wednesday evening. Ramiro Gonzales, 41, was pronounced dead at 6:50 p.m. CDT following a chemical injection at the state penitentiary in Huntsville for the January
Gonzales was repeatedly apologetic to the victim's relatives in his last statement from the execution chamber. Just before he spoke, a spiritual adviser sang a prayer, resting her left hand on his chest.
"I can't put into words the pain I have caused y'all, the hurt, what I took away that I cannot give back. I hope this apology is enough," the inmate said in words directed to the family.
"I never stopped praying that you would forgive me and that one day I would have this opportunity to apologize. I owe all of you my life and I hope one day you will forgive me," he added, just before a lethal dose of the sedative pentobarbital began flowing.
As the drug took effect, he took seven breaths, then began sounds like snores. Within less than a minute, all movement had stopped. Authorities said his time of death was 24 minutes after the injection began.
Gonzales kidnapped Townsend from a rural home in Bandera County, northwest of San Antonio. He later took her to his family's ranch in neighbouring Medina County, where he sexually assaulted her before killing her. Her body wasn't found until October 2002, when Gonzales led authorities to her remains in southwest Texas after he had received two life sentences for kidnapping and raping another woman.
The U.S. Supreme Court declined a defence plea to intervene about 1 and 1/2 hours before the scheduled execution start time. The high court rejected arguments by Gonzales' lawyers that he had taken responsibility for what he did and that a prosecution expert witness now says he was wrong in testifying that Gonzales would be a future danger to society, a legal finding needed to impose a death sentence.
"He has earnestly devoted himself to self-improvement, contemplation, and prayer, and has grown into a mature, peaceful, kind, loving, and deeply religious adult. He acknowledges his responsibility for his crimes and has sought to atone for them and to seek redemption through his actions," Gonzales' lawyers had written Monday in their unsuccessful request to the Supreme Court for a stay of execution. After re-evaluating Gonzales in 2022, Gripon said his prediction was wrong.
Earlier this month, a group of 11 evangelical leaders from Texas and around the country asked the parole board and Gov. Greg Abbott to halt the execution and grant clemency. They had said Gonzalez was helping other death row inmates through a faith-based program.
In video submitted as part of his clemency request to the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles, Gonzales admitted responsibility.
"I just want (Townsend's mother) to know how sorry I really am. I took everything that was valuable from a mother," said Gonzales, who was 18 years old at the time. "So, every day it's a continual task to do everything that I can to feel that responsibility for the life that I took."
The victim's brother wasn't persuaded. In various petitions and posts on Change.org, David Townsend criticized efforts to portray Gonzales as anything other than a convicted murderer who committed "unforgivable acts."
"Our family seeks not revenge, but closure and a measure of peace after years of heartache -- a quest that is hindered, not helped, by decisions that allow the perpetrator of our pain to remain in the public eye," he wrote.
On Monday, the parole board voted 7-0 against commuting Gonzales' death sentence to a lesser penalty. Members also rejected granting him a six-month reprieve.
Prosecutors described Gonzales as a sexual predator who told police he ignored Townsend's pleas to spare her life. They argued that jurors reached the right decision on a death sentence.
"The State's punishment case was overwhelming," the Texas Attorney General's Office said. "Even if Dr. Gripon's testimony were wiped from the punishment slate, it would not have mattered."
Gonzales' execution was the second this year in Texas and the eighth in the U.S. On Thursday, Oklahoma is scheduled to execute Richard Rojem for the 1984 abduction, rape and killing of a seven-year-old girl.
I am having a harder time every day understanding what kind of person grows up wanting to be a “DEFENSE ATTORNEY”.
IIRC-— an easily run around $100,000 a year.
The “Q” has a number of death row inmates, that have been there, since the early 80s. Unfortunately, they get the best health care money can buy.
the major expense in keeping these death row inmates in prison for so long are the legal maneuvers...leave it to lawyers to ruin everything they touch, just for money.
Credit where credit is due.
The actor portraying "Garibaldi," Jerry Doyle, had overheard Doyle saying that in real life by Straczynski, so Straczynski included it in a script.
Regards,
He got a Humane Death.
She didn’t.
And the World is a better place today for it.
He dropped out of school in the 7th grade which in Texas I believe means he had to be 16. That’s quite a few Fs.
Libs don’t like to admit it but there is a fairly strong inverse correlation in intelligence and violent crime. Despite fantasy characters like Hannibal Lector the average psycho killer is stupid.
You can click on the name of a particular executed person and see some details about him. You can also see if he's given a "last statement".
I've looked at some of those last statements and have been surprised by how many contain acknowledgments of guilt and expressions of remorse. Yes,there are some where the guy says "I didn't do it" or "the death penalty is wrong" but the majority seem to feature remorse. Maybe there is "redemption" after all..
23 years of taxpayers money for this POS when 30cent bullet at the guilty verdict would have done the job.
40 years later...SMH!
Well, AMF then.
The fact that he tortured / raped / murdered two women - that we know of - that’s just an unfortunate part of his past!
Whenever a democrat is executed, a toilet is immediately flushed.
In 2025, there are going to be many many more toilets flushed.
Should have been within 90 days of being found guilty. Even better they should have followed Dean Martin in ROUGH NIGHT IN JERICHO.
“Lock him up. We’ll hang him tomorrow right after the trial.”
23 years of 3 hots and a cot not to mention hundreds of lawyer hours billed to the public coffers. A hemp and branch party held immediately after the first lost appeal would be far more appropriate.
Yes, an occasional innocent may be lost in this expidited process but if society knows for a fact that you will not live more than a week after your trial, there would be far less crime of any type.
Wasting air for 16 years after being sentenced.
Whatever he said it “were” plural.
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