Convict to die for burglary-slaying
Posted on 01/30/2003 7:05:54 AM PST by MeekOneGOP
Convict to die for burglary-slaying
01/30/2003
HUNTSVILLE, Texas - Convicted killer Granville Riddle describes himself as ordinary.
"I'm just a normal small town boy," he says on an Internet Web site devoted to prisoners seeking pen pals. "I am caring and I am considerate."
His record disputes that, culminating with a capital murder conviction and a scheduled trip to the Texas death chamber Thursday evening.
AP Granville Riddle |
"He's been a problem for law enforcement since he got old enough to even think about being a problem for law enforcement," says Randall Sims, an assistant district attorney in Potter County who said Riddle's first burglary was at age 8. "That's not good old country boys. That's prison material."
With numerous burglaries already on his juvenile record, authorities said he vandalized and burglarized a church in 1985 just before turning 16. Then he had other burglaries, plus drug possession and auto theft arrests. By April 1988, he was in prison with a seven-year term for burglary, only to be paroled after just 21/2 months.
By October 1988, the then 19-year-old was accused of capital murder for killing an Amarillo man by fatally beating him with a tire iron during a burglary of the man's home.
"It was one of the bloodiest crime scenes I've ever seen in 20 years," said Sims, who prosecuted the case. "The (victim's) skull looked like a volleyball that was a sponge, just holes everywhere."
Riddle's attorneys went to the U.S. Supreme Court to try to halt the execution, which would be the sixth in Texas this year and the third this week. Two more are scheduled for next week.
| Also Online | ||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
Before getting to prison, Riddle tried escaping from jail numerous times -- succeeding once for three days, attempted to electrify his cell door with wires from his radio and television and was involved in several fights with other inmates.
Riddle, now 32, didn't deny his involvement in the Oct. 9, 1988, beating death of Ronnie Bennett, 39, but disputed the circumstances.
"I killed a man in self-defense, at his house partying," Riddle, who declined to be interviewed in recent weeks, said in a newsletter published by the Chicago-based Campaign to End the Death Penalty. "Then I got this great idea that if I made it look like a burglary, they wouldn't think it was me."
"That's a crock," Sims said this week. "He went in there to steal some stuff."
Evidence at his trial showed Riddle and a friend, Brad Bybee, went out drinking and drove to Bennett's home. He gave conflicting statements, saying he broke in by prying open a screen with the tire iron and later saying he found a door unlocked and went in that way. Evidence showed a kitchen window had been pried open.
He testified Bennett, who he knew and who he described as drunk, made a sexual advance that angered him, so he responded by hitting the man some 15 times with the tire iron. But evidence showed Bennett at the time of the attack had a blood-alcohol level of 0.29, enough to render him unconscious.
Bybee, who was waiting outside, testified Riddle called him in, pointed out some items he could steal and remarked that he wanted to see "how strong (Bybee's) stomach (was)." Then he swung the lug wrench -- blunt end first -- at Bennett's head, leaving it buried in the dead man's skull, Bybee said.
Bybee fled and Riddle panicked, grabbing the victim's wallet and driving off in the victim's truck. The truck was found burned the next day in a ravine near Borger, about 40 miles to the northeast. Bybee was picked up by police and fingered Riddle, who was arrested five days later.
Riddle's execution would come 24 hours after another condemned inmate, Richard Dinkins, was put to death for killing two women at a Beaumont clinic in 1990.
Texas Dept. of Criminal Justice
By October 1988, the then 19-year-old was accused of capital murder for killing an Amarillo man by fatally beating him with a tire iron during a burglary of the man's home."It was one of the bloodiest crime scenes I've ever seen in 20 years," said Sims, who prosecuted the case. "The (victim's) skull looked like a volleyball that was a sponge, just holes everywhere."
DEAD
May also be added.
You know, somebody could make a full time job out of writing death penalty bios at the rate we're needling them.
Lucky for him there weren't hate crime laws on the books when he bashed in some guy's skull for making sexual advances to him. But, then again, what worse penalty was he going to get (again proving the stupidity of hate crime laws)?
Too many bleeding hearts out there who thought it was inhumane.
But aparently, "The (victim's) skull looked like a volleyball that was a sponge, just holes everywhere," is not.
This guy is nothing but a remorseless psychopath. May he burn in hell.
There is even a group that covers "NEC" (not elsewhere classified) killers, those who are nor black, retarded, did the crime when they were young, abused as a child, Mexican citizen, small town boy, a tall/white/fat/black/male juror was excluded, that does a much better job than this group.
Oh well, so far this year, that's what, Texas -6, murders - 0.
For 300 True Crime points, who was "the nicest boy in Wolcott" and what did he do?
Just before he was caught, he was putting his life back together. /Sarcasm
What's the Under/Over?
Don't know what the over is, but the under is six feet :o)
Just think of the future he could have had in Democrat party politics...
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
