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.
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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.
For 300 True Crime points, who was "the nicest boy in Wolcott" and what did he do?Well, Google Search sez...
http://members.aol.com/kschessler/wizze.html
WOLCOTT, KANSAS - The local newspaper once wrote that Lowell Andrews was "The nicest boy in town." In 1958, Andrews, 18, an honor student and church goer, did anything but live up to it when he attempted to fulfill his secret dream of becoming a hired gun in Chicago. But because he needed money for the trip to Chicago, he decided to kill his sister and his parents and sell the farm. While his family watched TV, he entered the parlor and shot his sister between th eyes, his mother three times, and his father twice before reloading, since the first round failed to kill his parents. He confessed several days later. He was found guilty and hanged at Leavenworth Prison.
You know, I always wondered what happened to Opie ...
... well, I guess, now we know.
For more about that nice young man, read In Cold Blood (near the end).
Turn out the lights... life is over for this loser.
After January's batch, we have eleven SCHEDULED February through April. I think this is updated regularly.
There are 449 Offenders are Currently on Death Row.
I just noticed they have a breakdown by race/gender on the TDCJ link in my post #1, btw...
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Texas Department of Criminal Justice |
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Gender and Racial Statistics of Death Row Offenders
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Race |
Female | Male | Total | |
| White | 4 | 141 | 145 | |
| 50.0% | 32.0% | 32.3% | ||
| Black | 4 | 181 | 185 | |
| 50.0% | 41.0% | 41.2% | ||
| Hispanic | 0 | 114 | 114 | |
| 0.0% | 25.4% | 25.4% | ||
| Other | 0 | 5 | 5 | |
| 0.0% | 1.1% | 1.1% | ||
| TOTAL | 8 | 441 | 449 | |
| 100.0% | 100.0% | 100.0% |
Last Updated: January 24, 2003
"And if you don't believe me, I'LL KILL YOU!!"
Inmate executed for 1988 burglary-slaying
01/31/2003
HUNTSVILLE, Texas - Delivering his final statement in French and English, a burglar who authorities said began his career while in elementary school was executed Thursday for fatally bludgeoning an Amarillo man with a tire iron during a home burglary.
"I love all of you," Granville Riddle said, speaking first in French and then in English. "I have no grudges against anyone and I would like to say to the world I have always been a nice person.
"I've never been mean-hearted or cruel. I wish everybody well."
With his Swiss prison bride sobbing and murmuring in French as she watched through a window nearby, Riddle said, "Je t'aime." He then gasped and let out a long breath as the drugs began to take effect.
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Riddle, 32, didn't deny his involvement in the Oct. 9, 1988, beating death of Ronnie Bennett, 39, but contended he hit Bennett more than a dozen times in self-defense.
Riddle was the sixth person to be executed in Texas this year and the third this week. Two more are scheduled for next week.
"I'm just a normal small town boy," Riddle, who declined to speak with reporters in the week's preceding his execution, said on an Internet Web site devoted to prisoners seeking pen pals. "I am caring and I am considerate."
His record disputed that.
"He's been a problem for law enforcement since he got old enough to even think about being a problem for law enforcement," said Randall Sims, an assistant district attorney in Potter County who indicated Riddle's first burglary was at age 8. "That's not good old country boys. That's prison material."
Besides numerous burglaries, including a church, school and a restaurant where his mother worked, he had arrests for drug possession and auto theft. In April 1988, he was sent to prison after getting a seven-year term for burglary but was paroled after just 21/2 months during a time when Texas was experiencing a prison bed shortage.
In November 1988, the then 19-year-old was indicted for capital murder for killing Bennett.
"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."
Before arriving at death row, Riddle, from Stinnett, tried escaping from the county jail numerous times - succeeding once for three days. He also attempted to electrify his cell door with wires from his radio and television and was involved in several fights with other inmates.
Evidence at his trial showed Riddle and a friend 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.
Riddle 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.
The friend, Brad Bybee, who was waiting outside, testified Riddle called him in, pointed out some items he could steal, then swung the lug wrench - blunt end first - at Bennett's head, leaving it buried in the dead man's skull.
Bybee reacted in horror and fled. Riddle panicked, grabbed the victim's wallet and drove off in the victim's truck, which 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.
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