Free Republic

Final 'Texas 7' escapee gets deathSlain officer's mother says nightmare ending11:09 PM CST on Thursday, November 20, 2003By DAVE LEVINTHAL / The Dallas Morning News Six men each convicted for the slaying of her son. Six death sentences handed down by juries. Only now, Jayne Hawkins told Patrick Murphy Jr. – sentenced Thursday to die by injection for the murder of Irving police Officer Aubrey Hawkins – will the nightmare she relived in court six times subside. "I don't have to hear empty defenses anymore. The wound won't be reopened as it has been every trial," Ms. Hawkins told Mr....

Punishment phase of escapee's trial begins04:11 PM CST on Monday, November 17, 2003By ROBERT THARP / The Dallas Morning News Prosecutors presented graphic testimony about Patrick Murphy Jr.’s role in a violent prison escape as well as details of his 1984 sexual assault conviction on the first day of the punishment phase of his capital murder trial. Already convicted of capital murder, Mr. Murphy faces life in prison or the death penalty for his role in the death of Irving police Officer Aubrey Hawkins, who was fatally shot during a botched Christmas Eve 2000 robbery. Defense attorneys chose not to...

Escapee Patrick Murphy found guilty of murder01:46 PM CST on Thursday, November 13, 2003By DAVE LEVINTHAL / The Dallas Morning News A Dallas County jury found Patrick Murphy Jr. guilty of capital murder Thursday in the death of an Irving police officer. It took the jury about an hour and 10 minutes to reach the verdict. The punishment phase of the trial is scheduled to begin at 9:30 a.m. Monday. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty. "The evidence could not be more damning for Patrick Murphy," prosecutor Bill H. Wirskye told jurors during his closing argument. He pointed at Mr....

Trial for 6th escapee may be challengeInmate was said to be lookout, driver when Irving officer was shot10:24 AM CST on Monday, November 10, 2003By ROBERT THARP / The Dallas Morning News Five death-penalty trials have come and gone with the same outcome since members of the so-called Texas Seven prison gang were captured in the Colorado Rockies in January 2001. As the last of the surviving gang members faces trial Monday, observers say the case against Patrick Murphy Jr. could be the most challenging yet for prosecutors seeking a sixth death-penalty conviction. In the capital murder trials so far,...

Escapee sentenced to death for killing Irving policeman 06/12/2003 By ROBERT THARP / The Dallas Morning News Dallas County jurors on Thursday returned the death penalty for a prison escapee convicted of killing an Irving policeman. Randy Halprin was sentenced after jurors deliberated nearly five hours Wednesday without reaching agreement. By 6 p.m., air conditioning had been turned off at the Frank Crowley Criminal Courts Building and District Judge Vickers Cunningham made the decision to sequester the panel at a hotel and resume deliberations Thursday morning. Randy Halprin Mr. Halprin's trial marks the longest deliberations so far of the five...

Guilty verdict in escapee trial 06/09/2003 From Staff Reports Dallas County jurors deliberated for about two hours Monday before finding Randy Halprin guilty of capital murder in the death of an Irving police officer on Christmas Eve 2000. The punishment phase of the trial now begins. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty. Randy Halprin Mr. Halprin, 25, was one of seven men who escaped from the Connally Unit prison near San Antonio in December 2000. The group ended up in Irving, where a robbery at an Oshman's SuperSports USA store turned deadly. Officer Aubrey Hawkins was responding to a suspicious...

Halprin denies shooting Irving officer 06/05/2003 By ROBERT THARP / The Dallas Morning News On the fourth day of his capital murder trial for the death of an Irving police officer, prison escapee Randy Halprin denied taking part in the officer’s shooting death during a botched robbery Christmas Eve 2000. Mr. Halprin, 25, briefly described the Dec. 13, 2000, escape of seven inmates from the Connally Unit prison near San Antonio. When the trial resumes Thursday afternoon, Mr. Halprin is expected to continue testimony, including greater detail of his role in the gang and involvement in the robbery. Prosecutors will...

Garcia guilty of Irving police officer's murder 02/06/2003 By HOLLY BECKA / The Dallas Morning News A Dallas County jury on Thursday found prison escapee Joseph Garcia guilty of capital murder in the Christmas Eve 2000 death of an Irving patrol officer. Sentencing is scheduled for next week. Lead prosecutor Toby Shook argued that Mr. Garcia, the fourth escapee to stand trial in the slaying of Officer Aubrey Hawkins, taunted and threatened people as he tied them up during a robbery. WFAA-TV Joseph Garcia When other escapees used walkie-talkies to alert Mr. Garcia that the group "had company," he...

Opening statements begin in 4th escapee trial 02/03/2003 By HOLLY BECKA / The Dallas Morning News Dallas County prosecutors on Monday portrayed prison escapee Joseph Garcia as a bully who taunted robbery victims at gunpoint before an Irving patrol officer was fatally shot on Christmas Eve 2000. Defense lawyers for Mr. Garcia, the fourth escapee to stand trial in the slaying of Officer Aubrey Hawkins, urged jurors to carefully listen to the evidence and "pinpoint what exactly Joseph Garcia did or did not do." As Mr. Garcia's death-penalty trial opened, lead prosecutor Toby Shook described the defendant's actions as...