It's a hard calculus. You were up close to brutal murders, and I might have changed my mind as well. When my father was robbed and murdered in rural OKC in 1980, I remained in the no-death-penalty camp. The killer served only twelve years, and I've seen his current shack, near Luther, on Google. I think he had previously murdered someone in New Mexico at a rest stop. He got off too easy. But life in prison without parole is probably worse than death. In any case, the Innocence Project, for which a criminal defense lawyer friend in ABQ worked for many years, has freed many innocent prisoners. Almost a hundred people later proven to be innocent have been executed. That's the main reason I stay in the camp you've finally chosen. This is an excellent Substack post, Steve.
Wow, Kris, I didn’t know that your dad was murdered! What’s the scumbag’s name. I was trying to think of rest-stop killings here but coming up blank.
Thanks for the kind words. And I agree with you about life in prison being harder. The one guy NM has executed in 60 years basically requested death by stopping his appeals.
Wesley Benton Cochran killed my dad August 17, 1979. I was mistaken about the rest stop killing. The man convicted of killing a woman at a Las Cruces rest stop, a few months after my dad's murder, was Cochran's accomplice and exculpatory witness Terry Wayne Hutchison, who was sentenced to life. He may have died in the 1980 prison riot. Sordid business.
Wow. I looked up Hutchinson in the NM Courts database and it looks like he didn't die in the riot. In 1984, he and another inmate were charged with escaping from jail. In 1986 he was charged with "Data Conversion" (whatever that means) but prosecutors dropped that case a few months later. It's quite possible the alleged crime was something he did in prison. In 1994 Hutchinson filed a habeas corpus request, (I assume in an effort t get a new hearing for his case) but it was dismissed by the judge a few months later. I checked the state Corrections Dept. "Offender Lookup" and found him listed as "inactive" and that his murder sentence was "completed." I don't know if he's still alive. He'd be 70 (like me and like you,no?) if the bastard is still kicking.
I'm friends with an ex-con who was serving a life sentence but released in the last couple of years. He went in about the same time Hutchinson did, so he might know the guy. Next time I talk to him I'll ask him about Hutchinson.
Somebody, somewhere has to stand up for grace and mercy.
Thanks Ronny.
It's a hard calculus. You were up close to brutal murders, and I might have changed my mind as well. When my father was robbed and murdered in rural OKC in 1980, I remained in the no-death-penalty camp. The killer served only twelve years, and I've seen his current shack, near Luther, on Google. I think he had previously murdered someone in New Mexico at a rest stop. He got off too easy. But life in prison without parole is probably worse than death. In any case, the Innocence Project, for which a criminal defense lawyer friend in ABQ worked for many years, has freed many innocent prisoners. Almost a hundred people later proven to be innocent have been executed. That's the main reason I stay in the camp you've finally chosen. This is an excellent Substack post, Steve.
Wow, Kris, I didn’t know that your dad was murdered! What’s the scumbag’s name. I was trying to think of rest-stop killings here but coming up blank.
Thanks for the kind words. And I agree with you about life in prison being harder. The one guy NM has executed in 60 years basically requested death by stopping his appeals.
Wesley Benton Cochran killed my dad August 17, 1979. I was mistaken about the rest stop killing. The man convicted of killing a woman at a Las Cruces rest stop, a few months after my dad's murder, was Cochran's accomplice and exculpatory witness Terry Wayne Hutchison, who was sentenced to life. He may have died in the 1980 prison riot. Sordid business.
Wow. I looked up Hutchinson in the NM Courts database and it looks like he didn't die in the riot. In 1984, he and another inmate were charged with escaping from jail. In 1986 he was charged with "Data Conversion" (whatever that means) but prosecutors dropped that case a few months later. It's quite possible the alleged crime was something he did in prison. In 1994 Hutchinson filed a habeas corpus request, (I assume in an effort t get a new hearing for his case) but it was dismissed by the judge a few months later. I checked the state Corrections Dept. "Offender Lookup" and found him listed as "inactive" and that his murder sentence was "completed." I don't know if he's still alive. He'd be 70 (like me and like you,no?) if the bastard is still kicking.
Thanks, Steve. That fills a big gap in my knowledge about Hutchison.
I'm friends with an ex-con who was serving a life sentence but released in the last couple of years. He went in about the same time Hutchinson did, so he might know the guy. Next time I talk to him I'll ask him about Hutchinson.