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BONNE TERRE — Missouri early Wednesday executed a man who killed a good Samaritan who had stopped on the road to help him, ending a nearly four-year period without an execution in the state. Texas, meanwhile, executed its 15th prisoner this year.
Dennis Skillicorn, 49, received an injection at 12:23 a.m. at the prison in Bonne Terre and died 11 minutes later. It was the first execution in Missouri since Marlin Gray was put to death in October 2005.
- Albert Tolbert and Paul Searles were part of the protest Tuesday outside the Boone County Courthouse against the execution of Dennis Skillicorn. “Dennis has done everything in the world to better himself,” Tolbert said. “He doesn’t deserve to die.” Tolbert met Skillicorn in prison in 2005.
- Dennis Skillicorn, 49, was one of three men convicted of killing Richard Drummond, an Excelsior Springs businessman, in 1994. Drummond had stopped to help the three men after their car broke down on Interstate 70.
As part of a lengthy final statement, Skillicorn apologized to the family of the victim, Richard Drummond, saying that "for the last 15 years I've lived with the remorse of my actions."
In Huntsville, Texas, Michael Lynn Riley also apologized as he was executed Tuesday for fatally stabbing a convenience store clerk during a robbery more than two decades ago.
"I know I hurt you very bad," Riley, 51, said to his victim's relatives, including her two daughters and husband. "I want you to know I'm sorry. I hope one day you can move on and, if not, I understand."
Executions in Missouri had been on hold shortly after Gray's death as the courts decided whether lethal injection in general, and the state's three-drug method in particular, violated constitutional protections against cruel and unusual punishment.
Some argued that if the initial anesthetic doesn't take hold, a third drug that stops the heart can cause excruciating pain. But the inmate would not be able to communicate the pain because of a second drug that paralyzes him.
Last year, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld lethal injection, and a federal judge ruled in favor of Missouri's execution method, opening the way for executions to begin again.
Skillicorn mouthed words to his wife and two spiritual advisers as the first drug was administered to him. Soon, he appeared unconscious.
As part of a new protocol, curtains in witness viewing areas were then closed for about two minutes while medical staff checked to make sure that Skillicorn was unconscious and that the catheters were working properly. Once confirmed, the next two drugs were administered, and he was pronounced dead a short time later.
In 1994, a car carrying Skillicorn, Allen Nicklasson and Tim DeGraffenreid stalled along Interstate 70 north of Fulton in Callaway County.
Drummond, from the northwestern Missouri town of Excelsior Springs, stopped to help, but was forced at gunpoint to drive the men toward Kansas City. On the way, the men stopped in a rural area, and Nicklasson shot Drummond in the back of the head.
Nicklasson and Skillicorn were convicted of first-degree murder. Nicklasson is also on death row. DeGraffenreid, who was 17 when the crime took place, served time for second-degree murder.
Supporters wanted Skillicorn's sentence commuted to life in prison, calling him a role model for other inmates. But in denying a clemency request Tuesday, Gov. Jay Nixon noted that Skillicorn was on parole for another murder at the time Drummond was kidnapped, robbed and killed. Nixon also noted that Skillicorn was convicted of two subsequent murders in Arizona just days after Drummond was killed.
Comments
Well Dennis it's always easier when someone else is dying isn't it?
I'm glad Dennis has become such a terrific person now. But the Dennis that killed all the people, he did, should have been executed 12 years ago. What elde is an inmate going to do when they sit on death row for TWELVE YEARS???? Thats 12 years he took away from all his victims.
People keep forgetting, HE WASNT THE VICTIM AND ISNT ONE NOW.
We have start remembering the victims and forget giving these murderers so much attention. They dont deserve it.
The reason it is called the criminal justice system is that it exists to promote justice for the criminal. I have a relative who was assaulted and left for dead. His attacker has been granted many requests in order to ensure he has a good trial. I firmly believe in due process and in ensuring that we have correctly identified the perpetrator, but it is amazing that the system cares so little for the victim and so much for the accused.
A minimum of 3 murders had been helped by this man. 1 was committed the same week as the murder he was being executed for!
You damn hippies in Columbia make me sick to my stomach. How can you find remorse for a ruthless killer. I don't care how nice he appears to be now, he killed 3 people in cold blood! He helped murder a man who was being a good Samaritan and helping this thug with car problems.
I want to thank Mr. Jay Nixon for not granting clemency. Like a true leader, he stated in a rather grand letter why he refused to let this degenerate live. Good riddance.
What Skillicorn did was awful and horrible. However, his execution won't bring back to life the people he killed. His execution will not make the world a better place. Those "damn hippies" are my good friends, and I'm so glad that they have the guts to show genuine concern for even the most unpopular and hated members of our society.
I'm glad this man was put to death for what he did, too bad it was 12 years too late.
1) The death penalty provides a deterrent to people committing murders. If a person knows they won't be put to death for killing another person, it becomes a little easier to do it.
2) The death penalty protects society from killers.
3) It is the best form of justice we can give the dead. Although not perfect, it is the best we can do.
Good riddance, we need to learn a thing or two from Texas.
I don't think the dead care either way. They're dead. Whatever your position on the death penalty is, somehow justifying it by putting it on the people already dead is pretty stupid.