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Tucker will die unless Texas governor steps in
Tucker Supreme Court refuses to halt her execution
In this story: February 3, 1998
Web posted at: 4:06 p.m. EST (2106 GMT)HUNTSVILLE, Texas (CNN) -- Condemned killer Karla Faye Tucker, who may have less than an hour to live, was denied a last-minute stay of execution by the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday.
Only intervention by Texas Gov. George W. Bush now stands between Tucker and the distinction of becoming the first woman executed in Texas since 1863 and the first in the nation since 1984.
There was no dissent, and the justices' brief order made no comment on the case.
Bush could grant a one-time, 30-day stay -- a delay of execution while her case is reconsidered -- but had said he would not make a decision until after the high court ruled. Bush spokesmen said after the ruling was announced that no announcement by him was immediately scheduled.
Tucker and Daniel Garrett killed two people with a pickax in 1983 Without intervention, Tucker was to be led to the death chamber and strapped onto a gurney at 6 p.m. CST (7 p.m. EST/2400 GMT) Tuesday, given a few moments to make a final statement, then put to death by a lethal mix of chemicals injected into her arm.
Tucker and an accomplice slaughtered two people with a pickax in 1983, but she now says she is a born-again Christian who is not a threat to society.
On Monday, the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles rejected a plea to commute -- that is, change -- her sentence to life in prison, and a federal judge in Austin denied a request for a stay of execution.
Tucker Profile:
Facing death with memories of murderTranscripts:
Larry King interviews Tucker
Larry King debate on Tucker caseStatistics:
Women on Death RowPoll:
Should gender be an issue?Message Board:
Debating the death penaltyExcerpts:
Tucker's letter seeking reprieveTexas does not have a sentence of life without parole. If Tucker's sentence were reduced to life, she would be eligible for parole in 2003.
Her appeal to the Supreme Court centered on the state's commutation process. Tucker's lawyers contend it is unfair and unconstitutional, because their client didn't have a chance to personally plea for her life.
Her appeal noted that all 76 clemency requests in Texas since 1993 have been rejected. Of the 16 condemned inmates who sought commutations last year, none received even a single favorable vote from the Texas parole board.
Preparing for execution
On Monday, in preparation for the execution, Tucker was taken from death row at a prison in Gatesville in central Texas and flown to Huntsville, 80 miles north of Houston, where the state's executions are carried out.
She was visiting with her husband, father and sister Tuesday. Tucker had not been eating since arriving in Huntsville Monday morning, but had a soft drink and some crackers Tuesday, prison spokesman David Nunnelee said earlier in the day.
"She said she was starting to feel a little weak," Nunnelee said. "But she's been calm and quiet." She slept some overnight, he said.
Texas death chamber Tucker's lawyers had said a reprieve was unlikely and were pinning most of their hopes on the courts. Even with the Supreme Court ruling, they were still pursuing appeals in lower courts.
For her last meal, Tucker requested a banana, a peach and a salad, with either Ranch or Italian dressing. Tucker also chose to be executed wearing the white prison uniform that has been her only wardrobe for more than 14 years.
She selected five people, the maximum allowed, to be witnesses to her death. They included her husband, Dana Brown, who met her in prison, where he worked as a minister to inmates, and Ronald Carlson, the brother of Deborah Thornton, one of her victims.
Carlson opposes her execution and all others.
Thornton's husband Richard and two stepchildren, all of whom favor Tucker's death, also will watch her die.
Gruesome double murders
Jerry Lynn Dean and Deborah Thornton In announcing that Tucker's bid for clemency had been rejected, the chairman of the Texas parole board, Victor Rodriguez, cited the "horrific" nature of her crime.
Tucker has admitted accompanying a partner in 1983 to the Houston apartment of Jerry Lynn Dean, 27, to see if they could cap three days of almost nonstop drug-taking by stealing Dean's motorcycle.
Once inside, the partner -- Daniel Garrett, then 37 -- started beating Dean with a hammer. When the battered man began to gurgle, Tucker, then 23, grabbed a 3-foot-long pickax and repeatedly plunged it into him.
Dean's friend, Thornton, was cowering under sheets in a corner until the intruders discovered her.
Tucker turned the ax on Thornton to eliminate her as a witness. In a tape recording played in court, she bragged to friends that she got sexual thrills out of the attack.
Garrett, also sentenced to death, died in prison of liver disease in 1993.
Tucker's attempts to spare her own life have been supported by some Christian groups. This week, Pope John Paul II appealed for mercy for her.
Reuters contributed to this report.
Related stories:
- Karla Faye Tucker's last hours?
- Tucker loses clemency bid; Bush reprieve still possible - February 2, 1998
- Woman's Texas execution to proceed - February 2, 1998
- Larry King Live Weekend: Replay of Karla Faye Tucker interview - January 14, 1998
- Clemency decision due Monday for woman on Texas death row - February 1, 1998
- Attorney for woman on death row challenges Texas procedures - January 20, 1998
- Texas prepares to execute woman - January 15, 1998
Related sites:
Note: Pages will open in a new browser window
- Texas Department of Criminal Justice - Prisons
- Christian Broadcasting Network: Interviews from Death Row
- Death Penalty Links
- The Death Penalty Page
- ACLU - The Case Against The Death Penalty
- Pro Death Penalty Page
- Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty
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