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Texas man executed for murder he committed at age 17
April 23, 1998
Web posted at: 1:45 a.m. EDT (0545 GMT)HUNTSVILLE, Texas (CNN) -- After two tries, Texas officials Wednesday executed a man who was 17 when he shot and killed a woman who had taken him in so he could avoid jail.
The first attempt failed when a vein in Joseph Cannon's arm collapsed, requiring the lethal needle to be removed and then restarted, prison officials said.
Cannon, 38, died at 7:28 p.m. CDT after a second dosage of lethal drugs was pumped into his arms.
Cannon had already made his final statement and goodbyes when the first injection began.
After closing his eyes momentarily, he turned toward a window where witnesses were standing.
"It's come undone," he said.
Prison officials then shut a drape that blocked him from witnesses.
Witnesses were led outside, where they waited for 15 minutes while prison officials worked to establish another injection.
"I kind of lost my cool a while ago," a smiling Cannon said, greeting witnesses as they entered a second time.
During a second round of final statements, witnesses for Cannon cried and prayed together.
Bob Walsh, one of Anne Walsh's sons, on the execution: "If you want to look at age as an issue..." 
198K/9 sec. AIFF or WAV sound "I'm sorry for what I did to your mom," he said to five sons of victim Anne Walsh, all of whom attended the execution. "I am sorry for all of you. I love you all. I thank you all for being kind to me when I was small."
The reactions of Mrs. Walsh's sons were terse. "Job well-done, end of story," Christopher Walsh said of the execution.
It was only the second time in 148 lethal injections in Texas that officials experienced difficulty with the needle. In December 1988, a similar "blow out" occurred during the execution of Raymond Landry.
Cannon had spent more than half his life on death row.
Victim shot repeatedly in 1977 outburst
In 1977 he shot Mrs. Walsh, 45, a San Antonio attorney. Mrs. Walsh's brother, also an attorney, had represented Cannon in a burglary case and persuaded her to let him live at her home in September 1977 so he could remain on probation and avoid jail.
A week later, Mrs. Walsh -- a mother of eight -- was shot repeatedly by Cannon after she came home for lunch. High on alcohol and drugs, he also tried to rape her and then drove away in one of the family's cars.
"The good Samaritan story was turned upside down by him," said Paul Canales, the assistant district attorney who prosecuted Cannon. "He's the type of guy that makes you want to lock your doors and not pick up hitchhikers."
Cannon blamed his behavior on mental problems that started at age 4 when he was hit by a car. He was kicked out of the first grade and never attended school.
Cannon was the fifth Texas inmate convicted of a murder committed at age 17 to be executed since the state resumed capital punishment in 1982. He is one of at least 27 condemned inmates in Texas who were 17 when they committed murders that earned them a trip to death row.
Pope, Desmond Tutu plea to Gov. Bush for a stay
Texas leads the nation in executions, and most take place without much notice. But Cannon's case, like that of Karla Faye Tucker earlier this year, touched off an international outcry. Cannon's age when he committed the crime was the controversy.
Sources at the Vatican said Wednesday that Pope John Paul II had sent a letter to Texas Gov. George W. Bush urging that the execution be halted. South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu also called for the governor to spare his life, as did members of the parliament in Italy, where opposition to the death penalty is strong.
But Bush, who is considered a likely candidate for the Republican Party's presidential nomination in 2000, has not stopped or delayed an execution since taking office, and he again refused to step in Wednesday.
Tucker, despite the support of powerful religious figures, including the pope, became the first woman executed in Texas since the Civil War when she was put to death February 3 for the 1983 pickax murder of two people during a Houston burglary.
In recent weeks, Cannon had acknowledged his guilt in many interviews but, like Tucker, he said he had changed during his long stay in prison.
His attorneys argued before the U.S. Supreme Court he should be spared because international law sets 18 as the minimum age for executions. The high court Wednesday morning rejected the appeal without dissent.
Two other condemned killers were executed early Wednesday. Missouri executed Glennon Paul Sweet, 41, for gunning down a state trooper in 1987. Arizona executed Jose Roberto Villafuerte, a 45-year-old Honduran citizen, for the 1983 murder of a woman he left bound and gagged in his Phoenix trailer.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
Message board:
Related stories:
- Texas setting record pace for executions - June 17, 1997
- Texas gears up for flood of executions - April 4, 1997
- Execution figures highest in 40 years - December 4, 1996
- Supreme Court upholds curb on death row appeals - June 28, 1996
Related sites:
Note: Pages will open in a new browser window
- Texas Department of Criminal Justice
- The Death Penalty, Pros and Cons - PBS Online
- Death Penalty Information & Resources - American Society of Criminology
- Death Penalty Links
- The Death Penalty Page
- The Case Against The Death Penalty - American Civil Liberties Union
- Pro Death Penalty Page
- Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty
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