Texas executes John William King

HUNTSVILLE, Texas (KTRK) -- The man sentenced to death for one of the most gruesome murders in modern American history showed no remorse before his execution.

John William King was executed by the Texas State Penitentiary in Huntsville on Wednesday for the 1998 death of James Byrd Jr. in east Texas.

King was put on death row for chaining Byrd to the back of a truck and dragging his body for nearly three miles along a secluded road in the piney woods outside of Jasper.

Prison officials met with King on Wednesday, and they say he appeared calm.

"He didn't say much," Texas Department of Criminal Justice spokesperson, Jeremy Desel, recalled. "His attitude seemed very calm and put together."

King had no supporters in the room while he was executed, but two of Byrd's sisters and his niece were present.

Over the past couple of days, King met with a chaplain, friends and other visitors. Visitors say he treated his execution day like any other day.

"He did appear to have slept at least some last night, a couple of hours," Desel said. "Then, did what many offenders tend to do, tidy up his cell in preparation for the rest of his day."

King received nearly 100 interview requests over the past six months, but officials say he turned them all down.

In his only television interview with ABC News in 2004, King maintained his innocence.

"Even if they say, 'Well, he might be innocent. He probably wasn't there. So what? Apathy. They don't care about white racists," King said. "Just because we're white racists, well, one less one. Kill them."

Three men were convicted for killing Byrd. Lawrence Russell Brewer was executed in 2011 and Shawn Allen Berry was sentenced to life in prison.

Source: abc13.com, Staff, April 24, 2019

John William King put to death as Texas executes another killer of James Byrd Jr.

(CNN) -- A man who helped carry out the dragging death of James Byrd Jr. -- one of the most horrific hate crimes in modern American history -- was executed by injection on Wednesday evening in a Texas prison.

John William King, 44, was one of three men convicted for the murder. He is the second person to die for the crime that made news around the world and helped inspire Congress to pass federal hate crime legislation.

King was put to death at 7:08 p.m. (8:08 p.m. ET) at Texas State Penitentiary at Huntsville.

Dragged for nearly 3 miles

Byrd's acquaintances told police they'd seen Byrd, who was black, at a party the night of June 6, 1998, that he'd left around 2 a.m. and was later seen riding in the bed of a pickup with three white men in the cab.

Authorities said King, Lawrence Russell Brewer and Shawn Berry picked up Byrd and drove him to a secluded area where they beat him and spray-painted his face before tying a logging chain around his ankles and dragging him behind a pickup truck for almost 3 miles.

Brewer died by lethal injection in 2011. Berry was sentenced to life in prison and is eligible for parole in 2038.

Some of Byrd's relatives had objected to King's death sentence.

His sister, Betty Boatner, told CNN in 2011, after Brewer's execution, that she "forgave him 13 years ago." His son, Ross, joined protests decrying Brewer's execution, saying, "You can't fight murder with murder." Ross' sister, Renee Mullins, said after Brewer's execution that she preferred a life sentence for her dad's killer.

While most murders are brutal, the viciousness of Byrd's killing shocked the world. NBA star Dennis Rodman came forward to pay for Byrd's funeral. Filmmakers produced multiple documentaries.

Artists including Geto Boys, Drive-By Truckers and Will Smith referenced the violent saga in their songs. Maryland poet laureate Lucille Clifton penned an ode to Byrd.

Most importantly, the 49-year-old's slaying spurred Texas and Congress to push through hate crime legislation. The federal act is often associated with the killing of Matthew Shepard, a gay student beaten to death in Wyoming, but the full name of the law is the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act.

King had long maintained his innocence, once sending a letter to the Dallas Morning News that would later be used against him. He had said that the evidence presented in his case was circumstantial and that Berry was solely responsible for Byrd's death.

King has repeatedly appealed his guilty verdict, claiming ineffective assistance from his counsel, but a federal appeals court upheld his conviction last year, and the US Supreme Court declined to hear his case in October.

Though the motive was never specifically outlined, race was a theme in King's trial. Prosecutors presented evidence that King had been an "exalted cyclops" of the white supremacist Confederate Knights of America and regularly drew lynching scenes.

King was the third prisoner executed in Texas this year, after cop killer Robert Mitchell Jennings and triple murderer Billie Wayne Coble.

King becomes the 3rd condemned inmate to be put to death this year in Texas and the 561st overall since the state resumed capital punishment on December 7, 1982.

King becomes the 43rd condemned inmate to be put to death since Greg Abbott became Governor in 2015.

3 men were convicted for killing Byrd. Lawrence Russell Brewer was executed in 2011 and Shawn Allen Berry was sentenced to life in prison.

King becomes the 4th condemned inmate to be put to death this year in the USA and the 1,494th overall since the nation resumed executions on January 17, 1977.

Source: CNN.com, Eliott C. McLaughlin and Steve Almasy, April 24, 2019

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