Rodney Reed is set to be executed in Texas this month. A new witness claims he's innocent

Less than a month before Rodney Reed is set to be executed in Texas, a former prison inmate claims someone else confessed to the murder that sent Reed to prison.

Reed has spent more than 21 years on death row for the 1996 murder of Stacey Stites in Bastrop, Texas. Police say Reed assaulted, raped and strangled Stites, but he insists he's innocent. He is set to be executed on November 20.

Former inmate Arthur Snow Jr. filed an affidavit in court earlier this week saying Stites' fiancé, Jimmy Fennell, confessed to the murder years ago.

Snow had been serving a sentence for forgery at a DeWitt County, Texas, prison in 2010 when he made a deal with Fennell, who'd sought protection from other inmates, the document states. Snow was then a member of the Aryan Brotherhood gang, it states.

In his affidavit, Snow said he was with Fennell in the prison yard when Fennell started bragging about killing Stites.

"Jimmy said his fiancé had been sleeping around with a black man behind his back," Snow wrote.

"Toward the end of the conversation Jimmy said confidently, 'I had to kill my n*****- loving fiancé,'" he added. "My impression was the Jimmy felt safe, even proud, sharing this information with me because I was a member of the Aryan Brotherhood. I think Jimmy assumed that his confession would impress me and earn him credibility with the Aryan Brotherhood."

Snow said he learned about Reed's case a few years ago when, jailed in Texas' Hays County for a different offense, he saw a photo of Fennell along with an article about Reed in the newspaper.

Snow realized Reed was in prison for a murder that Fennell had confessed to him, Snow said in his affidavit.

While more recently in Hays County jail for another crime, Snow decided to come forward after he saw another article about the case, his affidavit said.

Fennell's attorney, Robert Phillips, said Snow is a career criminal and his claim is not credible nor in the "world of reality."

Fennell served time in prison for rape but has since been released, converted to Christianity and is helping people with drug addictions, Phillips said.

Police identified Fennell -- a former police officer -- as a suspect during their investigation into Stites' killing, but he was never charged.

Earlier this week, Reed's attorneys filed an application for clemency as they attempt to block his execution. Snow is among a few witnesses who have emerged in recent weeks suggesting that Reed is innocent.

Bryce Benjet, a senior staff attorney at the Innocence Project and Reed's lead counsel, said evidence clearly shows that Reed did not kill Stites.

"Mr. Reed's execution is less than one month away, meaning Texas is frighteningly close to executing an innocent man," Benjet said in a statement. Between the medical and scientific evidence, and multiple new, credible witnesses, the original case trial has been completely deconstructed and disproven."

Last month, reality TV star Kim Kardashian West urged Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to intervene in the case and "do the right thing" for Reed.

Source: CNN, Nicole Chavez, Ashley Killough and Sheena Jones, October 2, 2019

EU asks for pardon of death row inmate Rodney Reed

The European Union sent a letter to Gov. Greg Abbott Wednesday, requesting an appeal for clemency on behalf of a Bastrop County death row inmate set to be executed Nov. 20.

The European Union now has called for Abbott to pardon Rodney Reed, who was convicted of killing then 19-year-old Stacey Stites of Bastrop County in 1997.

Four new witnesses have come forward this year, one as early as Wednesday, claiming Reed did not kill Stites.

Defense lawyers argue that Reed, who is African American, is innocent and that his semen was discovered inside Stites’ body because they were having a secret affair.

They say Stites’ fiance, however, was the most likely suspect in her death after he learned of the affair.

Wednesday’s letter, written by European Union Ambassador Stavros Lambrinidis, says there is substantial doubt that Reed committed the crime and requested for the state to honor Reed’s request and test DNA evidence linked to the case before proceeding with the execution.

“The European Union will continue to work for the complete abolition of the death penalty and will actively encourage the national and worldwide trend that is ending the use of capital punishment,” the letter said.

“Taking the above consideration into account, Mr. Governor, we respectfully urge you to exercise all powers vested in your office to grant clemency to Rodney Reed.”

Source: Austin American-Statesman, Staff, November 2, 2019

⚑ | Report an error, an omission, a typo; suggest a story or a new angle to an existing story; submit a piece, a comment; recommend a resource; contact the webmaster, contact us: deathpenaltynews@gmail.com.

Opposed to Capital Punishment? Help us keep this blog up and running! DONATE!

"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,
but by the punishments that the good have inflicted." -- Oscar Wilde

Alabama executes Jeremy Williams

Tennessee and Oklahoma have put inmates to death within 30 minutes of each other, and Alabama followed suit hours later as U.S. states executed three men in one day. Tennessee and Oklahoma put inmates to death within 30 minutes of each other Thursday, and Alabama followed suit hours later as U.S. states executed three men by lethal injection in one day for the first time since 2010. The Tennessee man was executed for killing a maid at a motel in 1985, and the Oklahoma man for killing his girlfriend in 2003. In Alabama, a man was put to death Thursday evening for killing a 5-year-old girl he had paid her mother to abuse.

Tennessee executes Darrell Hines

The state has spent millions of dollars over decades to execute a seriously ill man who was already incarcerated. The state of Tennessee executed death row inmate Darrell Hines Thursday morning, according to an advocacy group. No formal announcement of the execution has been issued by state leaders yet. The execution was slated for 10 a.m. Thursday at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville. [DPN update] Hines was pronounced dead at 10:43 a.m. CDT. His last meal was fried chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, coleslaw, corn, fries, biscuits, a chicken sandwich, chocolate chip cake, and sweet tea.

Alabama Set To Carry Out Execution This Week

Alabama is preparing to execute Jeremy Williams, who pled guilty to the 2021 rape and murder of five-year-old Kamarie Holland. The execution is scheduled for Thursday (August 13) at the Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore, Alabama. Williams, who is 41, requested the death penalty and waived his right to appeal, making this the first execution in Alabama this year.

Oklahoma executes Carlos Cuesta-Rodriguez

Oklahoma has carried out 1 of 3 executions set for the same day in the United States in another sign of the resurgence of the death penalty in the country. Carlos Cuesta-Rodriguez was pronounced dead at 10:13 a.m. on Thursday, Aug. 13, at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester. He was put to death by lethal injection for the murder of his common-law wife in 2003 at their Oklahoma City home. He admitted to police he shot her twice during an argument. Cuesta-Rodriguez, 70, did not fight for his life, stunning his attorneys in July when he told the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board that he didn't want clemency. "It's time for me to pay for what I did," he said.

Tennessee set to execute Anthony Darrell Hines

Barring any last-minute interventions, the Tennessee Department of Correction will execute Anthony Darrell Hines by lethal injection at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville Thursday morning. This week, two courts had the opportunity to halt the execution: the federal court in Middle Tennessee and the U.S. Supreme Court. Gov. Bill Lee announced Tuesday he personally would not prevent the execution. “After deliberate consideration of Anthony Darrell Hines’ request for clemency, and after a thorough review of the case, I am upholding the sentence of the State of Tennessee and do not plan to intervene,” he said in a written statement. The U.S. Supreme Court has not granted a stay or reprieve.

Tennessee | The doctor who helps put prisoners to death

Dr. Mark Fowler assisted in the failed execution of a Tennessee prisoner. Physicians are meant to heal patients—why is he working in the death chamber? Mark Fowler, a physician with 25 years’ experience, stepped beneath the bright lights and approached the middle-aged man lying on a gurney. Around him, people in medical gowns prepared needles and sterile tubing. It had all the appearances of a hospital setting. Fowler had been called in to help establish an IV line through which the 57-year-old man, Tony Carruthers, would be injected with pharmaceutical drugs. The team had struggled to find a vein, so Fowler was summoned to set a central line—an intravenous catheter inserted into the major vein below the collarbone.

Iran’s War on Women: Executions, Floggings, and the Politics of Fear

The Iranian regime is increasingly using death sentences, corporal punishment, and judicial persecution against women—not only to silence dissent but also to intimidate a society demanding change. The Iranian regime has long viewed women as central to the country’s struggle for freedom—and therefore as central targets of repression. The nationwide uprising of 2022 fundamentally altered the political landscape, demonstrating that Iranian women were no longer merely participants in protest movements but among their principal organizers and symbols. Since then, the authorities have steadily intensified their campaign against women, expanding the use of executions, imprisonment, corporal punishment, and judicial intimidation.

The 'Black Widow' shakes Iran: 10 death sentences for a serial killer who killed 12 men

Kolthum Akbari, an Iranian woman widely dubbed the “Black Widow,” was convicted of serial murders of elderly men she married, often temporarily. Official accounts generally center on 11 murders (plus one attempted murder), though Akbari herself gave varying figures and investigations suggested she had many more marriages. The sentencing occurred primarily in September 2025 in Mazandaran Province, with ongoing reporting and updates into 2026. The 56- to 59-year-old killer confessed to killing at least 11 elderly men after temporarily or officially marrying them; Iranian authorities have linked her to additional marriages and possible further victims.

Arizona prosecutors seek death penalty a second time for 2 inmates

County Attorney Brad Miller said Aug. 6 that the nature of the attack and both men's past criminal records meet the strict legal bar required for execution under Arizona law. FLORENCE, Ariz. - Pinal County prosecutors are seeking the death penalty against two inmates accused of violently killing a fellow prisoner behind bars, officials announced Thursday. Pinal County Attorney Brad Miller filed a Notice of Intent to Seek the Death Penalty against Pete Van Winkle and Tracy Hampton in connection with the fatal attack on Kenneth Thompson.

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine issues three death penalty reprieves

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine issued execution reprieves for three death row inmates on Friday. In a statement, DeWine said he issued reprieves for Keith LaMar, Scott Group, and Davel Chinn, all of whom were set to be executed early next year. LaMar was scheduled to be executed on Jan. 13, 2027. He was convicted of aggravated murder for the deaths of five inmates during a 1993 riot at the Southern Ohio Correctional Institution in Lucasville. He received the death penalty for four of the killings. His new execution date is Jan. 13, 2030. Watch the latest NBC4 headlines in the video player above.

Death Penalty News

Search This Blog