Oklahoma executes Kevin Underwood

Oklahoma executes Kevin Underwood by lethal injection for brutal 2006 murder

Nearly two decades after Kevin Ray Underwood murdered his 10-year-old neighbor, he died by lethal injection Thursday morning at 10:14 a.m., according to media witnesses.

By coincidence, it was his 45th birthday.

Underwood was sentenced to death in 2008 for killing Jamie Bolin in Purcell two years earlier. He confessed to police that he lured Bolin into his house, beat her over the head, attempted to decapitate her and stashed her body in a plastic tub with hopes of later eating it.

After exhausting his standard opportunities to appeal, Underwood challenged the constitutionality of the state’s death penalty because it gave too many options for the method of killing.

The Oklahoma Supreme Court declined to hear oral arguments in the case.

Underwood was denied clemency earlier this month. His clemency hearing was delayed when one member of the Pardon and Parole Board resigned amid allegations of sexual misconduct.

Source: KOSU, Staff, December 19, 2024

Oklahoma executes man who killed 10-year-old girl

Oklahoma executes man who killed 10-year-old girl during cannibalistic fantasy

A death row inmate in Oklahoma received a lethal injection Thursday morning in the nation's 25th and final execution this year. Kevin Ray Underwood was sentenced to die for the killing of 10-year-old Jamie Rose Rolin in 2006 as part of a cannibalistic fantasy.

Underwood, a former grocery store worker, turned 45 on the day he was executed at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester. He was pronounced dead at 10:14 a.m., state Department of Corrections spokesperson Lance West told the Associated Press. Underwood's death marked Oklahoma's fourth execution in 2024.

The state uses a lethal injection cocktail that contains three drugs. Its execution protocol begins with midazolam, a sedative, followed by a second drug, vecuronium bromide, which paralyzes the inmate. The third drug, potassium chloride, stops the heart. After the efficacy and humanity of the drugs it uses for lethal injections was called into question, Oklahoma also authorized the controversial new execution method nitrogen hypoxia to put inmates to death, although to date the state has never used it.

Underwood admitted to luring Jamie into his apartment and beating her over the head with a cutting board before suffocating and sexually assaulting her. He told investigators that he nearly beheaded the girl in his bathtub before abandoning his plans to eat her.

During a hearing last week before the state's Pardon and Parole Board, Underwood told the girl's family he was sorry.

"I would like to apologize to the victim's family, to my own family and to everyone in that room today that had to hear the horrible details of what I did," Underwood said to the board via a video feed from the Oklahoma State Penitentiary.

The Oklahoman reported that during the hearing, Underwood tearfully apologized for his actions.

"I recognize that although I do not want to die ... I deserve to for what I did," he said via a video feed from the penitentiary. "And if my death could ... change what I did, I would gladly die."

"It is true that I have blocked out most memory of that day," he also said. "When I do think about it, it causes me great pain. I cannot believe that I did ... those things. The person that I was in the weeks leading up to that event is not who I am now or was before that."

According to the outlet, it was stated that the former grocery store stocker hit Bolin over the head with a cutting and then suffocated her. At the time of the crime, Underwood was 26. Days later, it was reported by the outlet that the FBI found the girl's decapitated body in a plastic tub in his closet.

During Underwood's confession, he admitted that he had been preparing to carry out his sexual and cannibalistic fantasies for months. In an excerpt that was allegedly played for the panel, Underwood stated that his original plan was to cut off his victim's head and set it on his desk "so it could like watch me."

Underwood further stated that he wanted to keep Bolin's body with him in bed so he could "sleep with it and have sex with it for a day or two," before butchering and cooking it. In the recording, Underwood stated that he did try to have intercourse with the corpse but decided against cooking and eating it.

Assistant Attorney General Aspen Layman allegedly told the board that Underwood chose Jamie because he thought she was "a latchkey kid that nobody would miss ... at least not right away."

"He underestimated just how much Jamie's family loved her, and would not rest until she was found," the assistant attorney general said. "He was trapped, surrounded by the constant vigil of her father and other family members right outside."

"If it wasn't for the vigilance and unfaltering love of Jamie's family, Mr. Underwood would have gotten away with this, and he would have done it again," he added. According to the report, Bolin's family had pleaded with the board to deny Underwood clemency. Jamie's father, Curtis Bolin, tried to address the board via video. "I just want to state that, you know, it's missing ... I'm sorry I can't. I can't," he said, putting his head in a hand.

The three board members in attendance at last week's meeting all voted against recommending clemency.

Underwood's attorneys had argued that he deserved to be spared from death because of his long history of abuse and serious mental health issues that included autism, obsessive-compulsive disorder, bipolar and panic disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder, schizotypal personality disorder and various deviant sexual paraphilias.

His mother, Connie Underwood, tearfully asked the board to grant her son mercy.

"I can't imagine the heartache the family of that precious girl is living with every single day," Connie Underwood said. "I wish we understood his pain before it led to this tragedy."

But several members of Bolin's family asked the board to reject Underwood's clemency bid. The girl's father, Curtis Bolin, was scheduled to testify to the board but became choked up as he held his head in his hand.

"I'm sorry, I can't," he said.

Prosecutors wrote in opposing Underwood's clemency request that, "Whatever deviance of the mind led Underwood to abduct, beat, suffocate, sexually abuse and nearly decapitate Jamie cannot be laid at the feet of depression, anxiety or (autism).

"Underwood is dangerous because he is smart, organized and driven by deviant sexual desires rooted in the harm and abuse of others."

In a last-minute request seeking a stay of execution from the U.S. Supreme Court, Underwood's attorneys argued that he deserves a hearing before the full five-member parole board and that the panel violated state law and Underwood's rights by rescheduling its hearing at the last minute after two members of the board resigned.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court is considering a bid by Oklahoma death row inmate Richard Glossip to toss out his conviction and grant him a new trial. Glossip, 61, has faced nine execution dates in all and eaten his "last meal" three times.

According to the Death Penalty Information Center, 11 innocent people have been freed from Oklahoma's death row and seven clemencies have been granted in the state. After Underwood's execution, there are now 33 people on Oklahoma's death row, the center says

Source: CBS, Staff, themirror.com, Jack Hobbs, December 19, 2024

_____________________________________________________________________

Twitter/X | Instagram | Telegram | Contact Us

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

— Oscar Wilde

Comments

I watched Ohio's last execution. Here's what it was like

As Gov. DeWine calls for Ohio to end capital punishment, the state’s last execution remains the one I witnessed in 2018 Inside Ohio's death house, there is a room for executions and separate witness rooms: one for those connected to the victim and another for those connected to the inmate. Windows separate the death chamber from those watching, the condemned from the living. I was there on July 18, 2018 – during Ohio’s most recent execution. Robert Van Hook was put to death that day for killing David Self in 1985. He sat on death row for three decades. I was one of three media witnesses to the execution.

Kansas AG urges governor to deny clemency to 8 sentenced to death

TOPEKA — Attorney General Kris Kobach on Tuesday urged the governor to deny clemency to Kansas inmates who have been sentenced to death. Eight of nine people sentenced to death in Kansas formally filed clemency requests in May, according to a press release from the Attorney General’s Office. Kobach urged Gov. Laura Kelly to reject them.

Gov. Mike DeWine calls for Ohio to abolish the death penalty

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — Gov. Mike DeWine Tuesday morning called on Ohio to abolish the death penalty, citing data that he said proves it is no longer a deterrent to violent crime. “For the state to take a human life, there must, in my opinion, there must be evidence that in doing so it will help protect the public, that the threat of that action will deter someone from committing murder,” DeWine said. “I do not believe that argument today can be successfully made.” DeWine cited data showing a decline in the last four decades of executions being carried out and an increase in the time inmates spend on death row.

Japan’s Internet Wants Uchida Riko Executed. Here’s Why That Won’t Happen

This week, the prosecution in the case of a murder of a 17-year-old girl in Hokkaido came out with its sentencing recommendation. Japanese social media reacted by clamoring for the accused woman’s blood. But, while the facts of the case are heinous, the prosecutor’s decision not to seek the death penalty is grounded in long-standing precedent. Murdered for looking at the accused wrong Uchida Riko (内田梨瑚), 23, and her friends stand accused of murdering 17-year-old Murayama Runa (村山瑠奈) in Hokkaido’s Asahikawa. Prosecutors say the dispute began after Murayama posted a photo of Uchida to social media. They say Uchida’s group abducted the girl, made her undress, and then forced her to jump from a bridge.

20 Minutes to Death: Witness to the Last Execution in France

The following document is a firsthand account of the final moments of Hamida Djandoubi, a convicted murderer executed by guillotine at Marseille’s Baumettes Prison on September 10, 1977. The record—dated September 9—was written by Monique Mabelly, a judge appointed by the state to witness the proceedings. Djandoubi’s execution would ultimately be the last carried out in France before capital punishment was abolished in 1981. At the time, President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing—who had publicly voiced his "deep aversion to the death penalty" prior to his election—rejected Djandoubi’s appeal for clemency. Choosing to let "justice take its course," the President allowed the execution to proceed, just as he had in two previous cases during his term: Christian Ranucci , executed on July 28, 1976 and Jérôme Carrein , executed on June 23, 1977. Hamida Djandoubi , a Tunisian national, was sentenced to death for killing his former lover, Elisabeth Bousquet. He was execu...

New Mississippi billboard warns criminals: ‘Firing squad is legal’

DESOTO COUNTY, Miss. (WREG) — A billboard standing on Interstate 55 southbound as you cross the Tennessee state line and enter Mississippi from Memphis is sending a grim message to those coming into the state. DeSoto County District Attorney Matthew Barton recently announced the new billboard campaign, which features the sign reading, “WELCOME TO MISSISSIPPI. WHERE THE FIRING SQUAD IS LEGAL. THINK TWICE.” It references Mississippi’s law permitting execution by firing squad under certain circumstances for inmates sentenced to death. Barton says this campaign is aimed at deterring violent crime and sends a direct message to criminals entering Mississippi.

SCOTUS: Alabama can’t execute Jeffery Lee by nitrogen; Thursday execution called off

After a week of legal volleyball, Alabama death row inmate Jeffery Lee’s execution—scheduled for Thursday evening—was called off after federal courts called the state’s nitrogen gas execution method “likely unconstitutional.” The state took the fight to the U.S. Supreme Court, hoping Lee could still be put to death tonight. In an order issued at 8:10 p.m., the U.S. Supreme Court ordered that it would not lift a ban on Alabama executing Lee via nitrogen . In a short court order, the justices denied Alabama’s motion to go ahead with the execution. Associate Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, and Neil Gorsuch would have granted the appeal and let the execution proceed, according to the order.

Iran: flogging still a common practice

Flogging of Sufis in Gonabad: Fourteen Ne’matollahi dervishes received 25 lashes each for allegedly disturbing the public security Public flogging in Iran "The lash ruling against 14 Ne'matollahi dervishes of Gonabad was carried out. They were residents of Baydokht and had been arrested and condemned by the Public Prosecutor of Gonabad after a protest against the illegal treatment dealing with the Sufis in June of last year [2010]. According to the website of Majzuban-e-Nur, Mr. Sa'id Kashani, Mr. Amir Roshan-Mojaver-Sufi, Mr. Alimohammad Amanian, Mr. Ruhollah Safari, Mr. Ali Abbasi-Baydokhti, Mr. Ebrahim Abbaszadeh, Mr. Mohammadali Ja'fari, Mr. Hossein Mahdavi, Mr. Hossein Abbaszadeh-Baydokhti, Mr. Rahmat Hosseini, Mr. Reza Kakhki, Mr. Behruz Mojaver-Sufi, Mr. Ali Mir, and Mr. Hassan Baluchi-Baydokhti are the fourteen dervishes whose requests were not only rejected, but who were condemned to 25 lashes for disturbing the public security. It should be mentioned th...

With nitrogen gas blocked, Alabama seeks to execute inmate by lethal injection

Jeffery Lee, who successfully challenged his scheduled Thursday execution by nitrogen gas, argued that execution by firing squad would be less painful. The Alabama Attorney General’s Office Friday sought to put an Alabama death row inmate to death by lethal injection a day after the U.S. Supreme Court rebuffed the state’s attempt to execute him by nitrogen gas. In a filing with the Alabama Supreme Court Friday afternoon, the state sought an expedited motion to set a new execution date for Jeffery Lee, 49. The state said that with a permanent injunction in place against nitrogen gas, the method by which the state intended to execute Lee on Thursday, it could execute him by lethal injection or the electric chair.

Thomas, Alito and Gorsuch wanted an execution that a Trump judge deemed illegal

The Supreme Court these days is generally in the business of helping executions go forward. But on Thursday night, the court did something notable: It told Alabama no. Even then, the court wasn't unanimous. Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch dissented from the refusal to let the nitrogen gas execution of Jeffery Lee proceed. What prompted the rare rejection? In line with the typical shadow docket practice, the court didn't explain itself. Nor did the dissenters, who merely noted their disagreement. But a deeper look at the case helps us understand why a majority of the court was unwilling to help the state this time.

Death Penalty News

Search This Blog