Death Penalty News

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.

Russell Henderson is serving consecutive life sentences in Wyoming after being convicted of homicide and hate crime One of the men who murdered gay college student Matthew Shepard in 1998 was denied a commutation of his sentence this week, the Wyoming Board of Parole has confirmed. Russell Henderson, who along with Aaron McKinney was convicted of homicide and hate crime charges for murdering Shepard 25 years ago, is currently serving two consecutive life sentences in Wyoming prison. Henderson applied for a reduction in his sentence earlier this year per the Board’s regulations, which allow prisoners who have served at least 10 years of a life sentence to submit a commutation petition once every five years. But the board ruled against sending Henderson’s petition to the governor, Executive Director Margaret White confirmed in statements to The Advocate this week.

Around the world, numerous countries are complicit in the killing of actual and perceived sexual minorities. However, the reasons for these deaths are often misunderstood, distorted, or covered up. A new report, State-Sanctioned Killing of Sexual Minorities: Looking Beyond the Death Penalty , exposes the sheer extent to which states are involved in the killing of sexual minorities. This report was drafted as part of Eleos Justice, a Monash University initiative. 30 years ago, consensual same-sex sexual acts between adults were criminalised in the majority of countries worldwide. Today, of the 69 countries that continue to do so, the death penalty may be applied for same-sex intimacy in 11. However, the report reveals that the state-sanctioned killing of sexual minorities is often perpetrated well beyond the boundaries of the law, and even in countries that do not criminalise such conduct. In fact, the findings suggest at least 23 states are complicit in the killing of individuals on th...

New Jersey has banned the use of ‘gay panic’ and ‘trans panic’ defence in the state. The controversial legal strategy, which is mostly used in assault or murder cases, allows people to defend themselves by claiming they were driven to violence after discovering their victim’s sexual orientation or gender identity. On Tuesday (21 January), Democratic Governor Phil Murphy signed a bill that outlaws the use of the archaic defence in New Jersey, arguing that both ‘gay panic’ and ‘trans panic’ defences are “abhorrent” excuses for violence. “We will always stand with our LGBTQ+ community and promote full equality for all our residents,” he said in a statement. “Gay and trans panic defences are rooted in homophobia and abhorrent excuses that should never be used to justify violence against vulnerable populations. “With this new law, we are enacting critical measures to protect our friends and neighbors in the LGBTQ+ community.” Christian Fuscarino, Executive Directo...

Correction officers removed Carmen Guerrero's friendly bunkmate, and brought in one that promised to kill her if roomed with her. He followed through. Miguel Crespo, a man convicted of murder while an inmate in Bakersfield, California, was sentenced to death on Thursday.  The murder was of his transgender bunkmate, Carmen Guerrero, who he shared a cell with for no more than eight hours. While being housed in Kern Valley State Prison, Carmen Guerrero was roomed with Jonathan Wilson, who Planet Transgender reports was Guerrero’s lover, Wilson was abruptly moved from the cell and eventually transferred from the prison.  Guerrero begged corrections officers for a “nice” cellmate, but on October 13, 2013 (some reports list November 1), Crespo was moved in to bunk with her – despite promising he would kill her if he was forced to room with her. Correction officers ignored both inmate’s pleas, and midway into the night, Guerrero was found tied up, strangled, an...

The death of a gay student, tortured and tied to a prairie fence in Wyoming two decades ago, shocked America. As Matthew Shepard's ashes are interred in the nation's spiritual home, those who knew him reflect on his remarkable legacy. It was the dental brace. That's how Judy and Dennis Shepard knew it was their son in the hospital bed. "Bandages and stitches all over his face," Judy says, "and bandages around his head where the final blow had crushed his brain stem. "His fingers and toes were curled in a comatose position already. Tubes everywhere enabling his body to stay alive. "One of his eyes was partially open so you could see his blue eyes and the tubes in his mouth. You could see his braces, so of course it's Matt. "His face was swollen, actually kind of unrecognisable till you got closer." Two nights earlier, on Tuesday 6 October 1998, Matthew Shepard walked alone into a dive bar in Laramie. T...

Samuel Woodward, 21, is accused of killing 19-year-old Blaze Bernstein because he was gay. A 21-year-old California man accused of killing his gay former classmate struggled with his own sexuality and autism spectrum disorder, which caused him to fall in with an online group of white supremacists, his attorney said Wednesday. Samuel Woodward, 21, has been charged with first-degree murder with a hate crime enhancement for killing someone because of their sexual orientation in the death of 19-year-old Blaze Bernstein. If he’s convicted, Woodward could be sentenced to life in prison without parole. After reviewing Woodward’s computer and presence on social media, prosecutors said they found images and messages that were anti-Semitic, misogynistic, racist, and anti-government. They believe Bernstein was killed because he was gay. But Woodward’s attorney, Edward Muñoz, told BuzzFeed News his client was a victim himself. “He has Asperger’s disorder,” he said. “He has a lot...

Convicted killer Robert Van Hook executed at Lucasville prison Convicted of the horrific murder of a Cincinnati man, Robert Van Hook died by lethal injection on Wednesday in Ohio's 1st execution in more than 10 months. The 58-year-old Van Hook was pronounced dead at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility at 10:44 a.m. after being strapped to the gurney in the death chamber and administered the lethal dose of drugs. He served a violence-plagued 32 years in prison after a death-penalty conviction for what now could be considered a hate crime - of the utmost violence. On Feb. 18, 1985, Van Hook met David Self in a gay bar in downtown Cincinnati and went home with him. Van Hook's clemency report says he lured Self into a vulnerable position and strangled him into unconsciousness. "He then took a paring knife from the kitchen and stabbed the victim behind the right ear, aiming the thrust upward toward the brain, accompanied by a blade-twisting movement,...

The Ohio Parole Board has recommended against mercy for a condemned killer whose attorneys cite a history of abuse and untreated mental illness. The board ruled 8-1 Friday against the clemency request by death row inmate Robert Van Hook. They say he experienced a "homosexual panic" of self-revulsion before killing a man he picked up at an Ohio bar. Van Hook is scheduled to die July 18 for strangling and stabbing David Self in Cincinnati in 1985. Prosecutors say courts have fairly considered Van Hook's childhood and mental health claims previously and there are no grounds for sparing him. They also dismiss Van Hook's "homosexual panic" claim as nonsense, saying he made a practice of luring gay men to apartments to rob them. The Hamilton County Prosecutor's Office also notes Van Hook has an extensive history of violence while incarcerated, including stabbing a fellow death row inmate in November. The parole board heard argume...

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — A condemned killer is asking the Ohio Parole Board for mercy, saying he experienced a “homosexual panic” of self-revulsion before killing a man he picked up at a bar more than 30 years ago. Death row inmate Robert Van Hook was sentenced to die for fatally strangling and stabbing David Self in Cincinnati in 1985.  Van Hook fled to Florida afterward, where he was arrested and confessed. At the time of the killing, Van Hook was suffering from long-term effects of untreated mental, physical and sexual abuse as a child and was depressed that his life seemed to be falling apart, his attorneys argue. He also was “troubled by increasing questions about his own sexual identity,” his federal public defenders said in a May 17 filing with the parole board. They also said he was improperly questioned by a Cincinnati police detective after he was arrested in Florida, and should have been provided an attorney. The parole board planned to hear argum...