European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - April 22, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse Sunday april 22, 1990 the stars and stripes a a a Page 7killer of taxi Driver executed in Texas Huntsville Texas apr a convicted killer a who demanded that his lawyers halt efforts to Stop his execution a was put to death Early saturday for the slaying of a Houston taxi Driver. Jerome Butler who had spent about half of his 54 years behind bars was Given a lethal injection at 12 15 . He was pronounced dead at 12 26 . A i just want to say 1 wish everybody a Good life and things like that. Everything is of a he said. He nodded to the prison Warden and to a chaplain coughed several times and stopped breathing. Butler was sentenced to death for the 1986 robbery and shooting death of 67 year old Nathan Oakley of Houston. He had refused any interviews from prison. Butler who had passed competency tests was the first person to be executed willingly in Texas since Robert Street Man ordered his attorneys to make no further efforts on his behalf. He was put to death Jan. 7,1988. Butler was the 34th inmate to be executed since Texas resumed carrying out the death penalty in 1982. The total is the highest of any state. Nationally he is the 122nd person executed since a 1976 supreme court ruling allowed states to resume capital punishment. State corrections officials said Butler had not filed any appeals. A i just want to get it Over with a Butler said last month when his execution Date was set. A they could take these cuffs off me and walk me Back to death Row and 1 still wont resist. There wont be no one of butlers attorneys Vic Pecori no had said Butler could be spared if he had a change of heart. A without cooperation from him what Are you going to Appeal a Pecorino said. Prosecutors said Butler May have killed Oakley because the cab Driver recognized him As the Man who killed his Friend . Johnson in 1973. Butler served 10 years of a 30-year prison term for that slaying. A this is what in be been waiting for a for this moment a to know this Man can not take away another wife s husband and children a father a Oakley a widow Robbie said Friday. A a it a been a difficult three and a half years. I wish i could be there to see Butler spent 27 years behind bars beginning with a 23-to-47-Ycar term in new York in 1959 for robbery attempted sexual assault and accessory to rape. He was paroled in 1972. The following year he was arrested for the Johnson slaying and sentenced to 30 years for murder. He was freed in 1984.Man held after intruder is killed by Booby trap Denver apr a Man accused of setting a Shotgun Booby trap that killed an intruder in his frequently burglarized warehouse was ordered held without bail Friday while authorities decide whether to charge him with murder. Denver District attorney Norm Early said hundreds of callers had offered unsolicited advice ranging from a give the Man a medal to hang friends of Philip Connaghan who surrendered thursday say they have received offers of help from All Over the country for him. Michael Mccomb 19, of Denver was shot in the Chest on the night of april 14 while leading three juveniles in an apparent burglary attempt at the downtown warehouse. The three juveniles who were booked for investigation of burglary and released to their parents told police they were looking for adventure. Connaghan who was out of town when Mccomb was killed appeared before Denver county court judge Larry Bohning who ordered him held without Bond for investigation of first degree murder. Prosecutors have until tuesday to file formal charges. Police said the Shotgun that killed Mccomb was attached to a trip wire they believe Connaghan rigged at the warehouse which has been burglarized eight times since 1987. The front door of the warehouse had a sign warning a danger a enter at own Tim Mccomb father of the slain Man declined comment other than to say a a in a just As soon let it the Mother of one of the unidentified juveniles told the Denver Post a they were talked into doing this. Its quite devastating. Our kid got led into something he have gotten led Early said Colorado a so called a make my Day Philip Connaghan As he appeared in court Friday. Law which allows people to use deadly Force to defend themselves in their Homes probably does not apply. The Law was nicknamed after a line from a Clint Eastwood movie. Friends of the 46-year-old Connaghan meanwhile have rallied to his defense and have started a collection to raise the $10,000 lawyers have demanded to represent him. Kevin Corbin owner of the nearby Skyline cafe said he received Calls from across the country offering to help. A people Here support Connaghan 100 percent Quot Corbin said. A the put bars on the windows put up steel doors and even welded them shut and he keep the burglars out. He even had a sign on the front saying enter at your own risk and that did no to keep them Connaghan lost More than $7,000 in tools during a burglary last july. The warehouse also holds Auto parts acetylene torches and truck camper shells. A nearly everyone Here has had their cars broken into or their houses broken into and they re just fed up a said Corbin. A police do anything about it or do anything about it. They just Stop their patrols to guard one building. A a something a wrong maybe its the whole system. But people Are fed up and so far All of the callers saying its time we did something about it. I Haven to had one person say they thought it was Corbin said Connaghan often brought his granddaughter to the restaurant while he drank Coffee. A a he a give you the shirt off his Back and in a sorry to see him go to jail for people who took everything he owned a he said. A if he goes to the Penitentiary for this crime will just go up in the area because criminals will know they can get by with a slap on the Frk killing figure faces Embe Lement charge los Angeles apr a woman whose account of sen. Robert f. Kennedy a assassination touched off conspiracy theories has been charged with embezzling $9,800 from a councilwoman a Campaign funds. Sandra Serrano Sewell 42, of Pasadena was expected to surrender this week on one felony charge of grand theft by embezzlement Deputy District attorney Steven e. Weiss said Friday. Sewell allegedly took the Money while working As a bookkeeper for the committee to re elect Gloria Molina in 1985. The alleged embezzlement was discovered Dunn a routine audit by the state fair political practices commission two years later. Sewell gained Fame in 1968 when she claimed to have seen a woman in a polka Dot dress running from the scene of Kennedy a assassination at the ambassador hotel shouting a we shot him we shot Sewell said that when she asked who was shot the woman replied a senator she was questioned at length by police and her interviews made up a Large portion of secret investigative reports released in 1988. Police files released that year showed that she withdrew her statement two weeks after the june 5, 1968, killing saying a the whole thing was a but her Story was often resurrected by conspiracy buffs who suggested the woman in the polka Dot dress was part of an assassination plot. Sirhan b. Sirhan was convicted of Kennedy s killing and is serving a life sentence. Sewell claimed in 1988 that police had harassed her into into recanting. A there was a lot of badgering that was going on. I was just 20 years old and 1 became unglued. 1 said what they wanted me to say a she said. Police dismissed the claim. A she did not Tell the truth a a police spokesman said. Greyhound to Lay off maintenance workers Dallas apr greyhound lines inc. Said Friday that a reduced workload caused by a 7-week-old strike by Drivers is forcing it to Lav off almost one fifth of its maintenance Force. A because of the present volume of business we have More mechanics than we need a greyhound spokesman George Gravley said. A a it a not that we can to pay them we done to want to pay them if there a no work to he said 275 of the company a 1,395 mechanics mechanics helpers storekeepers truck Drivers and service workers were being Laid off beginning monday. Before the strike greyhound had 2,165 maintenance workers. Of those the 690 represented by the International association of machinists and aerospace workers remained on the Job. Gravley said 695 members of the amalgamated transit Union members also ignored the strike. The layoffs will be spread throughout the country and involve 120 machinists and 155 Atu members Gravley said. They would be recalled As workloads in crease he said. A Union official said the layoffs were a sign the company is struggling. A every indicator Points to financial disaster for greyhound lines inc.,�?� said James la Sala International president of the Atu. A greyhound management is now at a Crossroads. It can either negotiate a settlement to this contract dispute or allow this country a Only National bus system to slide into financial the Atu which represents about 6,300 Drivers and 1,660 office workers has been striking since March 2 Over wages and Job Security. There have been no negotiations since mid March. Greyhound has refused to meet with Union representatives until seven Days pass without violence. The latest violent incident occurred wednesday Gravley said when a bus travelling from Dallas to Oklahoma City okla., was struck by two bullets. The company has been operating reduced schedules and says it is carrying about two thirds As Many passengers As it was at this time last year
