Post by sclcookie on Jun 6, 2006 1:23:28 GMT -5
Tampa man on death row for 2 decades dies in prison
A man condemned for the beating and burning deaths of his wife and
15-year-old daughter more than two decades ago has died in prison, family
members said.
Fred Lewis Way, still awaiting appeals, died May 15 of an apparent heart
attack. He was 61.
Prosecutors said at his 1984 trial that Way argued with his wife Carol in
the garage of their Tampa home July 11, 1983, before he struck her in the
head with a hammer. He next called 15-year-old Adrienne into the garage
and struck her, then doused both in gasoline and set them ablaze.
Autopsy reports suggested the teenager had not yet died when she and her
mother were set ablaze.
Another daughter, Tiffany, then 12, emerged from her bedroom and
confronted her father immediately after their deaths. She and her brother,
Fred Jr., testified against him at trial.
Now married and living in Alabama, Tiffany Meeks said a cousin phoned her
about her father's death a couple weeks ago.
She said she was sad, but not because he was gone.
"I was hoping that before he died, I'd find out why he did it," she told
The Tampa Tribune. "He never admitted to it. He just quoted a bunch of
Scripture and told lies."
His attorney contended Way's wife and daughter fought each other and, in
the melee, accidentally spilled chemicals that caught fire.
On an appeal, the U.S. Supreme Court ordered a new sentencing hearing for
Way in 1988. He was sentenced to death again in 1990 and died as his
appeals continued.
(source: Associated Press)
A man condemned for the beating and burning deaths of his wife and
15-year-old daughter more than two decades ago has died in prison, family
members said.
Fred Lewis Way, still awaiting appeals, died May 15 of an apparent heart
attack. He was 61.
Prosecutors said at his 1984 trial that Way argued with his wife Carol in
the garage of their Tampa home July 11, 1983, before he struck her in the
head with a hammer. He next called 15-year-old Adrienne into the garage
and struck her, then doused both in gasoline and set them ablaze.
Autopsy reports suggested the teenager had not yet died when she and her
mother were set ablaze.
Another daughter, Tiffany, then 12, emerged from her bedroom and
confronted her father immediately after their deaths. She and her brother,
Fred Jr., testified against him at trial.
Now married and living in Alabama, Tiffany Meeks said a cousin phoned her
about her father's death a couple weeks ago.
She said she was sad, but not because he was gone.
"I was hoping that before he died, I'd find out why he did it," she told
The Tampa Tribune. "He never admitted to it. He just quoted a bunch of
Scripture and told lies."
His attorney contended Way's wife and daughter fought each other and, in
the melee, accidentally spilled chemicals that caught fire.
On an appeal, the U.S. Supreme Court ordered a new sentencing hearing for
Way in 1988. He was sentenced to death again in 1990 and died as his
appeals continued.
(source: Associated Press)