Post by Anja on Aug 14, 2006 4:05:26 GMT -5
Protracted legal battle's ending was quick, quiet
After weeks of legal wrangling over whether lethal injection can cause a
painful death, convicted murderer David Dawson took a deep breath early
Friday morning, snored once, and was pronounced dead 6 minutes after the
drugs began flowing into his veins.
To Bill Rust, Dawson's execution Friday was a formality.
"He's been dead in my heart a long time," said Rust, who raised
15-year-old Amy Rodstein after Dawson killed her parents and little
brother in 1986. He was among the witnesses of Dawson's death.
The execution took place against a backdrop of debates in courts around
the country about the constitutionality of lethal injection. Some states
have put executions on hold until it can be decided whether lethal
injection, designed as a humane alternative to methods like hanging and
electrocution, poses too great a risk of a cruel death.
Rust said that the numerous court challenges in the days leading up to the
execution frustrated him.
"I think some of those activists out there should mind their own
business," he said.
Dawson kidnapped the Rodstein family and strangled David and Monica, and
11-year-old Andrew, in his Billings, motel room. The family was staying at
the motel because they were in the process of moving. Police rescued Amy
Rodstein from Dawson's room two days later.
She did not attend his execution, but sent a letter, which was read by
Dennis Paxinos, the deputy Yellowstone County attorney who prosecuted
Dawson's in 1987. Paxinos witnessed the execution.
"20 years ago I experienced a horrific event whose ramifications recently
came to a conclusion. .... I have chosen not to live life as a victim,"
she wrote. In another letter, also read by Paxinos, she wrote that the
best way to honor her murdered family was to enjoy the day with her
husband and children.
Dawson asked only one person to witness the execution on his behalf, Patsy
Golden of Missoula, a longtime family friend who corresponded with him
throughout his nearly 2 decades in prison.
2 years ago, Dawson fired his attorneys and sought to end all appeals on
his behalf.
In the weeks leading to his execution, a coalition of civil liberties and
religious groups tried to halt it in court after court. The groups, led by
the American Civil Liberties Union, argued that lethal injection, if done
improperly, can cause an "excruciatingly painful" death.
The courts, citing Dawson's wish to die, said the groups had no right to
interfere. Thursday afternoon, at about the same time Dawson was eating
his last meal, they dropped their efforts.
As a nearly full moon rose over the low hills surrounding the prison, and
heat lightning struck in the darkening sky, some members of the coalition
joined about 30 people holding a vigil on the windswept prairie outside
the prison.
Among them was activist Marietta Jaeger Lane, whose 7-year-old daughter
was kidnapped from their tent as the family camped near Three Forks in
1973, and later killed. Lane opposes capital punishment.
2 people who support the death penalty lingered nearby.
Inside the aging house trailer that serves as Montana's execution chamber,
Dawson lay on a gurney, his arms outstretched and an intravenous line in
each one. A white sheet covered his orange prison uniform.
He raised his head briefly as the last of the witnesses came in just
before midnight.
The room fell still, save for the slight rattling of wind against the
trailer walls. Golden's face was a chalky white. Rust and Jim Lukaszewski,
Monica Rodstein's brother, both wearing black T-shirts and necklaces of
tiny white skulls, stared fixedly at the sheeted mound on the gurney.
At precisely midnight Friday, Montana State Prison Warden Mike Mahoney
entered. He asked if Dawson wanted to say anything.
"No," Dawson replied.
Mahoney sat down.
Dawson snored at 12:01 a.m.
His chest rose and fell; he lifted his right index finger. Then, his
fingers curled loosely into his palms and he was still.
(source: Great Falls Tribune)
After weeks of legal wrangling over whether lethal injection can cause a
painful death, convicted murderer David Dawson took a deep breath early
Friday morning, snored once, and was pronounced dead 6 minutes after the
drugs began flowing into his veins.
To Bill Rust, Dawson's execution Friday was a formality.
"He's been dead in my heart a long time," said Rust, who raised
15-year-old Amy Rodstein after Dawson killed her parents and little
brother in 1986. He was among the witnesses of Dawson's death.
The execution took place against a backdrop of debates in courts around
the country about the constitutionality of lethal injection. Some states
have put executions on hold until it can be decided whether lethal
injection, designed as a humane alternative to methods like hanging and
electrocution, poses too great a risk of a cruel death.
Rust said that the numerous court challenges in the days leading up to the
execution frustrated him.
"I think some of those activists out there should mind their own
business," he said.
Dawson kidnapped the Rodstein family and strangled David and Monica, and
11-year-old Andrew, in his Billings, motel room. The family was staying at
the motel because they were in the process of moving. Police rescued Amy
Rodstein from Dawson's room two days later.
She did not attend his execution, but sent a letter, which was read by
Dennis Paxinos, the deputy Yellowstone County attorney who prosecuted
Dawson's in 1987. Paxinos witnessed the execution.
"20 years ago I experienced a horrific event whose ramifications recently
came to a conclusion. .... I have chosen not to live life as a victim,"
she wrote. In another letter, also read by Paxinos, she wrote that the
best way to honor her murdered family was to enjoy the day with her
husband and children.
Dawson asked only one person to witness the execution on his behalf, Patsy
Golden of Missoula, a longtime family friend who corresponded with him
throughout his nearly 2 decades in prison.
2 years ago, Dawson fired his attorneys and sought to end all appeals on
his behalf.
In the weeks leading to his execution, a coalition of civil liberties and
religious groups tried to halt it in court after court. The groups, led by
the American Civil Liberties Union, argued that lethal injection, if done
improperly, can cause an "excruciatingly painful" death.
The courts, citing Dawson's wish to die, said the groups had no right to
interfere. Thursday afternoon, at about the same time Dawson was eating
his last meal, they dropped their efforts.
As a nearly full moon rose over the low hills surrounding the prison, and
heat lightning struck in the darkening sky, some members of the coalition
joined about 30 people holding a vigil on the windswept prairie outside
the prison.
Among them was activist Marietta Jaeger Lane, whose 7-year-old daughter
was kidnapped from their tent as the family camped near Three Forks in
1973, and later killed. Lane opposes capital punishment.
2 people who support the death penalty lingered nearby.
Inside the aging house trailer that serves as Montana's execution chamber,
Dawson lay on a gurney, his arms outstretched and an intravenous line in
each one. A white sheet covered his orange prison uniform.
He raised his head briefly as the last of the witnesses came in just
before midnight.
The room fell still, save for the slight rattling of wind against the
trailer walls. Golden's face was a chalky white. Rust and Jim Lukaszewski,
Monica Rodstein's brother, both wearing black T-shirts and necklaces of
tiny white skulls, stared fixedly at the sheeted mound on the gurney.
At precisely midnight Friday, Montana State Prison Warden Mike Mahoney
entered. He asked if Dawson wanted to say anything.
"No," Dawson replied.
Mahoney sat down.
Dawson snored at 12:01 a.m.
His chest rose and fell; he lifted his right index finger. Then, his
fingers curled loosely into his palms and he was still.
(source: Great Falls Tribune)