Jump to content

Thomas Bartlett Whitaker

Add links
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by CannotFindAName (talk | contribs) at 02:23, 23 February 2018 (Changed the sentence "Thomas Bartlett 'Bart' Whitaker" IS a death row inmate to). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Bart Whitaker
BornThomas Bartlett Whitaker
(1979-12-31) December 31, 1979 (age 44)
Houston, Texas
Criminal chargeCapital murder
PenaltyLife imprisonment[1]
Details
VictimsKevin Whitaker (19)
Patricia Whitaker (51)
DateDecember 10, 2003

Thomas Bartlett “Bart” Whitaker (born December 31, 1979) was a Texas death row inmate at the Polunsky Unit near Livingston.[2] He is scheduled to die by lethal injection at the Huntsville death chamber on February 22, 2018, as a result of his conviction for the December 10, 2003, murders of his mother and brother by hitman Chris Brashear[3] (born July 8, 1982). However, in a rare decision on February 20, 2018, the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles unanimously recommended that the death sentence be commuted to life imprisonment. The recommendation from the seven-member panel goes to Republican Governor Greg Abbott, who can accept it or reject it.[4]

Texas currently executes by overdosing the condemned with pentobarbital from a compounding pharmacy but defense lawyers claimed the state’s first two executions of 2018 were botched because of old lethal injection drugs.[5] Whitaker also has final appeals pending at the U.S. Supreme Court, which largely focus on the purity of the drugs used in Texas executions.[6]

Whitaker had employed Brashear and another accomplice, Steven Champagne, the getaway driver, to carry out the murders. Whitaker's father, Kent, was shot but survived. Whitaker fled to Mexico in 2004 following a tip-off[7] that he would shortly be arrested for the murders. He lived there for over a year under a false name of Rudy Ríos. On September 15, 2005, a capital murder warrant was issued against Whitaker. Cooperating with US authorities, Mexican authorities arrested Whitaker without incident under immigration charges. In September 2005 Whitaker was handed over to US authorities at the border town of Laredo, Texas, where he was arrested for capital murder.[8][9]

On February 22, 2018, Texas Governor Greg Abbott commuted Whitaker's death sentence, noting that Whitaker had "voluntarily and forever waived any and all claims to parole in exchange for a commutation of his sentence from death to life without the possibility of parole".

Early life

Whitaker attended Clements High School, where he was friends with Adam Hipp. Hipp admitted at the trial that he had been recruited to murder Whitaker's family in a plot in 2001 that had been aborted. During cross examination from defense attorney Randy McDonald, Hipp admitted being motivated by money to carry out the killings. [10] At the trial, Hipp said that he had contacted the Sugar Land Police department with information about the previous plot when he heard about the reward money on offer following the murders in 2003.[11]

A 2009 psychological evaluation of Whitaker noted that after high school he was given "more of the unearned trappings of wealth" whilst his thoughts became even more disorganised.[12] Whitaker’s affluent parents had bought him several luxury vehicles and paid for his tuition at Baylor University and Sam Houston University. They also bought him a lakeside townhouse in Willis, Texas and a $4,000 Rolex watch was given to him as a graduation present hours before the murders, despite the fact that he was not enrolled at college.[13] Whitaker also had access to a $80,000 trust fund from his grandparents, although he testified in court that he didn't know he could access it.[14]

Murders

On December 10, 2003, Whitaker falsely told his family that he had just taken his final exams and would soon be graduating from Sam Houston University. They drove to the nearby Pappadeaux restaurant in Stafford for a celebratory dinner. Meanwhile Brashear, dressed in black, including a ski mask, had entered the Whitaker family home, taken Kevin’s gun and ammunition from a locked box in his room, staged a burglary, and then waited near the front door for the Whitaker family to return home.[15]

Steven Champagne waited outside the restaurant for the Whitaker family to leave and followed them back to the family home where he waited in his car near their house. Thomas said that he needed to collect his cell phone from his parked Yukon knowing that Brashear was armed and waiting inside to kill his family.

Kevin entered the family home first and reportedly smiled when he saw the masked Brashear. Brashear shot Kevin once through his chest and he fell to the floor. Patricia screamed “Oh God, no” and she was also shot in the chest and fell to the floor. Kent rushed in and was shot in the shoulder with the bullet shattering his humerus.[15] Thomas then ran inside and staged a struggle with Brashear, getting shot in his left arm to divert suspicion.

Brashear then exited through the Whitakers’ back door and jumped the fence into the rear neighbour’s yard, where Champagne collected him. Kevin died within minutes of being shot. Patricia died shortly after being airlifted by Life Flight service on the way to Memorial Hermann Hospital. Thomas told First Responders that he thought the gunman was black, in order to divert suspicion away from Brashear. Kent survived the murder attempt and was airlifted to the hospital.[15]

Conviction

At his trial in March 2007, prosecutors alleged that although it wasn't Whitaker who pulled the trigger, he was responsible for the murders because he played the leading part in the conspiracy to commit murder.[16] Whitaker was refused a plea bargain by the District Attorney in return for his admission of guilt and was tried for capital murder. The prosecutors' chief witness, Steven Champagne, claimed that Whitaker had wanted his family dead so he could capitalize on a million-dollar life insurance payout. Whitaker denies this and says that the only life insurance policy the family had was for $50,000 on his father's life.[17] Whitaker claims that a mental disorder, exacerbated by drug abuse, caused him to want his family eliminated.[12]

Kent Whitaker had already forgiven his son for his part in the murders and had tried to persuade the jury not to deliver a death sentence.[18] However, the jury decided to convict Whitaker of capital murder under the Law of Parties (Texas).[15] Chris Brashear received a life sentence in a plea bargain worked out with prosecutors.[19] Steven Champagne agreed to testify for the prosecution in return for a 15-year sentence.[3]

Whitaker appealed his death sentence on the grounds of the ineffectiveness of his trial counsel, prosecutorial misconduct, the arbitrariness of the death penalty punishment and the cruelty of the lethal injection, in violation of the eighth amendment to the U.S. constitution prohibiting cruel and unusual punishment.[20][21]

In April 2017, his appeal against prosecutorial misconduct was dismissed by the Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit.[22]

On October 10, 2017, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to consider an appeal based on his claims that his trial lawyer was deficient and that Fort Bend County prosecutors engaged in misconduct by improperly referring to discussion of a plea deal that never was reached.[23] The justices provided no explanation for their refusal.[24] On November 1, 2017, his death warrant was signed, scheduling his execution for February 22, 2018.[25]

Whitaker states that his father, Kent, will be revictimized by his execution.[26] Kent Whitaker, the only surviving victim of the crime, wrote a book about the murders titled Murder by Family detailing his forgiveness for his son's actions.[15] Kent also wrote to the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles asking for clemency for his son. [27] The Board has unanimously recommended clemency to Governor Greg Abbott.[28]

Thomas Whitaker and other inmates initiated an unsuccessful class action suit against the conditions on Texas death row where inmates are kept in solitary confinement for 23 hours a day.[29][30]

He has contributed to Solitary Watch where he wrote about the effects of solitary confinement on himself and other death row inmates.[31] He also won prizes in PEN America's prison writing contests for “Hell’s Kitchen”,[32] "Manufacturing Anomie" [33] and the essay “A Nothing Would Do as Well".[34] In 2007, he founded an inmate blog, entitled Minutes Before Six which is maintained by volunteers.[35][36] Texas inmates are typically executed at 6 pm in the Huntsville Unit. He also contributed to Hell Is a Very Small Place: Voices from Solitary Confinement.[37]

On February 22, 2018, Texas Governor Greg Abbott commuted Whitaker's death sentence, noting that Whitaker had "voluntarily and forever waived any and all claims to parole in exchange for a commutation of his sentence from death to life without the possibility of parole".[38]

See also

References

  1. ^ https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/texas-death-row-inmate-could-be-spared-after-unusual-appeal-n850276
  2. ^ "America's 10 Worst Prisons: Polunsky". Mother Jones. 2013-05-02. Retrieved 2017-04-25.
  3. ^ a b ERIC HANSON (2007-09-19). "Triggerman in Sugar Land slayings pleads guilty - Houston Chronicle". Chron.com. Retrieved 2017-04-25.
  4. ^ Will Weissert and Michael Graczyk (2018-02-20). "Texas parole board recommends killer be spared from death - The Washington Post". www.washingtonpost.com. Retrieved 2018-02-20.
  5. ^ Jolie McCullagh (2018-02-15). "Texas prison system stalls release of public information on executions - The Texas Tribune". texastribune.org. Retrieved 2018-02-15.
  6. ^ Jolie McCullagh (2018-02-20). "In rare move, Texas parole board recommends clemency for death row inmate Thomas Whitaker - The Texas Tribune". texastribune.org. Retrieved 2018-02-21.
  7. ^ Whitaker, Kent (2008). Murder by Family. New York: Howard Books. pp. 73–74. ISBN 1416578137.
  8. ^ "'Sugar Land' Culprit Made New Life in Mexico - ABC News". Abcnews.go.com. 2009-04-29. Retrieved 2017-04-25.
  9. ^ SESHADRI KUMAR (2005-09-25). "Bart Whitaker arrested - Houston Chronicle". Chron.com. Retrieved 2018-01-28.
  10. ^ Eric Hanson (2007-03-02). "Testimony ends in Whitaker's murder trial - Houston Chronicle". Chron.com. Retrieved 2018-02-15.
  11. ^ Mitchell, Corey (2010). "10". Savage son. New York: Pinnacle Books. ISBN 078602013X.
  12. ^ a b "THOMAS BARTLETT WHITAKER; CRIMINAL TRIAL CAUSE No. 42,969" (PDF). Minutesbeforesix.com. Retrieved 2017-04-25.
  13. ^ Mitchell, Corey (2010). "50". Savage son. New York: Pinnacle Books. ISBN 078602013X.
  14. ^ Mitchell, Corey (2010). "53". Savage son. New York: Pinnacle Books. ISBN 078602013X.
  15. ^ a b c d e "'Murder by Family': Read Shocking Excerpt - ABC News". Abcnews.go.com. 2009-04-27. Retrieved 2017-04-25.
  16. ^ "Bart Whitaker On The Stand". YouTube.com. Retrieved 2017-07-13. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
  17. ^ "Minutes Before Six: Attempts at "Why?"". Minutesbeforesix.blogspot.co.uk. 2007-10-17. Retrieved 2017-04-25.
  18. ^ Kever, Jeannie (2007-10-19). "Father forgives son who had mom, brother killed - Houston Chronicle". Chron.com. Retrieved 2017-04-25.
  19. ^ ERIC HANSON (2007-11-19). "Driver in Sugar Land murder plot gets 15 years - Houston Chronicle". Chron.com. Retrieved 2017-04-25.
  20. ^ "Whitaker, Williams vs. Livingston" (PDF). Gpo.gov. Retrieved 2017-06-19.
  21. ^ "Whitaker vs. Stephens" (PDF). Gpo.gov. Retrieved 2017-04-25.
  22. ^ "THOMAS BARTLETT WHITAKER vs. LORIE DAVIS" (PDF). Ca5.uscourts.gov. Retrieved 2017-06-19.
  23. ^ "No. 17-5080 *** CAPITAL CASE ***". supremecourt.gov. Retrieved 2017-11-29.
  24. ^ Michael Graczyk (2017-10-10). "Man Condemned in Family Murder Plot Loses High Court Appeal". usnews.com. Retrieved 2017-10-24.
  25. ^ "Judge sets execution date for Sugar Land man who had family killed for $1 million inheritance". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved 2017-12-29.
  26. ^ "Bart Whitaker talks about eventual execution". Click2houston.com. 2012-08-01. Retrieved 2017-04-25.
  27. ^ "Friday letters: A father's plea: Spare my son". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved 2018-01-21.
  28. ^ "Request for Commutation of Death Sentence to a Lesser Penalty" (PDF). documentcloud.org. Retrieved 2018-01-21.
  29. ^ "KPRC-TV Death Row interview with Thomas Bart Whitaker on Vimeo". Vimeo.com. 2012-11-23. Retrieved 2017-04-25.
  30. ^ "THOMAS WHITAKER AND CHRISTOPHER WILKINS, ET AL vs. OLIVER J. BELL, MEMBERS OF THE TX. BRD. OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE, JOHN WHITMIRE, DAVID J. CALLENDER, M.D., GOVERNOR RICK PERRY, ET AL" (PDF). Minutesbeforesix.com. Retrieved 2017-04-25.
  31. ^ By Voices from Solitary July 27, 2016 (2016-07-27). "Voices From Solitary: The War of All Against All". Solitary Watch. Retrieved 2017-04-25.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  32. ^ Bartlett, Thomas (2011-05-05). "Hell's Kitchen - PEN America". Pen.org. Retrieved 2017-04-25.
  33. ^ Bartlett, Thomas (2014-07-07). "Manufacturing Anomie - PEN America". Pen.org. Retrieved 2017-04-25.
  34. ^ Bartlett, Thomas (2014-07-07). "A Nothing Would Do As Well - PEN America". Pen.org. Retrieved 2017-04-25.
  35. ^ "Blogging From Death Row: Inmates Get Help From Victims - ABC News". Abcnews.go.com. 2011-09-13. Retrieved 2017-04-25.
  36. ^ "Minutes Before Six: Thomas Bartlett Whitaker (TX)". Minutesbeforesix.blogspot.com. 1999-04-24. Retrieved 2017-04-25.
  37. ^ Casella, Jean; Ridgeway, James; Shourd, Sarah, eds. (2 February 2016). "Hell Is a Very Small Place: Voices from Solitary Confinement". The New Press – via Amazon.
  38. ^ http://www.kbtx.com/content/news/Texas-Gov-weighs-parole-boards-advice-on-death-row-inmates-fate-474866723.html

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Thomas_Bartlett_Whitaker&oldid=827154977"