This week in 2004

“Yes I do. Sir, in honor of a true American hero, “Let’s roll.” Lord Jesus receive my spirit.”

— David Harris, convicted of murder, lethal injection, Texas.
Executed June 30, 2004

Harris’s final statement was a reference to the words of Todd Beamer, a passenger who helped fight the hijackers on United Airlines Flight 93 on 9/11. Harris was sentenced to death after shooting a man to death as Harris tried to abduct the man’s girlfriend. Harris is best known for his false testimony that helped convict Randall Dale Adams of killing a police officer; he retracted his statement after the 1988 documentary “The Thin Blue Line proved Adams innocent.

Harris was never charged with the crime. Adams was released from prison in 1989, but by that time Harris had been on death row for three years.