“To the Timbrook family, you definitely have the wrong person. The truth will come out one day. This here, killing me, there’s no justice about it.”

— Edward Nathaniel Bell, convicted of murder, lethal injection, Virginia.
Executed February 19, 2009

Bell, a native of Jamaica, was sent to death row for the shooting death of police officer Ricky Timbrook in 1999. Bell maintained his innocence throughout trial. The case became “a flash point in the debate over Gov. Timothy M. Kaine’s views on the death penalty,” reported the Washington Post. “. . . The case had particular resonance for Kaine, a Catholic who personally opposes the death penalty but has said he will enforce the law.”

”I only wish to say that the statement I have made about the crime with which I stand charged is true. I must say that since I have been here, no Protestant minister has come near me. When the priests came, they were kind to me, and I can only say that I die happy and a Catholic. That is all.”

— Walter Holmes, convicted of murder, hanging, Massachusetts.
Executed February 3, 1893

Though raised a Protestant, Holmes converted to Catholicism as he awaited execution—an act that angered many people in the community. He walked to the gallows on a pair of crutches, then was nearly decapitated when the noose knot caught under his chin.

“They can’t kill a smile!”

— Harrison Gibson, convicted of murder, hanging, Montana.
Executed February 16, 1917

Gibson was one of a group of seven railroad workers who attacked and robbed three men on another train. Gibson, along with Lesley Fahley and James Foster, shot their victims after the robbery was over; the three were convicted and hanged together. Before the execution, a local newspaper quoted Gibson as saying: “Say, Mistah Sherrif, Ah’ve got a bad taste in my mouf this mawnin. There’s a red apple down in my pocket and Ah’d like jess’ one bite before Ah leaves. [Eats the apple.] All right, let’s go.” Reportedly, Gibson had a huge smile on his face as they brought the black cap down over his head.