This week in 1769
“I acknowledge that I had a fair and impartial [trial] and that the Sentence I received was very just. I am now in the 39th year of my Age, and I die an unworthy member of the Church of Rome, I sincerely bewail the errors of my past life, and hope for mercy in the next. I shall conclude with exhorting you to pray for yourselves, and at the same time to petition heaven to have mercy upon my poor soul.”
— Joseph Andrews, convicted of piracy and murder, hanging, colonial New York
Executed May 23, 1769
Andrews and fellow shipmate Nicolas Johnson attempted to take over the schooner Polly. They killed three passengers, the first mate, and the captain with an ax, then threw the cabin boy overboard. The duo spared the helmsman, whom they needed to steer the ship. When their captive jumped ship in the West Indies, he reported the killers, who were later apprehended. Andrews was “hanged in chains” on Liberty Island.
This week in 2007
“Go Raiders.”
— Robert Comer, convicted of murder, lethal injection, Arizona.
Executed May 22, 2007
Comer killed Larry Pritchard at a campground after inviting the man to dinner and drinks with his girlfriend, Juneva Willis. After the murder, Comer and Willis stole from the dead man, then kidnapped and assaulted another camping couple. During his execution, Comer lay on the gurney holding a picture of his daughter as the lethal drugs took effect.
This week in 2002
“. . . I’m fixing to die, but not for my mistakes. My trial lawyers, they are the ones who are killing me. . . . I want to thank you [to the victim’s mother]. It meant a lot to me. Tell my mother I love her too. I didn’t call her because I just couldn’t. I am fine. I am happy. See you on the other side.”
— Johnny Joe Martinez, convicted of murder and robbery, lethal injection, Texas.
Executed May 22, 2002
When Martinez was twenty, he stabbed a Corpus Christi convenience-store clerk to death over the $25.65 in the store’s cash register. After Martinez’s sentencing, the mother of the victim appealed to the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles, pleading with them to give him a life sentence. “Please do not cause another mother to lose her son to murder,” she wrote. In spite of her efforts, Martinez was executed.
