Virginia Executes Man Convicted in 1989 Murder Spree
June 20, 1998 - 0:0
JARRATT, Va. A former orchard worker convicted of murdering four people, including a police officer, during an eight-hour killing spree in 1989 was put to death by lethal injection in Virginia on Thursday, a prison official said. Dennis Wayne Eaton, 42, was executed over protests of the sister of one of his victims, Virginia state trooper Jerry Hines. The former nun met the convicted murderer on death row last year and sought to have his life spared.
I'd like to say that I'm sorry, Eaton said before he was injected with a dose of lethal chemicals. He was pronounced dead at 9:09 p.m. EDT (0109 GMT Friday) at the Greenville Correctional Center, said Ronald Angelone, director of the Virginia Department of Corrections. Eaton, then 33, was convicted and sentenced to die for shooting the police officer to death after he was stopped on suspicion of drunken driving along Interstate 81 near Lexington. Police found Hines laying face-down in a pool of blood near his cruiser.
Hours earlier, Eaton began his killing spree by shooting roommate Walter Custer, 33, to death in their mobile home. He then broke into the home of a former neighbor, 68-year old Ripley Marston, and shot him to death before taking $15 and the elderly man's 1981 Ford Fairmont. Police cornered Eaton near Salem, about 50 miles (77 km) southwest of Lexington, after he crashed into a light pole and his car caught fire following a high-speed chase at speeds approaching 100 mph, prosecutors said.
As police surrounded the car, Eaton claimed his final victim, shooting his friend, Judy Ann McDonald before turning the gun on himself. Eaton survived the self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, and was condemned to die for Hines' murder. He also was sentenced to life in prison for that murder and to three life sentences without parole in the other murders.
The execution was witnesses by Hines' widow, Carol Hines, and oldest son Justin Hines, who said they believed the death penalty was warranted. Prison officials refused to allow Hines' sister to attend the execution, citing concerns she would disrupt the process. Eaton was the fifth death row inmate executed in the state this year in Virginia. (Reuters)
I'd like to say that I'm sorry, Eaton said before he was injected with a dose of lethal chemicals. He was pronounced dead at 9:09 p.m. EDT (0109 GMT Friday) at the Greenville Correctional Center, said Ronald Angelone, director of the Virginia Department of Corrections. Eaton, then 33, was convicted and sentenced to die for shooting the police officer to death after he was stopped on suspicion of drunken driving along Interstate 81 near Lexington. Police found Hines laying face-down in a pool of blood near his cruiser.
Hours earlier, Eaton began his killing spree by shooting roommate Walter Custer, 33, to death in their mobile home. He then broke into the home of a former neighbor, 68-year old Ripley Marston, and shot him to death before taking $15 and the elderly man's 1981 Ford Fairmont. Police cornered Eaton near Salem, about 50 miles (77 km) southwest of Lexington, after he crashed into a light pole and his car caught fire following a high-speed chase at speeds approaching 100 mph, prosecutors said.
As police surrounded the car, Eaton claimed his final victim, shooting his friend, Judy Ann McDonald before turning the gun on himself. Eaton survived the self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, and was condemned to die for Hines' murder. He also was sentenced to life in prison for that murder and to three life sentences without parole in the other murders.
The execution was witnesses by Hines' widow, Carol Hines, and oldest son Justin Hines, who said they believed the death penalty was warranted. Prison officials refused to allow Hines' sister to attend the execution, citing concerns she would disrupt the process. Eaton was the fifth death row inmate executed in the state this year in Virginia. (Reuters)