Henry Lee Lukas, who confessed to 200+ murders (he later recanted some of them), died last week in a Texas prison. He was not executed; Bush granted him clemency - the only clemency request Bush granted as Governor of Texas.
Why did Bush grant him clemency?
(Note: this is really a GQ question - I assume Bush didn’t grant Lukas clemency because he thinks serial killers are cool. I decided to post in GD, however, because I am pretty damn certain that this will end up becoming a death penalty debate. I only ask that someone answers my question afore the debate goes too far.)
Henry Lee Lucas was given the death penalty in Texas for the murder of a victim known only by the article of clothing she was found in “Orange Socks”.
Bush gave clemency because it was proven, after the fact that Henry Lee Lucas had been in Florida at the time that Orange socks was murdered, therefore he was innocent of that crime. He was kept in prison (IIRC on this part) because he had been found guilty of other Texas crimes. I’m certain of the rest of it (had just posted stuff about it in some other thread) will look up the cites if you wish.
Henry Lee Lucas was a truly scummy individual. He WAS a murderer, and I wouldn’t have lost a moment’s sleep if he had been executed for any of the crimes he DID commit. However, the murder for which he received the death sentence was one that he almost certainly did NOT commit (the previously mentioned “Orange Socks” case.)
Under the circumstances, I don’t see that then-Governor Bush had any choice but to commute the sentence, and let Mr. Lucas serve out his prison sentences for his other crimes.
Actually some believe the only murder that Henry Lee really did commit was that of his own mother. She also happens to be the reason Henry Lee turned out to be such a strange unit in the first place. I’m inclined to think that he may have killed a couple of folks here and there during his travels. Even that is suspect since police never turned up one body.
I do find some death penatlty decisions pretty strange, especially in Texas. They kill retarded people and children. (of course they are no longer children by the time they fry them) If you know even a little bit about Henry Lee Lucas and his pathetic life then I guess an argument could be made that he is just as deserving of a break as the next guy. He’s gone now anyway having lived a life that does not appear to have had any moments of anything good. Perhaps he was punished enough.
Needs, I agree that most of the ‘confessions’ were bogus (and now the red faced law enforcement officials seem to agree), but there is substantial evidence that in addition to his mom, he killed: his longtime girlfriend (in 1982) and a woman in Texas ( in 1982). In both of those cases (according to the link provided), his confession led to the discovery of body remains. This is in stark contrast to his ‘confessions’ in the other cases where the police knew where the body was or evidence was and then Lucas ‘provided’ the info.
Yes, he was certainly the poster boy for ‘how not to raise a child’.
I believe you might be mistaken about his “longtime girlfriend”. If I remember correctly they never found Becky’s body. They looked around where he thought he left it but never found her. Of course he probably did kill her, just can’t remember exactly where he left her.
As for clemency, I’m trying to decide right now if I believe in the death penalty. I certainly don’t believe in it as a form of “deterrant”. Mainly because it doesn’t appear to work very well in that capacity. I’m more inclined to consider it a form of collective “revenge”. That doesn’t sit well in my tummy.
You can object all you want to my comment about old Henry needing a break. Perhaps I didn’t word that right in the first place. I’m thinking that he’s one of those people that may have actually been given a “break” in death. Seems like his life was not one of those that most people would consider worth living. He was a horribly sick man, no education, no ties to family, friends or community. An individual who’s only moment in life that had any meaning was when he confessed to multiple murder. Perhaps just allowing someone like that to live is more the punishment. That’s rather what I meant in the first place.
As others have already said, Bush granted Lucas clemency because it was quite clear that he had not committed the crime that he was about to be executed for.
About the only person in Texas who had a problem with this was Bush’s gubernatorial opponent, Gary Mauro, who came up with some lame reason why Bush was doing something wrong. In so doing Mauro came across as a raging lunatic to Democrats and Republicans alike.
wring…don’t you do some kind of social work, or something similar? Could we start another thread to debate the death penalty? I’d be interested to hear what you think about the death penalty and the current trends in juvenile justice. Certainly I’d give your opinion more credence than some others since you’ve worked with people who go to jail. I just don’t like getting into debates in here about what I consider “moral” issues. Aside from the legalities of death penalty and some of this new legislation concerning juveniles, I do think this issue is a moral one.
Job history: from 1977 - 91 I helped run (or ran by the latter end) a women’s correction center (half way house), housing females from state and federal incarcerations, as well as probationers. In 91, the housing unit closed, and I moved over to our central office, assisting felons with finding jobs. around 94 or 95, I became the director of the program. Have worked with thousands of ex offenders from all over the country, wide variety of backgrounds, and offenses (only ones that I can think of that I haven’t come across are art forgery and counterfieting - pretty much everything else). also have done some work with local center for youths ‘aging out’ of the juvinile system (they’re the ones sentenced as a juvenile to be under supervision til they’re 21 or so)
give me a week or so on the debate thing- I’ve got 3 proposals to write w/in short time, plus a big audit. Plus I’m a little crispy around the edges.
Juvie justice in particular is a troubling issue for many -