Death Row Inmate Dubbed “Houdini of Death Row” Executed in Alabama

On Thursday, May 25, death row inmate Thomas Arthur was put to death after dodging execution seven times.  The 75-year-old, who was convicted of murder, was arrested and charged for the killing of Troy Wicker in 1982.  Strapped to a gurney at the Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore, Alabama, the executioner injected the lethal serum into Arthur’s veins—within half an hour, Arthur was pronounced dead (12:15 AM).

            Arthur’s final words cited an apology—he said, “I’m sorry for failing you as a father.  I love you more than anything on Earth.”  Although some felt relieved by his execution, others were angered by this act of “justice”.  Justice Sonia Sotomayor, for example, disapproved, “[criticizing] the court’s decision, arguing that she continued to doubt that one of the state’s execution drugs, midazolam, was capable of rendering prisoners unable to feel the ‘excruciating pain’ of lethal injection.  Alabama officials, she argued, had only compounded the risks by denying Arthur’s attorneys access to a phone in the witness room to contact the courts if any aspect of the execution went wrong.”  She writes, “When Thomas Arthur enters the execution chamber tonight, he will leave his constitutional rights at the door.”

Arthur was first sentenced to death in 1983—due to his many escapes of execution, he consequently spent more than 34 years on death row before being put to death yesterday.  In the time of his sentencing, 58 other inmates in Alabama have thus been executed.  Governor Kay Ivey stated that the decision to execute or spare Arthur’s life was of utmost difficulty.  She noted, “Mr. Arthur was rightfully convicted and sentenced, and tonight that sentence was rightfully and justly carried out.”

Arthur’s oldest daughter, Sherrie Stone, called for DNA testing of all available evidence regarding cases of capital punishment in the United States.  After his execution, she stated, “I have never known for certain whether my father killed Troy Wicker.  At times I was convinced he was the killer, and at other times I believed he was innocent.  Now I will never know the truth because the evidence that could prove if my father was innocent or guilty has not been tested for DNA using the latest technology.”

But some wish that Arthur was put to death sooner; executive director of the Victims of Crime and Leniency Janetter Grantham said that Arthur knew how to manipulate the system with his “bag of tricks”, delaying his sentencing each time.  She stated that, “There is no reason why anyone should be on death row for 34 years.”  Arthur, who argued that the lethal injections violated the 8^th and 14^th Amendments of the Constitution, used such reasoning to push off his executions, playing the system.

Now that Arthur has been executed, the Wicker family now has the chance to heal and recover from such a horrible memory.  Whether the execution of a murderer alleviates victims’ feelings is a question that has yet to be answered, but that does not mean that the question cannot be tested.

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