Morris Odell Mason
Morris Odell Mason (born March 28, 1954 , † June 25, 1985 in Richmond ) was an American murderer. He was the fourth person to be executed with the electric chair in the state of Virginia since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976 for the murder of 71-year-old Margaret K. Hand.
The actions
Morris Mason, a then 24-year-old black farm laborer and convicted rapist, was on a two-week crime hunt in 1978 when he committed the murder of Margaret Hand in Northampton County . After he raped her and injured her with an ax, he sat his victim on a chair and secured her by driving nails through her wrists into the chair and then tying her with rope. Then he set fire to the apartment with the victim.
Morris Mason later confessed to raping and killing another 86-year-old woman in the same way. He praised his deeds with the phrase "he is the east coast killer" . He also confessed to the sodomy and rape of a 12-year-old girl, as well as the shot at her 13-year-old sister, who from then on remained paraplegic after being shot in the back.
The crime wave he sparked began just a month after he was pardoned from a 10-year prison sentence for aggravated theft and arson.
Mental disability
In the course of the trial or after the death sentence, the public defenders tried to portray Mason as a mentally disabled person with an IQ of 62 to 66 in order to have the death sentence commuted to life imprisonment by the then Governor Charles S. Robb , but the latter refused. Crucially, after the arson attacks, Mason went back to the scene to destroy additional incriminating evidence against him. This was assessed in such a way that Mason proceeded with full awareness in his murderous works.
the execution
Just hours before the execution, the US Supreme Court rejected an appeal 7-2.
That Mason had no idea of death, he revealed by asking other inmates "what he should wear for his own funeral ". On the way to electric chair he called to a visitor that he should a fellow say, "When I come back, I'll show him that I can play basketball as well as he does." .
Immediately before the execution, when asked for a “last word”, he made no further comments. At 11:07 pm, Morris Mason was pronounced dead at the Richmond State Penitentiary .
swell
- ↑ http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/list-defendants-mental-retardation-executed-united-states Death Penalty Information Center
- ↑ http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?sec=health&res=9F06E0D61139F935A15755C0A963948260 NY Times Published: June 26, 1985
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Mason, Morris Odell |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American murderer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | March 28, 1954 |
| DATE OF DEATH | June 25, 1985 |
| Place of death | Richmond |