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John William Byrd, Jr. (December 18, 1963February 19, 2002) was executed by lethal injection for the murder of convenience store clerk Monte Tewksbury. Byrd, who protested his innocence up until his execution had spent 18 years and 6 months on Ohio's death row. The third execution since Ohio reintroduced the death penalty in 1981, Byrd's case was by far the most contentious capital case of the first three. His execution remains as controversial today as it was in 2002. ==Crimes== On the evening of April 17, 1983, Monte Tewksbury, 40, was working alone as the night clerk at a convenience store in Hamilton County, Ohio. Tewksbury was married and a father of three children. He worked full-time for Procter & Gamble, and moonlighted at the store as a second job to help provide for his family. At around 11 p.m., two robbers entered the store in masks; one of them carried a bowie knife with a five-inch blade. The robbers removed all of $133.97 from the cash register. In addition, they stole Tewksbury's Pulsar watch, wedding ring, and wallet which contained cash, credit cards, and an automobile registration slip. Then, as Tewksbury stood with his hands raised and his back to the robbers, Byrd allegedly drove his bowie knife into the hilt of Tewksbury's side, which penetrated the liver and caused massive internal bleeding. The two robbers then ripped out the inside telephone from the wall and fled. At approximately 11:10 p.m., a witness driving by the store observed two men running from it and entering a large red van parked nearby which drove off. A short time after the assault and robbery at Tewksbury's store, a clerk at a different convenience store nearby was behind his cash register while a customer played a video game near the front door. Two robbers entered the store wearing masks. The clerk realized what was happening and fled to a room in the rear of the store. One of the robbers, who was later identified as Byrd, chased after him with a knife and unsuccessfully tried to force open the door. The other robber pushed the video-gaming customer back when he attempted to leave; however, the customer was able to dodge him and get out. The robbers were unable to open the cash register, so they took it with them. A resident of an apartment located near the store was disturbed by the noise from a loud muffler. He looked outside and saw two people getting into a large red van parked in the lot. The van had a defective tail light. Meanwhile, despite being severely injured, Tewksbury managed to exit the store and get to the outside telephone. He called his wife, Sharon, told her he had been robbed and stabbed, and that she should call the police and an ambulance. At the same time, a customer arrived at the store and found Tewksbury standing outside the building and leaning against the wall next to the telephone, bleeding from his side. The man helped Tewksbury back into store, went back to the telephone which was still off the hook, and spoke briefly with Sharon. He told her to call an ambulance while he summoned police. Tewksbury told the man, "I'm going to die", and that he had been robbed and stabbed with a knife. He described his assailants as two white men wearing stocking masks. Sharon quickly arrived at the scene and held her dying husband in her arms as he repeated his statements. Tewksbury was transported to a hospital, and while en route, made statements to the effect that he did not understand why he had been stabbed, because he had been cooperative and had complied with the robbers' requests. He also said "Thank God I didn't see it coming", which supports the conclusion that his back was to his assailants when he was stabbed. Almost immediately after he was taken into the emergency room, Tewksbury's heart failed and he was pronounced dead at 1:15 a.m. on April 18, 1983. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「John William Byrd, Jr.」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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