Post by Greener on Nov 17, 2009 16:46:14 GMT -5
Indiana death row inmate waives clemency review
Condemned killer Matthew Eric Wrinkles has made up his mind to die and refused to seek clemency from Gov. Mitch Daniels before his Dec. 11 execution, his lawyers said today.
Wrinkles, who was convicted of the 1994 slayings of his estranged wife and two of her relatives in Evansville, refused last week to fill out paperwork formally requesting clemency.
Parole board officials had intended to visit him Tuesday at the Indiana State Prison in Michigan City to make sure he understood the rights he was surrendering, Department of Correction spokesman Doug Garrison said.
But that visit was called off Monday after Wrinkles’ attorneys notified the Parole Board that he was waiving his right to request clemency.
Wrinkles has exhausted his appeals in state and federal courts, although the Parole Board could have recommended the governor block the execution.
Indiana Public Defenders Council Executive Director Larry Landis, a spokesman for the attorneys who represent Wrinkles, said the 49-year-old inmate was “tired of fighting” and had resigned himself to death.
“It’s more resignation than a desire to die,” Landis said.
Landis said the attorneys accepted Wrinkles’ wishes.
“He is competent to make this decision, and they don’t intend to do any pleadings or litigation inconsistent with his instructions and direction,” he said.
Sometimes, for death row inmates, Landis said, “the thought of spending the rest of their life in prison is more horrifying than being put to death.”
Wrinkles was convicted of murdering his wife, Debra Jean Wrinkles, 31; her brother, Mark “Tony” Fulkerson, 28; and Fulkerson’s wife, Natalie “Chris” Fulkerson, 26.
According to court documents, Wrinkles cut the phone lines to the Fulkerson home about 2 a.m. on July 21, 1994. He was wearing camouflage clothes and face paint and armed with a gun and a knife when he kicked open the door of the home, where his estranged wife and children were staying. Wrinkles shot Mark Fulkerson in front of his 3-year-old son, then shot Debra Wrinkles as their daughter pleaded for her mother’s life, and finally shot Natalie Fulkerson in the face.
Wrinkles has said the killings wouldn’t have happened except for his methamphetamine addiction and his fear he would never see his children again.
Wrinkles’ scheduled execution would be Indiana’s first in two years. The last person put to death in Indiana was Michael Lambert, who was executed on June 15, 2007, for fatally shooting a Muncie police officer 16 years earlier.
Condemned killer Matthew Eric Wrinkles has made up his mind to die and refused to seek clemency from Gov. Mitch Daniels before his Dec. 11 execution, his lawyers said today.
Wrinkles, who was convicted of the 1994 slayings of his estranged wife and two of her relatives in Evansville, refused last week to fill out paperwork formally requesting clemency.
Parole board officials had intended to visit him Tuesday at the Indiana State Prison in Michigan City to make sure he understood the rights he was surrendering, Department of Correction spokesman Doug Garrison said.
But that visit was called off Monday after Wrinkles’ attorneys notified the Parole Board that he was waiving his right to request clemency.
Wrinkles has exhausted his appeals in state and federal courts, although the Parole Board could have recommended the governor block the execution.
Indiana Public Defenders Council Executive Director Larry Landis, a spokesman for the attorneys who represent Wrinkles, said the 49-year-old inmate was “tired of fighting” and had resigned himself to death.
“It’s more resignation than a desire to die,” Landis said.
Landis said the attorneys accepted Wrinkles’ wishes.
“He is competent to make this decision, and they don’t intend to do any pleadings or litigation inconsistent with his instructions and direction,” he said.
Sometimes, for death row inmates, Landis said, “the thought of spending the rest of their life in prison is more horrifying than being put to death.”
Wrinkles was convicted of murdering his wife, Debra Jean Wrinkles, 31; her brother, Mark “Tony” Fulkerson, 28; and Fulkerson’s wife, Natalie “Chris” Fulkerson, 26.
According to court documents, Wrinkles cut the phone lines to the Fulkerson home about 2 a.m. on July 21, 1994. He was wearing camouflage clothes and face paint and armed with a gun and a knife when he kicked open the door of the home, where his estranged wife and children were staying. Wrinkles shot Mark Fulkerson in front of his 3-year-old son, then shot Debra Wrinkles as their daughter pleaded for her mother’s life, and finally shot Natalie Fulkerson in the face.
Wrinkles has said the killings wouldn’t have happened except for his methamphetamine addiction and his fear he would never see his children again.
Wrinkles’ scheduled execution would be Indiana’s first in two years. The last person put to death in Indiana was Michael Lambert, who was executed on June 15, 2007, for fatally shooting a Muncie police officer 16 years earlier.