Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

Omaha Steve

(99,073 posts)
Wed Jan 15, 2020, 11:56 PM Jan 2020

Texas inmate executed for killing wife in 2005

Source: AP

By JUAN A. LOZANO and MICHAEL GRACZYK

HUNTSVILLE, Texas (AP) — A Texas inmate with a history of violence against women was executed Wednesday evening for fatally shooting his wife, who had feared she would never get out of her marriage alive.

John Gardner, 64, received a lethal injection at the state penitentiary in Huntsville for the January 2005 slaying of Tammy Gardner. Prosecutors said the couple was getting divorced when Gardner broke into his wife’s North Texas home and shot her in the head as she was sitting in bed. She died two days later at a hospital.

Asked by the warden if he had a final statement, Gardner, strapped to the death chamber gurney, turned his head and apologized several times to his wife’s son, daughter and mother, who watched through a window a few feet away.

“I would like to say sorry for your grief,” he said. “I hope what I’m doing today will give you peace, joy, closure, whatever it takes to forgive. I am sorry. I know you cannot forgive me, but I hope one day you will.”



This undated photo provided by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice shows John Gardner. Gardner a Texas inmate with a history of violence against women faces execution for fatally shooting his wife, who had repeatedly told friends and family she would never get out of her marriage alive. Gardner is set to receive a lethal injection Wednesday Jan. 15, 2019 for the January 2005 slaying of Tammy Gardner.(Texas Department of Criminal Justice via AP)


Read more: https://apnews.com/b175248d6adfdc3e5f1ff788e8bd925c

21 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
Texas inmate executed for killing wife in 2005 (Original Post) Omaha Steve Jan 2020 OP
anyone who is pro-death penalty needs to go see the movie Just Mercy Skittles Jan 2020 #1
I'm anti-death penalty, but, sometimes..................... dware Jan 2020 #2
You know what they say about the word 'but' canetoad Jan 2020 #3
???Huh??? nt dware Jan 2020 #5
you mean any word that proceeds it. lapfog_1 Jan 2020 #11
Oh yeah canetoad Jan 2020 #13
As I see it.... cab67 Jan 2020 #15
Those of us who oppose capital punishment must be consistent. TomSlick Jan 2020 #4
As I said, sometimes it tests my beliefs, dware Jan 2020 #6
I apologize. TomSlick Jan 2020 #8
have you seen the movie Just Mercy yet Skittles Jan 2020 #10
I don't make it to a lot of movies. TomSlick Jan 2020 #18
Stevenson's book is excellent. Especially when we see what passes LuckyLib Jan 2020 #19
I must allow that southern justice can be problematic. TomSlick Jan 2020 #21
Use it as a reminder that because we can all come up with a "but" that the death penalty ... marble falls Jan 2020 #16
Or read the book (or watch the Netflix doc series) The Innocent Man OnlinePoker Jan 2020 #7
I have 2 immediate responses in no particular order. Gore1FL Jan 2020 #9
I have to go through that internally myself. marble falls Jan 2020 #17
This message was self-deleted by its author dalton99a Jan 2020 #12
I am opposed to capital punishment for all the reasons that have been offered here and elsewhere. CTyankee Jan 2020 #14
Good n/t Devil Child Jan 2020 #20

dware

(12,092 posts)
2. I'm anti-death penalty, but, sometimes.....................
Thu Jan 16, 2020, 12:02 AM
Jan 2020

there are just some heinous crimes that test my beliefs.

cab67

(2,963 posts)
15. As I see it....
Thu Jan 16, 2020, 08:14 AM
Jan 2020

...one can be staunchly anti-death penalty while not always mourning those who are executed.

TomSlick

(11,035 posts)
4. Those of us who oppose capital punishment must be consistent.
Thu Jan 16, 2020, 12:10 AM
Jan 2020

The pro-death group can always point to a heinous crime as a justification for the state killing.

I have worked in the legal system my entire working life. The system is simply too imperfect to include the possibility of capital punishment.

TomSlick

(11,035 posts)
8. I apologize.
Thu Jan 16, 2020, 12:23 AM
Jan 2020

I have a hair-trigger on this issue. I've tried criminal and civil cases for thirty-odd years. It's the best system possible but it's still dependent on people doing the right thing, which often does not occur. Human lives ought not be at risk in such a system.

Skittles

(152,966 posts)
10. have you seen the movie Just Mercy yet
Thu Jan 16, 2020, 12:30 AM
Jan 2020

if not, definitely go see it, TomSlick

it emphasizes exactly what you say.

TomSlick

(11,035 posts)
18. I don't make it to a lot of movies.
Thu Jan 16, 2020, 02:41 PM
Jan 2020

I also generally can't abide movies or TV shows about lawyers or cases. The inaccuracies drive me nuts. I watched A Few Good Men at home and spent a lot of the time screaming at the television.

TomSlick

(11,035 posts)
21. I must allow that southern justice can be problematic.
Sun Jan 19, 2020, 08:35 PM
Jan 2020

Then again other than military justice, it's the only justice system I've seen.

My suspicion is that any justice system that relies on people doing the right thing - that is to say, all of them - can be problematic. Again, my suspicion is that it would be eye-opening for people across the country to take one of the implicit bias tests.

My point is that knowing that any justice system will almost necessarily be skewed by implicit bias, political motivations, and a host of other things that keep people from doing the right thing. As a result, no justice system ought to be deciding matters of life and death.

marble falls

(56,359 posts)
16. Use it as a reminder that because we can all come up with a "but" that the death penalty ...
Thu Jan 16, 2020, 10:39 AM
Jan 2020

can never be impartially applied. Be strong. The death penalty is wrong.

OnlinePoker

(5,702 posts)
7. Or read the book (or watch the Netflix doc series) The Innocent Man
Thu Jan 16, 2020, 12:21 AM
Jan 2020

A man named Ron Williamson was on death row for 11 years and was within a week of execution twice because the police chose to ignore the obvious suspect, who was selling drugs to the police and was their only witness that Williamson was in the bar where the victim worked the night she died. He wasn't a "good" man, but, because of his mental health issues (which degraded into psychosis while in prison), but he was a great person to pin the crime on. His co-accused, who was jailed for life in the crime simply being a friend of Williamson was also exonerated at the same time.

Gore1FL

(21,034 posts)
9. I have 2 immediate responses in no particular order.
Thu Jan 16, 2020, 12:27 AM
Jan 2020

1> Fuck Him.

2> The death penalty is wrong in all cases.

Response to Omaha Steve (Original post)

CTyankee

(63,771 posts)
14. I am opposed to capital punishment for all the reasons that have been offered here and elsewhere.
Thu Jan 16, 2020, 04:19 AM
Jan 2020

My focus is on the misogyny in our lives that results in the suffering and death of so many women in our society.While Gardner had his time on death row to "focus the mind" on his violence against the women he terrorized, his victims had no such peaceful contemplations -- onlu terror, fear and constant physical suffering. A drug put him to sleep, he snored and was no more. His wives, his victims, lived in fear, terror and pain and died the same way.

How can we not see what the root problem is here.


Latest Discussions»Latest Breaking News»Texas inmate executed for...