TONY LEE WALKER
Executed Sept 10, 2002 in Texas
"I would like to say
goodbye to a good friend of mine in Switzerland - Diego. I appreciate
all the help and support he gave me through the years. A friend of
mine in England. Wildflower: I love you and will never forget
you. And to my family. That's all."
- from Tony's last
words
"Other than two reporters, there were no witnesses to Walker's execution,
either for the prisoner or the victims. In a written statement, he wrote,
"I wish to tell the family how sorry I am about what I done. I know that
nothing I say will bring Mr. and Mrs. Bo Simmons back. I ask that Linda and
Gary [the couple's children] and their family can find it in there [sic]
hearts to forgive me, but if not, I will understand, I am truly sorry." On
the execution gurney, Walker expressed love to two pen pals in Europe. "And
to my family," he said, choking back tears, "nothing." With his last statement
finished, the lethal injection was started. Walker then began reciting the
Lord's Prayer. When he reached the words, "Thy kingdom come," he stopped
and said, "Help me, chaplain." The chaplain continued saying the prayer as
Walker gasped and sputtered several times. When he stopped breathing, a tear
rolled out of his right eye, onto his cheek. He was pronounced dead at 6:16
p.m." -
- from a report of Tony
Walker's last moments
The following extract is a taken form a letter written on 30th August, 1998
by Tony Lee Walker #999082, Death Row inmate in Ellis One Unit, Huntsville,
Texas, to his penfriend in Switzerland. ( He was 43 years old ; and at that
time had been on death row for 5 years) - taken from : Lifespark Movement Against
the Death Penalty
'Hello again! It's your friend Big Tuck. I pray life is treating you well!
I'm feeling pretty good. I guess being over fourty does has its up and down.
It is Sunday afternoon, I've been thinking about the Internet deal. So I was
just laying around after cleanning my box out, getting rid of some junk which
took about 2 minutes, smile. I also was reading a writ my lawyer sent me
that was being sent to the Court of Criminal Appeal from the State of Texas.
Well as you know the State, they do whatever it takes to convince the courts
and Supreme Court to carry out the execution, everything the State said,
the judge granted for them! But you can expect that anyway! It's a onesided
thing! It takes time for these things, a ruling, just thought I let you know...
So time is still lingering you would say!
Well I've been thinking and thinking about that Internet deal, about what
to say. Diego, I will say this : any idea you have will be the most welcome,
so how about this :
"Hello from Texas, Death Row USA. My name is Mr. Tony Lee Walker, my number
is 999082. I am one of the over 400 inmates housed here at Ellis One, in Huntsville,
Texas, awaiting to be put to death by lethal injection. I will also add that
I'm not just sitting around, waiting to die. Since I arrived here at Ellis
One, I picked up a hobby making jewelry boxes and clocks. I have always been
infatuated, working with wood. I'm told that Death Row Arts & Crafts
are sold for high dollars but mine are not. My crafts are at a set price.
I'm just trying to make ends meet. These beautiful crafts are all hand made
and are one of a kind! They will be cherished for all years to come. A lovely
present! A beautiful gift for all ages! Ordering one or many of my crafts
items will help me. Please order now. Thank you and God bless us all!"
Diego, I can't wait to get this shown on the road, hoping for good results,
so keep your fingers crossed!
Well being in solitary has its advantages. I get to stay up all night and
sleep all day. Say I've been wondering what kind of program do you watch over
there on TV? I'm ordering a book from the library, maybe something about Switzerland.
Well Diego, as you know all good things must come to an end, so I will close
my letter but never my friendship. May God bless you always. My best wishes.
Tell your mother and sister hello for me, thank you Diego, man, you are truely
a blessing to me and a good friend.
With love, Big Tuck, Texas, 30th August 1998 '
Tony Lee Walker #999082
NEWS REPORTS ON THE EXECUTION
Houston
Chronicle
"Convicted Killer Dies in Tears Saying the Lord's Prayer." (AP 09-10-02)
HUNTSVILLE -- A tear running down his face, a northeast Texas man convicted
of raping and fatally beating a 66-year-old woman in an attack where her husband
also was killed was executed Tuesday evening. In a brief final statement,
Tony Lee Walker said goodbye to a friend in Switzerland, who he identified
as Diego, and another in England, who he called Wild Flower. "I love you and
will never forget you," Walker said. "And to my family," he said, choking
back tears, "nothing."
As the drugs began flowing, Walker started saying the Lord's Prayer, reaching
the words "thy kingdom come" when he stopped. He looked at a chaplain standing
at his feet and said, "help me, chaplain." The chaplain continued saying the
prayer as Walker gasped and sputtered several times. After Walker stopped
breathing, a tear ran out of his right eye and down the side of his face.
He was pronounced dead at 6:16 p.m., eight minutes after the drugs began flowing.
In a written statement, Walker said he was sorry for the crime and asked
the victim's family if they "can find it in their hearts to forgive me, but
if not I will understand."
Walker, 36, was high on crack cocaine and armed with pieces of railroad
tie about the size of a baseball bat when he clubbed Virginia Simmons and
her husband, Willie "Bo" Simmons, 81, at their Daingerfield home the night
of May 23, 1992. Walker lived nearby and knew the victims. He confessed to
police a couple of days later after his bloody shirt and other items from
the crime scene were found in a wooded area between his home and the Simmons'
home.
Walker, condemned for the woman's death, was the 24th person to be put to
death in Texas this year and the first of five scheduled to die this month.
"If you're going to confess to murder, that's probably bad enough, but when
you put the details in that he did, that's what got him the death penalty,"
said Richard Townsend, the former Morris County district attorney who prosecuted
Walker. "He talked about doing things like sexually assaulting the elderly
woman, then getting a beer in the kitchen and drinking a beer and trying to
sexually assault her again when she was dead. "He went into detail that made
him look like a monster."
The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles rejected a commutation request by
a 17-0 vote. No 11th-hour appeals were filed in the courts. "There are simply
no meritorious issues we could urge in good faith," his lawyer, Buck Files
Jr., said. "After five years and nine or 10 months, I have no more rabbits
to pull out of the hat."
Files said he had hoped to spend time with Walker on Tuesday and offered to
arrange transportation for Walker's wife to visit her husband in prison in
the hours before his lethal injection, but Walker declined to see either of
them. "As he put it, he didn't see any point to it," Files said.
Evidence showed that earlier on the evening of the killings, Walker was at
the Simmons' house to purchase a beer and paid the couple 50 cents for it.
When he returned, Bo Simmons let him in, presumably because he wanted another
beer. Daingerfield was a dry community and the Simmons' house was a place
he knew he could get a drink, authorities said. In the attack, the wood ties
broke from the force of the blows. Evidence showed he then grabbed a walking
cane, which also broke, to continue the attack.
At his trial, Walker disputed his confession, testifying other men with him
were responsible for the slayings although he did not deny the rape. Evidence,
however, showed Walker was alone. "He gave the worst confession I ever read,
easily nailing himself to the wall," Townsend said. On an anti-death penalty
Web site, Walker, who refused to speak with reporters in the weeks before
his scheduled punishment, wrote to a supporter in 1998 urging people purchase
his wood craft products, such as clocks and jewelry boxes. "I have always
been infatuated, working with wood," he said in the letter.
Walker also was convicted in 1978 of a murder in Dallas, where he was with
others pulling a store robbery where a person was killed. He received a five-year
prison term but was discharged on early release after serving a little more
than two years.
The Huntsville Item
"Man Executed for 1992 Double Murder," by Mark Passwaters. (September 11,
2002)
A Morris County man convicted of a pair of 1992 murders was executed yesterday
evening in the death chamber of the Huntsville "Walls" Unit. Tony Lee Walker,
46, had received his death sentence for the murders of 81-year-old Bo Simmons
and his 66-year-old wife Virginia on May 23, 1992. Walker beat the two to
death with a railroad tie for the $95 he found in Bo Simmons' wallet.
Attendance for Walker's execution was sparse, with no witnesses from the family
of the victims or from Walker's family. The only media representatives were
from the Associated Press and The Huntsville Item. Walker, clad in a light
blue dress shirt and dark blue slacks, was not covered by a sheet as is customary
for most executions. He struggled with his emotions during his final statement,
which he began at 6:07 p.m. After thanking friends in Switzerland and Great
Britain, Walker became emotional when speaking of his family. "And to my
family..." he said before breaking into a sob. After composing himself, he
said to "Walls" warden Neill Hodges, "That's all."
As the fatal dose began to flow at 6:08 p.m., Walker began to recite the Lord's
Prayer. He reached the phrase, "Thy kingdom come" before being overcome by
emotion. Addressing Texas Department of Criminal Justice chaplain Richard
Lopez, Walker said, "Help me, Chaplain." Lopez continued the prayer as Walker
gasped and lost consciousness, shedding a tear as his eyes shut. He was pronounced
dead at 6:16 p.m. In a final written statement, Walker asked for forgiveness
from the Simmons family. "I wish to tell the family how sorry I am about what
I done," he wrote. "I know that nothing I say will bring Mr. and Mrs. Bo
Simmons back. I ask that Linda and Gary (the Simmons' children) and their
family can find it in there (sic) hearts to forgive me, but if not I will
understand, I am truly sorry."
Walker, who had served two years for a previous murder conviction before being
released in the early 1980's, was an acquaintance of the Simmons'. He forced
his way into their house -- located in Daingerfield -- on the early morning
hours of May 23 in an attempt to steal beer and to get money to by crack
cocaine. After entering the house, Walker attacked Bo Simmons, striking him
on the head hard enough to break two railroad ties taken from a nearby track
and Simmons' cane.
Walker then took both of his victims into their bedroom, where he restrained
Bo Simmons and proceeded to rape his wife. After leaving the bedroom to drink
a beer, Walker returned and beat the two to death. After drinking another
beer and attempting to rape Virginia Simmons' corpse, Walker changed out of
his blood-soaked clothes and walked out of the front door of the house, locking
it behind him.
Walker was arrested the next day, with his blood-covered clothes discovered
in a small hole behind his house. He confessed to the killings during his
initial interrogation by Morris County authorities, but later recanted. He
was found guilty of the killing of Virginia Simmons -- the state only filed
a single capital murder count -- on Nov. 15, 1993, and was sentenced to death
two days later.
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