After being sentenced to death in 1982, Tommy Arthur managed to escape the death penalty seven times. This earned him the moniker of Houdini of Alabama, his prosecutors being close to abandoning hope that justice will prevail in his case. Now, on Friday, 12:15 AM CDT, Arthur was executed via lethal injection even after his team of lawyers tried to appeal his 8th execution attempt.
He Orchestrated the Crime of a Man with His Wife
Back in 1982, on February 1st, riverboat engineer Troy Wicker was fatally shot while sleeping in his own home. According to his wife, an Afro-American man broke into the house, shot her husband, and then raped her.
After the woman was convicted of her husband’s murder, she drastically changed her story, confessing to planning the entire thing with Arthur. Apparently, the man wore heavy makeup and an Afro wig when breaking into the couple’s home and shooting his victim.
At the time of the incident, the Houdini of Alabama already had a conviction for murdering his sister-in-law in 1977. After three trials and two overturned convictions, the man managed to escape prison by shooting a guard in the neck. He seemed adamant in obtaining a death sentence.
Which he did. However, a team of very skilled pro bono lawyers kept appealing his sentence, delaying execution after execution. Every time he was meant to walk the green mile, his lawyers took advantage of yet another loophole in the juridical system. That’s how the man managed to earn his nickname.
Even this week, as his time was running out, his lawyers tried to delay the execution claiming that the sedative used by the Alabama prison was not potent enough, other inmates showing signs of alertness after being injected. Nevertheless, the judge’s wouldn’t budge, and Houdini of Alabama made a final appearance in front of his children.
Image Source: Wikipedia
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