Robert Lee Willie
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Robert Lee Willie (died December 28, 1984) was a convict on Death Row at Louisiana State Penitentiary. Sister Helen Prejean, one of the sisters of St Joseph of Medailles, served as his spiritual adviser. Willie was executed in the electric chair for the May 28, 1980 kidnap, rape, and murder of 18-year-old Faith Hathaway.
Crimes
He had committed two criminal acts with a man named Joseph Jesse Vaccaro.[1] He and Vaccaro had committed the murder of Hathaway, who was scheduled to join the U.S. Army. The woman had been stabbed 17 times.[2] The two had differing testimony on who committed what element of the Hathaway murder.[1] The body was dumped at Frickes Cave, a borrow pit, south of Franklinton, Louisiana, along Highway 25 and near the Bogue Chitto River.[3]
On May 31, 1980,[3] the pair attacked a 20-year old male and 16-year old female, Debbie Cuevas, both from Madisonville, eight days after the Hathaway murder.[1] The men raped the girl and stabbed the man. They dropped her off after they visited another person's trailer home.[3]
Willie also pleaded guilty to stealing marijuana from and murdering Dennis Hemby, doing this along with his cousin, Perry Wayne Taylor.[1]
Willie, Vaccaro, and the third man were arrested in Arkansas.[3]
Trial
In court Willie stated that he enjoyed raping Hathaway. Cuevas testified in court against Willie, and Willie was sentenced to death.[3]
Criminal penalty and execution
He was the 32nd person executed in the United States since 1977, when judicial executions resumed. He was the 6th man in Louisiana to be executed in a 13 month-period.[1] Willie winked at Prejean before he was electrocuted.[2]
Vaccaro received life sentences. As of 2001[update] he was in a federal prison in Kansas.[3]
Aftermath
Sister Prejean based her book Dead Man Walking on her encounters with him and Elmo Patrick Sonnier. The two convicts also inspired the character Matthew Poncelet, played by Sean Penn, in the film Dead Man Walking. In the movie, Poncelet is sentenced to death for the murder of a young couple about 18, of which the woman was named Hope (a synonym of "Faith", as in Faith Hathaway).
Debbie Cuevas, later named Debbie Morris, forgave Willie, as well as Vaccaro. She wrote in a book that she decided to forgive Willie for the crimes he committed only against himself. She later began mailing letters to Vaccaro after she had her book published. Morris also established a friendship with Prejean. Morris opposes capital punishment and she stated that she felt responsible for having Willie executed.[3]
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 DeParle, Jason. "Victim's parents watch Willie die" (Archive). The Times-Picayune. December 28, 1984. Retrieved on May 28, 2016.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "LOUISIANA KILLER IS PUT TO DEATH" (Archive). Associated Press at the New York Times. December 29, 1984. Retrieved on May 28, 2016.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 Johnson Jr., Allen. Forgiving Her Rapists (Archive). Gambit Weekly (2001-03-27). Retrieved on 2007-11-22.
- Buchanan, Christopher. Louisiana: A Murder, a Movie and a Wink. PBS (2003-12-08). Retrieved on 2007-11-22.
- U.S. Executions Since 1976. The Clark County Prosecuting Attorney. Retrieved on 2007-11-22.
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