On
this date, July 20, 2011, Mark Anthony Stroman A.K.A the 11 September Revenge
Killer, was executed by lethal injection in Texas. He was convicted of
murdering two Asians in 2001: Waqar Hasan, 46 (Pakistani immigrant and
convenience store clerk) / Vasudev Patel, 49 (Indian immigrant and gas station
owner). I will post information about him from several sources:
INTERNET SOURCE: http://www.clarkprosecutor.org/html/death/US/stroman1262.htm
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Summary: Stroman entered a convenience store and
demanded money from the cashier, 49 year old Vasudev Patel. Stroman then shot
the unarmed Patel. The surveillance video showed that while Patel lay dying on
the floor, Stroman was unable to open the cash register. Stroman then demanded
that Patel “open the register or I’ll kill you." Angry at people of Middle
Eastern Descent following the September 11, 2011, terrorist attacks, Stroman’s
killing of Patel was the last of a series of violent crimes that he committed
against those whom he considered to be of Middle Eastern background. When
police arrested him the day Patel was killed, they found the .44-caliber
handgun used in the shooting. Stroman confessed, and court documents show he
told authorities he belonged to the Aryan Brotherhood.
On
September 15, 2001, Stroman murdered Waqar Hasan by shooting him in the head as
Hasan grilled hamburgers in his Dallas store. Stroman later told a
fellow-prisoner that his murder of Hasan was his ninth crime of this type.
Stroman also demonstrated racial motives for the killing, and stated that he
was a member of a prison gang, had a .44 pistol and some automatic weapons, and
intended to go to a shopping mall and start shooting everybody because of all
of the Middle Eastern people there. On September 21, 2001, Stroman shot and
wounded Raisuddin Bhuiuian as Bhuiuian worked in a convenience store and
service station. Unlike the murder of Patel, the crimes against Hasan and
Bhuiuian did not involve robbery. Stroman admitted to all of these crimes and
lacked remorse for any of them, claiming that he had performed a patriotic
duty. Regarding his murder of Patel, Stroman told the fellow-prisoner that his
country “hadn’t done their job so he was going to do it for us.”
Stroman
was free on bond for a gun possession arrest when his shooting spree started.
He had previous convictions for burglary, robbery, theft and credit card abuse,
served at least two prison terms and was paroled twice. His juvenile record
showed an armed robbery at age 12.
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Stroman v. State, Not Reported in S.W.3d, WL 22721137 (Tex.Crim.App. 2003). (Direct Appeal)
Stroman v. Thaler, 405 Fed.Appx. 933 (5th Cir. 2010). (Habeas)
Final/Special Meal:
Chicken fried steak with gravy, a ham-and-cheese omelet with onions and tomatoes, bacon, fried potatoes, fried squash and okra, pork chops with eggs sunny-side up, Dr. Pepper and a pint of vanilla Blue Bell ice cream.
Last Words:
"The Lord Jesus Christ be with me. I am at peace. Hate is going on in this world, and it has to stop. One second of hate will cause a lifetime of pain. Even though I lay on this gurney, seconds away from my death, I am at total peace. I'm still a proud American, Texas loud, Texas proud. God bless America. God bless everyone. Let's do this damn thing."
Internet Sources:
Texas Department of Criminal Justice - Executed Offenders (Stroman)
Mark Stroman
Date of Birth: 10/13/1969
DR#: 999409
Date Received: 04/05/2002
Education: 8 years
Occupation: baker, laborer
Date of Offense: 10/04/2001
County of Offense: Dallas
Native County: Dallas
Race: White
Gender: Male
Hair Color: Browen
Eye Color: Hazel
Height: 5' 9"
Weight: 223
Prior Prison Record: Two year sentence for one count of burglary of a building and one count of theft of property; released on parole in absentia; returned from parole in absentia with an 8 year sentence from Dallas County for two counts of credit card abuse and one count of robbery; released on parole on 08/26/1991.
Summary of incident: On 10/04/2001 in Mesquite, Stroman murdered a 49 year old Middle Eastern male convenience store employee during an attempted robbery.
Co-Defendants: None.
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Texas Attorney General
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Media Advisory: Mark Stroman scheduled for execution
AUSTIN – Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott offers the following information about Mark Anthony Stroman, who is scheduled to be executed after 6 p.m. on Wednesday, July 20, 2011. Stroman was convicted and sentenced to death in a Dallas County court for the robbery and murder of Vasudev Patel.
FACTS OF THE CRIME
On October 4, 2001, Stroman shot and killed Patel during an attempted robbery at a Mesquite gas station that Patel operated. A store security camera captured the attempted robbery and murder. When Stroman entered the station early that morning, he demanded money from Patel. Patel reached for a .22 caliber pistol that he kept under the cash register, but he did not retrieve it. Stroman then shot the unarmed Patel in the chest, causing Patel to fall to the floor. The surveillance video showed that while Patel lay dying on the floor, Stroman was unable to open the cash register. Stroman demanded that Patel “open the register or I’ll kill you."
Stroman later described the robbery and shooting, and his motives and preparation for it to a fellow prisoner, who testified at Stroman’s trial that Stroman told him he had “been in the store two or three times previously to check it out and he didn’t see any cameras.” Stroman admitted that he intentionally killed Patel with a .44 chrome-plated “big long pistol.” Angry at people of Middle Eastern Descent following the September 11, 2011, terrorist attacks, Stroman’s killing of Patel was the last of a series of violent crimes that he committed against those whom he considered to be of Middle Eastern background.
On September 15, 2001, Stroman murdered Waqar Hasan by shooting him in the head as Hasan grilled hamburgers in his Dallas store. Stroman later told a fellow-prisoner that his murder of Hasan was his ninth crime of this type. Stroman also demonstrated racial motives for the killing, and stated that he was a member of a prison gang, had a .44 pistol and some automatic weapons, and intended to go to a shopping mall and start shooting everybody because of all of the Middle Eastern people there.
On September 21, 2001, Stroman shot and wounded Raisuddin Bhuiuian as Bhuiuian worked in a convenience store and service station. Unlike the murder of Patel, the crimes against Hasan and Bhuiuian did not involve robbery. Stroman admitted to all of these crimes and lacked remorse for any of them, claiming that he had performed a patriotic duty. Regarding his murder of Patel, Stroman told the fellow-prisoner that his country “hadn’t done their job so he was going to do it for us.”
PROCEDURAL HISTORY
On November 15, 2001, Stroman was indicted by a Dallas County grand jury for the capital murder of Vasudev Patel. A jury found Stroman guilty of capital murder on April 2, 2002. On April 4, 2002, after a separate punishment hearing, the court sentenced Stroman to death. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed Stroman’s conviction and sentence on November 19, 2003. The U.S. Supreme Court denied Stroman’s petition for writ of certiorari on June 28, 2004.
Stroman filed a state application for writ of habeas corpus in the trial court on November 13, 2003. The trial court entered findings of fact and conclusions of law recommending that Stroman be denied relief. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals adopted the trial court’s findings and conclusions and denied Stroman habeas relief on July 27, 2005.
Stroman filed a federal habeas petition in a Dallas federal district court on July 24, 2006. Stroman filed an amended petition on September 29, 2007. On August 21, 2008, a magistrate issued findings, conclusions, and a recommendation that Stroman’s amended petition be denied. On September 28, 2009, the federal district court denied the amended petition and dismissed the action with prejudice. Stroman then sought permission to appeal this decision. On December 27, 2010, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit denied Stroman permission to appeal. Stroman filed a petition for writ of certiorari in the U.S. Supreme Court on March 30, 2011. The Supreme Court denied the petition on June 27, 2011. During the last week of June 2011, Stroman filed a petition for clemency with the Texas Board of Pardons and Parole.
EVIDENCE OF FUTURE DANGEROUSNESS
During the punishment phase of his trial, the State presented substantial evidence of Stroman’s future dangerousness. The State first presented testimony regarding the murder of Hasan and the attempted murder of Bhuiuian.
Next, the State showed that, as a juvenile, Stroman was convicted of aggravated robbery, car theft, and burglary of a habitation at least twice. A psychological evaluation of Stroman revealed that, starting at the age of nine, he had stolen bicycles and cars, sold and used drugs, run away from home, and was disruptive in school. The superintendent of Collin County Juvenile Detention Center testified that Stroman did not succeed on juvenile probation. He stated that Stroman did not take advantage of any programs to help resolve his drug use. The superintendent described Stroman as troubled and in need of guidance and counseling.
A Dallas police sergeant testified that he arrested Stroman for possession of an illegal switchblade knife on September 20, 1985. On November 15, 1989, a Dallas police officer arrested Stroman after finding him in possession of brass knuckles, a prohibited weapon under Texas law.
As an adult, Stroman was convicted of burglary and sentenced to two years in prison for ransacking a man’s house and stealing rifles, jewelry, clothes, and checks. The victim never got his property back, and Stroman drained the man’s bank account by writing hot checks. At the same time, Stroman was also sentenced to two years in prison for theft from another individual.
On November 6, 1990, Stroman robbed a woman of her purse outside an auto parts store and began to buy items with the woman’s credit cards. Stroman was convicted of robbery and sentenced to eight years in prison. Stroman was also convicted of two counts of credit-card abuse and received two additional eight-year sentences to run concurrently.
On July 14, 2001, Stroman was arrested for carrying a firearm in an establishment that sold alcohol. Stroman was indicted for unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon as a second offender but was released from jail on bond on July 16, 2001. Stroman began his murder spree while out on bond.
The State presented evidence—testimony and letters/writings from Stroman while he was in pre-trial detention—demonstrating that he is a devout white supremacist with antipathy towards those of other races. A defense expert also read a letter Stroman wrote in which he described his anger about September 11th and explained why he went on a murder rampage afterwards. Stroman called the murders “patriotic” and acts of retribution against Arabs.
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Texas Execution Information Center by David Carson.
Mark
Anthony Stroman, 41, was executed by lethal injection on 20 July 2011 in
Huntsville, Texas for the murder of a convenience store clerk during an
attempted robbery.
On
15 September 2001, Stroman, then 31, murdered Waqar Hasan by shooting him in
the head as Hasan grilled hamburgers in his Dallas store. On 21 September,
Stroman shot convenience store employee Raisuddin Bhuiyan in the face. Bhuiyan
was blinded in the left eye from the shooting, but survived. On 4 October,
Stroman entered a gas station in Mesquite in Dallas County. Holding a
.44-caliber pistol, he demanded money from the owner, Vasudev Patel. Patel, 49,
began reaching for a gun that he kept under the cash register, but Stroman shot
him in the chest, causing him to fall to the floor. Stroman was unable to open
the cash register and said to Patel, "open the register, or I'll kill
you." Stroman left the store without stealing anything. Patel died from
his injury. The crime was recorded on the store's security camera.
A
fellow prisoner who testified at Stroman's trial stated that Stroman told him
he was angry over the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the U.S. He said
his country "hadn't done their job, so he was going to do it for us"
by killing people who he considered to be of Middle Eastern descent. Stroman
told the prisoner his murder of Hasan was his ninth crime of that type. He
further said that some automatic weapons police found in his car were intended
for a planned attack at a Dallas-area shopping mall.
Patel
had moved to Texas from India in 1983 and was a naturalized U.S. citizen. Hasan
and Bhuiyan were also from South Asia, not the Middle East. While awaiting
trial, Stroman wrote about his anger over the September 11 attacks and called
his murders "patriotic". He stated that he belonged to the Aryan
Brotherhood, a white supremacist prison gang, and his chest and arms were
covered with tattoos of violent imagery.
Stroman
had a lengthy juvenile and adult criminal history. Starting at the age of nine,
he stole bicycles and cars, sold and used drugs, and ran away from home. He was
arrested for possessing a switchblade at age 15. Four years later, he was
arrested for possessing brass knuckles. As an adult, Stroman burglarized a
man's house and stole rifles, jewelry, clothing, and checks. He then wrote hot
checks, draining the man's bank account. He also committed theft from another
individual and was sentenced to two years in prison for that offense.
In
November 1990, Stroman robbed a woman of her purse outside an auto parts store
and used her credit cards. He was convicted of robbery and credit card abuse
and was sentenced to eight years in prison. He was paroled less than a year
later. (At the time, early release was common in Texas due to strict prison
population caps imposed by U.S. District Judge William Wayne Justice.)
On
14 July 2001, Stroman was arrested for carrying a firearm in an establishment
that sold alcohol. He was indicted for unlawful possession of a firearm by a
felon as a second offender, but was put on bond and released from jail on 16
July. He was out on bond when he began his killing spree.
A
jury convicted Stroman of capital murder on 2 April 2002 and sentenced him to
death. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed the conviction and sentence
in November 2003. All of his subsequent appeals in state and federal court were
denied. Stroman was also charged, but not tried, for the murder of Waqar Hasan.
Although
at the time of his trial, Stroman made no secret of his white supremacist views
and his desire to take revenge on Arabs for the September 11 terrorist attacks,
in later years, he downplayed or denied these views. "I'm not the monster
the media portrays me," he said in an interview from death row the week
before his execution.
On
a web site operated by death-penalty opponents, Stroman expressed remorse for
the killings, but said his judgment was affected by a personal loss. "I
lost my sister in the World Trade Center," he wrote. "I remember
sitting at home watching the nightmare on TV. And knowing she was on the top
floors of the North Tower ... Let's just say that I could not think clearly
anymore and I am sorry to say that I made innocent people pay for my rage,
anger, grief, and loss. I have destroyed my victim's families as well as my
own. Out of pure anger and stupidity I did some things to some men from
Pakistan, India, Bangladesh and Saudi Arabia - and now I sit on Death Row
awaiting execution. And by no means am I proud of what I have done."
In
court documents, prosecutors stated there was no evidence Stroman had a sister
who died in the September 11 attacks.
Among
the final appeals filed on Stroman's behalf was one by shooting survivor
Bhuiyan, who stated that he was never given the opportunity to testify of his
opposition to the death penalty. He also stated that he forgave Stroman and
wanted to spend time with him to learn why the shootings occurred. "I'm
praying to God to spare his life, to give him a chance," Bhuiyan told a
reporter. "We all make mistakes as human beings." "Killing him
is not the solution," Bhuiyan said. "He's learning from his mistake.
If he's given a chance, he's able to reach out to others and spread that
message to others."
Regarding
Bhuiyan's lawsuit, Patel's widow said in a statement made via the Dallas County
district attorney's office that no one had permission to speak on her behalf.
The courts denied Bhuiyan's lawsuit, delaying Stroman's execution by about 2½
hours. "Even though I lay on this gurney, seconds away from death, I am at
total peace," Stroman said in his last statement. "Hate is going on
in this world and it has to stop. Hate causes a lifetime of pain." He
repeated that he was at peace and called for Jesus to be with him. "I am
still a proud American, Texas loud, Texas proud. God bless America, God bless
everyone."
"Let's
do this damn thing," Stroman said next to the warden. While the lethal
injection was administered, he expressed love to his friends who were in
attendance. "It's all good," he continued. "It's been a great
honor. I feel it; I am going to sleep now. Goodnight. One, two, there it
goes." He was pronounced dead at 8:53 p.m.
INTERNET SOURCE: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rais_Bhuiyan
Rais Bhuiyan
(Bengali: রইস ভূঁইয়া)
is a Bangladeshi American working as a technology professional in Dallas. He
was an officer in the Bangladesh Air Force. He was a student of Sylhet Cadet
College. He went to New York to study computer technology. After the September
11 terror attacks, Mark Anthony Stroman shot Bhuiyan, attempting to kill him.
Bhuiyan was saved from brain damage, but lost sight in one of his eyes.
Bhuiyan
gained media attraction after revealing that he will appeal to court to save
Stroman from the death penalty. He told MSNBC, "I'm trying to do my best
not to allow the loss of another human life. I'll knock on every door
possible". He said, "In Islam it says that saving one human life is
the same as saving the entire mankind. Since I forgave him, all those principles
encouraged me to go even further, and stop his execution and save another human
life". He has started a movement for saving Mark named World Without
Hate and is currently working with Amnesty International.
Hate
crime victim
Bhuiyan
had moved to Texas from New York as it was cheaper and a friend had offered a
partnership at a gas station. After the September 11
attacks, day laborer Mark Anthony Stroman went on a killing spree
against people who he viewed as Arab due to a vision he was seeking revenge
against the 9/11 attacks. On Sept. 15, 2001, Waqar Hasan, a Pakistani
immigrant, was killed in Dallas. Bhuiyan begged his partner at the gas station
to increase security, something he refused to do. On September 21, 2001,
Stroman walked into Bhuiyan's gas station, and while Bhuiyan was handing over
the money asked, "Where are you from?" Before he could answer,
Stroman shot him in the face with a shotgun. Bhuiyan ran to the barbershop next
door, and a man in the shop called 911.
Aftermath
While
the police were investigating the shooting, Indian immigrant Vasudev Patel was
killed in Mesquite, Texas on October 4, 2001. Stroman was soon captured and
called TV stations from his jail cell to talk about how he was a patriot for
killing the men. He sent a letter to a friend from prison in 2002, saying the
attacks were revenge: "Here sits the Arab Slayer. For what he did, we
should make him our mayor," he wrote. "Patriotic, yes indeed, a true
American, a special breed."
Bhuiyan
was left with no money and had to go deeply in debt to restore his vision,
"I had to go through several surgeries and finally the doctor could save
the eye, but the vision is gone, and I'm still carrying more than 35 pellets on
the right side of my face," he says. "Once I touch my face, my skull,
I can feel it's all bumpy. It took several years to go through all these
painful surgeries one after another one."
Despite
these hardships, Bhuiyan forgave Stroman and took up the cause of preventing
his execution. Stroman would go on to repudiate his white supremacist beliefs.
In an interview with the New York Times, he wrote: "i have The
Islamic Community Joining in [my legal defense]...Spearheaded by one Very
Remarkable man Named Rais Bhuiyan, Who is a Survivor of My Hate. His deep
Islamic Beliefs Have gave him the strength to Forgive the Un-forgiveable ...
that is truly Inspiring to me, and should be an Example for us all. The Hate,
has to stop, we are all in this world together." They reconciled before
Stroman's death. Hours before Stroman's execution, Bhuiyan spoke with Stroman,
over the phone, for the first time since the shooting. "I forgive you and
I do not hate you," he said. Stroman responded "Thank you from my
heart! I love you, bro. ... You touched my heart. I would have never expected
this." Bhuiyan replied: "You touched mine too."
Mark
Anthony Stroman was executed on July 20, 2011. Earlier that day, Bhuiyan's
lawyers had lost a final appeal in federal court to stay Stroman's execution.
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Mark Stroman on Death Row.
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PLEASE GO TO THIS BLOG POST TO HEAR FROM A BLOGGER WHO DID A
GREAT JOB IN BLOGGING ABOUT THIS KILLER.
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