THE BORN AGAIN CHRISTIAN ON VIRGINIA DEATH ROW: BRANDON HEDRICK (EXECUTED BY ELECTRIC CHAIR ON JULY 20, 2006)

         On this date, July 20, 2006, an American murderer and rapist, Brandon Hedrick was executed by the electric chair at the Greensville Correctional Center in Jarratt, Virginia. He was convicted of the May 10, 1997 rape and murder of an African American woman, Lisa Yvonne Alexander Crider. He was another example of a White American put to death for the murder of an African American. I got the information from Wikipedia and clarkprosecutor.org. 

            Although, he did deserve to die for his crime, I am thankful that he became a born again Christian. I could tell by his last words, that he was repentant and accepted his punishment. As one of my beloved Theologians, Saint Thomas Aquinas was quoted as saying:

"...a secondary measure of the love of God may be said to appear. for capital punishment provides the murderer with incentive to repentance which the ordinary man does not have, that is a definite date on which he is to meet his God. It is as if God thus providentially granted him a special inducement to repentance out of consideration of the enormity of his crime...the law grants to the condemned an opportunity which he did not grant to his victim, the opportunity to prepare to meet his God. Even divine justice here may be said to be tempered with mercy."

INTERNET SOURCE: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brandon_Hedrick

Brandon Hedrick

Brandon Wayne Hedrick (February 23, 1979 – July 20, 2006) was a convicted murderer who was executed by electric chair by the U.S. state of Virginia. He was convicted of the 1997 murder of 23 year-old Lisa Crider, who was kidnapped, robbed, raped, and shot in the face. He was the first person electrocuted in Virginia since 2003, when Earl Bramblett was executed for rape and murder.

Crime

On May 10, 1997, Hedrick and Trevor Jones spent the evening drinking, smoking crack cocaine and marijuana, and employing the services of four prostitutes. After driving the last two prostitutes back to downtown Lynchburg, Virginia, Hedrick and Jones saw Lisa Yvonne Crider, an African American woman. Jones knew that Crider's boyfriend was a crack cocaine dealer, and the two decided to pick Crider up, have sex with her, and rob her of any crack in her possession. Crider voluntarily travelled with Hedrick and Jones back to Jones's apartment, where Jones paid Crider $50 to have sex with him. Afterwards, Hedrick retrieved a shotgun from Jones’s car at Jones’s direction and robbed Crider of the $50 at gunpoint. Hedrick and Jones handcuffed Crider, duct-taped her eyes and mouth, and led her out to Jones’s truck. The three left the apartment around 1:00 a.m.

After driving for some time, Jones stopped the truck because Hedrick wanted to have sex with Crider. Hedrick raped Crider after telling her not to "try anything" because he had a gun. Afterwards, the two men decided to kill Crider, fearing retaliation from her boyfriend. As they drove in search of a suitable location, Crider, pleading for her life, asked if there was anything she could do to keep them from killing her. Hedrick told Crider that if she fellated him, he'd "think about it", at which point Crider performed oral sex on Hedrick.

They continued driving until daybreak, when Jones stopped the truck near the James River. Jones led Crider to the riverbank, told Hedrick to "do what you got to do", and walked back to the truck. Hedrick shot Crider and left with Jones. The two men fled Virginia in Jones’ truck the next day. That evening, Crider’s body was discovered at the James River with a shotgun wound to the face. About one week later, the authorities arrested Hedrick and Jones in Lincoln, Nebraska.

Hedrick was convicted of capital murder in the commission of robbery, rape, forcible sodomy, abduction, and use of a firearm in the commission of murder. During the sentencing phase of his trial, a court-appointed clinical psychologist testified at sentencing that Hedrick was significantly immature for his age and that he had a problem with drugs and alcohol that accelerated in the months leading up to the crimes. He noted Hedrick’s IQ score of 76, which was "far below average", although "not so low as to suggest mental retardation". The jury recommended that he be sentenced to death, finding that Hedrick posed a "continuing serious threat to society" and that his conduct in committing the offenses was "outrageously or wantonly vile, horrible or inhuman in that it involved torture, depravity of mind, aggravated battery to the victim beyond the minimum necessary to accomplish the act of murder". The Circuit Court agreed and, on July 22, 1998, sentenced Hedrick to death.

Hedrick's accomplice, Trevor Jones, was sentenced to life in prison.

 

Victim, Lisa Yvonne Alexander Crider

Execution

Under Virginia law since January 1, 1995, condemned prisoners have been able to choose between the electric chair and lethal injection as their execution method. Hedrick's lawyers have indicated that he chose the electric chair because he feared complications related to the drugs used in the lethal injection.

The Governor of Virginia, Tim Kaine, denied Hedrick's petition for clemency, giving the following statement:

"In May of 1998, Brandon Wayne Hedrick was found guilty of capital murder in the commission of robbery, abduction, forcible sodomy, rape, and use of a firearm in the murder of Lisa Crider, a young mother. In a separate sentencing proceeding, the jury recommended that Hedrick be sentenced to death on the capital murder conviction, and this recommendation was adopted by the trial judge. The trial, verdict, and sentence have been reviewed in detail by various state and federal courts, including the Supreme Court of Virginia and the Supreme Court of the United States."

"Having carefully reviewed the Petition for Clemency and judicial opinions regarding this case, I find no reason to doubt Mr. Hedrick’s guilt or to set aside the sentence that was recommended by the jury and then imposed and affirmed by the courts."

"Accordingly, I decline to intervene."

Hedrick's final words were:

"I pray for everybody that believes in Jesus Christ in heaven, and I pray for the people that are unsaved that they will accept Christ because they know not what they do and will accept Christ one day. I’m ready to go and be free."

He was pronounced dead at 9:12 p.m. on July 20, 2006 at the Greensville Correctional Center in Jarratt, Virginia.

INTERNET SOURCE: http://www.clarkprosecutor.org/html/death/US/hedrick1035.htm

Citations:
Hedrick v. Commonwealth, 257 Va. 328, 513 S.E.2d 634 (Va. 1999) (Direct Appeal).
Hedrick v. Warden of the Sussex I State Prison, 264 Va. 486, 570 S.E.2d 840 (Va. 2002) (State Habeas). 

Final Meal:
Pizza with cheese, sausage and hamburger; french fries with ketchup; bacon; chocolate cake; and apple pie. 

Final Words:
“I pray for everybody that believes in Jesus Christ in heaven, and I pray for the people that are unsaved that they will accept Christ because they know not what they do and will accept Christ one day. I’m ready to go and be free.” 

Inmate: Brandon Hedrick
DOB: 2-23-79
County of Conviction: Appomattox
Conviction(s): murder, rape,robbery
DOC #: 253982
Date Received: 7-22-98 

ProDeathPenalty.Com

On May 10, 1997, William K. Dodson, Trevor Jones, and Brandon Hedrick were together at Jones' apartment in Lynchburg. Hedrick and Jones decided to leave the apartment and drive to an area in downtown Lynchburg where they could find some prostitutes. Dodson remained at the apartment. Jones drove his truck to an area near Fifth and Madison Streets in Lynchburg where Hedrick and Jones met two prostitutes. Hedrick and Jones gave the prostitutes money, asked them to purchase a small quantity of crack cocaine, and returned to Jones' apartment with the women. Hedrick and Jones smoked the crack cocaine that they purchased, and the women smoked their own cocaine. Jones, Hedrick, and Dodson had sexual relations with the prostitutes. Hedrick and Jones, along with the women, returned to the area near Fifth and Madison Streets. Hedrick and Jones gave the women $50 and asked them to purchase some more crack cocaine. The women took the money but never returned. Hedrick and Jones then rode around in Jones' truck for about 45 minutes. They met two different prostitutes and returned with them to Jones' apartment. Hedrick and Jones drank bourbon, smoked marijuana, and had sexual relations with the women. Dodson, who was still at Jones' apartment, was asleep when these women were present. Around 11:00 p.m., Hedrick and Jones, along with the prostitutes, left the apartment and returned to the area near Fifth and Madison Streets. After the women left Jones' truck, Jones observed Crider "walking down the road." Jones, who had met Crider previously, told Hedrick that Crider's boyfriend was a seller of crack cocaine. Hedrick and Jones decided to "pick up" Crider, have sexual relations with her, and rob her because they thought she may have crack cocaine in her possession.

Jones approached Crider and "asked if she wanted to have sex." Crider got into Jones' truck, and Hedrick, Jones, and Crider went to Jones' apartment. Once they arrived at the apartment, Jones paid Crider $50 and had sexual intercourse with her. Hedrick did not have sexual relations with Crider at the apartment. After Jones had sexual intercourse with Crider, he left his bedroom while Crider was "getting dressed." Jones went to a living room and spoke with Hedrick.

Hedrick and Jones devised a plan in which Hedrick would pretend to rob both Jones and Crider. Jones did not want Crider to know that he was involved in the robbery because Crider knew where Jones lived, and Jones was afraid that Crider's boyfriend would retaliate against him. Jones told Hedrick to leave the apartment, go to Jones' truck, and get Jones' shotgun. While Hedrick was retrieving the shotgun, Jones told Crider that he had lost his keys, and she began to help him look for the supposedly lost keys. Jones went into the kitchen, got some duct tape, returned to the bedroom, and placed the tape there. Jones also got a set of handcuffs. When Hedrick entered the house with the shotgun, Jones and Crider were in the kitchen. Hedrick "racked" the pump on the shotgun to "get [Crider's] attention," and Hedrick "motioned for" Crider and Jones and told them to go into Jones' bedroom. Hedrick ordered Jones to empty Crider's pockets, and Jones took the $50 bill that he had paid Crider, cigarettes, and a cigarette lighter. Hedrick told Jones to place the handcuffs on Crider. Jones did so. Jones also covered Crider's eyes and mouth with duct tape, and he placed a shirt over her face. Hedrick took Crider out of the apartment and placed her in Jones' truck.

Dodson, who had been asleep in the living room, woke up when he heard the sound caused when Hedrick "racked" the pump on the shotgun. In response to Dodson's question, "what . . . is going on?", Jones responded that, "this is one of the girls that ripped us off; we're just going to scare her." Hedrick, Jones, and Crider left the apartment about 1:00 a.m. Jones sat in the driver's seat. Hedrick and Crider were in the backseat of the truck. Hedrick removed the shirt and duct tape from Crider. After riding around in the truck for some time, Hedrick decided that he wanted to have sexual intercourse with Crider. Hedrick told Crider that he "wanted some ass." Hedrick warned her, "don't try anything; I got a twenty- five," referring to a .25-caliber pistol. Jones stopped the truck and got out. Hedrick raped Crider.

After Hedrick raped Crider, he got out of the truck and spoke with Jones. Hedrick told Jones that Hedrick did not want to return Crider to the downtown area of Lynchburg because he was "afraid something might happen." Hedrick, because he had just raped Crider, was afraid that "she might come back on him with her boyfriend." Hedrick and Jones had a brief conversation, "about killing" Crider, and decided to do so. Hedrick and Jones got back into the truck. Crider was crying. She was "upset" and "scared." Jones drove the truck as he and Hedrick tried to find a good location to kill Crider. As Hedrick and Jones continued to look for a place to kill Crider, Jones drove the truck into Appomattox County. Crider, who "kind of figured" that Hedrick and Jones intended to harm her, pled, "don't kill me; I got two kids." She was "sniffling and crying." Crider, continuing to plead for her life, asked: "Is there anything I can do to make ya'll not do this?" Hedrick responded, "if you suck my dick, I'll think about it." Crider then performed oral sex on Hedrick.

Jones continued to drive the truck, and he proceeded on a road in Appomattox County and drove onto a "pull-off" space on a "back road" near the James River. Hedrick got out of the passenger side of the truck with the shotgun, and Jones took Crider out of the truck. Jones removed the handcuffs from Crider because he was afraid that his fingerprints were on them. Hedrick and Jones put gloves on their hands to avoid leaving their fingerprints at the crime scene. The time was now "daybreak." Crider, who was crying, continued to beg Hedrick and Jones not to kill her, saying, "I got two kids." After Jones had removed the handcuffs from Crider, he bound her hands together with duct tape. He also placed duct tape around her mouth and around her eyes. Hedrick was standing, watching with the shotgun in his hands. Hedrick, Jones, and Crider walked toward the river bank. Jones led Crider because she was "blindfolded." Jones turned Crider and faced her back to the river. Jones turned to Hedrick, who was armed with the shotgun, and said, "do what you got to do." Jones began to walk to the truck. When Jones was within 10 feet from the truck, he heard a gunshot. Hedrick returned to the truck with the shotgun and told Jones that Crider "went into the river."

Jones took the shell from the shotgun so that it would not be present at the scene. Hedrick and Jones returned to Lynchburg. They disposed of the shotgun shell, duct tape, and other evidence en route to Lynchburg. They arrived at Jones' apartment at about 6:30 or 7:00 a.m. on Sunday morning, and went to sleep. Hedrick and Jones subsequently fled Virginia, and they were arrested in Lincoln, Nebraska. The shotgun that Hedrick used to kill Crider was found in Jones' truck, which he had driven to Nebraska.

Two friends who had gone to the James River to fish found Crider's body on the evening of May 11, 1997. Crider's body had been placed in such a manner that the body appeared to be "sitting up with her feet crossed," and the victim's hands were bound with duct tape. Dr. David Oxley, a deputy chief medical examiner for the Commonwealth of Virginia, qualified as an expert witness on the subject of forensic pathology. He performed an autopsy on Crider's body. Dr. Oxley testified that an examination of the body revealed that Crider had been shot in the face with a shotgun. Several of her teeth were missing and other teeth were fractured. The top portion of her head had been bound with silver duct tape, which extended to the bridge of her nose. Duct tape was also found around her mouth. The shotgun wound caused massive injury to Crider's brain, and shot pellets and wadding were found in the interior of her cranial cavity. The location of the shotgun wad, deep in the victim's cranial cavity, indicated that she was killed within a "range of fire of less than ten feet." The entrance wound from the shotgun blast measured an inch and a half in greatest diameter. An x-ray of Crider's skull showed the presence of shotgun pellets in her skull and brain. A blood sample was extracted from Crider's body, and a toxicology screen on that sample revealed an absence of any "drugs of abuse or prescription drugs" in her blood system.

Robert L. Strubel, a forensic scientist, qualified as an expert witness on the subject of blood stain pattern analysis. He testified that based upon his analysis of certain photographs, after Crider had been shot in the face her body was moved and placed in the position where Sherry Mays found the body. Elizabeth Bush, a forensic scientist, qualified as an expert witness on the subject of DNA and DNA testing. She conducted DNA tests which revealed that the possibility of a person other than Hedrick providing a sperm sample found in the victim's vagina was one out of 260,000 in the Caucasian population, one out of 1,000,000 in the Hispanic population, and one out of 8,000,000 in the Black population. Hedrick is Caucasian.

Richard Roberts qualified as an expert witness on the subject of firearms. He examined the shotgun that Hedrick used to kill Crider, shotgun shells, and waddings. He also examined the wadding that was removed from Crider's brain. Based upon his tests and examination, which included a pattay of 12-gauge shotgun shells, he concluded that the muzzle of the shotgun was three to seven feet from Crider's mouth when she was killed.

During the penalty phase of the capital murder proceedings, the Commonwealth adduced the following evidence. Hedrick had been convicted of three robberies in three different jurisdictions. Hedrick was armed with a "Rambo type" knife when he participated in robberies in Campbell County and Bedford County. Hedrick was armed with a shotgun when he robbed a motel clerk in Farmville. During that robbery, Hedrick, wearing a hood over his head and a bandanna around his face, pointed the shotgun at the clerk, who was five or six feet away from him, and demanded money. In September 1997, after Hedrick had been arrested for the murder of Crider, and while being transported from Appomattox to the Campbell County Jail, he tried to take a deputy sheriff's revolver. Hedrick later had to be restrained while being transported. In July 1997, Hedrick attempted to escape from incarceration by climbing a fence. Hedrick told a State police officer that he shot Crider and that "he was an avid hunter, he liked to hunt . . . and how good a shot he was, how he killed deer in the past using shotguns and rifles at long range."