On
this date, September 25, 2012, a recidivist murderer, Cleve Foster was executed
by lethal injection in Texas. He was convicted of murdering a Sudanese
immigrant, Nyanuer “Mary” Pal on February 14, 2002 with his accomplice, Sheldon
Ward. He was suspected of killing Rachel Urnosky on December 18, 2001.
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| Cleve Foster |
INTERNET SOURCE: http://www.clarkprosecutor.org/html/death/US/foster1307.htm
Citations:
Foster v. State, Not Reported in S.W.3d, 2006 WL 947681 (Tex.Cr.App. 1996). (Direct Appeal)
Foster v. Thaler, 369 Fed.Appx. 598 (5th Cir. 2010). (Habeas)
Final/Special Meal:
Texas no longer offers a special "last meal" to condemned inmates. Instead, the inmate is offered the same meal served to the rest of the unit.
Final/Last Words:
“I love you all. I’m looking to leave this place on wings of a homesick angel. Ready to go home to meet my maker. What a friend we have in Jesus, oh my God I lay in awe cause I love you God.”In the seconds before the single lethal dose of pentobarbital began, Foster expressed love to his family and to God. "When I close my eyes, I'll be with the father," he said. "God is everything. He's my life. Tonight I'll be with him." He did not proclaim innocence or admit guilt. He did turn to relatives of his two victims, saying, "I don't know what you're going to be feeling tonight. I pray we'll all meet in heaven."
Internet Sources:
Texas Department of Criminal Justice - Executed Offenders (Foster)
Foster, Cleve
Date of Birth: 10/24/1963
DR#: 999470
Date Received: 3/1/2004
Education: 12 years
Occupation: oil field worker, construction, laborer
Date of Offense: 02/14/2002
County of Offense: Tarrant
Native County: Henderson County, KY
Race: White
Gender: Male
Hair Color: Black
Eye Color: Blue
Height: 5' 10"
Weight: 260
Prior Prison Record: None.
Summary of incident: On 2/14/2002, in Tarrant County, Texas, Foster and co-defendant Ward sexually assaulted and shot a 28 year old black female, resulting in her death. Foster and Ward then moved the body of the victim to a ditch where it was discovered by workers who were laying pipe.
Co-Defendants: Ward, Shelton Aaron
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Shelton Ward (SOURCE: http://murderpedia.org/male.F/f/foster-cleve-photos.htm)
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Texas Attorney General
Monday, September 24, 2012
Media advisory: Cleve Foster scheduled for execution
AUSTIN – Pursuant to a court order by Criminal District Court No. 1 in Tarrant County, Cleve Foster is scheduled for execution after 6 p.m. on September 25, 2012. On February 12, 2004, a Tarrant County jury found Foster guilty of the capital murder of Nyanuer “Mary” Pal.
FACTS OF THE CRIME
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit described the murder of Ms. Pal as follows:
On February 13, 2002, Cleve Foster and Sheldon Ward met Nyanuer “Mary” Pal at Fat Albert’s, a Fort Worth bar where all three were regular customers. According to the bartender, Pal interacted primarily with Ward until the bar closed at 2:00 a.m. She then walked to the parking lot with Ward where they talked for a few minutes. Afterwards, Pal left in her car, which was followed closely by Foster and Ward driving in Foster’s truck.
Approximately eight hours later, Pal’s nude body was discovered in a ditch far off a road in Tarrant County. She had been shot in the head. A wadded-up piece of bloody duct tape lay next to her body. Her unlocked car was later found in the parking lot of the apartment complex where she lived.
The police investigation focused on Foster and Ward once police learned that they had been with Pal that night. On February 21, 2002, police searched the motel room shared by Foster and Ward. Only Foster was present. He directed the police to a dresser drawer that contained a gun Ward had purchased from a pawn shop in August 2001.
Later that day, Foster voluntarily went to the police department to give a statement and to provide a DNA sample. In his statement, Foster first denied Pal had been inside his truck. However, he then admitted that she may have leaned inside. Finally, he admitted that “they” went cruising, but that “they” brought Pal back to her vehicle at Fat Albert’s. Police also obtained a DNA sample from Ward sometime on the night of February 21, 2002.
On March 22, 2002, Foster gave another written statement to police in which he claimed: (1) he and Ward followed Pal to her apartment after meeting her at Fat Albert’s; (2) Pal voluntarily went with them to their motel room in his truck; and (3) after taking sleeping pills and drinking beer, Foster fell asleep watching television while Ward and Pal kissed.
In addition to statements, physical evidence also linked Foster and Ward to the offense. DNA tests established that bodily fluids found in Pal’s body contained DNA from both Ward and Foster. DNA testing also revealed that Pal’s blood and tissue were on the gun recovered during the motel room search. In addition, a police detective and medical examiner testified that Pal was not shot where her body was found because there was no blood splatter in the area. Since the soles of her feet indicated that she had not walked to the location where her body was found, the detective testified that he was “very comfortable” with stating that two people carried Pal’s body to that location. In support of his testimony, the detective noted that the raised-arm position of Pal’s body suggested she may have been carried by her feet and hands. In addition, the detective noted that Pal was five-seven and 130 pounds and Ward is only five-six and 140 pounds, while Foster is six feet tall and around 225 pounds.
PRIOR CRIMINAL HISTORY
Under Texas law, the rules of evidence prevent certain prior criminal acts from being presented to a jury during the guilt-innocence phase of the trial. However, once a defendant is found guilty, jurors are presented information about the defendant’s prior criminal conduct during the second phase of the trial – which is when they determine the defendant’s punishment. During the penalty phase of Foster’s trial, jurors learned that Foster was convicted of robbery in 1984. Jurors were also informed about a statement Foster made to a Fort Worth Police Department detective describing the defendant and Ward’s involvement in the 2001 murder of Rachel Urnosky.
PROCEDURAL HISTORY
On June 6, 2002, a Tarrant County grand jury indicted Foster for the offense of capital murder.
On February 12, 2004, a Tarrant County jury convicted Foster of capital murder. After the jury recommended capital punishment, the court sentenced Foster to death by lethal injection.
On April 12, 2006, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed the conviction and sentence.
On January 8, 2007, the U.S. Supreme Court denied a petition for writ of certiorari.
On March 21, 2007, the high court rejected Foster’s application for state habeas relief.
On October 29, 2007, the U.S. Supreme Court denied his petition for writ of certiorari.
On December 2, 2008 The federal district court denied his application for writ of habeas corpus
On March 15, 2010, the U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed the denial of habes corpus.
On October 4, 2010, the trial court set Foster’s execution for January 11, 2011.
On December 13, 2010, the U.S. Supreme Court again denied a petition for writ of certiorari.
On December 21, 2010, Foster filed a petition for clemency with the Board of Pardons and Paroles.
On December 22, 2010, Foster filed a subsequent application seeking a state writ of habeas corpus.
On December 30, 2010, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals dismissed the application.
On January 7, 2011, the Board of Pardons and Paroles denied Foster’s clemency petition.
On January 11, 2011, the U.S. Supreme Court stayed Foster’s execution.
On January 18, 2011, the U.S. Supreme Court again rejected Foster’s petition for writ of certiorari.
On January 29, 2011, the Tarrant County trial court set Foster’s execution date for April 5, 2011.
On February 22, 2011, the U.S. Supreme Court denied the original petition for writ of habeas corpus.
On March 16, 2011, Foster filed a petition with the Board of Pardons and Paroles for clemency.
On March 29, 2011, Foster filed a petition for declaratory judgment and temporary restraining order.
On April 1, 2011, the petition was denied by the trial court after a hearing.
On April 1, 2011, sought a stay of execution to the U.S. Supreme Court.
On April 4, 2011, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals denied Foster’s request for emergency relief.
On April 5, 2011, the U.S. Supreme Court granted Foster a temporary stay of execution.
On April 5, 2011, Foster filed his petition for a rehearing with the U.S. Supreme Court.
On April 27, 2011, the Travis County district court rejected Foster’s second request injunction.
On May 31, 2011, the U.S. Supreme Court lifted its hold on Foster’s execution.
On June 17, 2011, the Tarrant County trial court set Foster’s execution date for Sept. 20, 2011.
On September 2, 2011, Foster filed a second subsequent state habeas application.
On September 12, 2011, the Court of Criminal Appeals dismissed Foster’s subsequent application.
On September 16, 2011, Foster filed a fifth petition for certiorari with the U.S. Supreme Court.
On September 20, 2011, the U.S. Supreme Court granted a stay of execution.
On March 26, 2012, the U.S. Supreme Court denied Foster’s fifth petition for certiorari.
On June 1, 2012, Foster filed a motion in the federal district court for relief from its judgment.
On June 14, 2012, the Tarrant County trial court set Foster’s execution date for September 25, 2012.
On August 13, 2012, the federal district court denied Foster’s motion for relief from its judgment.
On Sept. 17, 2012, Foster filed a petition for certiorari and motion for stay of execution.
On Sept. 21, 2012, The United States Court of Appeals denied the motion for a stay of execution.
On Sept. 23, 2012, Foster filed a motion for stay of execution in the U.S. Supreme Court.
On Sept. 25, 2012, the U.S. Supreme Court denied the motion for stay of execution.
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Cleve Foster Army recruiter (SOURCE: http://murderpedia.org/male.F/f/foster-cleve-photos.htm)
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Texas Execution Information Center by David Carson.
Cleve Foster, 48, was executed by lethal injection on 25 September 2012 in Huntsville, Texas for the rape and murder of a 28-year-old woman.
On the evening of 13 February 2002, Foster, then 38, and Sheldon Ward, 22, met Nyanuer "Mary" Pal, 28, at Fat Albert's, a Fort Worth bar where all three were regular customers. Pal danced with Ward and interacted primarily with him until the bar closed at 2:00 a.m. She then walked to the parking lot with him and talked for a few minutes. She then left in her car. Foster and Ward were seen following Pal closely in Foster's truck. According to the bartender, they were "right on her bumper".
At about 6:00 a.m., some workers who were laying pipe in a remote area of Tarrant county discovered Pal's nude body in a ditch. She had been shot in the head. A wadded-up, bloody piece of duct tape was next to her body. Pal's unlocked car was found in the parking lot of her apartment complex.
Having learned that Pal was last seen with Foster and Ward, police searched their motel room on 21 February. Only Foster was present at the time of the search. He directed the police to a dresser drawer that contained a gun Ward had purchased from a pawn shop in August 2001. The police also found various items - including three pairs of shoes, gloves, a hatchet, and a knife - soaking in cleaning fluid in a cooler in the back of Foster's truck.
Later that day, Foster voluntarily went to the police department to give a statement and a DNA sample. At first, he denied that Pal had been inside his truck. He then admitted that she may have leaned inside it. Finally, he admitted that he, Ward, and Pal went on a drive, but that he and Ward returned her to her vehicle at Fat Albert's afterward.
Police also obtained a DNA sample from Ward on 21 February. DNA tests established that the victim's vagina and anus contained semen from Foster and Ward. DNA testing also showed that Pal's blood and tissue were on the gun taken from the motel room.
On 22 March, Foster gave another written statement to police. In this account, he stated that he and Ward followed Pal to her apartment after she left Fat Albert's, but claimed that she voluntarily went with them in his truck to their motel room. Foster stated that after taking sleeping pills and drinking beer, he fell asleep watching television while Ward and Pal were kissing. At one point, he awoke to find Pal performing oral sex on him. He tried to stay awake "to enjoy it", but kept falling asleep. Foster stated that the next thing he remembered was Ward telling him he was going to take Pal home.
At Foster's trial, a police detective and the medical examiner testified that there was no blood splatter in the area where her body was found, indicating that she was shot in another location. The soles of her feet indicated that she had not walked to the location where her body was found, but had been carried. The detective testified that the position of Pal's body suggested that she may have been carried by one person holding her hands and another holding her feet. The detective also pointed out that Ward was 5-foot-6 and weighed 140 pounds, the victim was 5-foot-7 and weighed 130 pounds, and Foster was 6 feet tall and weighed 225 pounds, implying Ward could not have carried her by himself.
Under Texas law, a defendant can be found guilty of capital murder for participating in the crime, regardless of whether he or she personally caused the victim's death.
Foster had a prior conviction for robbery in 1984. He and Ward were also suspects in the rape and murder of Rachel Urnosky, a 22-year-old Fort Worth woman who was shot to death in her bed in her apartment on 18 December 2001. She was murdered with the same gun used to kill Pal. Foster told police he and Ward were at her apartment, but they left after she refused to have sex with them.
Shortly before Urnosky's murder, Foster, an army recruiter, was denied re-enlistment for giving alcohol to and having sex with underage potential recruits.
Mary
Pal was a native of Sudan and lived with her aunt and uncle in Fort Worth. She
worked at River Crest Country Club. On February 13, 2002, Cleve Foster and
Sheldon Ward met Nyanuer "Mary" Pal at Fat Albert's, a Fort Worth bar
where all three were regular customers. According to the bartender, Pal interacted
primarily with Ward until the bar closed at 2:00 a.m. She then walked to the
parking lot with Ward where they talked for a few minutes. Afterwards, Pal left
in her car, which was followed closely by Foster and Ward driving in Foster's
truck. Approximately eight hours later, Pal's nude body was discovered in a
ditch far off a road in Tarrant County. She had been shot in the head. A
wadded-up piece of bloody duct tape lay next to her body. Her unlocked car was
later found in the parking lot of the apartment complex where she lived.
The
police investigation focused on Foster and Ward once police learned that they
had been with Pal that night. On February 21, 2002, police searched the motel
room shared by Foster and Ward. Only Foster was present. He directed the police
to a dresser drawer that contained a gun Ward had purchased from a pawn shop in
August 2001. Later that day, Foster voluntarily went to the police department
to give a statement and to provide a DNA sample. In his statement, Foster first
denied Pal had been inside his truck. However, he then admitted that she may
have leaned inside. Finally, he admitted that "they" went cruising,
but that "they" brought Pal back to her vehicle at Fat Albert's.
Police also obtained a DNA sample from Ward sometime on the night of February
21, 2002.
In
the early morning hours of February 22, 2002, Ward called a friend to ask if he
could stay with him. Ward told the friend over the phone that he was in trouble
because he killed someone. The friend arrived at the motel around 2:00 or 2:30
a.m. to pick up Ward. While in the truck, Ward told his friend that he followed
a girl home from a bar, forced her into a truck at gunpoint, took her out to
the country, raped her, and shot her. Ward did not mention Foster. The friend
stopped the truck at a store and got the police to arrest Ward. Ward then told
police that he had been drinking heavily and using cocaine the night of the
offense. He claimed that he and Pal arranged to meet after Fat Albert's closed.
Ward also told the police that he drove alone to Pal's apartment in Foster's
truck to pick up Pal, and that he and Pal had consensual vaginal and anal sex
on the front seat of Foster's truck before they drove back to the motel room
where Foster was "pretty much passed out" on the bed. Ward claimed
that he and Pal had consensual vaginal sex again in the motel room before they
left to drive around. Ward recalled standing over Pal's body lying on the
ground with a gunshot wound to her head and a gun in his hand. Ward claimed not
to remember firing the gun. He told police that he stripped her body and dumped
her clothes in a dumpster. Ward explained that he left a note in the motel
apologizing to Foster for involving him. Ward also stated that he told his
friend a few hours earlier that he had sex with a girl and killed her.
On
March 22, 2002, Foster gave another written statement to police in which he
claimed: (1) he and Ward followed Pal to her apartment after meeting her at Fat
Albert's; (2) Pal voluntarily went with them to their motel room in his truck;
(3) after taking sleeping pills and drinking beer, Foster fell asleep watching
television while Ward and Pal kissed; and (4) Foster awoke to Pal performing
oral sex on him. In addition to Foster's and Ward's statements, physical
evidence also linked the two to the offense. DNA tests established that semen
found in Pal's vagina contained Foster's DNA, and semen found in Pal's anus
contained Ward's DNA. Ward may also have been a minor contributor to the semen
found in Pal's vagina. DNA testing also revealed that Pal's blood and tissue
were on the gun recovered during the motel room search. In addition, a police
detective and medical examiner testified that Pal was not shot where her body
was found because there was no blood splatter in the area. Since the soles of
her feet indicated that she had not walked to the location where her body was
found, the detective testified that he was "very comfortable" with
stating that two people carried Pal's body to that location.
In
support of his testimony, the detective noted that the raised-arm position of
Pal's body suggested she may have been carried by her feet and hands. In
addition, the detective noted that Pal was five-seven and 130 pounds and Ward
is only five-six and 140 pounds, while Foster is six feet tall and around 225
pounds.
In
February 2004, Foster was convicted of the rape and capital murder of Pal.
Based on the necessary jury findings during the punishment phase, the trial
court sentenced Foster to death. Sheldon Ward was also sentenced to death for
Mary Pal's murder but he died of a brain tumor in prison in May 2009. The gun
that was used as the murder weapon was also identified as the gun used in
December 2001 to kill Rachel Urnosky, 22, at her apartment in Fort Worth. Both
men were charged in Rachel's murder, but never tried. Foster told police they
were both at her apartment but they left after she refused to have sex with
them.
When
she did not report for work at Buckle, a clothing store at a local shopping
mall, her manager called police. They found the door to her apartment open and
Rachel was found shot to death in her bed. Rachel was a magna cum laude
graduate from Texas Tech and an officer with the Baptist Student Mission and
spent her spring breaks on mission trips. She had recently gotten engaged.
Rachel's
father Terry Urnosky said his wife and other three daughters were just taking
life one day at a time, hoping some day they'll find new hope and the strength
to continue. "She was just so cruelly and so quickly taken away it has
just left a void that it can be a real struggle just to put one foot in front
of the other. Her whole life she just wanted the best for people, to do
anything she could possibly do to make their life a success, she was a blessing
everywhere she went and she'll be so missed, so sorely missed by all of
us."
The
US Supreme Court granted a stay of execution to Cleve Foster in April 2011,
just a few hours before he was supposed to face his punishment for the murder
of Mary Pal. The court granted the stay based on claims that Foster's attorneys
were ineffective. This was the second time Foster received a stay on the day of
execution. Rachel Urnosky's family had traveled to Huntsville from Lubbock.
"I just want it to be over," said Rachel's mother, Pam. "This is
astounding to me. The irony is that my daughter didn't get such consideration.
I have been so upset. Sickened. We buried her four days before Christmas. I
have not done as much good as she did in her short life." She also said, "It's
not about revenge," she said. "To us, it is about justice. I'm not
his judge, but I know what he did, and they both had a part in it, and it
happened not only once, but twice. I want him to admit he did it. Admit his
guilt." "It's like our hearts just dropped to the floor," Terry
Urnosky said. "The thing that hurts so much is the unfairness of it. They
gave my daughter no stay of execution. In this particular case, when justice is
carried out, it will be a vindication of my daughter's life. We just hope
justice will be served quickly."
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Cleve Foster death (Picture by Gloria Rubac)
(SOURCE: http://murderpedia.org/male.F/f/foster-cleve-photos.htm)
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Nyanuer “Mary” Pal (SOURCE: http://murderpedia.org/male.F/f/foster-cleve-photos.htm)
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Rachel Urnosky, 22. (SOURCE: http://murderpedia.org/male.F/f/foster-cleve-photos.htm)
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