PRISON KILLER, RECIDIVIST MURDERER & A SUICIDE ASSIST NEEDED: JEFFREY MOTTS [EXECUTED IN SOUTH CAROLINA ON MAY 6, 2011]

On this date, May 6, 2011, Jeffrey Motts was executed by lethal injection in South Carolina for the prison homicide of his cellmate, Charles Martin on May 12, 2005. Ten years before the prison murder, he had killed two people in a robbery. I will post information about him from clarkprosecutor.org before giving my comments. 

Jeffrey Motts

Citations:
State v. Motts, ___ S.E.2d ___, 2011 WL 979731 (S.C. 2011). (Waiver of Appeals) 

Final Meal:
Pizza, fried fish, popcorn shrimp, french fries, sweet tea and cherry cheesecake. 

Final Words:

His attorney read a last statement from Motts as he lay on the gurney. "To my mom and grandma, Happy Mother's Day. I know this is a sad one but let us remember the good times. I am finally free and at peace in heaven." He apologized to his victims' families, his own family and anyone he hurt along the way. “I want to warn kids of the dangers of drugs. I was the child everyone wanted their children around until I got on drugs. Drugs will destroy your life.” 

Internet Sources: South Carolina Department of Corrections
Inmate: Motts, Jeffery
DOC#: 6026
DOB: 05/05/75
County: Greenville
Date Received: 12/04/07
Race: White
Trial Judge: G. Clary
Victim: Charles Martin (DOB: 04/21/79) 

ProDeathPenalty.Com

In 1997, a Spartanburg County jury convicted Jeffrey Brian Motts of the armed robbery and murder of his great-aunt and great-uncle. Motts' great aunt, 73-year-old Louise Etta Olsteen, and of 79-year-old Clyde Lloyd Camby, were killed on April 3, 1995. Motts, at the time 19 years old, had cut the telephone cord in the house, tied the legs of the couple with a shirt and shot Olsteen in the back and shot Camby in the face. He wanted money to buy crack cocaine. The trial judge sentenced Motts to life imprisonment for each murder conviction and twenty-five years' imprisonment for the armed robbery conviction. 

While Motts was serving his sentences at Perry Correctional Institution in Greenville County, his cell-mate, Charles Martin, was found dead on December 8, 2005. Motts confessed to the killing. Subsequently, a Greenville County grand jury indicted Motts for Martin's murder. Based on Motts's prior murder convictions, the State sought the death penalty. 

Several witnesses at trial, including Motts, testified regarding the events surrounding Martin's murder. Angered that Martin had lied to another inmate about Motts's involvement in "planting" a knife in the inmate's cell, Motts confronted Martin during the early morning hours of December 8, 2005. According to Motts, the verbal exchange escalated to a physical altercation with Motts hitting Martin in the head. Martin fell against the wall and started shaking. Motts then picked up Martin and bound his hands and feet using strips of cloth from his bed sheets. When Martin regained consciousness, he begged Motts not to hurt him. Motts responded by choking Martin to death. Because Martin continued to make what Motts described as a "death rattle," Motts proceeded to tie some sheets around Martin's neck to stop this noise. Martin died as the result of asphyxia due to strangulation. Motts then pushed the body under his bed in the cell. 

After killing Martin, Motts smoked a cigarette, ate breakfast, smoked another cigarette, and watched television. Motts then dragged Martin's body to a common area known as "the rock." Before placing Martin's body on "the rock," he kicked Martin and stated "this is what snitches get." Motts then reported to prison guards that he had killed Martin. 

After the guards found Martin's lifeless body, officers with the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division initiated an investigation by questioning Motts. During the questioning, Motts waived his Miranda rights and then confessed to the murder. After the jury found Motts guilty of murder, the State sought to establish the statutory aggravating circumstance that "the murder was committed by a person with a prior conviction for murder." Accordingly, the State presented evidence regarding Motts's 1997 convictions for the murder of his great-aunt and great-uncle. Ultimately, the jury found beyond a reasonable doubt that the murder of Martin was committed by a person with a prior conviction for murder. 

As a result, the jury recommended that Motts be put to death. The trial judge denied all of Motts's post-trial motions and ordered on June 4, 2008 that Motts be put to death as a result of the conviction. In March of 2011, the state Supreme Court ruled that Motts can drop his appeals.

COMMENTS:

            Jeffrey Motts was a great example of a Prison Killer, recidivist murderer and an inmate that just needed a suicide assist. Since he wanted to be put to death, I think it was better to grant him that wish, as he is already a threat to society and he appears to enjoy killing other people. Together with Michael William Lenz, Robert Gleason Jr. and other prison killers with recidivist murderers, Motts has been eliminated from the face of the earth.

NAPOLEON BONAPARTE IS 244 YEARS OLD! [SOLDIERS’ QUOTES OF THE MONTH ~ 2013]

NOTE: I will be posting either a soldiers’ quote or soldiers’ article once a month.

            As one of my favorite Military leaders, Napoleon Bonaparte died on this date, 5 May 1821, I will post on one of his soldiers’ quotes. He would have been 244 years old if he was alive today.

QUOTE: He who fears being conquered is certain of defeat. [p. 146 of Political Aphorisms, Moral and Philosophical Thoughts (1848)]

AUTHOR: Napoleon Bonaparte (French: Napoléon Bonaparte [napoleɔ̃ bɔnɑpaʁt], Italian: Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821) was a French military and political leader who rose to prominence during the latter stages of the French Revolution and its associated wars in Europe.

As Napoleon I, he was Emperor of the French from 1804 to 1815. His legal reform, the Napoleonic Code, has been a major influence on many civil law jurisdictions worldwide, but he is best remembered for his role in the wars led against France by a series of coalitions, the so-called Napoleonic Wars. He established hegemony over most of continental Europe and sought to spread the ideals of the French Revolution, while consolidating an imperial monarchy which restored aspects of the deposed Ancien Régime. Due to his success in these wars, often against numerically superior enemies, he is generally regarded as one of the greatest military commanders of all time, and his campaigns are studied at military academies worldwide.

Napoleon was born at Ajaccio in Corsica in a family of noble Italian ancestry which had settled Corsica in the 16th century. He trained as an artillery officer in mainland France. He rose to prominence under the French First Republic and led successful campaigns against the First and Second Coalitions arrayed against France. He led a successful invasion of the Italian peninsula.

In 1799, he staged a coup d'état and installed himself as First Consul; five years later the French Senate proclaimed him emperor, following a plebiscite in his favour. In the first decade of the 19th century, the French Empire under Napoleon engaged in a series of conflicts—the Napoleonic Wars—that involved every major European power. After a streak of victories, France secured a dominant position in continental Europe, and Napoleon maintained the French sphere of influence through the formation of extensive alliances and the appointment of friends and family members to rule other European countries as French client states.

The Peninsular War and 1812 French invasion of Russia marked turning points in Napoleon's fortunes. His Grande Armée was badly damaged in the campaign and never fully recovered. In 1813, the Sixth Coalition defeated his forces at Leipzig; the following year the Coalition invaded France, forced Napoleon to abdicate and exiled him to the island of Elba. Less than a year later, he escaped Elba and returned to power, but was defeated at the Battle of Waterloo in June 1815. Napoleon spent the last six years of his life in confinement by the British on the island of Saint Helena. An autopsy concluded he died of stomach cancer, but there has been some debate about the cause of his death, as some scholars have speculated that he was a victim of arsenic poisoning.

THE MUSKET MODEL 1777 (REMEMBERING NAPOLEON BONAPARTE: 15 AUGUST 1769 TO 5 MAY 1821) [WEAPON OF THE FORTNIGHT ~ SUNDAY 5 MAY 2013 TO SATURDAY 18 MAY 2013]

As one of my favorite Military leaders, Napoleon Bonaparte died on this date, 5 May 1821, I will post the Musket Model 1777 as the weapon of the fortnight. This weapon was one of Napoleon’s weapons. The information is from Wikipedia.

Type	Musket
Place of origin	France (M/77), French Republic (M/77 corrigé)
Service history
In service	French Army 1777–1826
Used by	France, Confederation of the Rhine, other client states of the French Empire
Wars	French Revolutionary Wars, Napoleonic Wars and others in the european Theatre
Production history
Designed	1777
Manufacturer	Charleville armoury and others
Produced	1777–1839 (all variants)
Number built	7 million
Variants	Modèle 1777 corrigé en l'an IX
Specifications
Weight	4.5 kilograms (9.9 lb)
Length	1.51 metres (59 in)
Barrel length	113 centimetres (44 in)
Caliber	17.5mm (.69 inch) musket ball
Action	Flintlock
Rate of fire	User dependent; usually 3 rounds a minute
Muzzle velocity	Variable
Effective range	Variable (50–100 yards)
Feed system	Muzzle-loaded

The musket Modèle 1777, and later Modèle 1777 corrigé en l'an IX (Model 1777 corrected in the year 1800, or IX in the French Revolutionary Calendar) was one of the most widespread weapons on the European continent.

It was part of a weapon family with numerous variants, e.g. for the light infantry, artillery and a musketoon for the cavalry.

Modèle 1777 corrigé en l' an IX

After the French Revolutionary Wars, first consul Napoleon Bonaparte commissioned a rework; some minor modifications on the lock, bayonet and stock resulted in 1800 in the "corrected" model, also called "Modèle 1777 corrigé".

Other improvements

The Musket was further improved in 1816 and 1822.

Impact

7 million muskets were produced, including variants 1800 (an IX), 1816 and 1822, but not including muskets like the Austrian 1798 or the Prussian 1809, which were mere clones of the French 1777. Until World War I, no other firearm was produced in such large numbers.

Properly trained French infantry were expected to be able to fire three volleys a minute with the 1777. A trained infantryman could hit a man sized target at 80 yards but anything further required an increasing amount of luck and the musket became wildly inaccurate at long range.

The Grande Armée marched into the German countries and left approx. 750,000 muskets retreating in 1815; until about 1840, French weapons were used in Germany.