PRISON KILLER IN SOUTH DAKOTA: ERIC DONALD ROBERT (EXECUTED ON OCTOBER 15, 2012)

                On this date, October 15, 2012, a Prison Killer and Escapee by the name of Eric Donald Robert, was executed by lethal injection in South Dakota. He was convicted of murdering Prison guard, Ron Johnson on April 12, 2011 in an escaped attempt. He was put to death only after a year and a half of committing the homicide as he requested a suicide assist. Please go to this Unit 1012 Blog Post to hear from the victim’s families.

INTERNET SOURCE: http://www.clarkprosecutor.org/html/death/US/robert1309.htm

Eric Donald Robert

Summary: On July 24, 2005, while posing as police officer, Robert pulled over an 18-year-old woman and forced her into the trunk of his car. After driving to a remote location, Robert flees after he hears her talking to someone on her cell phone. In 2006, he was convicted and sentenced to 80 years imprisonment. Maintained in "high security" at the South Dakota State Penitentiary after a lock is found cut in his working area, Robert and accomplice Rodney Berget attempt an escape, beating 62 year old corrections officer Ronald “R.J.” Johnson with a pipe and covering his head in plastic wrap, killing him. They take his uniform, but are spotted and captured before they can escape. Robert pled guilty and waived all appeals. Accomplice Berget also pleaded guilty and was sentenced to death. Accomplice Michael Nordman received a life sentence for providing materials used in the slaying.

Citations:
State v. Robert, 820 N.W.2d 136 (S.D. 2012). (Direct Appeal) 

Final/Special Meal:
Robert fasted in the 40 hours before his execution, consuming his last meal on Saturday: Moose Tracks ice cream. 

Final Words:
“In the name of justice and liberty and mercy, I authorize and forgive Warden Douglas Weber to execute me for my crimes. It is done.” 

Internet Sources:

South Dakota Department of Corrections

Office of Gov. Dennis Daugaard
500 E. Capitol Ave.
Pierre,S.D.57501
www.sd.gov

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Monday, Oct. 15, 2012 

“This is a sad day for South Dakota. Executions are rare in our state, and they are warranted only with extreme forethought and certainty. In this case, Eric Robert admitted to his crime and requested that his punishment not be delayed. I hope this brings closure to “RJ” Johnson’s family and all those who loved him. I also commend Warden Weber and others in the state Department of Corrections who planned this very difficult task in a professional and careful manner.” 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: October 12, 2012 

Execution Date, Time Set For Inmate Eric Robert 

PIERRE, S.D. - In accordance with South Dakota Codified Law 23A-27A-17, Doug Weber, Director of Prison Operations and Warden of the South Dakota State Penitentiary, has set the date and time for the execution of inmate Eric Robert as Monday, Oct. 15, 2012, at about 10 p.m. CDT. 

State law allows judges in capital punishment cases to appoint a week for the executions to occur. The exact date and time of the execution is left to the warden's discretion. The warden is required by state law to publicly announce the scheduled day and hour of the execution not less than 48 hours prior to the execution. 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Friday, Aug. 24, 2012 

Warrant of Execution For Eric Robert Issued 

PIERRE, S.D - Attorney General Marty Jackley announced today that the warrant of execution for Eric Donald Robert has been issued by Second Circuit Court Judge Bradley Zell. Robert is scheduled to be executed between the hours of 12:01 a.m. and 11:59 p.m. during the week of Sunday, Oct. 14, 2012, through Saturday, Oct. 20, 2012, inclusive, at a specific time and date to be selected by the warden of the State Penitentiary. Pursuant to South Dakota law, the warden will announce to the public the scheduled day and hour within 48 hours of the execution. 

South Dakota law further provides that for the execution, the warden is to request the presence of the attorney general, the trial judge who oversaw the conviction or the judge’s successor, the state’s attorney and sheriff of the county where the crime was committed, representatives of the victims, at least one member of the media, and a number of reputable adult citizens to be determined by the warden. 

Ronald Johnson

South Dakota Argus Leader

"Execution: South Dakota delivers Eric Robert his death wish," by Steve Young. (2:08 AM, Oct 16, 2012) 

Eric Robert, whose botched attempt for freedom from the state penitentiary resulted in the murder of a prison guard, finally escaped Monday night from the bitter life behind bars he loathed — this time through the execution chamber. Robert, 50, died by lethal injection at 10:24 p.m. for his role in the April 12, 2011, murder of officer Ron “R.J.” Johnson on the same penitentiary grounds where the inmate was put to death Monday. 

Asked by Warden Doug Weber before the execution if he had any last statement, Robert began by saying, “In the name of justice and liberty and mercy, I authorize and forgive Warden Douglas Weber to execute me for my crimes. It is done.” Robert’s lawyer, Mark Kadi of Sioux Falls, said it was important for Robert to forgive the warden. “It may seem like a minor, odd point for everybody else,” Kadi said. “But from the perspective of a man who’s got seconds left, the last thing he wanted to do was forgive the individual who was causing the execution, causing his death.” 

Speaking afterward in the prison training academy that was renamed for her husband on the one-year anniversary of his death, Johnson’s widow, Lynette, said the family understands that Robert’s death won’t bring their loved one back. Still, “we, Ron’s children and I, want everyone please, do not forget how kind, how wonderful and caring Ron Johnson is,” Lynette Johnson said. “We know this execution tonight is not going to bring back my husband to me. It’s not going to bring our children’s father back to them. ... our six grandchildren’s ‘Papa’ to them. But we know that the employees of the Department of Corrections and the public in general will be just a little bit safer now.” 

Corrections spokesman Michael Winder said Robert was removed from his holding cell at 9:31 p.m. and placed on the table in the execution chamber at 9:32 p.m. The first intravenous line was started in his right arm five minutes later, and the second IV line, in his left arm, at 9:41 p.m. After the witnesses were escorted to the viewing rooms, Weber ordered the curtains opened at 9:59 p.m. Robert gave his last statement at 10:01, and the injections were completed at 10:04. Media witness Dave Kolpack of The Associated Press said Robert appeared to be clearing his throat as the lethal drug was being administered. “He began to make some heavy gasps, and then started snorting. That lasted about 30 seconds,” Kolpack said. 

Dressed in a white T-shirt and orange prison pants, with a sheet pulled up to about the middle of his chest, Robert appeared to stop moving at about 10:03 p.m., said John Hult of the Argus Leader, the second media witness to the execution. After the clearing of his throat, “there was no movement,” Hult said. “I didn’t see his chest move at all after that.” Coroners checked for a pulse in his neck and chest for several minutes before he was finally declared dead. Hult said the inmate’s eyes remained open the entire time, even after an assistant coroner tried to close them. By the time he was declared dead, his skin color had turned purple, witnesses said. 

One controversial drug 

Unnamed correctional officers on the execution team administered a single drug, pentobarbital — a powerful barbituate that stopped Robert’s respiration and created blood pressure changes that caused his heart to give out. Attorney General Marty Jackley said he never considered bringing in executioners from outside South Dakota’s penitentiary system, even though the murdered guard was one of their own. “From everything that I witnessed, Corrections staff were exceptionally professional,” the attorney general said. “They carried out a humane sentence. I saw no need to have another entity.” 

The protocol for Robert’s execution was different from that used five years ago, when Elijah Page was put to death for his role in the 2000 murder of Chester Allan Poage near Spearfish. Back then, South Dakota used a three-drug procedure that started with an injection of sodium thiopental to knock him unconscious and numb the pain of the other two drugs — pancuronium bromide to collapse the lungs and potassium chloride to stop the heart. But a shortage of those execution drugs in recent years led to controversy and delays nationwide, and prompted South Dakota and states such as Georgia, Ohio, Arizona, Idaho and Texas to make the switch to the single drug. After South Dakota decided on pentobarbital, federally appointed public defenders for death row inmate Donald Moeller challenged the quality of the chosen barbituate, saying its plan to mix the drug from powder posed a serious risk of contamination that could lead to pain and suffering. 

But Moeller, sentenced to die for the 1990 rape and murder of 9-year-old Rebecca O’Connell, told a judge Oct. 4 that he had no interest in pursuing that challenge and delaying his scheduled execution two weeks from now. And Robert had long nixed any appeals on his behalf, saying he could kill again if left to a life in prison. In a prepared statement, Gov. Dennis Daugaard called Monday’s execution “a sad day for South Dakota.” “Executions are rare in our state, and they are warranted only with extreme forethought and certainty,” the governor said. 

'Calm and reserved' 

On Saturday evening, Robert consumed his last meal — Moose Tracks ice cream. Kadi said Robert chose to fast during his last 40 hours before his execution. Kadi said Robert considered the fast to be religious in nature and a metaphor for the 40-day fast of Christ in the Bible. From 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. Monday, the inmate “was actually calm and reserved,” Kadi said, adding that the actual execution itself “was so antiseptic and peaceful that it masks what was actually being done to the person.” 

Robert never denied his role in the escape attempt that resulted in the death of Johnson on April 12, 2011 — the correctional officer’s 63rd birthday. From the beginning, Robert took responsibility for the crime, asking for and receiving the death penalty and eschewing all appeals — thus the relative quickness in which he was adjudicated and executed. Johnson, a 20-year veteran at the prison, had volunteered for a shift in the Pheasantland Industries building on the penitentiary grounds the morning that Robert and fellow inmate Rodney Berget walked into the building with a load of laundry. Even though both inmates were classified as maximum security risks, their jobs afforded them the freedom of movement. 

Each man testified that they had hid and waited for Johnson, then snuck up on him, struck him in the head with a metal pipe, then wrapped his head in plastic to stop him from screaming. Robert put on Johnson’s uniform. Berget climbed into a box atop a wheeled cart. They never made it out of the penitentiary before being caught. A third inmate, Michael Nordman, 47, was given a life sentence for providing materials used in the slaying. 

Execution: Key dates in Eric Robert's life 

May 31, 1962: Born in Massachusetts, later moves to Hayward, Wis., with mother and younger sister
1980: Graduates 18th in his class at Hayward High School
1987: Graduates from University of Wisconsin-Superior
1988: Working as chemist for Murphy Oil in Superior
1992: Returns to Hayward, begins coaching youth baseball, later joins volunteer EMT service
1994-99: Works in Cable, Wisconsin for wastewater treatment plant, builds house in Drummond.
1999-2000: Works for Bayfield County, Wis., Zoning Office
2000-2004: First manages, then consults for, wastewater treatment plant in Superior
2005: Moves to Piedmont, S.D., to help a friend
July 24, 2005: Posing as police officer, pulls over and kidnaps an 18-year-old woman.
Jan. 3, 2006: Sentenced to 80 years for kidnapping
2007: Classified as “high security” at South Dakota State Penitentiary
2009: Attempted sentence reduction fails, Robert denied transfer to prison closer to Wisconsin
April 12, 2011: With Rodney Berget, kills corrections officer during an escape attempt.
Sept. 16, 2011: Pleads guilty to frst-degree murder
Oct. 19, 2011: Asks for a death sentence from Judge Bradley Zell
Oct. 20, 2011: Zell sentences Robert to death
Aug. 2012: South Dakota Supreme Court upholds death sentence.
Oct. 12, 2012: Warden Doug Weber announces that Robert will be put to death at 10 p.m. Oct. 15
Oct. 15, 2012: 9:31 p.m. Robert removed from his holding cell
9:32 p.m. Robert transferred to the execution table
9:35 p.m. Restraints are secured
9:37 p.m. First IV started in the right arm
9:41 p.m. Second IV is started
9:46 p.m. Staff begins to escort witnesses to the viewing rooms
9:59 p.m. With all witnesses present, warden orders the curtains open
10 p.m. Secretary of Corrections informs warden he is clear to proceed with execution
10:01 p.m. Last statement: “It is done”
10:04 p.m. Injections are completed
10:24 p.m. Time of death