 |
Clarence Dixon (L) and
Deana Bowdoin (R) |
On this date, May 11, 2022, Clarence
Wayne Dixon was executed by lethal injection in Arizona. He was convicted of the January 6/7, 1978 rape
and murder of 21-year-old Deanne Bowdoin.
Capital
punishment is the law in Arizona and the appropriate response to those who
commit the most shocking and vile murders. This is about the administration of
justice and ensuring the last word still belongs to the innocent victims who can
no longer speak for themselves. - Mark Brnovich
|
[PHOTO SOURCE: https://twitter.com/GeneralBrnovich/status/1379535633631346695] |
An Arizona man convicted
of killing a college student in 1978 has become the first person to be executed
in the state after a nearly eight-year hiatus in its use of the death penalty.
|
[PHOTO SOURCE: https://www.fox5ny.com/news/clarence-dixon-arizona-executed] |
|
Clarence
Dixon |
|
|
Born |
Clarence Wayne Dixon
Fort Defiance, Arizona, U.S. |
|
Died |
May 11, 2022 (aged 66) |
|
Cause of
death |
Execution by lethal
injection |
|
Criminal
status |
|
|
First degree murder |
|
|
Criminal
penalty |
Life imprisonment (January 8, 1986) |
|
Details |
|
|
Victims |
Deana Lynne Bowdoin, 21 |
|
Date |
January 7, 1978 |
|
Country |
|
|
State(s) |
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Imprisoned at |
|
Clarence Wayne Dixon (August 26, 1955 – May 11, 2022) was an
American convicted murderer. He was convicted of the January 7, 1978, murder of
21-year-old Deana Lynne Bowdoin in Tempe,
Arizona. The murder went unsolved until 2001, when DNA
profiling linked him to the crime. Dixon, who was serving a life sentence
for a 1986 sexual assault conviction, was found guilty of Bowdoin's murder and
was formally sentenced to death on January 24, 2008. He was executed by lethal
injection on May 11, 2022, in the state's first execution in nearly eight years,
since the botched execution of Joseph Wood in 2014.
INTERNET SOURCE: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clarence_Dixon
Early life
Dixon was born on August 26, 1955, in Fort Defiance, Arizona. In 1974, he graduated from Chinle High School. In 1977, he went to Arizona State University to study engineering. The same year, he was arrested for assault with a deadly weapon when he attacked a 15-year-old girl, whom Dixon would later claim reminded him of his ex-wife. Dixon hit the girl over the head with a metal pipe. A psychiatrist who examined Dixon concluded that he was not competent to stand trial.
Murder
On January 6, 1978, 21-year-old Deana Lynne Bowdoin, an Arizona State University senior, met her parents for dinner and then went to meet a friend at a nearby bar. The two stayed at the bar until midnight and then Bowdoin told her friend she was going home. Bowdoin returned to her apartment in Tempe in the early hours of January 7. At around 2:00 a.m. Bowdoin's boyfriend returned to the apartment and found her dead body lying on the bed. Bowdoin had been strangled to death with a belt and had also been stabbed multiple times. Semen was found on her vagina and underwear, however, it could not be positively matched to any suspect.
Bowdoin's murder went unsolved for over twenty years and became a cold case. In 2001, a cold case detective checked the DNA profile against a national database. He learned that the profile matched Clarence Dixon, a man who was already in prison and was serving a life sentence in an Arizona state prison for a 1986 sexual-assault conviction. At the time of Bowdoin's murder, it was learned that Dixon had lived across the street from her. None of Bowdoin's family or friends knew of any connection between her and Dixon, however.
“As regards capital cases, the trouble is that
emotional men and women always see only the individual whose fate is up at the
moment, and neither his victim nor the many millions of unknown individuals who
would in the long run be harmed by what they ask. Moreover, almost any criminal,
however brutal, has usually some person, often a person whom he has greatly
wronged, who will plead for him. If the mother is alive she will always come,
and she cannot help feeling that the case in which she is so concerned is
peculiar, that in this case a pardon should be granted. It was really heartrending
to have to see the kinfolk and friends of murderers who were condemned to
death, and among the very rare occasions when anything governmental or official
caused me to lose sleep were times when I had to listen to some poor mother
making a plea for a criminal so wicked, so utterly brutal and depraved, that it
would have been a crime on my part to remit his punishment.”
|
– Teddy Roosevelt, the 26th
President of the United States [PHOTO SOURCE: https://www.deviantart.com/pathtoenlighten/art/Theodore-Roosevelt-support-for-the-death-penalty-714061647] |
Trial and appeals
Dixon was charged with the rape and murder of Bowdoin. However, the rape charge was later dropped due to a statute of limitations. On January 24, 2008, Dixon was found guilty of first degree murder and was sentenced to death.
Dixon's lawyers argued that he was mentally incompetent, had been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, and had experienced frequent hallucinations throughout his life. In 2015, he was declared legally blind. Dixon had previously been found not guilty by reason of insanity in a 1977 assault case. The murder of Bowdoin had occurred only two days after the verdict.
Death warrant and final appeals
Following the botched execution of Joseph Wood via lethal injection in 2014, the state of Arizona stopped all executions. Lawsuits that were filed required the state to use a new lethal injection cocktail. Following a lengthy process, the state looked to find a new and approved drug for executions.
In 2020, the Arizona Department of Corrections purchased one thousand vials of the drug pentobarbital, costing one and a half million dollars. In 2021, the state also announced it had refurbished its gas chamber, allowing inmates the option of being executed by lethal gas. In April 2021, the state announced it was ready to begin executions again. The first two inmates scheduled for execution were Dixon and fellow death row inmate Frank Jarvis Atwood. Atwood was scheduled for execution on September 28, 2021, while Dixon was scheduled for execution on October 19, 2021. However, the state later acknowledged that the lethal injection drugs they would be using in the executions would expire after forty-five days, having claimed previously that it expired after ninety days. Following the discovery, Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich asked the Arizona Supreme Court to shorten the briefing schedules for both executions. On July 12, 2021, the Arizona Supreme Court denied the request to speed up the executions, and they were both halted.
"In
criminal law legislation, our priority is the security and well being of
law-abiding citizens rather than the rights of the criminal to be protected
from incriminating evidence." – Lee Kuan Yew
|
[PHOTO SOURCE: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10208686221008588&set=a.1206445396945.2031621.1102965071&type=3&theater] |
Execution
In January 2022, Brnovich asked the Arizona Supreme Court to set briefing schedules for the executions of Atwood and Dixon once again. Brnovich announced that additional testing had been conducted on the lethal injection drugs, and they would have a beyond-use date of at least ninety days. On April 5, 2022, the Arizona Supreme Court issued an execution warrant for Dixon, scheduling him for execution on May 11, 2022. Dixon was given the choice to be executed by lethal injection or lethal gas. On April 20, after declining to pick a method, the state announced that Dixon would be executed by lethal injection, the default method for an inmate who does not make a decision. On April 28, the Arizona Board of Executive Clemency denied Dixon's request for a commutation or a reprieve.
Dixon was executed by lethal injection on May 11, 2022, the first person to be put to death in Arizona since 2014. The injection began at 10:19 a.m. He was pronounced dead 11 minutes later at 10:30 a.m. Dixon maintained his innocence in his final statement.
If the criminal taking of a human life does not merit forfeiture of
one's own life, then what value have we placed on the life taken? - Pat
Buchanan
See also
- Capital punishment in Arizona
- Capital punishment in the
United States
- List of most recent
executions by jurisdiction
- List of people executed in
Arizona
- List of people executed in the United States in 2022
Deana Lynne Bowdoin
|
(July 28, 1956 to
January 7, 1978) [SOURCE: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/37085556/deana-lynne-bowdoin] |
Who was Deana Bowdoin, the victim of Arizona death row killer Clarence Dixon?
Rebekah L.
Sanders
Deana Lynne
Bowdoin, 21, was a senior at Arizona State University when she was killed in
her apartment in the early morning hours of Jan. 7, 1978.
Her murderer
was unknown for years until DNA evidence linked Clarence Wayne Dixon to the
crime.
Dixon was
convicted three decades after her death. On May 11, 2022, he became the first
man put to death by Arizona since the botched execution of Joseph Wood in 2014.
Following the
execution of Clarence Dixon? Download the free azcentral.com app for the latest news.
Who was Deana
Bowdoin?
Bowdoin was a
few months shy of graduating with a degree in marketing management from the
Tempe university.
She was an
honor student and member of the international business honor society Beta Gamma
Sigma. She was considering a career in law, international marketing or
diplomacy after taking the LSAT and the Foreign Service Officers tests.
Arizona State
University student Deana Bowdoin studied abroad and dreamed of joining the
foreign service before she was murdered in 1978.
A gifted poet,
she had studied abroad in Spain, Mexico and Belgium and was a certified scuba
diver. Her planner was filled with birthdays of loved ones, plans to go dancing
at a local disco and a road trip to Guaymas, Mexico.
She exuded
kindness, her sister Leslie Bowdoin James said.
"Whether
the person was elderly or whether they were little kids, she just seemed to be
able to talk and relate to them," James said.
Growing up in
Phoenix, Bowdoin went to Squaw Peak Elementary and graduated with honors from Camelback
High School. She was a debutante for the Phoenix Honors Cotillion in 1974 and
was first runner-up for the organization’s Debutante of the Year academic
award.
When was Deana
Bowdoin last seen?
Bowdoin had
dinner with her parents the evening before she was found dead. Her parents
asked her to spend the night at home, but Bowdoin decided her apartment was the
better option because she had to go to her part-time job at a law firm the next
day.
After dinner,
she met a friend at a nearby bar. Bowdoin was last seen alive at 12:30 a.m.
leaving to drive to her apartment.
At 2 a.m.,
Bowdoin's boyfriend found her dead inside her bedroom. She had a belt around
her neck, her right wrist had indentations and her clothing was disheveled. She
had been strangled, raped and stabbed.
Who was
Clarence Dixon?
Clarence Dixon
was a former ASU student who lived across the street from Bowdoin.
He was married
and started classes in 1976 but withdrew within a year due to mental illness.
His issues with drug addiction and alcoholism led to divorce in 1978, according
to court records.
Clarence Wayne
Dixon, 52, was convicted and sentenced to death in the rape, stabbing and
strangulation of 21-year-old Deana Bowdoin at her Tempe apartment in 1978.
Dixon, a member
of the Navajo Nation, experienced abuse and severe health problems during his
childhood on the reservation.
Dixon was born
with inadequate oxygenation, which led to a congenital heart condition.
What happened
after Dixon was released from a mental hospital?
Psychologists
determined Dixon had schizophrenia and was unable to stand trial on charges
stemming from hitting a woman on the head with a pipe in 1977. He was committed
to Arizona State Hospital.
When his
competency was restored, then-Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Sandra Day
O'Connor found him "not guilty by reason of insanity." But she ruled
Dixon was so mentally ill and dangerous to the community that he should be
civilly committed to the state hospital.
However, the
County Attorney's Office and courts did not immediately begin commitment
proceedings and released the inmate. Two days later, Dixon murdered Bowdoin.
Several months
after Bowdoin's death, Dixon was sentenced for burglary and assault with a
knife after attacking another woman in her Tempe apartment. Six years later,
soon after he was released from prison, he raped a Northern Arizona University
student who was out jogging and was sentenced to life in prison.
Did Bowdoin
know her killer?
Bowdoin’s
family and friends did not know of any previous contact between her and Dixon,
according to court records.
How was Dixon
caught?
More than 20
years passed before detectives suspected Dixon in Bowdoin's murder.
Tempe police
detective Tom Magazzeni was looking into cold cases in the 1990s and using
updated DNA technology. He ran evidence from Bowdoin's case through a new
nationwide database.
It took a few
years, but police were able to rule out Bowdoin's boyfriend.
An article
about Deana Bowdoin's death published in The Arizona Republic on Jan. 8, 1978.
Then, in 2001,
there was a match with Dixon.
Magazzeni
realized Dixon was near Bowdoin's apartment at the time of the murder and had
used a knife to assault the NAU student similar to one found at the scene in
Tempe.
More:For 25
years, Deana Bowdoin's killer was a mystery. Then technology ID’d Clarence
Dixon, a man who had been nearby all along
Who was
Bowdoin's family?
Bowdoin's
parents met in high school, graduated from ASU and had two daughters.
Leslie Bowdoin
James, left, was 23 when her sister, Deana Lynne Bowdoin, right, was murdered
at the age of 21. The sisters grew up in the Valley.
Her father
Harold "Dean" worked at Honeywell and mother Beulah Ann, known as
"Bobbie," was a second-grade teacher. Beulah Ann died in 2009, a year
after Dixon was convicted, and Harold died in 2018.
James was 23
when her younger sister was murdered.
It diminishes the
victims when people burn candles and mourn someone who has committed a heinous
crime. People on death row are some of the worst individuals that appear on the
face of the earth. The abolitionists refuse to acknowledge that evil exists and
evil has to be put down. – Marc Klaas
|
[PHOTO SOURCE: https://quozio.com/quote/kspp5czvzbmx/1011/it-diminishes-the-victims-when-people-burn-candles-and] |
James has
attended every proceeding in her sister's case up to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court
of Appeals, spoken against granting Dixon parole and written to Gov. Doug Ducey
calling for "finality and justice for Deana."
"Leslie is
the epitome of a good older sister," Magazzeni, the Tempe detective, said.
"She has never forgotten Deana and she never will."
Controversy
over Dixon's case
There were
concerns about Dixon's mental health before the murder trial. The public
defender investigated Dixon's social and mental health history and other
lawyers looked into a possible insanity defense. But Dixon waived his rights to
be evaluated for competency and have IQ testing.
The prisoner's
mental state affected his trial, according to Dixon's federal public defender,
who unsuccessfully appealed for a review by the U.S. Supreme Court.
For instance,
Dixon was allowed to fire his attorneys and represent himself, despite making
legal arguments that were "purely delusion and lacked any basis in
fact," his federal defender said.
Several years
after the trial, psychologist Dr. John Toma evaluated Dixon. He diagnosed the
inmate with "schizophrenia paranoid type, a psychotic disorder that means
he suffers from disturbance in thought and perception."
Toma said the
Department of Corrections also diagnosed Dixon as schizophrenic, in 1981, and
found him to be "severely confused and disturbed." Toma said he
believed Dixon was suffering from schizophrenia at the time of Bowdoin’s
murder, but this evidence was never introduced in court.
Prosecutors
disagreed that Dixon had an unfair opportunity in court. It was his choice how
to conduct his trial and not present any mitigation, Maricopa County prosecutor
Vince Imbordino said.
Dixon's
attempts at clemency
The Arizona
Board of Executive Clemency reviewed petitions from Dixon more than a dozen
times and denied parole.
Dixon’s
attorneys said their client lived with untreated paranoid schizophrenia
virtually all of his adult life.
Attorneys
requested a commutation to a life sentence or, at the very least, a reprieve
that would postpone the execution while other legal action played out.
Leslie Bowdoin
James, sister of Deana Bowdoin, speaks at a news briefing after the execution
of inmate Clarence Dixon on May 11, 2022, at the Arizona State Prison Complex
in Florence.
Bowdoin's
sister told the board Dixon had made the choice to "punch, rape, stab and
strangle to death my only sister."
"For me
and my parents and for all the women brutalized by this inmate — for society —
and most of all for my sister Deana — there is not one legal, social or moral
imperative for recommending reprieve of commutation," James said.
In their last
denial of clemency to Dixon, board members said he had failed to show remorse
for his crimes and did not deserve mercy.
Arizona is set
to execute Clarence Dixon for 1978 murder of Deana Bowdoin
Moldy fuzz on
strawberries found in restaurant inspections
Dems ask
prosecutors to investigate Trump-era deal near threatened river
Will Trump
endorse a Republican for Arizona's next attorney general?
Why was Dixon's
execution delayed?
Following the
botched execution of Joseph Wood in 2014, which left the double murderer
snorting and gasping for nearly two hours, Arizona had not executed another
inmate until Dixon.
The state for
years faced lawsuits over execution protocols and struggled to obtain lethal
drugs, even going as far as to attempt to illegally import a supply.
Dixon's
execution by lethal injection took place on May 11.
Lauren Castle,
Jimmy Jenkins, Chelsea Curtis, Lacey Latch and Laurie Roberts contributed.
INTERNET SOURCE: https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=466863621910477&id=100057605302283
https://vk.com/wall-184585082_613
Clarence Dixon execution updates: Ducey says execution is
justice served
Arizona
Republic
Clarence
Dixon was executed shortly after 10 a.m. Wednesday at the state prison in
Florence.
He was convicted in 2008 for the 1978 murder of Deana Bowdoin, a 21-year-old senior at Arizona State University, who was found dead inside her apartment with a belt around her neck.
The 66-year-old Dixon was the first person executed by Arizona since the botched execution of Joseph Wood in 2014.
 |
"When I think of all the
sweet, innocent people who suffer extreme pain and who die every day in this
country, then the outpouring of sympathy for cold-blooded killers enrages me.
Where is your (expletive deleted) sympathy for the good, the kind and the
innocent? This fixation on murderers is a sickness, a putrefaction of the soul.
It's the equivalent of someone spending all day mooning and cooing over a
handful of human feces. Sick and abnormal." - Charley Reese
|
[PHOTO SOURCE: https://quozio.com/quote/ss9vjhjhjm3r/1015/when-i-think-of-all-the-sweet-innocent-people-who-suffer] |
1 p.m.: Group aims to raise death penalty awareness
Most
of the group of protesters appeared to either be a part of or working in
coalition with Death Penalty Alternatives for Arizona, a grassroots
organization that aims to raise awareness about issues with the death penalty
and seeks to abolish it.
The
organization’s state advocacy director Kat Jutras said her frustration with
Dixon’s execution in particular was his history of mental illness.
“The
last 44 years he hasn’t had any adequate treatment or access and he’s been
incarcerated during that time,” she said about 15 mins before his scheduled
execution. “He’s not a danger to society, he’s more of a danger to himself.
He’s enclosed in a room completely blind and has no idea what’s going on or
what’s happening and they’re going to execute him today.”
“That type
of frustration I think is powerful to use to continue our work as advocates
because Clarence is not the only one, unfortunately, he had to be the first,”
she continued.
Jessica
MacTurk, a volunteer with the ACLU, went on to explain to the group her
opposition to the death penalty “in all forms, for all people.”
“I
am morally, religiously, constitutionally, financially opposed to the death
penalty,” she said to on the group while holding a sign stating, “don’t kill for
me.”
“It’s
shocking to me that in this day and age that we’re still executing people in
our country and that our punishment for murder is murder,” MacTurk continued.
—
Chelsea Curtis
Today we are
one step closer to justice for 8-year-old Vicki Lynne Hoskinson and 21-year-old
Deana Bowdoin and their families. We filed motions with the Arizona Supreme
Court requesting to move forward with the executions of their killers. http://AZAG.info/dppr -
Mark
Brnovich
|
[PHOTO SOURCE: https://twitter.com/GeneralBrnovich/status/1379535633631346695] |
12:30
p.m.: Ducey, Brnovich release statements on execution
Arizona
Gov. Doug Ducey issued a statement following Dixon’s execution, calling it
justice served.
“Today
the family of Deana Bowdoin was provided the justice they've long been waiting
for,” the governor’s statement reads. “The void left by Deana's murder 44 years
ago will never be filled, but the sentence carried out this morning is a solemn
reminder that we are a nation of laws and it is the responsibility of the state
to enforce them.”
Dixon’s
death was the first execution carried out during Ducey’s tenure, and occurred
Wednesday while the Republican governor was in Washington, D.C., for a series
of meetings with U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials.
The
last execution in 2014 was during the final six months of former Gov.
Jan Brewer’s leadership and preceded Ducey’s election by four months.
Because of legal challenges over the state’s use of capital punishment, Ducey
was largely not forced to address the controversial issue, at least not
frequently. In 2019, he signed a bill into law limiting the circumstances under
which the state could seek the death penalty.
Ducey
typically framed capital punishment in legal terms, as a duty required by the
laws of the state he leads. He echoed that belief in his Wednesday statement,
and last week to a gathering of reporters at an unrelated event, adding that
“in certain situations, the death penalty is justice.”
Attorney
General Mark Brnovich also released a statement, echoing Ducey's statements
about justice.
“Prosecutors have
a solemn responsibility to speak on behalf of all victims, and especially for
those who can no longer speak for themselves,” said Brnovich. “My focus was on
securing justice for Deana Bowdoin, her family, and our communities, and that
has been achieved today.”
—
Stacey Barchenger and P. Kim Bui
Those who allow violent
criminals the opportunity to kill, maim and rape, share the responsibility for
it and the tragedy such crimes produce. More, they allow these monsters to
create for all of us a world as dark and evil as their own.
|
[PHOTO SOURCE: https://quozio.com/quote/3wrd9cs77z9g/1269/those-who-allow-violent-criminals-the-opportunity-to-kill] |
11:36
a.m.: 'He’s a member of the Navajo Nation and deserved to live'
Just
outside the state prison in Florence, a small group of just more than a
dozen protesters gathered.
Most
of the group of protesters appeared to either be a part of or working in coalition
with Death Penalty Alternatives for Arizona, a grassroots organization that
aims to raise awareness about issues with the death penalty and seeks to
abolish it. People held signs with statements like "an eye for an eye
leaves the world blind." A few cars drove by, shouting expletives or
yelling, "Justice for Deana."
The
group remained mostly quiet until about 10 a.m. when they gathered closer
together and took turns speaking into a mic as Dixon was due to be executed.
Deacon Bill Drobick, of Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Florence, led
the group in the Lord’s Prayer.
"Clarence
has a very well documented record of mental illness, severe mental
illness …and the last 44 years he hasn’t had any adequate treatment or
access and he’s been incarcerated during that time. He’s not a danger to
society, he’s more of a danger to himself," Kat Jutras, state advocacy
director of Death Penalty Alternatives for Arizona, said about 15 minutes
before the execution was scheduled to begin.
"That’s
type of frustration I think is powerful to use to continue our work as
advocates because Clarence is not the only one, unfortunately, he had to be the
first.”
Jutras
also mentioned that Dixon is a member of the Navajo Nation.
“He’s
a member of the Navajo Nation and deserved to live,” she said. “He deserved to
have a life despite what he did in his past and I think that we’re all here to
offer our love to the victim and our condolences for what they’ve experienced
over this 44-year period of time.”
—
Chelsea Curtis
Leslie Bowdoin
James, Deana Bowdoin's sister, was at Clarence Dixon's execution.
11:36
a.m.: Deana Bowdoin's family reacts
Leslie
Bowdoin James, Deana Bowdoin's sister, was at Clarence Dixon's execution.
She said the event was not closure, but it provided finality.
"This
is finality for this process. It's relief. It was way, way, way too long,"
she said. "Why am I not surprised that (Dixon) chose to use my sister's
name?"
Colleen
Clase, chief counsel for Arizona Voice For Crime Victims and Bowdoin James'
lawyer, said the family continually sought justice for Deana.
"Dixon
was afforded every possible due process remedy," she said. "Leslie
never gave up seeking justice for Deana."
The
process has been long and grueling for Bowdoin James, who told media her
husband just died 12 days ago. She said she feels justice has finally been
served.
"Your
words can hurt, but your words can help and heal also," she told media at
the execution. "43 and 20. the number of hearings and the number of
years I have attended since the indictment."
—
Jimmy Jenkins
11:06 a.m.: Witness says Dixon gasped when drugs administered
Taylor
Tasler, a media witness for KTAR said Dixon never made eye contact
with anyone during the execution. Dixon gasped after the drugs were
administered and then looked like he went to sleep, she said.
Dixon
did appear to lose consciousness a few minutes after the injection, confirmed
Troy Hayden, a media witness for Fox 10.
Hayden
said Dixon made several comments to the doctors, insulted them by mocking their
Hippocratic oath and said they "worshipped death."
Witnesses
said there were issues inserting the IV. Dixon, who was 67, appeared to be in
pain as the execution team tried to place the IV, eventually putting it in his
groin.
"I
did see what appeared to be some cutting into the groin, they did have to wipe
up a fair amount of blood," said Paul Davenport, a media witness for
the Associated Press.
—
Jimmy Jenkins
10:51
a.m.: Dixon executed by lethal injection
Arizona
has executed Dixon for the 1978 murder of 21-year-old ASU
student Bowdoin.
Frank
Strada, deputy director of the Arizona Department of
Corrections, confirmed the execution by lethal injection of Dixon
took place at 10:30 a.m. at the state prison in Florence. Dixon was the
first man put to death by Arizona since the problematic execution of Wood in
2014.
Dixon
chose to make a final statement: "I do and always will proclaim my
innocence — now let's do this shit."
Troy
Hayden, a media witness, said the execution took place slightly late — it was
scheduled for 10 a.m. It took 25 minutes to put IVs in because execution
team had trouble and ended up inserting an IV into an alternate location,
Hayden said.
Dixon
grimaced, Hayden said, and appeared to be in pain while the IVs were inserted.
Outside,
a group of protesters started slowly dispersing when police began to leave,
though some stayed back for official word of the execution.
One
man was overheard saying, “I guess we just go back to life now, it’s
weird.”
—
Jimmy Jenkins, Chelsea Curtis Mike Cruz and P. Kim Bui
We do not need
psychologists to tell us the simple truth that if you reward bad behaviour you
will get more of it. We should not be surprised that we are now engulfed in
crime. The offenders have taken their cue from us.
|
- A Land Fit for
Criminals by David Fraser [PHOTO SOURCE: https://quozio.com/quote/hcsc78h4mskg/1129/we-do-not-need-psychologists-to-tell-us-the-simple-truth] https://victimsfamiliesforthedeathpenalty.blogspot.com/2019/11/unit-1012-book-club-land-fit-for.html |
9:45 a.m.:
Navajo Nation opposes death penalty, execution of tribal member
Navajo
Nation Attorney General Doreen McPaul in a letter last year explaining the
tribe's position on Clarence Dixon's case said it opposed the death penalty and
execution of its tribal members.
Dixon
is an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation, according to his attorney and
McPaul's letter.
The
letter dated June 6, 2021, came two months after Arizona Attorney General
Mark Brnovich announced the state's intent to seek warrants of
execution against Dixon and fellow death-row prisoner Frank Atwood.
Two
weeks after McPaul's letter, Brnovich asked to expedite the men's executions,
but his request was ultimately denied by the Arizona
Supreme Court.
"Navajo
culture and religion holds every life sacred and instructs against the taking
of human life for punishment," McPaul said. "Committing a crime
not only disrupts the harmony between the victim/family and the perpetrator,
but it also disrupts the harmony of the community.
"The
death penalty removes the possibility of restoring harmony;
whereas a life sentence holds the opportunity to reestablish harmony and find
balance in our world," she continued. "For these reasons, the
Navajo Nation submits its strong opposition to the execution of a Navajo
tribal member by the State."
McPaul
went on to invite Brnovich to meet to discuss the matter further. It is unclear
if he accepted her offer.
The
Navajo Nation has long opposed the death penalty and executions of tribal members.
For years leading up to the 2020 federal execution of Lezmond Mitchell in
Terre Haute, Indiana, tribal officials pleaded with the federal government to spare
him. He was the first Native American the federal government executed
in modern history.
—
Chelsea Curtis and Lauren Castle
9:30 a.m.:
Protesters outside prison
Protesters
gathered outside the state prison in Florence where Clarence Dixon is scheduled
to be executed at 10 a.m. for the 1978 murder of Deana Bowdoin.
Just
before 9 a.m., people quietly gathered near Butte and Pinal Parkway
avenues, with most carrying signs decrying the execution.
Two
separate drivers traveling through the intersection shouted “Kill him” and
obscenities as they passed the group of about 12 protesters outside
the prison’s barbed fence. The protesters didn't appear to react to shouts.
The
crowd was mostly quiet, talking with each other while holding
signs.
Rod
McLeod, secretary of Death Penalty Alternatives for Arizona, said the death
penalty was just wrong.
“It’s
a bad policy, a bad law. We’d like to change the law eventually, that’s
our ultimate goal,” McLeod said, adding that there was no evidence to show
executions deter crime.
—
Chelsea Curtis
9:15
a.m.: Supreme Court denies stay
The
United States Supreme Court on Wednesday denied Clarence Dixon's request for a
stay of execution.
Dixon's
execution by lethal injection will proceed at 10 a.m. Arizona time.
—
Jimmy Jenkins
9
a.m.: Clarence Dixon's last meal
Clarence
Dixon's last meal consisted of Kentucky Fried Chicken, a half pint of
strawberry ice cream and a bottle of water, according to the Arizona Department
of Corrections.
Dixon
is scheduled to be executed at 10 a.m. Wednesday at the state prison in
Florence.
He
was convicted in 2008 for the 1978 murder of Deana Bowdoin, a 21-year-old senior at Arizona
State University.
—
Jimmy Jenkins and Mike Cruz
8:30
a.m.: Attempts to stop execution filed
Dixon
has exhausted his appeals, but his attorneys in recent weeks have filed a series of legal challenges accusing the state of
planning to use expired drugs for his execution.
The
lawyers argued the state was relying on testing results from
older batches of compounded pentobarbital to prove the drugs it was planning to
use in Dixon’s execution this week were safe and effective. They claimed the
previous batch was compounded in February and expired in April.
The
quality of the drugs was important because they could lead to a prolonged
or ineffective execution if they were contaminated or not sufficiently potent,
Dixon's attorneys said.
On
Monday, the state produced a new batch of the drugs and provided
Dixon's team with testing results regarding its potency.
“The
result today means that Dixon’s execution will be carried out with drugs
that are not expired, and in compliance with the Department of Corrections’
protocols, which is what we had been asking for,” said assistant federal public
defender Jen Moreno.
Attorneys
for Dixon are pursuing separate legal action to stop the execution, asking
the federal courts to review an Arizona state court’s determination that he is mentally
competent to be executed.
—
Jimmy Jenkins and Chelsea Curtis
7:30
a.m.: First state execution since 2014
Clarence
Dixon on Wednesday will become the first person executed in Arizona since 2014
when the practice was suspended following the botched execution of Joseph
Wood.
The
state's lethal injection drug mix at the time was a cocktail of the
Valium-like midazolam and a narcotic called hydromorphone, resulting in
Wood's execution taking two hours. Witnesses said Wood could be seen repeatedly
gasping for air.
The
state was then forced to overhaul its procedures and find a new approved
drug cocktail. In March 2021, the Department of Corrections announced it had acquired pentobarbital
for lethal injections moving forward.
Because
the crime Dixon was convicted of occurred before 1992, when Arizona outlawed
execution by lethal gas, he has the choice between death by lethal injection or
the gas chamber.
According
to the warrant of execution, Dixon must "notify the Department of
Corrections at least twenty calendar days prior to the date of execution."
If he does not choose, the court said the death penalty "shall be
inflicted by lethal injection."
Jennifer
Moreno, Dixon's attorney, said Arizona has a "history of problematic
executions."
"The
State has had nearly a year to demonstrate that it will not be carrying out
executions with expired drugs but has failed to do so," Moreno said.
"Under these circumstances, the execution of Mr. Dixon — a severely
mentally ill, visually disabled, and physically frail member of the Navajo
Nation — is unconscionable.”
—
Jimmy Jenkins, Lacey Latch and Chelsea Curtis
6:30 a.m.:
'I will never stop thinking of Deana'
Deana
Bowdoin grew up in the Valley and graduated with honors from
Camelback High School.
While
at ASU, she studied abroad and made many plans for her last semester
and life after graduation. Bowdoin was considering a career in law,
international marketing or diplomacy after taking the LSAT and the Foreign
Service Officers tests.
But
in the early hours of Jan. 7, 1978, she was found dead inside her
apartment and her murder would remain unsolved for more than 20 years.
Who
did Clarence Dixon kill? For 25 years, Deana Bowdoin's killer was a mystery
It
wasn't until advancements in DNA technology that officials in 2001
could connect Clarence Dixon to Bowdoin's murder. He pleaded not
guilty at his arraignment hearing in January 2003 but was
ultimately convicted a few years later.
Bowdoin was
described by her sister Leslie James as "a beautiful person,
inside and out."
"I
will never stop thinking of Deana," James recently said in a statement responding to news of Dixon's execution
warrant issued in early April. "But I look forward to resolution
of Dixon’s criminal matter through the imposition of punishment."
"The
last 44-plus years of reliving Deana’s brutal murder as well as enduring the
trial and appellate litigation has been nothing short of horrific for our
family," she later added. "As victims, the Arizona Constitution
guarantees a prompt and final conclusion of this matter."
—
Jimmy Jenkins, Lauren Castle and Chelsea Curtis
INTERNET SOURCE:
 |
Deana Bowdoin (right), a
21-year-old Arizona State University student, was murdered in 1978, and Dixon
(left) was found guilty in 2008.
|
[PHOTO SOURCE: https://technotrenz.com/news/lets-do-this-st-clarence-dixons-final-words-to-his-victim-were-lets-do-this-st-1888271.html] |
‘Let’s do this s**t,’ Clarence Dixon’s final words to his victim were, “Let’s do this s**t.”
Clarence
Dixon, a death row inmate, was executed by lethal injection on May 11 at
Florence State Prison in Arizona after his final appeal to the Supreme Court
was denied. The 66-year-old was executed at 10:30 a.m. local time, according to
Deputy Corrections Director Frank Strada.
According to
Strada, the defiant Dixon said in his last statement, “I do and always proclaim
my innocence – now let’s do this s**t.” Deana Bowdoin, a 21-year-old Arizona
State University student, was murdered in 1978, and Dixon was found guilty in
2008. According to authorities, Bowdoin was raped, stabbed, and strangled with
a belt when she was discovered dead in her Tempe home.
Carman Deck: A death row murderer’s final meal is ribeye steak and shrimp.
In Arizona,
who was the most recent inmate to be gassed to death? The state intends to use
the same lethal gas that was used at Auschwitz.
The homicide
remаined unsolved until 2001, when DNA fingerprinting linked Dixon to the
crime. Initiаlly, Dixon, аn ASU student who lived аcross the street from
Bowdoin аt the time, wаs аccused of rаpping her. Due to the pаssаge of time,
the chаrge wаs lаter dropped. He wаs found guilty of her murder аnd sentenced
to deаth in 2008.
According to
witnesses, Dixon never mаde eye contаct with аnyone during his execution.KTAR TVTаylor Tаsler, а witness, sаid she heаrd him gаsp
аfter the drugs were аdministered аnd then pаss out.
Before being executed, Dixon requested Kentucky Fried Chicken, а hаlf-pint of
strаwberry ice creаm, аnd а bottle of wаter for his lаst meаl. He аllegedly
insulted the doctors аnd sаid things like “they worshipped deаth” аnd mocked
their Hippocrаtic Oаth. The convict mentioned victim Bowdoin in his closing
remаrks. “I know you’re seeing this Deаnа,” Tаsler аllegedly sаid, “you know I
didn’t kill you.”
Dixon is the
sixth inmаte to be executed in the United Stаtes this yeаr. In recent weeks,
Dixon’s lаwyers hаve been pleаding with the courts to postpone his execution.
Despite this, judges dismissed clаims thаt he wаs mentаlly unfit for execution
аnd thаt he hаd no rаtionаl understаnding of why the stаte wаnted to put him to
deаth. Dixon declined to be executed by gаs chаmber аfter Arizonа’s gаs chаmber
wаs repаired in lаte 2020, а method thаt hаsn’t been used in the United Stаtes
in more thаn two decаdes.
“Todаy, the
process hаs been finаlized,” Bowdoin’s sister, Leslie Bowdoin Jаmes, sаid аt
the scene. “43 аnd 20,” she replied, referring to the number of heаrings аnd
yeаrs she hаs аttended since the indictment. Jаmes stаted thаt the execution
wаs аbout justice rаther thаn closure, аnd thаt it hаd been а significаnt pаrt
of her life, but not аll of it.
INTERNET SOURCE: https://technotrenz.com/news/lets-do-this-st-clarence-dixons-final-words-to-his-victim-were-lets-do-this-st-1888271.html
Deana Lynne Bowdoin
|
(July 28, 1956 to
January 7, 1978) [SOURCE: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/37085556/deana-lynne-bowdoin] |
RELATED LINKS:
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/37085556/deana-lynne-bowdoin
OTHER LINKS:
Family of
Murder Victims Ream Media Over Concern for Executed Arizona Murderer
https://vk.com/video-184585082_456239036
VIDEO SOURCE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sc6fBY-BbQE