All the other states combined executed 20 murderers
In September 2007, Texas convicts Jerry Martin and John Falk were on an outside work detail when they stole a City of Huntsville pickup truck to escape. The pair plowed into a correctional officer guarding them on horseback. The guard, 59-year-old Susan Canfield, suffered fatal head injuries. Both escapees were recaptured within a few hours. At the time, Martin was serving a 50-year sentence for attempted capital murder.
On Tuesday evening, Jerry Martin was put to death with a single lethal dose of pentobarbital for the murder of Officer Canfield, thereby becoming the 16th Texas murderer executed this year. Martin had requested that no further appeals be filed in his behalf because he did not want to spend the rest of his life locked up.
Here is a Texas Department of Criminal Justice transcript of Martin’s final words: “I would like to tell the Canfield family I’m sorry. Sorry for your loss. I wish I could take it back, but I can’t. I hope this gives you closure. I did not murder your loved one. It was an accident. I didn’t mean for it to happen. I take full responsibility. To my family, we’ve talked earlier, and you know I’m at peace. God is the ultimate judge. He knows what happened. We talked earlier. I love all of you all. I’m ready Warden.”
John Falk, who has been appealing his sentence, is awaiting a retrial in this case. Hopefully he will meet the same fate as Martin for the murder of Susan Canfield.
Texas, as usual, leads the nation in executions. In 2013 there were a combined 20 executions in all the other states. There were seven executions in Florida, four in Oklahoma and three in Ohio. Kudos to Texas for being No. 1.
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