Identical twin who once swapped places with his brother on death row will finally watch him die next week in Nebraska's first ever lethal injection execution 38 years after he murdered and robbed two cab drivers
By Jennifer Smith
Daily Mail
August 8, 2
A twin who once swapped places with his identical murderer brother on death row will finally watch him die next week in Nebraska's first ever lethal injection execution, 39 years after his crime.
Carey Dean Moore, 60, is scheduled to die at 10am on August 14 at the Nebraska State Penitentiary. It will be the first execution in the state since 1997 and the first time a prisoner has been killed via lethal injection instead of the electric chair.
In 1979, Moore shot and killed Reuel Van Ness and Maynard Helgeland, two cab drivers, a few days apart in Omaha, Nebraska.
Five years later, he and his identical twin brother David found themselves in the same prison, Nebraska's State Penitentiary and they swapped places for several hours before being caught.
David had been locked up for four to six years on burglary charges. They convinced prison guards to let them have a private meeting to discuss a 'family matter' and changed clothes while none were looking.
Afterwards, David was led to his brother's death row cell and Carey was taken to the kitchen, where David had a job.
They were found out by the guard who was supervising the kitchen who knew that David was thinner than his brother. The other clue was that Carey did not know where to put away the pots and pans.
At the time, prison guards did not know if the switch was a prank or if the brothers were plotting an escape.
They deduced that it was part of a grander escape plan but neither brother admitted to it once they were caught.
'Maybe Carey Dean wanted to get out of death row for awhile because it's pretty restrictive.
'Maybe he wanted to get out for awhile to break the boredom of death row and do something like pitch horseshoes,' said John Dahm, assistant director of the state corrections department, told The Associated Press at the time.
Adding that it was the 'obvious conclusion' the pair were plotting an escape, he added: 'Both have been in trouble often with the law and I don't think they are considered funny or pranksters.'
The prison guard who caught the pair before they could carry out any such plan said at the time was Bob Austin.
He said he became suspicious when, after the meeting, the heavier, 'ruddier' twin came back to the kitchen to work.
'Unless you saw them every day, you couldn't tell them apart. They're awfully close, but Carey Dean is probably 10 to 15 pounds heavier and he's got a ruddier complexion,' he said.
The other clue was that Carey did not know where to put the pots and pans.
'David would have known where to put the pan. But I probably wouldn't have picked it up if we hadn't had the other clues,' he said.
Their punishment was a temporary ban on seeing each other in the prison.
David was later released and his brother was sent to the Tecumseh State Correctional Institution.
David did not speak of their swap on Tuesday when he confirmed that he would be there to watch his brother die.
'He would just like to die. There's got to be a time to say stop. I just hope they finally do it, stop messing around and pull the switch, give him a couple of shots or whatever.
'Do it instead of talking and talking about it,' he told The Journal Star, adding: 'It will not be easy, but Dean wants me there, so I have little choice.
'Sometimes none of us have a choice in things. Swing with the punches and come up kicking.'
The pair had grown up poor in a family of 13 and turned to crime to get by as teenagers.
'Unfortunately, we didn't learn to respect people before something really bad happened.
'Back then we were both animals. We weren't fit to be allowed in society, I guess,' David said this week.
Since 1980, when he was sentenced, Carey's execution has been delayed by repeated stays and controversies over Nebraska's use of capital punishment.
In July, his execution date was finally set for August 14, weeks before the state's supply of the drug that will be used to kill him expires.
He did not reveal whether their younger brother Donald, who was with Dean when he carried out the murders and was freed on probation 10 years ago after spending almost 29 years behind bars on second-degree murder charges, will attend.
Neither Carey nor David wants the state to block his execution.
The latter has given up all of his appeals and he has advised his court-appointed lawyer not to take action to try to spare his life.
The lawyer, tormented over the decision, asked to be let go from the case last week. He says he is conflicted between following his client's instructions and doing what he thinks is right.
'Doing nothing in a death penalty case is not competent legal representation,' the lawyer, Jeff Pickens, said in a court filing.
The ACLU has also offered to fight on Moore's behalf but he does not want the objections.
Neither Moore nor one of his victim's sons believes that the state will actually go through with his execution.
Since he was convicted, he has been given seven execution dates which have all been set back by delays out of his control.
They include lawsuits against Nebraska by anti-capital punishment groups demanding to know who the supplier of their lethal injections drugs are.
Older obstacles include outlawing the electric chair and questions over whether Moore's crimes warranted capital punishment in the first place.
It was abolished in 2015 and then reinstated the following year after an overwhelming public vote to veto lawmakers' decision.
There are 11 death row prisoners in Nebraska - all of whom are murderers. No other executions have been scheduled for 2018.
1 comment:
Wasn't that the plot of a book about a million years ago?
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