Thursday, July 2, 2009

Death Row Inmate Thomas Arthur Awaiting DNA Test Results!

Thomas Arthur is sitting at Atmore, awaiting DNA test results that could exonerate him. His daughter Sherrie Stone, MUST be on pins and needles.

http://www.timesdaily.com/article/20090701/ARTICLES/907015021/1011/NEWS?Title=Wait-continues-for-DNA-results-in-Arthur-case

I have maintained contact with Thomas since reading about him in "American Injustice" back in 2000. The article left a lasting impression on me, and I have always believed in Thomas' innocence.

http://www.fa-ir.org/ai/alabama.htm

On November 28, 2007, I personally filed a complaint against Governor Bob Riley, in an attempt to postpone the execution of Thomas Arthur, until he could be granted DNA testing.

http://www.thomasarthurfightforlife.com/images/Arthur_11-28-07_Class_Action_Petition_NDC0001.pdf

On November 30, 2007, Judge Myron Thompson of the Middle District of Alabama, issued an ORDER stating "For good cause shown, it is ordered that, pursuant to 28 U.S.C.A. Section 636, this case is referred to the United State Magistrate Judge for Consideration and Disposition or Recommendation on all pre-trial matters as may be appropriate."

http://www.thomasarthurfightforlife.com/images/Arthur_12-03_DM_ruling_on_Petition0001.pdf


Last year another inmate came forward and said he was the killer of Troy Wicker. Now, we all await DNA testing to see who the real killer is. You might remember, that on the same day as this other inmate, Bobby Ray Gilbert came forward, Troy King and Clay Crenshaw said the rape kit and other physical evidence in the case, was MISSING. Troy King immediately filed for another execution date, (without DNA TESTING), but was denied by all courts. You can read more about Thomas Arthur's case by going to the following link.

http://www.thomasarthurfightforlife.com/

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

The inmate who confessed to the crime was at the time 15 years old.

Even if Arthur did not kill Troy Wicker, he admits he was not at his work release job the day of the murder--that's one escape. He also escaped from the Colbert County Jail while awaiting trial and committed a bank robbery while on the run.

Since he was in work release for murdering his girlfriend's sister, plus other previous convictions, these two escapes and robbery would qualify him as a habitual offender. Since he wounded a guard in his escape, he would also be a violent habitual offender and in all probability receive a life without parole sentence.

Deb Murphree/Alabama Politics said...

Well, actually your comment has an error in what was stated. Thomas did not murder his girlfriend's sister. Also, being a habitual offender in escapes, etc., does not mean that Thomas Arthur should get the death sentence for killing someone, if it is proven he is actually innocent of the crime of murder.

TruthSeeker said...

Perhaps some facts would be helpful.

Tommy Arthur plead guilty to 2nd degree murder after the March, 1977 shooting of Eloise West, his common law wife's sister. He shot her in the eye. He also wounded her cousin, Charlotte Harbin. He went to their work place in Bear Creek, Alabama demanding to know the whereabouts of his "wife" and infant son. When the women refused to give him information, Arthur started shooting. Arthur has claimed he was drunk at the time. He received a life sentence, participated in a youth education project while in prison, and was placed on work release in November 1981.

Troy Wicker was murdered on Feb. 1, 1982. He was shot through the eye while he lay sleeping in his bed. Tommy Arthur was convicted of the murder and received the death penalty. In a separate trial, the victim's wife, Judy Wicker, was convicted of murder for hire and sentenced to life in prison. Arthur's conviction was overturned because testimony was allowed in his trial about the 1977 murder of Eloise West. DNA testing was not available in 1982.

Arthur's second trial, which occurred after his escape from the Colbert County jail and a subsequent Knoxville, TN bank robbery, also ended in a conviction and death sentence. This trial was when Judy Wicker changed her original story and testified against Arthur. The second trial was overturned because investigators testified in court about interviewing Arthur, who was not represented by an attorney, even though he had said he wanted one. Arthur's rights were thus violated.

Arthur's third trial also resulted in conviction and death penalty. Judy Wicker again testified against Arthur in the third trial. After the trial, Judy Wicker was finally released from prison and remains on parole to this day. She has remarried and until recently has lived a low profile life away from the Shoals area.

Through the past 27 years, Arthur has claimed innocence of the Troy Wicker murder. He has complained of lack of competent legal representation and he insisted on participating in his defense all along. Arthur even asked the jury for the death penalty in each of his trials, apparently because he believed he could better craft appeals from death row. Bobby Ray Gilbert's surprising confession in July 2008 was the basis for the DNA testing that Arthur had been requesting since 1991. The results were expected in June 2009 but as of July 3rd, they are not available. Hopefully the crime scene evidence, with DNA testing, will accurately identify the person responsible for Troy Wicker's death.

Bobby Ray Gilbert was only 15 at the time of Troy Wicker's murder. He was, however, working like a grown man and supporting his own household.

Officials have stated that the 30-year bank robbery sentence, the 40-year escape and guard shooting sentence, as well as the life sentence for 2nd degree murder will keep Arthur in prison for the rest of his life.

Deb Murphree/Alabama Politics said...

Thank you for your interest in Thomas Arthur's case, and for your input. It will be interesting to see how the DNA comes out. Wouldn't it be convenient for the State of Alabama if the tests turned out "inconclusive"? (Stranger things have happened around here!).

Anonymous said...

Well, Thomas Arthur is the man who regularly beat my aunt and shot two, wait no three people, one of those people being my aunt? I really do not see how someone thinks that this man did not do it. If the only argument that you have for the confession of the younger man doing it is that he was 15 years old living like an adult and supporting a family. Then the more valid argument is that after shooting his sister in law in the RIGHT EYE, then escaping from Colbert County jail, then shooting a guard, robbing a bank, then shooting mister Wicker in the RIGHT EYE one can logically come to the conclusion that Thomas Arthur is the man that should have been given the lethal injection a long, long time ago. All that is really going on now is that he is playing the legal system for all it is worth to prolong his life. To think that someone can actually think that he did not do this is amazing to me. I mean he shot my aunt and he regularly beat her, the only reason that he was not convicted of shooting my aunt is because she was afraid of him and told everyone it was an accident. Not even the police thought it was not an accident. I mean the story that my aunt told was that they were sitting at the dining room table and he was cleaning the gun and the gun just went off. How many people do you know that clean a gun while it is loaded and have the bad luck of the gun going off and shooting the only other person in the house?

Deb Murphree/Alabama Politics said...

I know of some deputies in a local area sheriff's department that were cleaning their guns (yes professionals, supposedly), and the guns went off...yeah..they shot each other??? That was quite strange.

Deb Murphree/Alabama Politics said...

I want justice served, and REAL justice. My point all along, has been that Thomas Arthur was being denied DNA testing that could exonerate him. EVERYONE ON DEATH ROW should be granted DNA TESTING...we should never be putting to death someone who could be innocent...It was only a few years ago that we let an inmate out after 27 years in prison for a crime he did not commit...WE MUST BE ABSOLUTELY CERTAIN OF THE CRIME....As far as "shooting someone in the right eye" goes, that could have been someone planting that on him that was aware of his last crime of shooting an individual in the eye. If Thomas Arthur, is indeed guilty of the crime of killing Troy Wicker, then YES, he should pay for his crime. The last information I heard concerning crime scene evidence, the wig and other crucial evidence was MISSING. (Yes, it went missing while in the custody of the state).

Anonymous said...

So now what you are saying is that it is a statewide conspiracy just to keep the Alabama taxpayers paying for him to sit there and get free television, free healthcare and free food. just to prove a point? I'm just saying. I mean come on for real? He has killed more than one person? How hard is it to admit that he probably did kill Mr. Wicker? I mean come on now, be for real. You can not honestly say that you think that this 15 year old living like an adult actually took the time to memorize how Tommy did that and went and did it the same way to someone else just to get a total stranger(Tommy), in more trouble with the law? Is that where the conspiracy started? If so where is the "Grassy Knoll" he was hiding on top of when Mr. Gilbert shot Mr. Wicker? Now does that really make sense? Tommy has had three stays, and yet everytime he has been rescheduled for execution. That would have to tell me that the justice system and the jusries in the trials think that Tommy did it. How much more proof do they need? Or do you just like paying for his "pro-bono attorney". Free is not free no matter what is said. We are paying for his representation. That is a bit expensive too, not to mention the execution itself. The death penalty system costs the taxpayers114 million dollars per year????? Is it really worth it after this long sitting there and waiting to be executed? He will die of old age before that?

Deb Murphree/Alabama Politics said...

I am not saying either way whether I believe he is innocent or guilty. I said he was denied for YEARS the right to have DNA TESTING to prove guilt or innocence. Then I said some of the crucial evidence just "happened to go missing" on a crucial day of his hearings. How does evidence just sneak off from where it is held? I know that this happens because it happened in Autauga County concerning a case of someone I know. Evidence walking out of the court documents. YES...it happens. I know how ugly the court system can get. I hear from people all the time about what injustice is being done in their cases...so, while I feel badly for your "aunt"...and I do, I also feel badly for ANY injustice here in this state or any other state. Please accept my apologies if you are suffering over my thoughts...but my thoughts are "collective thinking". I look at the whole picture, and not just from one side. YES...if he is guilty, and proven guilty without a shadow of a doubt...evidence put back where it should be...and he is guilty...he should face the death penalty. Anyone who kills another, should. There was circumstantial evidence that prevented him from facing the death penalty in the first killing...So many are saying he should have been put to death at that time. Do you know why he wasn't?

Anonymous said...

He is guilty. Tried and found guilty. Its been almost 30 years, and with your help and people like you, he's been able to weazel the justice system. What about Troy Wicker's family? Brother's, sister's, both his sons? Who've had to go through this their entire life? He killed him with help from both Judy Wicker and her sister. He's a murderous coward who deserved his execution many years ago. God forbid something of this nature happen to your family, bet you would be changing your "every murderer is innocent" views.

Deb Murphree/Alabama Politics said...

Dear Anonymous..I assume you must be one of Troy Wicker's family? I certainly have DEEP sympathy for Troy Wicker's family...He didn't deserve to lose his life...and I can't imagine the suffering that his family has gone through because of his murder...My heart DOES go out to all of the family involved in this case...My interests in the Thomas Arthur case have been, and have always been for justice to be served for everyone in this case. AS I have stated all along, if Thomas IS guilty of this murder...then he SHOULD pay with his life. My stand has also always been for Thomas to be granted DNA testing...as EVERY PRISON INMATE THAT IS FACING EXECUTION SHOULD BE GRANTED...

Deb Murphree/Alabama Politics said...

DNA TESTING eliminates a lot of questions on both sides of the scale..concerning guilt or innocence...

Anonymous said...

sorry to say but DNA testing while it is a great tool isn't always a tried and true thing. DNA can get transferred from different people and put on different things depending on who people have contact with before. I am a forensic psychology major at John Jay College of criminal justice in Manhattan so the justice system and the way the law works is right in my wheelhouse. As far as the DNA I learned about a case where a guy committed a double murder where he shot two people execution style. Before the murder the man was with his girlfriend all day and they were intimate together. They apprehended the shooter as well as the murder weapon which had DNA on it but it didn't belong to the shooter. Turns out it belonged to his girlfriend. he had her DNA on his hands and transferred it from his hand to the gun. So putting all of Thomas' innocence into whether his DNA is present or not isn't really going to prove anything. He is a monster he committed crimes during his escape as well and deserves a needle in his arm. Apparently the innocence project was looking into his case and they haven't gotten anywhere. Just because his lawyers and daughter think he wouldn't dare commit capital murder doesn't mean jack. All lawyers and family members think this clients and loved ones are innocent.