December 11 execution date set for Allan Nicklasson

Allan Nicklasson, who murdered Good Samaritan businessman Richard Drummond in 1994 is scheduled to meet his own demise December 11. The Missouri Supreme Court set the new execution date.

Nicklasson was one of three people convicted for Drummond's murder and was the one who actually shot him to death. One of his partners in crime, Dennis Skillicorn, was executed in 2009.

The Turner Report featured several posts on the Skillicorn education, including the following post from 2008 just before Skillicorn's original execution date. The murder of Richard Drummond is detailed in the post, which was originally titled "Save Your Sympathy for Someone Who Deserves It."

Less than two weeks from today, if all goes according to plan, Dennis Skillicorn will breathe his last.

Skillicorn, a long-time resident of Missouri’s Death Row will eat his last mail, say his final goodbyes, make his peace with God, since his supporters note the good works he does through prison ministries, then he will be strapped down, injected with three chemicals, and become the first Missourian to receive the death penalty since 2005.

You may not have heard of Dennis Skillicorn, but odds are his name will become a fixture in the news as the date of his execution draws near. This is another one of those cases where the drumbeat is beginning to keep someone from receiving capital punishment.

We’ve heard the stories before. He wasn’t responsible for the murder. He has turned his life around since he went into prison. He has found God.

Associated Press reported Tuesday that religious leaders across the state were asking for clemency for Skillicorn. Consider this passage from the AP article:

“In their letter to (Gov. Matt) Blunt, the religious leaders said Skillicorn ‘has turned his life around, becoming a model of rehabilitation and service to others.’
“The letter is signed by Missouri church leaders from several different denominations, including Catholic, Episcopal, Lutheran, Baptist and Church of the Brethren. The St. Louis Religious Society of Friends, Dominican Sisters of Sparkhill, N.Y., and the Institute for Peace and Justice also joined the request.

“According to the letter, Skillicorn has compiled a book of firsthand accounts from death row inmates that is distributed to juvenile centers aimed at helping young offenders develop skills and not commit crimes. He also is the editor of a newsletter for death row inmates that focuses on healing between the families of crime victims and prison inmates.”

Perhaps my memory is faulty- Didn’t Dennis Skillicorn kill somebody?

Skillicorn says he didn’t and, in fact, he was not the one who pulled the trigger. According to opinions handed down by the Missouri Supreme Court and the Western District Court of Appeals, Skillicorn and two other men, after their car broke down, broke into a home, stole guns and cash. They returned to their car, managed to get it going again, but before long it stalled again, leaving them stranded.

A Good Samaritan, Richard Drummond, a technical support worker for AT&T, happened upon them and offered them a lift. Skillicorn and his partner in crime, Allen Nicklasson, pulled their weapons, and as Drummond drove them to where they wanted to go, Skillicorn, Nicklasson, and the third partner, Tim DeGraffenreid, discussed what they were going to do with Drummond.

According to the description of the crime from Learfield’s capital punishment webpage, “They directed Drummond to exit I-70 at the Highway T exit. They proceeded four miles on to County Road 202 to a secluded area where they ordered Drummond to stop his vehicle. As Nicklasson prepared to take Drummond through a field toward a wooded area, Skillicorn demanded Drummond’s wallet. Knowing Nicklasson had no rope or other means by which to restrain Drummond and that Nicklasson carried a loaded .22 caliber pistol, Skillicorn watched as Nicklasson lead Drummond toward a wooded area. There, Nicklasson shot Drummond twice in the head. Skillicorn acknowledged hearing two shots from the woods and that Nicklasson returned having "already done what he had to do." Drummond’s remains were found eight days later.

I have examined several websites that are calling on Matt Blunt or the courts to spare Dennis Skillicorn. These sites all note that Nicklasson is the one who killed Drummond, not Skillicorn.

What they have not noted is what happened after Drummond’s death- Skillicorn and Nicklasson traveled west to Arizona and murdered a couple who tried to help them after their car broke down yet again. Skillicorn pleaded guilty to those two murders after the death penalty was taken off the table. Skillicorn also mentioned a murder that had taken place at a Mexican diner, though no arrests were ever made in connection with that killing.

So please spare me the cries for sympathy for a man who was involved in the coldblooded murder of three innocent people. If you want to make an argument against the death penalty itself, that is a different matter, but if we are going to have capital punishment in America, then Dennis Skillicorn is just the man who should be introduced to the needle.

One more thing: The murders in Missouri and Arizona were not the only encounters Dennis Skillicorn, that newly-found paragon of virtue, had with the law. On Sept. 19, 1980, he was convicted of second-degree murder.

Save your sympathy for someone who deserves it.

Save your sympathy for someone who deserves it

(The following is my column for this week's Newton County News.)

Less than two weeks from today, if all goes according to plan, Dennis Skillicorn will breathe his last.

Skillicorn, a long-time resident of Missouri’s Death Row will eat his last mail, say his final goodbyes, make his peace with God, since his supporters note the good works he does through prison ministries, then he will be strapped down, injected with three chemicals, and become the first Missourian to receive the death penalty since 2005.

You may not have heard of Dennis Skillicorn, but odds are his name will become a fixture in the news as the date of his execution draws near. This is another one of those cases where the drumbeat is beginning to keep someone from receiving capital punishment.

We’ve heard the stories before. He wasn’t responsible for the murder. He has turned his life around since he went into prison. He has found God.

Associated Press reported Tuesday that religious leaders across the state were asking for clemency for Skillicorn. Consider this passage from the AP article:

“In their letter to (Gov. Matt) Blunt, the religious leaders said Skillicorn ‘has turned his life around, becoming a model of rehabilitation and service to others.’
“The letter is signed by Missouri church leaders from several different denominations, including Catholic, Episcopal, Lutheran, Baptist and Church of the Brethren. The St. Louis Religious Society of Friends, Dominican Sisters of Sparkhill, N.Y., and the Institute for Peace and Justice also joined the request.

“According to the letter, Skillicorn has compiled a book of firsthand accounts from death row inmates that is distributed to juvenile centers aimed at helping young offenders develop skills and not commit crimes. He also is the editor of a newsletter for death row inmates that focuses on healing between the families of crime victims and prison inmates.”

Perhaps my memory is faulty- Didn’t Dennis Skillicorn kill somebody?

Skillicorn says he didn’t and, in fact, he was not the one who pulled the trigger. According to opinions handed down by the Missouri Supreme Court and the Western District Court of Appeals, Skillicorn and two other men, after their car broke down, broke into a home, stole guns and cash. They returned to their car, managed to get it going again, but before long it stalled again, leaving them stranded.

A Good Samaritan, Richard Drummond, a technical support worker for AT&T, happened upon them and offered them a lift. Skillicorn and his partner in crime, Allen Nicklasson, pulled their weapons, and as Drummond drove them to where they wanted to go, Skillicorn, Nicklasson, and the third partner, Tim DeGraffenreid, discussed what they were going to do with Drummond.

According to the description of the crime from Learfield’s capital punishment webpage, “They directed Drummond to exit I-70 at the Highway T exit. They proceeded four miles on to County Road 202 to a secluded area where they ordered Drummond to stop his vehicle. As Nicklasson prepared to take Drummond through a field toward a wooded area, Skillicorn demanded Drummond’s wallet. Knowing Nicklasson had no rope or other means by which to restrain Drummond and that Nicklasson carried a loaded .22 caliber pistol, Skillicorn watched as Nicklasson lead Drummond toward a wooded area. There, Nicklasson shot Drummond twice in the head. Skillicorn acknowledged hearing two shots from the woods and that Nicklasson returned having "already done what he had to do." Drummond’s remains were found eight days later.

I have examined several websites that are calling on Matt Blunt or the courts to spare Dennis Skillicorn. These sites all note that Nicklasson is the one who killed Drummond, not Skillicorn.

What they have not noted is what happened after Drummond’s death- Skillicorn and Nicklasson traveled west to Arizona and murdered a couple who tried to help them after their car broke down yet again. Skillicorn pleaded guilty to those two murders after the death penalty was taken off the table. Skillicorn also mentioned a murder that had taken place at a Mexican diner, though no arrests were ever made in connection with that killing.

So please spare me the cries for sympathy for a man who was involved in the coldblooded murder of three innocent people. If you want to make an argument against the death penalty itself, that is a different matter, but if we are going to have capital punishment in America, then Dennis Skillicorn is just the man who should be introduced to the needle.

One more thing: The murders in Missouri and Arizona were not the only encounters Dennis Skillicorn, that newly-found paragon of virtue, had with the law. On Sept. 19, 1980, he was convicted of second-degree murder.

Save your sympathy for someone who deserves it.

Don't forget Nicklasson's victim, Richard Drummond

(The following Turner Report post was first published May 18, 2009, at a time when the execution of Dennis Skillicorn, one of three men involved in the killing of Richard Drummond, was scheduled to take place. Wednesday night, the state of Missouri executed Allan Nicklasson, the man who pulled the trigger.)

While convicted killer Dennis Skillicorn has become the cause du jour for what some would label the left-wing media, you very rarely hear about Skillicorn's victim, Richard Drummond, and that, not Skillicorn's impending execution is the real tragedy.

We have read story after story and heard one news report after another about the miraculous change that has taken place in Skillicorn since he was convicted and placed on death row in 1994 for Drummond's murder. We hear about Skillicorn's prison ministry and how he has selflessly helped others these past 15 years.

Reporters are able to interview Skillicorn and those who know him and put a human face on the death penalty. Meanwhile Mr. Drummond has become an afterthought, casually mentioned as the Good Samaritan who stopped to help Skillicorn and two other men and was murdered...if he is mentioned at all.

This was touched on by Kansas City Star columnist Mike Hendricks Sunday, but only as far as this brief passage is concerned:

His fine points are little mentioned these days. About all we hear of him is that he was a Good Samaritan — an Excelsior Springs businessman who offered to help Skillicorn and two of his druggie pals when their car broke down on Interstate 70 one day in August 1994.

And for that kindness, Drummond, 47, was kidnapped, robbed and marched into the woods near Higginsville, Mo. It was there that one of the men, Allen Nicklasson, fired two bullets into Drummond’s brain.

And that's it. The rest of the column, despite Hendricks; premise, is about Skillicorn.

When the media is making out a man to be a martyr, and that is exactly what the Kansas City Star and other publications have done, it needs to provide a sobering balance to the equation. The crime needs to be explained each time, and the victim needs to be more than just a name. Richard Drummond was a human being with a life, a family, and a job. Why have we never been told about this? He came from Excelsior Springs. Can't just one Kansas City Star reporter pick up a telephone and call people in Excelsior Springs to get a full picture of who Richard Drummond was? Perhaps the people who might have made such calls were the victims of some of the Star's recent firings.

And while we are at it, has anyone from the Star actually read through the court records? In legal briefs, Skillicorn's attorneys claimed their client was victimized by the court's refusal to allow a potential witness to testify. Yet this same potential witness told authorities that Skillicorn, portrayed relentlessly in the media as "a follower" who never dreamed that that Allan Nicklasson would murder Mr. Drummond, was actually a cold, calculating "manipulator" who decided early that he would pin all of the blame on Nicklasson.

I have never been a fan of the death penalty, but I am less of a fan of reporting that attempts to manipulate the facts, excluding many of them, in order to make a political point, in this case, that capital punishment is wrong.

These continued attempts to portray Dennis Skillicorn as some shining knight behind bars, being wrongly sentenced to death for a murder committed by another man, make a mockery out of the truth, and are a slap in the face to those who loved RIchard Drummond.

Between now and 12:01 a.m. Wednesday, we will be inundated with information about the impending death of Dennis Skillicorn. Let's not forget, however, that Skillicorn and his companions have lived 15 years longer than they allowed Richard Drummond to live.

Who is going to speak for this man who can no longer speak for himself.

Sadly, it won't be the Kansas City Star or the rest of the traditional media.

What about Richard Drummond?

While convicted killer Dennis Skillicorn has become the cause du jour for what some would label the left-wing media, you very rarely hear about Skillicorn's victim, Richard Drummond, and that, not Skillicorn's impending execution is the real tragedy.

We have read story after story and heard one news report after another about the miraculous change that has taken place in Skillicorn since he was convicted and placed on death row in 1994 for Drummond's murder. We hear about Skillicorn's prison ministry and how he has selflessly helped others these past 15 years.

Reporters are able to interview Skillicorn and those who know him and put a human face on the death penalty. Meanwhile Mr. Drummond has become an afterthought, casually mentioned as the Good Samaritan who stopped to help Skillicorn and two other men and was murdered...if he is mentioned at all.

This was touched on by Kansas City Star columnist Mike Hendricks Sunday, but only as far as this brief passage is concerned:

His fine points are little mentioned these days. About all we hear of him is that he was a Good Samaritan — an Excelsior Springs businessman who offered to help Skillicorn and two of his druggie pals when their car broke down on Interstate 70 one day in August 1994.

And for that kindness, Drummond, 47, was kidnapped, robbed and marched into the woods near Higginsville, Mo. It was there that one of the men, Allen Nicklasson, fired two bullets into Drummond’s brain.

And that's it. The rest of the column, despite Hendricks; premise, is about Skillicorn.

When the media is making out a man to be a martyr, and that is exactly what the Kansas City Star and other publications have done, it needs to provide a sobering balance to the equation. The crime needs to be explained each time, and the victim needs to be more than just a name. Richard Drummond was a human being with a life, a family, and a job. Why have we never been told about this? He came from Excelsior Springs. Can't just one Kansas City Star reporter pick up a telephone and call people in Excelsior Springs to get a full picture of who Richard Drummond was? Perhaps the people who might have made such calls were the victims of some of the Star's recent firings.

And while we are at it, has anyone from the Star actually read through the court records? In legal briefs, Skillicorn's attorneys claimed their client was victimized by the court's refusal to allow a potential witness to testify. Yet this same potential witness told authorities that Skillicorn, portrayed relentlessly in the media as "a follower" who never dreamed that that Allan Nicklasson would murder Mr. Drummond, was actually a cold, calculating "manipulator" who decided early that he would pin all of the blame on Nicklasson.

I have never been a fan of the death penalty, but I am less of a fan of reporting that attempts to manipulate the facts, excluding many of them, in order to make a political point, in this case, that capital punishment is wrong.

These continued attempts to portray Dennis Skillicorn as some shining knight behind bars, being wrongly sentenced to death for a murder committed by another man, make a mockery out of the truth, and are a slap in the face to those who loved RIchard Drummond.

Between now and 12:01 a.m. Wednesday, we will be inundated with information about the impending death of Dennis Skillicorn. Let's not forget, however, that Skillicorn and his companions have lived 15 years longer than they allowed Richard Drummond to live.

Who is going to speak for this man who can no longer speak for himself.

Sadly, it won't be the Kansas City Star or the rest of the traditional media.

Supporters portray Skillicorn as "changed" man who never actually killed anyone

With seven days to go before convicted killer Dennis Skillicorn meets his maker, the drumbeat continues to grow from those trying to convince Gov. Jay Nixon to commute his sentence. One of those, Jeff Stack, coordinator of Mid-Missouri Fellowship of Reconciliation, penned an op-ed in today's Columbia Daily Tribune, in which he pleads for the governor (or someone) to spare Skillicorn's life:

Skillicorn instead has embraced restorative justice, trying to give back to society while understanding he’s unable to undo the harm.

For the past five years he has been editor of Compassion, a bimonthly national magazine featuring writings and artwork by death-row prisoners. Subscriptions and donations have raised more than $40,000 in scholarships for people who have had loved ones murdered. He co-created the Full Circle program to help offenders become accountable for their actions and gain skills necessary for re-entry into society.

He worked with other prisoners in compiling a book with the self-explanatory title “Today’s Choices Affect Tomorrow’s Dreams,” which is distributed nationally to juvenile centers. Skillicorn helped start the Potosi prison’s hospice program and has cared for a dozen terminally ill inmates through the years. Several years ago, he co-founded the 4-H LIFE program, designed to strengthen families coping with having an incarcerated parent. Skillicorn, a devout Christian, co-founded Set Free Ministry, which reaches out to thousands of prisoners annually.

If any prisoner should receive clemency, “I think it should be Dennis,” said a former Potosi correctional officer who wished to remain anonymous, fearful of recrimination for assisting in the clemency appeals. Skillicorn helped make the institution safer by developing prisoner programs, the former guard said. “The more programs the offenders have to occupy their time, the better they are. If they don’t have positive things to get into, then they get into trouble.”

“Dennis is a quiet leader. He leads by example,” said Rick Secoy, who worked for 10 years at the Potosi prison. “The population at Potosi as a whole” would “suffer without Dennis Skillicorn.”

An anti-death penalty advocate who works at the Capitol, responded to Stack:

I have felt duped in the last week by those lobbying on behalf of Mr. Skillicorn. Since the early 1980's, Skillicorn has been involved in some capacity in the murders of four different people--two in Missouri and two in Arizona. The information being handed out at the Capitol would almost lead one to believe that his involvement in the death of Richard Drummond was his first time involved in any crime at all--but it's not.

I agree with you whole heartedly--I still hold out hope that Governor Nixon will grant clemency and give Mr. Skillicorn life in prison without the possibility of parole. I am just disappointed, because this is a cause I really believe in and I feel as though the advocates for Mr. Skillicorn in the Capitol and in the media have been less than honest about his criminal history.

Impending Skillicorn execution subject of New York Times article

Lawyers for convicted killer Dennis Skillicorn have appealed his case to the U. S. Supreme Court, according to an article in today's New York Times.

The nation's highest court has already rejected a Skillicorn appeal.

The Times article again concentrates on Skillicorn, almost to the exclusion of his victim, Excelsior Springs businessman Richard Drummond. The article includes this passage about Skillicorn:

People here are deeply split over Mr. Skillicorn. His supporters say that while he participated in robbing Mr. Drummond and was convicted of murder, another man (now also awaiting execution) was the one who fired the gun that killed Mr. Drummond. They point to Mr. Skillicorn’s work in prison leading a hospice program, editing a magazine for death row inmates, and, in the view of even some prison workers, helping to create a calmer, safer atmosphere behind bars.

“He is not the one who actually killed the person, and that just says to me: ‘Whoa! Let’s take a step back,’ ” said State Representative Steven Tilley, the Republican leader. “Look, I’m not soft on crime, but we can’t redo this once we’ve executed this person,” Mr. Tilley said, adding that he has been a supporter of the death penalty, but fears it is flawed as it is being carried out.

One difference in the Times article, as compared to those which have been published by the Kansas City Star, is it offers coverage of those who favor Skillicorn's execution:

But State Representative Bob Nance of Excelsior Springs, the community not far from Kansas City where Mr. Drummond had lived, said Mr. Skillicorn “should hardly be held up as a poster child for what’s wrong with the death penalty.”

Mr. Skillicorn was implicated for his involvement in other murders — though never, he says, as the gunman. He was convicted of second-degree murder in a 1979 burglary with accomplices in which a farmer was killed. And in the days after Mr. Drummond’s death, he and his accomplice went on a cross- country spree and, the authorities say, his accomplice shot and killed an Arizona couple. Mr. Skillicorn pleaded guilty to murder in that case.

“When we look back on our lives, it is the sum of all the stories,” Mr. Nance said, “and frankly, it’s hard to believe someone would be at the wrong place at the wrong time so many different times.”

Star, newspapers should give information about Skillicorn's crimes, as well as his impending execution

The Kansas City Star and other newspapers which continue to harp on convicted killer Dennis Skillicorn's upcoming execution (one week from today) are writing as if this event is taking place in a vacuum.

While the death sentence is written about in paragraph after paragraph, the crime Skillicorn committed that led him to death row is just being lightly touched on...if it is mentioned at all. And no background is being given on his previous crimes, which have also resulted in murder.

This example comes from today's KC Star article on a court ruling that did not go Skillicorn's way:

Facing execution scheduled for a week from tomorrow, a Kansas City man lost another legal effort today to postpone it.

U.S. District Judge Scott Wright dismissed a suit filed last month on behalf of Dennis Skillicorn challenging the ability of Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon to fairly consider clemency.

Attorneys for Skillicorn contended in the suit that Nixon would be biased in considering clemency because of his former role as Missouri attorney general. They were seeking to have clemency determined by an independent board.

While that obviously should be the main thrust of the story, Skillicorn's brutal crimes are relegated to three one-sentence paragraphs and more time is spent talking about Skillicorn's partner's role in the crime than Skillicorn's.

While I have never been a fan of capital punishment, there is a reason it exists, and Dennis Skillicorn was no innocent bystander, as I have noted in previous posts.

Catholic Key: Kansas City area bishop supports clemency for Skillicorn

Count Bishop Robert W. Finn of the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph among those who are asking Gov. Matt Blunt to grant clemency to convicted killer Dennis Skilicorn, according to Catholic Key, the Diocese newspaper.

Skillicorn, who has been on death row for 12 years is scheduled to be put to death Aug. 27, the first execution in Missouri since 2005:

The application's signatories requested that Skillicorn's death sentence be commuted to life in prison without parole, citing that society and public safety would be better served if he were allowed to continue the prison ministries he has instituted.

Skillicorn was arrested in 1994 for taking part in a crime spree that led to the murder of Richard Drummond in Missouri and eventually to multiple murders in Arizona. He was convicted in Drummond's murder and sentenced to death.

Since his arrest and conviction, Skillicorn has turned his life around, working for restorative justice and trying to make amends for his past criminal behavior.

Some of the reasons given for requesting mercy for Skillicorn include: He has written a book, "Today's Choices Affect Tomorrow's Dreams" - a compilation of first hand accounts by death row inmates about the consequences of their poor decisions - and is in the process of writing a second book in the same vein.

He regularly speaks to college student groups to give them insights on prison life and capital punishment.

Skillicorn serves as editor of Compassion, a newsletter written by death row prisoners across the country that focuses on healing both capital punishment offenders and murder victim's families. Subscriptions to the newsletter and donations together have raised more than $34,000 which is used to award college scholarships to victims' family members.

He founded and leads several prison programs for prisoners and their families, and Christian prison ministries.

Skillicorn has never denied his involvement in the robbery and kidnapping of Richard Drummond, but he did not commit the murder. According to Colleen Cunningham of Missourians to Abolish the Death Penalty, if Skillicorn's execution is carried out, he would be the first in Missouri and only the ninth across the country to be executed as an accomplice.

More information about Skillicorn can be found in the Aug. 13 Turner Report.

Federal judges denies Skillicorn's request for injunction

In a decision handed down this morning, U. S. District Court Judge Nanette Laughrey denied convicted killer Dennis Skillicorn's request for a preliminary injunction which would delay his execution. Skillicorn is scheduled to be put to death at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday.

The request was made as part of an appeal filed by Skillicorn and other death row inmates challenging the state's death protocol. Judge Laughrey's opinion includes the following passage:

While the Court does not doubt that Plaintiffs' claims are brought in good faith and while there may be a slight possibility that Plaintiffs will prevail, that possibility does not reach the "significant" level required for the entry of a stay. "One cannot establish a
likelihood of success in attacking a death-penalty procedure when the theory of success has yet to succeed in a considerable number of cases . . ." Workman v. Bredesen, 486 F.3d 896, 906 (6th Cir. 2007) (vacating the district court's grant of a stay of execution in a § 1983 case challenging lethal injection protocol). More importantly, Plaintiffs have not convinced the Court by the force of their logic that there is any reasonable possibility that they will succeed on the merits of their claim, which necessarily requires a showing that Missouri law is preempted by the CSA or FDCA or is otherwise in violation of them. This factor weighs
against granting Skillicorn’s motion.

Also:

While the Court does not doubt that all attorneys involved in the litigation surrounding Skillicorn's execution have made extraordinary efforts to present all relevant issues in a timely fashion, Skillicorn's claim as argued by his counsel will not allow for consideration of those issues absent a stay. Other similar cases and the statutory bases for Plaintiffs' claims have been available to Plaintiffs for some time. Skillicorn's litigation of habeas and other collateral claims did not serve as a bar to his filing of this claim for declaratory relief.
Plaintiffs' motion was filed just over seventy-two hours before Skillicorn's scheduled execution date. He cannot overcome the strong presumption against granting a stay.

Skillicorn is being allowed to file an emergency appeal of Judge Laughrey's decision.

Nixon denies clemency for Skillicorn, asks Missourians to remember victims

Gov. Jay Nixon will not grant clemency to convicted killer Dennis Skillicorn, who is scheduled to die at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday. Nixon released the following statement:

Early this morning, I received from my counsel a final briefing on the petition for clemency from Dennis Skillicorn, which has been reviewed in detail. After careful deliberation, I have denied this petition.

As Governor, this is a power and a process I do not take lightly, particularly in capital punishment cases. Each instance involves a very specific set of facts, which must be considered on its own.

At the time he murdered Richard Drummond, Dennis Skillicorn was out on parole for another murder in Missouri. The jury that recommended the death sentence for Dennis Skillicorn took that previous murder conviction into consideration as an aggravating circumstance. The jury also took into account during the sentencing phase the fact that Richard Drummond was kidnapped and robbed before he was murdered.

After more than a decade of legal challenges, both the conviction and the death sentence of Dennis Skillicorn have held up under extensive judicial review by the state and federal courts.

The two murders for which Dennis Skillicorn was convicted in Missouri are not his only murder convictions. He also received life sentences after pleading guilty to murdering an Arizona couple in 1994, a few days after the Drummond murder.

These factors were taken into consideration in the clemency process and played a significant role in my decision. The jury that convicted Dennis Skillicorn determined that he deserved the most severe punishment under Missouri law, and my decision on clemency upholds the jury’s action.

Finally, I ask that Missourians remember Dennis Skillicorn’s victims at this time – Richard Drummond, Joseph and Charlene Babcock, and Wendell Howell – and keep their families and friends in their thoughts and prayers.

Federal court deals another loss to death row inmate; Skillicorn execution set for May 20

The latest effort by convicted killer Dennis Skillicorn to avoid the death penalty ended in defeat today when U. S. District Court Judge Scott Wright dismissed a claim by filed by lawyers for Skillicorn and two other death row inmates, which claimed Gov. Jay Nixon, who will decide any of the three should receive clemency, was biased against their cases because of his previous elected position. Of course, as attorney general, Nixon fought to keep the death penalty on track for the killers.

Skillicorn's co-plaintiffs were convicted murderers John Charles Middleton and Russell Bucklew.

Skillicorn, who is expected to be the next Missouri inmate to be executed, has already lost appeals in state and federal courts, and the U. S. Supreme Court refused to hear his case.


According to opinions handed down by the Missouri Supreme Court and the Western District Court of Appeals, Skillicorn and two other men, after their car broke down, broke into a home, stole guns and cash. They returned to their car, managed to get it going again, but before long it stalled again, leaving them stranded.

A Good Samaritan, Richard Drummond, a technical support worker for AT&T, happened upon them and offered them a lift. Skillicorn and his partner in crime, Allen Nicklasson, pulled their weapons, and as Drummond drove them to where they wanted to go, Skillicorn, Nicklasson, and the third partner, Tim DeGraffenreid, discussed what they were going to do with Drummond.

According to the description of the crime from Learfield’s capital punishment webpage, “They directed Drummond to exit I-70 at the Highway T exit. They proceeded four miles on to County Road 202 to a secluded area where they ordered Drummond to stop his vehicle. As Nicklasson prepared to take Drummond through a field toward a wooded area, Skillicorn demanded Drummond’s wallet. Knowing Nicklasson had no rope or other means by which to restrain Drummond and that Nicklasson carried a loaded .22 caliber pistol, Skillicorn watched as Nicklasson lead Drummond toward a wooded area. There, Nicklasson shot Drummond twice in the head. Skillicorn acknowledged hearing two shots from the woods and that Nicklasson returned having "already done what he had to do." Drummond’s remains were found eight days later.

The following description of Middleton's case comes from Missourinet:

John Middleton was a user and dealer of methamphetamine. On June 10, 1995, police arrested several people in Harrison County, Missouri, for possession and sale of the drug. Middleton was not one of the people arrested. About ten days after the Harrison County arrests, Middleton told a friend that "the snitches around here are going to start going down." Middleton stated that he had a "hit list" and that Alfred Pinegar was on it. Two days after making these statements, Middleton told the same friend that he was "on his way to Ridgeway, Missouri, to take Alfred Pinegar fishing."

Alfred Pinegar was also a dealer of methamphetamine and was associated with Middleton as a fellow drug dealer. Pinegar lived with his fiancé Priscilla Hobbs in Davis City, Iowa, just north of Harrison County, Missouri. On June 23, 1995, the day of Pinegar's murder, Hobbs was driving toward her home in Davis City when she saw Middleton and his girlfriend Maggie Hodges in a white Chevrolet 4x4 pickup traveling in the opposite direction. Hobbs noticed that Hodges was sitting in the middle of the truck seat instead of in the right passenger's seat. When Hobbs reached her home, Pinegar was not there and the yard had been partly mowed, as if Pinegar stopped in the middle of the job. Pinegar habitually carried a twelve-gauge shotgun, and that shotgun and about two hundred dollars were missing from the home.

Around noon that same day, Wesley Booth was working in the sporting goods department of a Wal-Mart store in Bethany, Missouri. He was approached by Hodges, Middleton, and another man, presumably Pinegar. Middleton asked Booth for six boxes of nine-millimeter shells and two boxes of twelve-gauge "double-ought" buckshot. Middleton paid cash for the ammunition. During the entire transaction Middleton was standing at the counter across from Booth.

Middleton, Hodges, and Pinegar left Wal-Mart and drove several miles northeast of Bethany near the town of Ridgeway where they parked in a field. Pinegar got out of the truck and began to run when he saw Middleton raise the twelve-gauge shotgun. Middleton shot Pinegar twice in the back. Middleton then delivered the fatal wound to Pinegar, shooting him in the face. Middleton dumped Pinegar's body over a fence. After committing the murder, Middleton and Hodges went back to the Wal-Mart store in Bethany to return the nine-millimeter ammunition.

Bucklew's crime is described this way:

Russell Bucklew apparently did not want to live apart from Stephanie Ray. The two had lived together in Cape Girardeau County until Ray decided to break up with Bucklew on Valentine’s Day, 1996. Bucklew left their mobile home and went to live with his parents.

On March 6, Bucklew returned to the trailer he had shared with Ray, found Michael Sanders, the victim in this case, there, concluded that Sanders and Ray were romantically involved, put a knife to Sanders’s throat and threatened to kill Sanders if Sanders ever came back to Ray’s trailer. Later that same evening, Bucklew returned to the trailer, found Ray alone, threatened her with a knife, cut her jaw, and punched her in the face before leaving. Ray reported all of this to the police.

Bucklew called Ray at work the following day, March 7. He threatened her again and promised to kill her, Sanders, and her children if he saw her with Sanders again. Ray moved in with Sanders, fearing to return to her own home.

Sometime during the night of March 20-21, Bucklew stole his nephew’s car, two of his brother’s pistols, two sets of his brother’s handcuffs, and a roll of duct tape. He left a note asking his family not to report his theft to the police. By the afternoon of March 21, Bucklew began surreptitiously following Ray as she left work and ran errands, ultimately discovering where she lived by following her to Sanders trailer. Bucklew waited for some period of time before he knocked on Sander’s trailer door. One of Sander’s children opened the door. Sanders saw Bucklew through the window , escorted the children to a back bedroom and grabbed a shotgun. Bucklew entered the trailer with a pistol in each hand. Sanders came into the hallway carrying a shotgun. Bucklew yelled "get down" and without further warning began shooting at Sanders. Sanders fell, struck by two bullets, one of which entered his chest and tore through his lung. Sanders dropped the shotgun. It went off and blew a hole in the trailer wall.

Bucklew aimed the gun at Sanders’s head but when he saw Sander’s six-year-old son. Bucklew fired at the boy instead. The shot missed.

Ray stepped between Bucklew and Sanders, who was holding his chest as he slumped against the wall. Bucklew invited Ray to drop to her knees. When she delayed, he struck her face with the pistol. He produced handcuffs, handcuffed her hands behind her back and dragged her to the car. The two drove away.

During the journey that followed, Bucklew demanded sex. When all of the acts he demanded were not performed, Bucklew raped Ray in the back seat of the car. Resuming the journey, Bucklew drove north on Interstate 55.

By this time law enforcement authorities had broadcast a description of the Bucklew car. Trooper James Hedrich saw the car, called for assistance, and began following Bucklew. They ultimately apprehended Bucklew after a gunfight in which both a trooper and Bucklew were wounded by gunshot.

Michael Sanders bled to death from his wounds.

Anti death penalty group asks Blunt to commute Skillicorn's death sentence

Missourians to Abolish the Death Panalty, a group with a name that describes its purpose, has asked Gov. Matt Blunt to commute Dennis Skillicorn's death sentence. Skillicorn is scheduled to be executed Aug. 27, the first Missourian to receive the death penalty since 2005:

The petition from Missourians to Abolish the Death Penalty notes that Skillicorn was not the shooter and was not present when Drummond was shot.

The other death row inmate convicted in the crime, Allen Nicklasson, says Skillicorn wasn’t even aware that Nicklasson planned to kill Drummond.

The petition also says that Skillicorn has worked hard to rehabilitate himself and others while in prison.

More information about the Skillicorn case can be found in the Aug. 13 Turner Report.

Skillicorn widow: Nixon wanted Skillicorn's family to suffer

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch printed an op-ed piece by executed killer Dennis Skillicorn's widow this week in which she rakes Gov. Jay Nixon over the coals for not granting clemency to her husband. Paula Skillicorn was a Kansas City Star reporter who met and fell in love with Skillicorn while covering his case:

Nixon punished my husband for murders outside Nixon's jurisdiction. Dennis already had served time for one and had been sentenced to life without parole for the two in Arizona. Although he never killed anyone, Dennis always accepted responsibility for his role in those tragic deaths, and he sincerely expressed his remorse and sadness for the victims every day.

The governor's words and actions show he wanted Dennis Skillicorn's family — law-abiding, hard-working taxpayers — to suffer dearly for the sake of "justice." As a result, Dennis no longer is serving his punishment; his family is.

Nixon does not care that Dennis intervened on many occasions to prevent violence among inmates or toward correctional officers. He does not value the fact that when Dennis and other hospice workers changed soiled diapers and cleaned up the vomit of dying men, it freed prison hospital staff for other work. His efforts to help children of incarcerated parents avoid their parents' mistakes appear to be a waste of time — in the governor's opinion.

I hope the Post-Dispatch offers the same amount of space to the family members of those who lost their lives because of Skillicorn's actions.

Attorneys: Skillicorn is innocent!

In a last-ditch, desperation attempt to save their client, lawyers for convicted killer Dennis Skillicorn filed a habeas corpus request with the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals Wednesday, claiming Skillicorn is innocent.

"(Skillicorn) is actually innocent of the crime of first degree murder for which he was convicted and sentenced to death," the petition said. It also claims the trial court erred when it excluded "co-defendant Allen Nicklasson's confession." Nicklasson has also been sentenced to death.

The petition also claims the prosecutor should not have been allowed to introduce evidence "of a murder in Mexico as aggravating evidence due to the fact there was no evidence that any such murder had taken place."

Skillicorn's attorneys claim that "a properly instructed jury would have acquitted (Skillicorn) of first degree murder."

The lawyers are asking for a stay of execution.

Skillicorn is scheduled to die at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday.

Co-defendant in Arizona killings says he, not Skillicorn, committed the crime

Pitch Weekly's blog features a statement from prisoner James Betts, who says that he and not Dennis Skillicorn, killed two people in Arizona. It has already been established that Skillicorn's co-defendant in the Missouri case that led to his conviction, is the one who committed the murder here, and not Skillicorn.

Betts' letter is included in the materials sent to Gov. Jay Nixon, as Skillicorn's lawyers attempt to convince the governor to grant clemency to their client. Skillicorn is scheduled to die next Wednesday. The statement includes this passage:

There was a home invasion. I got stupid and killed a guy. They (Frank and Dennis) didn't know it was going to happen. We drove to a house to rob it, and when Dennis saw that there was someone at home, he convinced me to leave the house. But I drove back, I was drunk and crazy, and I went back to the house. Dennis was scared of me. I had a gun, a shotgun. At first it was under my seat, I was driving and Dennis was in the back seat. Frank Brooks was riding in the passenger seat next to me. He testified against Dennis and me and he is out of prison now. Dennis didn't testify against me. He was a follower, he wouldn't have done it.

Dennis wanted to leave Howell's house, but I wouldn't let him. When I came outside and said that I had killed the owner of the home, Dennis went white as a sheet. I made Dennisgo in and check to make sure that the man was dead. I don't know why I did that to him. He'd never seen a dead person before. Dennis didn't say a word for the entire ride back to Kansas City, about an hour and a half. When we got back to Kansas City, Dennis left. I didn't see him again until after we were arrested. He was really scared.

Skillicorn attorney asks U. S. Supreme Court to hear appeal

With time running out on his client, attorney Joseph W. Luby has asked the U. S. Supreme Court to hear the appeal of Missouri death row inmate Dennis Skillicorn.

Skillicorn was scheduled to be the first Missouri inmate executed since 2005, but his Aug. 27 execution date was delayed when the Missouri Supreme Court ruled Skillicorn's lawyer had not been given the opportunity to conduct the necessary interviews for his clemency appeal.

Skillicorn's case was placed on the U. S. Supreme Court docket Monday. A response is due by Oct. 15.

Background on the Skillicorn case can be found in the Aug. 13 Turner Report.

Supreme Court to decide whether to hear Skillicorn case

Friday, Oct. 17, will be a big day in the life of convicted killer Dennis Skillicorn.

That is the day the U. S. Supreme Court will decide if it will hear the appeal of Skillicorn's death sentence, Four Justices have to vote to grant certiorari in order for the case to receive a full hearing.

Skillicorn was scheduled to be the first Missouri inmate executed since 2005, but his Aug. 27 execution date was delayed when the Missouri Supreme Court ruled Skillicorn's lawyer had not been given the opportunity to conduct the necessary interviews for his clemency appeal.

Previous Turner Report posts on the Skillicorn case can be found at this link.

Skillicorn appeal submitted to Alito

Three separate appeals on behalf of convicted killer Dennis Skillicorn are in the hands of U. S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito.

Skillicorn, 49, is scheduled to die at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday, for his role in the 1994 murder of Richard Drummond. He will be the first person executed in Missouri since 2005.

The Supreme Court docket indicates Skillicorn's lawyer, Kent E. Gipson, Kansas City, filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus Monday, and also applied to Justice Alito for a stay of execution. A separate attempt is being made on an effort by Skillicorn and other Missouri death row prisoners to have Gov. Jay Nixon removed as the person who decides if clemency will be granted since Nixon, in his previous role as attorney general, fought for their execution.

Kansas City Star profiles Skillicorn's "two lives"

Barring a last-minute reprieve, convicted killer Dennis Skillicorn has only three days to live.

Today's Kansas City Star includes a profile of the "two lives" of Skilicorn, the life that led him to death row, and the life he has forged since going to prison:

But friends and supporters say the Dennis Skillicorn sentenced in 1996 to die — a drug-abusing burglar convicted of participating in four murders — no longer exists.

Instead, they call him a leader, respected by both the corrections staff and other inmates, and a peacemaker whose good deeds transcend penitentiary walls.

“I know he’s not the same man who came into prison,” said Bill Henry, a volunteer who has worked with Skillicorn for years in a Christian-based group. “The good things he’s done you can’t even count.”

For Skillicorn, prison deeds are all he can do to make amends for a life of crime.

“If I had three lifetimes, I know I can’t repay society for the things I’ve done,” he said in a recent phone interview. “But I think we have a responsibility to build up what we once tore down with our criminal behavior.”

Skillicorn gets reprieve

Convicted killer Dennis Skillicorn has more than six days to live.

Skillicorn, who was scheduled to be executed next Wednesday has been given a brief reprieve:

The State Supreme Court has issued a couple of rulings in the Skillicorn case. While denying his request for a writ of habeas corpus, the Court has agreed to a motion to vacate the execution date based on Skillicorn's claim that his federally-appointed clemency counsel have been unable to obtain interviews with prisoners and prison staff for the purpose of preparing a thorough clemency petition to the governor.

The earliest a new execution date could be set is 30 days after the August 27th scheduled date.