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.