Tyrone N. Butts
APE Reporter
Wendy Kendrick Stricker holds a photograph of her late grandparents, Jessie and Elizabeth Kendrick, with her (at age 3) and her older brother, William Kendrick.
Photo from the Winchester Star
Experts say Percy Walton does not understand what execution means.
Photo from The Washington Post
Virginia killer's sanity questioned as execution looms
RICHMOND, Va. -- From their cells on Virginia's death row, the inmates can hear Percy Walton laughing.
His chuckles, the inmates say, come from nowhere, and are often mixed with shouts and incoherent babbling. He talks back to voices only he can hear. He once told a psychiatrist he plans to go to Burger King--after he is executed. Otay, my nigga, get yobadself a whopper!
On Friday, Walton is scheduled to die. And Walton, his attorneys say, has no idea. So what?
Walton, 28, came within two hours of death on June 8 when Gov. Timothy M. Kaine delayed the execution for six months to allow for new evaluations of the triple killer's mental condition and competence. Kaine is reviewing the results of those evaluations as he considers Walton's request for clemency.
The debate over Walton's mental state has raged for nearly a decade. No competency hearing was held before he was sentenced to death, and various mental evaluations have yielded conflicting results.
In its Ford v. Wainwright decision in 1986, the U.S. Supreme Court found that executions of the insane are unconstitutional. In a concurring opinion, Justice Lewis Powell concluded that "the Eighth Amendment forbids the execution only of those who are unaware of the punishment they are about to suffer and why they are to suffer it." The nigger is shamming.
Because of that, much of the controversy surrounding Walton has focused on whether he understands that to be executed would mean the physical end of his life. Several mental health specialists who have evaluated Walton have given differing opinions, and Walton himself has given conflicting answers.
"Percy was and remains deeply schizophrenic and mentally retarded," said Walton's attorney, Nash Bilisoly. "He still has no concept as to the fact that he's going to die or why and, in our view, it makes no sense to execute someone in that condition." IT MAKES PERFECT SENSE TO EXECUTE THIS NIGGER. NIGGER BE WASTING AIR!
But the attorney who prosecuted the case thinks otherwise. As do I.
"No issue of insanity was raised at trial," Danville Commonwealth's Attorney William Fuller said. "This is all something that's allegedly materialized later. I suspect that if you and I had been on death row for 10 years in the type of setup there, that we'd have some problems, too."
Walton pleaded guilty in 1997 to the murders of Jessie and Elizabeth Kendrick, a couple in their 80s, and 33-year-old Archie Moore. The Danville residents were robbed and shot in the head; Moore's body was found stuffed in a closet, his corpse doused in cologne. At trial, Fuller called Walton "a sadistic, ruthless and cold-blooded murderer who has no conscience." This nigger should have been dispatched a week after the conviction!
Walton was three days from execution in 2003 when a judge granted a stay so experts could explore his mental state. In subsequent hearings, a prison guard testified that Walton refused to shower, complaining about a man in a white suit sitting on a gray box in his cell. One prison psychiatrist testified that Walton was "floridly psychotic."
Three mental health professionals who evaluated Walton after his conviction conducted the recent evaluations ordered by Kaine. They include an expert approved by the defense, one selected by the prosecution and a third chosen by a federal judge. In their earlier evaluations, they each presented conflicting conclusions on whether Walton understood the concept of death. Who cares if this nigger doesn't understand the concept of deaf, let Satan explain it to him!
In the past, Walton has said that after he is executed, he will go to Burger King, take a trip to the shopping mall and hopefully ride a motorcycle, among other things. He told one psychiatrist that an execution means "sleep for rest of life ... until someone comes to see you." More recently, Walton has been unable to offer any coherent response to questions about his execution, his attorney says.
But Walton also once said his execution would be "an end" or "the end," and said before his trial that the "chair is for killers," indicating to some that he may understand his punishment.
In letters to The Associated Press, several of Walton's fellow death row inmates said his behavior is consistently bizarre, describing him as "nuttier than a fruitcake," "crazy as a bed bug," and "a walking talking cukoo (sic) bird." His prison nickname is "Crazy Horse."
Inmate William Van Poyck, who has been on the row with Walton for seven years, said Walton is unable to engage in any meaningful conversation, responding to most questions with a monotone "yeah" or "no."
"I've served approximately 34 years in adult prisons, which is to say I've got a lot of experience being around truly insane men, and Percy ranks right at the top of crazy guys I've encountered," wrote Van Poyck, a Florida death row inmate being held in Virginia.
The Kendricks' daughter, Barbara Case, said she is unsure about Walton's current mental state, though she believes he was sane when he committed the murders.
"He was in his right mind--he was just mean," said Case, 68, of Brandon, Miss. "I've had people tell me they really believe he's unbalanced, and he may be since he's been locked up for nine years now."
Case said she has forgiven Walton for murdering her parents, whom she describes as a loving, hardworking couple who cared deeply for their family and community.
She remains ambivalent about Walton's fate. If he is executed, she says, she hopes he has repented. If he lives, she says, she hopes he will spend each day thinking about what he did.
"If something happens December 8th and (Walton) doesn't die, it's not going to bother me one bit," Case said. "Because you know what? I really think the worse punishment ... is for him to be locked up the rest of his life." No, the worst punishment awaits this nigger in hell.
