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Did Patricia Whitaker Family Want Bart to Die

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American convicted murderer

Thomas Bartlett Whitaker
Born (1979-12-31) December 31, 1979 (age 42)

Houston, Texas[ citation needed ]

Nationality American
Other names Rudy Rios
Criminal condition Incarcerated
Motive Monetary gain (prosecution)
Mental illness (defence force)
Criminal accuse Capital murder
Punishment Death (commuted to life imprisonment without parole)
Partner(southward)
  • Chris Brashear
  • Steven Champagne
Details
Victims
  • Kevin Whitaker and Patricia Whitaker (xix and 51, deceased)
  • Kent Whitaker (52, survived)
Engagement December x, 2003

Thomas Bartlett "Bart" Whitaker (born December 31, 1979) is an American man convicted nether the Texas Law of Parties of murdering 2 family members as a 22-year old. Whitaker was convicted for the December 10, 2003 murders of his mother and 19-year old brother, and sentenced to death in March 2007.[1] He spent years on expiry row at the Polunsky Unit almost Livingston, Texas before commutation of his judgement. On February 22, 2018, about 40 minutes before his scheduled vi:00p.yard. execution, Whitaker had his death sentence commuted to life imprisonment without parole past Governor Greg Abbott, the first such commutation by Abbott and the commencement in the state since 2007.[2] [iii] As of September 2021, Whitaker resided in the McConnell Unit of measurement in Beeville, Texas.[4] [5]

Early life and education [edit]

Thomas Bartlett Whitaker was born on Dec31, 1979, to father Kent, the comptroller of a construction company, and female parent Patricia (Trish), an elementary school teacher,[5] [half dozen] in Houston, Texas.[ citation needed ] Thomas Bartlett, too chosen "Bart",[five] would become older brother to a second son, Kevin, near 3 years younger, after which his mother Trish would leave her educational activity to provide additional care to Kevin, who had a learning disability.[6] The family lived in Carbohydrate Land, Texas, "an flush, homogeneous customs outside Houston", where Bong Chevigny, writing in Medium.com, describes Bart at age 12 equally becoming jealous of his brother, and "withdr[awing] to the world of books", including Albert Camus' The Stranger (which she notes every bit a piece of work with murderous parallels).[six]

Whitaker attended Clements High School where in 1997 equally a 17-yr old he received a criminal conviction for a series of seven burglaries that he had "meticulous[ly]" planned, leading other young friends in the spree.[seven] In that same time frame,[ when? ] Whitaker'south parents had bought him several luxury vehicles.[viii] : Ch.50 [ page needed ] Whitaker began attending Baylor Academy in 2001, transferring from in that location to Sam Houston State University (SHSU), where he was thought past his parents to be in attendance in late 2003, and from which he was expected to graduate.[9] [4] He had lied to his parents nigh his continued condition in higher; varying reports had him dropping out of SHSU months before,[10] or being present there as a freshman on academic probation.[4] His parents funded his academic pursuits.[ citation needed ] In addition, they purchased a lakeside townhouse in Willis, Texas for his apply, and a $4,000 Rolex scout was given to him as a college graduation present hours earlier the murders.[8] : Ch.50 [ page needed ]

Murders [edit]

On December 10, 2003, Thomas Bartlett "Bart" Whitaker falsely told his family that he had just taken his final academy exams and would soon exist graduating from SHSU.[ citation needed ] They drove to the nearby Pappadeaux restaurant in Stafford for a celebratory dinner.[ commendation needed ] Whitaker had enlisted an individual named Chris Brashear to carry out the shootings, and a Steven Champagne to exist the getaway driver for Brashear.[11] Brashear, dressed in black (including a ski mask), entered the Whitaker family home, took Kevin'southward gun and ammunition from a locked box in his room, staged a burglary, and so waited near the front door for the Whitaker family unit to return habitation.[12] [ third-party source needed ] Upon returning domicile, merely before inbound the house, Bart said that he needed to collect his cell phone from his parked Yukon[ clarification needed ], knowing that Brashear was armed and waiting within to kill his family unit. Bart's brother Kevin entered the family dwelling first and reportedly smiled when he saw the masked Brashear. Brashear shot Kevin once through his chest, and Kevin vicious to the floor. Patricia was then besides shot in the chest, also falling to the floor. Kent rushed in and was shot in the shoulder with the bullet shattering his humerus.[12] [ third-party source needed ] Bart and then ran inside and staged a struggle with Brashear, getting shot in his left arm to divert suspicion.[ commendation needed ]

Brashear so exited through the Whitakers' back door and jumped over the fence into the rear neighbor's yard. Bart's blood brother Kevin died within minutes of existence shot; his mother Patricia died presently afterward the starting time of her airlift by Life Flying to Memorial Hermann Hospital. Bart told first responders that he idea the gunman was blackness, in social club to divert suspicion away from Brashear.[12] [13] [ page needed ] [ third-political party source needed ] Bart'southward father Kent survived the shooting in which his wife and son were killed.[xi]

Investigation and arrest [edit]

Whitaker left for United mexican states in June of 2004, using $3000 to persuade an acquaintance to assist him; he assumed the name "Rudy Rios", found work in a furniture shop in Cerralvo, United mexican states, developed a relationship with a woman, and concocted a story of service in Afghanistan to explain his gunshot wound.[4] He lived in that location nether the false proper noun for over a year. On September 15, 2005, a capital murder warrant was issued against Whitaker.[fourteen] [15] [ verification needed ] The associate who had assisted Whitaker to flee became aware of reward coin that had been offered for his arrest,[ clarification needed ] and communicated Whitaker'due south whereabouts to the constabulary.[4]

Cooperating with U.s.a. authorities, Mexican authorities arrested Whitaker without incident under clearing charges. In September 2005, Whitaker was handed over to U.S. authorities at the border town of Laredo, Texas, where he was arrested for capital murder.[14]

Trial and confidence [edit]

Whitaker was refused a plea bargain by the Commune Attorney[ who? ] in render for his admission of guilt, and was instead tried for capital murder.[ citation needed ] The trial began in March 2007, led by prosecutor Fred Felcman.[xvi] [17] It was conducted before a judge[ who? ] and a Fort Bend Canton jury.[xvi] Evidence was presented that Whitaker had recruited two individuals, Steve Champagne and Chris Brashear, ages 24 and 25 at the time of the 2007 trial, respectively,[16] [11] Champagne to be the getaway car driver and Brashear to carry out the shootings in Whitaker'south programme to murder his immediate family.[11] Early prove was presented that Whitaker had previously recruited others in abortive plots to murder his family, plots involving a co-conspirator named Adam Hipp, who had attended Clements High School with Whitaker.[16] [18] At the trial, Hipp stated that he had contacted the Sugar Land Police force Department with information nearly previous plots later on he heard most the Whitaker family murders 2003; he was given immunity from prosecution in exchange for testifying for the prosecution against Whitaker.[viii] : Ch.10 [ page needed ]

The early testimony from Hipp[ when? ] described a first Whitaker programme to set a lake house owned by his grandmother on fire "to kill his parents, brother and other relatives", a plan that never went across discussions, just ane that included a ruse every bit an chemical element—the defendent'due south "com[ing] out of the blaze with burns then that it would appear he had narrowly escaped".[16] Hipp, who admitted on cantankerous-exam that his participation in Whitaker's schemes had been "motivated past money"—law testified that Whitaker stood to inherit the family manor, valued at $one 1000000—further testified that in Dec 2000, prior to the murders of which he stood accused, Whitaker had made another preempted program, this time to "deadfall his parents and blood brother as they entered their home after a dinner outing", a plan noted by the Houston Relate to be "near identical to the i [Champagne would presently testify] was actually carried out 3 years afterward."[16] The trial estimate's[ who? ] handling of the prosecution'due south utilise of a phone recording between Hipp and Whitaker would become an element of the defense'southward later appeal of the verdict.[18] [ non-master source needed ]

In other early testimony, Steve Champagne described Whitaker recruiting him to be the getaway commuter for Whitaker's eventual 2003 plan to murder his firsthand family unit,[eleven] and his testimony included the detail that Whitaker's gunshot wound was a ploy to make it look similar he was a victim, likewise.[sixteen] Prosecutors presented testify that although it wasn't Whitaker who shot his family members, he was responsible for the murders because he played the leading function in the conspiracy to commit the murders[19] [ amend source needed ]

The prosecution's theory of motive focused on financial proceeds, with evidence variously described every bit pointing to Whitaker standing to inherit "nigh $i.5 million" later the death of his parents and brother,[iv] or that he had wanted to capitalize on a million-dollar life insurance payout.[ citation needed ] At trial, it was noted that Whitaker had access to an $eighty,000 trust fund from his grandparents, although he testified that he did not know he could admission information technology.[eight] : Ch.53 [ page needed ] Whitaker denied prosecution claims regarding the insurance turn a profit motive, arguing that the only life insurance policy the family had was for $50,000 on his father's life.[ citation needed ] [ clarification needed ]

Kent Whitaker had already forgiven his son and his co-conspirators for their parts in the murders (reported on equally early as 2007),[twenty] and had tried at the time of his son's trial, years earlier, to persuade the jury not to deliver a capital punishment.[ citation needed ]

On Friday, March two, 2007, the State of Texas[ who? ] rested the case for the prosecution in the majuscule murder trial for Thomas Bartlett Whitaker'south role in the deaths of his brother and mother.[16] Randy McDonald, attorney for the defense, rested their instance on the same solar day, without calling witnesses, and the judge[ who? ] scheduled endmost arguments for the morning of March 5th.[16] Afterward closing arguments, the case went to the jury.[ when? ][[:Category:|]] Afterwards deliberation,[ when? ] the Fort Bend County jury convicted Whitaker of capital letter murder,[11] under the Texas law of parties.[12] [ verification needed ] [ third-party source needed ] The trial had lasted six days in total; the "jury deliberat[ed] for ii hours, and sentenced Whitaker to expiry".[4] [11]

Co-conspirator convictions [edit]

Chris Brashear received a life judgement with the possibility of parole afterwards 30 years for his role in the murders, in a plea bargain worked out with prosecutors; Steven Champagne received 15 years later on serving every bit the main witness for the prosecution.[11]

Whitaker appeals [edit]

Whitaker appealed his death judgement suggesting ix points of error, the outset four of which the last Appeals Court proceeding addressed as new arguments, the last v of which were cursorily rejected as having been earlier decided without subsequent change in opinion; the first four were, that the trial courtroom:

  • should have included in the trial record the written proffer made by Whitaker's original counsel "to persuade the prosecutor not to seek the decease penalty", and that information technology
  • errantly allowed prosecutors to refer to that document, and to plea negotiations at trial;
  • immune "nonuniform 'application of the police under which [he] was tried and sentenced to death'" in allowing the country to seek the decease penalty without "respect to whatever guidelines", resulting in violation of his land and federal constitutional rights; and that its
  • assuasive admission of the recording related to the 2001 murder plot involving Adam Hipp without removal of arguably inadmissable, prejudicial content constituted a reversible mistake, thus denying Whitaker a fair trial.[xviii] [ non-primary source needed ]

The Appeals courtroom plant in favor of the appellant on none of these points of constabulary, fully argued.[18] [ non-primary source needed ] The remaining 5 points were as well decided confronting the defendant based on prior rejection of the aforementioned claims.[ when? ] [18] [ non-primary source needed ] [21]

After losing the appeal to the federal courts early in 2017,[22] Whitaker'south legal team appealed his claims to the U.S. Supreme Court, with the new appeal being docketed on July 6, 2017,[23] [ non-chief source needed ] based on the exclamation that "his trial lawyers were scarce and that Fort Bend County prosecutors engaged in misconduct", in the latter case, that they were improper in their use, in trial, of facts surrounding an unsuccessful attempt past the defense to negotiate a pre-trial plea agreement.[22] The entreatment was certiorari denied on Oct ten, 2017, with the Court providing no comment or explanation.[23] [22] On November 1, 2017, his death warrant was signed, scheduling his execution for Feb 22, 2018.[24]

Whitaker'south defence squad lodged an entreatment focused on the purity of drugs used in Texas executions in 2017-2018.[ verification needed ] The State of Texas executes by overdosing the condemned with pentobarbital from a compounding chemist's, and Whitaker's defence lawyers had claimed the state's first two executions of 2018 were botched considering of sometime lethal injection drugs.[ citation needed ] [25] Whitaker withdrew his appeal pertaining to the purity of the drug used, pending at the Supreme Court of the United States, just before a decision by the Texas Governor to grant clemency and commute his sentence.[3]

Commutation of judgement [edit]

Alongside the legal submission from the Whitaker legal team—an 18 page document from Whitaker lawyers Keith Due south. Hampton and James Rytting (the latter at Hilder & Associates)[26] [ non-primary source needed ]—Whitaker's father, Kent, also appealed, cooperating with the legal squad'south submission and writing a alphabetic character in the public forum of the Houston Relate on January eighteen, 2018, asking that the Texas Lath of Pardons and Paroles "spare my son".[27] The Chairman of that Lath[ who? ] as well met with Kent Whitaker for a one-half hour.[28] [ total citation needed ]

On February 20, 2018, in a rare determination, the Texas Lath of Pardons and Paroles recommended that the capital punishment be commuted to life imprisonment,[29] The seven-member Board unanimously recommended charity to Republican Governor Greg Abbott,[xxx] [29] the first time it had washed so unanimously since 2009.[3] [29]

Abbott accepted their recommendation and commuted Whitaker's death sentence, noting that Whitaker had "voluntarily and forever waived any and all claims to parole in substitution for a commutation of his sentence from decease to life without the possibility of parole." This was the first commutation of such a sentence from Abbott, and the get-go from a Texas Governor since 2007.[ii] [iii] Abbott cited the fact that Whitaker did not burn down the gun and that his begetter, Kent, "insists that he would exist victimized once again if the country put to death his last remaining immediate family unit member", as the reasons for the commutation.[31] [ not-main source needed ] [32] [ non-primary source needed ]

Whitaker responded to the commutation of his sentence past saying, "I am thankful for this decision, non for me but for my dad."[33] Whitaker had previously stated his strong opposition to the idea of life without the possibility for parole, and wrote in his weblog from prison house:

[Life without parole], however, offends and assaults everything I believe in. Information technology irrevocably denies any possibility of rehabilitation; information technology eviscerates hope entirely. Information technology is for this reason that I would never sign for it, even if that were the only way to evade a render to death row. [Thomas Bartlett Whitaker, Feb 17, 2012][34]

Whitaker had earlier stated, when his execution was still expected, that he felt that his male parent would be farther victimized past the execution.[35]

Chronology of cases [edit]

  • Thomas Bartlett Whitaker 5. The State of Texas , 286 S.Westward.3d 355 (Tex. Crim. App. 2009). Finalisation of Whitaker's conviction within the Texas system. Case No. AP-75,654, arising from Cause No. 42,969 in the 400th Commune Courtroom, Fort Curve County, Texas. The court opens, noting that the Appellant did not "challenge the sufficiency of... evidence" supporting the original conviction for capital murder, appealing only the sentence of expiry, in that location raising "raises nine points of error". The courtroom cursorily rejected five every bit having been earlier decided (without subsequent change in court opinion). Four others the Court addressed as new arguments, regarding the prosecutions reference at trial to Whitaker's original pre-trial "proffer" for penalty other than expiry and its omission from the trial record, "nonuniform 'application of the law'" during trial and sentencing, and admission at trial of arguably prejudicial parts of a recording related to the 2001 murder plot; the Appellant argued these constituted reversible error denying Whitaker'south state and federal ramble rights to a fair trial. The Court concluded, "[f]inding no merit in any... points" and "affirmed the judgment of the trial courtroom", including sentence.
  • Thomas Whitaker; Perry Williams, 5. Brad Livingston, Executive Director of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice; William Stephens, Director, Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Correctional Institutions Division; James Jones; Unknown Executioners (5th Cir. 2015).Text "Before Prado, Elrod, and Graves, Circuit Judges. / Per Curiam / Pursuant to 5th Cir. R. 47.5, the court has determined that this stance should not be published and is non precedent except under the limited circumstances gear up along in... 47.5.four." Case No. 13-20750, Appeal of the Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(1) dismissal, by the commune court, of a accused ceremonious action that had asserted that their rights to due process, access to the courts, and punishment not barbarous or unusual were violated. Here, the social club of the district court was vacated, and the case remanded "then that Whitaker [and Williams be] able to fully develop... claims based on the existing protocol for an appropriate trial on the merits."
  • Thomas Bartlett Whitaker, Petitioner 5. Lorie Davis, Managing director, Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Correctional Institutions Partitioning (U.South. October ten, 2017).Text Entreatment of Whitaker's example to the U.S. Supreme Court, Instance No. 17-5080, Capital Case, docketed on July half dozen, 2017, data fatigued from a posting of the Order List for 583 U.Southward. for Tuesday, October 10, 2017 (entry on p. half-dozen of 12 pp.). For the Supreme Court record listing all proceedings and orders arising from the July 6, 2017 U.Southward. docketing of the entreatment of the April four, 2017 decision of the United states of america Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit (lower court, instance no. xvi-70013), see this record, accessed Jan half-dozen, 2022. The petition was certiorari denied on Oct 10, 2017, with the Court providing no comment or explanation.
  • Whitaker vs. Stephens[ when? ] [ full citation needed ] [ description needed ]
  • Thomas Bartlett Whitaker vs. Lorie Davis[ when? ] [ full commendation needed ] [ clarification needed ]
  • Thomas Whitaker and Christopher Wilkins, et al v. Oliver J. Bell, Members of the Tx. Brd. of Criminal Justice, John Whitmire, David J. Callender, M.D., Governor Rick Perry, et al[ when? ] [ total commendation needed ] [ clarification needed ]

Other mail service-conviction developments [edit]

Thomas Whitaker and other inmates initiated an unsuccessful form action confronting the State of Texas, addressing the atmospheric condition on its death row,[36] [ not-primary source needed ] where inmates are kept in solitary solitude for 23 hours a day.[37] [ verification needed ] [ better source needed ]

Kent Whitaker, his father and a surviving victim of the crime, wrote the volume, Murder by Family: The Incredible True Story of a Son'southward Treachery and a Father'southward Forgiveness, which—as described past Barry Leibowitz for CBS News—is about his "heart-wrenching journey... to forgive the nameless stranger" responsible for his wounding, and the "brutal murder of his wife and son", a journey that included his realizing that the murder "had been orchestrated past [his] oldest son Bart".[38] Whitaker provides an business relationship from his persective every bit father, "behind-the-scenes", focusing on the time frame from the crime through his son's sentencing, addressing motive, and including portions of his correspondence with his son.[38] [thirteen]

Whitaker earned an undergraduate degree from Adams State University,[39] [ better source needed ] and a Master's degree in Humanities from California State University, Dominguez Hills.[39] [ better source needed ] These are reported to take been earned while he was on death row.[ citation needed ] For the latter, he appears to accept presented a thesis in partial fulfillment of the degree, entitled "Who Fears Hell Runs Toward It", in the summer of 2018.[forty] [ non-principal source needed ] The masters thesis has been subject of some controversy, equally someone appears to have offered information technology as a volume for sale (see as well below).[41] [ needs update ]

Writings [edit]

Whitaker has contributed to Solitary Lookout man, where he wrote nigh the effects of lonely confinement on himself and other death row inmates.[42] He also contributed[ clarification needed ] to Hell Is a Very Small Identify: Voices from Lonely Solitude.[ citation needed ] [43]

Whitaker won prizes in PEN America'southward Prison house Writing Program for his essay "Hell'south Kitchen",[44] "Manufacturing Anomie"[ citation needed ] and the essay "A Nix Would Do as Well."[ citation needed ] He was named a 2018-2019 PEN America Writing for Justice Fellow,[45] a plan that aims to support creation of "written works of lasting merit that illuminate disquisitional issues related to mass incarceration and catalyze public debate".[46] Scholarly attention has been directed toward this PEN plan, noting that while PEN was an esteemed homo rights organization known for the defense of free speech communication rights, in particular of persecuted writers, the Prison Writing Program presented a distinct agenda, namely in a "[conventionalities] in the restorative and rehabilitative power of writing." to "help convicted criminals become writers", an aim which raises questions about the nature and residence of the ability inmates are given, and well-nigh its bear upon on prisoners and on society.[44] Ira Wells, in particular, points to Whitaker's participation in the program to exemplify the questions, declaring Whitaker'south prison writing powerful in its power to "shock readers into a sensory appreciation of the radical strangeness of [his] life lived".[44]

In 2007, Whitaker founded an inmate blog, originally created with the aid of his begetter, at present maintained by volunteers, entitled Minutes Earlier Vi; it has published his work and trial records, and manufactures, poesy, and art from inmates held in prisons in the United States.[47] [48] The name of the weblog references "the 60 minutes at which executions have place in Texas".[49] [ better source needed ] [6]

As of 2019, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice was investigating a report that Whitaker's masters thesis was beingness offered for sale, online.[41] [ needs update ]

Written works [edit]

Examples of the prison writing of the championship subject, with dates of their start publication, include:

  • Whitaker, Thomas Bartlett (2016). "A Nothing Would Do Equally Well". In Casella, Jean; Ridgeway, James; Shourd, Sarah (eds.). Hell Is a Very Small Place: Voices from Alone Confinement. The New Press. pp. 101–113. ISBN9781620971376.
  • —, — — (May 5, 2011). "Hell's Kitchen". PEN.org . Retrieved April 25, 2017. {{cite spider web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors listing (link) [ full citation needed ]
  • —, — — (July vii, 2014). "Manufacturing Anomie". PEN.org . Retrieved April 25, 2017. {{cite spider web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) [ total citation needed ]
  • —, — — (July 7, 2014). "A Nothing Would Practice Every bit Well". PEN.org . Retrieved April 25, 2017. {{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) [ full commendation needed ]

Further reading [edit]

  • Ridgeway, James & Casella, Jean (May 2, 2013). "America's ten Worst Prisons: Polunsky". MotherJones.com . Retrieved Jan 4, 2022. {{cite spider web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) A piece about the conditions in the prison in which Whitaker was once held.
  • Jones, Andrea (September 2, 2013). "Prison Writing and Political Will". TheAmericanReader.com . Retrieved January ix, 2022. A prisoner-centric piece—substantially no mention of crimes committed or of victims—focusing on the difficulties faced by prisoners who wish to write for an outside readership. For a commendation presenting the appearing date of publication of this work, see this source.
  • Hannaford, Alex (June 12, 2015). "Letters from Decease Row: Faith Behind Confined". TexasObserver.org . Retrieved January ix, 2022. A small set up of interviews sampling perspectives on organized religion from those on Texas' decease row, featuring an quondam one from Whitaker.
  • McCullough, Jolie (February xx, 2018). "In Rare Move, Texas Parole Board Recommends Clemency for Death Row Inmate Thomas Whitaker". Texas Tribune . Retrieved January 4, 2022. An all-encompassing piece of Texas-based reporting on the charity outcome.
  • Meissner, Caits & Whitaker, Thomas Bartlett (April 19, 2019). "Works of Justice: An Interview with Writing for Justice Swain Thomas Bartlett Whitaker". PEN.org . Retrieved May 16, 2019. {{cite spider web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) An interview of Whitaker by Meissner of PEN, afterward his receipt of their fellowship.
  • Beausoleil, Sophia (August xiv, 2019). "Convicted Killer Defendant of Writing, Selling Book While in Prison house". Click2Houston.com . Retrieved Jan 4, 2022. A report on a Texas investigation into the sale of Whitaker'southward MS thesis online.

Encounter also [edit]

  • Jennifer Pan – an Ontario woman who arranged for the murder of her family after faking attendance at a university
  • Dana Ewell – a California man who arranged the execution of his family unit after lying about business success while at college
  • Atif Ahmad Rafay – a Washington man who killed his mother, father, disabled sister, and all-time friend for financial proceeds

References [edit]

  1. ^ Hanson, Eric (September 19, 2007). "Triggerman in Sugar Land Slayings Pleads Guilty". Houston Chronicle . Retrieved April 25, 2017.
  2. ^ a b ABC13 Staff (February 22, 2018). "Clemency Rare for Death Row Convicts in Texas". ABC13.com . Retrieved January 4, 2022.
  3. ^ a b c d McCullough, Jolie (Feb twenty, 2018). "In Rare Movement, Texas Parole Board Recommends Clemency for Expiry Row Inmate Thomas Whitaker". Texas Tribune . Retrieved Jan 4, 2022.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Vanapalli, Viswa (September 24, 2021). "Is Bartlett Whitaker Expressionless or Alive? Where is He At present?". TheCinemaholic.com . Retrieved January 6, 2022.
  5. ^ a b c Reisner, Rebecca (October xi, 2019). "Bart Whitaker: Relative Tragedy". Medium.com . Retrieved Jan 4, 2022. [teaser] Updates to your favorite episodes: A Young Heir Tries to Hasten His Fortune ("Family Interrupted," Forensic Files).
  6. ^ a b c d Chevigny, Bong (August ix, 2018). "The Governor, the Father, and the Murderer". Medium.com . Retrieved Jan four, 2022. Note, the reporter for the preceding citation states the potential conflict of interest, of having served every bit a guess for the PEN Prison Writing Contest, including in its judging of the works of the title subject field of this article. [Quote] "The land of Texas executes its condemned around six o'clock p.m. Minutes before 6 on February 22, 2018, Governor Greg Abbott commuted the death penalty of Thomas Bartlett Whitaker to life in prison without parole. Abbot was following the very rare unanimous recommendation of the Board of Pardons and Parole that Whitaker live out his life in prison. For Texas this was astonishing. Near 150 people take been executed since a Texas governor last spared a condemned prisoner. Abbot has allowed thirty executions to take identify during his 3 twelvemonth tenure.... / 2 of [Whitaker'south] essays and a brusque story won kickoff prizes in the PEN Prison Writing Competition. As a juror for the competition, I first encountered his striking talent in these works. / The elder of ii sons, he grew upward in Saccharide Land, an affluent, homogeneous customs exterior Houston. His brother won more of their parents' attending, because of his learning disability. Whitaker was jealous and withdrew to the world of books. (When he was twelve, he was intensely afflicted by Albert Camus' absurdist novel The Stranger...)."
  7. ^ Palkot, Stephen (Feb xix, 2018) [March half dozen, 2007]. "Whitaker Faces Life or Death". Fort Bend Herald and Texas Coaster . Retrieved January 4, 2022.
  8. ^ a b c d Mitchell, Corey (2010). Savage Son. New York: Kensington/Pinnacle. ISBN9780786020133 . Retrieved January 4, 2020. [ verification needed ] [ full citation needed ] Note, no access to content is apparently available online.
  9. ^ Martinez, Deidre (February 19, 2018). "Former Baylor Student Faces Execution". Baylor Lariat. Waco, Texas: Baylor University. Retrieved Jan 5, 2020.
  10. ^ Phillips, Harry; Stohler, Elissa (May one, 2009). "Gov. Commutes Death penalty for Man Convicted of Masterminding Murder of Female parent, Brother". CBS News. Retrieved September 18, 2018. Unknown to his parents, the dinner commemoration marking his graduation was a fraud. He'd dropped out of school months earlier.
  11. ^ a b c d eastward f g h Hanson, Eric (Nov 19, 2007). "Driver in Sugar State Murder Plot Gets 15 years". Houston Chronicle . Retrieved Apr 25, 2017.
  12. ^ a b c d ABC News Staff & Whitaker, Kent (January 19, 2009). "'Murder past Family': Read Shocking Excerpt". ABCNews.go.com . Retrieved January four, 2022. [ tertiary-party source needed ]
  13. ^ a b Whitaker, Kent (2008). Murder by Family: The Incredible True Story of a Son's Treachery and a Father's Forgiveness. New York, NY: Simon and Schuster. ISBN9781439139981 . Retrieved January half-dozen, 2022. {{cite book}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) [ page needed ] [ third-party source needed ] See also this archived version, ISBN 9781416578130, which requires registration for access.
  14. ^ a b Martinez-Ramundo, Denise & Phillips, Harry (Apr 28, 2009). "'Sugar Country' Culprit Made New Life in Mexico". ABCNews.get.com . Retrieved January six, 2022. {{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors listing (link)
  15. ^ Kumar, Seshadri (September 25, 2005). "Bart Whitaker Arrested". Houston Chronicle . Retrieved January 28, 2018.
  16. ^ a b c d due east f chiliad h i Hanson, Eric (March 2, 2007). "Testimony Ends in Whitaker'south Murder Trial". Houston Chronicle . Retrieved February 15, 2018.
  17. ^ Europe World News Staff (Feb 20, 2018). "Reprieve for Man Who Plotted Own Family's Murder". EuropeWorldNews.com . Retrieved January four, 2022. Fred Felcman, the original prosecutor in the case, said the board made its conclusion purely because of the father's forgiveness and disregarded the big number of others affected by the murders. He said testimony from psychiatrists and the family's investigators who [had stated that] Bart was manipulative was disregarded.
  18. ^ a b c d e Thomas Bartlett Whitaker five. The Country of Texas , 286 South.W.3d 355, 355 and final (Tex. App. 2009) ("[No. AP-75,654] From Crusade No. 42,969 in the 400th District Court / Fort Bend County / Hervey, J., delivered the opinion of the Court in which Keller, P.J., Meyers, Womack, Keasler, Holcomb and Cochran, JJ., joined. Price, and Johnson, JJ., concurred... The judgment of the trial courtroom is affirmed. / Hervey, J. / Delivered: June 24, 2009").
  19. ^ "IamWhoWeR Mulhall" [video post past] (June 19, 2017). Bart Whitaker On The Stand up (pirated, uploaded video). Outcome occurs at UNKNOWN Fourth dimension. Retrieved Jan 5, 2022. [ total commendation needed ] [ non-main source needed ] Notation, the time-stamp of the betoken in this iv:22 video that is being referenced has non been provided.
  20. ^ Kever, Jeannie (October xix, 2007). "Father Forgives Son Who Had Mom, Blood brother Killed". Houston Chronicle . Retrieved January four, 2022.
  21. ^ In brief, those five points were (i) that execution past lethal injection violated the eighth and 14th amendments to the U.South. Constitution, (ii) that denial of the defendent's motility to hold various sections of applicable articles of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure [37.071 SEC. two(e) AND (f) with regard to "burden of proof"] unconstitutional was in error, (iii) besides for those sections with regard to "failure to require mitigation exist considered", (four) besides for section 37.071(ii)(b)(2) "parties special issue," and finally, (v), that in failing to grant certain of the accused'south requests (e.thousand., "clarifying voir dire pedagogy", etc.) and in overruling his further motion to hold unconstitutional a "statuatory definition of mitigating bear witness", the trial court again erred. The Appeals courtroom constitute that the "Appellant... [was] aware that this Court has rejected these claims", and despite his requesting liberty to brief the courtroom in instance it had since inverse its positions on them, that the "Courtroom has not changed its position" such that the remaining "[p]oints of error... are overruled."
  22. ^ a b c Graczyk, Michael (October 10, 2017). "Human being Condemned in Family Murder Plot Loses High Court Entreatment". U.S. News and World Written report. Associated Press. Retrieved January 5, 2022.
  23. ^ a b Thomas Bartlett Whitaker, Petitioner v. Lorie Davis, Managing director, Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Correctional Institutions Sectionalization (U.S. October 10, 2017) ("[Case] No. 17-5080, Capital Case. Gild List: 583 U.S. / Tuesday, Oct x, 2017 (12 pp.) / Certiorari Denied / 17-5080 Whitaker, Thomas B. V. Davis, Dir., TX DCJ (p. 6). Annotation: volume, reporter, etc. UNKNOWN.").Text For listing of the Supreme Court record of all proceedings and orders (and other information) stemming from the July 6, 2017 U.S. docketing of the appeal of the April 4, 2017 determination of the United States Courtroom of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (lower court, instance no. 16-70013), meet this record, accessed January 6, 2022.
  24. ^ Blakinger, Keri (November 6, 2017). "Guess Sets Execution Date for Sugar Land Man Who Had Family Killed for $i Million Inheritance". Houston Chronicle . Retrieved Jan 5, 2022.
  25. ^ See also McCullough, Jolie (Feb xx, 2018). "Texas Prison Organization Stalls Release of Public Information on Executions". Texas Tribune . Retrieved February xv, 2018.
  26. ^ Hampton Keith South. & Rytting, James; Attorneys for Thomas Whitaker (north.d.). "Before the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles / Request for Substitution of Death Sentence to a Bottom Penalization" (PDF). Assets.DocumentCloud.org . Retrieved Jan v, 2022. {{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) [ better source needed ]
  27. ^ Whitaker, Kent (Jan eighteen, 2018). "A Father'southward Plea: Spare My Son [Friday Letters]". Houston Chronicle . Retrieved January 5, 2022.
  28. ^ Kelly, Megyn & Whitaker, Kent (February 6, 2018). Begetter Fights To Save Son Who Murdered Mother And Brother (streaming video). New York, NY: The Today Prove, via YouTube.com. Upshot occurs at UNKNOWN TIME. Retrieved January 5, 2022. [ total citation needed ] Note, the time-stamp of the signal in this 10:29 video that is being referenced has not been provided.
  29. ^ a b c Weissert, Will & Graczyk, Michael (Feb xx, 2018). "Texas Parole Board Recommends Killer Be Spared From Expiry". Washington Post. Archived from the original on February 21, 2018. Retrieved Feb 20, 2018. {{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  30. ^ Graczyk, Michael (February 21, 2018). "Texas Governor Weighs Parole Board's Communication on Inmate'southward Fate". U.S. News and Earth Written report. Associated Press. Retrieved Jan 5, 2022.
  31. ^ Function of the Texas Governor (February 22, 2018). "Governor Abbott Commutes Death Sentence of Thomas Bartlett Whitaker" (press release). Gov.Texas.gov . Retrieved January 5, 2022.
  32. ^ Abbott, Greg & Pablos, Rolando B. (February 22, 2018). "Proclamation of the Governor of the Land of Texas [Commuting Capital punishment of Thomas Bartlett Whitaker]" (PDF). Gov.Texas.gov . Retrieved January v, 2022. {{cite spider web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) See likewise the unformated, digital version of the same.
  33. ^ Arnold, Robert (February 22, 2018). "Whitaker Statement to Prison Officials". Twitter.com . Retrieved March 2, 2018.
  34. ^ Whitaker, Thomas Bartlett (February 17, 2012). "In Response to Feministe". MinutesBeforeSix.blogspot.com . Retrieved February 23, 2018.
  35. ^ Click2Houston Staff (August 1, 2012). "Bart Whitaker Talks Nearly Eventual Execution". Click2Houston.com . Retrieved April 25, 2017.
  36. ^ Thomas Whitaker and Christopher Wilkins, et al v. Oliver J. Bell, Members of the Tx. Brd. of Criminal Justice, John Whitmire, David J. Callender, Thou.D., Governor Rick Perry, et al (Due east.D. Tex.)—Grade Activeness Complaint, Jury Trial Demanded; NOTE: book, reporter, etc. and Ceremonious Action [Case] No. UNKNOWN.[ total citation needed ]
  37. ^ Sasser, Brian [video post by]; Whitaker, Thomas Bartlett; others (2013). KPRC-TV Decease Row interview with Thomas Bart Whitaker (pirated, uploaded video). Upshot occurs at UNKNOWN TIME. Retrieved January 5, 2022. [ full citation needed ] Note, the time-stamp of the bespeak in this iv:02 video that is being referenced has non been provided. Note also, this video could not exist tied to the apparent producer, Click2Houston.com, and so must be considered doubtable.
  38. ^ a b Leibowitz, Barry (Baronial 24, 2009). "Book 'Em: Murder past Family unit". CBS News . Retrieved January 6, 2022. Murder by Family... is the story of Kent Whitaker's eye-wrenching journey toward forgiveness and religion later on the cruel murder of his wife and son. While lying in the emergency room after being airlifted from his home, Kent soon learned of his family's fate. His emotions chosen for a response to either forever hate the murderer... or forgive him. At that moment, Kent made the decision to forgive the nameless stranger who had taken so much. 'I have had a hundred people tell me that they think I'1000 nuts—that I should detest the shooter and weep out for vengeance,' writes Kent. 'Mayhap I am crazy, but I believe that in those early moments God worked supernaturally, allowing me to forgive completely and immediately… Picayune did I realize just how important my decision to forgive would be in the coming months.' An investigation uncovered that a murder plot had been orchestrated by Kent's oldest son Bart—whom Kent had unknowingly forgiven. Kent Whitaker gives readers a backside-the-scenes business relationship from the day of the murders up to Bart's sentencing, and includes excerpts of letters from Bart as he tries to explain why he did it.
  39. ^ a b Whitaker, Thomas Bartlett & PEN.org Staff (January 6, 2022). "Thomas Bartlett Whitaker [contributor autobiography]". PEN.org . Retrieved January 6, 2022. [ 3rd-party source needed ],
  40. ^ Whitaker, Thomas Bartlett (2018). "Who Fears Hell Runs Toward Information technology: On the Christian Metaphysical Foundations of the American Penitentiary and the Missing Image of Resistance in Foucault'south 'Discipline and Punish'" (CalState-DH thesis posting). Scholarworks.CalState.edu . Retrieved January 4, 2022.
  41. ^ a b Beausoleil, Sophia (Baronial fourteen, 2019). "Bedevilled Killer Accused of Writing, Selling Book While in Prison". Click2Houston.com . Retrieved Jan iv, 2022.
  42. ^ Whitaker, Thomas Bartlett & Hettiger, Julia (July 27, 2016). "Voices From Alone: The State of war of All Against All". SolitaryWatch.com . Retrieved January 4, 2022. {{cite spider web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  43. ^ Casella, Jean; Ridgeway, James; Shourd, Sarah, eds. (2016). Hell Is a Very Small-scale Place: Voices from Solitary Solitude. The New Press. ISBN9781620971376.
  44. ^ a b c Wells, Ira (January 1, 2014). ""No Hostages through These Doors": Thomas Bartlett Whitaker's "Hell's Kitchen" and the Politics of PEN". Canadian Review of American Studies. 44 (iii [Winter]): 471-499. doi:10.3138/cras.2014.001. S2CID 144743297. Retrieved January 4, 2022. The PEN Prison Writing Program... has a slightly dissimilar agenda... to aid convicted criminals become writers '[believing] in the restorative and rehabilitative power of writing'... [and] 'utilise of the written give-and-take as a legitimate form of ability." But what is the nature of the "power" of the written word? And what, moreover, volition this power restore and rehabilitate? [Are PEN] honouring an important strand of America's liberal intellectual heritage? ...pledging fidelity to a romantic coupling of art and freedom? ...inadvertently helping to demark prisoners ever more insidiously to the carceral regime? Or... claiming something that is actually truthful? This article addresses these questions through a reading of Thomas Bartlett Whitaker'southward prize-winning essay "Hell's Kitchen" and finds that the power of Whitaker'due south prison writing resides in its chapters to shock readers into a sensory appreciation of the radical strangeness of life lived in a state of civil decease.
  45. ^ PEN Staff (2018). "Writing for Justice Fellowship 2018-2019". PEN.org . Retrieved January 4, 2022.
  46. ^ PEN Staff (2022). "Writing for Justice Fellowship". PEN.org . Retrieved January 4, 2022.
  47. ^ Hopper, Jessica (September 8, 2011). "Death Row Bloggers Go Help From Victims". ABCNews.go.com . Retrieved January 5, 2022.
  48. ^ Milito, Dina [Executive Manager]; O'Neill, Teri [Director]; Whitaker, Thomas Bartlett [Founder and Creative Advisor]; five others. (January 4, 2022). "The Minutes Before Six Team". MinutesBeforeSix.blogspot.com . Retrieved January 4, 2022. CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  49. ^ Andress, Justin (September 23, 2021). "'Far Worse Than Whatever Capital punishment': Horrific Realities of Lone Confinement". Ranker.com . Retrieved January 6, 2022. [ meliorate source needed ]

External links [edit]

  • Images of the "Faces of Expiry Row", an updated presentation of all Inmates on death row in Texas, presented past the Texas Tribune.
  • Criminal Case Tape links for the ii Fort Bend County cases for Whitaker.
  • Texas Section of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) Decease Row Information tape regarding Whitaker'south earlier stay on death row.
  • An article featuring a 600 give-and-take argument from Whitaker claiming TDCJ retaliation for a Section 1983 exclamation his constitutional rights had been violated.

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Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Bartlett_Whitaker

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