Robert Holland – white, age 43
Sentenced to death in Lincoln County, Arkansas
By: a jury
Date of crime: 12/07/2012
Prosecution case/defense response: Robert Holland was already serving a life-sentence without parole at Cummins Prison when he tied his bed sheet into a noose, waited for his new cellmate to fall asleep, and then strangled him. Matthew Scheile, 22, was serving a 48-month term for failure to register as a sex offender from an original conviction of sexual indecency with a child and sentence of 5-years’ probation in Cleburne County in 2010. Holland was convicted of capital murders in 1991 and refused to have a cellmate, which brought on disciplinary actions from the prison staff. Scheile was found dead 12-hours after Holland agreed to have a cellmate. The jury took only twenty minutes to reach its decision.
Sources: Pine Bluff Commercial 7/11/2014
By: a jury
Date of crime: 12/07/2012
Prosecution case/defense response: Robert Holland was already serving a life-sentence without parole at Cummins Prison when he tied his bed sheet into a noose, waited for his new cellmate to fall asleep, and then strangled him. Matthew Scheile, 22, was serving a 48-month term for failure to register as a sex offender from an original conviction of sexual indecency with a child and sentence of 5-years’ probation in Cleburne County in 2010. Holland was convicted of capital murders in 1991 and refused to have a cellmate, which brought on disciplinary actions from the prison staff. Scheile was found dead 12-hours after Holland agreed to have a cellmate. The jury took only twenty minutes to reach its decision.
Sources: Pine Bluff Commercial 7/11/2014
Latavious Johnson — black, age 30
Sentenced to death in Lee County, Arkansas
By: a jury
Date of crime: 01/20/12
Prosecution case/defense response: Latavious Johnson, who was serving life in prison, for killing his father, was sentenced to death for stabbing a 47-year old guard, Cpl. Barbra Ester. Ester, working at an east Arkansas Regional Unit, ordered Johnson to hand over his shoes. The shoes were not prison-issued and the investigation was to see if they were authorized or considered contraband under prison regulations. Johnson stabbed Ester in the stomach with a sharpened piece of metal from an air-conditioning vent. Johnson admitted, “I was not meaning to kill her though … My condolences and apology means little. I still ask for the forgiveness of her friends, family, co-workers, and loved ones.”
Sources: Associated Press Alerts 1/22/12, 3/14/12, 11/07/14
By: a jury
Date of crime: 01/20/12
Prosecution case/defense response: Latavious Johnson, who was serving life in prison, for killing his father, was sentenced to death for stabbing a 47-year old guard, Cpl. Barbra Ester. Ester, working at an east Arkansas Regional Unit, ordered Johnson to hand over his shoes. The shoes were not prison-issued and the investigation was to see if they were authorized or considered contraband under prison regulations. Johnson stabbed Ester in the stomach with a sharpened piece of metal from an air-conditioning vent. Johnson admitted, “I was not meaning to kill her though … My condolences and apology means little. I still ask for the forgiveness of her friends, family, co-workers, and loved ones.”
Sources: Associated Press Alerts 1/22/12, 3/14/12, 11/07/14