- Eric Nance
Eric Randall Nance (
January 1 ,1960 –November 28 ,2005 ) was amurder er executed inArkansas bylethal injection . He was convicted of the murder of 18-year-old Julie Heath, onU.S. Highway 270 between Malvern andHot Springs, Arkansas . It was the first execution by the state of Arkansas sinceCharles Laverne Singleton onJanuary 6 ,2004 .The murder
Heath was driving to Hot Springs to visit her boyfriend on
October 11 ,1993 . Nance admitted that he stopped to help Heath after her car broke down and offered her a ride to Malvern. The prosecution said that Nance thenrape d and murdered her. He was later seen in a convenience store wearing no shoes, socks, or shirt. According to the clerk, there were what appeared to be fresh dark, damp stains on his overalls.Heath's body was found on
October 18 ,1993 by a hunter. Her throat had been cut. Photographs of the scene show that she was fully clothed, but her belt buckle was partially undone, her pants zipper was not fully up, and the left shoulder of her shirt was torn. The shirt was also on inside out. The medical examiner also reported that her socks and panties were on inside out and her bra was pulled up around the neck and shoulder area. Apubic hair located in Nance's pickup was said by an expert to be microscopically identical to that of Heath.Nance said he accidentally killed Heath. According to defense
testimony , she had become hysterical after seeing autility knife and began to kick at him. Putting up his hand to stop her, he accidentally lodged the knife in her throat. This version of events was told at the trial by his brother and sister, to whom Nance had told his version of events.Trial and appeals
Nance was found guilty of capital
felony murder , with attempted rape as the underlyingfelony . During the sentencing phase of the trial, it was revealed that five months before the murder, Nance had been released from a twenty-year sentence for beating twoOklahoma girls in 1982. The jury found that there were no mitigating circumstances in the case, and recommended that the judge sentence Nance to death, which he did onMarch 31 ,1994 .His lawyers argued that it would be unconstitutional ("
Atkins v. Virginia ") to execute Nance, as he was mentally retarded. Apsychologist said that Nance had aIQ below 70. This is at odds with another psychiatrist's testimony that he found Nance to have an IQ of 105. Nance was a heating and air conditioning technician and obtained his high school equivalency certificate in prison. The lawyers also say thatDNA tests could show that the pubic hair did not come from Heath.On
November 17 ,2005 , theArkansas Parole Board recommended, with a vote of 6-1, that GovernorMike Huckabee denyclemency for Nance. The dissenting vote was from one member who wanted to stay the execution to give more time to determine if Nance was mentally retarded.The execution was briefly stayed on
November 17 byUnited States federal judge James Moody of the Eastern District of Arkansas. The stay was vacated by the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals onNovember 19 .Execution
Originally the execution was scheduled for 8 p.m. on
November 28 . There was a temporary stay order by JusticeClarence Thomas to give him more time to review the case. Thomas is the justice responsible for handling emergency cases from Arkansas. The stay was vacated shortly afterwards and allappeal s denied.Nance made no last statement. The execution proceeded and he was pronounced dead at 9:24 p.m. CST.
He ordered a final meal of two bacon
cheeseburger s,french fries , two pints ofchocolate chip cookie doughice cream , and twoCoca-Cola s.Witnesses describe the execution as extremely surreal. Nance offered no last words and his spiritual advisor yelled, "May God have mercy on our souls!", which startled some witnesses.Fact|date=May 2008
ong
In 1995, Nance began a 10-year correspondence with
James Nelson , an Irishtenor who is critical of the death penalty.cite album-notes
title = Remember Me
albumlink = [http://www.telarc.com/gscripts/title.asp?gsku=0667]
bandname =Celtic Tenors
year = 2005
notestitle = Eric's Song
url =
first = James
last = Nelson
pages =
format = CD booklet
publisher = Telarc International
publisherid =
location = Cleveland, OH
mbid = ] Through their friendship, Nelson realized "that Eric's only means of escape from [his] hell's purgatory was through his letters, his memories and his dreams." With fellowCeltic Tenors Niall Morris and Matthew Gilsenan, Nelson set a poem of Nance's to music and entitled it, "Eric's Song." After Nance's execution, the Celtic Tenors released the song on their album, "Remember Me."ee also
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Capital punishment in the United States
*Capital punishment in Arkansas References
External links
* [http://www.clarkprosecutor.org/html/death/US/nance998.htm Eric Randall Nance] . "The Clark County Prosecuting Attorney". Retrieved on
2007-11-10 .
* [http://www.prodeathpenalty.com/Pending/05/nov05.htm November 2005 Executions] . "Pro-Death Penalty.com". Retrieved on2007-11-10 .
* [http://www.demaction.org/dia/organizations/ncadp/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=1460 Do Not Execute Eric Randall Nance!] . "NCADP – The National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty". Retrieved on2007-11-10 .
* [http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/11/29/national/main1081005.shtml Arkansas Man Executed] . "CBS News" (2005-11-29 ). Retrieved on2007-11-10 .
* [http://www.ca8.uscourts.gov/opndir/05/11/054090P.pdf Nance v. Norris] . "United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit" (2005-11-22 ). Retrieved on2007-11-10 .
*cite news|url=http://www.malvern-online.com/articles/2005/11/17/front/top_stories/news1.txt|title=The execution of convicted murderer Eric Nance, of Malvern, will apparently be carried out as planned|publisher=Malvern Daily Record|date=November 17 ,2005 Dead link|date=November 2007
*cite news|url=http://www.katv.com/news/stories/1105/280054.html|title=Appeals Court Removes Stay of Execution for Nance|publisher=Associated Press|date=November 17 ,2005 Dead link|date=November 2007
*cite news|url=http://www.fox16.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=25A7DD2B-B09D-41E2-AA91-2C6A2E8E284E|title=Nance Executed Monday Night|publisher=KLRT-TV|date=November 28 ,2005 Dead link|date=November 2007
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