At 49 years old, Dennis Skillicorn no longer looks like the picture on the ID clipped to his starchy, prison-issued shirt. His mustache and hair have gone from brown to gray. Blurry tattoos set into his arms have faded to the same slate blue as the eyes magnified behind his glasses.
Skillicorn lives on death row at Potosi Correctional Center, a maximum-security prison near rural Mineral Point, Missouri. He is scheduled to die just days from now, on May 20.
Skillicorn believes he's going to heaven.
"Absolutely, I do," he says. "Yes. Thanks to Jesus Christ, and only because of Jesus Christ, can I go to heaven." Of his execution by lethal injection, he says, "I believe that it's just a doorway. It's not an end."
In 1996, Skillicorn was convicted of murdering Richard Drummond, an AT&T supervisor who pulled over to help Skillicorn and two other men whose car had broken down near Kingdom City, Missouri. Skillicorn, Allen Nicklasson and Tim DeGraffenreid became known as "the Good Samaritan Killers." Nicklasson also received a death sentence.
Skillicorn, Nicklasson and their 48 fellow death-row inmates live at Potosi until 30 days before their execution dates, when they're transferred to the Eastern Reception, Diagnostic and Correctional Center in Bonne Terre, Missouri. In 2005, Stanley Hall, Donald Jones, Vernon Brown, Timothy Johnston and Marlin Gray took the eight-mile trip from Potosi to Bonne Terre and were executed.
Since that busy year, Missouri's death chamber has been quiet. In 2006, U.S. District Judge Fernando Gaitan Jr. halted all executions after a review of the state's protocol unearthed disturbing facts. Dr. Alan Doerhoff, the Jefferson City doctor who injected the lethal drugs into 54 of Missouri's death-row inmates, admitted that because of his dyslexia, he often wasn't sure whether he had correctly measured the amounts of each of the three drugs. A mistake could cause an inmate excruciating pain, indiscernible to onlookers because of the paralyzing agent used in the mixture. Gaitan ruled that Missouri's method of lethal injection posed an "unreasonable risk of cruel and unusual punishment." Arguments on the constitutionality of lethal injection stalled executions in other states as well.
For death-row residents, the reprieve was short-lived. Gaitan's decision was reversed in June 2007 by the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Then, last May, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld Kentucky's use of a three-drug mixture for lethal injection, opening the door for a resumption of executions nationwide.
But across the country, the appetite for eye-for-an-eye justice appears to be waning. High-profile exonerations have weakened some states' resolve to carry out the death penalty. Lawmakers, forced by the recession to make deep budget cuts, are passing bills that ask for reconsideration of capital punishment for monetary reasons: Studies have shown that the cost of seeking death is higher than keeping an inmate imprisoned for life.
In 2007, Gov. Jon Corzine of New Jersey signed a law that abolished "state-endorsed killing." Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico signed the repeal of his state's death penalty in March of this year. That same month, lawmakers in Maryland voted to limit the use of capital punishment to cases supported by conclusive DNA or videotaped evidence. A bill to repeal the death penalty and use the money saved for investigating cold cases just passed Colorado's House. Repeal bills have been introduced in Connecticut, New Hampshire and Montana.
Skillicorn's days are numbered, but Missouri's death penalty might not outlive him by much: Two bills in Missouri's Legislature have proposed a moratorium on the death penalty and a review board to examine issues such as cost, fairness and the risk of wrongful execution.
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If the purpose of executions is to be a crime deterrent, then why are they done behind closed doors? I say broadcast it on TV or do it in the public square. This leads me to my next point. If the death penalty is not used to save lives then what is the purpose of a death sentence. Isn't life without parole essentially a death sentence? The only difference is you can release the inmate if they are later found to be innocent...
My view on this is going to seem a touch fucked up. I do have a problem with the death penalty. I don't want it abolished, I want it to be more terrifying for these bastards. Lethal injection? let's them fall asleep and not feel anything. Were they that forgiving of their victims? The electric chair is still pretty good.. and I'm not against hanging, but again, hanging is too quick.. There is a lack of suffering that these mental degenerates need to feel. So, I have some ideas that I think would truly install fear into the crazies, because that's what it lacks. Well, that and a speedy process to the end result. But what I'm wanting is drawn and quartering, and maybe a giant SLOW moving hydraulic press. Disembowelment. These are the methods that would at the very least make some criminals think twice. Sure there are those that are so far gone that they themselves can distinguish right from wrong, but really, I say kill them close to a manner of which they delivered the pain to their respective victims.
My view on this is going to seem a touch fucked up. I do have a problem with the death penalty. I don't want it abolished, I want it to be more terrifying for these bastards. Lethal injection? let's them fall asleep and not feel anything. Were they that forgiving of their victims? The electric chair is still pretty good.. and I'm not against hanging, but again, hanging is too quick.. There is a lack of suffering that these mental degenerates need to feel. So, I have some ideas that I think would truly install fear into the crazies, because that's what it lacks. Well, that and a speedy process to the end result. But what I'm wanting is drawn and quartering, and maybe a giant SLOW moving hydraulic press. Disembowelment. These are the methods that would at the very least make some criminals think twice. Sure there are those that are so far gone that they themselves can distinguish right from wrong, but really, I say kill them close to a manner of which they delivered the pain to their respective victims.
To cptv8ing:
Maybe you should petition the state and tell them you would like to take personal responsibilty for this loser and let him stay in your home with your family,and then see if he makes a difference in your life.
To cptv8ing: Maybe you should petition the state and tell them you would like to take personal responsibilty for this loser and let him stay in your home with your family,and then see if he makes a difference in your life.
I am not going to be happy when he dies at the hands of the state. But I am going to be satisfied justice is served. Skillicorn killed one person and had a hand in murdering 3 more. He has no place in our society. Claiming to believe in god and helping inmates is not going to make me change my mind.
Goodbye Skillicorn, if heaven exists, god is going to laugh in your face and send you to hell. Enjoy eternity
I am not going to be happy when he dies at the hands of the state. But I am going to be satisfied justice is served. Skillicorn killed one person and had a hand in murdering 3 more. He has no place in our society. Claiming to believe in god and helping inmates is not going to make me change my mind.
Goodbye Skillicorn, if heaven exists, god is going to laugh in your face and send you to hell. Enjoy eternity
I am not going to be happy when he dies at the hands of the state. But I am going to be satisfied justice is served. Skillicorn killed one person and had a hand in murdering 3 more. He has no place in our society. Claiming to believe in god and helping inmates is not going to make me change my mind. Goodbye Skillicorn, if heaven exists, god is going to laugh in your face and send you to hell. Enjoy eternity
I am not going to be happy when he dies at the hands of the state. But I am going to be satisfied justice is served. Skillicorn killed one person and had a hand in murdering 3 more. He has no place in our society. Claiming to believe in god and helping inmates is not going to make me change my mind. Goodbye Skillicorn, if heaven exists, god is going to laugh in your face and send you to hell. Enjoy eternity
I totally believe clemency is in order for Dennis - although he did play a part, he did not kill anyone. The DP needs to abolished once and for all.
I totally believe clemency is in order for Dennis - although he did play a part, he did not kill anyone. The DP needs to abolished once and for all.
reguarding the 2 buddies that are scheduled to die...one of them says...he belives he is going to heaven...well only if he is born again i do belive he will because he's done his time in the big house on the murders he has committed.
reguarding the 2 buddies that are scheduled to die...one of them says...he belives he is going to heaven...well only if he is born again i do belive he will because he's done his time in the big house on the murders he has committed.
Um, sorry guy, tuff shit.
Maybe you shouldn't have murdered those folks?
Tell God hi.
Um, sorry guy, tuff shit. Maybe you shouldn't have murdered those folks? Tell God hi.
The people that make the ignorant and hate filled comments are a far greater fear to me than Mr. Skillicorn. There are so many variables to this. Yes he was part of what happened but he is not the one that committed the act. You say he should have left, but would you honestly tell me that if you were someone that just killed a person that you would tell them that you wanted no part in that and walk away? You have to know the firs thing that happened would have been another murder, Mr. Skillicorns. I sympathize with the families but people really can change and if he gets through to one person and makes a difference it would be more than worth it.
I think everyone that thinks "he's a good man" should put their money where their mouth is and put their name in a lotto for adoption of him. If you're the lucky winner you can take him home to your family and leave him with your wife to study the bible while you go to work. That way the taxpayers don't have to cover the cost of babysitting him and you can live in your fantasy world.
The people that make the ignorant and hate filled comments are a far greater fear to me than Mr. Skillicorn. There are so many variables to this. Yes he was part of what happened but he is not the one that committed the act. You say he should have left, but would you honestly tell me that if you were someone that just killed a person that you would tell them that you wanted no part in that and walk away? You have to know the firs thing that happened would have been another murder, Mr. Skillicorns. I sympathize with the families but people really can change and if he gets through to one person and makes a difference it would be more than worth it.
I think everyone that thinks "he's a good man" should put their money where their mouth is and put their name in a lotto for adoption of him. If you're the lucky winner you can take him home to your family and leave him with your wife to study the bible while you go to work. That way the taxpayers don't have to cover the cost of babysitting him and you can live in your fantasy world.
For the record the death penalty is appropriate for Mr. Skillicorn. Levasy is a river town where a WWI veteran died at the hands of Mr. Skillicorn. That man was never recognized for his service as he was a quiet man who died from a gruesome killer. His name was Wendell Howell. A World War One veteran.
For the record the death penalty is appropriate for Mr. Skillicorn. Levasy is a river town where a WWI veteran died at the hands of Mr. Skillicorn. That man was never recognized for his service as he was a quiet man who died from a gruesome killer. His name was Wendell Howell. A World War One veteran.
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