Execution of Idaho man was state’s first in 36 years
BOISE. Idaho (AP) — Double
murderer Keith Eugene Walls was
buried in a private service Thurs
day morning, less than 12 hours
after becoming the first man exe
cuted by the state of Idaho in mow
Ihan n generation.
"Keith did not pay for any crime His death is not pay
ment for anything,” Wells' sister. Cherie Fehringer, said
just minutes after the execution. "His death is for peace."
Wells, 31. who dropped all appeals and demanded his
death sentence be carried out, died by lethal injection
at 12:50 a.m. Thursday. alKHit 90 minutes after he offered
his only public apology for liealing two people to death
only because "it was time for them to die "
Ho had confessed to the 1990 murders of John Justad.
23. and Brandi Rains, 20, without remorse two weeks
earlier. But with spiritual adviser lock Kisner of the
Mount Hood Christian Center in Oregon with him
through his final hours. Wells telephoned Boise anchor
woman Dee Sari on of KTVB-TV at home and asked her
to express his sorrow to the victims' families
"I would like to ask for their forgiveness b»*.mise it pist
happened," Sari on quoted Wells as saying "I am very
sorry."
Wells, who spent nearly all his adult life liehind Iwrs,
said lie was obeying Cod by offering the apology. Sar
ton said.
Mrs. Fehringer said |iist before the execution that her
brother was willing to die, and ' if this isn't remorse, I
don’t know whai is "
As the execution was about to begin. Wells turned his
head to the 17 witnesses in the death trailer, smiled and
then turned his (ar e back toward the ceiling He blinked
and swallowed several times after the injections, took a
doep breath after altout two minutes and then appeared
to go to sleep
”1 knew when I signed the order* ... the end result is
the termination of human life." said 4th District Judge
Gerald Schroeder. who sentenced Wells and witnessed
his death But "the reality. 1 suppose, is always greater
than the abstract."
ft was the nation's first execution in 1994 but only
Idaho's 10th in this century. Wells was the 227th person
executed in the nation since the U S. Supreme Court
reinstated the death penalty in 1976.
Idaho's last execution was Raymond Allen Snowden
He was hanged on Ort 18. 1957, for the murder and
mutilation of a woman he met at a suburban Boise liar.
Last-ditr h legal attempts to stay the execution over the
objei lions of Wells and his family went all the wav to
the U S Supreme Court before their final rejection. The
7-2 high court vote, with Justices Harry A Blnckmun and
John Paul Stevens dissenting, delayed Wells' death by 39
minutes
"Keith and I know we ll meet again." his wife. Cindy.
35. said after her final visit with Wells Wednesday after
noon.
"That's why we con let him go," she said ns she held
her ft voar-ola daughter. Tahitha. on her iup
Si hroeder said, "li appeared that he arrived at a point
where he was at peace with himself You really hope the
victims' families, that they really can find some peace "
The execution came despite what some Idaho death
penally advocates fear is a movement by apellate courts
away from capital punishment.
Wells was among 29 murderers sentenced to death
since Idaho reinstated the death penalty in 1977. He was
the first to he executed, six had their death S4mtenr.es
overturned and a seventh died of liver disease on Death
Row.
Three — Karla Windsor. Shawn Scroggins and James
Pratt — had their sentences voided by the state Supreme
Court and were resentenced to life in prison
Bryan l-ankford's death sentence was overturned by
the U S. Supreme Court because he was not given
enough notice that execution was a real possibility. The
sentencing judge then imprisoned hirn for life without
parole
And the death sentences of Jaime Charboneau and
Beniamin Ivey were overturned hv the state Supreme
Court on technicalities.
Charboneau's Jerome County prosecutors decided
against seeking a new death penalty because the small
rural county could not afford to keep paying the esca
lating cost of extender! appeals.
And Ivey's sentencing judge settled on life in prison
without parole, lambasting the appellate court system ns
so liberal it would find another way to overturn a death
sentence.
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Oregon attorney wins
spot on best seller list
PORTLAND (AP) — A black
rose, a kidnapping, courtroom
drama and a suave serial killer
have catapulted an Oregon
criminal defense attorney onto
The New York Times best sell
er list
All ore elements in Gone. Hut
Not Forgotten, a thriller by
Phillip M. Margolin. The novel
is the January selection of The
Literary Guild and has been
published in 15 countries.
"This whole thing with the
books — I’m still walking
around shaking my head," Mar
golin said "I didn't think ! was
capable of it
Margolin, 50 didn't set out to
l>e a novelist
"I’ve alwaxs wanted to be a
criminal defense attorney ” he
said Too mui h Perry Mason
warped me."
Margolin has handled more
than :)0 criminal cases, more
than a third of them were death
penalty cases. He has argued
before the U S Supreme Court.
But us a voracious reader,
Margolin said he was fascinated
by authors.
"1 could never figure out how
people < ould write books." he
said.
Margolin began writing dur
mg the summer before his grad
uation from New York Univer
sity l aw Si hool in 1970 His
goal, he said, was to write some
thing. anything, more than 25
pages long
Thu result was an admittedly
bad novel based on tiis Peace
Corps experiences in Liberia
during the 1960s, he said
"Then I wrote a really awful
mystery that IV^nover shown
anybody."
The break came when Mar
golin sold a short story, "The
Girl in the Yellow Bikini,” to
Mike Shane Mystery Magazine.
"That gave me the confidence
that I could write." he said
Margolin says what makes
him a good writer is what
makes him a good reader. His
approach is teasing, quick, and
he wants to have fun
"You can set the reader up.”
Margolin said. "It's like a magic
trick. You convince them they
know everything and then you
pull the rug out."
Margolin has heard the crit
ics' comparisons to John
Grisham, best-selling author of
Thr Firm, and he’s flattered.
He finished Gone, But Not
Forgotten last June, on the heels
of a New York Times article
opining that the only manu
scripts worth looking at any
more came from criminal
defense lawyers.
Margolin's agent, Jean Nag
gar, sold Ins manuscript at am
turn
"That's when 1 knew some
thing special was going to hap
pen." he said
In Gone. But Sot forgotten,
wealths Portland housewives
are disappearing, with u note
and a black rose left behind. A
real estate tycoon is arrested
after several (todies are found at
a construction site
Hut is he the culprit7 His
attorney. Hetsy Tannenbauin,
launches her own investigation.
The plot twists that follow
come St breakneck speed
“It is in the genre of Pre
sumed Innocent and The Firm,
hut it's also compared to
Silence of the l.amhs You pist
can't pigeonhole it. Margolin
said.
Gone, But Sot Forgotten is
Margolin's third hook lleort
stone, published in 1978, was
nominated for an I dgor Allen
Poe Award by the Mystery Writ
ers of Amerii a The Uist Inno
cent Mon was published in
1481.
Margolin, whose law partner
is his wife. Doreen, is on sab
batical while he promotes the
book.
“You can't tell your client. I
know the state wants to kill
you, hut 1 have this book sign
ing to do,’'' he said.
Still, between tours, Mar
golin's life hasn't (hanged
much.
"! still get up and drive my
daughter to high school. It
doesn't really impinge on my
life too much." he said. He also
has a sou in college