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Caruthers
ALEXANDER
Rape
Friday, January 26, 2001
MEDIA ADVISORY -
Alexander Scheduled To Be Executed.
AUSTIN - Texas Attorney General John Cornyn
offers the following information on Caruthers Alexander who is
scheduled to be executed after 6 p.m. on Monday, January 29th: On
April 26, 1989, Alexander was convicted of murdering Lori Bruch in
San Antonio, Texas, during the course of an aggravated rape. A
summary of the evidence presented at trial follows:
On the evening of April 22, 1981, Lori Bruch, a
19-year-old, married, mother of a two-year-old child, went to her
job as a waitress at a nightclub in San Antonio. After the nightclub
closed for business, she and several other employees ate at a nearby
restaurant. Bruch left the restaurant alone at approximately 4 a.m.
Approximately 20 minutes later, Bruch's damaged
vehicle was found abandoned in a rain-swollen, low water crossing,
with her handbag still in the front seat.
The right rear bumper and
tail light of her vehicle had been damaged, and despite the heavy
rains, the windows of her vehicle were open. There appeared to be
white paint on the back of her vehicle where it had been damaged. At
approximately 6:30 a.m. that same morning, two witnesses noticed a
large white van parked on a street in San Antonio.
Both witnesses
noticed writing on the side of the van. The writing on the van
appeared to consist of two lines of blue letters; the first line
started with an "A" or "AB" and the second line began with either "medic"
or "medical."
Approximately 15 minutes later, two elementary
school children arriving for class saw the nude, lifeless body of
Lori Bruch laying in the street, a short distance from where the two
witnesses had spotted the white van just moments before.
Bruch's
wrists and ankles were secured by rope, a gag was stuffed into her
mouth and a piece of cloth was wrapped around her head to secure the
gag. Another piece of rope was wound tightly around her neck.
Bruch's jewelry, including her wedding and engagement rings, another
gold ring, and one earring, remained on her body.
An autopsy revealed that Bruch had (1) sustained
a superficial stab wound to the right side of her neck, (2) suffered
an abrasion to her right cheek and a scratch near her right eye, (3)
suffered rope burns to her wrists, ankles, and neck, and bruising to
the back of her neck, (4) recently engaged in sexual intercourse,
probably within two to three hours prior to her death, (5) died
within 30 to 90 minutes after finishing her last meal, and (6) died
of ligature strangulation. A foreign hair fragment was found on her
body.
Law enforcement officers quickly located a white
delivery van owned by Abbey Medical that matched the description
given by the two witnesses. There was evidence of a recent collision
on the front bumper of the van, including paint on the bumper that
matched the paint on Bruch's vehicle.
The van was assigned to Caruthers Alexander.
Alexander told his employer and police officers that he had taken
the van home with him on the night of Bruch's murder.
Under
questioning by his employer and the police, Alexander stated that he
did not know how the van had been damaged but insisted that no one
else could have had access to the van on the night of Bruch's murder.
The damage to Bruch's vehicle began 18 ½ inches above the ground,
and the bottom of the front bumper of the white Abbey Medical van
measured that same distance from the ground.
When confronted by
homicide detectives at his place of employment just days after
Bruch's murder, Alexander appeared to those present to be either "shocked,"
"startled," or "anguished."
Attempts in 1988 to conduct analysis of DNA from
the semen stains on the moving pad found inside the van were
fruitless because there was insufficient DNA from those stains to
permit comparison with known sources.
In July 2000, the state trial court ordered, by
agreement of the parties, that DNA testing be conducted on the
foreign hair fragment recovered from Bruch's pubic region.
On December 27, 2000, the Department of Defense
Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, issued a report concluding that
the DNA sequence of the recovered hair fragment was consistent with
the DNA sequence of Alexander.
At the punishment phase of trial, the state
introduced evidence which showed that Alexander had been convicted
and sentenced to prison for two felony convictions: arson and
involuntary manslaughter.
APPEALS TIME-LINE
June 1981 - Alexander was charged by indictment
in the 186th District Court of Bexar County, Texas, with the capital
murder of Lori Bruch in the course of committing and attempting to
commit aggravated rape.
October 7, 1987 - After Alexander had been found
guilty of capital murder by a jury and sentenced to death,
Alexander's conviction and sentence were reversed by the Texas Court
of Criminal Appeals and a new trial was ordered. The reversal was
based on evidentiary error during the State's questioning of
Alexander when he testified at his first trial.
April 26, 1989 - The second jury also found him
guilty of the capital offense. Following a separate punishment
hearing, the jury answered affirmatively the two special sentencing
issues submitted pursuant to state law. In accordance with state law,
the trial court assessed Alexander's punishment as death.
Alexander's conviction and sentence were appealed
to the Court of Criminal Appeals, which affirmed on April 28, 1993,
and denied rehearing on September 29, 1993.
May 16, 1994 - The United States Supreme Court
denied Alexander's petition for writ of certiorari.
Alexander filed an application for state writ of
habeas corpus, which was denied by the Court of Criminal Appeals on
November 26, 1997.
July 1, 1998 - Alexander filed a federal petition
for writ of habeas corpus in the United States District Court for
the Western District of Texas, San Antonio Division.
November 30, 1990 - The district court entered
final judgment denying Alexander's federal habeas petition. The
district court also denied Alexander permission to appeal.
May 5, 2000 - The United States Court of Appeals
for the Fifth Circuit similarly denied permission to appeal.
Alexander filed another application for state
writ of habeas corpus, which was dismissed by the Court of Criminal
Appeals as an abuse of the writ on September 13, 2000.
October 2, 2000 - The United States Supreme Court
denied Alexander permission to file an out-of-time petition for writ
of certiorari regarding his federal habeas petition.
January 26, 2001 - No litigation is pending as of
this publication.
Txexecutions.org
Caruthers Alexander, 52, was executed by lethal
injection on 29 January in Huntsville, Texas for the rape and murder
of a nightclub waitress.
In April 1981, Lori Bruch, 19, left her job at a
nightclub. At about 4:00 a.m., police found her car at a low-water
crossing. The car was damaged, the windows were open, and Bruch's
purse was inside.
Later that morning, two elementary school children
walking to school saw Bruch's nude body lying in a rain-filled
gutter. Her wrists and ankles were bound by a rope and a gag was in
her mouth. A piece of cloth was wound tightly around her neck.
Police also noted that she was wearing one earring.
Witnesses near the scene recalled having seen a
white delivery van parked near the club. Police located the van and
noted evidence of a recent collision, including paint that matched
Bruch's car.
The van's assigned driver, Caruthers Alexander, 32,
said he didn't know how the van was damaged. Searching the inside
the van, police found blood that matched the victim's and an earring
matching the one found on her body.
When he was told that the
victim's missing earring had been found inside the van, Alexander
became physically ill.
Prosecutors said that Alexander intentionally hit
Bruch's car with his van in order to stop her and lure her from her
car. Alexander had previously served 7 months of a two-year sentence
for arson in 1972, and 10 months of a three-year sentence for
involuntary manslaughter in 1975.
The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals threw out
Alexander's original conviction, ruling that certain testimony given
during his trial was improper. He was retried, convicted, and
sentenced to death again in 1990.
Alexander had three execution
dates set in 2000 and avoided execution all three times. In July, he
was given a stay so that a hair found on the victim could be DNA
tested. In early January 2001, the judge announced that the DNA test
was positive and immediately scheduled a new execution date for
Alexander.
While on death row, Alexander maintained his
innocence. He called his conviction and the DNA test "bunk."
At his
execution, he declined to make a final statement. As he lay strapped
to the gurney, a single tear streamed down his left cheek. He gave a
loud cough and gasped several times after the lethal drugs were
administered. He was pronounced dead at 6:18 p.m.
January 29, 2001
TEXAS - A man who raped and
strangled a woman he abducted after a staged traffic accident in
1981 was executed by injection Monday. Caruthers Alexander, 52, was
set to die last year but the execution was halted so more
sophisticated DNA testing could be performed on evidence. Test
results, received last month, confirmed his guilt.
19-year-old Lori Bruch, the mother of a 2-year-old,
was driving home when her car was hit from behind by a van
authorities said was driven by Alexander.
Prosecutors said Alexander
lured Bruch from the car, tied her up, and raped and strangled her.
"It's every woman's worst nightmare to be driving on the street and
be abducted and it's every husband's nightmare that your wife would
be out and not come home," said Lyndee Bordini, a former assistant
district attorney who prosecuted Alexander.
Bruch's body was left in a rain-flooded gutter
near an elementary school, where it was found by children walking to
classes. A priest had seen the van in the area and reported it to
police. When they tracked it down they found one of Bruch's earrings
and her belt inside. Paint scrapes on the van matched the paint of
Bruch's car.
In a death row interview earlier this month,
Alexander maintained his innocence. "There's a lot of stuff in the
conviction that was bunk," Alexander said. "I'll say that straight
off the bat: Bunk! The test shouldn't have come back positive. If
anything, this last test should have come back inconclusive or not
mine."
Alexander becomes the 3rd condemned inmate to be
put to death this year in Texas and the 242nd overall since the
state resumed capital punishment on Dec. 7, 1982. Alexander becomes
the 10th condemned inmate to be put to death this year in the USA
and the 693rd overall since America resumed executions on January
17, 1977.
Caruthers Alexander was 32 years old when he was
arrested in 1981 for the rape and murder of a 19-year-old white
woman. Alexander has maintained his innocence for 20 years.
He was
33 when he was sent to Texas' death row, where he has spent the past
20 years. During this long period of time, Mr. Alexander, now 52,
has compiled a near-perfect record of compliance with all prison
rules. He is scheduled for execution on January 29, 2001.
He would not be facing execution if the jury at
his 1989 trial had not ultimately said "yes," by a unanimous vote,
to the question whether there was "a probability" that he "would
commit criminal acts of violence that would constitute a continuing
threat to society."
It was a jury of his "peers" that did not
include any African-Americans. Although several Blacks were called
and available to serve on the jury, each of them was stricken from
the panel. It was a jury that did not easily arrive at the
conclusion that Mr. Alexander ought to be executed.
After the 12 jurors had been deliberating for
some time, the jury foreman sent the judge a note asking what "recourse"
they might have if their deliberations did not produce 1) a
unanimous verdict for the death penalty or 2) a 10-2 vote against
death.
The judge declined, however, to tell the jurors that they had
a third, critical option: The law provided that they could return a
"blank" verdict. If the jurors had understood that they could
exercise this third option and chosen to do so, Mr. Alexander would
automatically have been sentenced to life in prison. Denied the
guidance that they sought, the jurors continued to deliberate until
they finally rendered a unanimous verdict, declaring Mr. Alexander a
dangerous man and sending him to Death Row.
No one who knows him well, including family
members, friends, lawyers, and prison guards, believes that Mr.
Alexander is dangerous. Even official representatives of the State
of Texas have implicitly conceded that Mr. Alexander is not a
dangerous person.
Prior to his second trial, in 1989, he was offered
a plea bargain under which he eventually would have been released
from prison. Mr. Alexander, who has maintained his innocence for 20
years, refused to plead guilty and rejected the State's offer.
Like many other death row inmates, Mr. Alexander
is African-American and poor. Unlike a high percentage of his prison-mates,
however, he is intelligent, articulate, good-natured, and likable.
Prior to his arrest he worked hard, avoided people who he feared
might lead him into trouble, and supported his common-law wife, her
two children, and her niece.
Mr. Alexander has been a model prisoner for 20
years, has paid and is continuing to pay a high price for the crime
of which he was found guilty. He is a danger to no one in prison,
and the State will do no service to justice by executing him.
His
case cries out for clemency. Please urge Governor Rick Perry to
grant Caruthers Alexander a 30-day reprieve and to direct the Board
of Pardons and Paroles to hold a hearing in his case.
Call, write or fax the Governor on Caruther's
behalf.
01-30-2001
Associated Press
HUNTSVILLE, Texas -- Almost 20 years after the
bound and naked body of a young woman was found in a rain-flooded
gutter near a San Antonio elementary school, the man convicted of
killing her headed to the Texas death chamber Monday night.
Two-time ex-convict Caruthers Alexander was set
for lethal injection for raping and strangling 19-year-old Lori
Bruch.
Alexander, 52, would be the third condemned
killer to be executed this month in Texas, where a record 40
executions were carried out last year.
Bruch, the mother of a 2-year-old, was driving
home in the early morning hours of April 23, 1981, after getting off
work at a Bexar County country-western club when her car was hit
from behind by a van authorities said was driven by Alexander.
Lured from her car, authorities said the woman
was grabbed by the driver of the van, driven away, tied with a rope,
raped and strangled.
"It's every woman's worst nightmare to be driving
on the street and be abducted and it's every husband's nightmare
that your wife would be out and not come home," said Lyndee Bordini,
a former Bexar County assistant criminal district attorney who
prosecuted Alexander. "It was a terrible, terrible crime, very
brutal. It was a ligature strangulation and the ligature was on so
tight you could see bruising from his knuckles imbedded on the back
of her neck."
Alexander was set to die last year but the
execution was halted so more sophisticated DNA testing could be
performed on evidence. The test results, received last month,
confirmed Alexander's guilt. "There's a lot of stuff in the
conviction that was bunk," Alexander said earlier this month from
death row. "I'll say that straight off the bat: Bunk! The test
shouldn't have come back positive. If anything, this last test
should have come back inconclusive or not mine."
Alexander was arrested two days after the killing.
A priest driving past spotted a van with lettering painted on the
side parked in the area where the woman's body was found by children
headed to school.
Police tracked down the van, determined Alexander
had it the night of the murder, then found one of the victim's
earrings and her belt inside. In addition, paint scrapes on the van
matched the paint of Bruch's car and measurements of the damage on
each vehicle matched. "There's nothing here to suggest the man did
not commit this murder," said Mark Luitjen, who also helped
prosecute the case and is now a state district judge. "I don't hurt
women," Alexander said. "I've been known to bump heads with a
knucklehead if he gets at odds with me, but I've never hurt a woman,
not like that. That's bunk."
Alexander already had two stints in prison behind
him when he was arrested for the Bruch killing. In 1972, he was
released after serving seven months of a two-year term for arson in
Houston. In 1975, he was paroled after serving 10 months of a three-year
sentence for involuntary manslaughter.
On April 23, 1981, Lori Bruch was attacked while
leaving her job as a waitress at a Perrin-Beitel Road nightclub.
Caruthers "Gus" Alexander was convicted of raping and strangling
Lori.
Alexander had previous convictions for arson, for which he
served only 7 months of a two year sentence and involuntary
manslaughter for which he served only 10 months of a 3 year sentence.
Alexander was first convicted of capital murder and given a death
sentence in October 1981.
Lori's nude body was found by two children in a
rain-clogged gutter in front of Flower Mound School. Her hands and
feet were bound and rope was tied around her neck.
In 1987, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals
reversed Alexander's conviction. He was retried in May 1989 and
received the death penalty again. In July of 2000, a Bexar County
judge halted Alexander's scheduled execution a week before so that
hair found on the victim could be examined with modern DNA testing
techniques.
UPDATE: A former truck driver remains on death
row after DNA tests failed to clear him of raping and strangling a
cocktail waitress. DNA tests showed hair found on 19-year-old Lori
Bruch belonged to Caruthers Alexander, who has been convicted twice
for her slaying, the San Antonio Express-News reported.
Prosecutors
and Alexander's lawyers agreed to delay the execution in July to
conduct DNA tests not previously available. "We believed we had the
right guy. However I believe there shouldn't be a question about
people we execute," Prosecutor Susan Reed said. "We should leave no
stone unturned."
Reed said she will seek the earliest execution date
possible. Alexander's attorney, Jeff Pokorak, declined comment.
Alexander, 52, has been on death row since 1982. Bruch was attacked
and killed in 1981 after leaving her job as a club waitress.
The
Texas Court of Criminal Appeals threw out Alexander's original
capital murder conviction, ruling certain testimony improper.
Alexander was convicted and sentenced to death again in 1990.
UPDATE: A man who raped and strangled a woman he
abducted after a staged traffic accident in 1981 was executed by
injection Monday. Caruthers Alexander, 52, was set to die last year
but the execution was halted so more sophisticated DNA testing could
be performed on evidence.
Test results, received last month, confirmed his guilt. 19-year-old
Lori Bruch, the mother of a 2-year-old, was driving home when her
car was hit from behind by a van authorities said was driven by
Alexander.
Prosecutors said Alexander lured Bruch from the car, tied her up,
and raped and strangled her. "It's every woman's worst nightmare to
be driving on the street and be abducted and it's every husband's
nightmare that your wife would be out and not come home," said
Lyndee Bordini, a former assistant district attorney who prosecuted
Alexander.
Bruch's body was left in a rain-flooded gutter near an elementary
school, where it was found by children walking to classes. A priest
had seen the van in the area and reported it to police.
When they
tracked it down they found one of Bruch's earrings and her belt
inside. Paint scrapes on the van matched the paint of Bruch's car.
In a death row interview earlier this month, Alexander maintained
his innocence. "There's a lot of stuff in the conviction that was
bunk," Alexander said. "I'll say that straight off the bat: Bunk!
The test shouldn't have come back positive. If anything, this last
test should have come back inconclusive or not mine."
After the execution, Lori's family said in a statement, "Our family
and friends, as well as who knows how many countless other lives she
would have touched, have lost so much.
Today marks the end of a very
long and tragic chapter in our lives and we are relieved it is over.
Today is finally the day for this victim. Justice for Lori. We loved
her then, we love her now and we will love and miss her forever."