McQueen Executed

Limo Carried Bad Luck for Winner of Contest

McQueen's Victim Recalled as Friendly

The Cincinnati Post

January 13, 1998

FRANKFORT, Ky. - From his prison cell on Death Row, Harold McQueen Jr. stares calmly into the camera and begs children one last time to stay away from alcohol and drugs.

''Drugs destroyed everything I ever had. And it destroyed everything I ever wanted,'' he says bluntly.

''You don't have no future with drugs. I mean you don't have anything. You don't care about your mother, your brother, whoever. You know you just gotta get that high. And if you don't get it, you'll get it the best way you can. If you don't have money, you'll steal, rob.''

It's a powerful message that McQueen repeated many times during his 16 years on Death Row. It's one that he would not repeat again.

Three days after the videotape was made, the convicted murderer was put to death in the Kentucky electric chair. His was the first execution in Kentucky in 35 years.

The videotape, made under the supervision of the Catholic Conference of Kentucky, is being distributed to churches, youth organizations and other groups in hopes that McQueen's anti-drug message will resonate with teen-agers and keep them from heading down the same tragic path.

''Clearly, the message is that when one begins to abuse substances - alcohol and other forms of drugs - you no longer have control over your behavior,'' said Jane Chiles, the Cath olic conference's executive director.

The 19-minute video, titled ''It Could Happen To You,'' was made public just last week, but the response already has been overwhelming.

A circuit judge plans to show the tape to alcohol abusers who appear in his courtroom. Parents have asked for copies to show to their children.

The video, now in its second printing, was filmed at the Kentucky State Penitentiary in Eddyville, just a few feet from the execution chamber where McQueen was put to death last July.

McQueen, who became a devout Catholic while on Death Row, agreed to make the tape after it became obvious that he would not be granted a pardon and his life would not be spared, Ms. Chiles said.

McQueen had spoken frequently to youths about the dangers of drug and alcohol abuse. He saw the videotape as a way to continue spreading his anti-drug message long after he was gone.

John Mallery, substance abuse treatment supervisor for Catholic Social Services of Northern Kentucky, said McQueen's message remains powerful even on videotape.

''I think he's very clear in saying you need to start looking at what you're doing as a teen-ager, before it gets worse,'' said Mallery, who served as a consultant during the production and editing of the video.

On the tape, McQueen sits calmly in a chair, hands folded in his lap, his bushy hair pulled back in a ponytail. He's dressed in his red prison uniform. The bars of his prison cell are clearly visible in the background.

McQueen talks candidly about how his life began to fall apart after he took his first drink of alcohol at age 10. By high school, he was drinking heavily.

''My grades started going down,'' he said. ''I started not even wanting to go to school. I just wanted to lay around and drink and hang out with the older kids, the ones that were already out of school. They all wanted me to go with them. We just partied all together. Alcohol cut my school all the way out.''

At 19, he joined the Army, where he got hooked on heroin. His wife eventually left him. One cold winter night, he sank into deep despair.

''My stomach was burning, felt like every muscle in me was straining and ripping apart. ...

You know, it was just I didn't think I was wanting to go through that anymore.''

He put a pistol to his head and pulled the trigger. The gun snapped, but misfired.

McQueen's life had been spared. But he was unable to shake his deep, gnawing hunger for drugs.

McQueen had taken more than 150 milligrams of Valium and had been drinking whiskey and smoking marijuana the night he and his half-brother, William Keith Burnell, pulled into a Mini Mart store in Richmond, Ky. on Jan. 17, 1980.

Rebecca O'Hearn, a 22-year-old clerk, was filling in for a co-worker.

Though he would later claim that his brother was the triggerman, McQueen was convicted of shooting Ms. O'Hearn once in the cheek and then putting the gun to the back of her head and pulling the trigger.

McQueen, who already had an extensive record that included breaking and entering, shoplifting, burglary, disorderly conduct, hit and run and desertion from the Army, was sentenced to death for the murder of Ms. O'Hearn in April 1981.

McQueen doesn't talk directly about the murder on the videotape and makes only a passing reference to his upcoming execution.

He does mention that he regrets the things he's done wrong. And he talks at length about the anguish and the hopelessness of life on Death Row.

McQueen makes it clear that anybody on drugs could end up like him.

''All you gotta do is just, uh, load your blood system up with drugs, alcohol, and you don't know what you're doing. You could easily be talked into doing anything. ...

He urges teens to find a substitute for drugs and alcohol.

Karl Keys: The State Sponsored Killing of Harold McQueen

Harold was my friend; he was killed by the Commonwealth of Kentucky on July 1, 1997. He was the first person executed in Kentucky in 35 years. Harold forever changed my life. His love and compassion I will never forget -- even if he refused to get a haircut. May God have mercy on us all.

Karl - PS The rest of the webpage I leave to remeber the last days of Harold's life.

HAROLD McQUEEN, JR.

Harold McQueen was sentenced to death in 1981 in Richmond, Kentucky, for the January 17, 1981 robbery of a Minit Mart convenience store, and the murder of 22-year-old Rebecca O'Hearn, a cashier at the store. Harold is now 44-years-old. He was sentenced to death at the age of 28.

Prior to his capital charges, Harold had been convicted of non-violent crimes, i.e., burglary, pandering, but he had no history of convictions for violent offenses. At the time of the crime, Harold was addicted to heroin, valium and alcohol. He had been introduced to alcohol at the age of ten by his father, the town drunk. By the time he was 13, he was drinking steadily, to the point of blacking out from the alcohol. Soon afterward, he began regularly abusing illegal drugs.

Ironically, he entered the United States Army in a last attempt to straighten out his life. It was there that he was introduced to and became addicted to heroin. His addictions were so overpowering that he was constantly high on drugs, drunk and compelled to consume large quantities of drugs and alcohol in order to reach the highly intoxicated state which his addiction demanded.

In the months and years leading to the crime for which he was sentenced to death, Harold's life spiralled out of control due to drug addiction. An aunt who had grown up with Harold recalls that, at the time: "to look or speak to Harold, Jr. was like looking at, or talking to a stranger. There was nothing there that resembled the Harold, Jr. that we had known. . . .Harold just wasn't there."

By the late 1970s, Harold was heavily addicted to drugs. He could not keep a job, his marriage had failed, and he was stealing in order to obtain drugs. Harold was addicted to the point that he needed injections of heroin throughout the day, every day. An old acquaintance (and ex-heroin addict) of Harold's recalls that: "we did so much that we got weekly deliveries of the drug at my home. . . .[He] was able to get off it for a while, but I turned him on again. . .I feel really bad out that now."

Harold stole from his family in order to keep himself supplied with drugs. An uncle recalls that "he broke in and stole my son's piggy bank to get money for drugs -- and Harold adored my son. . . .the difference between Harold sober and on drugs was like the difference between daylight and dark."

According to Dr. Eljorn Nelson, a psychopharmacologist at the University of Cincinnati, Harold's intoxication at the time of the crime was no longer voluntary. Because of his addiction, drugs and alcohol "had taken on the same significance as eating food, breathing, and drinking water for a normal non-chemically dependent individual."

On the night of the crime, Harold had injected in excess of 150 milligrams of Valium, and had been drinking whiskey and smoking marijuana all day. Medical professionals have evaluated Harold. A neuropsychologist found that Harold suffered frontal lobe brain damage because of his long-term drug abuse. A psychopharmacologist found that Harold could not have formed the intent at the time of the crime to support a conviction for murder. Neither of these experts testified at Harold's death penalty trial; the jury never knew of Harold's drug addiction and abuse problems.

HAROLD'S 1981 TRIAL

Harold, age 28, and his 19-year-old half-brother, Keith Burnell, were tried together for the robbery-murder in Richmond, Kentucky. Although Keith Burnell was an active participant in the crimes, he received the minimum 20-year sentence for murder, and was paroled in 1988. While Burnell's father paid to hire an attorney for his son, Harold was left with a court- appointed attorney, who was paid $1000, the maximum fee for appointed counsel in Kentucky death penalty cases in 1980.

Harold's attorney did very little, if anything, to prepare a defense for Harold. The lawyer did not seek a severed trial, although Burnell's attorney made it clear through his pre- trial motion practice that he would place the blame on Harold.

At trial, the blame was indeed placed on Harold for acting as the leader of the three persons present at the crime scene. Linda Rose, the third person, was never charged and testified against Harold. Weeks before trial, she fled to Arizona, and had to be returned by law enforcement officials to testify. Harold was targeted by both the prosecution and his half-brother co-defendant, as the trigger-person, even though there was no evidence to prove who had shot Becky O'Hearn.

Harold's lawyer did not seek a change of venue in this highly publicized case. He did not cross-examine witnesses effectively. For instance, Harold's defense attorney did not effectively cross--examine Linda Rose, the co-defendant-turned-state witness who was the only person to claim that Harold was the trigger-person, despite the widely divergent accounts she gave pre-trial of what happened on the night of the crime.

Harold's lawyer did not investigate mitigation, although there was ample evidence of Harold's drug abuse and addiction. Harold's family members were not interviewed or presented as witnesses, although they would have testified that Harold's life had spiralled out of control because of drugs. Harold's defense attorney testified at a state post-conviction hearing in 1985 that he did not talk to Harold's family before trial because he felt they had a bad reputation in the community.

The jury heard no evidence of Harold's long-term drug addiction, and resulting brain damage. The jury never knew that Harold had been severely neglected as a child. The jury knew nothing of Harold's demeanor and personality off drugs. They did not know that, as Harold's aunt puts it, "Harold was a caring, sweet child. . . .even as an adult, there wasn't a violent or mean bone in his body."

POST-CONVICTION REVIEW IN HAROLD'S CASE

Harold's Petition for a Writ of Certiorari to the United States Supreme Court was denied on June 2, 1997. He will file a Petition for Rehearing on or before June 27, as is his right under that court's Rule 44.

A panel of judges decided 2-1 against Harold in the Sixth Circuit. The dissenting judge stated quite strongly that Harold's death sentence was not fairly obtained and should be vacated. This, in large part, was due to the failure of Harold's poorly compensated, appointed trial attorney to investigate, discover and inform the jury about many very significant aspects of Harold's life, including his brain damage, long-term alcohol and drug addictions, and his abysmal upbringing -- all mitigating evidence, which the United States Supreme Court has said, if presented, must be considered by a jury.

The United States District Court that denied Harold's Petition for a Writ of Habeas Corpus never considered the medical report that found Harold to suffer from brain damage , and to have not had the ability, due to intoxication, to form the requisite criminal intent at the time of the crime. There has been no federal hearing in Harold's case, and no court has considered the mental health evidence that trial counsel could have and should have--but did not--present at Harold's capital trial.

HAROLD MCQUEEN, JR. TODAY

Harold has not committed any violent acts in the 16 years that he has lived on Death Row. Jack Wood, who has worked at Eddyville's Kentucky State Penitentiary (KSP)-- Kentucky's only maximum security institution--for 17 years, is currently the Unit Administrator for the entire Death Row population. Mr. Wood has known Harold since Harold came to Death Row. On May 7, 1997, Mr. Wood stated that, but for Harold's death sentence, Harold would not be at KSP because his "custody score is so low he would have been gone [transferred to another institution] years ago for good conduct." Mr. Wood said that while he was not sure, he believed that Harold had the best record of conduct of all death row inmates, and that on average, Death Row prisoners are better behaved than general population inmates at the institution.

Al Parke was the Warden the KSP from July, 1982 through 1984, and later served as Kentucky's Commissioner of Corrections under Governor Martha Layne Collins. Al Parke is currently the Superintendent (Warden) at Indiana State Penitentiary, which houses Indiana's death row population. Superintendent Parke presides over executions in the state of Indiana. Al Parke met Harold McQueen in 1982. As Warden, Parke observed Harold's behavior, and saw Harold again upon his return to visit KSP some years later. Although he does not favor clemency, Parke believes that Harold would not be a threat if released from Death Row into the general prison population.

Ken Thomas, a staff psychologist at KSP who has known and counselled Harold over the past three years, believes that Harold has been a Corrections success story, and that he should not be executed for his crime. Mr. Thomas describes Harold as a deeply spiritual person who is truly remorseful for his past actions. Mr. Thomas has observed Harold to be a positive influence on other prisoners and a mature, introspective individual.

Harold has not used any illicit drugs since 1987. Harold has received two write-ups for marijuana use while on Death Row, but none since 1987. Bobby Waller was the Death Row Unit Administrator in 1983 and 1984, and again in the early 1990s. Mr. Waller recalls that "Harold had some drug-related write-ups when he first came. . . .He was always respectful to me, one of the most behaved inmates on death row. . . .he's a model inmate. I can't say [anything]. . . .bad about him." Harold has acted as an inmate spokesperson, talking with juvenile offenders who visit KSP as part of a program designed to keep juveniles from becoming adult offenders. Harold warns juveniles to stay away from drugs, and shares his own story of drug abuse and addiction problems, and the criminal activity that followed as a result of drugs.

While Harold knows that drugs led him into criminal activity, he does not try to lessen his own personal responsibility for the death of Rebecca O'Hearn by blaming his actions on drugs. Harold is sincerely remorseful for Ms. O'Hearn's death, and the pain and anguish that Ms. O'Hearn's loved ones have suffered. Harold is a productive and responsible member of the prison community. Harold was elected to serve as one of four inmates on the KSP Grievance committee. Harold has taken part in grievance hearings as an inmate representative. Harold has worked for over a decade as a janitor at the prison. KSP corrections officer Tim Fox has worked at the prison for over 10 years, and worked on Death Row for over 2 years. Officer Fox supervised Harold's work, and reports that Harold "has always done the work requested. . . even above what was expected." Kenny Stephens, an engineer who has worked at KSP for 13 years, has supervised Harold's work on a number of projects. Mr. Stephens states that he has "never had a problem with [Harold]. . . .he's a good worker. . . .gets along with staff and inmates."

Harold has been a devout Catholic since 1987. He attends every prison worship service, and prays daily with a rosary. Harold's rosary belonged to Cindy Stephens, the daughter of Paul Stephens, a volunteer chaplain at the prison. Cindy Stephens was murdered twenty years ago. Paul Stephens says that "Harold is a source of strength to his fellow prisoners; he counsels them to live in a way God would approve of." Paul Stephens does not believe Harold deserves to be electrocuted.

Harold has had two death warrants signed over the time that he has been on Death Row. When the first warrant was signed in 1984, the prison psychologist conducted his mandatory interview with Harold. Harold said that he "finds it difficult to wait day by day by day. . . .that he would prefer someone to simply pick him up from his cell and carry him away, rather than be in the predicament of not knowing." The second warrant was signed in 1987. Harold has lived for 16 years not knowing when his execution day might arrive. Over this time, he has become a Corrections success story and has for years been a model prisoner on Death Row. Harold is willing to spend the rest of his natural life in prison, if he is spared electrocution.

Harold, at the age of 44, is not deserving of execution.

HAROLD MCQUEEN'S CRIME

In 1980, Rebecca O'Hearn was twenty-two years old and had recently graduated from Eastern Kentucky University in Richmond. Ms. O'Hearn, from a family of teachers, planned to return to school to become a school teacher. Rebecca O'Hearn worked evenings at the Minit Mart Convenience Store in Richmond, Kentucky. On Thursday evening, January 17, 1980, she went to work. She worked alone in the store that night.

Harold McQueen, along with his half-brother, William Burnell, and Linda Rose, a woman who had known Keith Burnell for years, were driving around Richmond in Harold's car that evening. They had been in the country that afternoon, and had been drinking at Keith's father's home. Harold, Keith and Linda had spent the afternoon drinking heavily, smoking marijuana, and taking pills.

Harold's drug use had reached chronic proportions by 1980. This day was like many others: he ingested approximately 150 milligrams of Valium, smoked countless marijuana cigarettes, and drank a large amount of whiskey straight from the bottle. Linda Rose and Keith Burnell were drinking heavily and smoking marijuana as well. Court testimony from Harold's trial revealed that Ms. Rose was heavily under the influence of alcohol and Valium on this evening. Harold and his half-brother both had a history of petty crimes in and around the Richmond area. To this day, little remains known about Linda Rose's past, except that she was known around Berea and Richmond for being a heavy drinker and drug user.

At approximately 10:00 p.m. on Thursday, January 17, 1980, Harold, Keith and Linda went to the home of their friends Billy Hunter and Bertha Lewis. There were eight or nine people in the apartment. People who were present at the apartment that night testified at trial that Harold, Keith Burnell and Linda Rose were intoxicated when they left that night. At around 11:30 p.m., Harold, Keith and Linda drove to the Minit Mart Store on Big Hill Avenue to rob it. Harold drove. He pulled into the parking lot of an apartment complex that backed up to the rear of the Minit Mart. Harold and Keith got out of the car and approached the Minit Mart from behind. Linda Rose remained in the car. In a statement to the police, she admitted that she was passed out from the alcohol and drugs she had been consuming all day.

The two half-brothers were armed with a .22 pistol, and a crowbar between them. Harold and Keith walked through the parking lot, around the store and entered through the front door. They ordered Rebecca O'Hearn to empty the cash register and the safe, and she complied. When they left the store minutes later, Rebecca O'Hearn had been shot twice in the head. She was discovered minutes later by a customer, who notified the police and an ambulance. Ms. O'Hearn died shortly thereafter.

HAROLD MCQUEEN TODAY

Harold McQueen today is wholly unlike the person who committed the crimes for which he has been sentenced to die: Harold is no longer addicted to drugs and alcohol even though he says that others who want them can get them in prison. Harold has spoken to children about his past and warned them about the dangers of crime and drugs. Harold has never been violent with anyone in prison; the crime for which he has been condemned to die is the only violent act in which he has ever been involved. Harold has held a steady job as a janitor for over 10 years and has won awards for his work.

Killer Moves A Step Closer To Execution

Convicted murderer Harole McQueen will be put to death in the electric chair July 1, Governor Paul Patton ordered yesterday. Patton signed an execution warrant for McQueen, 44, who shot and killed a clerk while robbing a convenience store in January 1980.

Barring any court-ordered stay, prison officials will take McQueen from his cell at the Kentucky State Penitentiary at Eddyville, strap him into the electric chair, and, as soon as possible after the clock passes midnight, execute him. The chair uses 2 charges: a 1st at 2,100 volts for 15 seconds, and the 2nd at 250 volts for 105 seconds. It would be the 1st execution in Kentucky since March, 1962.

McQueen's attorney, Randall Wheeler, said yesterday that he was disappointed, adding that "I still think there are major problems with the fairness of the trial that Mr. McQueen got." Patton said in a prepared statement that the courts have thoroughly reviewed McQueen's conviction and death sentence and upheld them.

The father of the woman McQueen killed has declined comment on the case in recent months, but in a letter to Patton last week, Charles O'Hearn of Louisville described how McQueen shot his daughter, Becky, 22, in the face after she had quietly complied with an order to open the safe, then shot her again in the back of the neck as she knelt crying on the floor. O'Hearn said in the letter: "I urge you to sign the death warrant and set an execution date."

It is not certain that McQueen will be executed on July 1. He has filed a lawsuit in federal court, arguing that it would be unconstitutional to kill him in the electric chair because it is a cruel and unusual form of punishment. His attorney in that case, David Friedman of the American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky, said he will seek a preliminary injunction to block the state from executing McQueen in the electric chair until the case is resolved.

A convicted cop-killer in Florida won a stay of execution earlier this year with a similar challenge to the chair, based on a March 25 execution in which the hood covering the head of the condemned man burst into flame. Wheeler said he will also seek a stay of execution in state court and will file a clemency petition asking Patton to spare McQueen's life. McQueen is now a devout Catholic who is truly sorry for what he did and has been rehabilitated, supporters say.

Patton heard a plea for mercy yesterday just hours before ordering an execution date for McQueen. In a 17-minute meeting, Archbishop Thomas C. Kelly of Lousiville and Bishop J. Kendrick Williams, head of the Diocese of Lexington, asked Patton to commute McQueen's death sentence to life in prison without parole. The Catholic church teaches it is wrong for the state or any human to take a life -- a stance that not all faiths share.

Williams said that "we are convinced that vengeance through killing should not be an option in our society." Kelly added that "vengeance belongs to the Lord. And life belongs to the Lord." Patton said the people of Kentucky, through their lawmakers, have said they favor allowing juries to decide whether convicted killers should be sentenced to death. He stated that "I will not, through the power of clemency, substitute my judgment for that of the General Assembly, the courts and the juries of the Commonwealth." Patton supports capital punishment.

State prison officials are prepared for McQueen's execution. The state tests the electric chair periodically and spent $32,000 this year to refurbish it with newe wiring, controls and straps. If this execution goes ahead as scheduled, McQueen may be the last man put to death in Kentucky's electric chair, which was built in 1910 and has been used to electrocute 162 men.

A legislative committee is set next week to approve adding injection of lethal drugs as an execution option. This is the primary method in 32 of the 38 states that use the death penalty; Kentucky is 1 of only 6 states that have the electric chair as their only option.

Representative Mike Bowling, chairman of the Joint Interim Judiciary Committee, said Patton has told him he would add lethal injection to the agenda if there is a special legislative session before the end of the year, which is likely. That means lethal injection could win final legislative approval before the end of this year, too late for McQueen to choose it but before any of the other 30 men on death row exhaust their appeals. Bowling said he would favor putting off McQueen's execution to give him the same option, adding that "the point is this: he is still going to be put to death."

Defendant was convicted in the Madison Circuit Court, James S. Chenault, J., of first-degree robbery and murder in the course thereof, and he appealed. The Supreme Court, Gant, J., held that: (1) denial of defendant's request for either a statistician or an expert on death-qualified jurors was not an abuse of discretion where the individual's personal attendance at a hearing, if any could be held, would not have enhanced his treatises on the subject; (2) indefinite, ambiguous reference made by a police officer to a "polygraph examiner" while being cross-examined by defense counsel in connection with officer's investigation of a witness for State in case was not prejudicially erroneous inasmuch as it did not amount to a statement that any test had been administered or, if so, to whom it had been administered; (3) it was not error to allow the Commonwealth to bring to the attention of the jury that the victim was a living person, more than just a nameless void left somewhere on the face of the community; and (4) sentence of death imposed upon conviction of first- degree robbery and murder in the course thereof was not imposed under the influence of passion, prejudice, or any other arbitrary factor and was supported by aggravating circumstances in case. Affirmed. Leibson, J., dissented and filed opinion.