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Nelson W. SHELTON
Classification: Murderer
Characteristics: Robbery
- Alcohol
Number of victims: 1
Date of murder:
January 12,
1992
Date of birth: 1967
Victim profile: Wilson Mannon
(male, 64)
Method of murder:
Beating with a hammer
Location: New Castle County, Delaware, USA
Status:
Executed
by lethal injection in Delaware on March 17,
1995
Sentenced to death on April 30,
1993, for his part in the 1992 brutal slaying of a robbery victim.
For the first time in state
history, Superior Court Judge Jerome O. Herlihy, sentenced three
people to death for committing a single murder.
Nelson Shelton,
along with his brother Steven Shelton, and cousin Jack Outten were
all convicted of first degree murder for their part in the bludgeon
death of a man who's body was found on East Seventh Street in
Wilmington near the Christiana River.
Delaware Executes Man for '92
Killing
The New York Times
March 18, 1995
A 27-year-old man who with his brother and cousin bludgeoned to
death an elderly man in 1992 was executed today by lethal injection
at the Delaware Correctional Center.
When asked by the warden, Robert Snyder, if he
had any last words before the injection was administered, Nelson
Shelton said, "No." He was pronounced dead at 12:34 A.M. He had
refused to appeal his sentence.
Mr. Shelton, his brother Steven, 29, and their
cousin Jack Outten, 28, were convicted of killing 64-year-old Wilson
Mannon with a hammer.
They were tried and sentenced in 1993. Steven
Shelton and Mr. Outten are scheduled to be executed in April, but
they plan appeals, which probably will delay their executions.
Nelson Shelton
Fotojones.com
On January 11, 1992, Nelson Shelton spent the
afternoon drinking beer with his brother Steven, his cousin Jack
Outten, & his girlfriend, Christina Gibbons. That evening, at a bar
in New Castle, Delaware, they met 64 year old Wilson Mannon.
The group left the bar with
Mannon, whose body was found the next day, beaten to death with the
top of a washing machine. At trial the state's principal witness was
Gibbons, who claimed at first that Nelson's brother was uninvolved
in the murder. All 3 men were sentenced to death. Nelson decided not
to appeal & was executed in 1995.
Nelson Shelton could not have been more
different from his cousin Jack Outten. He entered the interview room
crestfallen. A death-penalty "volunteer," he had ordered his lawyer
not to appeal his sentence. His rationale was that if he could not
work, he might as well die.
"What I miss most? The morning part. I had a
lot of problems, but I loved to work. And I guess it comes from my
father....I was always the first one on the job site. And I was just
going along with the mornings"
During his time on death row, he stared back at a
life that didn't seem worth continuing. He didn't like what he saw;
his conscience was acting up. Like so many others, he sought
salvation in religion.
Having found God, Nelson was reduced to meekness.
It was hard to tell whether he was speaking from the heart or just
parroting phrases from his new-found religion. He seemed sincerely
resigned to his death.
"Well, yeah, the death
penalty is OK & it's suitable. And I'm pretty much comfortable with
that because I believe in the Holy Bible & I believe in every wonder
that's in there....And it was right after the flood, when God told
Moses, his son would be proof & multiply....And one of the first
laws was if any man shall shed any man's blood, by man shall that
man's blood be shed. And that was right."
Nelson's life of crime came back to torture both his sleeping &
waking hours. Influenced by his older brother, who had taught him to
be aggressive, Nelson had gotten deeper & deeper into trouble. Now
he was taking medication to keep the memories from overpowering him.
"Recently, I tried some antidepressant
medication. I wouldn't let them put me on those Thorazine or Halcion
or any of that stuff. And I'm on just a regular, generic
antidepressant, because I was sleeping too much. I was putting in
16, 12 hours in bed....I've been going, trying to struggle with a
normal routine for the last week. It helps with the medication, the
antidepressant."
Nelson had little success in school, where he
alternated between the roles of class clown & class bully. His few
good moments were eclipsed by repeated stints in juvenile detention.
Called slow all his life, he had to search for the words to put his
education into perspective.
"My dad used to always call me stupid.
Literally. And I didn't know anything. Because no one showed me
nothing. Not one person showed me anything that was right. Not one."
While I was photographing Nelson there were long
periods of silence. I felt like a voyeur. He was near tears.
"And now I think about that man [Wilson Mannon].
And I think about his family & what his family's going through....Even
though my father was rough with me & had a bad fuse, you know, to
brutally kill like that-....I know he was a real kind, gentle guy,
you know....And it's like he was getting ready to retire & enjoy
life. And the way I see it now, is that before he could retire &
enjoy the fruits of his labor, you know, 4 evil people came along &
snuffed his life out....No, I...I'm really torn. Even though my life
is in the balance, you know."
