Summary:

After a night of of smoking crack cocaine, Walker walked to the home of a neighborhood acquaintance, 82 year old Willie Simmons and 66 year old Virginia Simmons.

He picked up a big stick on the railroad tracks and knocked on the door. He identified himself to Mrs. Simmons, who opened the door. Mr. Simmons was standing by the kitchen door with his back turned.

When Mr. Simmons turned around, Walker hit him in the back of the head with the stick, which broke, then hit him two more times. He then pulled him into the bedroom, grabbed Mrs. Simmons, and told her to pull her gown up. He tied Mr. Simmons' hands and feet with an electric cord, then raped Mrs. Simmons.

Walker started thinking that if he did not kill them, they would call the police. After looking at them for about 10 minutes, Walker hit them both in the head repeatedly.

Blood was coming out of their mouths and, as Walker watched, they both gasped for air. Walker then went to the kitchen, got a beer, sat down and drank it.

Afterward, he dragged Mrs. Simmons into the living room to attempt to sexually assault her again, even though she was dead. Walker stole $95 from Mr. Simmons wallet, tried to clean up the scene, and left out the back door.

The next day, police found Walker's blood-soaked clothes in a hole behind his house. After the police confronted him, Walker confessed to the crime.

Walker's confession was supported by forensic evidence presented at trial demonstrating that the blood on his clothes was of the same type as the victims. The evidence also revealed that Walker's sperm was found on Mrs. Simmons.

Walker was previously convicted of murder in 1978 and was paroled on early release in 1980.

Final Meal:

French fries, five pieces of fried chicken, and three Dr. Peppers.

Final Words:

Walker expressed love to two pen pals in Europe. "And to my family, nothing." With his last statement finished, the lethal injection was started. Walker then began reciting the Lord's Prayer. When he reached the words, "Thy kingdom come," he stopped and said, "Help me, chaplain."

ClarkProsecutor.org

Texas Attorney General

Media Advisory

Thursday, Sept. 5, 2002

Tony Lee Walker Scheduled to be Executed.

AUSTIN - Texas Attorney General John Cornyn offers the following information on Tony Lee Walker, who is scheduled to be executed after 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2002.

On Nov. 17, 1993, Tony Lee Walker was sentenced to die for the capital murder of 66-year-old Virginia Simmons in Daingerfield, Texas, on May 23, 1992. Walker also murdered Simmons' 81-year-old husband Willie "Bo" Simmons.

A summary of the evidence presented at trial follows:

FACTS OF THE CRIME

On May 23, 1992, at 12:30 a.m., James Cornelius and Tony Walker were riding in Cornelius' car. The two were in possession of rock cocaine, which they both smoked. Cornelius let Walker out of the car and he started walking toward his house.

Walker, who was an acquaintance of the Simmons, wanted beer and money for more drugs. He decided to go over to the Simmons' house, which was nearby. On the way, Walker picked up a big stick on a railroad track.

When he got to the house, Walker knocked on the door and heard Mr. Simmons ask, "Who is it?" Walker identified himself, and Mr. Simmons opened the door and let him in.

Once inside, Walker told Mr. Simmons he wanted a beer. Mr. Simmons went to the kitchen, got a beer, and brought it back to Walker. Walker gave him 50 cents for the beer and then left.

Walker walked in the woods and drank the beer. He found another stick and went back to the Simmons' house. Walker put the stick behind him and knocked on the door. Mr. Simmons asked who was there, and Walker told him "Roger."

Eventually, Virginia Simmons let Walker into the house. Mr. Simmons was standing by the kitchen door with his back turned. When Mr. Simmons turned around, Walker hit him in the back of the head with the stick, which broke. He hit Mr. Simmons in the head again and the stick broke again.

Walker then grabbed a walking cane and hit Mr. Simmons a third time. The cane also broke. Mrs. Simmons yelled, "Hey, you want to get shot?" Walker opened the front door and got another stick he had left on the porch. He hit Mrs. Simmons with it and she fell on her bed.

Mr. Simmons was still standing up when Walker grabbed him by the hand, pulled him into the bedroom, and told him to lay down on the floor by the bed.

Walker then grabbed Mrs. Simmons and told her to pull her gown up. He tied Mr. Simmons' hands and feet with an electric cord, a belt, and a foam shoulder sling. Walker asked the Simmons if they would tell the police about this, and Mr. Simmons responded that he would not because they had been robbed before. Walker then raped Mrs. Simmons. He noticed that Mrs. Simmons' head was bleeding at the time.

After raping Mrs. Simmons, Walker laid her on the floor by her husband's feet. She was nude and curled up. Walker started thinking that if he did not kill them, they would call the police. After looking at them for about 10 minutes, Walker hit them both in the head repeatedly.

Blood was coming out of their mouths and, as Walker watched, they both gasped for air. Walker then went to the kitchen, got a beer, sat down and drank it. Afterward, he dragged Mrs. Simmons into the living room to attempt to sexually assault her again, even though she was dead. Then, he got another beer from the kitchen and drank it.

Next, Walker found Mr. Simmons' wallet in Mr. Simmons' back pocket, took the money out, and counted it.

There was about $95 in the wallet, which Walker put in his pocket. Walker then began looking for items that he might be able to sell for money, but went to the kitchen and drank another beer.

After that, he untied Mr. Simmons and began to collect the belts, the electric cord, the sticks, the cane, and the beer cans. He put the items in a pillow case, and then tried to wipe his fingerprints off of anything he thought he touched.

Walker was naked and his clothes were covered with blood, so he found a pair of Mr. Simmons' pants and a t-shirt and put them on. Walker went to the front door, opened it, and noticed that the Simmons' neighbors were awake. Consequently, he closed the front door, locked it, and walked out the back door.

The following day, the police found Walker's blood-soaked clothes in a hole behind his house. After the police confronted him, Walker agreed to go to the Morris County courthouse to answer questions.

While at the courthouse, Walker confessed to the crime. Walker's confession was supported by forensic evidence presented at trial demonstrating that the blood on his clothes was of the same type as the victims. The evidence also revealed that Walker's sperm was found on Mrs. Simmons.

PROCEDURAL HISTORY

On June 30, 1992, Walker was indicted in the 276th Judicial District Court of Morris County, Texas, for the capital offense of murdering Virginia Simmons while in the course of committing and attempting to commit aggravated sexual assault.

After Walker pleaded not guilty, a jury found him guilty of the capital offense on Nov. 15, 1993. On Nov. 17, 1993, after a separate punishment hearing, the court assessed Walker's punishment at death.

Walker's conviction and sentence were automatically appealed to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, which affirmed in an unpublished opinion on Oct. 30, 1996. Walker petitioned the Supreme Court of the United States for writ of certiorari, but the Court denied the writ on Oct. 6, 1997.

Walker filed a state application for writ of habeas corpus in the trial court on Aug. 4, 1997. The trial court subsequently entered findings of fact and conclusions of law recommending that Walker's application be denied. With the exception of three of the court's findings, the Court of Criminal Appeals adopted the findings and conclusions of the trial court and denied the application in an unpublished order on Sept. 30, 1998.

Walker then filed a federal habeas petition in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, Beaumont Division, on March 22, 1999. The federal district court denied habeas relief on Dec. 8, 2000.

However, on Feb. 9, 2001, the district court granted Walker permission to appeal with regard to one claim: whether Walker's counsel was ineffective in making an incorrect argument concerning the law of "reasonable doubt."

Thereafter, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit rejected that claim and affirmed the district court's judgment on Aug. 7, 2001. Walker subsequently petitioned the Supreme Court for certiorari review. The Court denied the petition on May 20, 2002.

PRIOR CRIMINAL HISTORY

During trial, the State proved that Walker had been convicted of first degree murder on March 21, 1978, in Criminal District Court No. 2, of Dallas County, Texas. Walker received a five-year sentence for the crime, and was discharged on early release on May, 8, 1980.

ProDeathPenalty.com

UPDATE: In a brief final statement, Tony Lee Walker said goodbye to a friends in Europe and said "I love you and will never forget you. And to my family," he said, choking back tears, "nothing."

In a written statement, Walker said he was sorry for the crime and asked the victim's family if they "can find it in their hearts to forgive me, but if not I will understand."

Richard Townsend, the former Morris County district attorney who prosecuted Walker said, "If you're going to confess to murder, that's probably bad enough but when you put the details in that he did, that's what got him the death penalty. He talked about doing things like sexually assaulting the elderly woman, then getting a beer in the kitchen and drinking a beer and trying to sexually assault her again when she was dead. He went into detail that made him look like a monster."

The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles rejected a commutation request by a 17-0 vote. No 11th-hour appeals were filed in the courts. "There are simply no meritorious issues we could urge in good faith," his lawyer, Buck Files Jr., said. "After five years and nine or 10 months, I have no more rabbits to pull out of the hat."

Files said he had hoped to spend time with Walker on Tuesday and offered to arrange transportation for Walker's wife to visit her husband in prison in the hours before his lethal injection but Walker declined to see either of them. "As he put it, he didn't see any point to it," Files said.

At his trial, Walker disputed his confession, testifying other men with him were responsible for the slayings although he did not deny the rape. Evidence, however, showed Walker was alone. "He gave the worst confession I ever read, easily nailing himself to the wall, admitting not only the murder, but went into details," Townsend said.

Walker also was convicted in 1978 of a murder in Dallas, where he was with others pulling a store robbery where a person was killed. He received a five-year prison term but was discharged on early release after serving a little more than two years.

Tony Lee Walker

Txexecutions.org

Tony Lee Walker, 46, was executed by lethal injection on 10 September in Huntsville, Texas for killing a neighbor couple.

On 23 May 1992, James Cornelius and Tony Walker were riding in Cornelius' car and smoking crack cocaine after midnight.

At 12:30 a.m., Cornelius let Walker, then 36, out of the car and he started walking toward his house. According to his later confession, Walker picked up a big stick -- a piece of a railroad tie about the size of a baseball bat -- off the ground.

Instead of going to his house, he decided to go to the home of Willie "Bo" Simmons, 81, and his wife, Virginia, 66. Walker knocked on the front door. From behind the door, Mr. Simmons asked, "Who is it?" After Walker identified himself, Simmons let him in. Walker asked Simmons for a beer, which he obtained for him from the kitchen. Walker gave Simmons 50 cents for the beer and then left.

Walker walked around in the woods nearby and drank the beer. He then picked up another club-sized stick and went back to the Simmons' house. He left one of the clubs by the front door and held the other behind his back. He knocked on the door, and Mrs. Simmons let him in. Walker then began beating Mr. Simmons on the head with his club.

After the stick broke twice, Walker grabbed a walking cane and hit Mr. Simmons a third time. The cane also broke. He then picked up his other club from the front porch, went into the bedroom, and hit Mrs. Simmons, who fell on the bed.

He went back to the living room and pulled Mr. Simmons, who was dazed but still standing, into the bedroom. Walker told Mr. Simmons to lie on the floor and then he tied his hands and feet with an electric cord and other items in the room. He then raped Mrs. Simmons.

After raping Virginia Simmons, Walker laid her on the floor, nude, next to her husband. For the next ten minutes, he looked at them and considered what he was going to do.

He then began beating them both in the head repeatedly, until they were both dead. After this, he went to the kitchen, got another beer, and drank it. He then dragged Mrs. Simmons' body into the living room and attempted to have sexual intercourse with it. He then drank another beer.

Next, Walker took Willie Simmons' wallet from his back pocket, took out the money, counted it, and put the $95 in his pocket. He also started looking for items that he might be able to sell. He then drank another beer. After that, he began to clean up the crime scene.

He untied Mr. Simmons and put the electrical cord, sticks, beer cans, and other items he had used into a pillowcase. He attempted to wipe his fingerprints off of anything he thought he touched. Naked, he found some of Willie Simmons' clothes to put on and picked his own bloody clothes up. Noticing that the neighbors were stirring, he left through the back door.

Walker was arrested the next day after police found his bloodstained clothes in the woods behind his house, in a hole. At the courthouse, he gave the detailed confession described above. He told police that he had been smoking crack cocaine on the night of the murders and that he robbed the Simmons for money to buy more cocaine.

Walker had a previous conviction for first-degree murder. He was involved in a store robbery where someone was killed. He began serving a 5-year prison sentence in 1978 and was discharged after 2 years. He also had two prior convictions for burglary of a vehicle. He was sentenced to 6 months' probation both times.

Walker pleaded not guilty at his trial. He admitted to being at the crime scene and raping Virginia Simmons, but he said that other men who were with him committed the murders. The prosecution presented his clothes, which were soaked with blood matching both victims, as evidence. The evidence also showed that Walker's sperm was found on Virginia Simmons' body.

A jury convicted Walker of the capital murder of Virginia Simmons in November 1993 and sentenced him to death. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed the conviction and sentence in October 1996. All of his subsequent appeals in state and federal court were denied. The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles denied his clemency request by a 17-0 vote.

Walker did not give interviews while on death row. However, he did correspond with an anti-death-penalty web site. One of his letters may give a clue as to his choice of murder weapons. Urging readers to buy his woodcraft items, such as clocks and jewelry boxes, he wrote, "I have always been infatuated, working with wood."

Other than two reporters, there were no witnesses to Walker's execution, either for the prisoner or the victims. In a written statement, he wrote, "I wish to tell the family how sorry I am about what I done. I know that nothing I say will bring Mr. and Mrs. Bo Simmons back. I ask that Linda and Gary [the couple's children] and their family can find it in there [sic] hearts to forgive me, but if not, I will understand, I am truly sorry." On the execution gurney, Walker expressed love to two pen pals in Europe. "And to my family," he said, choking back tears, "nothing." With his last statement finished, the lethal injection was started. Walker then began reciting the Lord's Prayer. When he reached the words, "Thy kingdom come," he stopped and said, "Help me, chaplain."

The chaplain continued saying the prayer as Walker gasped and sputtered several times. When he stopped breathing, a tear rolled out of his right eye, onto his cheek. He was pronounced dead at 6:16 p.m.

Convicted Killer Dies in Tears Saying the Lord's Prayer

Houston Chronicle

AP - September 10, 2002

HUNTSVILLE -- A tear running down his face, a northeast Texas man convicted of raping and fatally beating a 66-year-old woman in an attack where her husband also was killed was executed Tuesday evening.

In a brief final statement, Tony Lee Walker said goodbye to a friend in Switzerland, who he identified as Diego, and another in England, who he called Wild Flower. "I love you and will never forget you," Walker said. "And to my family," he said, choking back tears, "nothing."

As the drugs began flowing, Walker started saying the Lord's Prayer, reaching the words "thy kingdom come" when he stopped. He looked at a chaplain standing at his feet and said, "help me, chaplain." The chaplain continued saying the prayer as Walker gasped and sputtered several times.

After Walker stopped breathing, a tear ran out of his right eye and down the side of his face. He was pronounced dead at 6:16 p.m., eight minutes after the drugs began flowing. In a written statement, Walker said he was sorry for the crime and asked the victim's family if they "can find it in their hearts to forgive me, but if not I will understand."

Walker, 36, was high on crack cocaine and armed with pieces of railroad tie about the size of a baseball bat when he clubbed Virginia Simmons and her husband, Willie "Bo" Simmons, 81, at their Daingerfield home the night of May 23, 1992. Walker lived nearby and knew the victims. He confessed to police a couple of days later after his bloody shirt and other items from the crime scene were found in a wooded area between his home and the Simmons' home.

Walker, condemned for the woman's death, was the 24th person to be put to death in Texas this year and the first of five scheduled to die this month. "If you're going to confess to murder, that's probably bad enough, but when you put the details in that he did, that's what got him the death penalty," said Richard Townsend, the former Morris County district attorney who prosecuted Walker. "He talked about doing things like sexually assaulting the elderly woman, then getting a beer in the kitchen and drinking a beer and trying to sexually assault her again when she was dead. "He went into detail that made him look like a monster."

The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles rejected a commutation request by a 17-0 vote. No 11th-hour appeals were filed in the courts. "There are simply no meritorious issues we could urge in good faith," his lawyer, Buck Files Jr., said. "After five years and nine or 10 months, I have no more rabbits to pull out of the hat."

Files said he had hoped to spend time with Walker on Tuesday and offered to arrange transportation for Walker's wife to visit her husband in prison in the hours before his lethal injection, but Walker declined to see either of them. "As he put it, he didn't see any point to it," Files said.

Evidence showed that earlier on the evening of the killings, Walker was at the Simmons' house to purchase a beer and paid the couple 50 cents for it. When he returned, Bo Simmons let him in, presumably because he wanted another beer. Daingerfield was a dry community and the Simmons' house was a place he knew he could get a drink, authorities said. In the attack, the wood ties broke from the force of the blows. Evidence showed he then grabbed a walking cane, which also broke, to continue the attack.

At his trial, Walker disputed his confession, testifying other men with him were responsible for the slayings although he did not deny the rape. Evidence, however, showed Walker was alone. "He gave the worst confession I ever read, easily nailing himself to the wall," Townsend said. On an anti-death penalty Web site, Walker, who refused to speak with reporters in the weeks before his scheduled punishment, wrote to a supporter in 1998 urging people purchase his wood craft products, such as clocks and jewelry boxes. "I have always been infatuated, working with wood," he said in the letter.

Walker also was convicted in 1978 of a murder in Dallas, where he was with others pulling a store robbery where a person was killed. He received a five-year prison term but was discharged on early release after serving a little more than two years.

Man Executed for 1992 Double Murder

By Mark Passwaters - The Huntsville Item

September 11, 2002

A Morris County man convicted of a pair of 1992 murders was executed yesterday evening in the death chamber of the Huntsville "Walls" Unit. Tony Lee Walker, 46, had received his death sentence for the murders of 81-year-old Bo Simmons and his 66-year-old wife Virginia on May 23, 1992. Walker beat the two to death with a railroad tie for the $95 he found in Bo Simmons' wallet.

Attendance for Walker's execution was sparse, with no witnesses from the family of the victims or from Walker's family. The only media representatives were from the Associated Press and The Huntsville Item. Walker, clad in a light blue dress shirt and dark blue slacks, was not covered by a sheet as is customary for most executions. He struggled with his emotions during his final statement, which he began at 6:07 p.m.

After thanking friends in Switzerland and Great Britain, Walker became emotional when speaking of his family. "And to my family..." he said before breaking into a sob. After composing himself, he said to "Walls" warden Neill Hodges, "That's all."

As the fatal dose began to flow at 6:08 p.m., Walker began to recite the Lord's Prayer. He reached the phrase, "Thy kingdom come" before being overcome by emotion. Addressing Texas Department of Criminal Justice chaplain Richard Lopez, Walker said, "Help me, Chaplain." Lopez continued the prayer as Walker gasped and lost consciousness, shedding a tear as his eyes shut. He was pronounced dead at 6:16 p.m. In a final written statement, Walker asked for forgiveness from the Simmons family. "I wish to tell the family how sorry I am about what I done," he wrote. "I know that nothing I say will bring Mr. and Mrs. Bo Simmons back. I ask that Linda and Gary (the Simmons' children) and their family can find it in there (sic) hearts to forgive me, but if not I will understand, I am truly sorry."

Walker, who had served two years for a previous murder conviction before being released in the early 1980's, was an acquaintance of the Simmons'. He forced his way into their house -- located in Daingerfield -- on the early morning hours of May 23 in an attempt to steal beer and to get money to by crack cocaine. After entering the house, Walker attacked Bo Simmons, striking him on the head hard enough to break two railroad ties taken from a nearby track and Simmons' cane.

Walker then took both of his victims into their bedroom, where he restrained Bo Simmons and proceeded to rape his wife. After leaving the bedroom to drink a beer, Walker returned and beat the two to death. After drinking another beer and attempting to rape Virginia Simmons' corpse, Walker changed out of his blood-soaked clothes and walked out of the front door of the house, locking it behind him.

Walker was arrested the next day, with his blood-covered clothes discovered in a small hole behind his house. He confessed to the killings during his initial interrogation by Morris County authorities, but later recanted. He was found guilty of the killing of Virginia Simmons -- the state only filed a single capital murder count -- on Nov. 15, 1993, and was sentenced to death two days later.

Lifespark Movement Against the Death Penalty

The following extract is a taken form a letter written on 30th August, 1998 by Tony Lee Walker #999082, Death Row inmate in Ellis One Unit, Huntsville, Texas, to his penfriend in Switzerland. He is 43 years old and has been on Death Row since 1993.

Hello again! It's your friend Big Tuck. I pray life is treating you well! I'm feeling pretty good. I guess being over fourty does has its up and down. It is Sunday afternoon, I've been thinking about the Internet deal. So I was just laying around after cleanning my box out, getting rid of some junk which took about 2 minutes, smile. I also was reading a writ my lawyer sent me that was being sent to the Court of Criminal Appeal from the State of Texas. Well as you know the State, they do whatever it takes to convince the courts and Supreme Court to carry out the execution, everything the State said, the judge granted for them! But you can expect that anyway! It's a onesided thing! It takes time for these things, a ruling, just thought I let you know... So time is still lingering you would say!

Well I've been thinking and thinking about that Internet deal, about what to say. Diego, I will say this : any idea you have will be the most welcome, so how about this :

"Hello from Texas, Death Row USA. My name is Mr. Tony Lee Walker, my number is 999082. I am one of the over 400 inmates housed here at Ellis One, in Huntsville, Texas, awaiting to be put to death by lethal injection. I will also add that I'm not just sitting around, waiting to die. Since I arrived here at Ellis One, I picked up a hobby making jewelry boxes and clocks. I have always been infatuated, working with wood. I'm told that Death Row Arts & Crafts are sold for high dollars but mine are not. My crafts are at a set price. I'm just trying to make ends meet. These beautiful crafts are all hand made and are one of a kind! They will be cherished for all years to come. A lovely present! A beautiful gift for all ages! Ordering one or many of my crafts items will help me. Please order now. Thank you and God bless us all!"

Diego, I can't wait to get this shown on the road, hoping for good results, so keep your fingers crossed!

Well being in solitary has its advantages. I get to stay up all night and sleep all day. Say I've been wondering what kind of program do you watch over there on TV? I'm ordering a book from the library, maybe something about Switzerland. Well Diego, as you know all good things must come to an end, so I will close my letter but never my friendship. May God bless you always. My best wishes. Tell your mother and sister hello for me, thank you Diego, man, you are truely a blessing to me and a good friend.

With love, Big Tuck, Texas, 30th August 1998