December 18, 2002

MCALESTER, Okla. - A man convicted of firing a fatal shot into a night watchman's head so he could steal a $500 tow truck was executed Tuesday night in Oklahoma's death chamber.

Ernest Carter died at 6:14 p.m. for the 1990 murder of Eugene Manowski, a father of six who was working the graveyard shift at a northwest Oklahoma City auction. "I'll be with you all on the other side," said Carter, smiling at his family and lifting his head from the gurney. "I'm going home now."

His mother, sister and spiritual advisers strode into the execution viewing room singing "Thank you, Jesus. Thank you for my child." As her son was dying, Carter's mother stood and walked toward the glass that separated them.

Two guards gently took her arms and told her to sit. "Please God, don't let this happen to no one else's child," she said after Carter was pronounced dead. "Spare the rest of the inmates, Lord. "His eyes might be closed, but he's not gone. He's tired of being accused of a crime he did not commit."

Ten of Manowski's relatives watched Carter die. They said they were offended by his smile, reminiscent of his unconcerned attitude during his trial. His death brought them some relief. "Another chapter has ended so we can begin a new one," said Joe Manowski, who was 10 when his father was murdered.

The victim's brother, Rickey Manowski, said he preferred to think about the last fishing trip they took together. "I'm just glad it's finally over," he said. "We got a blank spot because my brother's not here, but we're going to fight it like we have been for the last 12 years."

Carter's attorneys failed at a last-ditch plea for his life after Gov. Frank Keating denied the convicted killer clemency. They sent the governor a letter Monday asking him to reconsider last month's unanimous recommendation from the state Pardon and Parole Board to spare Carter's life.

It was the first time in more than 50 years that the board voted unanimously to recommend clemency for a condemned inmate and the fourth time the board recommended clemency since Keating took office in 1995. Keating has rejected all but one of those recommendations.

Defense attorney Gary Chubbuck, who said his client was innocent and convicted on circumstantial evidence, laid his head in his hands and sobbed after Carter died. "I'm so sorry," he said.

Carter, who had been fired from the auction for sleeping on the job, crawled through a hole in a fence, cut the lights to the guard shack and killed Manowski so he could steal a wrecker, according to court records.

His co-defendant, Charles Summers, was sentenced to life in prison. Summers' girlfriend testified that she drove with the men from Chandler to Oklahoma City the night of the killing and that Carter got out of the car near the auto auction; she said he came to their home sometime in the middle of the night, saying he had killed a man and the tow truck he stole had broken down on the way back to Chandler.

Carter and Summers towed the truck, repainted it and eventually burned it, according to court records. Another trial witness, Larry Denson, told jurors Carter told him he "offed" a man so he could steal the wrecker.

The governor had state agents interview Denson again before deciding against clemency Sunday. Other evidence linking Carter to the murder included muddy footprints at the auto auction that were similar to boots he wore when he was arrested. Also, investigators found .38- caliber shells in Carter's trunk and the guard shack where Manowski was slain.

Death penalty opponents asked Keating to reconsider at a rally Tuesday outside the governor's office in the state Capitol. "Mr. Carter is about to be killed by our hands and it shouldn't happen," said Rita Newton, director of the Oklahoma Conference of Churches. "What did Governor Keating mean last year when he said, 'We believe that life is precious and we believe that it is better that nine guilty people go free than one innocent man or woman be convicted or executed?'" she asked.

The Rev. Stan Basler, director of the criminal justice and mercy ministries for the Oklahoma conference of the United Methodist Church, said it was time to make legislative changes regarding clemency. "We need to constitutionally remove the governor's office from the clemency process if the process is going to have consistency," Basler said.

Meanwhile, the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals denied an emergency application Tuesday for a stay of execution for Carter. Carter's application stated Keating has established a standard that evidence of guilt must rise to the level of "moral certainty" for an execution to be carried out. The application stated that Keating is not adhering to that standard.

The Court of Criminal Appeals said the latest application did not meet the requirements of any of the methods of appeal delineated by its rules and doesn't meet requirements of a subsequent application for post- conviction relief. Carter, 36, has maintained his innocence the last 12 years. He claimed he found out about the stolen wrecker when he went to work at Summers' body shop the next morning.

His last appeal was denied at 3 p.m. Tuesday At noon, prison guards served Carter, one of 106 Oklahoma death row inmates, his last meal -- a deep-dish supreme pizza, 7-Up and one slice of cherry cheesecake. He was the seventh and last inmate executed in Oklahoma this year. Two executions are scheduled in January.

CONTRIBUTING: Carmel Perez Snyder and John Greiner in the Capitol Bureau