John Ruthell Henry | Murderpedia, the encyclopedia of murderers

John Ruthell HENRY



Classification: Murderer
Characteristics: Parricide
Number of victims: 3
Date of murders: 1975 / 1985
Date of birth: January 16, 1951
Victims profile: His first wife Patricia Roddy, 28 / His second wife Suzanne Henry and Eugene Christian, her 5-year-old child
Method of murder: Stabbing with a kitchen knife
Location: Hillsborough/Pasco County, Florida, USA
Status: Sentenced to 15 years in prison in 1976. Paroled 1983. Sentenced to death on May 8, 1987. Resentenced to death on October 18, 1991. Executed by lethal injection on June 18, 2014





photo gallery





The United States Court of Appeals For the Eleventh Circuit

opinion 06-13821




Florida Supreme Court

opinion 70554	opinion 70816	opinion 78934

opinion 80941	opinion SC02-804	opinion SC04-153





John Henry, Pasco man who killed wife, boy, is executed By Jon Silman - Tampa Bay Times June 18, 2014 STARKE — More than 25 years after her aunt and cousin were brutally murdered by John Ruthell Henry, Selena Geiger finally felt peace. "I actually feel good. I don't feel sorry for him," she said, after witnessing Henry's execution by lethal injection. "I wish it could've been different. I wish he could've died the way he killed them." The state of Florida executed Henry, 63, for the 1985 murder of his wife Suzanne Henry — Geiger's aunt — at the Florida State Prison on Wednesday night. Henry's was the third execution in the United States in the past 24 hours. Those executions, in Georgia and Missouri, were the first since April 29, when officials stopped the execution of Clayton Lockett in Oklahoma because of issues with his veins. He writhed and shook, according to reports. He later died of a heart attack. Henry's execution was calm. He refused a last meal and was visited by his family, who did not attend the execution. In a statement, they said they are grateful for an ending to the decades-long saga. A group of the victim's family members sat in the front row, in front of a glass window. There were 24 people in the room. Henry spent his last moments strapped to a bed and draped in a white sheet to his neck. Tubes out of a wall went into his arms. His last words were an apology: He asked for forgiveness in Jesus Christ's name and said if he could take back what he did, he would. He muttered to himself when the execution began at 7:30, which was delayed because of a last minute appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. His eyes fluttered and he yawned when the first of the three-drug cocktail took effect. A man shook him to make sure he was unconscious. The sheet stopped rising and falling around 7:34, and his face lost color. After the execution, Geiger, 38, held up a photo of Suzanne Henry and her 5-year-old son, Eugene Christian. "These are the victims," she said. "These are the ones we need to remember." Henry was convicted of three murders. In 1976, he stabbed his 28-year-old girlfriend Patricia Roddy 20 times in the front seat of a car while her children sat in the back. One child pleaded with him, saying "Daddy, Daddy, please stop hurting Mommy." He did a little over seven years in prison and seemed to improve and rehabilitate. He was a model inmate. After his release, he got back into drugs and had pending charges against him. He murdered his wife after an argument while Eugene was with them in a Zephyrhills apartment. Henry covered the boy's face and kidnapped him, drove to Hillsborough County and bought him fried chicken. Henry smoked crack, then, with Christian sitting in his lap, he stabbed the child and left his body in a field. Henry stabbed both his wife and stepson in the neck so many times with a 5-inch paring knife that they were nearly decapitated, Geiger said. Geiger was young when the crime happened, and she remembers the chaos of that day. She said she carries that brutality with her always. Henry stole her youth from her, she said. "You see movies and you see TV shows about bad guys but you never really know," she said. "This man showed me that true evil really exists." His apology? It means nothing to her. But her family can finally rest. "We have some closure," she said. "Justice has finally been done." John Henry scheduled for execution at 6 p.m. Wednesday By Jon Silman - Tampa Bay Times June 17, 2014 A federal appeals court has rejected a bid to delay the execution of John Ruthell Henry, who is scheduled to be executed at 6 tonight at the Florida State Prison in Raiford. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit in Atlanta issued an opinion late Tuesday, said capital cases clerk Jan Camp. Only the U.S. Supreme Court could now delay Henry's execution, Camp added. Henry was sentenced to death for murdering his wife in Zephyrhills in 1985. Defense attorney Baya Harrison, who filed the appeal over the weekend, has argued that Henry, 63, is mentally disabled and should not be put to death under the constitutional ban on cruel and unusual punishment. Henry has been on death row for 27 years. He stabbed 28-year-old Patricia Roddy 20 times in 1976. He served just over seven years before being paroled in January 1983. In December 1985, he stabbed his wife, Suzanne Henry, to death with a 5-inch paring knife after an argument. Hours later, he drove to Hillsborough County where he stabbed her 5-year-old son, Eugene Christian, with the same knife while the boy sat in his lap in a car. Henry's scheduled execution comes in the wake of a botched procedure in April in Oklahoma. Clayton Lockett was administered drugs but soon started writhing in his restraints. Officials halted the execution, but Lockett later died of a heart attack. Oklahoma uses a three-drug cocktail in its executions, and according to published reports one of Lockett's veins exploded. Florida also uses a three-drug combination. First, 500mg of a midazolam solution — to render the inmate unconscious — is injected, followed by a "flush" of saline. The executioner will check if Henry has lost consciousness, according to protocols written by the Florida Department of Corrections. Once the execution team is satisfied Henry is indeed unconscious, two more drugs, vecuronium bromide and potassium chloride, will be administered. An on-hand physician will confirm the death. Florida has executed 81 inmates since the death penalty was reinstated in 1979, according to DOC records. Last year, seven were put to death, the most since 1984, when eight people were executed. John Henry DC# 053105 DOB: 01/16/51 Sixth Judicial Circuit, Pasco County Case # 85-2685 Sentencing Judge: The Honorable Ray Ulmer Trial Attorney: Robert Focht Attorney, Direct Appeal: A. Anne Owens – Assistant Public Defender Attorney, Collateral Appeals: Baya Harrison – Registry Date of Offense: 12/22/85 Date of Sentence: 05/08/87 Date Resentenced: 10/18/91 Circumstances of the Offense: John Henry murdered Suzanne Henry on December 22, 1985. Henry was married to Suzanne, however, was living with a different woman. On the day of the murder, Henry went to the house he had shared with Suzanne in Pasco County to discuss what presents he would get for Eugene Christian, her 5-year-old child from a previous marriage. An argument ensued concerning Henry’s present living situation and resulted in Henry stabbing Suzanne with a kitchen knife numerous times in the throat. He left the Pasco County house and took Christian with him. Henry drove to Hillsborough County with the child and, approximately nine hours later, killed Christian by stabbing him repeatedly in the throat with the same knife he killed Christian’s mother. Henry was first arrested for the murder of Suzanne and, when apprehended, admitted to knowing where Christian’s body was. Henry confessed to both murders and led police to the place in Hillsborough County where they found the child’s body. Additional Information: Henry had previously been convicted of second-degree murder in the stabbing death of his first wife and sentenced to 15 years in prison. Trial I Summary: 01/16/86 Indicted with one count of First-Degree Murder 04/22/87 Defendant was found guilty by the trial jury 04/24/87 The jury recommended death by a vote of 12 to 0 05/08/87 Defendant was sentenced as follows: Count I: First-Degree Murder - Death 01/03/91 FSC remanded to trial court for new trial Trial II Summary: 10/11/91 Defendant was found guilty by the trial jury 10/11/91 The jury recommended Death by a vote of twelve to zero 10/18/91 Defendant was sentenced as follows: Count I: First-Degree Murder - Death Case Information: A Direct Appeal was filed on 07/06/87. Issues that were raised included whether the trial court erred in not granting his motion for acquittal because the state failed to present sufficient evidence of premeditation; whether the trial court erred in not suppressing Henry’s confession because during the course of the investigation he told one police officer that he did not wish to speak to him; whether the trial court erred in admitting extensive testimony and documentary evidence concerning the killing of Eugene Christian. The Florida Supreme Court found most of the claims either without merit or harmless. However, the Florida Supreme Court ruled that it was unnecessary to admit the abundant information concerning Christian’s murder and therefore reversed the conviction and sentence of Death on 01/03/91 remanded the case for a new trial. A second Direct Appeal was filed on 11/18/91. Issues that were raised included whether the trial court erred by allowing certain hearsay testimony relating to the murder of Henry’s first wife, whether the trial court erred in the instructing the jury on felony murder even though the trial court found that the murder was not committed during the course of a felony, and whether the trial court erred by failing to properly consider all mitigating evidence provided by the defense. The Florida Supreme Court found all claims either harmless or without merit and affirmed the conviction and sentence of Death on 12/15/94. A Petition for Writ of Certiorari was filed with the United States Supreme Court on 05/03/95 and denied on 10/02/95. The 3.850 Motion was filed with the circuit court on 03/31/97 and was denied on 03/21/02. A 3.850 Appeal was filed with the Florida Supreme Court on 05/24/02 and denied on 10/09/03. A Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus was filed with the United States District Court, Middle District on 01/29/04. On 05/24/06, the USDC denied the petition. The Commission on Capital Cases updates this information regularly. This information, however, is subject to change and may not reflect the latest status of an inmate’s case and should not be relied upon for statistical or legal purposes. Case Information: A direct appeal was filed on 05/18/87. Issues that were raised included whether the trial court erred in not suppressing Henry’s confession because during the course of the investigation he told one police officer that he was not “saying nothing” to him; whether the trial court erred in striking the insanity defense, and whether the trial court had sufficient evidence to show a kidnapping of Christian by Henry. The Florida Supreme Court found most of the claims either without merit or harmless. The Florida Supreme Court however, ruled that because a majority of the justices believe that reversible error was committed, albeit for different reasons, they found it necessary to reverse the conviction and sentence of Death on 01/03/91 and remanded the case for a new trial. A second Direct Appeal was filed on 12/21/92. Issues that were raised included whether the trial court erred in admitting evidence from the murder of Henry’s first wife, whether the trial court erred in allowing the prosecution to improperly impeach a defense expert witness, and whether the trial court had sufficient evidence to show a kidnapping of Christian by Henry. The Florida Supreme Court found all claims either harmless or without merit and affirmed the conviction and sentence of Death on 12/15/94. A Petition for Writ of Certiorari was filed with the United States Supreme Court on 05/15/95 and denied on 06/19/95. A 3.850 Motion was filed with the circuit court on 03/31/97 and was denied on 12/23/03. A 3.850 Motion Appeal was filed with the Florida Supreme Court on 02/02/04 and is currently pending. FloridaCapitalCases.state.fl.us SEX: M RACE: B TYPE: N MOTIVE: PC MO: Killed victims in Hillsborough and Pasco counties. DISPOSITION: 15 years, 1976 (paroled 1983); condemned on two counts, 1992.