Bert Hunter: Getting to know, beyond the headlines, the Human Being--the State Killed--

Bert Hunter sat on the other side of a thick pane of glass, while we communicated by telephone at the Potosi Correctional Center in southern Missouri. He had been sentenced to death for the robbery and murder of Mildred Hodges and her adult son Richard in Jefferson City. Hunter waived his right to a jury trial and pled guilty, but has since recanted his confession. Thomas Ervin also received a death sentence, largely due to Hunter's testimony, testimony which Hunter now contends was perjurious. The Missouri Supreme Court ordered Bert Hunter's execution set for late the night of June 27, (officially just after midnight, June 28). Since he has an execution date, he can have no further "contact" visits. We could not shake hands. Nobody besides correctional workers can touch him. That includes his parents or other loved ones, at least not until state officials would kill him. (See "Suggestions for Action" on this web site to help halt his state killing)...

Reporter: Hello Bert. Thanks for agreeing to meet. I felt an obligation to let the public know the human being the state is intent to wipe off the face of this earth.

Bert Hunter: But this ain't too much of an earth,.. there's a new Bob Dylan song (with the lyrics)....'He used to care that changes would change, but they've got him locked up and now he's out of range.'.... I think it should be stressed (that many people) are running around saying, 'Let's get rid of the death penalty because it's inhumane. That could be. But I think there are very few people that would not want to kill somebody that had hurt somebody they had really loved. I think it's a human reaction. But the problem is, if I did something horrendous to you, I hurt someone in your family, if you kill me you are the only one that's (still) in (an emotional) prison. You kill me and my suffering's over. By killing me, you're doing me a favor.

Rep: Have you always felt this way about the death penalty, that it was something of a mercy killing?

BH: I think everyone has a certain fear of death. I think I have less of a fear than most because I'm an atheist. I've never believed in God..... If you're trying to stop murder, executions are the last thing you'd want to do. There are all kind of arguments.. But if I were wanting to really punish you, I would feel better if I knew that you were going to be in prison for the rest of your life and that you would suffer...

Rep.: Now what about your situation? In the case of the killings of Mildred and Richard Hodges, you opted not to have a jury, just a trial by the judge. You pled guilty. You--

BH: Committed suicide.

Rep. Could you talk about that?

BH: I was under a lot of stress. I tried to shoot myself (some weeks before the crimes) . Do you see these (points to black marks on the upper part of his forehead). I took a .22 pistol and tried to shot myself. And I just couldn't do it. I got this powder burn that turned into a mole. I don't know what it takes (to kill yourself), if it's cowardice, courage....Doyle Williams (who was executed a few years ago in Missouri) and I used to argue about this...One of the only urges we are born with is self-preservation. If you don't have that how can you tell me you are not insane?... If you do not have the will to live then you are insane.

Rep. How did you lose your will to live?

BH: Jesus Christ, I was making $45,000 a year (with a Florida computer company) , I lost my wife--she was really the only friend I ever really had. And I drove her away. It impacted her so much, she went to a doctor...I came back to Missouri, quit my $45,000 a year job. She was in Missouri. I didn't have a job (when he returned). I was going to sell these hand-held computers. It was lucrative. I know them in and out. I didn't have any sales experience. Well, the average sales person took 6 months to make a (first) sale. I told her (the parole officer) I had over $2200 in savings. Then my wife had some too. And she was working and was happy with her work. Yet my parole officer, told me to go out and get a job (instead of waiting for some revenue from the computer sales). My (previous) employers (at the Dept. of Revenue) told me as a favor in part, 'We're not going to hire you (back), when you had been making $45,000-- and would be making $20,000. You're really making a dumb career move (quitting the Florida job). You don't roll back.' I told them I needed to because of my wife's situation. He told me, 'We foresee you getting frustrated with the loss of salary. That's going to blend over into your home life. And probably lead to a divorce.' I believe he was trying to give me what he thought was good advice." I did eventually decide to move back to Florida. (She didn't really want to go, but she agreed to. Then he felt too controlled by her, he said, so he went south on his own) Going back to Florida without her was the biggest mistake I ever made in my life. (His former employers gladly hired him back. However) I went to 'titty' bars and began selling cocaine....And for me it went (hand motioned a downhill slide). They (the Florida employers) let me sit for seven months without putting together a single line of computer programming. I wouldn't show, couldn't show up two days a week. I tried to get back with my wife...She later met someone else and went on with her life. A former co-worker and I used to sell cocaine while I lived in Jefferson City (years before)... My roommate (in Florida) and I had a falling out. He got a girlfriend... all of a sudden, I became the person with a drug problem. He began pushing me out...I decided to rip him off (staging a robbery) of their apartment (with his former drug partner from Jefferson City). It took some possessions from my side of the apartment to make it look good and I took about an ounce of cocaine. He had threatened to shoot me. I came by to shoot him, but he wasn't there, but his girlfriend (and a few other folks) were. We committed the robbery, then we headed up to Missouri. I was two car payments behind. I called my (then ex-) wife, but she was leery of it (my reason for needing the money.) So I told her I was going to rob a bank. (Instead) I decided to sell the cocaine....He (his former Jeff City partner whom Hunter refuses to identify) agreed to sell it. (This unidentified man has since died. Hunter told his friend) I needed the money when reporting to the (Florida) parole officer (to show financial responsibilities were being met)...The man (Richard Hodges told Hunter's partner) the cocaine wasn't any good (Hunter contends Hodges gave the drugs to another person in exchange for sex. Confronting his partner, Hunter says) ... I told the man, I wanted my $500. 'If it doesn't work out, all hell's going to break loose right here in River City.' I had an '86 Mustang with loud mufflers with Florida plates, pretty recognizable in Jefferson City. I borrowed (Thomas) Ervin's car (They had met while in county jail several years earlier. Hunter says Ervin didn't accompany him, but that he went with his unidentified partner to the Hodges' home which doubled as a real estate office for Richard's mother Mildred. Hunter says he waited in the car while his partner, went inside to confront Richard Hodges. An argument erupted, Hunter says he could see from the car. Mildred Hodges, apparently burst into his apartment, overhearing the discussion. She had also seen Hunter parked and waiting. The partner later told Hunter, he told Richard Hodges nonpayment was not an option. The son) was trying to beat me for the money. I was waiting in the car. (Hunter's partner supposedly later told him) She began beating him. He grabbed her, then she slipped away and fell into a wall, nose first, (leaving) blood on the wall. She fell down. It knocked the breath out of her. She had severe heart problems, (apparently) had just gotten out of the hospital. And died. This guy he used to work at the hospital at MSP,... (he found) she's got no pulse, no carotid artery (pulse), nothing. He (Richard Hodges) started yelling, 'You dirty sonuvabitch. You killed my mother. (He attacked Hunter's partner) Probably the only aggressive move he ever made in his life. Then he (Hodges) got knocked down and choked (to death by Hunter's partner). He waved from the window. I came up. He briefed me on what had happened, and I said, "I'm out of here.' 'Oh No, you can't leave me hanging.' (Hunter stayed and helped duct-taped Richard Hodges then left) He was cleaning three deep scratches on his face (from the woman's defensive efforts). So he says, 'Take me back to work so we can get a vehicle.' I said, 'Well, we have still got a problem.. I've got to report to my parole officer in Florida, and I've got to have that money.' He don't want to hear that. 'I done just killed two people. I've done everything I could (to retrieve the money)... I couldn't have whupped him, so I let him go to work. I called later on that evening at about 5:00. He told (his wife) he had a family emergency in Iowa (so didn't go to work), got her car. He left his pickup there and called her on the payphone from the road. Said someone in his family was sick there. I asked (his wife) if she had a number. She said 'I have got his sister's number. Let me get that.' I called that number and she said, 'He ain't been here.' So he's bugged out, he's panicked. (Later Hunter brought Ervin's car back to him. He told him what happened and of his concern for risking the revocation of his parole. Together the two drove back to the house of the crime scene. Ervin suggested they rob the house to get his money, when he realized the wealthy neighborhood in which the family lived) We started looking around the house. She had a 2-carrat ring. I got that. She had a couple fur coats, full-length sable (alcohol) and about $15-$16) (When considering what to do with the bodies) Ervin said, I'll just bury them. Well I was desperate. (After putting the bodies into garbage bags) I carried this guy and I had strept throat, and a cold, so I turned the thermostat all up. And I kept dropping him. I couldn't even lift him into the trunk (of the family's car, a Lincoln), so I put him in the back seat. I said, 'let's get rid of him. We'll come back for her as soon as possible,... We took him out to where Ervin lived. I was exhausted (from sickness and months of heavy drug use), weak. (Several hours later we) went back up there (to remove her body). It was like an oven, the heat still cranked up. And she's laying there in this bag. And I was starting to pick her up and her body expelled all these gases. It made me sick. I was puking. She was rotting. (It was) the second day after she died (The pair took the Lincoln, later abandoned it, getting a rental car which they used for a robbery in Puducah Kentucky, then it got burned up. Hunter says he later returned to Florida),...It was Ervin that got us arrested. That woman (Mildred Hodges) had written down Ervin's license when she looked out the window. (Police later found the notepad she had written it on and shaded the next sheet to find what they then found to be Ervin's car license number. A few weeks after the murders Ervin) led the police to us,... at first me and Cheek (the former Florida roommate he had ripped off). They (police) body-slammed me at my parole office....I decided to plead guilty and give Ervin what he deserved (for identifying Hunter. He says he lied to investigators, saying Ervin committed the murders along with him.)..... It never also made much sense to me that people who kill in a fit of passion are treated better in the (judicial) system than those who have robbed and killed for instance. The people that kill out of passion may have some kind of sexual insecurity. Much of the time the person who commits those crimes do so often out of a sense of poverty. But if that guy who committed the robbery earned a trade, he can earn a living, now he might stop feeling like Sam Shit. He might have some pride. The other guy with his insecurities (and kills in a fit of passion) might never be able to have a girlfriend and might do harm to some other woman. In my case which I can speak of personally, I came to prison in 1968 for a robbery and murder in Amazonia (MO). I didn't have a skill and was unloading trucks. I was 21. I had been in prison prior to that for burglary and other nonviolent offenses. While I was in prison, I learned a trade, data processing. I did about 11 years in prison for being involved in an execution-style murder. (Two years after being put on parole for that crime) I was making about $45,000 a year as a computer software engineer. I got out in 1980. In 1987, my wife's father died. And that created a real traumatic experience for her. And I was working 12 hours a day for 5 days a week. I was helping the company (in Florida) make hand-held computers to read utility meters, gas, water.. (Just out of prison) I had been working with the (Missouri) Department of Revenue. In fact if you had to get your (car) license plates-- they're still using my software. And even the man who (was a supervisor of his) testified at my court hearing (for the murders of the Hodges), saying he would hire me on work release, parole or in prison. They asked him 'do you have any fear of this man'. He said, "No. In fact he gets along with the workers better than I do. I guaranteed Dept. of Revenue two years of work. It probably was a mistake to leave (and later go to Florida). Everyone at the Revenue Dept. knew I had been in prison, that I was on parole from a murder charge. It was all accepted. It was probably a more stable environment for me. Then when I moved to Florida, it all had to be hidden. I only had a GED. Everyone had at least a bachelors degree. My boss (at the Florida firm) knew. He was also an ex-convict. After my wife and I split up (some months after her father's death), I moved out into a drug house. I was involved in the robbery(in Amazonia, which resulted in his 11 years in prison) but didn't do the shooting. My accomplice (according to BH) did the shooting and received a harsher sentence because the local prosecutor didn't like the other man. He had on one occasion shot at the prosecutor's boat and put holes in it. He (the prosecutor) barely made it to the bank before the boat sank in the middle of the Missouri River. They (court officials) didn't have much feeling for this guy. So I told the prosecutor I'd plead guilty to whatever he charged me with, right after (the county prosecuted) him. The judge was glad to more harshly punish him (his accomplice).

(On the politics of the death penalty....)

BH: When Gov. Carnahan first ran for the position of governor, he said I am opposed to the death penalty, but I will follow the law....Now he's made a complete turnaround (supporting the practice wholeheartedly) as he's running for the U.S. Senate. He recently wrote a letter to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (in response to their series of editorials on wrongful capital convictions in Missouri), insisting as did Gov. Bush in Texas, that the state has never executed an innocent man. That's ludicrous. You can't be sure of that. If O.J. Simpson can be found not guilty; If John DuPont (of the billionaire industrialist family in Delaware) can kill his homosexual lover in front of his wife and children and not suffer anything except spend some time in a comfortable mental hospital (how can we be sure only the guilty are really punished and the innocent spared wrongful punishment? In this country). You get the justice you can pay for. The state has a long list of aggravating factors to justify imposing death, among them is the killing of a guard. And isn't that a ridiculous law? Now think about that. You are a citizen. If I kill you, no big deal. They're paying the police officer and he has armor and weapons and we're paying them. (Common citizens have no such protection)Why is their life worth more than yours?.

Rep: How would you feel about some greater sense of restorative justice, where prisoners work to earn money to give to murder victims families?

BH: (The concept is good) but not under the threat of a death sentence.... If you're in prison -- now that's punishment enough. The Department of Corrections (however) has taken the position,... they believe morally and duty-bound to further punish you, to make your life miserable.

Rep: How have they made it more miserable for you?

BH: The biggest problem is it (the prison's) overcrowded....Anytime you put a gallon of baby shit in a quart jar it's going to be overcrowded....They've got the CP (Capital Punishment) prisoners mixed in with the other prisoners. We used to be separated...I mean you're never really going to be at peace (in prison with a death sentence), but you can be peaceful...Then (prison officials) decide they've got all these problems at other prisons and we've got this $65 million maximum-security prison here-- 'That's where we should be putting them (problem prisoners).'

Rep: The Potosi prison was originally set up to incarcerate just men who had committed murder and were serving life-plus or death sentences. These days, do you have any ideas what percentage of the folks who are imprisoned here have committed other crimes instead and are here for behavioral problems instead?

BH: At least more than 50-percent. (Question of DOC???) It's causing all sorts of problems....Say for instance, there was a guy who got his throat cut (a few months ago) over in 6B and there are CP's (capital punishment prisoners) over there. And they (everybody in the wing) got locked down for 3-4 weeks. (In another situation earlier this year) I was in a drug treatment (program), got done then was switched to another unit, and we (all) got locked in our cells for three weeks (due to a different assault. Hunter got locked in a cell) with a homosexual man who shaved his legs. (Even those not involved in the assault, including some men dealing with a death sentence, are all held for the full days in their cells during these lockdowns. The CP's) are unable to use the telephone, denied legal visits with attorneys and can't visit the law library. Some people want to prepare for their appeals...

BH: But not under threat of death, and not to help the people (prison workers) who are, one day going to kill you. That definitely fits under the conditions of slavery.. During a recent interview on 'Nightline,' someone said, 'A problem with America is they love to punish. They want to judge and punish every country around the world. They scream about democracy.' The U.S. government wiped out Native American people because they were heathen and didn't believe in the Bible. Yet when archeologists look at various cultures, they see Native American communities as among the most harmonious. When you had groupings of no more than say 200 people, people could tell if someone had a screw loose. It was very rare that they ever killed someone for an offense. Much more often they merely sent that person away (banished him or her). Men in prison often will present themselves as tough. But people in prison are not here because of their strengths.. People may want to claim 'I'm a murderer, I'm tough.' Well, it's not true. Murder, acts of aggression are spun in fear.. Any one can murder. What does it take (to point a gun and fire). My problems were, I lost my mother at three years of age. Now, I'm not going to get off into some abuse excuse-- a lot of people have lost someone, a lot have lost their mothers, a lot don't know who their mother even is. You have just got to accept it. If you don't have the strength, then you (don't survive. After my mother's death) it was not a good situation.

Rep.: I'm not saying because of such trauma, people then have a right to kill, but different occurrences surely shape who we are and what actions we take. How were you raised after her death?

BH: (After mom died) One sister went to live with an aunt, my younger sister and myself went to live my grandparents who had already raised 13 children,...in Stilwill, (eastern) Oklahoma, Cookson Hills. It was an area filled with gangsters. It's the same area as the Ozarks, the Boston Mountain chain that goes up through Arkansas. It was a pretty rough and tough neighborhood. They (grandparents) were poor but they didn't reveal much of that to us. I'm sure I was a complete terror, after I lost my mother. But that's nothing. Y'know you always hear of these CP's about to be executed, saying 'I'm mildly retarded and I suffered from childhood abuse.' Now I've already said when it came down to it (regarding my mental competency) I wanted everyone to understood that I'm a rocket scientist. (He noted with some gleeful kidding but pride of his intellect). And that I did not tolerate any abuse.... ......If we're (the state's) going to go that (immoral) route of having a death penalty, why not execute those who are mentally retarded, mentally ill? (With that way of thinking) they should be the first to go (be executed). There may be little chance of changing their conditions. Let's spare those that have a glimmer of intelligence. They (state officials) ought to save those who can be changed, who are intelligent but may be criminally inclined.

(On the racism and the death penalty)

...The history of the death penalty in Missouri, was printed in the "Let's All Cry Now Journal" (actually, the "Cry Justice Journal" printed by the New Life Evangelical Center). It listed all those executed. Besides many of them (noted from the 19th Century, it (simply) said "Slave," "Slave," "Slave." They (officials) didn't even know their name.

Reporter: (to Bert Hunter) This guy says he's an investigator working on another case. He's been sitting at a table (about 50 feet away with a notebook. No one beside myself and he are in the "L" shaped room on this side of the glass ) And he said "Oh, don't worry about me." (Soon after he left).

Bert Hunter: And we haven't even gotten to the good stuff yet, the stuff he's waiting for. .(Chuckles. Regarding his release from person after his involvement in the robbery-murder in Amazonia) Rehabilitation programs took off in the '70's...basically because prisoners were killing employees,... The straw that broke the (camel's) back was the Attica (NY) prison uprising where more than 20 people were killed. They (officials) realized people were not going to put up with it anymore. They had us in cells at MSP (Missouri State Penitentiary, built before the Civil War), where, a one-man cell had three men in it. It was overcrowded badly. You couldn't control it. there are 47 acres (on the grounds with scores) of blind spots.

(Today, rehabilitation has been largely scrapped as a idea for prisoners. Instead) the solution has been well, we'll give them all these life sentences...(Then) there are all these (really) evil bastards (in power), like wasn't it (U.S. Supreme Court Chief Judge (Rehnquist) who wanted to bring back the 'rack'. I think they should. I think they should strap (him) to it. Because what is that (such punishment)? He's only really one step away from saying 'Let's burn the witches.' If you capture a wild animal and put in a cage, like a wolf, it may starve itself to death. Or if it's caught in a trap, it may chew through its leg to get free. Now but we humans we have overpopulated this earth. We're too adaptive. (including the folks inside here become institutionalized), they adapt to this environment. They (officials) throw us in here and they (prisoners) say, 'No, I'll get along.' like sheep But the CP's, about 30 of us refused (to cooperate with officials who have integrated the death-sentenced prisoners into the rest of the Potosi population. There is no segregated 'Death Row' in Missouri). It's too much of a stress and strain. We need to have our own space. I need some space, away from everybody. I don't want to be locked in a concrete box (during a lockdown), to smell all the body odors of a cellmate, I do not want to learn all his nasty bathroom habits. Would you put two pit bulls in a pen? Well, they do it here. They've had people raped, stabbed, chunks bitten out of them. If they (DOC) officials have any problems anywhere else (in the DOC network of prisons) they send them to Potosi. Everybody here is wanting out of Potosi. (Throughout the prison) it's two men to a cell, except in Ad Seg (administrative segregation) and (a psychiatric unit) I wrote a letter to (televangelist) Larry Rice (via Darrell Mease, whose life was sparred by Gov. Carnahan commutation to honor the Pope and appease Catholic voters. Hunter had Mease write it because he is a Christian. The letter said) "Larry, what you're doing is never going to work. Most of the people may support the death penalty. You're out there telling folks 'it's cruel and unusual punishment.' You've got people (in here and on the streets who have) cut peoples' heads off, shooting people over their latté (and committing other heinous actions). Nobody's going to listen.... (Another) problem is everyone on death row is innocent. You ever seen them get on the news and say "I did it."?

Rep.: I have seen and heard of it a few times, but most of the time folks say they are innocent. Most of them I know, are lying. Still there are at least a couple who actually are innocent.

BH: There's a lot more than just a couple. I would like to shove this (claim no innocent men have been executed during his watch) down (Gov.) Carnahan's throat. I'm in jail all right. My (ex-)wife says to me, 'I don't believe you've done this.' So I said, 'Well, I'll tell you everything exactly what did happen, if you'll keep your mouth shut.' Cause I don't want to endanger this guy, who actually sold the guy this stuff (the cocaine) and actually killed them. But she (Hunter's wife/ex-wife) don't care about that.

Rep.: Well, now why wouldn't you want to identify him? He's the guy who owed you money, he's the guy who left town?

BH: I still wanted the money but I wouldn't tell on him. I mean and it wasn't her fault (his wife). She tried to call him. And she talked to him on the phone, told him he owed me money. He had hung up on her. See, I had known her. We played cards together, so anyway I finally told her (Hunter's ex-wife) the story. And she promised not to tell anyone. (Nonetheless) the next day she calls (Cole County law-enforcement officials) George Brooks (and others).. Now he (Brooks) had interviewed me. And his theory was this was a cult murder,... (Richard Hodges should have known) If you are going to buy some illicit drugs, you don't tell them (drug dealers) you aren't going to pay for them and you don't (as he and his mother threatened to) call the police. Y'know it don't work that way. I don't care if the stuff is junk. You pay or you defend yourself. And you don't defend yourself by calling the police. (Hunter expressed no remorse that the Hodges were killed) (Brooks did listen to his ex-wife. What she said didn't fit with his theories). This was not a cult murder, not a hate crime, (Brooks surmised. At the time Brooks) thinks this was a common house crime.... He fails to file a police report on the statement my wife gave. (According to her, his face turned a real pale color because it was really the only thing(Hunter's account of the killings) that really fit. And immediately he wanted her to deny that and tried to talk her out of it,.. Their was no physical evidence (of her statement).

Rep: Not having the report from the wife?

BH: They didn't believe her.... (In the trial Brooks later said) 'I didn't write anything down.' He said 'I didn't believe it.' (her account. Hunter's attorney asked Brooks ) 'Do you just write down things that you believe (during an investigation)?' 'Well no.'... The police intentionally tried to withhold evidence from me.

Rep: With Thomas Ervin, for many years you didn't publicly acknowledge you had falsely fingered him for the killings. Why are you doing so now?

BH: I told (my) lawyers about this (he limit of Ervin's involvement) years ago, but they couldn't acknowledge it, they couldn't say anything publicly because of client confidentiality. If they did, they could have been called before court, themselves. They could tell him (Ervin-- but it wouldn't really help him that much)....But I think the greatest that could happen to him would be to get a life sentence. And he's good for a life sentence, just based on his participation, his movement of the bodies (and robbery). I think that would be great for him.

Rep: From your perspective anyway? So you don't want him to get off easy?

BH: Oh, he don't want to die. He's scared to death of death. So that would be perfect for him. He can just spend the rest of his life, hid down in there. He's been in protective custody since the day he turned up here in the prisons. He says he doesn't want to be anywhere near I am in prison, that I'm an animal and all this crap.

Rep: I must admit, I'm kind of mystified. Why do you want to protect the identity of this third person?

BH: There's no good that could come of it. (His attorney) Cheryl (Rafert) says the physical evidence couldn't really help me. And if could just cause further harm to his wife. He died several years ago.

Rep: Besides what good would come of such physical findings? Could it help spare your life? And even if it could, would you even want that ?

BH: No, I don't want to be spared. I want this nightmare ended.

Rep: Could you say what you wrote in your letter to the Missouri Supreme Court, wanting them to set an execution date for you, and why you did write the letter.

BH: I continued to refuse to work the 'satellite' system. I had spent five months cleaning shower stalls. That was okay with me and the guards....And they were cleaner than they had ever been...(One particular prison worker, the functional unit manager however, pushed to have him work the satellite). My family told me 'look we've been there for you and your time might be limited so agree to this so we may be able to visit with you. I agreed (to work in the satellite), then they paired me with a Black Muslim with an attitude. I told (my caseworker) if I would be in a cell with him (all the time), there would be some (fighting) words exchanged. And I would not put up with it (wouldn't accept the housing assignment).. A federal judge then ordered me to cell with him. I said, 'I don't give a shit. I'm not going to do it.'

Rep: Are you saying you wouldn't share a cell with any African-American?

BH: Only if I knew him, and then in that case, only for a very short time. But you don't do that in prison (have an integration of prisoners within cells). The only people who do that in prison are punks (prisoners who have typically been forced to routinely perform homosexual acts.) (Hunter realizing his refusal to cooperate with prison officials, would mean a loss of visits with loved ones, says he got more and more perturbed with the prison system.) There were nine of us with no stays, waiting for execution dates,...Why make my family go through more of this bullshit, I thought. So I'm tired of this shit, so I wrote the letter. I still agree with it. I thought about it and wouldn't take it back. And like Cheryl (Rafert, his attorney) says it proves their (the Missouri Supreme Court's) immaturity and their lack of professionalism. Now when I told her I had written a letter, she called them to see if they had received the letter. They told her, 'yes we had gotten a letter from him. It had his signature on it. We do not know that he wrote it.' See they're already safeguarding themselves because they don't want this to come out that, 'hey this nut wrote you a letter-- with a history of suicide (attempts),...And we jumped right on it.'

Rep: Now what did you say in the letter?

BH: 'Dear Witchburners-- Why don't you swell your little testies (testicles) up and set an execution date for me. Put on your best robes and swell yourself just as large as you can and set me a date. I'm tired of this shit. I'm tired of these hillmonkeys (rural Ozark residents who work at the prison are) being put in a position that they feel they are superior to me.' I said 'please destroy this letter as soon as you get it because we would not an is-he-crazy? game. I'm sure this will not bother you morally or ethically as witnessed by your long history (of killing, already ordering the execution of 42 other people in Missouri since 1989).' Well, they proved my point ( setting his execution date first among the nine men awaiting a death date. It showed how little capital punishment system has to do with signaling out the most heinous/brutal of all offenders, and more to do with politics and officials' personal vendettas.) And I don't have a fear of death. Compared to this (life in prison), what's death?

Back to Contents

back to Stories and Interviews

Mid-Mo FOR home