February 18, 2019 • 23 mins
Episode 20
Rushed Execution Series - Part III
Ledell Lee
A serial Rapist, murderer, and the third inmate scheduled for execution in April 2017.
PROMOS From:
California True Crime
Hoosier Homicide
The Asian Madness Podcast
Sources used for research on this series:
Police Reports, Court Documents and the following public information:
Arkansas Times Article written by Benjamin Hardy (2015)
https://arktimes.com/arkansas-blog/2015/08/13/udpate-arkansas-has-purchased-lethal-injection-drugs-including-midazolam
Two articles written by Liliana Segura (2017) for The Intercept Article
https://theintercept.com/2017/04/26/how-a-daughters-search-for-her-biological-father-led-her-to-an-execution-in-arkansas/
https://theintercept.com/2017/11/12/arkansas-death-row-executions-kenneth-williams/
The Marshall Project Article written by Maurice Chammah
https://www.themarshallproject.org/2016/04/12/how-the-drug-shortage-has-slowed-the-death-penalty-treadmill
Arkansas Online piece written by Brandon Riddle, Emma Pettit, and Maggie McNeary
https://www.arkansasonline.com/arkansasexecutions/
Rushed Execution Series - Part III
Ledell Lee
A serial Rapist, murderer, and the third inmate scheduled for execution in April 2017.
PROMOS From:
California True Crime
Hoosier Homicide
The Asian Madness Podcast
Sources used for research on this series:
Police Reports, Court Documents and the following public information:
Arkansas Times Article written by Benjamin Hardy (2015)
https://arktimes.com/arkansas-blog/2015/08/13/udpate-arkansas-has-purchased-lethal-injection-drugs-including-midazolam
Two articles written by Liliana Segura (2017) for The Intercept Article
https://theintercept.com/2017/04/26/how-a-daughters-search-for-her-biological-father-led-her-to-an-execution-in-arkansas/
https://theintercept.com/2017/11/12/arkansas-death-row-executions-kenneth-williams/
The Marshall Project Article written by Maurice Chammah
https://www.themarshallproject.org/2016/04/12/how-the-drug-shortage-has-slowed-the-death-penalty-treadmill
Arkansas Online piece written by Brandon Riddle, Emma Pettit, and Maggie McNeary
https://www.arkansasonline.com/arkansasexecutions/
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:08):
One piece of smart technology could helpsolve a murder mystery in Arkansas. Two
Pine Bluff teens are in jail tonightfacing murder charges. Police say they are
in custody in connection to the shootingdepth of two seventeen year old. He's
a bizarre story in Russellville, Arkansas, today, a man who reportedly quit
his job over low pay went ona shooting spree with two handguns. Tributes
(00:32):
are pouring in for Anne Presley,the Little Rock TV anchorwoman died over the
weekend. A suspect in a deadlyfable shooting on New Year's Day in court
this morning. A Little Rock motheris pleading for help. Tonight, she
is asking anyone thanks for listening thisStrictly Homicide and Arkansas True crime podcast covering
lesser known cases out of the naturalState. I'd like to start off by
(01:00):
thanking my Patreon supporters. If you'dlike to help support us, you can
find us on Patreon and help withas little as a dollar a month.
There's also a donate button for aone time donation on Strictly Homicide dot com.
Please stay tuned until the end ofthe show to hear a few promos
from some of my favorite shows.Warning strictly homicide covers cases that include sexual
(01:34):
assault, violence, and homicide.Episodes may contain explicit language and are not
suitable for young ears. Listener discretionis advised. Hey, y'all, thanks
(02:04):
for being so patient with me.Things have been really busy for us recently.
And when I did finally get episodetwenty recorded and edited, I realized
right before posting it that I hadmade a huge mistake. I planned to
only record the parts that I messedup, but apparently I'm cursed and my
external hard drive with the episode onit crashed. Since I had to mail
(02:25):
it off to a very expensive datarecovery company, I had to rerecord this
whole episode. One more thing beforeI get into the case, I want
to tell y'all about an upcoming eventthat I think all true crime listeners would
enjoy. This July, there willbe a convention in Chicago for truecrime podcast
(02:46):
the Truecrime Podcast Festival. There arealready a ton of podcasts registered for the
event, like Trace Evidence, TheHidden Staircase, Corpus Delicti, All Crime,
No Cattle Said Earn Fried, TrueCrime, Nature Versus Narcissism, Ignorance,
was bliss myself and so many more. Check out their website for more
(03:09):
information www dot tcp F two zeroone nine dot com. That's True Crime
Podcast Festival twenty nineteen. Tickets arealready on cell so you can get yours
and I'll see you this July inChicago. This week's case was a listener's
(03:37):
suggestion. It was actually the suggestionthat encouraged me to cover the cases from
the twenty seventeen rushed executions. Oneof the prosecutors who worked on this case
sent me an email suggesting that Icover the case of ladell LEI. After
(03:59):
I read her email, I knewI had to cover this case. But
the more research I did, themore I saw about the other seven inmates
that were scheduled to be executed inApril twenty seventeen. This case takes place
in Jacksonville, Arkansas, about fifteenmiles northeast of Little Rock. The population
(04:21):
was just over twenty eight thousand intwo thousand and ten. In the late
eighteen hundreds, a landowner named NicholasJackson deedd his land for the railroad right
away, so when the city wasincorporated in nineteen forty one, they gave
it the name of Jacksonville, namedafter mister Jackson. During that same year,
(04:44):
they began construction on the Arkansas OrdnancePlant, also known as the AOP,
which was the primary facility for thedevelopment of fuses and detonators that were
used during World War Two. Whenthe war ended, they seized operations in
the land was sold. The LittleRock Air Force Base, which is actually
located in Jacksonville, was built onportions of this land. You've heard of
(05:10):
dry counties before, you know countieswhere alcohol sales are prohibited. While researching
this area, I discovered that Jacksonvilleand just the warning, I hate this
word as much as any other person, is a moist county. What this
means is alcohol sales can be madehere, but not in stores, only
(05:30):
in restaurants that carry a special permit. Since nineteen twenty seven, the schools
in Jacksonville were part of the PulaskiCounty Special School District, one of the
largest districts in the state. Intwo thousand and eight, some of the
schools wanted to split from the district, so a measure was submitted and approved
by the school board. A petitionwas started and signed by more than two
(05:54):
thousand residents. The Board of Educationthen ordered an election to allow some of
the schools to form their own district. On September sixteenth, twenty fourteen,
three thousand, six hundred and seventytwo voted four and two hundred and two
voted against, and on July first, two sixteen, Jacksonville North Pulaski School
(06:17):
District was formed, consisting of sevenelementary schools, one middle school, and
one high school. On June twentyfirst, nineteen eighty five, Kimberly and
Neil Allen welcomed a baby boy namedChristopher. This boy would move to Conway
after high school and then audition forAmerican Idol in Louisville, Kentucky, making
(06:40):
it to Hollywood and then winning Seasoneight of American Idol. Chris Allen isn't
the only notable person from Jacksonville.This list also contains pitcher for the White
Sox Grady Atkins. Clinton McDonald,a defensive tackle for Tampa Bay and formerly
of the Seahawks, making him aSuper Bowl champion. Other notable football players
(07:01):
include dan Aka danimal, a retiredNFL defensive tackle for the Chicago Bears.
He was also inducted into the ProFootball Hall of Fame in two thousand and
two, Demetrius Harris, a tightend for the Chiefs, and Robert Thomas,
who played for the Cowboys as thelead blocker for Emmett Smith. So
(07:30):
in two thousand and four, rightafter moving to Arkansas, I lived on
Cherry Street in Jacksonville. I hadno idea until researching this case that in
nineteen ninety three, a twenty sixyear old woman was brutally murdered just a
few houses down. The case ofladdel Lee is part three of the Rushed
(07:55):
Execution series in two thousand. Inseventeen, the Governor Asa Hutchinson decided to
execute eight inmates on four dates,meaning that they would be executing two inmates
back to back within a time spanof ten days two date. Since nineteen
seventy six, when the death penaltywas reinstated, Arkansas has executed thirty one
(08:20):
inmates before two seventeen. The lastperson executed in Arkansas was in two thousand
and five. The state went twelveyears without an execution Because of the drugs
used in the lethal injection, itbecame very difficult for prisons to obtain the
drugs that are used during the lethalinjection. The manufacturers of some of the
(08:43):
drugs were refusing to sell to prisonsknowing that they were going to use them
to kill someone. Why the rushall of a sudden In two seventeen,
well, Arkansas's supply in the firstdrug used in three drug cocktail was about
to expire. This is the drugthat blocks the pain that occurs from the
(09:03):
final two drugs. Complaints were filedclaiming this drug is torture because it will
paralyze the inmate as they burn alivefrom the inside. There have been numerous
botched executions linked to it. Stateshad options to go through compound pharmacies,
and some states stalked up. Theproblem with that is that the drug expires,
(09:26):
and Arkansas's supply was set to expirein April two thousand and seventeen.
This leads us to episode twenty whereI discussed the case of laddel Lee,
who was scheduled to be executed onApril twentieth, two thousand and seventeen.
In the late eighties and early nineties, Jacksonville, Arkansas, incurred one too
(09:48):
many rapes and murders. There isat least five women in the Sunnyside area
of Jacksonville that were raped and somekilled, all ranging from age seventeen to
seventy. In nineteen eighty nine,Christine Lewis, the daughter of Jacksonville's first
black alderman, was hung with herthree year old son when a man broke
(10:11):
into her home, raped, beatand strangled her while her son watched.
The man dumped Christine's body in acloset of an abandoned house on the night
of November twenty seventh. In nineteenninety, a seventeen year old female was
abducted from her sister's home. Shewas taken into the woods behind the house
(10:33):
and raped. Her attacker prevented herfrom seeing his face, but she was
able to identify him as a tallblack man. The victim went to the
hospital where rape kit was performed.They also combed the victim's clothes for hair.
The evidence was then submitted to theArkansas State Crime Lab and stored away.
(10:54):
Police officers arrived at the home twodays later to collect fingerprints from in
and outside of the house. Theevidence was submitted to the Arkansas State Crime
Lab, where it was also storedaway. While the investigation went inactive.
(11:16):
In the morning of February ninth,nineteen ninety three, William McCollough Junior heard
a knock on his door. Itwas a little after ten am and William
was not expecting any visitors. WhenWilliam opened the door, he was greeted
by a man he didn't know.The man asked William if he had any
tools that he could borrow and promisedto return them when he was done.
(11:41):
William went and grabbed a driver,ratchet, and a socket, handed it
to the man and reminded him toreturn it when he was done using them.
The man agreed, thanked him,and left. Not long after that,
one of William's neighbors at two twelveCherry Street also received a knock at
her door. Deborah Rhyese was gettingready when this happened. She walked to
(12:07):
the door and was also greeted bya man that she did not know.
The man asked Deborah if her husbandwas home because he wanted to borrow some
tools. Deborah said she did notown any tools and shut her door.
As the man walked away, Deborahpeeked out her window and watched the man
make his way around the street.She was a bit frightened her husband was
(12:28):
not there. In fact, herhusband was working driving truck. Deborah immediately
phoned her mother and explained that astrange man just knocked on her door and
asked her to borrow tools. Shetold her mom that she did not trust
this guy and was very scared.Deborah's mother told her to come to her
house, and Deborah said she would, but that she had to finish getting
(12:50):
ready first. Not long after that, Deborah's neighbor across the street heard something
and looked out the window. Henoticed that a man was standing at Deborah's
front door, making head movement asif he was making sure that nobody was
watching him. He said that theman grabbed Deborah's screen door and I quote
(13:13):
made a bee line inside just realfast. This would be the point where
I figured that he would call nineone one and report what he just saw,
or maybe walk across the street tocheck on Deborah, but he didn't.
Instead, he got in his carand followed the man when he left.
About twenty minutes later, he followedthe man to Galloway Circle, a
(13:37):
nearby street, where he saw himstanding outside talking to a woman. The
woman was Glinda Pruett and she livedat the home on one twenty eight Galloway
Circle. Glinda had only seen thisman four or five times and knew him
by the name of Skip. Shehad a short conversation with him that morning
when he was passing by her house. When Bah didn't arrive at her mother's
(14:01):
house, she became nervous, especiallyafter the phone call that she received from
her earlier. A little after onethirty pm, Deborah's body was found in
her bedroom. She had been brutallybeaten around thirty six times with a tire
thumber. She had bruises and markson her that indicated that she had also
(14:24):
been strangled. A photographic lineup wasshown to the neighbors who witnessed the man
walking around the neighborhood. The neighborsall identified Laddeli. When Lee was arrested,
they seized multiple items from him,including a pair of Combers shoes containing
(14:45):
two small spots of blood. Therewas a shoeprint on a piece of paper
next to Deborah's body. The shoeprintmatched perfectly to Lee's unusually large size thirteen
shoe. Deborah's father, Stephen willIlliams, said that he had just given
his daughter three one hundred dollars billsthat were now missing. He told them
(15:09):
that they should be in sequential order, the same with a stack that he
had at home. He said hereceived the stack of new Chris bills and
out of it he gave his daughterthree. During investigation, it was found
that one of those bills with theserial number that matched, was used by
mister Lee at Renaissenter on the sameday. The first trial ended in a
(15:37):
mistrial because they could not reach aunanimous verdict. It was found that the
jury foreman had lied and said thatthey did not know mister Lee, when
in fact they did not. Onlydid this person lie about knowing him,
she also had previously been convicted ofa felony. Her parole was revoked and
(16:00):
this juror was later prosecuted for perjury. On October twelfth, nineteen ninety five,
they tried Lee for a second time, and this time the jury found
him guilty of capital murder and sentencedhim to death. The judge had set
an original execution date of February ninth, nineteen ninety six, which is the
(16:26):
anniversary of Deborah's death. The prosecutorwho sent this case to me mentioned that
she still has nightmares from sitting acrossfrom Laddel Lee during the two trials.
She described his eyes as dead andfeared that if he had not been shackled
down, he probably would have climbedover the table and strangled the prosecuting attorneys
(16:51):
without breaking a sweat. She alsomentioned that one of the worst parts of
the trial was seen that piece ofpaper that had a shoeprint on it.
The piece of paper also contained babynames that her and her husband were doodling
dreaming about their future. During thetime that Lee was awaiting trial for Deborah's
(17:18):
case, he became the suspect ofmultiple rapes and murders that occurred in the
same area. Lee was also triedfor the rape and murder of Christine Lewis.
The jury in the trial was unableto reach a verdict, and the
state decided not to retry him becausehe had already then been convicted for Deborah's
rape and murder. Lee was convictedon three charges of rape, including a
(17:44):
home invasion of a seventy year oldlady. The attack on her was extremely
brutal, but she was brave enoughto stand trial and testify against Ladelli.
DNA evidence also ped him of otherrapes, including the seventeen year old.
(18:06):
There is really no doubt that thisman was a dangerous monster and he needed
to be removed from the streets.But Lee continued to appeal the conviction multiple
times, avoiding execution for twenty twoyears up until his scheduled execution date of
April twentieth, two and seventeen.Prior to two thousand and seventeen, the
(18:32):
last person executed in Arkansas was EricNance. The court ran into numerous challenges
during the years between two thousand andfive and two thousand and seventeen due to
the opponents arguing that the lethal injectionviolated the constitution. Lee requested communion for
(18:53):
his last meal, which was abread wafer and a small amount of wine.
Since this was not a full meal, the doc offered to provide a
meal on his behalf to the restof the prison population. Lee declined.
He also declined to make a finalstatement last minute. Lee's execution was placed
(19:17):
on hold for a little over anhour, but Arkansas won a victory when
the state Supreme Court threw out arestraining order that a Pulaski County judge had
placed on Arkansas's use of one ofthe drugs used in the lethal injection because
the pharmaceutical company claimed that the Arkansasdoc duped them into providing the drug.
(19:41):
At about eleven fifty six PM,four minutes before the execution warrant would expire,
ladell Lei was executed. I wantto say thank you again to my
(20:07):
listener for recommending this case. Onthe next episode, I will be covering
Stacy Johnson, the fourth inmate scheduledfor execution. Remember to stay tuned to
(20:32):
hear some promos from some of myfavorite podcasts, including California True Crime,
Hoosier Homicide, and the Asia Madnesspodcast. Strictly Homicide is written, hosted,
and produced by me Nikki T.The original music is done by mister
T. No not that one,my mister T. If you are a
(20:57):
fan of the show, please makesure are you were subscribed on iTunes and
please rate and review the show.You can also find us on Patreon,
where you can support the show foras little as one dollar a month.
If there is a case that youwould like to discuss, or if you
have any comments, corrections, orsuggestions, send us an email at Strictly
(21:19):
Homicide at Yahoo dot com or onsocial media. You can find us on
most social media sites by searching StrictlyHomicide podcast and on Twitter as app strictly
hmi cide that's strictly homicide with noO. You can also visit our website
(21:41):
Strictly homicide dot com. Stick aroundto hear a few promos from some of
the best podcasts around, and untilnext time, y'all stay safe, especially
you Arkansas. California has the largestpopulation in the United States and the sight
of some of the most famous truecrime cases in history, but there's more
(22:04):
than meets the eye to the crimein California. Joined Sean, Jessica,
and Charles on the California True CrimePodcast as they cover crime both infamous and
overlooked from around our state while lookingat the deeper history that goes beyond the
beaches and movie stars in Bob Hey, everybody, this is Danielle. This
(22:41):
is daniel and I'm Carla, andwe are Who's Your Homicide? A true
crime podcast by Hoosiers for Hoosiers,or for anyone that doesn't know what a
Hoosier is. WHOA I don't knowwhat a hoosier is? Do you?
Yes? As a matter of fact, I do great. We don't need
to look anything up. Go toWikipedia and type in Alabama hot pocket.
No, don't do that, andthat'll tell you what of who's you're in.
(23:03):
Just come listen to us. You'llfind out anyway. You can find
us on Twitter and Instagram. Ourhandle is at Who's Your Homicide. You
can also download any episode you preferoff of Stitcher, Podbean, iTunes,
google Play, and Spotify. Wetell true crime stories with some random connection
to our homestay of Indiana. Comelisten. That's what she said, Love
God and for honest to goodness,stay out of the corn. Do you
(23:30):
like true crime mysteries or urban legendsand maybe anything along the lines of weird.
If your answer is yes, pleasegive the Asian Madness podcast to go
or I cover all of the topicsmentioned above, but from the Asian Continent.
Podcast is now available on iTunes,Stitcher, google Play, and wherever
(23:55):
you listen to podcasts.
One piece of smart technology could helpsolve a murder mystery in Arkansas. Two
Pine Bluff teens are in jail tonightfacing murder charges. Police say they are
in custody in connection to the shootingdepth of two seventeen year old. He's
a bizarre story in Russellville, Arkansas, today, a man who reportedly quit
his job over low pay went ona shooting spree with two handguns. Tributes
(00:32):
are pouring in for Anne Presley,the Little Rock TV anchorwoman died over the
weekend. A suspect in a deadlyfable shooting on New Year's Day in court
this morning. A Little Rock motheris pleading for help. Tonight, she
is asking anyone thanks for listening thisStrictly Homicide and Arkansas True crime podcast covering
lesser known cases out of the naturalState. I'd like to start off by
(01:00):
thanking my Patreon supporters. If you'dlike to help support us, you can
find us on Patreon and help withas little as a dollar a month.
There's also a donate button for aone time donation on Strictly Homicide dot com.
Please stay tuned until the end ofthe show to hear a few promos
from some of my favorite shows.Warning strictly homicide covers cases that include sexual
(01:34):
assault, violence, and homicide.Episodes may contain explicit language and are not
suitable for young ears. Listener discretionis advised. Hey, y'all, thanks
(02:04):
for being so patient with me.Things have been really busy for us recently.
And when I did finally get episodetwenty recorded and edited, I realized
right before posting it that I hadmade a huge mistake. I planned to
only record the parts that I messedup, but apparently I'm cursed and my
external hard drive with the episode onit crashed. Since I had to mail
(02:25):
it off to a very expensive datarecovery company, I had to rerecord this
whole episode. One more thing beforeI get into the case, I want
to tell y'all about an upcoming eventthat I think all true crime listeners would
enjoy. This July, there willbe a convention in Chicago for truecrime podcast
(02:46):
the Truecrime Podcast Festival. There arealready a ton of podcasts registered for the
event, like Trace Evidence, TheHidden Staircase, Corpus Delicti, All Crime,
No Cattle Said Earn Fried, TrueCrime, Nature Versus Narcissism, Ignorance,
was bliss myself and so many more. Check out their website for more
(03:09):
information www dot tcp F two zeroone nine dot com. That's True Crime
Podcast Festival twenty nineteen. Tickets arealready on cell so you can get yours
and I'll see you this July inChicago. This week's case was a listener's
(03:37):
suggestion. It was actually the suggestionthat encouraged me to cover the cases from
the twenty seventeen rushed executions. Oneof the prosecutors who worked on this case
sent me an email suggesting that Icover the case of ladell LEI. After
(03:59):
I read her email, I knewI had to cover this case. But
the more research I did, themore I saw about the other seven inmates
that were scheduled to be executed inApril twenty seventeen. This case takes place
in Jacksonville, Arkansas, about fifteenmiles northeast of Little Rock. The population
(04:21):
was just over twenty eight thousand intwo thousand and ten. In the late
eighteen hundreds, a landowner named NicholasJackson deedd his land for the railroad right
away, so when the city wasincorporated in nineteen forty one, they gave
it the name of Jacksonville, namedafter mister Jackson. During that same year,
(04:44):
they began construction on the Arkansas OrdnancePlant, also known as the AOP,
which was the primary facility for thedevelopment of fuses and detonators that were
used during World War Two. Whenthe war ended, they seized operations in
the land was sold. The LittleRock Air Force Base, which is actually
located in Jacksonville, was built onportions of this land. You've heard of
(05:10):
dry counties before, you know countieswhere alcohol sales are prohibited. While researching
this area, I discovered that Jacksonvilleand just the warning, I hate this
word as much as any other person, is a moist county. What this
means is alcohol sales can be madehere, but not in stores, only
(05:30):
in restaurants that carry a special permit. Since nineteen twenty seven, the schools
in Jacksonville were part of the PulaskiCounty Special School District, one of the
largest districts in the state. Intwo thousand and eight, some of the
schools wanted to split from the district, so a measure was submitted and approved
by the school board. A petitionwas started and signed by more than two
(05:54):
thousand residents. The Board of Educationthen ordered an election to allow some of
the schools to form their own district. On September sixteenth, twenty fourteen,
three thousand, six hundred and seventytwo voted four and two hundred and two
voted against, and on July first, two sixteen, Jacksonville North Pulaski School
(06:17):
District was formed, consisting of sevenelementary schools, one middle school, and
one high school. On June twentyfirst, nineteen eighty five, Kimberly and
Neil Allen welcomed a baby boy namedChristopher. This boy would move to Conway
after high school and then audition forAmerican Idol in Louisville, Kentucky, making
(06:40):
it to Hollywood and then winning Seasoneight of American Idol. Chris Allen isn't
the only notable person from Jacksonville.This list also contains pitcher for the White
Sox Grady Atkins. Clinton McDonald,a defensive tackle for Tampa Bay and formerly
of the Seahawks, making him aSuper Bowl champion. Other notable football players
(07:01):
include dan Aka danimal, a retiredNFL defensive tackle for the Chicago Bears.
He was also inducted into the ProFootball Hall of Fame in two thousand and
two, Demetrius Harris, a tightend for the Chiefs, and Robert Thomas,
who played for the Cowboys as thelead blocker for Emmett Smith. So
(07:30):
in two thousand and four, rightafter moving to Arkansas, I lived on
Cherry Street in Jacksonville. I hadno idea until researching this case that in
nineteen ninety three, a twenty sixyear old woman was brutally murdered just a
few houses down. The case ofladdel Lee is part three of the Rushed
(07:55):
Execution series in two thousand. Inseventeen, the Governor Asa Hutchinson decided to
execute eight inmates on four dates,meaning that they would be executing two inmates
back to back within a time spanof ten days two date. Since nineteen
seventy six, when the death penaltywas reinstated, Arkansas has executed thirty one
(08:20):
inmates before two seventeen. The lastperson executed in Arkansas was in two thousand
and five. The state went twelveyears without an execution Because of the drugs
used in the lethal injection, itbecame very difficult for prisons to obtain the
drugs that are used during the lethalinjection. The manufacturers of some of the
(08:43):
drugs were refusing to sell to prisonsknowing that they were going to use them
to kill someone. Why the rushall of a sudden In two seventeen,
well, Arkansas's supply in the firstdrug used in three drug cocktail was about
to expire. This is the drugthat blocks the pain that occurs from the
(09:03):
final two drugs. Complaints were filedclaiming this drug is torture because it will
paralyze the inmate as they burn alivefrom the inside. There have been numerous
botched executions linked to it. Stateshad options to go through compound pharmacies,
and some states stalked up. Theproblem with that is that the drug expires,
(09:26):
and Arkansas's supply was set to expirein April two thousand and seventeen.
This leads us to episode twenty whereI discussed the case of laddel Lee,
who was scheduled to be executed onApril twentieth, two thousand and seventeen.
In the late eighties and early nineties, Jacksonville, Arkansas, incurred one too
(09:48):
many rapes and murders. There isat least five women in the Sunnyside area
of Jacksonville that were raped and somekilled, all ranging from age seventeen to
seventy. In nineteen eighty nine,Christine Lewis, the daughter of Jacksonville's first
black alderman, was hung with herthree year old son when a man broke
(10:11):
into her home, raped, beatand strangled her while her son watched.
The man dumped Christine's body in acloset of an abandoned house on the night
of November twenty seventh. In nineteenninety, a seventeen year old female was
abducted from her sister's home. Shewas taken into the woods behind the house
(10:33):
and raped. Her attacker prevented herfrom seeing his face, but she was
able to identify him as a tallblack man. The victim went to the
hospital where rape kit was performed.They also combed the victim's clothes for hair.
The evidence was then submitted to theArkansas State Crime Lab and stored away.
(10:54):
Police officers arrived at the home twodays later to collect fingerprints from in
and outside of the house. Theevidence was submitted to the Arkansas State Crime
Lab, where it was also storedaway. While the investigation went inactive.
(11:16):
In the morning of February ninth,nineteen ninety three, William McCollough Junior heard
a knock on his door. Itwas a little after ten am and William
was not expecting any visitors. WhenWilliam opened the door, he was greeted
by a man he didn't know.The man asked William if he had any
tools that he could borrow and promisedto return them when he was done.
(11:41):
William went and grabbed a driver,ratchet, and a socket, handed it
to the man and reminded him toreturn it when he was done using them.
The man agreed, thanked him,and left. Not long after that,
one of William's neighbors at two twelveCherry Street also received a knock at
her door. Deborah Rhyese was gettingready when this happened. She walked to
(12:07):
the door and was also greeted bya man that she did not know.
The man asked Deborah if her husbandwas home because he wanted to borrow some
tools. Deborah said she did notown any tools and shut her door.
As the man walked away, Deborahpeeked out her window and watched the man
make his way around the street.She was a bit frightened her husband was
(12:28):
not there. In fact, herhusband was working driving truck. Deborah immediately
phoned her mother and explained that astrange man just knocked on her door and
asked her to borrow tools. Shetold her mom that she did not trust
this guy and was very scared.Deborah's mother told her to come to her
house, and Deborah said she would, but that she had to finish getting
(12:50):
ready first. Not long after that, Deborah's neighbor across the street heard something
and looked out the window. Henoticed that a man was standing at Deborah's
front door, making head movement asif he was making sure that nobody was
watching him. He said that theman grabbed Deborah's screen door and I quote
(13:13):
made a bee line inside just realfast. This would be the point where
I figured that he would call nineone one and report what he just saw,
or maybe walk across the street tocheck on Deborah, but he didn't.
Instead, he got in his carand followed the man when he left.
About twenty minutes later, he followedthe man to Galloway Circle, a
(13:37):
nearby street, where he saw himstanding outside talking to a woman. The
woman was Glinda Pruett and she livedat the home on one twenty eight Galloway
Circle. Glinda had only seen thisman four or five times and knew him
by the name of Skip. Shehad a short conversation with him that morning
when he was passing by her house. When Bah didn't arrive at her mother's
(14:01):
house, she became nervous, especiallyafter the phone call that she received from
her earlier. A little after onethirty pm, Deborah's body was found in
her bedroom. She had been brutallybeaten around thirty six times with a tire
thumber. She had bruises and markson her that indicated that she had also
(14:24):
been strangled. A photographic lineup wasshown to the neighbors who witnessed the man
walking around the neighborhood. The neighborsall identified Laddeli. When Lee was arrested,
they seized multiple items from him,including a pair of Combers shoes containing
(14:45):
two small spots of blood. Therewas a shoeprint on a piece of paper
next to Deborah's body. The shoeprintmatched perfectly to Lee's unusually large size thirteen
shoe. Deborah's father, Stephen willIlliams, said that he had just given
his daughter three one hundred dollars billsthat were now missing. He told them
(15:09):
that they should be in sequential order, the same with a stack that he
had at home. He said hereceived the stack of new Chris bills and
out of it he gave his daughterthree. During investigation, it was found
that one of those bills with theserial number that matched, was used by
mister Lee at Renaissenter on the sameday. The first trial ended in a
(15:37):
mistrial because they could not reach aunanimous verdict. It was found that the
jury foreman had lied and said thatthey did not know mister Lee, when
in fact they did not. Onlydid this person lie about knowing him,
she also had previously been convicted ofa felony. Her parole was revoked and
(16:00):
this juror was later prosecuted for perjury. On October twelfth, nineteen ninety five,
they tried Lee for a second time, and this time the jury found
him guilty of capital murder and sentencedhim to death. The judge had set
an original execution date of February ninth, nineteen ninety six, which is the
(16:26):
anniversary of Deborah's death. The prosecutorwho sent this case to me mentioned that
she still has nightmares from sitting acrossfrom Laddel Lee during the two trials.
She described his eyes as dead andfeared that if he had not been shackled
down, he probably would have climbedover the table and strangled the prosecuting attorneys
(16:51):
without breaking a sweat. She alsomentioned that one of the worst parts of
the trial was seen that piece ofpaper that had a shoeprint on it.
The piece of paper also contained babynames that her and her husband were doodling
dreaming about their future. During thetime that Lee was awaiting trial for Deborah's
(17:18):
case, he became the suspect ofmultiple rapes and murders that occurred in the
same area. Lee was also triedfor the rape and murder of Christine Lewis.
The jury in the trial was unableto reach a verdict, and the
state decided not to retry him becausehe had already then been convicted for Deborah's
rape and murder. Lee was convictedon three charges of rape, including a
(17:44):
home invasion of a seventy year oldlady. The attack on her was extremely
brutal, but she was brave enoughto stand trial and testify against Ladelli.
DNA evidence also ped him of otherrapes, including the seventeen year old.
(18:06):
There is really no doubt that thisman was a dangerous monster and he needed
to be removed from the streets.But Lee continued to appeal the conviction multiple
times, avoiding execution for twenty twoyears up until his scheduled execution date of
April twentieth, two and seventeen.Prior to two thousand and seventeen, the
(18:32):
last person executed in Arkansas was EricNance. The court ran into numerous challenges
during the years between two thousand andfive and two thousand and seventeen due to
the opponents arguing that the lethal injectionviolated the constitution. Lee requested communion for
(18:53):
his last meal, which was abread wafer and a small amount of wine.
Since this was not a full meal, the doc offered to provide a
meal on his behalf to the restof the prison population. Lee declined.
He also declined to make a finalstatement last minute. Lee's execution was placed
(19:17):
on hold for a little over anhour, but Arkansas won a victory when
the state Supreme Court threw out arestraining order that a Pulaski County judge had
placed on Arkansas's use of one ofthe drugs used in the lethal injection because
the pharmaceutical company claimed that the Arkansasdoc duped them into providing the drug.
(19:41):
At about eleven fifty six PM,four minutes before the execution warrant would expire,
ladell Lei was executed. I wantto say thank you again to my
(20:07):
listener for recommending this case. Onthe next episode, I will be covering
Stacy Johnson, the fourth inmate scheduledfor execution. Remember to stay tuned to
(20:32):
hear some promos from some of myfavorite podcasts, including California True Crime,
Hoosier Homicide, and the Asia Madnesspodcast. Strictly Homicide is written, hosted,
and produced by me Nikki T.The original music is done by mister
T. No not that one,my mister T. If you are a
(20:57):
fan of the show, please makesure are you were subscribed on iTunes and
please rate and review the show.You can also find us on Patreon,
where you can support the show foras little as one dollar a month.
If there is a case that youwould like to discuss, or if you
have any comments, corrections, orsuggestions, send us an email at Strictly
(21:19):
Homicide at Yahoo dot com or onsocial media. You can find us on
most social media sites by searching StrictlyHomicide podcast and on Twitter as app strictly
hmi cide that's strictly homicide with noO. You can also visit our website
(21:41):
Strictly homicide dot com. Stick aroundto hear a few promos from some of
the best podcasts around, and untilnext time, y'all stay safe, especially
you Arkansas. California has the largestpopulation in the United States and the sight
of some of the most famous truecrime cases in history, but there's more
(22:04):
than meets the eye to the crimein California. Joined Sean, Jessica,
and Charles on the California True CrimePodcast as they cover crime both infamous and
overlooked from around our state while lookingat the deeper history that goes beyond the
beaches and movie stars in Bob Hey, everybody, this is Danielle. This
(22:41):
is daniel and I'm Carla, andwe are Who's Your Homicide? A true
crime podcast by Hoosiers for Hoosiers,or for anyone that doesn't know what a
Hoosier is. WHOA I don't knowwhat a hoosier is? Do you?
Yes? As a matter of fact, I do great. We don't need
to look anything up. Go toWikipedia and type in Alabama hot pocket.
No, don't do that, andthat'll tell you what of who's you're in.
(23:03):
Just come listen to us. You'llfind out anyway. You can find
us on Twitter and Instagram. Ourhandle is at Who's Your Homicide. You
can also download any episode you preferoff of Stitcher, Podbean, iTunes,
google Play, and Spotify. Wetell true crime stories with some random connection
to our homestay of Indiana. Comelisten. That's what she said, Love
God and for honest to goodness,stay out of the corn. Do you
(23:30):
like true crime mysteries or urban legendsand maybe anything along the lines of weird.
If your answer is yes, pleasegive the Asian Madness podcast to go
or I cover all of the topicsmentioned above, but from the Asian Continent.
Podcast is now available on iTunes,Stitcher, google Play, and wherever
(23:55):
you listen to podcasts.
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