orangeman
06-06-2007, 03:42 AM
Condemned man to tell joke as last words
Condemned man to tell joke as last words (http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=270954)
Monday Jun 4 11:48 AEST
AP - A condemned American inmate wants to leave them laughing.
Patrick Knight is collecting jokes and will pick the funniest one for his last statement before he is put to death on June 26, for shooting his neighbours to death almost 16 years ago outside Amarillo, Texas.
Randall County Sheriff Joel Richardson thinks the whole idea is insensitive.
"This tells you a little bit about the guy's character, anyway," said Richardson, who was chief deputy at the time Knight killed Walter and Mary Werner.
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Richardson, who plans to witness Knight's execution, said the Werners' son has moved out of Texas and will no longer speak about the case.
"They don't want to draw any more attention to this guy than is possible," Richardson said.
Knight acknowledges there is nothing funny about his execution.
"I'm not trying to disrespect the Werners or anything like that," he told The Associated Press from death row.
"I'm not trying to say I don't care what's going on. I'm about to die. I'm not going to sit here and whine and cry and moan and everything like that when I'm facing the punishment I've been given.
"I'm not asking for money. I'm not asking for pen pals or anything like that. All I'm asking for is jokes."
He's had about 250 wisecracks mailed to him on death row or emailed to a friend who has a website for him.
"Lawyer jokes are real popular," he said. "Some of them are a little on the edge. I'm not going to use any profanity if I can find the one I want, or any vulgar content. It wouldn't be bad if it was a little bit on the edge. That would be cool."
Knight, 39, would be the last of five condemned inmates set to die over three weeks this month in Texas, the nation's most active state in carrying out capital punishment.
Fourteen executions already have happened in Texas this year and if all five take place in June, the pace will be just shy of the record of 40 executions set in 2000. At least 10 other inmates already have execution dates set for the second half of the year.
Knight said he got the idea for a joke as his last statement after a friend, Vincent Gutierrez, was executed earlier this year and laughed from the death chamber gurney: "Where's a stunt double when you need one?"
"I know I'm not innocent," said Knight, who believes his appeals have been exhausted. "They think they're killing me. They think they're punishing me. They've already punished me. I've already had 16 years of punishment. They're releasing me. They're letting me go. That's helping me out. That's the way I look at it."
Condemned man to tell joke as last words (http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=270954)
Monday Jun 4 11:48 AEST
AP - A condemned American inmate wants to leave them laughing.
Patrick Knight is collecting jokes and will pick the funniest one for his last statement before he is put to death on June 26, for shooting his neighbours to death almost 16 years ago outside Amarillo, Texas.
Randall County Sheriff Joel Richardson thinks the whole idea is insensitive.
"This tells you a little bit about the guy's character, anyway," said Richardson, who was chief deputy at the time Knight killed Walter and Mary Werner.
advertisement
Richardson, who plans to witness Knight's execution, said the Werners' son has moved out of Texas and will no longer speak about the case.
"They don't want to draw any more attention to this guy than is possible," Richardson said.
Knight acknowledges there is nothing funny about his execution.
"I'm not trying to disrespect the Werners or anything like that," he told The Associated Press from death row.
"I'm not trying to say I don't care what's going on. I'm about to die. I'm not going to sit here and whine and cry and moan and everything like that when I'm facing the punishment I've been given.
"I'm not asking for money. I'm not asking for pen pals or anything like that. All I'm asking for is jokes."
He's had about 250 wisecracks mailed to him on death row or emailed to a friend who has a website for him.
"Lawyer jokes are real popular," he said. "Some of them are a little on the edge. I'm not going to use any profanity if I can find the one I want, or any vulgar content. It wouldn't be bad if it was a little bit on the edge. That would be cool."
Knight, 39, would be the last of five condemned inmates set to die over three weeks this month in Texas, the nation's most active state in carrying out capital punishment.
Fourteen executions already have happened in Texas this year and if all five take place in June, the pace will be just shy of the record of 40 executions set in 2000. At least 10 other inmates already have execution dates set for the second half of the year.
Knight said he got the idea for a joke as his last statement after a friend, Vincent Gutierrez, was executed earlier this year and laughed from the death chamber gurney: "Where's a stunt double when you need one?"
"I know I'm not innocent," said Knight, who believes his appeals have been exhausted. "They think they're killing me. They think they're punishing me. They've already punished me. I've already had 16 years of punishment. They're releasing me. They're letting me go. That's helping me out. That's the way I look at it."