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| Mid-Missouri Fellowship of
Reconciliation The Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR) is a group composed of people from many faiths, and no particular faith -- all coming together to support nonviolence and justice. Offering people of conscience an action response to a morally-impaired U.S. foreign policy. |
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A Report on the Injustice in the Application of the Death Penalty in Missouri (1978-1996)(Microsoft Word document) News
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Local News and Announcements... Don't miss anything...please scroll downFOR News July 2008Help Halt Missouri’s Planned Executionof Dennis Skillicorn on Aug. 27 The Missouri Supreme Court on 26 July “authorized” state officials to execute Dennis Skillicorn on 27 August—despite having just days earlier stayed then rescheduled the execution of John Middleton. Both executions could also indefinitely be delayed, depending on the outcome of a lawsuit (explained below in the next entry on the FOR website). We hope for the best, but urge concerned citizens to prepare for the worst-- Missouri continuing with its serial murdering, after nearly three years of no executions. Please keep free the evening of 26 Aug. The Mid-MO FOR will convene a Vigil for Life that evening (see below for details and for other actions) unless we learn by 12 noon that day the execution has definitely been stayed. Call 573-449-4585, check this website and Missourians to Abolish the Death Penalty www.moabolition.org <http://www.moabolition.org> for further updates, calls to action and sites around the state of other gatherings affirming life/opposing state murder. There’s no doubt both that Dennis Skillicorn joined two other men in a cross-country crime spree in 1994 and that he did not kill Richard Drummond. Still he was sentenced to death, as was Allen Nicklasson, the admitted triggerman. Drummond had stopped his car near Kingdom City to give a ride to the two men and Tim DeGraffenreid who were stranded with their broken-down car. Nicklasson pulled a gun on Drummond, forcing him to drive west, Skillicorn remained in the car when the gunman walked Drummond 1/4 mile away and shot him. DeGraffenreid received a life sentence for 2nd degree murder, more in line with what Skillicorn should have gotten. We deplore the violence the men committed and mourn with Drummond’s loved ones, his violent death. We also urge the violence to end without cycling into a state killing. Besides his human right to life, Skillicorn has been sincerely remorseful for his part in the crimes while contributing to better our world from prison. The past five years he’s been editor of Compassion (log on at www.compassionondeathrow.org), a national magazine featuring writings by “death row” prisoners, which has raised tens of thousands of dollars in scholarships for people who have had loved ones murdered. He also has worked for several years in the Potosi prison’s hospice program caring for terminally-ill inmates. Skillicorn, in a letter to Christians about the death penalty, writes, “Under the law of Grace, we are clearly to do unto others as we would have them do unto us. The revenge cycle is like a boomerang that cannot be thrown without cost to the thrower. The cycle can only be broken by forgiveness. We must rise above revenge and examine our motives. Are we trying to please men, or God?” Let us serve humanity and the Creation and help spare the life of Dennis Skillicorn. Take Action * Attend a Vigil for Life 5:00-600 pm, Tuesday, 26 August, Boone County Courthouse, Walnut St. Columbia (unless we learn by 12 noon that day the execution has definitely been stayed). For future updates, check out this website periodically and www.moabolition.org, the website of Missourians to Abolish the Death Penalty (vigils would also take place in a least a half dozen other Missouri communities); * Contact the Board of Probation and Parole In a letter, urge the Board members to recommend Gov. Matt Blunt grant clemency, at least commuting his death sentence to life. Please note that Mr. Skillicorn was not the triggerman by all accounts; that he has been genuinely remorseful for his role in the crimes and rehabilitated; has been an effective facilitator for restorative justice and contributing member of society even while incarcerated. Mail to: MO Dept. of Corrections/Board of Probation and Parole; 1511 Christy Dr., Jefferson City MO 65101 or fax 573-751-8501 * Contact Gov. Matt Blunt Urge him to commute Mr. Skillicorn’s death sentence to “life” for reasons similar to those noted above. Write: Gov. Blunt, Room 216, Capitol Building, Jefferson City MO 65101. Fax: 573-751-1595; Phone: 573-751-3222; or e-mail mogov@mail.state.mo.us. John Middleton’s 30 July Execution Halted; Lawsuit Challenges Lethal Injection The Missouri Supreme Court stayed the execution of John Middleton, a week before he was set to be killed during the opening minutes of 30 July-- reissuing a warrant for his execution, instead for 17 September. And in a separate development, prisoners and their advocates filed a lawsuit, Thursday in Cole County Court challenging Missouri’s lethal injection protocol, hopefully delaying for months, if not years, his and all state killings in Missouri. The suit was filed on behalf of 13 of the 14 condemned prisoners for whom the Attorney General has requested execution dates. Families of those men, clergy and legislators—Sen. Joan Bray and Rep. Connie Johnson (both of St. Louis)—all joined the civil action, contending the Department of Corrections (DOC) has been violating the state’s Administrative Procedure Act. The act requires agencies to provide notice and invite public comments about state proceedings. To date no public meetings have been convened by the DOC regarding lethal injections. John Middleton would be the first person in the state to be executed since October 2005, when Marlin Gray was lethally poisoned in the Bonne Terre prison. Middleton was convicted of murdering Alfred Pinegar, Stacy Hodge and Randy Hamilton in 1995 in northern Missouri. We with the Mid-MO FOR condemn the horrible violence Middleton committed, in connection with a methamphetamine business he ran. We mourn those deaths and the anguish felt by their loved ones. We also realize the wrongs wouldn’t be erased by his state murder—the suffering, the immorality would only be expanded, devastating the lives of others who care about him. Missouri officials have executed 66 people, 4th most of any US state; 47 men dwell under a death sentence in Missouri, at least a couple of them having strong claims of being wrongly convicted. On 28 July 2003, Joe Amrine was set free. He’s one of three men in Missouri (among 129 people nationwide) exonerated after being found wrongly convicted and sentenced to die. Earlier this month, Amrine graced Columbia, joining FOR for a news conference with state legislative candidates. Let the 5th anniversary of his freedom remind us, mistakes can and do occur. It’s a prime reason our state needs a death-penalty study with a concurrent execution moratorium NOW. To join the local effort of the Missouri moratorium campaign call 573-449-4585. ------ End of Forwarded Message Email this:  
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| Mid-Missouri Fellowship of Reconciliation |
P.O. Box 268 Columbia, Missouri 65205 |
| Questions about the Fellowship of Reconciliation? -- contact Jeff Stack at
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