ADAMS John

En prison depuis : 12 août 1998

Lieu de détention : Texas / Etats-Unis

NOM : Adams

PRÉNOM : John

NATIONALITÉ : Américaine

SITUATION JUDICIAIRE:

John Adams a été condamné pour le meurtre d'une femme de 52 ans en 1997. Pour plus d'informations, vous pouvez consulter cet article en anglais:

New penalty trial begins for homeless man convicted in DeSoto woman's 1997 murder

Jurors began hearing from witnesses today in the death penalty trial of John Wade Adams, who previously sentenced to death for the 1997 murder of a woman.

The son of the slain woman, Donna Vick, testified that not having his mother around has been difficult for him and for her 9 grandchildren and 4 great grandchildren.

He talked about taking the children to events like soccer games.

"Other kids there had their grandparents there, and they weren't able to have their grandparents there," said Jerry Don Blanton.

He testified that he had to tell his youngest children about their grandmother's murder when they began asking questions about the woman they saw in pictures around the house.

"They know," he said.

Adams was convicted and sentenced to death in 1998 for killing Donna Vick in her DeSoto home. But in April 2009, a federal court granted him a new sentencing hearing based on his defense attorney's insufficient investigation into mitigating evidence that could have led a jury to sentence Adams instead to life in prison.

It's unclear what the mitigating circumstances might have been, but they likely had to do with his upbringing.

Adams was homeless when he and another homeless man, Gregory Edward Wright, stabbed Vick to death in her bed. Vick had invited Wright to stay with her in exchange for his doing yard work.

Adams was a friend of Wright's. Wright was executed in October 2008 for his role in the murder.

Vick was stabbed with Adams' pocket knife and a butcher knife from her kitchen, according to court records. Her killer or killers stole items from her house and left in her car.

The next day, according to court records, a man named Jeremiah Tatum arranged for Adams and Wright to swap the items from Vick's house for $50 worth of crack cocaine. Tatum has previously testified that Adams was angry about the deal he made for the drugs.

According to court records, Tatum also testified that Adams said "Wright didn't have the heart to finish the job," so Adams killed Vick.

After getting drunk, Adams reported Vick's murder to Dallas police and led officers to her body, her abandoned vehicle, and one of the knives.

She was found in her bed covered by blankets and pillows. She had been stabbed 7 times.

Tatum was expected to testify this week, but he was shot three times last week during a robbery at a home in southeast Oak Cliff. The case is under investigation by Dallas police, who say Tatum gave them differing accounts of what had happened. The robbers stole a television and a PlayStation 3, according to a police report.

If Tatum recovers enough to talk but cannot come to court, attorneys could videotape their questioning of him and play the recording for jurors.

Prosecutors want to read his prior testimony to the jury if he is not available. Defens attorney Brad Lollar opposes that, saying Tatum was not cross-examined vigorously at the original trial.

Prosecutor Brandon Birmingham told jurors today in his opening statement that last thing Vick did before she died was make a grilled ham and cheese sandwich for Adams.

He said Adams' statements about the murder ranged through the years from "'I was just there' to ‘I'm the one who did everything and Gregory Wright had nothing to do with it,'" Lollar said in his opening remarks that Wright was to blame for Vick's death. The defense attorney also told jurors they would hear testimony about Adams' troubled childhood.

Lollar said that when Adams was 2, he was found with his 2 siblings, abandoned for days by their parents. The children hadn't been fed, and Adams was covered with cigarette burns, Lollar said.

Lollar said that Adams went to live with a new family, where he acted like a wild animal, grabbing food and hiding while he ate.

Eventually, Adams improved and was going to school. All was well until he was 9 and his biological mother showed up, demanding $5,000 for him. The couple raising him didn't have the money, so Adams went back to live with her.

She gave Adams and his siblings wine so they would sleep, Lollar said, and left her kids in the car while she worked as a bartender.

At 14, Adams went to live with a stepfather and was sexually abused, Lollar said.

He ran away at 15 and began using marijuana, cocaine and heroin.

Adams went to prison for the 1st time when he he was 20, convicted of robbery. Behind bars, he joined a white supremacist prison gang.

Source: Dallas Morning News

POUR AGIR :

John recherche des correspondants anglophones:

I was born in Tuscaloosa (12/12/1963) Alabama to Betty Jo and James Adams. (My biological father is Woody St John though). I have 9 siblings, either half brother and sister, or full.

My first memories are when I was 5 years old. I was living with James and Linda Elliott. With them I had or got anything that I wanted. Then one day, at school this strange lady pulled me out of class and told me that she was my real mother. I then found out that Betty Jo was in fact my real mother. I thought it was right to be with my real mother. So I went to live with her and a man named Charles Chase SR. with seven others kids in a four bedroom house in Kenner. I never seen the Elliotts again.

Then one day I went to live with James Adams and my brother and sister Michael and Tammie. Life after that has been a roller coster ride. Extreme ups and downs with crazy turns along the way. Mostly the up hill battles. I have traveled the US. I have lived in Florida, Missouri, Arkansas, Mississippi, Washington State, Louisiana and Texas. I have been in the army as well. I enjoyed riding Harleys. I even traveled with a group called “Tush hogs”. They were good people, taking care of one another. Then, I ended up here on death row. I got here in August of 1998. Things have really been a struggle here until I turned my life over to the Lord.

Everything is now in His hands. Even me!

I have never felt so much peace in my life before now.

My hobbies…I enjoy reading books. Mostly western novels. I also like to read other things too.

Anything to help me exercise my mind and extend my vocabulary.

I like to listen to Christian Music. That is about the only thing we can do in here since we only have radio for entertainment. I love to also Fellowship with my brothers in here. And I have a love for Harley Davidson motorcycles too.

I guess I will close this letters now and hope that I have reached out to someone who has some of the same interests. And I would like to meet a good friend.

We can ride the Highway together or Fellowship in the Lord. I can talk about anything that you like.

I am a Christian 5 feet 11 tall weight 239 . I have blondish red hair blue eyes Full of tattoos and I’m sold out for God. I’m easy to talk to and I love writing people who want to write. If you don’t know God you can still write me and we can talk about other things too. But if you are a Christian we are going to have some fun.

Thank you for your time, God bless you.

Pour lui écrire:

John W Adams

#999278 - Polunsky Unit

3872 FM 350 south

Livingston TX 77351-8580

USA

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