Jay Wesley Neill (April 9, 1965 – December 12, 2002) was an American

mass murderer Mass murder is the act of murdering a number of people, typically simultaneously or over a relatively short period of time and in close geographic proximity. The United States Congress defines mass killings as the killings of three or more pe ...

, who on December 14, 1984, killed four people during a

bank robbery Bank robbery is the criminal act of stealing from a bank, specifically while bank employees and customers are subjected to force, violence, or a threat of violence. This refers to robbery of a bank branch or teller, as opposed to other bank- ...

Geronimo, Oklahoma Geronimo is a town in Comanche County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 1,268 at the 2010 census. It is included in the Lawton, Oklahoma Metropolitan Statistical Area. Geography Geronimo is located at (34.481471, -98.383621). Accord ...

. Neill was convicted and sentenced to death, and was

executed Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...

in 2002.

Background

Jay Wesley Neill was born on April 9, 1965, and at 18-years-old he joined the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

in 1983. Neill met Robert Grady Johnson in February 1984 at a bar, and the two became romantically involved. He was discharged from the military in the summer of 1984 after disclosing that he was

homosexual Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to peop ...

, and quickly began having financial difficulties. Neill and Johnson shared an apartment in

Lawton, Oklahoma Lawton is a city in and the county seat of Comanche County, in the U.S. state of Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Ce ...

, and a joint checking account at a bank in

. The bank account had frequent checks returned due to insufficient funds, and they were frequently present at the Geronimo bank to work out their money problems. The Geronimo bank was a small facility, which was housed in a prefabricated building, and usually had only two tellers and no surveillance cameras or security guards. Neill commented to Johnson on more than one occasion on the absence of the security measures, and how easy he thought it would be to commit a

robbery Robbery is the crime of taking or attempting to take anything of value by force, threat of force, or by use of fear. According to common law, robbery is defined as taking the property of another, with the intent to permanently deprive the perso ...

at the bank.

Geronimo bank robbery

Preparation

On December 12, 1984, Neill shopped for firearms at a local

pawnshop A pawnbroker is an individual or business (pawnshop or pawn shop) that offers secured loans to people, with items of personal property used as collateral. The items having been ''pawned'' to the broker are themselves called ''pledges'' or ...

, but the shop keeper informed him that a buyer must be at least 21-years-old, and Neill was only 19-years-old at the time. The following day, Johnson applied for a

gun license A firearms license (also known as a gun license; or licence in British English) is a license or permit issued by a government authority (typically by the police) of a jurisdiction, that allows the licensee to buy, own, possess, or carry a ...

, and that same morning Neill went to a travel agent to purchase tickets for flights to

Nassau, Bahamas Nassau ( ) is the capital and largest city of the Bahamas. With a population of 274,400 as of 2016, or just over 70% of the entire population of the Bahamas, Nassau is commonly defined as a primate city, dwarfing all other towns in the country. ...

leaving at 6 p.m. the next day. On the morning of December 14, Neill and Johnson returned to the pawn shop Neill had attempted buy a gun from two days earlier, and purchased a

revolver A revolver (also called a wheel gun) is a repeating handgun that has at least one barrel and uses a revolving cylinder containing multiple chambers (each holding a single cartridge) for firing. Because most revolver models hold up to six roun ...

Neill had seen during his previous visit.

Robbery and murders

At around 1 p.m. on December 14, Neill entered the First Bank of Chattanooga in Geronimo, and at gunpoint forced the three tellers working at the bank to the back room. The tellers, Kay Bruno (42), Jerri Bowles (19), and Joyce Mullenix (25) were told to lie face down on the floor, where Neill then stabbed them to death. The three employees were stabbed a total of 75 times, and Mullenix was six months pregnant. While Neill was attempting the

decapitation Decapitation or beheading is the total separation of the head from the body. Such an injury is invariably fatal to humans and most other animals, since it deprives the brain of oxygenated blood, while all other organs are deprived of the i ...

of one of the tellers, four customers entered the bank, who were taken to the back room by Neill and shot in the head. Ralph Zeller (33) died from his wounds, becoming the fourth and final murder victim. Bellen and Reuben Robles as well as Marilyn Roach would recover from their head wounds. Neill attempted to shoot the couple's 14-month-old daughter, Marie, but the gun was out of bullets. Johnson was 16 miles away from the crime scene as the FBI report reflects. However Johnson remains in prison 34 years later for Neill's crime.

Arrest and conviction

Neill and Johnson were arrested on December 17 in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

, California.

Marked bill Marking bills is a technique used by police to trace and identify money used in illegal activities. The serial numbers of the bills are recorded, and sometimes markings are made on the bank notes themselves (such as with a highlighter or other writ ...

s stolen from the bank were used to pay for hotel rooms, limousine rides and shopping excursions. Bills worth around $3,700 were found on Neill and in their hotel room. Johnson was sentenced to four

life sentences Life imprisonment is any sentence of imprisonment for a crime under which convicted people are to remain in prison for the rest of their natural lives or indefinitely until pardoned, paroled, or otherwise commuted to a fixed term. Crimes fo ...

with the possibility of

parole Parole (also known as provisional release or supervised release) is a form of early release of a prison inmate where the prisoner agrees to abide by certain behavioral conditions, including checking-in with their designated parole officers, or ...

, despite there being a dispute whether or not Johnson was present in the bank at the time of the robbery. Neill testified that Johnson was at home waiting on him during the robbery, however, he had previously maintained that Johnson had accompanied him in the bank. Marilyn Roach testified to hearing the voices of two men inside the bank. Neill was sentenced to death twice, once in 1985 and again in 1992. During the time of his incarceration, he converted to

Born-Again Christianity Born again, or to experience the new birth, is a phrase, particularly in evangelicalism, that refers to a "spiritual rebirth", or a regeneration of the human spirit. In contrast to one's physical birth, being "born again" is distinctly and sep ...

at first, and then to

Buddhism Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and gra ...

. While on

death row Death row, also known as condemned row, is a place in a prison that houses inmates awaiting Capital punishment, execution after being convicted of a capital crime and sentenced to death. The term is also used figuratively to describe the state of ...

, Neill's friendship with anyone was always doubtful and his conversion to Christianity was often the topic of conversation, as his "friends" were skeptical of the sincerity of his conversion even though he delivered mini-sermons and quoted Scripture often. Neill lived diagonally across from

Ron Williamson Ronald Keith Williamson (February 3, 1953 – December 4, 2004) was a former minor league baseball catcher/pitcher who was one of two men wrongly convicted in 1988 in Oklahoma for the rape and murder of Debra Sue "Debbie" Carter. His former friend ...

(now a death row exoneree), and Neill once explained Williamson's mental behavior and problems in his letter to Williamson's sister, Renee. During his last days on death row, Neill described his spiritual journey since his incarceration; the letter concluded, "Above all, I enjoy the sharing of love, and positive thoughts. I’m as unjudgmental as I know how to be. I believe every person has an individual right to live their lives free of harm, and prejudice. I just wish I knew more about life when I was a confused 19-year-old – the age I was, when I committed this crime."

Execution

Neill's sentence

appeal In law, an appeal is the process in which cases are reviewed by a higher authority, where parties request a formal change to an official decision. Appeals function both as a process for error correction as well as a process of clarifying and ...

was denied by the

U.S. Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

on October 7, 2002, and he was executed by

lethal injection Lethal injection is the practice of injecting one or more drugs into a person (typically a barbiturate, paralytic, and potassium solution) for the express purpose of causing rapid death. The main application for this procedure is capital puni ...

on December 12. His

final meal A condemned prisoner's last meal is a customary ritual preceding execution. In many countries, the prisoner may, within reason, select what the last meal will be. Contemporary restrictions in the United States In the United States, most states gi ...

consisted of a double cheeseburger, fries, peach or cherry cobbler, a pint of vanilla ice cream and a large bottle of cran-grape juice. As he was on the gurney, he offered an apology to the families of Bruno, Bowles, Mullenix and Zeller, and to the Robleses, saying, "I want everyone to know I'm really sorry for what I did to you. I'm not sorry for dying here today. I'm not sorry because I'm lying here. I'm sorry for the horrible, horrible thing I did. I hope you find some comfort in that, to know Robert Johnson wasn't in that bank. I know you think he was, but he wasn't. Please forgive me." As he made that statement, his voice quivered and he complained of being dizzy before asking, "Are they starting?", then he prayed until he became unconscious, and Neill was pronounced dead at 6:18 p.m. Jay Wesley Neill was the 54th person executed by the state of Oklahoma since resuming executions in 1990.

References

External links

Neill v. State

Johnson v. Champion

{{DEFAULTSORT:Neill, Jay Wesley 1965 births 2002 deaths American mass murderers Mass murder in 1984 1984 murders in the United States Mass murder in Oklahoma American bank robbers Executed mass murderers 21st-century executions of American people 21st-century executions by Oklahoma People executed by Oklahoma by lethal injection People convicted of murder by Oklahoma American people convicted of murder United States Army soldiers American military personnel discharged for homosexuality 20th-century American criminals Gay military personnel 20th-century LGBT people