Alan Willett (June 27, 1947 – September 8, 1999) was executed at age 52 for the 1993 murders of his 13-year-old son, Eric, and his mentally disabled brother, Roger Willett, in Johnson County,

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the O ...

. Willett's daughter Ruby Ann Willett and another son, Jonathan, survived the attack.

Murders

Alan Willett was sentenced to death for convictions in the 1993 Johnson County killings of his 13-year-old son, Eric, and his mentally disabled brother, Roger. Alan Willett's daughter and another son survived the attack. Willett said he wanted to die and waived his right to post-conviction remedies.

Execution

Willett's last meal was beef jerky, barbecue-flavored potato chips, onion dip, garlic dip, buttered popcorn, and Pepsi. Mark Gardner was also executed by the state of Arkansas on the same day for the unrelated murders of Joe Joyce, Martha Joyce, and Sara McCurdy. Gardner was executed first because he had a lower inmate number (SK901) than Willett (SK930). The injection of a lethal drug was administered to Willett at 9:02 p.m. CDT, and he was pronounced dead at 9:16. Willett made no last statement. Willett was the 4th condemned inmate to be put to death in 1999 in

and the 21st person executed by the state of Arkansas since ''

Furman v. Georgia ''Furman v. Georgia'', 408 U.S. 238 (1972), was a landmark criminal case in which the United States Supreme Court invalidated all then existing legal constructions for the death penalty in the United States. It was 5–4 decision, with each memb ...

'', , after new capital punishment laws were passed in Arkansas and that came into force on March 23, 1973. He was also the 570th person executed overall since the United States resumed executions on January 17, 1977.

References

Papal Appeal for Men on Death Row Sent to Arkansas Governor
from the United States conference of Catholic Bishops
The Morning news of Arkansas: “Gardner, Willett are put to death”
page A1 {{DEFAULTSORT:Willett, Alan 1956 births 1999 deaths 1993 murders in the United States American people executed for murder American murderers of children 20th-century executions by Arkansas 20th-century executions of American people People convicted of murder by Arkansas People executed by Arkansas by lethal injection Familicides Volunteer execution

Murders

Execution

See also

References