Texas Attorney General Media Advisory

AUSTIN - Texas Attorney General John Cornyn offers the following information on Gerald Dwight Casey, who is scheduled to be executed after 6 p.m. on Thursday, April 18, 2002. On Nov. 13, 1991, Gerald Dwight Casey was sentenced to death for the capital murder of Sonya Howell, which occurred during the course of his committing robbery in Montgomery County, Texas, on July 10, 1989. A summary of the evidence presented at trial follows:

FACTS OF THE CRIME

On July 7, 1989, Casey and his accomplice, Carla Smith, visited Daryl Pennington at his home and attempted to sell him furniture and a television set in an effort to raise the money they needed to move from Texas to Florida. When Pennington refused the sale, Casey and Smith formulated a plan to steal Pennington's gun collection and sell it for cash. The gun collection, which included one .22-caliber semiautomatic Ruger, one 30.06 Browning rifle with a scope, one 300 Browning rifle with a scope, two semiautomatic assault rifles, one HK-91 assault rifle, one 8200 Browning double barrel shotgun, and one Mossbery pump, was kept at Pennington's residence that he shared with the victim, Sonya Howell. In one of three prior visits to the Pennington/Howell residence, Casey had an opportunity to observe and fire several of the guns in Pennington's collection.

Smith testified at trial that, as part of their plan, she was going to call Howell the morning of July 10, 1989, after Pennington had gone to work to make sure that Howell was home alone. Then, she and Casey would go to the Pennington/Howell residence, subdue, bind and gag Howell, and steal the guns. They decided that after the robbery they would leave Howell in the woods so Pennington would believe that Howell was the one who had taken the guns. Finally, they would sell the guns for cash and flee to Florida.

In the early morning hours of July 10, 1989, Smith called Howell as planned to confirm that Pennington was not at home. After concluding that Howell was alone, Smith told her that she and Casey were coming over to do some "partying." Before going to the Pennington/Howell residence, Casey and Smith stopped at Coleman's, a local convenience store, where Casey wrote down the number for the store's pay phone. Smith then dropped Casey off at the Pennington/Howell residence and returned to Coleman's to wait for Casey's call. A short time later, Casey phoned Smith on the pay phone and told her to come pick him up. Smith drove by the residence but did not see Casey. After driving by a second time, Smith noticed Casey emerging from a wooded area near the residence. She also noticed that he was wearing a different shirt and was carrying the shirt he had worn earlier. The shirt was covered in blood that was later determined to be consistent with that of Sonya Howell. Casey also had with him several guns, two imitation Rolexes, a gold nugget ring, a class ring, other assorted jewelry, and an "Ozarka" water jug containing loose change. Once the stolen items were placed in the back seat of Casey's car, they left the area. Shortly thereafter, they stopped in an unpopulated subdivision to move the guns, jewelry and bloody shirt to the trunk of the car.

Casey and Smith returned to their motel room and began removing the change from the water jug. They went to the bank to obtain coin wrappers, then began rolling coins. After a short time, Casey and Smith went to Kehoe's, a local bar, where Casey made several attempts to sell the stolen guns. While at the bar, Casey made several phone calls and asked the employees and patrons of Kehoe's if they were interested in purchasing weapons. Eventually, Smith and Casey moved the guns to William's Gully, a remote area of Harris County, where they also left the bloodstained shirt, a white towel and green washrag, each soiled with blood, various unused rounds of ammunition, and a can of WD-40, used to remove the fingerprints from the stolen weapons. Later, when police searched the motel room they found several of the stolen items, including the gold ring, two imitation Rolex watches, and assorted rolled coins. Pennington identified these items as those that were stolen from his home on July 10, 1989.

Sonya Howell's body was discovered by police on the evening of July 10, 1989. It was determined that she had been hit on the head with a telephone receiver and that she died as a result of 10 wounds inflicted by nine bullets. It was also determined that hair samples taken from Casey matched the unknown hair samples found on the victim's body, and that blood stains on the washrag and shirt found at William's Gully matched the blood type of the victim.

In addition to this evidence, there was testimony from several witnesses who encountered Casey on the day of the offense and the week following. Daniel Nee, a daytime bartender at Kehoe's Bar, testified that around 11:00 a.m. or 12:00 p.m. on Monday, July 10, 1989, Casey approached him several times about purchasing some guns. Ricky Taylor testified that he purchased a Ruger from Casey while in the parking lot at Kehoe's later that afternoon. Robert Lindy Lane stated that he purchased an HK-91 assault rifle and semiautomatic assault rifles from Casey shortly after July 10, 1989. When purchasing these weapons, Lane noticed several other guns and a Rolex watch, all of which resembled the items stolen from Pennington. Gomercindo Santana testified that he bought a .22-caliber Ruger pistol from Casey. The guns sold to Santana and Taylor were recovered and identified by Pennington as weapons stolen from his collection. Ballistics experts testified that at least five, if not all of the bullets were probably fired from the Ruger recovered from Santana.

PROCEDURAL HISTORY

On July 26, 1989, a grand jury indicted Casey in the District Court of Montgomery County, Texas, for the capital offense of murdering Sonya Howell in the course of committing the offense of robbery. After Casey pleaded not guilty, a jury found him guilty of the capital offense on Oct. 28, 1991. Following a separate punishment hearing, on Nov. 12, 1991, the court assessed Casey's punishment at death.

Casey's conviction and sentence were automatically appealed to the Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, which affirmed in an unpublished opinion on June 22, 1994. Casey filed a petition for writ of certiorari in the United States Supreme Court, which was denied on March 20, 1995.

Casey filed a preliminary application for writ of habeas corpus in the trial court on April 28, 1997. He filed an amended application on Aug. 20, 1995. The trial court subsequently entered findings of fact and conclusion of law recommending that Casey's application be denied. The Court of Criminal Appeals then adopted the trial court's findings and denied the application in an unpublished order on March 4, 1998.

Following the Texas court's denial of his state writ, Casey filed a skeletal federal habeas petition in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas, Houston Division, on July 13, 1998. An amended petition was filed on March 8, 1999. The federal district court denied habeas relief on March 8, 2000. Casey applied to the Fifth Circuit for a certificate of appealability, but was denied when the court of appeals affirmed the district court's judgment. Thereafter, Casey filed a petition for certiorari in the United State Supreme Court. That petition is currently pending.

PRIOR CRIMINAL HISTORY

During the trial, the State proved that Casey had several prior convictions for which he served time in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice - Institutional Division. On March 29, 1976, he entered a guilty plea to the charge of burglary to a building and was placed on six years probation. His probation was revoked on Nov. 8, 1976 when he pleaded true to several alleged probation violations. In pleading true to these allegations, Casey admitted committing the following offenses: possession of heroin; possession of marijuana; burglary of a building; theft; and assault on a police officer. That same day, Casey entered a guilty plea to the charge of burglary of a habitation and received a five year sentence. Several years later, on Jan. 21, 1980, he pleaded guilty to burglary of a habitation and was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment. Finally, on Feb. 9, 1989, he pleaded guilty to misdemeanor possession of marijuana and received a 15 year sentence.

ProDeathPenalty.com

In the early morning hours of July 10, 1989, Smith called Howell as planned to confirm that Pennington was not at home. After concluding that Howell was alone, Smith told her that she and Casey were coming over to do some "partying." Before going to the Pennington/Howell residence, Casey and Smith stopped at Coleman's, a local convenience store, where Casey wrote down the number for the store's pay phone. Smith then dropped Casey off at the Pennington/Howell residence and returned to Coleman's to wait for Casey's call. A short time later, Casey phoned Smith on the pay phone and told her to come pick him up. Smith drove by the residence but did not see Casey. After driving by a second time, Smith noticed Casey emerging from a wooded area near the residence. She also noticed that he was wearing a different shirt and was carrying the shirt he had worn earlier. The shirt was covered in blood that was later determined to be consistent with that of Sonya Howell. Casey also had with him several guns, two imitation Rolexes, a gold nugget ring, a class ring, other assorted jewelry, and an "Ozarka" water jug containing loose change. Once the stolen items were placed in the back seat of Casey's car, they left the area. Shortly thereafter, they stopped in an unpopulated subdivision to move the guns, jewelry and bloody shirt to the trunk of the car. Casey and Smith returned to their motel room and began removing the change from the water jug. They went to the bank to obtain coin wrappers, then began rolling coins. After a short time, Casey and Smith went to Kehoe's, a local bar, where Casey made several attempts to sell the stolen guns. While at the bar, Casey made several phone calls and asked the employees and patrons of Kehoe's if they were interested in purchasing weapons.

Eventually, Smith and Casey moved the guns to William's Gully, a remote area of Harris County, where they also left the bloodstained shirt, a white towel and green washrag, each soiled with blood, various unused rounds of ammunition, and a can of WD-40, used to remove the fingerprints from the stolen weapons. Later, when police searched the motel room they found several of the stolen items, including the gold ring, two imitation Rolex watches, and assorted rolled coins. Pennington identified these items as those that were stolen from his home on July 10, 1989. Sonya Howell's body was discovered by police on the evening of July 10, 1989. It was determined that she had been hit on the head with a telephone receiver and that she died as a result of 10 wounds inflicted by nine bullets. It was also determined that hair samples taken from Casey matched the unknown hair samples found on the victim's body, and that blood stains on the washrag and shirt found at William's Gully matched the blood type of the victim.

In addition to this evidence, there was testimony from several witnesses who encountered Casey on the day of the offense and the week following. A daytime bartender at Kehoe's Bar testified that around 11:00 a.m. or 12:00 p.m. on Monday, July 10, 1989, Casey approached him several times about purchasing some guns. A man testified that he purchased a Ruger from Casey while in the parking lot at Kehoe's later that afternoon. Another man stated that he purchased an HK-91 assault rifle and semiautomatic assault rifles from Casey shortly after July 10, 1989. When purchasing these weapons, he noticed several other guns and a Rolex watch, all of which resembled the items stolen from Pennington. There was additional testimony from another person who testified that he bought a .22-caliber Ruger pistol from Casey. The guns sold were recovered and identified by Pennington as weapons stolen from his collection. Ballistics experts testified that at least five, if not all of the bullets were probably fired from the Ruger. Smith received a ten-year sentence for her part in the crime.

Texas Execution Information Center by David Carson.

Gerald Dwight Casey, 47, was executed by lethal injection on 18 April in Huntsville, Texas for the murder of a woman during a home robbery.

On 10 July 1989, Gerald Casey, then 34, and Carla Smith, 36, drove to the residence of Daryl Pennington and his girlfriend, Sonya Howell, 29. Casey and Smith were acquainted with Pennington and Howell and had been to their trailer home several times in the past. On this particular morning, Pennington was at work, so Howell was home alone. Smith called Howell and told her that she and Casey were coming over to do some "partying."

Howell was beaten on the head with a telephone receiver and shot nine times with a .22-caliber pistol. The pair drove off with several guns, two watches, some jewelry, and a water jug containing loose change -- all taken from the trailer -- in the back seat of their car.

Casey and Smith returned to their motel room first, then to the bank to obtain some coin wrappers, then back to their room. After a while, they went to a local bar, where Casey tried to sell the stolen guns to employees and patrons. They then went to a remote area and discarded a bloody shirt, several other items that were stained with blood, some spent ammunition cartridges, and a can of WD-40.

Daryl Pennington discovered his girlfriend's body that evening. Hair matching Gerald Casey's was found on her body. The blood on the discarded items matched Sonya Howell. When police searched the motel room, they found several of the stolen items, including the gold ring, two watches, and assorted rolled coins. Pennington identified these items as those that were stolen from his home.

At Casey's trial, four individuals testified that Gerald Casey sold them or tried to sell them guns on or shortly after 10 July 1989. One of the guns that Casey sold, a .22-caliber Ruger pistol, was determined by ballistics testing to be the source of some or all of the shots that killed Sonya Howell.

Carla Smith testified against Casey in a plea bargain. She testified that she and Casey needed money to move from Texas to Florida. They had been to Pennington's home several times and noticed his gun collection. They began planning to steal the guns and sell them for cash. They decided that they would go to the residence when Howell was alone, knock her unconscious, kidnap her, and steal the guns. They would then leave Howell in the woods so that Pennington would believe she was the one who stole the guns.

Smith said that on the morning of the murder, she dropped Casey off at the trailer and then drove to a nearby convenience store and waited by the pay phone. A while later, Casey called from the trailer, she came and picked him up, and they drove away with the stolen goods.

Casey testified that he and Smith were together with Howell. He said that the two women got into an argument, which he tried to break up, but Smith beat Howell with a telephone and then shot her.

Gerald Casey had multiple prior convictions for burglary of a building and burglary of a habitation, going back to 1976. He also had pled guilty or admitted to possession of marijuana, possession of heroin, theft, and assault on a police officer. His probation and prison sentences totaled at least 36 years. Information on time served in prison was not available for this report.

A jury found Casey guilty of capital murder in October 1991 and sentenced him to death. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed the conviction and sentence in June 1994. All of his subsequent appeals in state and federal court were denied.

Carla Elizabeth Smith was on probation for a robbery conviction in Georgia at the time of the murder. She received a 10-year prison sentence for theft for her involvement in Howell's murder. She was paroled in 1999 and has had no criminal convictions since then. Daryl Pennington died in 2001.

Casey declined to make a final statement at his execution. He was pronounced dead at 6:18 p.m.