Final Meal:
Declined.

Final Words:
Delk screamed profanities and gibberish. When the warden asked if he had a final statement, Delk shouted. "I am the warden! Get your warden off this gurney and shut up! You are not in America. This is the island of Barbados. People will see you doing this." Abruptly, he stopped speaking, and his mouth and eyes froze wide open.

Internet Sources:

Texas Department of Criminal Justice - Executed Offenders (Monty Delk)

Texas Attorney General Media Advisory

AUSTIN - Texas Attorney General John Cornyn offers the following information on Monty Allen Delk, who is scheduled to be executed after 6 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 28, 2002. On May 9, 1988, Monty Allen Delk was sentenced to death for the capital murder of Gene Olan Allen II, in Anderson County, Texas, on Nov. 29, 1986. A summary of the evidence presented at trial follows.

FACTS OF THE CRIME

On Nov. 28, 1986, Monty Allen Delk telephoned Gene Olan "Bubba" Allen II and his wife, Sheila, in response to a newspaper advertisement listing a Chevrolet Camaro for sale. Delk, who had recently been evicted and lost his Volkswagen in a poker game, made arrangements for a test drive. He instructed Mr. Allen to bring the Camaro to a grocery store parking lot in Crockett, Texas, adjacent to the rooming house where Delk had been living.

The next morning after cleaning and washing the Camaro, Mr. Allen met Delk for the test drive. Mrs. Allen, who was riding in a car with her sister, saw her husband and Delk together at an intersection that morning. Shortly before 1:30 p.m., Bubba Allen's body was found in a ditch beside a remote stretch of road three miles south of Palestine in Anderson County. Mr. Allen's body was limp and blood oozed from a shotgun wound above and behind his left ear. His wallet was missing.

About 5:30 p.m., Delk arrived in Jasper, Texas, and talked Philip Johnson into accompanying him to New Orleans. Johnson observed a sawed-off shotgun in the Camaro, and noticed Delk had an atypical amount of cash. At first, Delk told Johnson he was purchasing the Camaro from a relative named "Bubba." He later told Johnson "he killed somebody and got $75." Along the way, Delk disposed of a wallet that fit the description of the one that belonged to Allen, explaining that "he had to get rid of some evidence."

Delk and Johnson were arrested in Winnfield, Louisiana, on Dec. 2, 1986. The Camaro was registered in the name of "Gene Allen II," although Delk told police he borrowed the car from his sister. Inside the car police found the sawed-off shotgun, later shown to be consistent with the weapon that had killed Mr. Allen. In his wallet, Delk carried a photograph of Sheila Allen, taken from Bubba Allen's wallet, as well as a copy of the ad from the Houston County Courier listing the Camaro for sale.

PROCEDURAL HISTORY

January 15, 1987- Delk was indicted for the capital offense of the intentional murder of Gene Olan Allen II, during the course of committing robbery.
May 6, 1988- A jury found Delk guilty of capital murder.
May 9, 1988- Following a separate punishment hearing, Delk was sentenced to death.
April 21, 1993- Delk's conviction and sentence was affirmed by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals.
November 15, 1993- The Supreme Court denied Delk's petition for writ of certiorari.
October 18, 1996- Delk filed an application for state habeas relief.
February 3, 1998- After two hearings, the trial court recommended the denial of relief.
April 15, 1998- The Court of Criminal Appeals adopted the trial court's findings and denied relief.
August 4, 1998- Delk initiated habeas corpus proceedings in federal district court.
March 31, 2000- The court entered judgment denying Delk's petition.
August 13, 2001- The Fifth Circuit affirmed the district court's judgment denying Delk habeas relief.
September 19, 2001- The Fifth Circuit subsequently denied Delk's petition for rehearing.

Delk filed a petition for certiorari review in the Supreme Court, which is currently pending. The state trial court recently rejected Delk's claim that he is incompetent to be executed.

CRIMINAL HISTORY

Evidence presented at trial established that Delk had long contemplated crimes similar to the robbery and murder of Bubba Allen. He would frequently drive around in search of a person or place to rob. Evidence also indicated that Delk routinely beat his wife, Tina, and encouraged her to commit crimes with him. For example, Tina testified: "Well, he looked through the paper, and he would see an ad for something like a ring, a diamond ring, worth a lot of money; and the plan was we would go to their house, say we were married and everything, see how many people were in the house, and hold them at gunpoint, tie them up and take their valuables and shoot them in the head and leave."

Delk told both his wife and others that he killed a man in Florida, although his claim has been unsubstantiated. Delk also made death threats against a fellow employee at a lumber mill, a pregnant co-worker at Pizza Hut, and his mother-in-law when she came to retrieve her daughter in fear for her well-being. After his wife left him, Delk similarly threatened his wife's former employer for not revealing her whereabouts. While in prison awaiting trial in the instant capital murder, Delk made death threats against jail staff. He was once overheard to tell a visitor at the jail that "Tina and Philip could not find a corner on the face of the earth that he would not find them, and they were history."

Texas Executions Information Center by David Carson.

Monty Allen Delk, 35, was executed by lethal injection on 28 February in Huntsville, Texas for murdering a man and stealing his car.

In November 1986, Delk, then 19, answered an newspaper advertisement for a Chevrolet Camaro for sale. The owners were Gene Olan "Bubba" Allen II and his wife, Sheila. Delk phoned Mr. Allen and they arranged to meet in the parking lot of a grocery store the next morning. While Delk and Allen were on a test drive, Delk shot Allen in the head with a sawed-off shotgun and dumped his body in a ditch. Delk stole the car and Allen's wallet. Allen's body was discovered later that day. That afternoon, Delk met a friend, Philip Johnson, and talked him into accompanying him to New Orleans. Delk and Johnson were arrested three days later in Louisiana. Inside the car, police found the murder weapon, a copy of the ad showing the car for sale, and a photograph of Sheila Allen, which Delk had taken from Bubba Allen's wallet. Johnson stated that Delk told him he had killed someone, and that along the way, he stopped to dispose of Allen's wallet, explaining that he "had to get rid of some evidence." Delk had recently been evicted from his boarding house and had lost his Volkswagen in a poker game.

At his trial, Delk's estranged wife, Tina, testified that Delk often contemplated robbery-murders such as Allen's. She said that Delk would look through the paper for ads for valuable items and propose that they go to the seller's houses together, "hold them up at gunpoint, tie them up and take their valuables and shoot them in the head and leave." She also testified that her husband routinely beat her. Delk had told Tina and others that he had killed a man, William W. Richardson, who disappeared in Florida in March 1985. Richardson's remains were discovered in September 1986. He had been killed with a gunshot to the head. Delk was never charged in Richardson's murder, but Florida authorities considered him their prime suspect. Delk also made death threats against co-workers, family members, and jail staff.

A jury convicted Delk of capital murder in May 1988 and sentenced him to death. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed the conviction and sentence in April 1993.

Monty Delk was one of death row's most notorious inmates. Prison officials said that he showered without removing his coveralls or using soap, and that his personal odor was so offensive, he had to be segregated from the other inmates so as to avoid making them ill. In interviews, he claimed to be over 129 years old, having previously been a district judge and a submarine commander. He claimed that in prison, he was the president of Kenya and was also the physician to the other inmates in his unit. He said that he had been killed 150 times while in prison.

Delk's attorney, John Wright, said that Delk was insane and incompetent to be executed. According to Texas law and a 1986 U.S. Supreme Court ruling, no prisoner cannot be executed unless he understands his punishment and the reason for it. Wright said that he could not communicate with his client because he only babbled incoherently. Prosecutors, on the other hand, accused Delk of faking insanity in order to avoid the death penalty. They point out that Delk was coherent at his trial, and that he showed signs of being clever and manipulative. For example, Gary Thomas, the former Anderson County Sheriff, said that, while Delk was in jail there, he would memorize the car models and license plate numbers of jail employees to threaten them. Thomas also said that Delk would listen to employees' conversations and memorize their names of their wives and children. Thomas also said that Delk constantly chipped away and kicked at the blocks in his cell, and that he eventually had to have it lined with welded steel plates.

Wright said that Delk became insane while in prison, on death row. He said that Delk had a severe reaction to a drug that prison officials administered after he was diagnosed with a bipolar disorder. He characterized Delk's behavior as "long periods of psychotic thought punctuated by grandiose delusions, incoherent ramblings, and smearing himself with his own feces, interspersed with brief moments of lucidity and compliance."

In 1994, prison psychiatrists changed their diagnosis of Delk from bipolar disorder to "malingering to avoid the death penalty." In 1997, a state district judge found in favor of the state, ruling that Delk was "voluntarily choosing not to assist his counsel." In 1998, the trial court held evidentiary hearings on Delk's habeas corpus claim, and denied him relief. All of Delk's other appeals in state and federal court were denied, up until the day before his execution.

On Wednesday, 27 February, U.S. District Judge Richard Schnell granted Wright's request for a stay, ruling that Delk's condition needed to be examined. Texas Attorney General John Cornyn immediately announced that he would appeal Schnell's ruling to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday. Delk was left in his cell on death row Wednesday night, rather than being transported to Huntsville for execution. Prison officials said that he took his first shower in months that evening, in exchange for some commissary privileges.

On Thursday, around 2:00 p.m., the 5th Circuit Court ruled in favor of the state. Prison officials immediately transported Delk to the Walls Unit, where all Texas executions are performed. In the meantime, Wright appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, trying to obtain another stay. As his final appeal was being made, Delk declined a last meal. Prison officials waited as 6:00 p.m. -- the time executions are normally started -- came and went. At 7:05 p.m., the Supreme Court denied Delk's application for a stay. A half hour later, Delk was strapped to the gurney and wheeled into the death chamber.

At his execution, Delk screamed profanities and gibberish. When the warden asked if he had a final statement, Delk shouted. "I am the warden! Get your warden off this gurney and shut up!" At 7:47 p.m., the warden signaled for the lethal injection to begin. After spouting more profanity, Delk blurted out, "You are not in America. This is the island of Barbados. People will see you doing this." Then, abruptly, he stopped speaking, and his mouth and eyes froze wide open. He was pronounced dead at 7:53 p.m.

ProDeathPenalty.com

UPDATE: Convicted murderer Monty Delk, who his defense attorney says is incompetent to be executed, received a reprieve from a federal judge one day before he was scheduled to die by injection. Jane Dees Shepperd of the Texas attorney general's office said the state planned to appeal the stay to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday. U.S. District Judge Richard Schell of Beaumont issued the stay Wednesday, granting defense requests to hear from mental health experts about Delk's condition and hold a hearing within the next few months. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1986 that it is unconstitutional to execute someone who does not understand that he is being executed or why he is being executed. Defense attorney John Wright says Delk babbles incoherently, refuses to shower and has been found in his cell covered in his own waste. Mr. Wright said he has been unable to represent his client because he cannot communicate. Prosecutors say Delk is faking insanity. Prison medical staff initially diagnosed his condition as bipolar disorder, then changed the diagnosis in 1994 to "malingering to avoid the death penalty." In 1997, a judge agreed, saying Delk was "voluntarily choosing not to assist his counsel." That decision was upheld by other federal courts. Delk was convicted for shooting to death Gene Olan "Bubba" Allen II of Grapeland, Texas, in 1986 and stealing his car. Mr. Allen's sister, Sandy Snell, said she was disappointed by the stay of execution. "It really aggravates me because we waited 15 years for this," she said. "I think the man's got problems and all, but he was sane when he was found guilty, he was found sane when he murdered my brother. The man needs to die."

National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty

In a strongly worded dissent, Judge Clinton of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals said, “[Monty Delk’s] youth necessarily has Eighth Amendment relevance as mitigating evidence.” Delk, then 19-years-old, murdered Gene Allen in November of 1986, eventually ending up on death row for his crime. Delk is scheduled to be executed by the state of Texas on Feb. 28.

deathrow.at (Dallas Morning News)

Monty Delk - A troubled man or a wily dodger?

Texas death row inmate Monty Allen Delk often babbles incoherently. He's claimed that he is a submarine commander, an FBI agent, a police officer and a zombie. He's covered himself in human waste and flung it at correctional officers. Mental-health experts alternately have concluded he has severe mental disorders or is malingering to avoid execution. He is scheduled to die by lethal injection Feb. 28 for a murder-robbery in Anderson County.

His attorney, John E. Wright, is challenging state and federal court rulings that death row inmates don't need to be competent to participate in their appeals. And Mr. Wright wants funding to determine whether Mr. Delk is competent to participate in a federal appeal that could block his death sentence from being carried out. He has petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court, asking the justices to consider those issues. Mr. Wright, who was appointed in 1996 to represent Mr. Delk, said his client has never been able to talk to him rationally. "He speaks in tongues ... word syllables," Mr. Wright said.

Mr. Delk was accused of killing Gene Olan "Bubba" Allen II with a sawed-off shotgun and stealing his car in 1986. He was convicted and sentenced to death in 1988. Nineteen at the time of the murder, Mr. Delk had a history of violent behavior and was a suspect in a Florida murder.

In the petition to the U.S. Supreme Court, Mr. Wright asserted that his client's mental health "declined markedly" after several years on Texas' death row and a reaction to the drug Haldol, a potent anti-psychotic and tranquilizer.Prison medical staff had initially diagnosed his condition as bipolar disorder; in 1994, his prison diagnosis was changed to "malingering to avoid the death penalty."

Mr. Wright sought $25,000 from the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals for a thorough mental health examination, but that request was deemed excessive by the appeals court and denied. Later, $2,500 was approved for a psychologist to review existing prison medical records.

In 1997, a state district judge conducted an evidentiary hearing into Mr. Delk's competence to participate in his habeas review. Mr. Delk made a few disjointed comments from the stand, interrupted the testimony of another witness, was ordered gagged by the judge, and then was removed from the courtroom.

Dr. Windel Dickerson, a psychologist and former chief mental-health officer for the Texas prison system, reviewed Mr. Delk's medical records and testified that he believed Mr. Delk was not able to assist his counsel in the appeals. The presiding judge ultimately concluded that Mr. Delk "was voluntarily choosing not to assist his counsel." That conclusion was not disputed by federal courts, and the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals also denied a rehearing.

Doug Lowe, the district attorney in Anderson County, said he hopes for "swift, sure punishment" in Mr. Delk's case. Former Anderson County Sheriff Gary Thomas described Mr. Delk as cold-blooded and a manipulator, and he doesn't buy into the notion that he doesn't know what he is doing. "He's crazy like a fox," said Mr. Thomas, now an investigator with Mr. Lowe's office. "If anybody needs a needle stuck in his arm, that dude's the one who needs it."

Monty Delk
Polunsky Unit

Delk v. State, 855 S.W.2d 700 (Tex.Crim.App. 1993) (Direct Appeal).

Appellant was convicted of the offense of murder committed in the course of a robbery under V.T.C.A. Penal Code § 19.03(a)(2) and in accordance with the jury's affirmative answers to special issues under Article 37.071, § (b)(1) and (2), his punishment was assessed at death. Appeal to this Court is automatic. Id., § (h).

While appellant does not challenge the sufficiency of the evidence to support his conviction, we believe that a short recitation of the facts is necessary. In November of 1986, Gene Olan "Bubba" Allen II, the deceased, and his wife Sheila, were running an ad in the Houston County Courier offering to sell a Chevrolet Camaro. On Friday, November 28, a man called and spoke to Sheila about the car. She remembered that "part of" the man's name was "Allen" because she had said to him, "Oh, that's our last name too." The man told her he was calling from a pay phone, that he had no transportation, and wanted the Camaro brought to the parking lot of Brookshire's Grocery Store, in Crockett, so that he could test drive it. It was shown that at this time appellant had just been evicted from a rooming house a block and a half away from Brookshire's, and that residents of the rooming house had to use a pay phone across the street. Appellant had recently lost his Volkswagen to another resident in a poker game. Also, within the last month he had bought a shotgun and sawed it off.

Bubba Allen left his house at about 9:00 a.m. on Saturday, November 29, to wash the Camaro and then meet the caller from the day before. At the time he had at least one $100 bill in his wallet, along with a payroll check. Sheila next saw her husband at 11:00 or 11:15 that morning as she was passing through Crockett, riding in a car driven by her sister. Coming upon an intersection, she saw the Camaro pull up from the opposite direction. She could see Bubba in the passenger side, and a man she positively identified as appellant, driving. Appellant was wearing an army jacket.

Shortly before 1:30 p.m. that day Bubba Allen's body was found in a ditch beside a fairly remote stretch of road three miles south of Palestine, in Anderson County. When emergency units arrived and turned the body over, it was limp and blood still oozed from a shotgun wound above and behind the left ear. Allen's wallet was missing. A neighbor a hundred yards down the road had heard a single gunshot at 1:00 p.m. Sometime between 1:30 and 2:00 p.m., a woman who knew Allen saw what she took to be his Camaro twenty-eight miles south of Palestine, heading toward Crockett. The only person she could see in the Camaro was a man, but it was not Allen.

About 5:30 p.m. appellant showed up in Jasper and talked Phillip Johnson into accompanying him to New Orleans. Johnson observed a sawed-off shotgun in the Camaro, and also noticed appellant had an atypical amount of cash in his possession. At first appellant told Johnson he was purchasing the Camaro from a relative named "Bubba." Later he told Johnson "he killed somebody and got $75." Asked whether appellant had seemed nervous, Johnson testified he had been "shaky a lot." Along the way appellant disposed of a wallet that fit the description of the one that had belonged to Allen, explaining that "he had to get rid of some evidence." Johnson saw appellant tear up a check and throw it out the window, purportedly because he could not cash it.

Appellant and Johnson were arrested in Winnfield, Louisiana, on December 2, 1986. The Camaro was registered in the name of "Gene Allen II," although appellant told police he had borrowed the car from his sister. Inside the car police found the sawed-off shotgun, later shown to be consistent with the weapon that had killed Allen. They also recovered an army jacket. In his wallet appellant carried a photograph of Sheila Allen, taken from Bubba Allen's wallet, as well as a copy of the ad from the Houston County Courier listing the Camaro. At the police station appellant threatened to kill Johnson if he said anything.