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Texas Department of Criminal Justice - Executed Offenders (Richard Foster)

Texas Department of Criminal Justice

Texas Attorney General Media Advisory

AUSTIN - Texas Attorney General John Cornyn offers the following information on Richard Donald Foster who is scheduled to be executed after 6 p.m., Wednesday, May 24th:

FACTS OF THE CRIME

At approximately 4:00 a.m., April 5, 1984, Tarrant County Sheriff's Deputy H.L. Rice was on patrol east of Azle on the Jacksboro Highway, also known as State Highway 199. He observed a "white over red" Chevrolet two-door, Texas license plate # GPW-857, parked on the southern service road, east of the Hob Nob Bar and about 15 miles from Springtown. There were two people in the car, the driver and a woman. Rice identified the driver as Richard D. Foster by Foster's Texas driver's license. Rice did not obtain identification of the woman at that time, but she was later identified as Vicki Easterwood. Rice spoke with Foster for about three minutes, then continued his patrol.

At 7:15 a.m. on April 5, Gary Cox woke up, showered, and got a cup of coffee. He left his wife and nine-day-old daughter at home and went to work at his combination feed store, convenience store, and gas station. Zack Leatherwood had leased the feed store to Gary Cox on April 1, 1984. The store was located on the same property as Leatherwood's home and was a mile from Cox's home and two miles west of Springtown. Mrs. Cox said that her husband had taken $300 in cash with him to open his store that morning.

Kenneth Davis had driven to Gary Cox's feed store at around 7:30 a.m. When he arrived at the store and got out of his truck, he saw a "real clean" older model General Motors car parked at the feed store. Davis described the car as red with a white half-vinyl top. Just as Davis entered the store, he heard an explosion. Suddenly across the store, a man with a shotgun pointed at Davis said, "Man, you better get the hell out of here." Davis replied, "'I'm leaving," and turned around and ran. When Davis got out of the store, he ran towards Leatherwood's house. Seeing Leatherwood, Davis yelled to warn him of what happened at the store. When Davis got to the Leatherwood's fence gate, he turned to look back at the store. He observed the red and white car leaving the store going west on Highway 199. At trial he identified a photograph of the car. In that photo, the car bears Texas license plate # GPW-857.

Leatherwood testified that as he was walking down to the feed store and got close to the rear of the store, he heard a gunshot and saw Gary Cox fall after he had been shot. Leatherwood then ran back to his house to get his shotgun. When he returned to the store, Leatherwood checked Cox's vital signs and determined that he was dead. Leatherwood then entered the feed store. He saw the cash drawer was open, change scattered on the counter, and a $5 bill laying on the counter. The cash drawer was empty.

At about 7:40 a.m., Linda Morgan arrived at Gary Cox's store to buy some milk. As she was leaving the parking lot, she passed a General Motors automobile with a "cream colored" vinyl top. Morgan later identified Foster as the driver of that car. On April 28 and 29, 1984, Donald Teague, the chief deputy of the Parker County Sheriff's Office interviewed Vicki Easterwood, the woman in car with Richard Donald Foster. Easterwood led authorities to a stock tank located in a rural area. A scuba diver searching the tank found a satchel which contained items of clothing, a .12 gauge shotgun shell, and a sawed-off shotgun.

During a hearing in federal court in March 2000, Foster admitted, for the first time, the commission of the instant offense, claiming that it was an accident.

PROCEDURAL HISTORY

In July 1984, Foster was charged by indictment in the 43rd District Court of Parker County, Texas, with the capital murder of Gary Cox, committed during the course of a robbery or attempted robbery. Foster was tried before a jury upon a plea of not guilty. The jury found him guilty of the capital offense on November 9, 1985. Following a separate punishment hearing, the jury sentenced Foster to death.

Foster appealed his conviction and sentence to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, which affirmed the conviction and sentence on June 28, 1989, and denied rehearing on September 20, 1989. The United States Supreme Court denied Foster's petition for writ of certiorari on March 19, 1990. Foster then filed an application for a state writ of habeas corpus with the convicting court on June 25, 1990. On October 25, 1991, the trial court recommended that relief be denied and, on June 17, 1992, the Court of Criminal Appeals agreed. In August 1992, Foster filed a federal petition for writ of habeas corpus in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas, Fort Worth Division. The district court denied relief on May 21, 1999, and denied Foster permission to appeal. After filing a notice of appeal to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, Foster expressed a desire to withdraw his appeal. An evidentiary was held by the federal district court, after which the district court found that Foster's waiver of appeal was informed, voluntary, and intentional. On April 14, 2000, the Fifth Circuit granted Foster permission to withdraw his appeal.

PRIOR AND RELATED CRIMINAL HISTORY

At the punishment phase of trial, the State introduced evidence reflecting Foster's prior convictions for credit card abuse, an aggravated robbery committed on June 16, 1976, an aggravated robbery committed on June 21, 1976, and an aggravated robbery committed on June 22, 1976.

After the instant conviction and sentence of death, Foster was transported to the custody of the Texas Department of Corrections. In July 1986, Foster was transported to the Stephens County Jail in Breckenridge, Texas, to stand trial on kidnapping charges stemming from the bank-hostage situation. On August 3, 1986, Foster, accompanied by a female inmate, managed to escape from the jail with the use of a knife. The female inmate surrendered the following day, while Foster eluded an intensive manhunt for him. On August 7th, Foster carjacked a pickup truck from a teenager at gunpoint. While driving through a roadblock authorities had set up, the rear tires of the pickup truck were shot out. Authorities pursued Foster for several miles, then were able to apprehend him. On August 25, 1986, Foster pled no contest to four aggravated kidnapping charges relating to the bank-hostage situation and received four life sentences.

DRUGS AND/OR ALCOHOL

Although evidence was presented at the punishment phase of trial reflecting that Foster had sought treatment for a drug problem upon his return from serving in Vietnam, no evidence was presented demonstrating that the instant offense was directly attributable to drug or alcohol use.

ProDeathPenalty.Com

Richard Foster was sentenced to death for the April 1984 murder of Gary Michael Cox who owned a feed store near Springtown, Texas. Gary was shot once in the back of the head with a shotgun during a robbery that netted $250. Foster was arrested on May 5, 1984 after holding seven hostages at a bank in Breckenridge for 12 hours. Foster received four life sentences in that incident. Foster escaped from a county jail in August 1986 while awaiting trial on the hostage-taking. Police captured him after shooting out the tires of the stolen vehicle he was driving. Foster had previous convictions for aggravated robbery and credit card abuse. He had been paroled just over two years before Gary's murder.

APBNews Online

"Texas Executes Killers, 'I Have Been Crucified With Christ,' Convict Says." (May 25, 2000)

HUNTSVILLE, Texas (AP) - A man who fatally shot a feed store owner with a sawed-off shotgun during a robbery was executed by injection in Texas on Wednesday, a few hours before the neighboring state of Oklahoma executed a convicted killer. Richard Donald Foster, 47, shot Gary Cox once in the back of the head while robbing his store near Springtown in 1984 and fled with about $300. Springtown is about 30 miles northwest of Fort Worth. Cox was killed just after he opened his combination feed store, convenience store and gas station. Before receiving the injection, Foster said: "I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who lives, but Christ who lives in me."

Relatives watch death

Five of Fosters' friends and relatives attended the execution, holding hands as the drugs took effect. Foster was the 17th Texas inmate to receive lethal injection this year and the second of three this week. Two more executions are set for next week and seven are scheduled for June. Charles Foster's attorney contended that he was mentally retarded, something that wasn't considered by the jury that convicted him and served as the basis for his final appeal.

ABOLISH Archives (Rick Halperin & Reuters)

05-24-00 - TEXAS: In Huntsville, a man who gunned down a feedstore owner during a 1984 robbery was put to death by lethal injection on Wednesday in the second execution in Texas in two days.

Richard Foster, 47, was the fifth inmate this month and the 17th this year to be executed in Texas, which leads the nation in capital punishment. A third execution this week was scheduled for Thursday. Foster was sentenced to die for murdering Gary Cox on April 5, 1984 in the northeastern Texas town of Springtown. He shot Cox in the back of the head with a shotgun while taking $250 from his feedstore.

After years of legal appeals, Foster admitted during a federal court hearing in March that he killed Cox and asked that all efforts to stop his execution be dropped. In a final statement in the Texas death chamber, Foster referred to his conversion to Christianity. ``I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who lives, but Christ who lives in me,'' he said, before bidding goodbye to a cousin witnessing the execution. ``I'll see you when you get there, okay?'' Foster told her, apparently referring to the hereafter.

Foster was the 216th person executed in Texas since the state resumed capital punishment in 1982, six years after the U.S. Supreme Court removed a national ban on the death penalty. Foster becomes the 36th condemned inmate to be put to death in the USA this year and the 634th overall since America resumed executions on Jan. 17th, 1982.

Washington Post (May 13, 2001)

"89 Executions - I Was the Warden. I Did the Job With Dignity. I Still Have Questions," by Jim Willett, who worked for the Texas prison system for 30 years.

For 3 years I presided over the place where nearly all Texas prisoners spend their final moments behind bars. Most are released to a life outside. But many others come here to die. For some, even that is a release. As the senior warden at "The Walls" (as the Huntsville Unit of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice is known), I oversaw the execution of 89 inmates at the busiest death house in the nation. I retired this year, which has given me time to reflect on some of the prisoners who died on my watch.

* * * *

Another, Richard Foster, I remember because he was so lively. He was what we called a "volunteer," meaning he had waived his right to further appeals, much like McVeigh. As much as a warden could, I enjoyed my conversation with Foster. He admitted in a moment that he had committed the crime and said he had had time to set things right with God. If you can imagine it, he was cheerful when he was strapped down. The guards said he had been joking all day.

Foster v. State, 779 S.W.2d 845 (Tex.Cr.App. 1989) (Direct Appeal).

Deputy H.L. Rice of the Tarrant County Sheriff's Office began his shift on April 4, 1984 at 11:00 p.m. Rice was assigned to patrol the northwest corner of Tarrant County until his shift ended at 7:00 a.m. on April 5, 1984. At approximately 4:00 a.m., Rice was east of Azle on the Jacksboro Highway, also known as State Highway 199. He observed a "white over red" Chevrolet two- door: with Texas license plate GPW-857 parked on the southern service road, east of the Hob Nob Bar. There were two people in the car, the driver and a female. Rice identified the driver as the appellant, Richard D. Foster, by Foster's Texas driver's license. Rice did not identify the female. Evidence admitted later during the guilt phase of the trial indicated this female was Vicki Elaine Easterwood. Rice spoke with appellant for about three minutes, and then continued his patrol. At trial, Rice testified that appellant's car was parked approximately fifteen miles from Springtown. At 7:15 a.m. on April 5, Gary Cox woke up, showered and got a cup of coffee. He left his wife and nine day old daughter at home and went to work at his combination feed store, convenience store and gas station. The store was a mile from Cox's home and two miles west of Springtown. At trial, his widow testified that Gary Cox took $300.00 in cash with him to open his store.

At 7:40 or 7:45 a.m. on April 5, Linda Morgan arrived at Gary Cox's store to buy some milk. As she was leaving the parking lot, she passed a General Motors automobile with a "cream colored" vinyl top. The driver of the automobile wore a toboggan type hat and had a beard. At trial, Morgan identified appellant as the driver. Zack Leatherwood had leased the feed store to Gary Cox on April 1, 1984. The store was located on the same property as Leatherwood's home. On the morning of April 5, Leatherwood walked down to the feed store. As he got close to the rear of the store, Leatherwood heard a gunshot and saw Gary Cox fall "right back out of that store with his neck about half blowed off." The next thing Leatherwood remembered was hearing Ken Davis yell to get out of there. Leatherwood then ran back to his house to get his shotgun. When he returned to the store, Leatherwood checked Cox's vital signs and determined that he was dead. Leatherwood then entered the feed store. He saw the cash drawer was open, change scattered on the counter, and a $5 bill laying on the counter. The cash drawer was empty.

Kenneth Davis had driven to Gary Cox's feed store at around 7:30 a.m. on April 5. When he arrived at the store and got out of his truck, he saw a "real clean" older model General Motors car parked at the feed store. Davis described the car as "persimmon red with a white half-vinyl type." Just as Davis entered the store, he heard a "real loud explosion". In his own words, Davis was just startled and I yelled, 'Hey,' as loud as I could, and just stood there for a split second. And suddenly across the store, a man with a shotgun pointed at me and says, 'Man, you better get the hell out of here.' And I said, 'I'm leaving,' and I turned around and ran. When Davis got out of the store, he ran towards Zack Leatherwood's house. Seeing Leatherwood, Davis yelled to warn him of what happened at the store. When Davis got to the Leatherwood's fence gate, he turned to look back at the store. He testified, "I saw this persimmon red car with a white vinyl top leaving the store area going west on Highway 199." At trial he identified State's Exhibit # 13 as a photo of that car. In that photo, the car bears Texas license plate # GPW-857.

At trial Davis physically described the man he saw with the shotgun. He was a white male, approximately 5' 10", who had a beard. He wore a lumberjack type hat. He held a short-barreled shotgun. Davis was unable to describe the facial characteristics of the man because "he had a shotgun on me" and because part of the man's face was covered. Donald Teague, the chief deputy of the Parker County Sheriff's Office, responded to a call for investigation of the shooting on April 5, 1984. Teague continued his investigation through April 28, including interviews with Leatherwood and Davis. On April 28 and 29, Teague interviewed Vicki Elaine Easterwood. This interview began at the Graham Police Department and continued at the Young County Jail. Subsequently, at 12:22 p.m. on April 29, Teague met with a Justice of the Peace in Weatherford, Texas and obtained a capital murder arrest warrant for appellant.

Teague searched unsuccessfully for appellant from April 29 until May 10. On the 29th of April he interviewed Kathy Nievar, appellant's former live-in girlfriend. She was unable to help Teague locate appellant. On May 10, Teague went to the Citizen's National Bank on Highway 190 in Breckenridge. He was present when appellant was arrested by members of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. At that time, appellant identified himself as "Stoney Armadillo." Tommy Martin, an officer with the Graham Police Department, saw appellant in Graham on March 30, 1984, six days before the instant offense. At that time appellant was with Vicki Easterwood in the persimmon red car with a white vinyl top which Ken Davis testified that he saw at the feed store. On the day the capital murder arrest warrant was issued, Martin was looking for the persimmon red car with the white vinyl top in Graham. He stopped the car and discovered it was being driven by Kathy Nievar.

Nievar first met appellant in August of 1982. They soon began living together in Irving, Texas. They broke up in December of 1983. She did not see appellant again until late April of 1984. The last time she saw appellant was on the evening of April 28 at 9:00 p.m. Nievar noticed that appellant was tired and nervous. Appellant had a pistol at the time. Appellant borrowed Nievar's car (a 1978 Buick) and left his own for her to drive. Officer Martin stopped her in it on the 29th, and she drove it to the police station to be left there. Later that night, appellant called her and told her that her Buick would be returned that night. He then hung up. Nievar did not hear from appellant again.

On April 29, 1984, Deputy James Moody of the Parker County Sheriff's Office traveled with Sheriff Billy Cain to the Young County Sheriff's Office in Graham to meet with Vicki Easterwood, and assist in the investigation of the instant case. Earlier that day, Vicki Easterwood discussed with the authorities what she knew of appellant's actions on April 5th after the commission of the instant offense. Vicki Easterwood informed the authorities that appellant got rid of the shotgun after leaving the scene. Sheriff Cain, Deputy Moody, and Easterwood left Graham and drove to Wise County. Their destination was a stock tank which lay south of Farm Road 1810, one and a half miles east of the Wise/Jack County line where they hoped to recover evidence of the instant offense. When they arrived at this location, Vicki Easterwood had a discussion with Moody and Sheriff Cain, and she then made a throwing gesture toward the stock tank. Later that day, Vicki Easterwood was returned to Graham by Moody.

Moody returned to the stock tank in Wise County on May 30, 1984 with Mark Wade, a diver from Weatherford. While searching the tank, Wade found a satchel which contained items of clothing, a .12 gauge shotgun shell and a sawed-off shotgun. At trial these items were admitted into evidence. At trial Dr. Nizam Peerwani testified that the sawed-off shotgun recovered from the stock tank was capable of inflicting the fatal wound to Gary Cox. Jack Bellinof was working for Gooch Meat Packers on May 10, 1984. He was driving his regular route as a salesman from Olney to Throckmorton on Highway 70. At approximately 9:00 a.m. Bellinof stopped to pick up a rider, who Bellinof later identified as appellant. They made small talk until appellant indicated where he wanted Bellinof to let him out. After he stopped the car, appellant told Bellinof, "This is where you get off." Appellant then attacked Bellinof with a revolver. The two of them struggled over the gun at first. Appellant then drew a second pistol and succeeded in shooting Bellinof four times: in the right shoulder, in the jaw, in the left hand and in the back of the head. Bellinof managed to open his door and get out of the car. Appellant got in the car and drove off, leaving Bellinof in the road.

On May 10, 1984, Scott Harris was working at his job as a senior vice- president of the Citizen's National Bank in Breckenridge. At 11:45 a.m., the appellant entered the bank carrying two pistols and yelled he was taking control of the bank for his own protection. Appellant threatened to kill anyone who failed to comply with his orders. Appellant took seven hostages: four men, including Harris, and three women. Appellant indicated to his hostages that both Young and Parker County authorities were pursuing him for a murder in Parker County. At trial, on cross-examination, Harris recalled that appellant told him the Parker County authorities were after him for what happened in Parker County. Harris admitted at trial that appellant claimed to be innocent of the Parker County charges.

After hearing all the evidence in this case, the jury convicted appellant of the capital murder of Gary Cox. At punishment, the State admitted into evidence a penitentiary packet which reflected the following prior convictions which were served concurrently: credit card abuse, for which his 1975 probation was revoked; aggravated robbery, committed on June 16, 1976; aggravated robbery, committed on June 21, 1976; and aggravated robbery, committed on June 22, 1976. Appellant received a total sentence of eighteen years.

Appellant called several witnesses at punishment. The officer in charge of him during trial stated appellant had caused him no trouble. His father testified appellant had been a fine person until he returned home from Viet Nam in 1972. His father explained that appellant had a drug problem. A private consultant in the field of corrections testified that appellant would never be paroled from a life sentence for capital murder.