24th murderer executed in U.S. in 2000
622nd murderer executed in U.S. since 1976
12th murderer executed in Texas in 2000
211th murderer executed in Texas since 1976
(Race/Sex/Age at Murder-Execution) |
Birth |
(Race/Sex/Age at Murder) |
Murder |
Murder |
to Murderer |
Sentence |
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Timothy Lane Gribble W / M / 24 - 36 |
Elizabeth Jones W / F / 36 |
04-29-92 |
Summary:
Elizabeth Jones lived alone in a house in Clear Lake Shores, Texas, near the IBM facility where she worked as a manager on the NASA shuttle project. At about 7:30 p.m. on Sept. 8, 1987, Jones called her boyfriend Terry Hahn and told him that she was not feeling well and that she planned to go to bed early. Jones was in the midst of remodeling her home, and she told Hahn that a roofer was still there hammering on the roof over her bedroom. After Jones did not appear for work the next day, some friends went to her house in the evening to check on her. They found the doors locked, Jones's car parked in the driveway, no forced entry, and no one at home. Jones's friends entered the house, found no evidence of foulplay, and reported her missing to police. Gribble was the roofer. In initial questioning by police he denied any involvement, but following his arrest on September 30th, he confessed to the sexual assault, kidnaping, and murder by strangulation of Jones. He told police he returned to the house several hours after work and raped Jones after she let him in to search for the wallet he claimed to have left behind. He admitted to later driving her to an isolated area and strangling her with the belt of her robe. Gribble led police to her body in a desolate woods area, and Libby's purse was recovered from a nearby creek. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals overturned his first conviction in 1988, saying jurors should have received better instructions about defense claims that Gribble suffered mental disorders and was sexually abused as a child. On retrial in 1992, Gribble was again convicted and sentenced to death. Gribble had previously served less than a year and a half of a 5 year sentence on a rape and false imprisonment conviction and was released under mandatory release in May 1985. He was also been indicted in the June 13, 1987 strangulation death of Donna Weis in Galveston County. Gribble confessed to the murder, but was never tried.
Citations:
Internet Sources:
Texas Department of Criminal Justice
Texas Department of Criminal Justice - Executed Offenders (Timothy Gribble)
Texas Attorney General Media Advisory
MEDIA ADVISORY: TIMOTHY LANE GRIBBLE SCHEDULED TO BE EXECUTED.AUSTIN - Friday, March 10, 2000 - Texas Attorney General John Cornyn offers the following information on Timothy Lane Gribble who is scheduled to be executed after 6 p.m., Wednesday, March 15th:
FACTS OF THE CRIME
Elizabeth Jones lived alone in a house in Clear Lake Shores, Texas, near the IBM facility where she worked as a manager on the NASA shuttle project. At about 7:30 p.m. on Sept. 8, 1987, Jones called her boyfriend Terry Hahn and told him that she was not feeling well and that she planned to go to bed early. Jones was in the midst of remodeling her home, and she told Hahn that a roofer was still there hammering on the roof over her bedroom. After Jones did not appear for work the next day, some friends went to her house in the evening to check on her. They found the doors locked, Jones's car parked in the driveway, but no one at home. Jones's friends entered the house, but found no evidence of forced entry or bloodshed. Jones had apparently left without taking any of her clothing or jewelry. Only her purse and bathrobe were missing. They reported Jones's disappearance to the Clear Lake Shores police. Police investigators also searched the house, discovering numerous cigarette butts and ashes in different locations about the house and an almost empty bottle of wine in the trash can, although neither Jones nor her boyfriend smoked and Jones did not drink.
Police learned from Jones's construction contractor that Timothy Gribble was the man who had been working on Jones's roof the evening of Sept. 8, 1987. Realizing that Gribble may have been the last person to see Jones alive, police contacted him to ask him some questions; however, Gribble was not considered a suspect at that time. Gribble told police that after completing the day's work, he had knocked on Jones's door and told her he would have to return the next day to complete the job. He claimed that Jones allowed him to enter her house so that he could wash his hands, and then he left.
Despite continued search efforts during the next couple of weeks, friends and authorities were unable to locate Jones. Several days after her disappearance, Jones's ex-husband hired a private detective agency to assist in the investigation. Private investigators and police questioned Gribble again on Sept. 21 and 22, 1987. At this point, Gribble admitted to be the source of the cigarette butts and wine bottle found in Jones's home, but he still disclaimed any involvement in her disappearance. Several days after that interview, Gribble fled the state and traveled to Tennessee, where he stayed with relatives.
On Sept. 30, 1987, 22 days after Jones's disappearance, Tennessee law enforcement officers took Gribble into custody. A Texas Ranger and an officer from the Galveston County Sheriff's Department traveled to Tennessee to speak with Gribble. On Oct. 3, 1987, Gribble was transported to the Harris County Sheriff 's Department in Houston where, after being advised of his rights, he confessed to the sexual assault, kidnaping, and murder by strangulation of Jones.
Gribble stated that he did leave after washing his hands in Jones's house, but that he returned later in the evening claiming that he had dropped his wallet. On this pretense, Jones allowed him to enter her home. Gribble stated that, once inside, he took Jones to the bedroom and had sexual intercourse with her. He claimed that Jones was afraid at first but then enjoyed it. Later, Gribble said he asked Jones not to tell anyone about the incident. When Jones told him she would have to report the incident to the police, he took her from her home, wearing only her bathrobe, and drove her around various county roads until they finally arrived at a dark and desolate area near League City. There, Gribble claimed he told Jones he wanted to spend some time with his wife and stepchildren before he was arrested for what he had done. He told Jones he was going to tie her naked to a tree in the dark woods. According to Gribble, Jones began to cry out and scream. He tried to cover her mouth and she bit him. He then took the sash of Jones's bathrobe, tied it around her throat, and strangled her until she was dead. Gribble dragged Jones's body a short distance and left her lying, clothed only in her robe, under a tree with a tree branch on top of her. He then drove to a nearby park and disposed of Jones's purse.
While giving his confession, Gribble drew a map showing the location of Jones's body. Thereafter, he led officers to the lake where he had thrown Jones's purse, which was recovered by police divers. Gribble then led officers to Jones's body. There, 26 days after her disappearance, officers found Jones's body in an advanced state of decomposition, the robe sash still wrapped around her neck.
PROCEDURAL HISTORY
Gribble was indicted on Oct. 14, 1987, in the 122nd Judicial District Court of Galveston County, Texas, for the capital offense of murdering Elizabeth Jones in the course of committing and attempting to commit the offense of kidnaping, which occurred on or about Sept. 9, 1987. On Nov. 14, 1990, after Gribble had been found guilty of capital murder by a jury and sentenced to death, Gribble's conviction and sentence were reversed by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals and a new trial was ordered. The United States Supreme Court denied the State's petition for writ of certiorari on June 24, 1991. On retrial, Gribble was tried before a different jury upon a plea of not guilty, and on April 23, 1992, this jury too found him guilty of the capital offense. On April 29, 1992, in accordance with state law, the trial court assessed Gribble's punishment at death.
Gribble appealed his conviction and sentence to the Court of Criminal Appeals, which affirmed on Feb. 1, 1995. The United States Supreme Court denied Gribble's petition for writ of certiorari on Oct. 2, 1995. On April 28, 1997, Gribble filed an application for state writ of habeas corpus with the convicting court. The trial court recommended that relief be denied, and the Court of Criminal Appeals agreed on Oct. 29, 1997. On Jan. 6, 1998, Gribble filed a pro se motion to file an out-of-time application for state writ of habeas corpus, which was dismissed by the Court of Criminal Appeals as an abuse of the writ on Feb. 2, 1998.
On Jan. 20, 1998, while his second application for state writ of habeas corpus was pending, Gribble filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas, Galveston Division, a motion for appointment of counsel to assist him in filing a federal habeas petition. After counsel was appointed, Gribble filed a federal habeas petition on April 3, 1998. On June 25, 1998, the district court entered final judgment denying Gribble's federal habeas petition. The district court subsequently denied permission to appeal. The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit similarly denied permission to appeal on Sept. 20, 1999, and denied rehearing on Oct. 26, 1999. Gribble thereafter filed a petition for writ of certiorari to the United States Supreme Court, which is pending before the Court.
PRIOR CRIMINAL HISTORY
At the punishment phase of trial, Gribble admitted to arrests for possession of marijuana, possession of a prohibited weapon, and public intoxication. He also admitted to committing the following offenses: (1) on Jan. 11, 1981, burglarizing a motor home owned by his father; (2) in the early morning hours of April 10, 1981, using false pretenses to gain entry into the home of a 54-year-old woman, whose 15-year-old daughter he knew, where he then sexually assaulted the mother; (3) on Oct. 24, 1981, possessing a controlled substance; (4) on Aug. 12, 1983, forcing and threatening a 15-year-old girl, who he knew from the community and had offered a ride home, to engage in oral sex and sexual intercourse over a period of several hours; (5) in early Sept. 1987, purchasing a pick up truck, knowing it was stolen; and (6) on Sept. 17, 1987, nine days after committing the instant capital offense, using false pretenses to gain entry into the apartment of his ex-wife where he subsequently choked her into submission then threatened and forced her to engage in oral sex and sexual intercourse. Gribble was initially sentenced to 10 years probation for the April 1981 offense. When he subsequently plead guilty to the Aug. 1983 offense and received a five-year prison sentence, his probation was revoked and he received a 5-year prison sentence for the April 1981 offense.
DRUGS AND/OR ALCOHOL
According to Gribble's testimony at the punishment phase of trial, the majority of his life of crime was related to alcohol, marijuana, and illegally-obtained prescription drug abuse, and his sexual assault offenses were attributable to what he termed a sex problem.
Timothy Gribble was sentenced to die for the September 9, 1987 rape and strangulation of Elizabeth "Libby" Jone of Clear Lake Shores, Texas. Gribble was working as a roofer at Libby's home while it was being remodeled. He told police he returned to the house several hours after work and raped Jones after she let him in to search for the wallet he claimed to have left behind. He admitted to later driving her to an isolated area and strangling her with the belt of her robe. He was arrested on 9/30/87 and led police to her body after he confessed. Libby's purse was recovered from a nearby creek. Gribble had previously served less than a year and a half of a 5 year sentence on a rape and false imprisonment conviction and was released under mandatory release in May 1985. He has also been indicted in the June 13, 1987 strangulation death of Donna Weis in Galveston County.
"Killer Executed for Abduction, Rape, Murder; Apologizes in Statement Read by Chaplain."
(March 16, 2000) HUNTSVILLE, Texas (AP) -- Condemned killer Timothy Lane Gribble welcomed his execution. Unlike the scene in the Texas death chamber 24 hours earlier, when another prisoner resisted his lethal injection and spit a key from his mouth in a final act of defiance, Gribble peacefully accepted his punishment for killing a Galveston County woman more than a dozen years ago. "I was wrong what I did," he said in a final statement in which he apologized for the killings. "Just please, find peace." In a handwritten statement read by prison chaplain James Brazzil, Gribble said he had been living with guilt and pain.
Prayed himself into unconsciousness But he added that he needed to speak out against the death penalty, "although I have no regrets in my case," he said. "The death penalty is an unnecessary punishment for a society who has other means to protect itself." "I go with God," Gribble said after the chaplain finished reading. Then he began chanting a prayer, and gasped and snorted as the drugs began taking effect. He slipped into unconsciousness and eight minutes later, he was pronounced dead. "I feel very satisfied justice has been served," Mike Guarino, the Galveston County district attorney who prosecuted Gribble, said after watching the prisoner die. "I sincerely hope he meant what he said. "I hope, sincerely, that he has come to grips with the horrible things he did."
'I was a killer with a conscience' Elizabeth Jones, 36, a former city councilwoman in Clear Lake Shores and a manager who worked in the space shuttle program, was one of three women Gribble confessed to killing. Gribble, 36, the 12th Texas inmate to be put to death this year, led authorities to Jones' body, left under some brush in a Galveston County field, after she had been missing for almost a month. "I'm guilty," he said in a death row interview last week. "I've confessed to my crimes. "I'd like to say I was a killer with a conscience. I was being eaten up."
Third slaying not substantiated He confessed to Jones' slaying and two others. Gribble was indicted but not tried for the murder of Donna Weis, 23, whose remains were found in Galveston County 18 months after she disappeared in June 1986. Authorities never were able to confirm his claim of a third slaying. At his trial, however, prosecutors presented to the jury three women who testified he raped them. Jones' friends became concerned when she failed to show up for work Sept. 9, 1987, and called police after finding her house locked and her car parked in the driveway. There was no sign of forced entry, and nothing missing except her purse and a bathrobe. Her house was being renovated and authorities determined Gribble had worked on the roof the previous evening.
Woman strangled with bathrobe sash Several weeks later, he confessed to raping and abducting Jones and taking her to a remote area near League City, north of Galveston. According to his confession, Gribble told Jones he was going to tie her naked to a tree and leave her there. When she began to scream and struggle, he took the sash from her bathrobe and tightened it around her neck until she died. Gribble was tried twice for Jones' death. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals overturned his first conviction in 1988, saying jurors should have received better instructions about defense claims that Gribble suffered mental disorders and was sexually abused as a child.
Another inmate spit up key On Tuesday evening, Ponchai Wilkerson, a 28-year-old inmate with a history of escape attempts, forced guards to use gas to pry him from his cell, required extra restraints when he fought their attempts to fasten him to the death chamber gurney, then surprised authorities by spitting a small key out of his mouth as the lethal drugs began taking effect. Prison officials said the inch-and-a-half key was a universal handcuff and leg restraint key, common in the prison system, and an investigation began to find out how Wilkerson had got it.