Executed April 8, 2003 by Lethal Injection in Oklahoma

24th murderer executed in U.S. in 2003
844th murderer executed in U.S. since 1976
6th murderer executed in Oklahoma in 2003
61st murderer executed in Oklahoma since 1976

Since 1976	Date of Execution	State	Method	Murderer (Race/Sex/Age at Murder-Execution)	Date of Birth	Victim(s) (Race/Sex/Age at Murder)	Date of Murder	Method of Murder	Relationship to Murderer	Date of Sentence
844	04-08-03	OK	Lethal Injection	Don Wilson Hawkins, Jr. W / M / 25 - 43	08-29-59	Linda Ann Thompson W / F / 29	08-20-85	Drowning	None	06-24-86

Summary:
On August 19, 1985, Hawkins, armed with a revolver, forced his way into Linda Thompson's car, as she purchased stamps at a self-service postal station at a shopping mall near her home. Thompson's two small daughters, Lori, age four, and Katie, eighteen months old, were also in the car at the time. According to Hawkins, his original plan was to kidnap Thompson and hold her for ransom. Hawkins drove the victims to the home of his girlfriend, Shirley Pitts, Pitts's 15-year-old nephew, Chris Lovell, and Hawkins's cousin, Dale Shelton, were staying with the couple at that time. At the house, Pitts and Lovell watched the children. Hawkins and Shelton kept Thompson upstairs in the house for several hours. Later that night, they took Thompson to a barn several hundred yards away, where they kept her chained in the barn's loft. Her children remained locked in a bedroom in the house. Shelton and Lovell each raped Thompson. During the night, they did allow Thompson to see her children at the house. In the morning, after permitting Thompson briefly to say goodbye to her daughters, Hawkins and Shelton drove Linda Thompson to a nearby lake, where Hawkins hog-tied and drowned her, while Shelton stood lookout. Hawkins and Shelton dragged the body into a ravine and covered it with brush, then fled the state. Pitts and Lovell left Thompson's daughters with their babysitter. After murdering Thompson and fleeing the state, Hawkins abducted and sexually assaulted two teenage girls; kidnapped and robbed two women; and murdered an acquaintance in Colorado. He killed that victim by hanging him, prosecutors said. Hawkins and Shelton were arrested two months later in Sacramento, Calif., where Hawkins was caught trying to steal a car battery. Both Hawkins and Shelton confessed to the murder and kidnapping. Shelton told police where Thompson’s body was buried. At his trial, Hawkins testified that he had left Thompson near the lake and had turned to walk away when, he claimed, he heard the "shriek of a supernatural creature." He testified that he returned and jumped in the water to try to save Thompson. The jury didn't buy it. Hawkins told his lawyer not to submit any mitigating evidence at trial. Shelton was tried jointly with Hawkins, convicted, and sentenced to life without parole.

Citations:
Hawkins v. State, 891 P.2d 586 (Okla. Crim. App. 1994), cert. denied, 516 U.S. 977 (1995).
Shelton v. State, 793 P.2d 866, 869 (Okla. Crim. App. 1990).

Final Meal:
Stuffed crust combo pizza with extra cheese and a Dr Pepper.

Final Words:
''I've got peace. The state needs vengeance for the crime I've done. They're going to punish my body, but Jesus has forgiven me. . . . I'm truly sorry I got everyone into this."

Internet Sources:

Oklahoma Department of Corrections

CNN International

"Oklahoma Executes Man Who Kidnapped, Drowned Woman." (Reuters April 9, 2003)

OKLAHOMA CITY, Oklahoma (Reuters) -- Oklahoma executed Tuesday a man who kidnapped a woman and her two children and later drowned the mother in a lake when he realized her family could not meet ransom demands. Don Wilson Hawkins, 43, died at 6:07 p.m. CDT (2300 GMT), two minutes after being injected with a lethal cocktail of chemicals at the state's death chamber in the eastern Oklahoma city of McAlester, prison officials said. "I've got peace. The state needs vengeance for the crime I've done," Hawkins said in his last statement, according to prison spokesman Jerry Massie. "They're going to punish my body, but Jesus has forgiven me," Hawkins reportedly said.

Hawkins was convicted of the 1985 kidnapping and murder of Linda Ann Thompson, who was 29. Hawkins and co-defendant Dale Shelton kidnapped Thompson at a shopping mall parking lot in Oklahoma City with her two daughters, then aged 18 months and 4 years. The men stole a few dollars from Thompson and took her bound in chains into a barn, while her children were kept separate in a house. The day after the three were abducted, the kidnappers decided the family could not pay the ransom. Hawkins and Shelton then dropped the children off at the home of a baby sitter and took Thompson to a lake. The men had tied up Thompson, and Hawkins drowned her because he thought she would be able to identify them in court, according to court records.

Shelton was sentenced to life in prison for his role in the crime. Hawkins' last requested meal was a stuffed-crust pizza and a soft drink. He was the sixth man Oklahoma has executed this year, and the 61st since the state resumed implementing the death penalty in 1990.

The Death House.Com

"Man Who Kidnapped, Drowned Mother of Two Executed," by Robert Anthony Phillips. (April 8, 2003)

McALESTER, Okla. - Donald Hawkins Jr., a violent killer who drowned a young mother after kidnapping her and later hanged a man in Colorado, was executed by lethal injection Tuesday night at the state prison. Hawkins was pronounced dead at 6:07 p.m., just two minutes after the lethal injection began. In his last statement from the death chamber, Hawkins told his lawyer and investigator to "keep fighting" and his spiritual adviser to "carry the torch." The state needs vengeance for the crimes I've done," Hawkins said. "They are going to punish my body, but Jesus has forgiven me. I'm truly sorry I got everyone into this. I'm ready to go." Then, expressing his love to his wife - who he had married while in prison -the lethal injection began.

Hawkins confessed to the August 1985 kidnapping and murder of Linda Thompson, 29. Thompson and Dale Shelton snatched Thompson and her two children from a shopping mall. Thompson was later raped by Shelton and another man, hog-tied and drowned in a lake by Hawkins. Thompson’s children, 18 months and four years old at the time, were later released unharmed.

Victim's Daughter: Don't Want To Watch Him Die

In an interview with The Oklahoman earlier this week, Hawkins, 43, said he was ready to die and "It’s time to move on." He also told the newspaper that he hoped his death would ease some of the pain he has caused. One of Thompson's children, Lori Thompson, wrote a letter to the state Pardon and Parole Board saying she did not wish to see Hawkins executed for the murder of her mother. She said she had forgiven Hawkins, but the "Bible that I follow as the guidebook for my life decrees that this is his due punishment," the newspaper reported.

Bound With Dog Chain

The kidnapping and murder of Thompson occurred on August 19, 1985. Prosecutors say Hawkins and Shelton were searching for a "rich woman" to kidnap and hold for ransom. The first woman they targeted was saved when a security guard intervened. When Thompson arrived in her car to buy stamps at the post office located in a shopping mall, Hawkins jumped into her car, handcuffed her and drove her to a house of his girlfriend, Shirley Pitts. Thompson was bound with a "dog" chain in a barn and her children confined to a bedroom in the house. The victim was raped at least three times - twice by Shelton and also by a nephew of Pitts, Chris Lovell, court documents stated.

Drowned In Lake

Thompson was later dragged screaming from the house, her children crying for their mother. Hawkins and Shelton then drove Thompson to Sportsman’s Lake in Seminole. There, Hawkins pushed her into the water and held Thompson until she drowned. Hawkins and Shelton then dragged the body into a ravine and covered it with brush. Hawkins and Shelton were arrested two months later in Sacramento, Calif., where Hawkins was caught trying to steal a car battery. When arrested, he had a shotgun, phony identification and stolen credit cards. Shelton was arrested at a motel. Police said both Hawkins and Shelton confessed to the murder and kidnapping. Shelton told police where Thompson’s body was buried.

'Supernatural Shreik'

Hawkins and Shelton were tried jointly. Shelton was sentenced to life in prison on murder, kidnapping, rape and forced oral sodomy counts. The key evidence that sent Hawkins to death row came from his own mouth. He gave police a videotaped confession. In addition, Pitts, tesitifed against Hawkins at his trial. Hawkins’ later claimed that police had beaten him into confessing. The courts have rejected those claims, saying his lawyers presented no credible evidence. At his trial, Hawkins testified that he had left Thompson near the lake and had turned to walk away when, he claimed, he heard the "shriek of a supernatural creature." He testified that he returned and jumped in the water to try to save Thompson. The jury didn't buy it.

Hangs Man

Court documents stated that after murdering Thompson and fleeing the state, Hawkins abducted and sexually assaulted two teenage girls; kidnapped and robbed two women; and murdered an acquaintance in Colorado. He killed that victim by hanging him, prosecutors said. At his trial for the murder of Thompson, Hawkins told his lawyer not to submit any mitigating evidence on his behalf that might have saved him from a death sentence, Oklahoma Criminal Court of Appeals documents stated.

Daily Oklahoman

McALESTER - "Man Dies by Lethal Injection in Drowning Death of Woman," by Bob Doucette. (4/9/03)

Nearly 18 years after he drowned an Oklahoma City woman in a Seminole County lake, Don Wilson Hawkins Jr. died by lethal injection Tuesday night at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary. Hawkins was sentenced to die for the 1985 drowning death of Linda Ann Thompson, 29. The U.S. Supreme Court denied his last appeal Tuesday.

Hawkins told his attorneys to "keep fighting" and mouthed "I love you" to his wife, Joelle, who was there to witness the execution. "The state needs vengeance for the crimes I've done. They're going to punish my body," Hawkins said. "Jesus has forgiven me. "I'm truly sorry I got everybody into this," he said. "I'm ready to go." Hawkins then looked up and closed his eyes as the lethal mix of drugs was administered. He was pronounced dead at 6:07 p.m., two minutes after the procedure started.

Hawkins kidnapped Thompson and her two daughters Aug. 19, 1985, from the Shepherd Mall parking lot in Oklahoma City, prosecutors said. He took them to a northeast Oklahoma City home with the intention of holding Thompson for ransom, prosecutors said. Thompson was chained inside a barn and raped repeatedly by two of Hawkins' accomplices, Dale Shelton and Chris Lovell, according to prosecutors. Hawkins and Shelton, his cousin, later took Thompson to Sportsman's Lake near Seminole and drowned her there, prosecutors said. Thompson's daughters, Lori, then 4, and Katie, then 2, were dropped off unharmed in an Oklahoma City neighborhood.

Hawkins also was responsible for the robbery and hanging death of David Coupez of Denver. He pleaded guilty to that crime, which occurred just weeks before Thompson's abduction and murder. Shelton, convicted and sentenced to life without parole for his part in the killing, eventually told police where Thompson's body was hidden.

McAlester News-Capital

"Convicted Murderer Put to Death; Victim's Family Watches," by Doug Russell. (April 9, 2003)

He said he was ready to go and he went. But for the family of the woman he killed almost 18 years ago, "it wasn't an even swap." "The wheels of justice have finally come all the way around," Larry Olson said Thursday night. "It wasn't an even swap." Olson, his sister Jennifer Schneider and three other members of his family had just witnessed the execution of the sixth Oklahoma inmate put to death this year.

Don Wilson Hawkins Jr. was pronounced dead at 6:07 p.m., just two minutes after a mixture of lethal drugs began flowing into his veins. After a last meal of a stuffed crust pizza with extra cheese and a Dr. Pepper, he was executed for the August 1985 drowning death of Linda Ann Thompson in Sportsman's Lake, near Seminole. As the blinds blocking the state's execution chamber from view rose at 6:04 p.m., Hawkins raised his head from the gurney to which he was strapped and smiled. Spotting his wife Joelle, whom he had married while he was on death row, he said "I love you" then began to address the others in the witness room.

Addressing his attorney and an investigator, Hawkins said "You guys keep fighting," then told two spiritual advisors in the room to "carry the torch." "The state needs vengeance for the crimes I've done," Hawkins said. "They're going to punish my body but Jesus has forgiven me. I'm truly sorry I got everyone into this. ... I'm ready to go." His smile didn't fade until the drugs began flowing. His eyes closed, then opened part way. He didn't move again.

"It's important we remember the victims," Olson said. "There are multiple victims here." Linda Ann Thompson was 29 years old when she and her two daughters, Lori and Katie, aged four years and 18 months, respectively, were kidnapped from a free-standing postal station at an Oklahoma City shopping mall. According to court documents, Hawkins and co-defendant Dale Shelton had been on the lookout for someone to kidnap for ransom when Thompson pulled up to the postal station. Hawkins forced his way into Thompson's car, taking the car to his girlfriend's house while Shelton followed in Hawkins' vehicle. Once at the house, Thompson was separated from her daughters and chained to the loft of a barn near the house. Over the next 18 hours, Thompson was sexually assaulted several times by Shelton and a teen-aged male. Hawkins was never convicted of sexually assaulting Thompson.

"I know what I did and what I did was terrible," Hawkins said in a 2002 interview with the News-Capital & Democrat. "But at least I don't have that particular crime on my conscience." After realizing that they would not be able to get a ransom payment for Thompson, Hawkins and Shelton let her say good-bye to her daughters, then loaded her into a car and drove east. The daughters were released in their baby-sitter's neighborhood.

Court documents indicate Hawkins and Shelton had initially planned to release Thompson in a secluded area while they got away, but Hawkins drowned her after realizing she would be able to identify her kidnappers and attackers. Hawkins and Shelton were arrested two months later in Sacramento, Calif. Shelton is serving a life sentence for his part in the crime.

Hawkins was later linked to the July 1985 robbery and murder of David Coupez in Denver, Colo., a crime to which he pleaded guilty, as well as to several kidnappings and sexual assaults in California.

"At every family gathering there's an empty chair that will never be filled," said Schneider, Thompson's mother. "Linda was - is a wonderful daughter that will live forever in my heart." "Linda will be forever 29," Olson said. "Her two children have grown and flourished. We have a wonderful family and we'll be OK."

Canadian Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty(Hawkins Homepage)

Artist And Writer on On Death Row, Oklahoma Excerpt From A Letter Written By Don:

"I am an artist and awarded writer...I especially have something to say to troubled youth and people who are involved in that work. I may only have 18 - 20 months left and would like to share some wisdom and reality with all who have an ear of concern. I wish to have the opportunity of sharing with penpals. Especially anyone doing a college paper on Capital Punishment. Thank you for caring." --- Don W. Hawkins

WRITINGS BY DON HAWKINS:

On Death Row, Christmas Just Another Day

The Price Of Revenge

The Long Walk

Its Too Late - A Poem

ART By DON HAWKINS

Don would appreciate recieving your mail ! Please Write:

Mr Don W. Hawkins
# 153687 HSW - 4
PO Box 97
McAlester, OK 74502 USA

ABOLISH Archives (Rick Halperin)

April 26, 2002 - OKLAHOMA - Court denies Seminole man's appeal

DENVER -- A man convicted of hog-tying and drowning an Oklahoma City woman he kidnapped lost his appeal Wednesday to avoid execution. The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, in a 54-page decision, ruled 3-0 against Don Wilson Hawkins on several claims that he did not receive a fair trial.

Hawkins, of Seminole, was sentenced to death for the 1985 murder of Linda Thompson, 29, the mother of daughters 4 years old and 18 months old. Hawkins, then 26, abducted Thompson from Shepherd Mall, intending to seek a ransom payment. Instead, he admitted killing her so she could not be a witness against him, authorities said.

The judges said they would not consider Hawkins' claim that his lawyer did not properly represent him by failing to pursue mitigating evidence that might have caused jurors to set life in prison without parole as his punishment. The judges said Hawkins had forfeited his right to raise that issue because he had not raised it previously in Oklahoma state courts.

Circuit Judge Carlos Lucero wrote in Wednesday's decision he is "concerned with what I view as a disturbing tendency on the part of defense counsel (in death penalty cases)" to fail to pursue mitigating evidence that might convince jurors that a death sentence is not justified.

Hawkins v. Mullin (Habeas May 22, 2002)

DON WILSON HAWKINS, Petitioner-Appellant,

v.

MIKE MULLIN, Warden, Oklahoma State Penitentiary, Respondent-Appellee.

APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF OKLAHOMA

TACHA, Chief Judge.

Petitioner-appellant Don Wilson Hawkins appeals the denial of habeas relief, see 28 U.S.C. § 2254, from his Oklahoma first-degree felony murder conviction and death sentence. Among other claims, Hawkins argues that the State improperly based his first-degree felony murder conviction on kidnapping for extortion, which is not a specifically enumerated felony supporting a first-degree murder conviction under Oklahoma law. The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals, nevertheless, interpreted Oklahoma's first-degree felony murder statute to include kidnapping for extortion as an underlying felony. We hold that the Oklahoma appellate court's interpretation was not unforeseeable and therefore did not deprive Hawkins of due process. We therefore affirm the district court's denial of habeas relief on this claim, as well as on Hawkins's other claims.

I. FACTS

On August 19, 1985, Hawkins, armed with a revolver, forced his way into Linda Thompson's car, as she purchased stamps at a self-service postal station at a shopping mall near her home. Thompson's two small daughters, Lori, age four, and Katie, eighteen months old, were also in the car at the time. According to Hawkins, his original plan was to kidnap Thompson and hold her for ransom. Hawkins drove the victims to the home of Shirley Pitts, with whom Hawkins had been living for several months. Pitts's fifteen-year-old nephew, Chris Lovell, and Hawkins's cousin, Dale Shelton, were staying with the couple at that time.

At the house, Pitts and Lovell watched the children. Hawkins and Shelton kept Thompson upstairs in the house for several hours. Later that night, they took Thompson to a barn several hundred yards away, where they kept her chained in the barn's loft. Her children remained locked in a bedroom in the house.

Shelton and Lovell each raped Thompson. During the night, they did allow Thompson to see her children at the house. In the morning, after permitting Thompson briefly to say goodbye to her daughters, Hawkins and Shelton drove Linda Thompson to a nearby lake, where Hawkins hog-tied and drowned her, while Shelton stood lookout. Hawkins and Shelton hid the body and fled the state. Pitts and Lovell left Thompson's daughters with their babysitter.

Police arrested Pitts and Lovell later that day. California police arrested Hawkins and Shelton two months later, in Sacramento. Following his arrest, Hawkins made a statement to Oklahoma detectives admitting these crimes, including drowning Thompson because she otherwise could be a witness against him.

The jury convicted Hawkins of the first-degree felony murder of Linda Thompson and two counts of kidnapping her children for extortion. The jury sentenced him to life imprisonment on the two kidnapping-for-extortion convictions, which Hawkins had committed after two or more prior felony convictions.

During the capital sentencing proceeding, the State incorporated its first-stage evidence and presented additional evidence concerning Hawkins's further violent criminal conduct. That evidence established that, after Thompson's murder, Hawkins had kidnapped, raped, and sodomized two teenage girls in San Diego, California. The following day, he had kidnapped and robbed two other women, one of whom his accomplice had raped and sodomized. In addition, immediately prior to Thompson's murder, Hawkins had killed a man in Denver, Colorado. Hawkins had also beaten his girlfriend Pitts and kept her locked in a trailer while the couple briefly lived in Colorado. Finally, Hawkins had lost his job in Colorado after he shot at his boss's car.

Hawkins instructed his defense attorney, during the trial's second stage, not to raise any objections or cross-examine any State witnesses. Hawkins also directed his attorney not to put on any evidence in mitigation or present any opening or closing argument.

Jurors found all four of the charged aggravating factors: 1) Hawkins had killed Thompson to avoid arrest; 2) Thompson's murder was especially heinous, atrocious, or cruel; 3) Hawkins is a continuing threat to society; and 4) Hawkins had previously been convicted of a violent felony. The jury then sentenced Hawkins to death. The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed Hawkins's convictions and sentences on direct appeal, see Hawkins v. State, 891 P.2d 586 (Okla. Crim. App. 1994), cert. denied, 516 U.S. 977 (1995), and denied post-conviction relief in an unpublished opinion.

The State also tried Shelton jointly with Hawkins. The jury convicted Shelton of first-degree felony murder, first-degree rape and forcible oral sodomy, all involving Linda Thompson, and of kidnapping Thompson's two children for extortion. Jurors sentenced Shelton to five consecutive life sentences. See Shelton v. State, 793 P.2d 866, 869 (Okla. Crim. App. 1990).

* * *

In his second claim, Hawkins contends that his trial attorney was ineffective during the capital sentencing proceeding because the attorney failed to investigate and present mitigating evidence. See Appellant's opening br. at 25; see also Dist. Ct. R. doc. 14 at 22-23 (§ 2254 petition). Hawkins further asserts that he, himself, could not knowingly and voluntarily waive presenting mitigating evidence because his defense attorney failed to explain mitigating evidence adequately to him. See Appellant's opening br. at 25-26; see also Dist. Ct. R. at 28 (§ 2254 petition). The State argues, however, that Hawkins never presented these specific ineffective-assistance arguments to any state court and that this habeas claim thus remains unexhausted. See 28 U.S.C. § 2254(b)(1)(A).

In order to exhaust his state remedies, a federal habeas petitioner must have first fairly presented the substance of his federal habeas claim to state courts. See, e.g., O'Sullivan, 526 U.S. at 844-45 (pre-AEDPA). Although the federal district court here, "out of an overabundance of caution," Dist. Ct. R. doc. 24 at 17, addressed this claim's merit, we decline to do so because it remains unexhausted and Oklahoma courts would now deem it procedurally barred. See Coleman v. Thompson, 501 U.S. 722, 735 n.* (1991). See generally Medlock v. Ward, 200 F.3d 1314, 1322 (10th Cir. 2000) (denying habeas relief on procedural-default basis, despite district court's decision addressing claim's merit).

During his capital sentencing proceeding, Hawkins instructed his defense attorney not to present any mitigating evidence or argument, and not to cross-examine the State's witnesses or raise any objections. On direct appeal, then, Hawkins alleged that he had been "denied the effective assistance of counsel when the trial judge, over defense counsel's objection, allowed [Hawkins] to commit state sanctioned suicide." Appellant's direct-appeal br. at 22. Hawkins further argued to the state appellate court:

* * *

For these reasons, we AFFIRM the district court's denying Hawkins habeas relief.

LUCERO, Circuit Judge, concurring:

Because the majority correctly concludes that Hawkins' claim of ineffective assistance of counsel is procedurally barred, I join the opinion of the court. If relief from procedural proscription is to be afforded to this defendant, such relief must come from higher authority. I write separately to note that the opinion of the court should not be read as an imprimatur of approval on the unacceptable practice of trial lawyers forsaking their duties to investigate potential mitigating evidence, to inform defendants of their constitutional right to present mitigating evidence, and to explain the general significance of mitigating evidence to clients in capital cases. This is a serious matter, and I am concerned with what I view as a disturbing tendency on the part of defense counsel to forego mitigation investigation altogether and to neglect to explain to defendants the potential value of the specific evidence that could be offered in order to allow a jury to have a complete picture in deciding a death sentence issue.

Hawkins v. State, 891 P.2d 586 (Okla. Crim. App. January 10, 1995) (Direct Appeal)

Defendant was convicted in the District Court, Oklahoma County, Leamon Freeman, J., of first-degree murder and kidnapping for purpose of extortion and sentenced to death, and he appealed. The Court of Criminal Appeals, Lane, J., held that: (1) defendant was not entitled to change of venue based on media attention surrounding prosecution and airing by television station of videotape of his confession; (2) trial court did not err in denying defendant's request for investigator and investigative funds; (3) evidence pertaining to victim's role as mother and care for her children was relevant and admissible; (4) any prejudice from admission of inadmissible evidence regarding victim was harmless; (5) photograph and identification cards of victim were relevant and admissible; (6) trial court did not err in determining that confession had been voluntarily given; (7) victim's five-year-old daughter was competent to testify as witness; (8) trial court did not err in admitting evidence that prior to abduction of victim defendant had started after another woman who unwittingly escaped; (9) finding of aggravating circumstances was supported by evidence; (10) prosecutorial misconduct in attempting to evoke sympathy and societal alarm during closing argument did not require vacation of sentence where no objection was made until after jury dismissal and evidence supporting sentence was overwhelming; and (11) death sentence was supported by evidence and not based on improper factors. Affirmed. Lumpkin, P.J., concurred specially and filed opinion in which Johnson, V.P.J., joined

LANE Judge: Don Wilson Hawkins, appellant, was tried by jury for the crimes of Murder in the First Degree (21 O.S.Supp.1982, § 701.7(B)) , and Kidnapping for the Purpose of Extortion, two counts (21 O.S.1981, § 745(A)) in Oklahoma County District Court, Case No. CRF-85-6156. The jury returned a verdict of guilty on each count. For the kidnapping counts the jury imposed a sentence of life imprisonment; for the murder the jury set punishment at death. The trial court sentenced accordingly. Twenty propositions of error are raised on appeal. These will be addressed according to the chronology in which they arose. This trial is not without error. However, none of the errors, singly or in concert, warrant reversal of judgment or modification of sentence. We affirm judgment and sentence.

On August 19, 1989, Hawkins set into motion his plan to kidnap a "rich woman" for ransom. He bought a set of handcuffs and six .38 caliber bullets from the Ace Pawn Shop in Oklahoma City. In the early evening he drove with Dale Shelton [FN1] to the free standing postal station at Shepherd Mall and waited. Shelton served as a lookout. Hawkins let the first woman to stop at the postal station get away when mall security drove by. The next woman, Linda Thompson, stopped, bought stamps, and when she got back into her 1983 Toyota Tercel, Hawkins forced his way in behind her. He handcuffed her and drove to the "big house"--his girlfriend's house at 50th Street and Bryant. Thompson's two daughters, aged eighteen months and four years, were in the back seat. Shelton drove Hawkins' car back to the "big house".

FN1. Dale Shelton was tried jointly with Hawkins. He was found guilty of Murder in the First Degree, two counts of Kidnapping for the Purpose of Extortion, Rape in the First Degree and Forcible Oral Sodomy. He was sentenced to life imprisonment for each count, to be served consecutively. Judgment and sentence was affirmed in Shelton v. State, 793 P.2d 866 (Okl.Cr.1990).

Hawkins took Thompson upstairs and ordered everyone else to stay downstairs. Shirley Pitts, Hawkins' girlfriend, took care of the little girls. While upstairs for several hours, Hawkins and Thompson discussed who might pay a ransom. Thompson changed from her blue striped sun dress into Hawkins shorts and shirt. Hawkins then chained Thompson by the ankle with a dog chain and padlock to the loft of a barn on the property. The daughters were confined to a bedroom in the house. Shelton came to the barn sometime that night. He unchained Thompson, raped her, demanded oral sex from her, then rechained her to the loft. After he left, Chris Lovell, Pitts' nephew raped Thompson while she was chained. Thompson asked him to take her girls to their baby sitter. After Lovell left, Hawkins brought Thompson to the house to see her daughters, then rechained her in the loft. Shelton again raped Thompson. Some time after dawn Hawkins again brought Thompson to the house. She changed back into her dress, and Hawkins dragged her out of the house as she cried, "goodbye", to her crying children. Hawkins, drove Shelton and Thompson in Thompson's car toward Arkansas where, Hawkins said, they were going to let her go. When they got to Seminole, Oklahoma, Hawkins drove up to Sportsman's Lake. While Shelton stood look-out, Hawkins took Thompson to the edge of the lake, hog-tied her, and started back to the car. According to his statement to police, after realizing *592 she was a witness, he pushed her into the water, watched the terror in her eyes, and held her under until she drowned. [FN2] Hawkins and Shelton dragged the body into a ravine and covered it with brush.

FN2. At trial Appellant testified he left Thompson on the bank, and, as he walked away, he heard the "shriek of a supernatural creature". He then returned and jumped in the water to try to save her.

Hawkins then drove them back to Oklahoma City. Along the way the two men threw out Thompson's shoes. They stopped to wash the car and wipe it clean of fingerprints. They parked the car, unlocked and with the key in the ignition, at a housing project in northeast Oklahoma City. A resident saw this and contacted the police the next day.

Meanwhile, Pitts and Lovell took the Thompson girls to the neighborhood of their sitter. Two neighborhood boys recognized the girls and knew where the sitter lived. Lovell told the boys to take the girls to the sitter, and then left with Pitts. The sitter contacted the Oklahoma City police who came and interviewed the neighborhood boys. The boys told them where Lovell lived. The police went to the "big house", arrested Pitts and Lovell, and found Thompson's purse in a crate by the house. Hawkins and Shelton returned to the "big house" about this time, but saw the police cars and drove on to California. Two months later they were arrested in Sacramento. At the time he was arrested, Hawkins was in the process of stealing a car battery. He was armed with a sawed-off shotgun, phony identification, and stolen credit cards. Shelton was arrested at a nearby motel and also carried phony identification. Both men were transferred to San Diego to face other criminal charges there. Each man confessed in San Diego to the murder and kidnappings which are the subject of this case. By phone Shelton directed the Seminole County Sheriff to the location of Thompson's remains. The skeletal remains were still clad in the blue striped dress.

* * * *

As set forth in this opinion, the evidence supported the jury's finding of four *599 aggravating circumstances. The appellant put forth no mitigating evidence. We find the sentence of death is supported by the evidence of this case, and was not driven by the influence of passion, prejudice, or any other arbitrary factor. Finding no error warranting reversal or modification, judgment and sentence is affirmed.