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Texas Department of Criminal Justice - Executed Offenders (William Kitchens)

Texas Department of Criminal Justice

Texas Attorney General Media Advisory

AUSTIN - Texas Attorney General John Cornyn offers the following information on William Joseph Kitchens, who is scheduled to be executed, after 6 p.m., Tuesday, May 9th:

FACTS OF THE CRIME

On the evening of May 16, 1986, 11 or 12 female employees of United Cable of Abilene, including 25 year old Patricia Webb, gathered for an office party. The women first went to a restaurant, then some went to a night club, and, later, to a second night club, the Silver Bullet saloon. The women arrived at the Silver Bullet at around 9:30 p.m. William Joseph Kitchens was at the Silver Bullet, having taken a taxi cab there from an Abilene motel where he was staying. Although a stranger to the group of women, Kitchens appeared friendly and danced with several of them, including Patricia Webb. None of the women observed any evidence that Kitchens and Webb had "paired off" during the evening or otherwise appeared to be developing a relationship. When the Silver Bullet closed, the women, and Kitchens, returned to the first club to get their cars. During the return trip to the first club, Kitchens was in a different car than Webb. In the parking lot, the group discussed whether the party was going to continue. Webb said that she was going to drive Kitchens home, and at about 12:15 a.m., Webb and Kitchens got in her white Pontiac Fiero. Webb waved good-bye to her friends and co-workers as she drove from the parking lot. One of her good friends testified that there was no indication that Webb, who was happily married, intended to have an affair with Kitchens that night, and that Webb was not the type of person to have an intimate encounter with a stranger. Similarly, James Webb, testified that he and Patti had a happy marriage.

A woman staying at the same motel as Kitchens testified that she had seen a man who resembled Kitchens catch a cab from the room next to hers on the evening of May 16th. Later that evening, at around 12:45 a.m. on May 17th, the woman heard the door of the adjoining motel room slam. About 15 minutes later, she heard a car start then saw a light-colored, two-door, low-profile sports car, occupied by two people, drive away from the motel. Kitchens was next seen at a game room in Blanchard, Oklahoma, at about 11:00 p.m. on May 17th. Later that evening, he was seen at a party in Blanchard driving a white Fiero with Texas license plates.

At about 3 a.m. on the morning of May 18th, a police officer in Blanchard saw a white Fiero speed off from a light. The officer pursued the car at speeds of up to 90 miles an hour for about two miles until the car turned off on a dirt road. The officer lost sight of the car, but soon found it stuck in a ditch and abandoned. Several of Webb's credit cards, her checkbook, and her driver's license were found in the car. Nearby, the officer found a shirt on a barbed-wire fence with dried blood stains on it. After running from the police, Kitchens returned to the party where he had been earlier in the evening. Kitchens said that he had wrecked his car after being chased by the police. He was not wearing a shirt and had a gun. When people told him to hide the gun from the police, Kitchens said, "I ain't scared of them," and "I'll use the gun on them. I'll use it on you all." Kitchens also said that he had used his shirt to wipe his fingerprints off of the car. When he left the party, Kitchens said he was going to his parents' house. His mother confirmed that he arrived at her house that morning without a shirt and said that he had wrecked his girlfriend's car.

Officers eventually located Kitchens at his parents' house and arrested him. After Kitchens was taken to jail, officers returned to his parents' home and got permission to search for the pistol. Kitchens' mother gave police the gun, a .22 caliber revolver. Kitchens later gave a written statement confessing to killing Webb. Kitchens stated that he met the victim in Abilene, went back to his motel with her and had sexual intercourse, then the two went for a drive, ending up on a dark, wooded road. Though he did not remember everything, he told the officers he remembered shooting the victim in the head in the woods.

Officers in Abilene contacted Kitchens by telephone and asked whether he would agree to come back to Abilene to help them locate the victim, in case she was still alive. Kitchens informed them that he knew she was dead because he had shot her in the head. Nevertheless, Kitchens gave the officers detailed directions that allowed the Abilene officers to locate Webb's body and purse at locations outside of town. Webb was found fully clothed, except for one shoe which was never recovered. Her purse contained no money or credit cards, and the internal compartments of the wallet in the purse had been torn. Officers from Abilene then went to Oklahoma and obtained another statement from Kitchens in which he stated that he had killed the victim and then drove her car from Abilene to Fort Worth and then to Oklahoma.

An autopsy revealed that Webb had been shot in the eye from between six and twelve inches away with a .22 caliber bullet. Though the shot to the eye was a cause of death, an additional cause of death was strangulation. Webb had bruising on both sides of her face, lips, chin, neck, the back of her head, the right side of her chest. There was bleeding from two areas of the scalp. The bruising of the right side of the face was caused by a blunt object with an edge. There was also evidence that Webb had been raped. Tests revealed sperm was found on Webb's body. Additionally, the shirt found near the wrecked Fiero in Oklahoma was found to contain blood that matched Webb's blood type.

Finally, Kitchens testified at the punishment phase of trial and admitted to telling a police officer that he had decided to kill the victim at the motel. He admitted that he "may have" forced the victim to take him out to the secluded wooded area where she was killed. He admitted telling an officer that he had opened her car door and yanked her out of the car by her hair, grabbed her by the throat, and led her into a wooded area where he shot her. Kitchens' explanation was that, at the time, he was drunk and believed that he was doing these things to his wife.

PROCEDURAL HISTORY

In June 1989, Kitchens was charged by indictment in the 350th District Court of Taylor County, Texas, with the capital murder of Patricia Webb, committed during the course of kidnapping, robbery, and/or aggravated sexual assault. Kitchens was tried before a jury upon a plea of guilty to murder but not guilty to capital murder. The jury found him guilty of the capital offense on August 28, 1986. Following a separate punishment hearing, pursuant to state law, the trial court assessed Kitchens' punishment at death.

Kitchens appealed his conviction and sentence to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, which affirmed the conviction and sentence on October 30, 1991, and denied rehearing on December 4, 1991. The United States Supreme Court denied Kitchens' petition for writ of certiorari on June 1, 1992. Kitchens then filed an application for a state writ of habeas corpus with the convicting court on February 4, 1993.

After a two-day evidentiary hearing and the entry of findings of fact and conclusions of law by the convicting court, the Court of Criminal Appeals denied habeas relief on November 27, 1996. In September 1997, Kitchens filed a federal petition for writ of habeas corpus in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas, Abilene Division. The district court denied relief on November 26, 1997, and later denied Kitchens permission to appeal. On August 10, 1998, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit granted Kitchens permission to appeal two issues. On September 28, 1999, after full briefing and oral argument, the Fifth Circuit affirmed the district court's denial of relief. Kitchens did not file a petition for writ of certiorari to the United States Supreme Court.

PRIOR CRIMINAL HISTORY

At the punishment phase of trial, the State introduced evidence that Kitchens had previously been convicted of assault with a dangerous weapon, resulting from Kitchens firing a .22 caliber pellet rifle at officers who had surrounded his house in 1982. Kitchens resisted arrest in that incident and possessed two shotguns, a rifle, and the .22 pellet rifle at the time. Kitchens told one of the officers that he would have killed someone if there had not been so many of them. Kitchens also threatened to kill one of the officers in the future.

The State introduced the testimony of a woman whom Kitchens had raped in Oklahoma in 1985. During that offense, Kitchens slapped and strangled the victim to the point of nearly passing out. He also threatened to kill her. The same woman reported that she had seen Kitchens start a fight with someone once and also throw another woman down some stairs. Evidence was introduced reflecting that Kitchens had additional previous convictions for concealing stolen property and driving while intoxicated (two convictions).

DRUGS / ALCOHOL - According to Kitchens, his violent criminal history, including the instant offense, stemmed from alcohol and/or drug use.

ProDeathPenalty.Com

William Kitchens was sentenced to death for the May 17, 1986 murder of Patricia Leann Webb. Patricia and Kitchens had met at an Abilene Texas bar earlier that day. Kitchens raped Patricia, then drove her to a secluded area outside of town and beat her severely, then strangled and shot her in the head with a .22 caliber pistol. He then stole her car, money, credit cards and checkbook. He was arrested in his hometown in Oklahoma the next day, with her property in his possession. Kitchens had a previous conviction for assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and had served 8 months of a two year sentence before being released in 1983.

Abilene Reporter-News

"Judge Lifts Kitchens' Stay of Execution," by Richard Horn. Thursday, November 27, 1997 - A federal judge Wednesday cleared the way for execution of William Joseph Kitchens, rejecting all 25 points of the condemned killer's latest appeal. In a 28-page ruling, U.S. District Judge Sam Cummings dismissed each of Kitchen's alleged errors, chief among them accusations his Abilene defense attorneys were ineffective. His Houston attorneys could next take the case to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, but Cummings' ruling is significant, especially in light of new federal law. "I think due to the streamlining of procedure, the first step in the federal appeals process is an important one," District Attorney James Eidson said Wednesday. "This constitutes a major hurdle to the resolution of all his appeals."

A Taylor County jury sentenced Kitchens, 34, to death in 1986 for raping, robbing and murdering Patricia LeAnn Webb, the wife of an Abilene firefighter. State District Judge Jess Holloway and the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals have already rejected Kitchens' appeals.

Cummings also dismissed each of the claims, including criticism the defense failed to investigate and present evidence of mitigating circumstances about Kitchens' alcoholism and violent and abusive upbringing in Oklahoma. "Given that the Kitchens' household produced no other anti-social personalities," Cummings wrote, "(defense) counsel could reasonably decide that a jury would not give mitigating weight to testimony about his family background." He also rejected Kitchens' complaint his lawyers advised him to plead guilty to murder without a plea bargain, a move his new attorneys called "bizarre" because it made prosecutors' jobs easier. "Contrary to Kitchens' assertions," Cummings wrote, "it is not unusual for a capital murder defendant to plead guilty in order to gain credibility with jurors on other issues. "More importantly," Cummings notes, "in the absence of a guilty plea, the jury would still have found that Kitchens intentionally killed the victim."

Kitchens' appellate attorneys also criticize his trial defense for not seeking an insanity defense, not obtaining all the medical evidence they should have and failing to seek a hearing to see if their client was competent to stand trial. But Cummings said defense attorneys did have Kitchens examined by two psychiatrists and obtained all the testing those doctors requested. Further, he said, defense attorneys hired two experts to test Kitchens and both found him competent. Evidence showed Kitchens also assisted in his defense during the trial, the judge said.

Kitchens admitted battering and shooting the 25-year-old woman in the head but denied raping and robbing her. No new execution date has been set.

APBNews Online

"Texas Executes Man for 1983 Rape-Murder; Twice-Paroled Robber Denies Killing.

May 5, 2000 - HUNTSVILLE, Texas (AP) -- A twice-paroled bank robber and burglar became the 13th person put to death in Texas this year when he was executed for the 1983 shooting death of a University of Texas student. Tommy Ray Jackson, 43, insisted he was innocent of the murder of 24-year-old Rosalind Robison, although he was arrested driving her car and was carrying her automated bank teller card. "I cannot show any remorse for something I did not do," he said in his final statement. "If I did, I'd be faking, and there's nothing fake about me." Evidence showed Jackson and a companion, James Clary, disabled an alarm to escape an Austin halfway house where both were sent following their parole from prison.

Shot victim in the head

The victim, an engineering student from Terre Haute, Ind., was emerging from a building late at night when she was abducted, forced to withdraw money from an automated teller machine, raped in her car and driven to a rural area. She was shot once in the head. "He literally put the girl on her knees, bound her hands behind her, put the bullet through her head and goes to a party," said Williamson County District Attorney Ken Anderson. "He's the most coldblooded, most evil, most psychopathic killer I've ever seen." Clary testified against Jackson and received a life prison term.

Jackson was the 13th inmate executed in Texas this year and the first of seven scheduled for this month.

Abilene Reporter-News

"Judge Postpones Kitchens Execution." Wednesday, June 11, 1997 - A federal judge has postponed William Joseph Kitchens' execution date next month. Though Kitchens' attorneys must first formally file for a stay of execution, U.S. District Judge Sam Cummings in September will hear Kitchens' latest appeal that he was denied a fair trial in 1986 when he was sentenced to die for raping, robbing and murdering Patricia LeAnn Webb. Kitchens was scheduled to die July 24.

The condemned killer challenged his conviction on 25 points, including ineffective counsel by his attorneys, during a two-day hearing in Abilene three years ago. State District Judge Jess Holloway rejected Kitchens' arguments. In December, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals agreed with Holloway's findings.

Kitchens' Houston attorneys are expected to raise many of the same issues before Cummings. Among the defense's appeals were that Kitchens' court-appointed attorneys shouldn't have recommended he plead guilty to murder without a plea bargain, that they lacked enough time to prepare their defense and should have sought a continuance, and that they failed to investigate evidence of physical and alcohol abuse while the killer was a toddler.

One of the attorneys, Randy Dale, filed an affidavit in the case admitting his work and experience were inadequate. Dale has since joined the ministry.

During the trial, Kitchens admitted battering and shooting Webb in the head, but denied raping and robbing the 25-year-old wife of an Abilene firefighter.

ABOLISH Archives (Associated Press & Rick Halperin)

Oklahoma drifter William Kitchens was executed Tuesday evening after apologizing to the family of an Abilene woman for her beating, rape and murder 14 years ago. Kitchens, 37, prayed shortly before his death, asking God to forgive him "for the despicable things I've done." After concluding the prayer, he turned to his own friends and family and said, "I love you all. You all take care, I'm so sorry."

Then he took a couple of deep breaths, uttered a slight wheeze and slipped into unconsciousness. He was pronounced dead at 6:22 p.m., 11 minutes after the lethal drugs were administered, one of the needles entering an intricate set of red-and-blue tattoos on his right arm. Kitchens, from Blanchard, Okla., was condemned for strangling and then shooting through the eye 25-year-old Patricia Webb, wife of an Abilene firefighter.

In making his brief statement Tuesday, Kitchens turned his head to look at Webb's husband, sister, brother and niece. "I don't know how to tell you, there's no way to express my sorrow," he said, "I hope you can find the peace the Lord has given me. I can't change it. I'm sorry, I can't replace your loss." Kitchens, asked that no additional appeals be filed for him after a federal appeals court refused to overturn his conviction and sentence last September. "He accepted responsibility, said he was sorry, showed remorse," James Webb, the victim's husband, said after watching Kitchens die. "I don't know if you ever get closure." Asked if he could find the peace Kitchens wished for him, Webb replied, "Maybe I will in time."

Kitchens, an 8th-grade dropout who worked in construction and as a painter, left Oklahoma in 1986 to stay briefly with a brother in Dallas, then began hitchhiking west, hoping to get to California. On May 16, 1986, he was staying at a motel in Abilene, took some drugs and went to a nightclub. Webb was there with some female co-workers for an office party, and Kitchens joined their group. When they all were leaving, she offered to take him to the motel so he wouldn't have to pay for a taxi.

According to Kitchens, Webb accompanied him to the room to get a phone number where he could be reached in California. Once in the room, "I wanted to scare her, to let her know she shouldn't just go with someone to a motel room," he said. "At the bar, even in the hotel room, she made it clear she was not going to fool around."

From the death chamber gurney, Kitchens told her family: "I want you to know that Patty was always faithful to you, that I forced her for everything that she did, and I am sorry." He choked and raped her, forced her back into her car and drove off. He was seen driving her car the next day in Blanchard, about 30 miles southwest of Oklahoma City, and wrecked the car May 18 after fleeing from police. He was arrested at his parents' home, confessed to killing Webb and gave officers directions to a wooded site about 11 miles from Abilene where they found her body.

At his trial, Kitchens testified he was drunk at the time of the crime and believed Webb was his wife. It took the jury 15 minutes to decide on the death penalty. "My punishment has been spending every day in this prison," he said from death row. "I'm already free inside... I'm more at peace with myself now than I've ever been. Sometimes I look at the calendar, and the days are moving too slow."

Kitchens was known to his friends in prison as "Red" because of the color of his hair. In 1994, he used 2 old saw blades to cut his way out of his death row cell, then hit the guard who discovered him in the head with a piece of pipe before he was subdued. His record included a 2-year sentence in Oklahoma for assault. He said he was smoking dope at age 13 and by the time he was 18, he was hooked on methamphetamines and alcohol. "I liked it and the attention I got," he said. "I wish I could change things. I've done what put me in this position. I just accept it and try to learn from it and go on."

Kitchens becomes the 14th condemned prisoner to be put to death this year in Texas and the 213th overall since the state resumed capital punishment on Dec. 7, 1982. 5 more executions are scheduled in Texas this month, and 7 more are set to occur in June.

Kitchens also becomes the 33rd condemned inmate to be put to death this year in the USA and the 631st overall since the executions resumed in America on Jan. 17, 1977.