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Texas Department of Criminal Justice - Executed Offenders (James Roy Knox)

Texas Attorney General Media Advisory

Tuesday, September 18, 2001 - MEDIA ADVISORY - James Roy Knox Scheduled to be Executed.

AUSTIN - Texas Attorney General John Cornyn offers the following information on James Roy Knox, who is scheduled to be executed after 6 p.m. on Tuesday, September 18, 2001. On June 22, 1994, Knox was convicted of murdering Joe Sanchez in Galveston, Texas, during the course of a robbery. A summary of the evidence presented at trial follows.

FACTS OF THE CRIME

At approximately 5:30 p.m. on November 10, 1982, Joe Sanchez, a pharmacist, and his assistant, Ronald Dale Dyda, were preparing to close Joe's Pharmacy Center in Galveston when a man appeared at the counter. He pointed a semiautomatic pistol at them and demanded money and drugs. He told them to "get down on the floor." Dyda complied, but Sanchez did not. Sanchez told the man that there were no drugs, and that he would not get away with this crime.

The robber gave Dyda medical tape and told him to tie Sanchez's hands, but he kept pulling his hands apart and Dyda could not bind them. The robber began to get angry.

The robber again told Dyda to tie Sanchez's hands, but he again successfully resisted. The robber got angrier, told them to get behind the counter, and threatened to kill them both. When Dyda turned to go behind the counter, he heard a gun shot. He turned and saw that Sanchez had fallen. Dyda testified that Sanchez never acted aggressively or resisted the man physically.

The robber pointed the gun at Dyda and demanded the money and "class A" drugs. Dyda gave the robber four small, brown bottles of Demerol and money from the cash register. The robber asked if there were more drugs. Dyda said yes, but by the time he had gotten them, the robber had fled. Sanchez died later of a gunshot wound to the heart that severed his spine. The bullet came from either a .38-caliber or 9mm gun.

Three people, Kathleen Austin, Gene Austin, and Robert Clarac, were next door to the pharmacy at a catering shop when they heard what was the gunshot. All three went outside believing the noise may have resulted from a car being hit in the parking lot behind the stores.

Kathleen Austin and Clarac walked outside and down the alley between the pharmacy and the catering shop toward the parking lot. Kathleen noticed a car in the lot with its motor running. The car was old, dark brown, and had a light-colored top. Having seen no damage to her car, she began to walk back to the catering store when a man came running around the corner from the direction of Joe's Pharmacy Center. She described the man as about six feet tall with a thin build, unshaven and scraggly-looking with medium brown hair. After almost running into Kathleen, the man said "Have a nice day." and continued on. Kathleen testified that the man was holding perhaps three brown bottles in his right hand. She said she thought it was unusual that the pharmacist neglected to put a prescription in a bag, so she went to check on the pharmacist, and found he had been shot. Clarac testified that he observed the same events.

Gene Austin, who went out the back door of the catering shop, also described the man and the car in the same manner as Kathleen and Clarac. Gene testified he saw a driver behind the wheel of the car and the unshaven man get into the passenger seat of the car, which drove off in a westerly direction. After learning that the victim had been shot, Gene attempted to follow the brown car, but was unable to keep up.

George Holland, the driver of the getaway car, testified that in October 1982 Knox discussed with him, and two others, Gary Morgan, and Robert Clark, the possibility of robbing employees of a drug store in Galveston, where Knox had lived in 1981. The four were in Alabama at the time. He testified that Knox said the robbery would be a "piece of cake" because there were no cameras in the store, and that they could obtain drugs and money. Holland also testified that he had seen Knox with a small, dark gray semiautomatic .38-caliber pistol. Not long after this discussion, Gary Morgan went to Houston with Ed Duke to work installing carpet in a department store. A few days later, in November 1982, Knox and Holland followed. Holland testified that they were driving his brother-in-law's 1972 dark brown Chevrolet with a cream-colored top. Upon arriving in Houston, they went to stay at Ed Duke's, where Morgan was also staying.

Knox, Holland, Morgan, and Morgan's girlfriend, Sandra, drove to Joe's Pharmacy in Galveston. Gary and Sandra went inside and ascertained that no cameras were in operation. Knox and Holland waited in the car. After learning about the lack of security, the foursome went to drink beer, and Knox discussed his plan to rob the store employees while Holland drove the car. The next day, November 10, 1982, Knox and Holland again went to Galveston. They sat around drinking beer until the sun began to go down, then went to the pharmacy. Holland waited out in the back parking lot of the store, and Knox went inside where he shot Sanchez and stole the cash and drugs. Holland testified that Knox took longer than he expected. As they were leaving, Holland stated he saw people coming around the side of the building. Knox then got on the floorboard of the car and directed Holland on how to get out of Galveston. Holland noticed Knox had possession of about three brown pill bottles. As they were leaving Galveston, Holland testified that Knox said, "The man got ignorant with me. I had to shoot him." When Holland asked him "how bad," Knox replied, "I killed the (expletive deleted)." Shortly thereafter, Holland left for Alabama.

About a week later in Alabama, Knox told a friend, Walter Robert Clark, that he had robbed a pharmacist in Galveston for some Demerol and had to shoot a man, and that the Demerol was in little brown bottles. Clark testified that he knew Knox owned a small, dark .38-caliber automatic pistol, and Knox told him that he buried the gun. Clark also said Knox said Holland drove the car during the robbery.

PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Knox was first convicted of capital murder on December 5, 1985. The Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed the conviction on September 30, 1987, and the Supreme Court denied his petition for writ of certiorari on June 13, 1988. Knox then filed a state habeas petition, which the Court of Criminal Appeals denied on October 25, 1988.

Knox next filed a federal habeas petition, which the district court denied. On March 28, 1991, the Fifth Circuit reversed the district court and remanded the case with directions to grant the writ, which the district court subsequently did.

Knox was retried and convicted on June 22, 1994, and again assessed the death penalty pursuant to the jury's answers to the special issues. On November 20, 1996, the Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed. Knox then filed a state habeas application in the trial court, which conducted an evidentiary hearing and entered findings of fact and conclusions of law and recommended that relief be denied. On October 14, 1998, the Court of Criminal Appeals denied the writ based on the state habeas court's findings and conclusions.

On February 8, 1999, Knox filed a habeas petition in federal district court. On August 23, 1999, that court entered judgment denying the writ, and Knox appealed. On August 21, 2000, the Fifth Circuit affirmed, and on April 16, 2001, the Supreme Court denied Knox's petition for writ of certiorari.

On June 25, Knox filed another state writ application in the trial court; on July 11, the Court of Criminal Appeals dismissed it for abuse of the writ. Knox then filed two motions for leave to file a mandamus petition in the Court of Criminal Appeals on July 13 and August 20; these motions were denied without written order on August 1 and August 22, respectively.

On September 13th, Knox--represented by new counsel--filed another state habeas petition and a motion for a stay of execution. On September 17th, the Court of Criminal Appeals dismissed the petition for abuse of the writ and denied the motion for a stay of execution. On September 17, 2001, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals denied the motion for stay pending in their court and dismissed the petition for abuse of the writ.

PRIOR CRIMINAL HISTORY

On December 10, 1973, Knox pled guilty to the felony offense of robbery in state court in Alabama and was sentenced to imprisonment for twelve years. This robbery also involved a pharmacy, where Knox and an accomplice sought "strong drugs," and the use of handguns. During the robbery, Knox seized a customer who was deaf. When he told her a robbery was in progress, she didn't understand what he said, and he hit her and knocked her down, and dragged her to the back of the pharmacy. The pharmacy proprietor and his assistant were subdued with adhesive tape before Knox and his partner fled with drugs and money.

The State presented several witnesses who testified that Knox had bragged to them about having committed other robberies, having shot a couple of people, and having lynched a man in Vidor, Texas.

Texas Execution Information Center by David Carson.

James Roy Knox, 50, was executed by lethal injection on 18 September in Huntsville, Texas for the robbery and murder of a pharmacist.

In November 1982, Knox, then 31, entered a Galveston pharmacy owned by Joseph Sanchez, 39. He walked up to the store counter with a gun in his hand and pointed it at Sanchez and his employee, Ronald Dyda. He demanded drugs and told them to get down on the floor. Dyda complied, but Sanchez remained standing. Sanchez told Knox that he had no drugs and that he would not get away with the crime. Knox instructed Dyda to tape Sanchez' hands together, but Sanchez struggled so that Dyda could not do it. Knox became angry and shot Sanchez through the heart. He then pointed the gun and Dyda and demanded drugs. Dyda gave him four bottles of Demerol worth $80 and $15 from the cash register. Knox then fled the scene. Sanchez died about an hour later with a ruptured heart and severed spine.

Two people who were in the store next to the pharmacy heard the gunshot and went outside. They saw a man run past them holding some brown bottles in his hand. They described the man as six feet tall with a thin build, unshaven and scraggly-looking, with medium brown hair. They went into the pharmacy and found Sanchez on the floor. Another nearby witness saw a man with the same description get into the passenger seat of a car, which drove off. He attempted to follow the car, but could not keep up.

At his trial, Ronald Dyda identified Knox as the killer. The other three witnesses identified him as the man who ran from the store with the brown bottles in his hand. George Holland testified that he drove the getaway car, and that Knox told him, "The man got ignorant with me. I had to shoot him." When Holland asked, "How bad?" Knox replied, "I killed the (expletive)". Other witnesses testified that Knox had either told them earlier of his plans to rob a certain pharmacy in Galveston, and later that he had done it.

In 1978, Knox was convicted of armed robbery of a pharmacy in Alabama and received a 12-year sentence. He was paroled in 1980.

Knox was not arrested for Sanchez's murder until 1985. A jury convicted him and sentenced him to death. State courts upheld his conviction, but in March 1991, the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed his conviction on the basis of improper jury instruction. Knox was retried, reconvicted, and resentenced to death in 1994. All of his subsequent appeals in state and federal courts were denied.

Knox declined media interviews throughout his stay on death row and did not seek clemency from the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles. When asked if he had a final statement at his execution, Knox replied, "No, I'm ready". He was pronounced dead at 6:28 p.m.

At the time Knox's case was prosecuted, George Holland and Gary Morgan faced capital murder charges for allegedly helping Knox set up the robbery and elude police. No further information was available about their cases.

ProDeathPenalty.Com

James Knox was sentenced to death for the 1982 murder of Joseph Sanchez who was killed during a robbery of his drug store in Galveston, Texas. A man who worked with Joseph told authorities that Knox walked up to the store counter with a gun and demanded drugs. Joseph was shot through the heart when he told Knox that he had no drugs. Knox then demanded drugs from the other man who gave him four bottles of Demerol and some cash. Knox had a prior conviction for robbery in Alabama for which he served two years of a twelve year sentence.

UPDATE: A paroled robber from Alabama was executed Tuesday night for gunning down a pharmacist who refused to surrender drugs during a holdup at his store nearly 19 years ago. Asked if he had a final statement, James Roy Knox replied, "No, I'm ready. I'm ready." Knox nodded and smiled to five friends he selected as witnesses. He was pronounced dead at 6:28 p.m. Knox was condemned for the 1982 shooting death of Joe Sanchez, 39. He was arrested two years after the slaying and was tried twice for capital murder after his initial conviction was thrown out on appeal because of an improper jury instruction from a judge.

Knox was on parole after serving two years of a 12-year term for robbing a drug store in Alabama when he walked into Joe's Pharmacy in Galveston. Pulling a pistol, he demanded money and drugs from Sanchez and a co-worker. When Sanchez protested, he was shot in the heart. The gunman fled with about $15 and four bottles of Demerol, a pain suppressant. Witnesses at Knox's trials said he bragged about committing other robberies and shootings and of participating in a lynching. Prosecutors said there was evidence he was a white supremacist. "Evil man, evil man," Jim James, one of the prosecutors at Knox's first trial in 1985, said this week. "Never any sign of remorse. He just looked like he thought it was all a joke."

New Hampshire Coalition Against The Death Penalty

HUNTSVILLE, Texas- A paroled robber from Alabama was executed Tuesday night for gunning down a pharmacist who refused to surrender drugs during a holdup at his store nearly 19 years ago. James Roy Knox, 50, was the 13th condemned prisoner to die by injection this year in Texas, where a record 40 inmates were executed last year. Asked if he had a final statement, he replied, "No, I'm ready. I'm ready." Knox nodded and smiled to five friends he selected as witnesses. He was pronounced dead at 6:28 p.m. Knox was condemned for the 1982 shooting death of Joe Sanchez, 39. He was arrested two years after the slaying and was tried twice for capital murder after his initial conviction was thrown out on appeal because of an improper jury instruction from a judge. Knox was on parole after serving two years of a 12-year term for robbing a drug store in Alabama when he walked into Joe's Pharmacy in Galveston. Pulling a pistol, he demanded money and drugs from Sanchez and a co-worker. When Sanchez protested, he was shot in the heart. The gunman fled with about $15 and four bottles of Demerol, a pain suppressant. Witnesses at Knox's trials said he bragged about committing other robberies and shootings and of participating in a lynching. Prosecutors said there was evidence he was a white supremacist. "Evil man, evil man," Jim James, one of the prosecutors at Knox's first trial in 1985, said this week. "Never any sign of remorse. He just looked like he thought it was all a joke."

The Lamp of Hope (Rick Halperin)

Joe's Pharmacy Center in Galveston was one of those businesses longtime residents remember being there "forever." It was the kind of place where locals would gather to visit -- a "family" sort of place.

But on Nov. 10, 1982, it would become the scene of a murder as owner and pharmacist Joe Sanchez was shot and killed by an Alabama man who heads tonight to the state's death chamber in Huntsville for his role in the slaying.

James Roy Knox, 50, is set to die by lethal injection after 6 p.m., condemned to death for Sanchez's murder. He would be the 13th man executed in Texas this year, just 1 week after the execution of death row inmate Jeffrey Tucker was delayed because of terrorist attacks on Washington, D.C., which prevented the inmate access to the D.C.-based U.S. Supreme Court for last-minute appeals.

This is the fourth execution date Knox has faced since first arriving on death row in 1986.

Appeals made on Knox's behalf were dismissed Monday by the Texas Court of Criminal appeals. The inmate, a former drywaller working in Houston at the time of the murder, declined all media interviews in the weeks leading up to his scheduled execution.

Sanchez's son, Joey Sanchez, was 12 when his father was murdered. He, along with his mother, Linda, and an aunt and uncle, intend to witness the execution.

"I'm just ready for that part of this tragedy for my family to be over with," he said. "I think about the day my dad was murdered every day. It's something that will always be with me and I think for the man that killed him, it's time that justice was served.

"It's not going to bring my dad back, but my family's not going to have to go through another day of (wondering if Knox could ever be released). There's not going to be another day James Knox will wake up." According to police reports, Knox entered the 45th Street pharmacy where Sanchez and his assistant, Ronald Dale Dyda, were preparing to close up for the day. Pointing a semiautomatic pistol at the duo, Knox demanded money and drugs.

When Sanchez refused to cooperate, Knox ordered Dyda to bind the pharmacist's hands with medical tape. Sanchez still would not cooperate and Knox shot the man, striking him in the heart with a bullet that also severed his spine. Knox then pointed the gun at Dyda, again demanding money and "class A drugs." Dyda gave the man $80 in cash and four bottles of Demerol, a highly addictive pain medication with a high street value, and the robber fled.

"Knox was apparently familiar with the pharmacy and thought it was an easy hit," said Warren Goodson, chief of the Galveston County District Attorney's Office's Appellate Section. According to police reports, Knox and several accomplices actually had gone into the store several days before the murder to make note of what kind of security existed. Seeing there was little, Knox and accomplice George Holland returned on the day of the murders, with Holland driving the getaway car.

Holland was waiting in the car at the time of the murder. Shortly after he and Knox fled the scene, Knox told Holland, "The man got ignorant with me. I had to shoot him." Holland later testified against Knox at trial, as did several eyewitnesses who saw Knox run from the pharmacy.

In 1985, Knox was convicted of capital murder and was sentenced to death, but that case was overturned in 1991, allowing for a 2nd trial. Knox again was convicted of Sanchez's capital murder and in November 1994, was given a 2nd death sentence.

"I think he is a man who's ready to go," Goodson said, adding that the inmate waived most of his court appearances. "He did not really seem to have an interest in pursuing this much further -- that was my impression of him."

In the meantime, Joey Sanchez and his family are ready to see the case come to an end. "I'm glad this is finally going to be over with," the younger Sanchez said, adding that in the last several days, his family has received a number of phone calls of support from Galveston residents who were friends with the slain pharmacist. Many were former customers who used to congregate at the pharmacy -- now a video store -- for afternoon visits, he said. "He was very loved. My dad was a great man. I think if anything, I've tried to live my life to be as good a man as he was. That's how this affected me."

Joey Sanchez said it was his father's murder that largely influenced him to go to law school and ultimately, become a prosecutor. He practiced law for some time in California, recently moving to Houston while his wife attends medical school. "I was in law school during the 2nd trial although I sat through the 1st trial when I was 14 or 15," he said. "I watched the prosecutors and I knew that I wanted to go to law school to help bring people to justice."

(source: Huntsville Item)