ProDeathPenalty.Com

Michael Donald Roberts was executed for the January 16, 1988 murder of Lula Mae Brooks, 80, who drowned in her own blood after being stabbed in the head and neck and her throat was slit. She was found dead on the living room floor of her home. The woman was killed during the burglary of her home. Roberts lived three houses down from Brooks and confessed to the killing in a statement to Oklahoma City police. Roberts also admitted to 19 other burglaries. Attorney General Drew Edmondson called Roberts a "walking crime wave" who also confessed to a count of sexual assault. "Roberts committed a cold- blooded murder on an 80-year- old victim," Edmondson said.

Roberts told police that he entered Brooks' house after he saw the door open. He claimed he stabbed Brooks when she charged at him with a knife. He said he slit her throat with another knife when she came at him a second time. Roberts said he tossed Brooks on the floor and she then asked him to "finish the job," authorities said. Roberts recanted his confession during his trial and said he confessed because detectives offered him a 15-year sentence to clear up the killing and a string of robberies. Police denied the claim. Prosecutors and police said Roberts killed Brooks to avoid arrest and prosecution because Brooks could identify him. The U.S. Supreme Court, the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and Gov. Frank Keating all denied requests for a stay of execution or to reconsider earlier appeal denials. The state Pardon and Parole Board denied Roberts' clemency request.

Death Penalty Institute of Oklahoma

Michael Donald Roberts - Executed February 10, 2000

Michael Donald Roberts, 42, was executed by lethal injection at Oklahoma State Penitentiary shortly after midnight on Thursday, February 10, 2000. Roberts was pronounced dead at 12:21am. Roberts, an Oklahoma County death row inmate, was sentenced to death for the January 16, 1988, murder of Lula Mae Brooks, 80.

Roberts was the 3rd Oklahoma inmate to be executed in 2000, as well as the 22nd inmate to be executed since Oklahoma resumed capital punishment in 1977. He was also the 13th inmate to be executed nationally this year, and the 611th to be executed since 1976.

Attorneys for Roberts, as well as numerous groups and individuals, had asked Governor Keating to grant a stay of execution until a study of the death penalty could be carried out in Oklahoma. Last week Illinois Governor George Ryan declared a moratorium in that state, in part due to the fact that 13 innocent persons have been released from death row. Representative John Sellers of Enid has introduced a bill, that would impose a two-year moratorium on executions here to allow Oklahoma's death penalty process to be studied. Although on a per-capita basis Oklahoma has released the second highest number of inmates from death row, Attorney General Drew Edmondson stated "I don't support a moratorium because we don't have a problem with the appeals process in Oklahoma." A total of seven Oklahoma inmates have been exonerated. (For further information, see Innocence and the Death.

Police said that Brooks was murdered in her home during a burglary. Her throat had been slit. After seven or eight days of interrogation, without an attorney present, Roberts confessed to the murder. He later recanted his confession. Prayer vigils and protests were held in several cities across the state. Approximately 50 people attended the prayer vigil outside the gates of the penitentiary in McAlester.

Clemency Denied - January 25, 2000 - A clemency hearing held by the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board on January 25, 2000, at the Lexington Center. Roberts' attorney, Gary Chubbeck, argued that Roberts' confession was coerced. Chubbeck noted that custodial confessions are notoriously unreliable. He also pointed out that physical evidence, which was used in the trial, had subsequently been lost. If available, this evidence could now be DNA tested and might prove the innocence of Roberts. Chubbeck claimed that the case against Roberts was weaker than the case against Ronald Williamson, who was released from prison last year after DNA evidence cleared him. Williamson had been imprisoned for 12 years, nine of which he spent on death row. The Board voted against recommending clemency in a 3-1 decision. Susan Bussey voted in favor of clemency. Currie Ballard, Flint Breckinridge and Stephanie Chappelle voted against clemency. Patrick Morgan, a former Oklahoma County prosecutor, recused himself from the proceedings.

APBNews Online

"Oklahoma Executes Killer Burglar; 80-Year-Old Neighbor Drowned in Her Own Blood." (February 10, 2000) McALESTER, Okla. (AP) -- A man convicted of stabbing his 80-year-old neighbor to death during a 1988 burglary at her home was executed by injection early today. Michael D. Roberts, 42, was pronounced dead at 12:21 a.m.

Roberts was condemned for the death of Lula Mae Brooks, who drowned in her own blood after being stabbed in her neck and head. Roberts, who lived three houses away from her, confessed to the crime but said the victim came at him with a knife, authorities said. Attorney General Drew Edmondson called Roberts a "walking crime wave" who also confessed to a count of sexual assault. "Roberts committed a cold-blooded murder on an 80-year-old victim," he said.

ABOLISH Archives

February 10, 2000 - OKLAHOMA (Michael Roberts):

Michael Roberts was sent to Oklahoma's death row for the 1988 murder of Lula Brooks. The course of events leading to Michael's conviction are laden with suspicion of foul play on behalf of Oklahoma police and prosecutors.

A witness for the prosecution saw a man entering the victim's house the day of the murder, but was unable to identify Michael Roberts in a line-up. Fingernail-clippings of the victim were also inconclusive, but Michael's attorney failed to raise the issue on direct appeal.

In one of the three confessions, Michael claimed to have committed twenty other crimes including rape and burglary. Prosecutors used this to show that he would commit further criminal acts of violence. The "continuing threat to society" was one of aggravating factors leading to Michael's death sentence.

Michael's attorneys were not informed that some of the state's witnesses for the twenty crimes refused to testify at trial because they were sure their attacker was white (Michael is Black). Only eleven of twenty possible witnesses agreed to take the stand. Eight of them said the criminal they saw was black, one said he was white and two gave no indication one way or the other.

Michael had no relationship to his real father and his adoptive father died early. An abusive stepfather drove Michael from home at the age of 11. He had to fend for himself on the streets from then on.

For More Information:

Oklahoma Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty
P.O. Box 713
Oklahoma City, OK 73101

ABOLISH Archives (The Oklahoman)

OKLAHOMA:

Convicted killer Michael Donald Roberts' 12-year stay on death row neared an end today with his execution hours away and a last-minute appeal pending before the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. "We don't expect any obstacles to the execution," Gerald Adams, spokesman for the attorney general's office, said.

But attorneys for Roberts waited on word on last-minute appeals filed with the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, said attorney Gary Chubbuck. The U.S. Supreme Court denied Roberts' request for a stay of execution as well as a separate appeal this afternoon. Chubbuck and other attorneys also have sent a letter to Gov. Frank Keating asking for a 60-day death penalty reprieve so a study can examine whether the death penalty is being applied fairly. A reprieve would benefit not only Roberts, but Chubbuck's clients, Loyd Winford LaFevers and Kelly Lamont Rogers, who are scheduled for execution next month. "We're asking for a moratorium, to suspend executions for a while and get studies to make sure we're doing this right," Chubbuck said.

Richard Kirby, deputy legal counsel to the governor, said today he had discussed the request with Keating and the governor was expected to formally respond later in the day. "Is he sensitive to it? Yes," Kirby said. "Does he favor it? I don't think so, because of his respect for the legal process and his respect for victims in the case." When the process reaches the execution stage, the case has been through many rounds of appeals and every legal issue has been examined, he said. Kirby said he believes the most Keating can do is delay the execution for 30 days and not the 60 requested by Roberts' attorneys.

Roberts was to be the 105th inmate executed in Oklahoma and the 22nd in the state since the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1977.

He was convicted for the January 1988 murder of 80-year-old Lula Mae Brooks. Roberts lived 3 houses down from Brooks in northwest Oklahoma City and was accused of stabbing Brooks and slitting her throat during a burglary of her home. Roberts was accused of a series of robberies of elderly residents in northwest Oklahoma City in late 1987 and early 1988.

In a police confession, Robert had said he saw the door open to Brooks' house and went inside. He claimed he stabbed Brooks when she came at him with a knife. He said he cut her throat with another knife when she charged him a second time. Roberts said he tossed Brooks on the floor. He said she then asked him to "finish the job, finish the job." Police and prosecutors said Brooks had lost too much blood to speak and that Roberts killed Brooks because she could identify him.

Roberts recanted his earlier confession during his trial. The confession included an admission to 19 other robberies. He told jurors he confessed because detectives offered him a 15-year sentence to clear up the killing and robberies. Detectives denied Roberts' claim.

A detective who worked the case had indicated he may attend the execution, Adams said. None of Brooks' family was expected. 3 people indicated they might witness the execution for Roberts, a prison spokesman said.

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Convicted killer Michael Donald Roberts is set to be executed by lethal injection shortly after midnight Wednesday at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary. Roberts, 41, was sentenced to death for killing 80-year-old Lula Mae Brooks in Oklahoma City. His execution will be the state's 3rd this year. He will be the 22nd person executed in Oklahoma since the state resumed executions in 1990 after the death penalty was reinstated in 1977.

At his trial in 1988, Roberts testified that he was not the killer. However, prosecutors had taped confessions from Roberts telling police that he stabbed Brooks twice on Jan. 16, 1988. He was also found guilty of several robberies and burglaries leading up to the murder. The prosecution contended that Roberts, along with a juvenile, robbed the homes of several elderly people in northwestern Oklahoma City before the Brooks killing. They would watch senior citizens shopping, follow them home and then rob them at night. Brooks was found dead on her living room floor with stab wounds to her head and neck. Her throat had been slit.

The U.S. Supreme Court turned down Roberts' appeal in 1994 without comment. A final appeal was rejected by the court in December.

The Daily Ardmoreite

"Roberts Executed for 1988 Killing of 80-year-old Woman," by Renee Ruble. (AP)

McALESTER -- An Oklahoma City man who robbed an 80-year-old woman and then slit her throat to ''finish the job'' was executed early Thursday. Michael Donald Roberts was pronounced dead at 12:21 a.m., four minutes after being administered a lethal dose of drugs. ''What y'all are seeing here today is wrong. This is supposed to be a Christian state. You've just got to ask the Lord to forgive them,'' Roberts said in his final statement.

Roberts was executed for the January 1988 death of Lula Mae Brooks at her Oklahoma City home. No one was scheduled to witness the execution for Brooks. Six witnesses were present for Roberts as he told his attorney and family members that he loved them. ''I love all of y'all and thank the good Lord for bringing you into my life,''' he said. Shortly after the execution began, Roberts looked up through the windows to the witnesses. One waved, another gave a thumbs-up sign. Roberts leaned back, then forward, and made a kissing gesture to them. He quickly became unconscious then made several panting breaths before he laid still.

Earlier Wednesday, last-attempt appeals were denied. ''As this sentence is finally carried out, my thoughts are with the family of Lula Mae Brooks,'' Attorney General Drew Edmondson said. Roberts was the 105th inmate executed in Oklahoma and the 22nd in the state since the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1977.

He was sentenced to death after police said he confessed to killing Brooks. Roberts, who lived three houses down, told police he saw Brooks' door open and went inside. He then stabbed her when she charged after him with a knife, according to a police confession. Brooks asked him to ''finish the job,'' Roberts told police. Prosecutors said Brooks was killed because she could identify Roberts. During his trial, Roberts recanted his earlier confession, which included an admission to 19 other robberies. Roberts said he confessed because detectives offered him a 15-year sentence to clear up the killing and robberies. Detectives denied the claim.

For his last meal, Roberts asked for three pounds of barbecued beef ribs, six dinner rolls, one Cornish hen, one cheeseburger, a 7-Up and a strawberry drink. Small groups of death penalty supports and opponents gathered outside the prison's gates Wednesday night. ''The death penalty is reserved for the worst of the worst,'' said Judy Busch, who founded the Homicide Survivors Support Group after the 1990 murder of her 7-year-old granddaughter, Katherine Ann Busch, in El Reno. Just up the street the Rev. Bryan Brooks, pastor of the St. Anthony's and Uganda Martyrs Catholic churches in Okmulgee, led death penalty opponents in prayer for Roberts and victims of violent crimes.

''The men there on death row, they know we're here,'' he said. As of Feb. 1, there were 143 individuals on Oklahoma's death row. Two executions were scheduled for March.

Roberts v. State, 868 P.2d 712 (Okl.Cr. 1994), cert. denied 115 S.Ct. 158 (1994).

Appellant Michael Donald Roberts was tried by jury and convicted of Murder in the First Degree and Burglary in the First Degree, After Former Conviction of Two or More Felonies and Case No. CRF-88-677, in the District Court of Oklahoma County. The jury found the existence of three aggravating circumstances--that Appellant committed the murder to avoid arrest and prosecution he was previously convicted of a felony involving the use or threat of violence to the person and there was a probability Appellant would commit criminal acts of violence that would constitute a continuing threat to society and recommended punishment of death for murder and three hundred-fifty (350) years for the burglary after former convictions. The trial court sentenced accordingly. From this judgment and sentence Appellant has perfected this appeal. We affirm.

Eighty-year-old Lula Mae Brooks of Oklahoma City was found dead on her living room floor on January 16, 1988. There were signs of forced entry into the house. She had been stabbed in the head and neck, and her throat was slit; she drowned in her own blood. At the scene, authorities found a knife and photographed shoeprints which showed a diamond pattern consistent with an athletic-type shoe.

That same month, authorities arrested a juvenile who was a suspect in numerous burglaries committed in the victim's neighborhood. The juvenile implicated Appellant in certain property crimes. Authorities arrested Appellant after spotting him as a passenger in a vehicle during a routine traffic stop. A computer check revealed Appellant was wanted on several outstanding traffic warrants. A knife was taken from his person during the arrest. En route to jail, Appellant volunteered his knowledge of the victim, a neighbor he had known for years. This volunteered information was not the result of questioning by the arresting officer.

During booking, authorities took Appellant's athletic shoes and submitted the shoes, laces and knife to forensics, along with blood samples from Appellant and blood type from the victim. Appellant's knife and shoes showed presence of blood, but authorities could not determine further blood characteristics. The pattern on the bottom of Appellant's shoes was consistent with the pattern found at the murder scene.

Appellant was interviewed by detectives, and confessed to a series of robberies; this confession was videotaped without his knowledge. Appellant also talked about the murder, eventually giving three versions of what had transpired. He first said he entered the house the day after the murder, noticing the general disarray inside the house and a chalk outline of the body. However, authorities had not used a chalk outline in this case. In the second version, he said he was walking to the store on January 16, 1988, when he heard a noise inside the decedent's house. He entered to see her lying on the floor, with blood gushing from her throat. He became scared and ran out of the house. He feared some blood might have got on his jeans. In the final version, he admitted he decided to burglarize the victim. He approached the house to find the front door partially open, and Ms. Brooks approaching him with a knife, saying she had been robbed and did not want it to happen again. He said he grabbed the hand holding the knife, while at the same time getting out his own knife and stabbing her in the neck. As the blood gushed from her neck, he helped her to the bathroom to attend to the wound. He returned to the living room and saw two purses. At some point, he said the decedent approached him from behind. He threw her down on the floor, put a covering over her head and slit her throat after she requested him to "finish the job."