McAlester News-Capital & Democrat

"Oklahoma Executes 15th This Year," by Doug Russell, City Editor. (August 30, 2001)

It was over two minutes after it began. Jack Dale Walker was pronounced dead at 9:09 Tuesday night, the 15th Oklahoma death row inmate to be executed this year. Walker, 35, raised his head as the blinds to the execution chamber at Oklahoma State Penitentiary were raised. He grinned widely and nodded his head at seven people who had come to witness the execution on his behalf.

Walker's witnesses - including two attorneys, one defense investigator, a friend and an aunt - waved their right hands as his smile grew broader, then lowered their arms as he rested his head on the gurney to which he was strapped. Asked if he had any last words, Walker said "I'd just like to tell my family and friends good-bye." He turned his head to look at the witnesses in the execution room, seeming to focus particular attention on two brunette women whose shoulders shook as they cried softly. "I love you and I hope to see you soon," Walker said. "Take care." He spoke no more.

Walker was executed for the Dec. 30, 1988, stabbing deaths of 17-year-old Shelly Ellison and her uncle, 30-year-old Donald Gary Epperson. According to court documents, a co-worker drove Walker to Juanita Epperson's home in Bixby. Walker grew angry once he was inside the home and attacked Ellison with a hunting knife. Donald Epperson came out of a bedroom to help her and began fighting with Walker. Ellison managed to dial 911 at some point during the attack. "I need help," she told the dispatcher. "He's stabbing me. I'm dead. Please." When police arrived Ellison was dead. She had been stabbed 32 times, including several times with an ice pick. Donald Epperson suffered 11 stab wounds. Although he was conscious when police arrived at the home, he later died from his wounds. Ellison's grandmother, Juanita Epperson, was also wounded in the attack. She suffered a broken arm and a stab wound after trying to stop Walker by hitting him with a pipe wrench. Walker was arrested at the scene.

Joshua Ellison, the son of Walker and Shelly Ellison, was three months old at the time of the murders. Now 13, Joshua Ellison wrote a letter to the state Pardon and Parole Board in support of Walker's execution. "Sometimes I think about what life would be like if my mom were alive, but then I come to my senses and realize that was destroyed by one man, Jack Walker," he wrote. "I think Jack Walker should pay for what he did to my mother. I think he should die for taking my mom away from me." Seventeen of Ellison's and Epperson's family members witnessed the execution. Some said they regretted Walker's death was so peaceful when compared with the deaths of their family members. "The laws of Oklahoma would never allow for the type of death we would have chosen for Walker," said Kathy Ellison, the mother of one of Walker's victims and the sister of the other. "We believe if you live by the sword, you should die by the sword. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth."

A small handful of death penalty opponents gathered to sing and pray outside of the prison in the hours leading up to Walker's execution. The Rev. Steve Austin said the protesters pray for the inmate being executed and for his family, as well as for the family and souls of the inmate's victims. Five protesters were arrested outside a building that housed some offices of the attorney general's office in Oklahoma City.

ProDeathPenalty.Com

Jack Dale Walker, 35, is scheduled to be executed Aug. 28 for the 1988 murders of his girlfriend, Shelley Deann Ellison, and her uncle, Donald Gary Epperson. He fatally stabbed 17-year-old Shelly and her uncle Donald Epperson at their home near Bixby in Tulsa County. He was convicted in 1989. Ellison had an infant son who was fathered by Walker, and the stabbings occurred after an argument about custody. Ellison was cut and stabbed at least 32 times, and Epperson had 11 wounds. Walker received 2 death sentences plus prison sentences totaling 40 years for felony assaults involving other family members of Ellison's.

UPDATE - Jack Dale Walker was executed by lethal injection almost 13 years after he stabbed his estranged girlfriend and her uncle to death. Several members of the victims' families watched the execution, including some who witnessed the vicious attack by Walker at a mobile home in Bixby, a Tulsa suburb. Shelly Ellison and Donald Epperson suffered deep wounds from a hunting knife wielded by Walker, 35, on Dec. 30, 1988. Ellison, 17-year-old mother of Walker's 3-month-old son, suffered 32 stab wounds. Epperson was stabbed 11 times. During 20 minutes of terror that began about 8 a.m., Ellison broke free to dial 911. "I need help. He's stabbing me. I'm dead. Please," she told the dispatcher. Children were yelling and a baby could be heard crying in the background. Juanita Epperson, mother of Donald Epperson, also was severely stabbed, but survived.

At a clemency hearing, Walker apologized to the victims' family "for all the pain I've caused them and for this whole ordeal that has been tragic for a lot of people." His plea for a life sentence was rejected after several family members gave eyewitness accounts of the vicious attack and said Walker had been violent in the past and would be a continuing threat. Walker, the product of a broken home, had a history of drug and alcohol abuse. Unlike many convicted murderers, Walker had no felony convictions, but was prone toward violence, according to Ellison's relatives. He was only 22 when he went to the Bixby home to try to persuade his girlfriend to leave with him by threatening suicide. But on a police tape immediately after his arrest, Walker said he went to the home with "the full intention of either taking the baby or murdering her or whoever got in the way."

Walker's son, now 13, wrote a letter to the clemency board in support of his father's execution. "Sometimes I think about what life would be like if my mom were alive, but then I come to my senses and realize that was destroyed by one man, Jack Walker," wrote Joshua Ellison, who has been adopted by his maternal grandparents. "I think Jack Walker should pay for what he did to my mother. I think he should die for taking my mom away from me." Walker said he hopes his son will forgive him when he is older.

Death Penalty Institute of Oklahoma

Jack Dale Walker, 35, was pronounced dead at 9:08pm on Tuesday, August 28. He was killed via lethal injection at Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester. He became the 15th person executed by Oklahoma this year. Oklahoma is now second in total executions for a single year since the reinstatement of the death penalty in the US 25 years ago. Texas, with six times Oklahoma's population, executed a record 40 people last year. This year Texas has executed 12 people.

Walker was killed for the December 30, 1988 murders of his estranged girlfriend, Shelly Ellison, and her uncle, Donald Epperson. The 17-year-old Ellison was the mother of Walker's 3-month-old son. Walker stabbed her 32 times and stabbed Epperson 11 times. Walker -- who suffered from depression, drug and alcohol abuse, borderline personality disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorder -- had sought treatment at a Tulsa facility shortly before the murders. He was discharged because he had no insurance. Vigils and Protests - Vigils and protests were held at numerous locations around the state. As always, a vigil was held outside the gates of Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester. Over 30 people attended that vigil.

National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty

Jack Walker Scheduled Execution:8/28/01, 10:00pm EST.

Jack Walker, convicted in 1989 for the murders of Shelly Ellison and Donnie Epperson, awaits his execution by the state of Oklahoma, which is presently scheduled for August 25. Mr. Walker’s lawyers contend that their client has been emotionally disturbed for many years and should not have been deemed competent to stand trial. They argue that Mr. Walker’s original counsel never requested a proper competency hearing. Under the effects of strong psychiatric medication, Mr. Walker could not effectively function or fully participate in his own defense during trial.

In late 1988, Walker visited ex-girlfriend Shelly Ellison, then living in her grandmother’s trailer home, to see their baby son. A fight broke out when Walker was told he could not see his son. When police arrived on the scene, Ms. Ellison was dead, Donnie Epperson, Shelly’s uncle, was conscious but failing, and Mr. Walker was unconscious after slashing his wrists and stabbing himself in the throat. Walker was dealing with severe depression at the time of his crimes. He had threatened to commit suicide the day before the murders, though he didn’t mention harm to anyone else. He had attempted suicide two times previously and had been voluntarily hospitalized two months prior to the incident during which time he was diagnosed with depression and polysubstance abuse.

Mr. Walker stated in an affidavit that his medications made him confused and that this prevented him from assisting his attorney during trial. He also asserted that his dosage of antipsychotic medications was increased before trial, and he had difficulties staying awake. Several observers stated that Walker’s face was expressionless during trial and that he had to be supported while he walked. A minister testified that Mr. Walker’s speech was slow and slurred, and that Mr. Walker had trouble formulating ideas and articulating his thoughts. A neuropharmacologist evaluated Walker and diagnosed him with several psychiatric conditions, including Borderline Personality Disorder and a condition called Paradoxical Benzodiazapine Rage. Evaluating the effects that the antipsychotic drugs may have had on Mr. Walker, the neuropharmacologist noted that the defendant may have had a neurobiological disposition related to his “experiencing psychoticism and dissociative explosive dyscontrol under intense emotional stress.” Quite simply, Walker’s antipsychotic medications may have caused an impulsive, enraged reaction. A psychologist also stated that Walker’s use of medications “appeared to raise issues of competency.”

Mr. Walker argued that his trial attorney never reviewed his jail medical records or presented evidence of certain psychiatric diagnoses from his recent past. When Walker challenged the ineffectiveness of his first lawyer, the state moved to quickly dismiss his claims. Under Oklahoma law, habeas relief can only be obtained if the petitioner can establish both that the attorney was deficient in his representation and that the jury’s decision would have been different had counsel been more competent. The Court’s decision curtly states that “there is no reasonable probability the outcome at trial would have been different but for counsel’s allegedly deficient performance”, a notion that fails to acknowledge any effect such evidence may have had. The district court denied Mr. Walker an evidentiary hearing on his competency claims on the basis that he was not entitled to habeas relief even if his evidence was true, in accordance with the aforementioned law.

Psychiatric experts have argued that Walker has suffered a long history of diagnosed mental illness. His actions before and after the crime were consistent with several of his long-term diagnoses, including Borderline Personality Disorder. The same experts asserted that Mr. Walker’s violence level would decrease and that he would not be a continuing threat if incarcerated.

Oklahoma has executed forty-three people since 1990, but thirteen of those killed have been in the last seven months. As the state with the most executions in 2001, Oklahoma embodies a dangerous trend of increased brutality in state sanctioned punishment. Please support Jack Walker and protest Oklahoma’s killing spree by writing to the following people and organizations.