J. L. Balentine was
sentenced to death in 1999 for killing 3 young men.
According to the prosecutors he confessed to the slayings.
According to the police investigators he
targeted Caylor in his home because he had repeatedly
threatened Balentine and his friends after Balentine had
had a relationship with Caylor's sister.
Balentine also told officials he was angered that Caylor and his
friends used drugs in the home while a baby also lived there,
investigators said during the trial. According to his confession
Balentine said he went to Caylor's home and saw him asleep in
the living room along with the other 2 victims.
When his pistol jammed, he fired the gun in the alley, then
crawled through a window, went to the living room and shot the
teens as they slept, according to his statement.
After 10 years John exhausted all
appeals and his execution is shceduled on Aug. 22th.
The appeal to save John
The Community of Sant’Egidio urges everybody to share its appeal aiming to spare John’s life from the execution, sending the following statement to the competent authorities of Texas by fax or e-mail.
Urgent appeal brought out by the Community of Sant’Egidio
to save the life of John Lezell Balentine,
sentenced to death
Dear Governor
Excellency
I am writing to express my
deep concern over a ruling that sentenced to death Mr. John Lezell Balentine,
in spite of only one witness against him full of contradictions, that could
be easily rebutted if the defendant had proper financial means to hire a
strong legal defence and so to be able to re-open his trial.
I urge you to intervene on his
behalf to prevent this cruel and inhuman punishment from being meted out
against him.
I implore you to ensure that
this cruel and inhuman sentence is not carried out.
