Clarion-Ledger 

JULY 17, 2002:

MISSISSIPPI - execution - Hansen dies by lethal injection---Mississippi's 1st execution in 13 years carried out

Tracy Alan Hansen was executed by lethal injection at 6:32 p.m. today in a room of Unit 17 at the State Penitentiary at Parchman.

 Tracy Alan Hansen was on death row for 15 years, but it took only minutes to carry out his 6 p.m. execution Wednesday at the State Penitentiary.

 State pathologist Steven Hayne pronounced Hansen dead at 6:32 p.m., prison officials said.

 Hansen, the 1st inmate executed in the state since 1989, was put to death for the 1987 murder of state Trooper David Bruce Ladner, who had stopped the vehicle Hansen was driving on I-10 west of Gulfport.

 Hansen and his girlfriend Anita Krecic were wanted in Florida at the time for a string of robberies stretching from Fort Lauderdale to Gainesville. Convicted of capital murder, Krecic is serving a life sentence at the Central Mississippi Correctional Facility in Rankin County.

 Prison officials said Hansen's execution was delayed by several minutes because the inmate gave a long speech rather than a few last words. Officials finally removed Hansen's microphone and began the flow of lethal drugs via intravenous lines in each of his arms; Hansen died about nine minutes after that.

 "I don't want to die. My life is being taken from me," witnesses to the execution quoted Hansen as saying. "... I'm sorry in my heart. Trooper Ladner was a good man. I didn't mean to kill him."

 "I don't have the right to ask the family not to be angry," Hansen said as his microphone was removed. Witnesses said he then exhaled and closed his eyes.

 Shortly after 4:30 p.m., the U.S. Supreme Court, without comment, refused to stay Mississippi's 1st execution in 13 years.

 Ladner's two sons, Damon and Brandon, witnessed the execution. The slain trooper's brother, Kirk, also witnessed the execution. Herman Cox, the former Harrison County district attorney who prosecuted the case against Hansen, both witnessed the execution and spoke afterward on behalf of the Ladner family.

 "Justice was carried out today," Cox said. "Tracy Hansen did not have to shoot twice."

 From what he saw, Cox said, Hansen was not in pain when he died. "That is not true of Trooper Ladner," Cox said. "He was shot and died 36 hours later."

 The Ladner family will continue to oppose Krecic's bids for parole, Cox said. "We hope God will have mercy on Tracy Hansen," he said.

 No family member of Hansen, who said he was raised in a middle-class family near Orlando, witnessed him being put to death. Hansen did, however, speak by telephone to his father, Orlando resident Lawrence Hansen, several times Wednesday. Efforts to reach Hansen's family, including his father, were unsuccessful Wednesday.

 Ladner family members arrived in a chartered bus at the penitentiary at 3:40 p.m. All told, there were 60 family members, friends and law enforcement supporters on the bus, Ladner family members said.

 MDOC spokeswoman Jennifer Griffin said Hansen ate his last meal at about 4 p.m., Griffin said.

Hansen mailed 23 letters Wednesday morning, Griffin said. She said she did not know who the recipients are.

 Hansen has requested the American Cremation Society of Memphis cremate his remains, but it's unknown what will happen with the ashes, Griffin said.

 Hansen on Wednesday visited with the Rev. Fennena Clayson, a paralegal, and with attorneys Charles Press and Debra Sabah, Griffin said. Clayson and Sister Donna Gunn, who also visited Wednesday with Hansen, both witnessed the execution.

 Death penalty protesters began arriving at the penitentiary at about 4:30 p.m. and were allowed to stand in a designated area outside the prison.

 In Jackson, about 75 death penalty opponents sang "Amazing Grace" in front of the Governor's Mansion as the hour of Hansen's death approached. The group started praying and singing at Smith Park at 5 p.m. before walking to the mansion on Capitol Street.

 "We just want to pray," said the Rev. Jerry Tobin, associate pastor of Christ the King Catholic Church in Jackson.

 Nearby, James Smith of Canton carried a sign saying "Thou shalt not kill."

 "It's just wrong to take a life," Smith said. "I don't believe in it. God gave life to us, and only He should take it away."

 Hansen was allowed to place phone calls on Wednesday that were approved by the Department of Corrections. Those he called:

 His father, Lawrence Hansen, from 9:35-10:31 a.m., 11:28-11:45 a.m.

 Friend Rhea Abbott of Aberdeen, Wash., from 9:20-9:25 a.m., 11:46 a.m.-12:20 p.m. and 12:24-12:42 p.m.

 Friend Karen Elsea of Silver Springs, Md., from 9:27-9:29 a.m., 11:45-11:46 a.m., and 12:45-12:47 p.m.

 Hansen also tried to call his brother, Scott Hansen, but was unsuccessful, said Department of Corrections spokesman Ken Jones.

 Since January 2001, Jones said Wednesday, Hansen had made regular phone calls to his father. Department of Corrections officials had earlier said Hansen has had no contact with family members.

 Of those calls, Griffin said, 211 were incomplete, which means Hansen wasn't able to reach his father for one reason or another. Another 53 calls were "disconnected," or fairly short calls, and another 52 calls were "successful" and lasted the maximum 15 minutes allowed, Griffin said.

 Hansen becomes the 1st condemned inmate to be executed in Mississippi since 1989, and the 5th overall since the state resumed capital punishment in 1983.

 Hansen becomes the 36th condemned inmate to be put to death this year in the USA and the 785th overall since America resumed executions on January 17, 1977.