PENA MORTE: USA, TEXAS, ESEGUITA CONDANNA OMICIDA DI GAY

WASHINGTON, 07 FEB - Il rapitore e assassino di un giovane gay  e' stato messo a morte giovedi' sera, nel carcere di Huntsville in Texas con  un'iniezione letale.

Henry Dunn jr, 28 anni, ha avuto parole d'amore per la sua famiglia e ha  chiesto perdono alla famiglia della vittima, prima di subire l'iniezione che  l'ha ucciso in sei minuti.

In una dichiarazione scritta, Dunn ha denunciato la giustizia del Texas  che manda a morte innocenti: lui si considera l'ultimo della serie. 

Dunn aveva riconosciuto di essere stato presente quando, oltre nove  anni or sono, Nicolas West venne abbattuto, dopo essere stato rapito per  motivi sessuali, nei pressi di Tyler, nel Texas.

Ma il giovane, che aveva anche cercato di fuggire dal braccio della morte  insieme ad altri carcerati, sosteneva che il vero colpevole era un suo  partner, anch'egli mandato a morte. Un altro complice e' stato condannato  all'ergastolo Dunn e' stato l'ottava persona messa a morte quest'anno in  Texas e la 297.a da quando le esecuzioni sono riprese.

Texas set to execute gay man's killer

Feb 6 2003

SUMMARY: Convicted murderer Henry Dunn Jr. was set to be executed Thursday evening by the state of Texas for the 1993 murder of a gay man.

Convicted murderer Henry Dunn Jr. was set to be executed Thursday evening by the state of Texas for the 1993 murder of a gay man.

Dunn was found guilty in the kidnap and murder of 23-year-old Nicolas West, who had been hanging out in a Tyler, Texas, park known as a meeting place for gay men. According to prosecutors, Dunn waited with his friend David Ray McMillan while West was lured by a third conspirator, Donald Aldrich, into coming with him under the pretense of sex. The three men then forced West to a deserted gravel pit where they tortured him and ultimately used him for target practice.

During his trial, evidence was presented that showed the last shot fired at West came at point-blank range from Dunn's gun. West's body was discovered two days after he was killed. Dunn was picked up by authorities driving West's truck.

All three men were found guilty in the crime. Aldrich is also on death row, while McMillan, who was 17 at the time of the shooting, is serving a life sentence. Dunn's execution comes five years after he and seven other death row inmates tried to escape from Ellis Unit prison on Thanksgiving night.

West's murder brought national exposure to the rural Texas town, which for years denied the existence of a gay community at all. Protests drew activists from across the country, demanding that the prosecution incorporate the suspect's alleged bias against gay men as a partial motive in the case.

"I don't hate homosexuals," Dunn told the Associated Press last week. "That's their right to be that way if they want to."

In a recent interview with a local Texas newspaper, Dunn also said his involvement in the murder has been overblown by prosecutors. "I didn't even know him," Dunn told the Tyler Morning Telegraph. "I didn't pick him up. I'm sad it happened but I still don't think I'm responsible for the actual shot that killed him. I never got that close. Nicolas West was still alive at the time we left."

Smith County District Attorney Jack Skeen Jr. strongly disagreed with Dunn's interpretation of events. "They showed no mercy to the victim," Skeen said to the Morning Telegraph. "One of the most horrifying aspects of this case was that it was based on hate."

 Ejecutan en Texas al asesino de un homosexual Huntsville

 6 feb 2003
Las autoridades de Texas ejecutaron hoy a un hombre que trato de escapar del corredor de la muerte tras ser condenado a la pena capital por el secuestro y asesinato de un homosexual en 1993.

Un portavoz de la penitenciaria estatal de Huntsville dijo que Henry Dunn, de 28 anos, recibio una inyeccion letal por el asesinato de Nicholas West, el 30 de noviembre de 1993.

En su confesion, Dunn admitio que el y dos complices fueron a un punto de reunion de homosexuales en busca de una victima para robarle.

Senalo que tras elegir a la victima, obligaron a West a desvestirse, le  robaron y despues le dieron muerte a balazos.

Uno de los complices, Donald Aldrich, espera ejecucion en el corredor de la muerte y el otro, David McMillan, ha sido condenado a cadena perpetua.

Antes de ser postrado en una camilla, Dunn se dirigio a los familiares de la victima, a quienes les pidio perdon, dijo el portavoz.

Pero en una declaracion escrita, emitida horas antes, Dunn critico el sistema judicial de Texas y pidio que el estado establezca una moratoria de la pena de muerte.

"Por favor, continuen la lucha contra la pana capital porque esta es nada mas que una venganza y no sirve para disuadir el crimen", senalo.

Dunn integro un grupo de siete reclusos que trataron de escapar del corredor de la muerte del estado en una noche lluviosa de 1998.

Bajo una andanada de disparos de los guardias, seis fueron capturados de inmediato.

Martin Gurule, quien logro saltar una cerca y adentrarse en un bosque cercano, fue encontrado muerto una semana despues ahogado en un riachuelo.

Dunn fue el ajusticiado numero 297 desde que Texas, el estado mas activo en la aplicacion de la pena capital, restablecio la pena de muerte en 1982.