Execution Report: Henry Dunn

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A jury convicted Dunn of capital murder in August 1995 and subsequently sentenced him to death. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed his conviction and sentence in September 1997. All of his subsequent appeals in state and federal court were denied.

Donald Loren Aldrich had prior convictions for burglary and robbery. He was also convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death. He is currently on death row, with his case going through appeals. (Update: Aldrich was executed in 2004.)

David Ray McMillian was convicted of aggravated robbery and aggravated kidnapping and received a life sentence.

Smith County District Attorney Jack Skeen, whose office prosecuted all three defendants, said that they were members of a group called the "CB gang", so named because they became acquainted over citizen's band (CB) radios. The gang, supposedly led by Aldrich, carried out other attacks on homosexual men in the Tyler area over a period of months.

Dunn was one of seven Texas death row inmates who attempted to escape the Ellis Unit in Huntsville on Thanksgiving Day 1998. He and five others surrendered after prison guards fired shots at them. Inmate Martin Gurule escaped, but was fatally shot and was found drowned in a nearby river. Following the escape, death row was moved to the new Terrell Unit (later renamed to the Polunsky Unit) in Livingston.

Dunn is the third participant in the escape to be executed. James Clayton and Ponchai Wilkerson were executed in 2000. Howard Guidry, Eric Cathey, and Gustavo Garcia remain on death row.

In death-row interviews, Dunn admitted to being at the West murder scene, but denied being responsible for the man's death. "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," Dunn said in 2002. "Nicholus West was still alive at the time we left."

In an interview the day before his execution, Dunn further distanced himself from the crime. "I didn't kidnap Nick West. Donald Aldrich did," he said. "He was already kidnapped, I guess you could say, when we [Dunn and McMillian] showed up." He also denied that West was murdered because he was homosexual. "I don't hate homosexuals," Dunn said. "That's their right to be that way if they want to." According to Dunn, the murder was the result of a robbery gone wrong. "West told [Aldrich] he'd given him all the money he had," Dunn said. "We started walking up a trail, and Aldrich finds some money while he's walking. West says he doesn't know whose it is. That's when everything got out of hand ... Aldrich was mad because the dude didn't give him all his money."

Dunn received a reprieve of a 2002 execution date from the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. He had claimed that his trial counsel was incompetent. The Fifth Circuit heard and rejected Dunn's claims in August, clearing the way for his execution to be rescheduled.

"Every day I wake up, I know why I'm on death row," Dunn said. "I've several times apologized to [West's] family and hoped they'll forgive me. But my death won't bring him back."

In his last statement at his execution, Dunn expressed love to his family. He then told the victim's relatives, "I hope you can find it in your heart to find forgiveness and strength, to move on and find peace." his execution. The lethal injection was then started, and Dunn was pronounced dead at 6:15 p.m. Dunn also left a written statement, which was released after his death. It complained about the Texas death penalty, calling it a "broke and unfair" system.

By David Carson. Posted on 10 February 2003.
Sources: Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Texas Attorney General's Office, Associated Press, Huntsville Item, Tyler Morning Telegraph.