Locals: Death penalty still has its place

An attempt to revive the death penalty in New Mexico has failed, but locals think there is still a place for the ultimate punishment.

House Bill 72, introduced in this year’s legislative session, would have allowed capital punishment for the murder of a child or law enforcement officer. It is not yet certain if the measure will return during the 2018 legistative session.

The death penalty was repealed in 2009. Two men, Robert Ray Fry and Tomothy Allen, remain on New Mexico’s death row because conviction and sentencing came before the repeal of the death penalty.

The last execution in the state was that of Terry D. Clark in 2001. He was convicted of the kidnapping, rape and murder of a 9-year-old Artesia girl.

Mayor David Lansford of Clovis said he favors capital punishment only as a last resort, but the state should not limit the death penalty usage to the killing of children and law enforcement officers. He said that capital punishment does not have to be a deterrent to be just, and that cost is a factor only in euthanizing animals. When asked if he thought the House bill to restore the death penalty in the state would be reintroduced in the next legislative session, he stated that reviving the death penalty in New Mexico next year can happen only if law enforcement supports it.

Curry County Commission Chairman Ben McDaniel had no position on limiting the death penalty to convicted killers of children and law enforcement officers. Regarding any executions at all, Chairman McDaniel said he could see both sides, but he had no problem with it in extreme cases. He had no official opinion on which offenses rate condemnation but had a personal opinion he did not “want to talk about.” He said the death penalty is probably not a deterrent, but it helps society cope with the crime.

Rep. Monica Youngblood, R-Albuquerque, was a proponent of HB72. She said most New Mexicans support reviving the death penalty.

The eastern New Mexico region had a few cases approach the death penalty level prior to the repeal:

n William “Billy Joe” Watson was found not guilty in 2010 on a death penalty case for the slaying of Causey farmer Jimmie Bo Chunn. Donald Taylor pleaded guilty to the shooting to avoid the death penalty.

n Texas resident Michael Treadway was found guilty in the December 1997 shooting death of Everett “Red” Prather, a Texico shop owner. He was originally given the death penalty for the murder of a witness, but the Supreme Court ruled against it. Evidence showed Prather grabbed the telephone before Treadway shot him, but the court ruled that didn’t adequately prove Treadway formed “specific intent to kill for the purpose of preventing the report of a crime.”

n In 2007, Stanley Bedford was found guilty of the 2005 deaths of Portales’ Odis and Doris Newman. The Albuquerque jury did not agree on the death penalty. Jerry Fuller, nephew to the Newmans, pleaded guilty to the murders to avoid the death penalty.

n James Smith, a Clovis dentist, pleaded guilty in 2006 to the December 2005 murder of Laura McNaughton. He was ruled eligible for the death penalty had he gone to trial.