Many speak minds on execution
From Staff Reports
In frontofGov. Ben Nelson’s man
sion. At the Nebraska State Penitentia
ry. Or at home, watching television.
The city of Lincoln waited Thurs
day night for the execution of Harold
LamontOtey. Some applauded. Some
protested.
But most had something to say.
Death penalty opponents camped
in front of the governor’s mansion
from early afternoon into the evening.
Lincoln resident Joyce Melvin spent
much of Thursday evening at The
Coffee House, 1324 P St. Melvin said
the death penalty was morally wrong.
“I don’t see the point in telling
someone that it’s wrong to kill and
then killing them to prove it,” Melvin
said. “That’s like someone with a cig
arette in his hand telling you it’s wrong
to smoke.”
John Miller, a University of Ne
braska-Lincoln freshman, disagreed.
“I think that killing Otey will show
other people that if they kill, then they
have a chance of being killed them
sclvcs,” Miller said, speaking at Lamb
da Chi Alpha Fraternity.
Many said capital punishment was
a racial issue.
“When you look at the statistics,
you can’t deny the racial issue,” said
Mike Gaither, a Nebraska Wesleyan
student. “If you kill someone who is
white, then you will most likely get the
death penalty, but if you kill a minor
ity, you may just get 20 years in jail.”
Gaither spent Thursday night pro
testing the execution at the governor’s
mansion. As the sun set over the Cap
itol, the gathering outside Nelson’s
house turned into a candlelight vigil.
Scott Wcsely, state coordinator of
Nebraskans Against the Death Penalty
and coordinator of the protest, said he
hoped for a stay of execution.
“For us to go around trying other
countries’ human rights trials and then
carrying out capital punishment in our
country is hypocrisy,” Wescly said.
There were more than 70 people at
the vigil when it began. The numbers
dwindled nearmidnight, when halfthe
■■1^_. f. ■ 1
Gerik Parmele/DN
Mike Gaither, a Nebraska Wesleyan student, picks up signs
at a protest in front of the Governor’s Mansion Thursday
afternoon.
group moved to the penitentiary.
Other Lincoln residents said they
believed the execution was something
that should have happened long ago.
And they were satisfied it finally was
carried out.
Stiff Reporter! Chad Loreaz and Jeff
R a ad all aad Sealor Reporter Paoia Lavigae
coatributed to this report.
Execution
Continued from Page 1
in the eye after his death warrant was
read to him.
“He looked at me in the eye for a
brief moment, and the only way I can
look at it was he was saying i hope
you can live with yourself,’” he said.
“That’s the way I saw it.”
Witnesses described four 2,400
volt jolts of electricity that were ad
ministered to Otey. They said smoke
rose from near his left knee after the
third jolt. Howard called the bum on
Otey’s left leg “enormous.”
The witnesses also said Otey’s
friends and witnesses cried softly.
Howard said Otey remained
strong.
“You would think the roles were
reversed,” he said. “He looked like he
was someone there to encourage oth
Howard said he heard a clunking
noise when the volts were sent
through. The time between the jolts
was distorted, he said.
“The best way for you to describe
it away in your mind is a few seconds
and several eternities,” Howard said.
The witnesses refused to com
ment on their opinions of the death
penalty. However, State Auditor John
Breslow, an offcial observer ofOtey’s
treatment before the execution, said
the whole week had been traumatic.
“We’re all going to have to deal
with what we’ve witnessed and ob
served tonight,” he said.
Earlier Thursday, Gov. Ben
Nelson said he took no pleasure in
carrying out the sentence, but was
obligated by his position.
“In a capi tal case, every safeguard
against error or abuse must be tak
en,” he said. “However, once the
judicial process has established that
these safeguards have been taken, it
is the responsibility of the state to see
that the sentence is carried out in a
timely manner.”
Nelson said he felt sorry for peo
ple on both sides of the issue. He said
he had kept an open mind when it
came to information on Otey’s chang
ing attitude toward his crime.
However, Nelson said it was al
ways important to carry out the law,
and that he did believe in the death
penalty.
The 17 years since McManus’
murder and the more than 50 appeals
have been too much, Nelson said.
“It has drifted away from the orig
inal crime so far ... that it’s ... aca
demic for some,” he said.
The governor said he favored a
process of compacting the appeals
process to prevent a sentence from
being carried out so late.
Nelson’s office has, since July 15,
received 61 letters supporting the
death penalty and 214 against it. The
office also has received 364 phone
calls — 97 were against the death
penalty.
At the State Capitol, tension fi
nally broke at the attorney general’s
office after confirmation from the
penitentiary warden that the execu
tion had been carried out.
Dan Parsons, spokesman for At
torney General Stcnberg, read astate
ment from Stenbcrg after the execu
tion.
“On June 11,1977, Harold Lamont
Otey robbed, raped, repeatedly
stabbed and finally strangled Jane
McManus to death. Under the laws
of the State of Nebraska, the penalty
for these crimes is death.” Parsons
said.
“... Mr. Otey’s cruelty and vio
lence brought about his own death
and brought about grief and violence
for the McManus family and to his
own family and to the friends of both
families.”
The statement expressed sympa
thy for the McManus family and all
Nebraskans.
“The law of the State of Nebraska
has been carried out and justice has
been done,” Parsons continued from
the statement. “Those whoengage in
extreme acts of unlawful violence in
the State of Nebraska should now
dearly understand the consequences
of those acts.”
11
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