By DeDra Janssen
Senior Reporter
Supporters of the death penalty
cheered Thursday outside the Nebras
ka State Penitentiary as Harold Lamont
Otey’s execution neared.
Otcy was executed at 12:23 a.m. on
Friday. A coroner pronounced him
dead at 12:33 a.m. He was scheduled
to be executed at 12:01 a.m.
About 11:30 p.m., the crowd, which
eventually grew to 2,000 people, be
came increasingly intense. Supporters
chanted, held signs and exchanged
harsh words with death penalty oppo
nents.
A sea of hands waved back and
forth as supporters chanted, “Na na na
na, na na na na, hey, hey, hey, goodbye.”
Some supporters lit sparklers. Oth
ers set off firecrackers.
“Justice is served. Justice is served,”
some cried.
Others expressed themselves with
signs that read “Hey Willie, it’s fry
day” and “Nebraska Slate Pen 1 st an
nual BBQ.”
But as the crowd grew larger and
louder and more vocal, some death
penalty supporters stood somberly in
the background and expressed very
different attitudes.
“This isn’t a party,” said Bill Suiter
of Columbus. Suiter is a member of
The Plainsmen, a group that supports
the death penalty. “This isn’t a cele
bration. This is a vindication of soci
ety. One half or so of everybody here
doesn’t even understand what’s going
on.
Brian Bartlett, a UNL sophomore
in general studies, stood away from the
crowd just after midnight.
“Except for those that arc chanting
and acting foolishly, I think it’s about
time the death penally be carried out,”
Bartlett said. “I would say I’m glad
that justice has been carried through."
Tim McKain of Omaha said it was
a shame that so many were chanting
and carrying signs in celebration.
“This is serious business,” McKain
said. “Somebody’s going to die in
there. This isn’t a celebration of death
— it’s a celebration of justice.
“They should be down the street at
the State Fair if they want a festival.
This isn’t the place for that.”
McKain said he and his wife came
to Lincoln to show support for Nebras
ka’s capital punishment law.
Association of Students of the Uni
versity of Nebraska president Andrew
Loudon also came to support the law.
“All I can say is I support the death
penalty, and when the death penalty is
enacted, it becomes an active deterrent
against crime,” Loudon said.
“I came down here because it’s an
historic event. The last time there was
an execution was before I was even
“Except for those that
are chanting and acting
foolishly, I think it 's
about time the death
penalty be carried out.
BRIAN BARTLETT
UNL Sophomore
born.”
Members of Amicus Nebraska, a
group of death penalty supporters,
brought several photos of Jane
McManus.
“We want this to be Jane’s celebra
tion of justice,” Amicus member Jew
el Jordan of Omaha said.
Travis Heying/DN
*
Death penalty supporters gathered at the state penintentiary Friday night.
MM:.1 '■ - "" .. ' ... ' 11
1
Jeff Hailer/DN
Ed Howard, Associated Press correspondent for Lincoln and
execution witness, recounts what he saw at the penitentiary
Senior chemical engineering majc
as death penalty supporters bod>
June 11,1977 — Jane McManus,
26, a photography student,
is raped, stabbea and beaten
to death with a hammer In her
Omaha apartment.
January 1978 — Otey Is arrested
in Florida and confesses in detail
to the McManus killing. He is
returned to Omaha, cnarged with
first-degree murder.
April 13,1978 —
Otey Is convicted
of first-degree murder
In Douglas County
District Court
June 20.1978 —
A three |udge panel
of the Douglas County
District Court sentences
Otey to death.
Dec. 18, 1979 —
The Nebraska
Supreme Court
affirms the conviction
and sentence.
June 1980
February 1990 —
Numerous petitions,
appeals are heard at
state and national level.
ttUSisSStto
Pardons to reduce
iath sentence to
»In prison
Timeline of Harold Lamont Otey case
*4
May 29,1992 — Nebraska
Supreme Court rules Otey Is
not entitled to a second Pardons
Board hearing
July 1,1992 — Nebraska
Supreme Court sets Oteys
execution date (or Aug. o.
Jan. 4, 1993
I Attorney general
] asks state Supreme
Court to set execution date.
Jan. 4, 1993 —
Attorney general asks
state Supreme Court
to Mt execution date.
Oct. 8,1993 —
State Supreme Court
denies Stenberg's Jan. 4
request on setting
exocution dates.
U S. Supreme Court dente
(for the fifth time),
considering Otey s case.
I