Darrell Ferguson
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Darrell Wayne "Gator" Ferguson (January 30, 1978 – August 8, 2006) was executed by the state of Ohio. He was the youngest inmate put to death in Ohio since 1962. He spent 2 years and 10 months on death row and had waived all appeals after his 2003 conviction for three counts of aggravated murder.
On December 26, 2001, Ferguson murdered 61-year-old Thomas S. King, Sr. at King's home on the east side of Dayton. Ferguson broke into King's home, grabbed a knife from the kitchen, and stabbed King, who was disabled and used crutches, repeatedly in the chest. He then stole televisions and stereos from King's home and sold the items to buy crack cocaine.
The next day, Ferguson murdered 68-year-old Arlie Fugate and his wife, 69-year-old Mae Fugate. Ferguson broke into the Fugate home and stabbed the couple with a knife from their kitchen. Ferguson then proceeded to stomp on their bodies with steel-toed boots. He later wrote a handwritten letter in which he admitted that he intentionally and maliciously murdered the victims.
Ferguson committed the murders after getting a two-day pass from a drug treatment program he had been ordered to attend following a burglary conviction. The victims let Ferguson into their homes in Dayton because they knew him. Ferguson's mother had been married to King's brother, and Ferguson's family had once lived near the Fugates.
Although his attorneys maintained that IQ tests revealed Ferguson was borderline mentally retarded, Ohio courts found him competent to stand trial for three murders under the standards set forth by the United States Supreme Court in Atkins v. Virginia. He taunted his victims' families at the sentencing phase of his trial, saying he took satisfaction and pleasure in killing their loved ones. "I will never show any remorse, even on the day I die", he said.
As he lay on the execution table in Lucasville, Ferguson, who said he worshipped Satan, told his parents he loved them and extended the index and little fingers on his outstretched left hand in a gesture known to some as il cornuto or the sign of the devil. He held the sign until he lapsed into unconsciousness. He was pronounced dead at 10:21 a.m.
[edit] Sources
- Clark Prosecutor
- 2005 Capital Crimes Report, Ohio Attorney General's Office. (pdf)
- "Ohio executes man who stomped, stabbed and beat 3 people to death," Associated Press August 8, 2006.
