Local News
Mother faces son’s execution
CHICKASHA — Reta Luther won’t watch her son die.
She will be in McAlester on Tuesday, August 22, 2006 - the date the State of Oklahoma has chosen to put her son, James Patrick Malicoat to death. But she won’t walk down the long, gray halls to the execution chamber.
Malicoat asked her not to be there. It would be too hard on her - and him.
Some will be anticipating the announcement of the execution of a monster who beat, bit and tortured a 13-month child to death.
Luther will feel the horror of knowing that only moments remain in her adopted son’s life.
When Malicoat killed his daughter, he took away Luther’s granddaughter. She felt that pain again recently when her step-grandchildren were killed in a fire on Sixth Street in Chickasha.
Luther said she knows what her son did and she agrees he should be punished. But no mother can easily bear the knowledge that her son will soon die.
“It is very hard,” Luther said. “I only go to work and go home. I sleep about two to three hours a night. It is hard to function with that date hanging out there.”
Malicoat has never denied responsibility for the death of Tessa Leadford.
“He says he knows what he did was wrong and he will stand up and take the punishment for it,” Luther said. “He accepts that responsibility.”
In fact, Malicoat didn’t even plead for is life in front of the Pardon and Parole Board.
“I’m not here to ask for my life today. I don’t know if it would do any good,” Malicoat told the board. But he did apologize for the grief he caused family members.
Luther said she believes Malicoat’s childhood contributed to his horrible act which led to his execution. He was adopted when he was 18-months old.
She said his father, who was later convicted of child abuse, was very abusive toward the young Malicoat.
She recalled a time where he was five years old and he was stripped down and forced to break ice in a horse trough. She also recalls when he was beaten with a two-by-four for putting a screw into the wall incorrectly.
She said the father never treated his two natural children the same way he did his adopted son. But Malicoat has never said that is why he believes he committed the murder.
“I have no idea why I did it. I have no idea why it happened. I’ve tried to find an answer for it for nine and a half years,” he said recently.
Since his conviction in 1997, Malicoat has never been outside. The closest he has come to being outside is in an exercise room at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary which has a glass ceiling.
He has requested a short trip outdoors before his life is taken, but his mother doesn’t expect that request to be granted.
Luther said the boy she helped raise - now the man the state will execute - is basically a good person who committed one horrible crime.
She said he is a good poet who has a happy attitude and always kept his friends laughing.
“Anyone who knows him will tell you that this is a one time thing,” Luther said. “Since he has been on medication, he is doing better. I don’t think he should die for this.”
But District Attorney Bret Burns, who prosecuted the case in 1997 disagrees.
“I have never seen a case this bad,” Burns said. “He tortured a 13-month old baby to death. Of all the executions I have been a part of, he deserves it more than any of them.”
For now a mother counts the hours, hoping for a last-second decision to spare her son’s life.
Barring an unexpected pardon, Malicoat will be executed at 6 p.m., Tuesday in McAlester.
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Transformations
What comes to mind when you think of the word, “Transformation”?Do you have fantastic thoughts of people or things changing into something amazing for example, Clark Kent turning into Superman or Bruce Banner becoming the Incredible Hulk or possibly something a little more down to earth like a caterpillar miraculously changing into the beautiful butterfly?
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GRADY COUNTY FAIR RESULTS
Plants
Potted Plants
(Several varieties combined)
First: (Adult) Ann O'Bar
Second: (Adult) Joyce Riker
Third: (Adult) Jallane Link -
AROUND THE AREA
SEPTEMBER 2
Poetry Reading
• When: Sept. 2, 7 p.m.
• Where: Eduardo’s Mexican Restaurant, Private Room, 3127 S. 4th St., Chickasha
• Details: Featured Poet is Carol Hamilton, writer, storyteller and Poet Laureate of Oklahoma 1995-97Hamilton’s website is www.carolhamilton.org. There is no admission fee to attend the Poetry Reading, and refreshments are available for purchase. For more information, contact Rockford Johnson, 224-0160 or 317-7506. -
Duncan nips Chicks for straight-game win
Duncan got their eighth match win of the season Tuesday, beating Nancy Waters’ Lady Chicks in straight games at the Activity Center.
The Chicks looked like they had a little hangover from Monday night’s tough road loss at Tecumseh, coming out flat again and dropping their first two games by identical 25-17 scores.
They came out firing on all eight cylinders for game three, running out to a 15-9 lead on the strength of a 7-0 run with Shelby Crosley serving, but the Demons battled back to tie it late and the Chicks let it slip away, 25-21. -
STATE SPORTS BRIEFS
NORMAN (AP) — Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops has named walk-on Patrick O'Hara as the starting place-kicker for the seventh-ranked Sooners.
Stoops said on his radio show Tuesday night that O'Hara won the competition with Jimmy Stevens, freshman Michael Hunnicutt and redshirt freshman Bryce Easley. -
OSU's Gundy still learning on job
STILLWATER (AP) — Mike Gundy hasn't lost his love for dialing up the right play to keep Oklahoma State's offense purring along.
That passion, which he has called the most enjoyable part of his job as head coach, was bred into him as an offensive coordinator. And he is a former starting quarterback for the Cowboys. -
Whimsical metal work, jewelry part of big art show at USAO
A showing of whimsical metal work and jewelry is scheduled to be on display at the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma during Helen’s Show Sept. 10-Oct 1.
The show will feature the work of USAO graduate Helen Shafer. The exhibition will be open daily during normal business hours in the Davis Hall Third Floor Art Gallery on the USAO campus. The show is free and open to the public. An opening reception is scheduled Sept. 10 at 6 p.m. in the gallery. -
High-speed chase lands 1 in jail
A high-speed motorcycle chase down Highway 81 last Wednesday landed a Ninnekah man in jail and a felony charge of eluding a police officer.
Court records show that James William Hutchins, 21, blew by Oklahoma Highway Patrol Trooper Timothy Parrish at U.S. Highway 81 and County Road 1460 and was clocked going 144 miles per hour in a posted 70 miles per hour zone.
Parrish reported that he was sitting stationary at that location at about 3:45 p.m. on Aug. 25 when he observed a red motorcycle traveling southbound. He engaged his emergency lights and siren and pulled onto the roadway behind the Triumph motorcycle. -
5 inmates denied parole
Parole was recently denied for five Grady County inmates serving sentences with the Oklahoma Department of Corrections.
The following individuals were denied at the August Pardon and Parole Board meeting:
• Jeremiah Daniel Cline, who is serving a five-year sentence for distribution of a controlled dangerous substance and a five-year sentence for possession of a controlled dangerous substance, began his sentence in August 2008.
• Warren P. Diego, who is serving a 15-year sentence (10 years PTS) for lewd molestation, began his sentence in February 2009. -
Judge recuses herself from pharmacy case
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — A state district judge has stepped aside from the first-degree murder trial of a pharmacist accused in the fatal shooting of an unconscious would-be robber.
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Transformations
