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Carl Buntion (left); Houston Police Officer James Irby (right) (Photos: Harris County District Attorney's Office)
[PHOTO SOURCE: https://www.fox26houston.com/news/widow-son-of-hpd-officer-killed-more-than-3-decades-ago-talk-on-eve-of-his-killers-execution] |
On this date, April 21, 2022, Carl Wayne Bution was executed by lethal injection in Huntsville, Texas. He was convicted of the June 27, 1990 shooting of Police Officer James Irby.
Carl Wayne Buntion | |
Born | March 30, 1944 Harris County, Texas, U.S. |
Died | April 21, 2022 (aged 78) Huntsville Unit, Huntsville, Texas, U.S. |
Cause of death | Execution by lethal injection |
Criminal status | |
Capital murder | |
Criminal penalty | Death (1991) |
Details | |
Victims | Police officer James Irby |
Date | June 27, 1990 |
Weapon | |
Carl Wayne Buntion(March 30, 1944 – April 21, 2022) was an American man convicted of capital murder in Texas and sentenced to death. On April 21, 2022, at the age of 78, he became the oldest inmate to be executed in Texas.
INTERNET SOURCE: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Wayne_Buntion
Early life
Buntion was born on March 30, 1944. When he was a child, his father murdered a man and was violent toward Buntion, Buntion's brother and mother. Buntion sustained broken bones from the abuse, and he said he had post-traumatic stress disorderbecause of the incidents.
Criminal activity
Buntion had a lengthy criminal history prior to the murder, starting with a theft conviction in 1961. Over the years, he gathered convictions for burglary, damage to property, and possession of narcotic drugs.
At the time of the shooting, Buntion had been on parole, after serving thirteen months of a fifteen-year sentence for sexually assaulting a child. On April 10, 1971, his twin brother, Kenneth Buntion, was killed by two police officers during a shootout. At the time, Carl had supposedly vowed to avenge his brother's death. In addition, he had allegedly told a companion that he would rather shoot it out with police than be sent back to prison.
If the death penalty was not imposed then "wrong really has finally totally triumphed over right and all civilised society, all we hold dear, is the loser."- John Stevens, Baron Stevens of Kirkwhelpington
On June 27, 1990, Buntion was the passenger in a vehicle that was pulled over by 37-year-old Houston Police Department officer James Irby. Irby began speaking with the driver, and Buntion exited the vehicle and shot Irby once in the head. Irby fell to the ground, and Buntion shot Irby twice in the back. Buntion fled the scene, shooting at others who were nearby. After killing Irby, Buntion also attempted to shoot at a driver during a carjacking attempt, fired at another officer and held another person at gunpoint before he was arrested. Buntion was apprehended in a nearby building.
Legal proceedings
In 1991, a jury found Buntion guilty of capital murder and sentenced him to death. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals vacated Buntion's death sentence in 2009. In 2012, Buntion was again sentenced to death by a jury.
Buntion's lawyers appealed to the United States Supreme Court. In October 2021, the Supreme Court denied Buntion's appeal. In a statement following the denial, Justice Stephen Breyer said that Buntion's "lengthy confinement, and the confinement of others like him, calls into question the constitutionality of the death penalty."
He was executed by lethal injection on April 21, 2022.
Personal life
Buntion was a member of the Aryan Brotherhood of Texas.
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Carl Buntion, inset, at 77 is Texas’ oldest Death Row inmate and is scheduled to be executed April 21, 2022.
[PHOTO SOURCE: https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/texas-news/oldest-texas-death-row-inmate-faces-execution-in-cops-death/2946075/] |
78-Year-Old Man Executed for Houston Officer's Death
By Associated PressApril 21, 2022 at 9:37 pm
Carl Buntion, de 78 años.
Carl Wayne Buntion, 78, was executed at the state penitentiary in Huntsville. He was condemned for the June 1990 fatal shooting of Houston police officer James Irby, a nearly 20-year member of the force.
The U.S. Supreme Court had declined a request by Buntion's attorneys to stop his execution.
Buntion had been on parole for just six weeks when he shot the 37-year-old Irby. Buntion, who had an extensive criminal record, was a passenger in the car that Irby pulled over. In 2009, an appeals court vacated Buntion's sentence, but another jury resentenced him to death three years later.
Before his death, James Irby had talked of retirement and spending more time with his two children, who at the time were 1 and 3 years old, said his wife, Maura Irby.
"He was ready to fill out the paperwork and stay home and open a feed store," Maura Irby, 60, said. "He wanted to be the dad that was there to go to all the ballgames and the father daughter dances. He was a super guy, the love of my life."
Leading up to his execution, various state and federal courts had also turned down appeals by Buntion's lawyers to stop his death sentence. The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles on Tuesday had rejected his clemency request.
If the criminal taking of a human life does not merit forfeiture of one's own life, then what value have we placed on the life taken? - Pat Buchanan
Texas News
Buntion's attorneys said he was responsible for Irby's death and "deserved to be punished severely for that crime."
But they argued his execution was unconstitutional because the jury's finding he would be a future danger to society -- one of the reasons he was given a death sentence-- has proven incorrect, and also his execution would serve no legitimate purpose because so much time has passed since his conviction. His attorneys described Buntion as a geriatric inmate who posed no threat as he suffers from arthritis, vertigo and needed a wheelchair.
"This delay of three decades undermines the rationale for the death penalty ... Whatever deterrent effect there is diminished by delay," his attorneys David Dow and Jeffrey Newberry, wrote in court documents.
With his execution, Buntion became the oldest person Texas has put to death since the Supreme Court lifted its ban on capital punishment in 1976. The oldest inmate executed in the U.S. in modern times was Walter Moody Jr., who was 83 years old when he was put to death in Alabama in 2018.
Buntion was also the first inmate executed in Texas in 2022. Although Texas has been the nation's busiest capital punishment state, it had been nearly seven months since it carried out an execution. There have been only three executions in each of the last two years, due in part to the coronavirus pandemic and delays over legal questions about Texas' refusal to allow spiritual advisers to touch inmates and pray aloud in the death chamber.
In March, the U.S. Supreme Court said states must accommodate requests to have faith leaders pray and touch inmates during executions.
Texas prison officials agreed to Buntion's request to allow his spiritual adviser to pray aloud and touch him while he was put to death.
Maura Irby said she had believed Buntion would die of old age on death row.
"I had stuffed so much of it away in a big trunk and shut the lid on it in my mind, in my heart because I didn't think anything was really going to come of it,"Irby said.
While the execution stirred up painful memories for her, Irby said it also reminded her of her advocacy work in public safety after her husband's death, including helping put together legislation that allowed victim impact statements at trials.
Irby said she and her two children hoped that with the execution, a painful chapter in their lives can finally be shut.
"So, I hope Jimmy will finally rest in peace and then we can all kind of breathe a sigh of relief and just keep him in our prayers now and in our hearts," Irby said.
Copyright AP - Associated Press
INTERNET SOURCE: https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/texas-news/78-year-old-man-executed-for-houston-officers-death/2947160/
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Police Officer James Bruce Irby
Houston Police Department, Texas End of Watch Wednesday, June 27, 1990 |
Widow, son of HPD officer killed more than 3 decades ago talk on eve of his killer's execution
Published
Convicted cop killer to be executed on Thursday
FOX 26 Reporter Randy Wallace has more as a convicted cop killer is expected to be executed on Thursday barring any last-minute legal challenges.
HOUSTON - Barring any last-minute legal maneuvering, convicted capital murderer Carl Wayne Buntion will be executed in Huntsville at 6 p.m. Thursday.
At 78, he's the oldest Texas death row inmate.
"We really thought it wasn't ever going to happen. He was just going to die of old age on death row, and we never really would see justice or peace for Jim," said Jim Irby's widow, Maura Irby.
"Honestly, I think it's ridiculous that we are here after 32 years. It should never take this long for anybody," said Jim Irby's son, Cody. "This isn't justice for us, this isn't justice for anybody."
Maura Irby became a widow on June 27, 1990. That's when the now 78-year-old Carl Wayne Buntion shot James Irby, an 18-year HPD veteran, during a traffic stop.
Buntion was a passenger in a car Irby pulled over.
"I was with him up until about 15 to 20 minutes before his death," said Irby's former partner, Gary Blankenship.
While Irby and the driver were talking, Buntion slipped out of the vehicle and shot Irby once in the head.
While Irby was lying on the ground, Buntion shot him twice in the back.
"The only thing Jim even said to the guy was get back in the car," Blankenship said.
A jury sentenced Buntion to death back in 1991. He was granted a new sentencing phase in 2012 and was again sentenced to death.
"It was grueling and tortuous," Maura Irby said.
"Our children were old enough to be there, they never really heard their father's voice, but they did on the radio traffic. They hadn't seen all the gruesome photographs."
On Thursday, justice will finally be served.
"It would give me peace of mind that my boys will never have to live in a world with Carl Wayne Buntion," said Cody Irby.
"He's a liar. He's nothing but a rabid dog that society will be much better without,"Blankenship said.
INTERNET SOURCE: https://www.fox26houston.com/news/widow-son-of-hpd-officer-killed-more-than-3-decades-ago-talk-on-eve-of-his-killers-execution
https://www.facebook.com/groups/3350621811720081/posts/4996404903808422/
“We believe that criminals who murder police officers should immediately, but with trial, get the death penalty. But quickly. The trial should go fast. It’s got to be fair, but it’s got to go fast.” - Donald Trump
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