Alabama death row inmate Jack Trawick is scheduled to be executed by lethal injection Thursday at Holman Prison in Atmore.
Assistant Attorney General Clay Crenshaw said the 62-year-old Trawick had not filed any legal pleadings in court seeking to stop his execution as of late Wednesday.
Trawick was sentenced to death for the 1992 abduction and slaying of 21-year-old college student Stephanie Gach of Birmingham.
Trawick's graphic writings and grisly drawings about his crimes were posted on the Internet. The Alabama Legislature passed a bill this year aimed at Trawick that prevents prison inmates from profiting from their crimes.
Thursday, June 11, 2009
serial killer Jack Trawick
Jack Trawick is not the most sympathetic example for those of us who oppose the death penalty.
Trawick abducted 21-year-old Stephanie Gach near her Irondale apartment, tied her hands, taped her mouth, strangled her, stabbed her and dumped her body in an illegal trash dump off Grants Mill Road. Four months earlier, in June 1992, Trawick had stabbed 26-year-old Frances Aileen Pruitt 53 times; her body was found behind Hill Crest Hospital. Trawick claimed to have killed three other women.
Not only did Trawick confess to these killings, he also begged to be sentenced to death, saying he would kill a prison worker or some "freeworlder" if he didn't get his way. In 1994, courts obliged, sentencing Trawick to death for killing Gach.
Trawick is scheduled to be executed today. State prosecutors say there are no legal efforts to block his lethal injection.
It would be dishonest to suggest there's not part of us that confronts this day with one heartfelt reaction: Good riddance.
Trawick is a monster of a man who not only terrorized and mutilated women but posted gruesome essays about his crimes and sold sketches that appeared to depict his victims.
If that's the gut response from those of us who weren't personally touched by Trawick's crimes, we can only imagine the feelings of those who were -- those who knew Gach and Pruitt, those who loved them, those who lost these young women forever to a murderous madman.
And yet ... this newspaper opposes the death penalty in all cases, even the cases where it is tempting to make an exception.
Trawick is a terrifying human being. But he is also certifiably sick. We're not just musing here about what demons possess a man to do what Trawick did. We're talking about a man with a long, documented history of mental illness. He had been diagnosed in the early 1970s as a paranoid schizophrenic and had been treated through the years for various psychiatric problems.
Under the laws of this country, that doesn't mean Trawick can't be put to death for his crimes. But it ought to give the people of Alabama pause. This is not about the kind of person Trawick is; it's about the kind of people we are.
Trawick is a dangerous man who should never be free to walk in civilized society again. But he should not be put to death. Gov. Bob Riley has the power to stop today's execution, and he should do so.
Trawick abducted 21-year-old Stephanie Gach near her Irondale apartment, tied her hands, taped her mouth, strangled her, stabbed her and dumped her body in an illegal trash dump off Grants Mill Road. Four months earlier, in June 1992, Trawick had stabbed 26-year-old Frances Aileen Pruitt 53 times; her body was found behind Hill Crest Hospital. Trawick claimed to have killed three other women.
Not only did Trawick confess to these killings, he also begged to be sentenced to death, saying he would kill a prison worker or some "freeworlder" if he didn't get his way. In 1994, courts obliged, sentencing Trawick to death for killing Gach.
Trawick is scheduled to be executed today. State prosecutors say there are no legal efforts to block his lethal injection.
It would be dishonest to suggest there's not part of us that confronts this day with one heartfelt reaction: Good riddance.
Trawick is a monster of a man who not only terrorized and mutilated women but posted gruesome essays about his crimes and sold sketches that appeared to depict his victims.
If that's the gut response from those of us who weren't personally touched by Trawick's crimes, we can only imagine the feelings of those who were -- those who knew Gach and Pruitt, those who loved them, those who lost these young women forever to a murderous madman.
And yet ... this newspaper opposes the death penalty in all cases, even the cases where it is tempting to make an exception.
Trawick is a terrifying human being. But he is also certifiably sick. We're not just musing here about what demons possess a man to do what Trawick did. We're talking about a man with a long, documented history of mental illness. He had been diagnosed in the early 1970s as a paranoid schizophrenic and had been treated through the years for various psychiatric problems.
Under the laws of this country, that doesn't mean Trawick can't be put to death for his crimes. But it ought to give the people of Alabama pause. This is not about the kind of person Trawick is; it's about the kind of people we are.
Trawick is a dangerous man who should never be free to walk in civilized society again. But he should not be put to death. Gov. Bob Riley has the power to stop today's execution, and he should do so.
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