Latest news with #RichardJordan
Yahoo
08-07-2025
- Yahoo
Inside a Mississippi execution: Clarion Ledger reporter recounts what it was like
Editor's note: This is the latest edition of Curious Mississippi, a service to the readers of the Clarion Ledger. Today we answer, What is it like to cover an execution? Other questions answered by Curious Mississippi have surrounded judicial appointments, recycling, potholes, UMMC construction, cicadas and the international nature of the Jackson airport. Readers can submit questions by email to CuriousMississippi@ and editors will pick out the best and reporters will answer them in an upcoming edition. The visitation center at the Mississippi State Penitentiary in Parchman has no windows, just fluorescent lighting, plastic chairs and tables in a cafeteria-style room. I could technically step outside, but only through a single entrance and doing so meant going through the full security screening all over again — it didn't feel worth it. A few friendly prison staff walked around, quietly watching us. The Wi-Fi cut in and out. All the while, I returned to the thought I was there to watch someone die. By 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, June 25, I had been sitting in the windowless visitation center for nearly 5 hours. I waited alongside six other journalists from throughout the state to witness the scheduled execution of Richard Jordan, 79, a convicted murderer who had spent the past 48 years on Mississippi's death row for the murder of Edwina Marter. A wife and mother of two, Marter was kidnapped by Jordan from her family home in 1976 and killed. This was my first time covering an execution, and from what I gathered in conversations with other journalists, it's not the kind of assignment anyone looks forward to. It's grim. You don't know what to expect. The weight of what's about to happen settles over you — I felt it most during the 3-hour drive from Jackson to Parchman that morning. But I kept thinking about something the late war correspondent Marie Colvin once said: our job as journalists is to "bear witness." I applied for permission to attend the execution in early June, as the state finalized preparations and Jordan's attorneys filed a flurry of last-minute appeals to halt the execution. The process to watch an execution is straightforward bureaucracy: you apply to the Mississippi Department of Corrections, providing your name, date of birth, Social Security number, phone number, email and the media outlet you work for. Then you wait. MDOC later notifies you if you've been selected. I was met at the prison by Clarion Ledger photojournalist Lauren Witte, who wasn't allowed to photograph the execution. She came to document the protests outside the prison and to capture photos and video from the press conferences by prison officials before and after the execution. I arrived an hour before a 2 p.m. press conference held by MDOC officials. The visitation center, located near the prison's main entrance, served as our staging area. After passing through airport-style security, I settled in. Finger sandwiches, chips, cookies and cinnamon rolls were laid out to hold us over while we waited. MDOC Commissioner Burl Cain came in to shake everyone's hand before the press conference, where officials shared what Jordan had ordered for his last meal. The press conference was over in minutes. For the next 4 hours, reporters fiddled with their laptops, others scrolled through their phones. One reporter read, some paced the room and made edits to the stories they would file once it was all over. Eventually, an MDOC spokesperson came to gather those selected to witness the execution. We went through security once more and were told we couldn't bring any electronics. Instead, we were handed a pad and pen to record our observations. Then the officials herded us into a police van and drove toward the layers of barbed-wire fencing surrounding Unit 17 — the prison's execution chamber. Unit 17 — the same building where Freedom Riders, arrested for civil rights activism, were held in 1961 — looks like a small prison within the larger one. It's a one-story building set back from the main road, with a long driveway leading up to it. Our van sat idling on that road for about 5 minutes, the air conditioning barely working, while corrections staff made final security checks. The driver then pulled up to the back entrance. We parked there for another minute before being told to exit the van and led single-file into one of the execution observation rooms, which had about 15 seats. Three in the front were already occupied — by Jordan's wife, one of his attorneys and his spiritual adviser. The rest of us filled in the remaining seats. A thin curtain blocked our view of the execution chamber, but we could hear people moving around behind it. Once we were seated, a prison official reminded us that there was to be no talking. Anyone who broke that rule, he said, would be escorted out of the building. Then he shut the door. The room went black — so dark I couldn't even see the notes I'd scribbled on the pad they gave me. No one spoke. The only sounds were the muffled shuffling of MDOC officials behind the window and the quiet sobs of Jordan's wife in the front row. The room was tense and still. We had been waiting for hours, and now we were just minutes away from the moment we had come for. The anticipation was real. I had no idea what I was about to see once that curtain rose. At exactly 6 p.m., the curtain lifted. Jordan was lying on his back, covered in a white sheet up to his neck, his arms stretched out to each side. Four MDOC officials surrounded him: Cain stood over his right shoulder, Regional Superintendent Marc McClure over his left, and two others were positioned near his feet — one of them a woman with a stethoscope around her neck. McClure asked if Jordan had any final words, and he gave them while reporters frantically wrote down notes on the pads. Then the lethal injection began. It's not like someone comes in with a big needle and injects him. In fact, Jordan's IV wasn't even visible. I could not tell you where the drugs were administered, but the three-drug protocol began with a sedative. Within moments, Jordan visibly drifted off to sleep — though his eyes remained partially open and his mouth fell slightly agape. I was sitting in the back row, so I stood to make my observations. You could hear the scribbling of reporters taking notes, occasionally glancing up at the clock mounted on the wall of the execution chamber. MDOC officials observed quietly. At 6:08, a man wearing sunglasses and a hat — looking almost like he was in disguise — entered to perform the court-mandated consciousness check and declared Jordan unconscious. By law, MDOC is not allowed to reveal the identity of the man who conducted the unconsciousness check. Additional drugs followed. Eight minutes later, at 6:16, the woman with the stethoscope checked Jordan's vitals and pronounced him dead. The curtain slowly dropped, and once again, we were sitting in total darkness. It may feel strange to put it this way, but the execution unfolded quietly and without incident. There were no visible complications — none of the convulsions or delays often associated with botched executions. Everything about the process had been orderly, almost mechanical. Each moment planned, each movement accounted for. The calm didn't make it any easier to watch. We sat in the dark for a few more minutes until an official led us back to the police van. On the ride back to the visitation center, reporters talked — piecing together the timeline, already thinking about the stories we'd soon have to file. It felt strange, but also familiar — slipping back into work mode after something so heavy. Back at the visitation center, we waited for a press conference. Commissioner Cain and McClure gave brief remarks. Members of Marter's family also spoke, offering a statement that was somber but resolute. "She was loved and needed," said her nephew. Marter's husband and sons did not attend the execution. Afterward, officials quickly began ushering us out. We were told to gather our things and leave the property. Just like that, it was over — hours of waiting, a life ended and then the parking lot. Contact Charlie Drape at cdrape@ This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Covering an execution in Mississippi death chamber
Yahoo
30-06-2025
- Yahoo
Mississippi inmate Richard Jordan picks last meal ahead of execution at Parchman
PARCHMAN, Miss. — Richard Jordan, Mississippi's longest-serving death-row inmate, requested chicken tenders, fries, strawberry ice cream and a root beer float for his last meal ahead of his scheduled execution Wednesday, June 25. Marc McClure, regional superintendent for the Mississippi Department of Corrections, announced the meal choice during a 2 p.m. press conference at the Mississippi State Penitentiary's visitor center in Parchman. He was joined by MDOC Commissioner Burl Cain. McClure said Jordan would eat his final meal at 4 p.m. Jordan, 79, is scheduled to be executed Wednesday, June 25, at 6 p.m. at the Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman. On Monday, June 23, the United States Supreme Court denied Jordan's petition for a review of his case. The decision follows a flurry of appeals from Jordan's lawyers to try to halt the execution in recent weeks. Each have been denied. Jordan was sentenced to death in 1977 for the 1976 kidnapping and murder of Edwina Marter, a Gulfport bank executive's wife. He's lived on death row for 48 years, making him the state's longest-serving death row prisoner. When asked what kind of inmate Jordan had been during his decades on death row, McClure said only that he has never been a 'problematic inmate.' "The Mississippi Department of Corrections is prepared to carry out the execution that's been handed down by the court," McClure said. "That execution will happen at 6 p.m. today. Right now, all movement at the prison is restricted to emergency movement." Jordan has been in a holding cell since Sunday, June 22. As of Wednesday afternoon, he was meeting with family members, though McClure declined to say who they were. "He's visited with his family, lawyers, spiritual advisers and matter-of-fact right now he is still meeting with his family at this time," McClure said. "That will carry on through this afternoon 'til approximately 4 p.m." McClure described Jordan as "talkative, appears to be in a good mood" and that he was telling stories. "He's talking about his past and his history and things like that," McClure said. While McClure noted Jordan's demeanor, he declined to answer whether there were concerns about the inmate's mental state, given his age of nearly 80. "That's not for me to answer, that was the court (who made the decision)," McClure said. Contact Charlie Drape at cdrape@ This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Mississippi death row inmate Richard Jordan picks last meal
Yahoo
30-06-2025
- Yahoo
What does family of Mississippi murder victim say about killer's looming execution date?
It's been nearly 50 years since Eric Marter's mother, Edwina Marter, was kidnapped from the family home in Gulfport, Mississippi, and murdered by Richard Jordan. Jordan is scheduled to be executed on Wednesday, June 25, at the Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman. While Marter will not be attending the execution, he believes the sentence is just, but it will never bring closure to the now-59-year-old whose mother was brutally ripped from his family's lives. "I don't really have any real desire to go basically and waste my time," he said in a phone interview. "I would [have thought] that this had been taken care of 35-40 years ago. It's been probably too long." Marter said neither his brother, Kevin Marter, now 52, nor his father, Charles Marter, 89, plans to attend the execution, if it goes through, but some of his mother's relatives have asked to be there. A flurry of appeals from Jordan's legal team have not reached their conclusion this week, so an execution is not confirmed. Eric Marter said his mother was a stay-at-home mom, who took care of her family and spent time with her friends. Eric has vague memories of his mother. The details of his family life have faded over time. "She loved to play cards and watch TV shows," Eric said. "She would pick me up and help me do my homework." Lethal-injection challenge: Mississippi death row prisoner Richard Jordan appears in court Saturday He remembers his mother taking her sons to the beach and that she drove a convertible Volkswagen Beetle. "We would do all the regular things kids would do with their mom," Eric Marter said. He recounts the day his mother was killed in January of 1976. He was at school that day. Kevin was at home with his mother when Jordan knocked on the door and pretended to be a repairman. Once he gained access to the home, he kidnapped Edwina, leaving the toddler at home alone. Edwina's absence was quickly discovered. "My mom had friends that would often visit during the day," Eric said. "They would have coffee and do whatever." On the day his mother was kidnapped, Eric said one of his mother's friends called, but got alarmed when Kevin answered the phone. The friend went to the Marter home and contacted authorities after she discovered Edwina was missing. This was before Jordan began making calls to demand a ransom in exchange for Edwina's life. "That's my understanding of things," Eric said. Execution day looms: Mississippi prisoner Richard Jordan takes to YouTube to plead for clemency Until he was about 25, he was never given much information about what happened to his mother unless he dug something up himself. "It wasn't something that we talked a lot about," Eric said. The Marters moved to Lafayette, Louisiana, about five years after Edwina Marter's death, where the family has remained ever since, for the most part, Eric said. "Most of the time, you think about how different your life would have been had she been around," Eric said. "It would have been much, much different. Had my mom remained alive, I can almost certainly bet that we would have never moved from Gulfport, Mississippi, to Lafayette. Marter has no regrets about the move, however. It is where he met his wife of 40 years and where the couple raised their children. "But my life would have gone in a completely different direction," he said. Most people in Lafayette knew nothing of Edwina's murder, Eric said, so there was less stigma about his mother's death and fewer questions arose, unless Eric chose to tell someone what happened. Charles Marter didn't discuss the trial or the many appeals with his children, so Edwina's murder wasn't a focal point of the family's lives. "My dad kept us pretty insulated," he said. Charles Marter remarried a few times when the children were a little older, but to Eric, none of them were motherly figures. Charles was a strict father before Edwina was killed, and may have become more strict after her death, from what Eric remembers, but he can't really remember if he saw a big change in his father. "After 49 years, it's not something I think about or dwell on, on a regular basis," he said. "It was a long, long time ago." Lici Beveridge is a reporter for the Hattiesburg American and Clarion Ledger. Contact her at lbeveridge@ Follow her on X @licibev or Facebook at This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Victim's family speaks out on Richard Jordan Mississippi execution
Yahoo
30-06-2025
- Yahoo
Supreme Court declines to stay execution of Mississippi prisoner Richard Jordan
The execution of Mississippi prisoner Richard Jordan went ahead as planned, starting at 6 p.m. Wednesday, June 25. By 6:16 p.m. the process was complete and Jordan was dead. The execution was allowed to go forward after three applications for an emergency stay were denied by the Supreme Court of the United States in the hours before Jordan's death. The justices did not comment on the reason for denying the applications and petitions for review. Jordan was executed by lethal injection exactly one month after his 79th birthday. He received his last meal at 4 p.m. Jordan had been on death row since 1977 for the 1976 kidnapping and murder of 35-year-old Edwina Marter, a Gulfport bank executive's wife and mother of two young sons. Jordan was the oldest and longest-serving prisoner on Mississippi's death row. "He was a remarkable man — a Vietnam Veteran, a man of deep faith, a pilot, a writer, an inventor, a loved family member, husband, and friend, and a force for good while in prison," his attorney Krissy Nobile said in an emailed statement. "Before the State executed Richard, he had received Tier Worker status in prison, a position of trust given to inmates who have shown good behavior and no record violation reports for a long period of time. Richard was a mentor to other inmates and known for lessening conflicts among his peers." Nobile is director of the Mississippi Office of Post-Conviction Counsel. She said Jordan, who grew up in Petal, was a decorated combat veteran in Vietnam who served three tours, yet the jury never learned of his wartime experiences, nor the post-traumatic stress disorder that followed. "He remained in Vietnam to allow his younger brother to return home from the war," Nobile said. "Richard was awarded the Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal, the Air Medal with 4 Oak leaf clusters, and 5 Air Medals. Richard was diagnosed with PTSD after Vietnam but continued his life of service even while in custody. "Unfortunately, the jury never heard about Richard's service to his country and his resulting PTSD before sentencing him to death." Jordan's attorneys and supporters took several paths in an attempt to stop his execution by lethal injection. An application for an emergency stay of execution was filed with the U.S. Supreme Court on May 21, after the Mississippi Supreme Court set Jordan's execution date. The emergency stay was denied on June 23. On May 28 and June 18, the Rev. Dr. Jeff Hood and others held news conferences asking Attorney General Lynn Fitch and the state of Mississippi to "Stand Down" and discontinue their efforts to execute Jordan. Hood works with incarcerated people who are facing execution. A motion for a preliminary injunction was filed in a decade-old federal lawsuit, seeking emergency relief in Jordan's challenge to the state's three-drug protocol for lethal injections. After an expedited hearing on Saturday, June 14, U.S. District Judge Henry Wingate denied the motion on June 20, with a caveat that the state must stop the execution if Jordan responds to a consciousness check after the first of the three drugs is administered. On June 16, advocates in support of commuting Jordan's death sentence to life in prison without the possibility of parole sent a letter and supporting YouTube video to Gov. Tate Reeves, asking the governor for clemency for Jordan. The governor declined Jordan's request. Wingate's decision was appealed the same day, but the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with Wingate's decision, issuing a written opinion on Tuesday, June 24. Also on June 20, the Mississippi Office of Capital Post-Conviction Counsel filed a second application for an emergency stay of execution with the U.S. Supreme Court. As of Tuesday night, the court has not issued a response to the application. On the eve of Jordan's impending execution, attorneys filed two more applications for a stay of execution, citing Jordan's Eighth Amendment right to not be subjected to cruel and unusual punishment. Fitch strongly disagreed. "The State, its law-abiding citizens, and Mrs. Marter's friends and family have a strong interest in justice being done," Fitch wrote in her opposition to Jordan's application for a stay. "They have been denied that justice for decades. To delay petitioner's lawful execution any longer would cause further 'profound injury' and would undermine the 'powerful and legitimate interest in punishing the guilty.'" Jordan's attorneys responded that their client's case should be heard if there is a likelihood that he could succeed. The court has not weighed in on either measure. All three petitions for an emergency stay of execution were denied in the hours before Jordan's scheduled death. Lici Beveridge is a reporter for the Hattiesburg American and Clarion Ledger. Contact her at lbeveridge@ Follow her on X @licibev or Facebook at This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Supreme Court denies Richard Jordan stay of execution in Mississippi
Yahoo
30-06-2025
- Yahoo
Execution completed by lethal injection for Mississippi murderer Richard Jordan at Parchman
PARCHMAN, Miss. — Richard Jordan, who spent nearly half a century on Mississippi's death row, was lying strapped to a gurney with his arms splayed out and covered in a white sheet up to his neck when the curtain to Unit 17 rose at 6 p.m. Wednesday, June 25, at the Mississippi State Penitentiary in Parchman. Jordan was surrounded by four Mississippi Department of Correction officials, including Commissioner Burl Cain and Marc McClure, the regional superintendent. McClure asked Jordan if he had any last words, to which Jordan responded "yes." "First I would like to thank everyone here for a humane way of doing this," Jordan said as he looked at the ceiling. "I wish to apologize to the family. I ask that you forgive me for what I did, not forget, but forgive." Jordan then thanked his lawyer and his wife, Marsha, who was sitting and sobbing in the front-row behind the glass viewing area. Marsha was sitting with Krissy Nobile, director of the Mississippi Office of Capital Post-Conviction Counsel, and Tim Murphy, Jordan's spiritual adviser. "I love you," Jordan said. "See you on the other side, all of you. Thank you." For the next eight minutes, the observation room was silent. Jordan's breathing initially slowed, then quickened briefly before slowing again. His eyes gradually closed, and his mouth fell slightly open. By 6:11 p.m., no chest movement was visible. Earlier, at 6:08 p.m., a man with sunglasses on and a blue hat had come into the room and rubbed Jordan's chest to do a consciousness check. U.S. District Judge Henry Wingate ruled last week that if Jordan remains conscious four minutes after receiving the first drug — a sedative — the state must stop the execution. "In my professional opinion, this person is unconscious," the man in sunglasses said. Cain told reporters at a press conference after the execution that "by law" MDOC officials were not allowed to identify the man who did the consciousness check. At 6:16 p.m., Jordan was pronounced dead. The curtain to Unit 17 then slowly closed. "It went as well and smooth as can go and again our hearts go out to the victim's family and to Richard's family," McClure said. McClure said Jordan's body has been claimed by Jordan's family. Jordan, who grew up in Petal, was sentenced to death in 1977 for the 1976 kidnapping and murder of Edwina Marter, a Gulfport bank executive's wife. He's lived on death row for 48 years, making him the state's longest-serving death row prisoner. At a 2 p.m. press conference, McClure described Jordan as 'talkative," saying he appeared "to be in a good mood' ahead of the execution. McClure also announced Jordan's last meal, which he ate at 4 p.m. Jordan requested chicken tenders, fries, strawberry ice cream and a root beer float for his last meal. In a previous interview with the Hattiesburg American, Marter's son, Eric, said he and his brother, Kevin, as well as his father, Charles, would not be attending Jordan's execution. "I don't really have any real desire to go basically and waste my time," Eric said in a phone interview. "I would [have thought] that this had been taken care of 35-40 years ago. It's been probably too long." Keith De Gruy, Edwina Marter's nephew who MDOC officials identified as a "family spokesperson," said a few words on behalf of Marter's family after the execution during a 7 p.m. press conference. "We are grateful this day has finally come even though it doesn't fill the void of Edwina being taken from our lives," De Gruy said. "She will forever be missed by her family and friends." On Monday, June 23, the U.S. Supreme Court denied Jordan's petition to review his case. The Supreme Court also failed to give Jordan a last-minute stay on Wednesday. Those decisions follow a flurry of appeals from Jordan's lawyers to try to halt the execution in recent weeks. Each have been denied. Additionally, Republican Gov. Tate Reeves denied Jordan's plea for clemency on Tuesday, June 24. "Richard lived by the quote that 'you cannot have both love and hate in your heart at the same time,'" Nobile said in an emailed statement after the execution. "Richard always strove to show love to those around him, and he found comfort in his last days in 1 Corinthians 13, which reminds us that a life without love, is no life at all." "Richard spent every day trying to make up for his crime. Until his last day, he sought only to help others. Richard, his family, and his counsel express their deep and sincere sympathy for the family of Edwina Marter." Outside the prison, anti-death penalty protesters gathered around 4:30 p.m. to denounce Jordan's execution and call for an end to capital punishment. A total of 11 protesters stood outside the prison. Sheila O'Flaherty, 79, was among them and said she's attended 'every execution that we've had.' She previously lived near Parchman, which made it easier to be present. Now living in Jackson, she still makes the trip to protest. "I just think it's wrong for the state to execute anybody," she said. "I have enough confidence that the state can keep the people safe, so why do you need to execute someone? He's a human being." Rev. Jeff Hood, a self-described death row spiritual advisor, was also standing outside the prison with the protesters. He previously told the Clarion Ledger that he would be outside Parchman "in protest but also in prayer." At 5 p.m., a lone protester stood in from of the Mississippi governor's mansion, holding a sign that read: "Murder 1, plus Murder 2 does not equal Justice or Peace." The solitary protester paced between the cameras and reporters of two TV stations. Jordan's execution is the 25th in the U.S. this year. A day prior, on Tuesday, June 24, Florida executed Thomas Lee Gudinas, 51, by lethal injection at the Florida State Prison, making him the 24th. It was Florida's seventh of 2025 — the most of any state so far this year. According to the Death Penalty Information Center, no more than 24 people were executed in any year over the past five years — making 2025 already one of the deadliest years for executions in recent history. Capital punishment in MS: A history of executions in Mississippi. How many? What methods? What we know With Jordan's execution, Mississippi joined nine other states that have carried out executions in 2025. Those states include Alabama, Arizona, Florida, Indiana, Louisiana, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas. This was Mississippi's first execution in three years. Thomas Loden, a convicted murderer and rapist, was executed in December 2022. Loden's execution also began at 6 p.m. He spoke his last words at 6:01 and was pronounced dead at 6:12 p.m. No other executions in Mississippi are scheduled this year, according to the MDOC website. Mississippi currently permits four methods of execution: lethal injection, nitrogen hypoxia, electrocution and firing squad. While lethal injection remains the state's preferred method, a 2022 law removed the previously established order of alternatives, giving the Mississippi Department of Corrections discretion to choose among the legal options. Despite the legality of firing squads, the state has never used that method. Contact Charlie Drape at cdrape@ Staff Writer Lici Beveridge contributed to this report. This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Mississippi execution of Richard Jordan after nearly 50 years on death row
