Alabama Man to be Executed Despite Innocence Claims
05.25.17 By Innocence Staff
A 75-year-old Alabama man is scheduled to die today for a murder he maintains he did not commit.
Thomas “Tommy” Arthur is scheduled to be executed at 6 p.m. CDT today despite pleas from his attorneys for DNA testing of evidence they say may clear him of the 1982 murder of Troy Wicker.
Thomas Arthur, 75, on Alabama’s death row.
His execution has been stayed seven previous times due to uncertainty surrounding the case. Wicker’s wife Judy initially said a black male intruder raped her and knocked her unconscious, then shot and killed her husband. According to Mother Jones, police did not believe her account and charged her with hiring someone to kill her husband. As part of a plea deal, Judy told police that her lover, Arthur, dressed in a wig and makeup to look like a black man and shot Wicker, according to ABC News.
Arthur is asking for a stay so that DNA testing can be performed on the wig.
He has spent the past 25 of his 34 years in prison in solitary confinement, in a five by eight-foot cell at the Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore, Alabama.
“Everyone has a fear of dying,” Arthur told Mother Jones, “ . . . but the state of Alabama is going to—and I don’t use this word lightly—murder me for something I didn’t do.”
Call Alabama Governor Kay Ivey at (334) 242-7100 and urge her to stay the execution of Tommy Arthur so that DNA testing can be performed.
Read the Mother Jones interview with Arthur here.
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May 25, 2017 at 10:07 pm
May 25, 2017 at 9:27 pm
I called the Governor’s office and spoke with a rep. The rep didn’t have any answers as to why Governor Ivey hasn’t permitted the DNA testing, but at least the call was made and message noted. If enough people call this could make a significant difference for Mr. Arthur. I’m not advocating for this gentleman, per se, rather I’m advocating for the performance of a test that may prove or disprove Mr. Arthur’s guilt or innocence.
To me, knowing that there’s DNA evidence available but not testing it is a frightening and dangerous precedent for others who may find themselves in a similar position. That could be you or me.
I wonder why it hasn’t already been tested? Makes no sense. I will never understand why the courts make it so hard to test old evidence for DNA. That should be a no-brainer.