JENNIFER WILSON - 9 yo (1988) - Flagstaff AZ

Twenty-three years after 9-year-old Jennifer Wilson was brutally
raped and murdered and left on a hilltop in Flagstaff, the man convicted
of killing her has run out of appeals.


Richard Lynn Bible is scheduled to die by lethal injection at 11 a.m. today for the 1988 murder.Bible, 49, has always maintained his innocence and in recent months
has claimed that a DNA analysis of hairs found on Jennifer's body and
clothing would exonerate him.
On Wednesday, his last-ditch appeals were denied by the U.S. Supreme Court and the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Ironically, Bible's trial in 1990 was the first Arizona case to use
what was then brand-new DNA technology. A newspaper article at the time
theorized that someday DNA evidence could become a regular part of
courtroom arguments, although Bible's appellant lawyers tried to
denounce it as junk science.
It was a case that played out dramatically in the press over two
years: a convicted sex offender snatched a little girl from her bicycle,
beat her to death, then hid her body.
In June 1988, Jennifer Wilson was on vacation from Yuma with her
family. They had transported their horses up to Flagstaff to do some
riding in the cool mountain air, and rather than ride in the family
vehicle, Jennifer asked if she could ride her bike the last few miles to
the ranch where they intended to saddle up. She never got there. When
her mother drove back down the road looking for her, all she found was
Jennifer's bicycle.
Bible, then 26 and a Flagstaff local, was arrested seven hours later,
based partially on a description Jennifer's mother had given to police
of a truck she had seen drive by about the time Jennifer disappeared.
Jennifer's body was not found for 19 days, even though searchers had
already combed the area with cadaver dogs, helicopters and legions of
law-enforcement officers.
Circumstantial evidence linked Bible to the murder. And blood spatter
on Bible's shirt proved to be Jennifer's after the DNA was typed. Bible
was convicted in April 1990 of first-degree murder, kidnapping and
child molestation. Two months later, he was sentenced to death.
Little is known about Bible's early life. At his sentencing, his
family testified that he was a hyperactive child but otherwise acted
appropriately around women and children. They said they had no concerns
leaving him alone to watch kids.
But he had a long history of substance abuse, ranging from sniffing
glue as a boy to overusing alcohol, cocaine and amphetamines as an
adult. Mental-health professionals quoted in court documents said
substance abuse brought out his antisocial tendencies.
In 1981, when he was 19, Bible was drinking on Sheep Hill in
Flagstaff with his 17-year-old female cousin and they talked about a
trip they planned to Sedona for the next day. All of a sudden, Bible
tied her up, cut off her clothes with a knife and sexually assaulted her
in the back of his pickup truck. He went to prison for six years, and
while there, according to court testimony, he told a counselor that he
would never again make the mistake of letting a victim testify against
him. He may have kept his promise.
Bible was out of prison a year when Jennifer Wilson was murdered.
A day before, he had stolen a truck from a county impound lot near Sheep Hill.
He never confessed the details, but a jailhouse informant told
authorities that Bible said that while he was high on methamphetamine,
Bible used the truck to run Jennifer off the road and then told her he
would take her to get medical help.
Nearly three weeks later, hikers found some of her clothing on Sheep
Hill and called police. Searchers found her bound and naked body covered
with branches and litter, within yards of where searchers had passed in
the days when she first disappeared. She had died of blunt-force blows
to her head.
Loose rubber bands, a cut cigar and a couple of airline-size vodka
bottles matched items found in the truck Bible had stolen. Hairs found
at the scene were deemed to be similar to Bible's. Evidence technicians
matched fibers. And then there was Jennifer's blood on Bible's shirt.
The jury found Bible guilty.
Read more: http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/2011/06/30/20110630arizona-execution-richard-lynn-bible.html#ixzz1QmTip378

FLORENCE -- Twenty-three years and five days after young
Jennifer Wilson's body was found on Sheep Hill, her killer was put
to death.
In his last words, he made no mention of the crime for which he was
put to death.
Richard L. "Ricky" Bible, 49, of Flagstaff, as pronounced dead by
lethal injection at 11:11 a.m. Thursday at the Arizona Department
of Corrections Central Unit.
"Today needed to happen," said Jennifer's father, Rich, after the
execution.
Jennifer's family and more than 40 others witnessed Bible's last
minutes. The small, blue room had three rows for witnesses to
stand. Fans moved air through the area that faced a two-way glass
window that stretched the length of the room. The fans made the
only sound as the witnesses, who included more than a dozen
criminal justice and law enforcement officials from Flagstaff and
Coconino County involved in the case, filed in.
Bible's two attorneys were his only witnesses; his family was not
present.
Charles Ryan, director of the prison, said that it was the most
people he has seen to witness an execution.
At 11 a.m., the curtains opened. Bible was on his back on a table.
His body was covered with a sheet. He looked straight at the
ceiling and did not look at the people assembled. The death warrant
was read. Bible was asked if he had any last words.
"I want to thank my family and my lawyers," he said. "I love them
all and everything's OK. That's it."
Rich, his wife Nancy and children held one another as Bible's
breathing quickened, then slowed. A few minutes into the execution,
a technician dressed in medial clothing came in and checked Bible's
eyes and mouth.
"It is confirmed the inmate is sedated," came a voice from an
intercom.
Minutes passed. The witnesses watched.
And then it was over. The curtains closed

‘THE SYSTEM DOES WORK'
Rich, Nancy and family, holding hands, left the crowded little
room and into the heat of the day to be escorted away.
The family made statements a short time later.
"We'd like to offer our condolences to the Bible family," Rich
said. "We know it must be a hard time for them also."
He thanked the communities of Flagstaff and Yuma for their support
and prayers.
"We could not stay intact as a family (without the support)," he
said. "We could not have seen this through to fruition."
Rich also thanked law enforcement and criminal justice officials
who helped.
"Twenty-three years has been a very, very long time," he said,
later adding. "The system does work."
The system may be slow, cumbersome and frustrating, but it does
work, Rich said.
"As a family, we've started the healing process now," he
added.
Nancy, flanked by sons Adam and Brian and daughter Michele, said,
"Justice is served today."
The anguish felt on June 6, 1988, went far beyond them as a family
and into the communities of Flagstaff and Yuma.
"We want to thank everybody for their support and prayers," she
said.
After Bible's death, Coconino County Attorney David Rozema said,
"This case is about Jennifer Marie Wilson, who would have been 32
years old today but for the heinous crimes committed by her
killer."
Camille Bibles, prosecutor at the 1990 trial, said, "Ultimately,
what I hope is the community, the family and Jennifer Wilson
herself can finally rest in peace."

FOUR EGGS WITH CHEESE
Bible was moved the night before from the Browning Unit, where
death row is, to the Eyman Housing Unit 9, where the executions
take place.
As his last meal, he had breakfast - four eggs with cheese, hash
browns, biscuits and gravy, peanut butter and jelly and chocolate
milk.
Among the witnesses present was the Flagstaff Police Department
case detective, Bill Trimble, who held a pink ribbon during the
execution in remembrance of Jennifer. Fred Newton, chief prosecutor
at trial and retired judge, was present. Former prosecutor and
state senator John Verkamp was present. Eight-term Coconino County
Sheriff' Joe Richards, now retired, was also present. Even the jury
foreman at Bible's trial, Jeff Schweitzer, was present.

Also among the witnesses were:

-- Retired sheriff's office detective Michael Rice

--Flagstaff Police Department Chief Brent Cooper

--Sheriff's office Chief Deputy Jim Driscoll

--Retired FPD sergeant Gerry Blair

--Retired FPD detective Louis Garcia

Read more: http://www.azdailysun.com/news/local/article_b12cc158-a346-11e0-8f4e-001cc4c03286.html#ixzz1QpadiXte