Percy Walton execution set for Tuesday

Convicted killer Percy Lavar Walton is set to be put to death Tuesday and the Virginia Department of Corrections says preparations for the execution are already under way.

“That’s a realistic date for us as far as the Department of Corrections is concerned,” said Larry Traylor, a spokesman for the Department of Corrections.

A spokesman for Gov. Timothy M. Kaine said a clemency petition is on the governor’s desk seeking to spare Walton’s life. Press Secretary Gordon Hickey said it is Kaine’s policy not to discuss the nature of the petitions.

Walton pleaded guilty to the grisly murders of Cabin Creek residents Jessie Kendrick, 80, his wife, Elizabeth, 81, and Archie Moore, 33, in November 1996. He was sentenced to die for his crimes a year later.

Kaine has twiced delayed Walton’s execution. In June 2006, just hours before Walton was to be put to death, the governor delayed the execution for six months to allow for an independent evaluation of Walton’s mental condition and competence. In December 2006, Kaine delayed the execution to allow for “continued observation” of Walton’s mental state.

Those on both sides of the issue are still debating whether Walton, who was 18 when he committed the murders, is too mentally ill to be executed.

Walton scored a 90 on an IQ test given before he turned 18. Since that time, Walton’s IQ test scores have steadily declined.

Those opposing his execution say it is a sign of Walton’s declining mental conditions. Others say it is a ploy to avoid being put to death.

Phil Theisen, director of the Lynchburg Depressive Disorders Association, hopes Kaine will intervene on Walton’s behalf.

“I would believe the life sentence commutation would be appropriate from Governor Kaine,” he said.

Commonwealth’s Attorney William H. Fuller III said he has never prosecuted a case like this one, where the execution has been put off for more than 10 years. He said the Supreme Court upheld two lower court decisions that Walton was competent to be executed.

“When the Supreme Court decided 6 to 3 that all of his constitutional rights had been (upheld), his execution should have taken place then,” Fuller said.

Police found the bodies of the Kendricks inside their Cabin Creek townhouse at 629 Springfield Road just two days before Thanksgiving. They had both been shot in the top of the head. Fuller said it appeared that Jessie Kendrick’s hands were in a praying position when he was found.

Moore was found in a closet Thanksgiving Day with a gunshot wound to the head. Walton told police he poured cologne on the body to prevent it from smelling.

Theisen said it appears Walton fell through the cracks of the local mental health system given his extensive history of severe mental disability.

“This is all too reminiscent of Mr. Cho at Virginia Tech last year, the murders of two US Capitol police officers in 1998 by Russell Weston Jr., and the list goes on and on,” he said.

Seung-Hui Cho, who killed himself after killing 32 students at Virginia Tech on April 16, 2007, was believed to be mentally ill.

Fuller said any mental health issues were never brought up by the defense during Walton’s trial. He said appeals courts have denied any belief that Walton is mentally ill.

Contact Bernard Baker at bbaker@registerbee.com or (434) 791-7986.