update on James Lewis Derosa

James Lewis DeRosa, Okla. man, executed by lethal injection for couple's 2000 death, report says (CBS/AP) McALESTER, Okla. - Oklahoma executed a 36-year-old man on Tuesday for taking part in the brutal killing of a ranching couple 13 years ago. James Lewis DeRosa was killed by lethal injection at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester, becoming the state's second inmate executed this year. At a clemency hearing last month, DeRosa took responsibility for his role in the Oct. 2, 2000, stabbing deaths of Curtis and Gloria Plummer, for whom he had previously done some ranch work. He also apologized to their family. "I can't express how truly sorry I am for the pain I've caused the Plummer family," DeRosa said. "I take full responsibility for their deaths. If not for me, they wouldn't have died that night." Strapped to the gurney in the penitentiary's death chamber, though, he had nothing to say before the fatal mixture of drugs was pumped into his veins. DeRosa took three heavy breaths before his face turned ashen and he stopped breathing. According to prosecutors, DeRosa had worked on the Plummers' ranch in the Le Flore County community of Poteau, and on the day of the killings, he and accomplice John Eric Castleberry went there under the pretense of looking for work. DeRosa and Castleberry persuaded the couple to let them into their home and then attacked them, stabbing the couple over and over and slashing both their necks, prosecutors said. They made off with $73 and the couple's pickup truck, which was found abandoned at a nearby lake. Castleberry, 33, testified against DeRosa as part of a deal with prosecutors in which he received a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole. At his clemency hearing before the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board last month, DeRosa spoke via a video link from prison about how he had found religion and turned his life around behind bars. He urged the board to recommend to Gov. Mary Fallin that she commute his sentence to life in prison so that he could be a positive influence on his fellow inmates. He also apologized to the victims' loved ones and owned up to what he had done. The family wasn't swayed, and the board voted 3-2 to not recommend he be pulled off of death row. After the execution, the Plummers' daughter, Janet Tolbert, said the execution wasn't about DeRosa. "This is about Curtis and Gloria Plummer. The family of Curtis and Gloria are pleased that justice has been served," said Tolbert, who was wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with a picture of her parents' faces. Tolbert said she wasn't surprised that DeRosa didn't express remorse in the death chamber, because she said he didn't do so in court. She said the clinical and peaceful way DeRosa died belies the horrifically violent manner in which her parents were killed. "It was horrible," she said. "They suffered a horrendous death. They missed out on so much." In a letter to the parole board, Tolbert wrote that she still has nightmares about finding her parents dead. "I saw my 70- and 73-year-old parents laying in pools of blood that went through the carpet to the cement foundation, with both of their throats slashed from ear-to-ear and stab wounds all over their 70-year-old bodies," Tolbert said. Following DeRosa's execution, his defense attorney, Tom Hird of the Federal Public Defender's Office released a statement from his mother, brother and sister expressing regret over his death. "He accepted responsibility for Curtis and Gloria Plummer's deaths and was genuinely sorrowful," the statement said. "The man who was executed today is not the same man who killed Mr. and Mrs. Plummer." The statement said DeRosa had grown deeply religious on death row. DeRosa told Pardon and Parole Board members he practiced Messianic Judaism, which combines elements of Christian and Jewish theologies and practices. "He lived a life of disciplined study, contemplation and prayer, giving what little he had to those less fortunate and inspiring others to do what is right," the statement said. DeRosa was the second Oklahoma inmate executed this year.

Man set to be killed this Tuesday

McALESTER — A convicted killer, and death row inmate at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary, is set to be executed via lethal injection Tuesday at 6 p.m. in the prison’s death chamber. James Lewis DeRosa, 36, was convicted Oct. 19, 2001, of two counts of first-degree murder and was subsequently sentenced to death. The Oklahoma Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty plans to host a silent vigil at 5:15 p.m. on Tuesday in front of the Governor’s Mansion in Oklahoma City. “The public is invited to join the members of OK-CADP as they stand in front of the Governor's mansion, 820 NE 23 St., on Tuesday, June 18, at 5:15 p.m. during the ‘Don't Kill for Me’ protest demonstration, which will transition into a silent vigil at the appointed hour of 6 p.m. until death is pronounced,” organizers of the vigil said. Earlier this month, the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board voted 3-2 against granting DeRosa clemency earlier this month. Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt filed a request March 25 with the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals to set DeRosa’s execution date after the U.S. Supreme Court denied the inmate’s final appeal. In October 2000, Curtis Plummer, 73, and Gloria Plummer, 70, both of Poteau, were found dead in their home with multiple stab wounds and with their throats cut. About one year later, in October 2001, DeRosa was found guilty by a jury of his peers for the LeFlore County first-degree murders of the Plummers. He was subsequently sentenced to death. According to Pruitt, DeRosa was briefly employed by the Plummers and told several friends on multiple occasions he thought the elderly couple would be an easy target to rob. DeRosa’s 21-year-old friend, Eric Castleberry, now 33 4/24/13 (12/4/79), and also known as John E. Castleberry, agreed to help with the robbery. Castleberry’s 18-year-old friend, Scotty White, now 30 4/24/13 (8/1/82), agreed to drive. Pruitt said DeRosa and Castleberry were welcomed into the Plummer’s home, which at the time was equipped with a security system. Once in the home, Pruitt said, DeRosa and Castleberry brandished knives and, while the couple begged and struggled for their lives, DeRosa stabbed the Plummers multiple times and slit their throats, the AG’s office reported. “DeRosa and Castleberry left the scene with $73 and the couple’s pickup truck,” Pruitt said. “The truck was ditched in a nearby lake.” In exchange for a life sentence without the possibility of parole, Castleberry testified at DeRosa’s trial. Castleberry is serving his two life sentences at OSP in McAlester. White was charged with accessory to first-degree murder after the fact and received two 25-year sentences, to be served concurrently, and the last seven years to be served as probation. He is serving time at the Lawton Correctional Facility and has since been convicted of escaping from the Department of Corrections. He is scheduled to be released on Nov. 10, 2026, and has a parole hearing set in August of 2015. DeRosa was received into the Oklahoma Department of Corrections on Dec. 10, 2001. He has been housed in Oklahoma’s death row at OSP in McAlester. Contact Rachel Petersen at rpetersen@mcalesternews.com. For more on this story, see the print or electronic editions of the McAlester News-Capital. Click here for print edition home delivery or click here to see the Smart Edition for your computer, tablet, e-reader or smart phone. - See more at: http://mcalesternews.com/policecourts/x182739329/Killer-set-to-die-Tuesday#sthash.px5K7wPi.dpuf http://mcalesternews.com/policecourts/x182739329/Killer-set-to-die-Tuesday

My prison pen pal ministry has been growing.
but it would be nice to get some people to start helping, and maybe donate stamps
and stuff. so that the ministry can keep growing. and that the word
will go forth. the word of God is powerful, and people need Jesus in these last days.
I pray this will continuing to grow and that people will see the Lord in a whole
different light.

my next blogging on this I will start to add addresses and peoples name.
and make notes who I am writing to. and who needs someone to write to.
these people need christ. or just a friend even help makes their day.
we should help one another, and make these people feel welcome.

may the Lord bless you all richly amen