James B. Clark Jr. (February 8, 1957 – April 19, 1996) was an inmate

executed Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence (law), sentence ordering that an offender b ...

in the State of

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic and South Atlantic states, South Atlantic regions of the United States. It borders Maryland to its south and west, Pennsylvania to its north, New Jersey ...

for the

murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse committed with the necessary Intention (criminal law), intention as defined by the law in a specific jurisd ...

of his adoptive parents. Clark confessed to the crime. He was motivated by a desire for the couple's

life insurance Life insurance (or life assurance, especially in the Commonwealth of Nations) is a contract A contract is an agreement that specifies certain legally enforceable rights and obligations pertaining to two or more parties. A contract typical ...

. The murders took place on May 22, 1994, one month after he had been released on

parole Parole, also known as provisional release, supervised release, or being on paper, is a form of early release of a prisoner, prison inmate where the prisoner agrees to abide by behavioral conditions, including checking-in with their designated ...

for an earlier conviction. Clark had served 21 years of a 30-year sentence for his attempted slaying of a 3-year-old girl in 1973, but in spite of his failure to participate in rehabilitation and repeated discipline by prison authorities for fighting, he was released for good behavior. His case inspired public outrage and proposed legislation to curtail unwarranted early release.

Execution

On September 9, 1994, Clark pleaded guilty to two counts of first degree murder. He was sentenced to death. After waiving his appeals, Clark was executed by

lethal injection Lethal injection is the practice of injecting one or more drugs into a person (typically a barbiturate, paralytic, and potassium) for the express purpose of causing death. The main application for this procedure is capital punishment, but t ...

on April 19, 1996.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Clarke, James B. Jr. 1957 births 1996 deaths 1994 murders in the United States 20th-century executions by Delaware American people executed for murder American people convicted of kidnapping American people convicted of assault Executed people from Delaware People convicted of murder by Delaware People executed by Delaware by lethal injection 20th-century executions of American people People with passive-aggressive personality disorder People with schizoid personality disorder

Execution

See also

References