Current:Home > reviewsA clemency petition is his last hope. The Missouri inmate is unhappy with it. -Wealth Axis Pro
A clemency petition is his last hope. The Missouri inmate is unhappy with it.
View
Date:2025-04-26 05:49:43
ST. LOUIS (AP) — As Missouri Gov. Mike Parson weighs a clemency request for condemned inmate David Hosier, at least one person is unhappy with the petition: Hosier himself.
The 69-year-old is set to be executed Tuesday for the 2009 deaths of a Jefferson City couple, Angela and Rodney Gilpin. Randy Dampf, a Jefferson City police officer at the time of the killings and now an investigator for the county prosecutor, said Hosier had a romantic relationship with Angela Gilpin and was angry with her for breaking it off.
The clemency petition is not public, but Hosier said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press that it focused too much on the trauma of his Indiana State Police sergeant father being killed in the line of duty when Hosier was 16; and not enough on the lack of fingerprints, DNA or eyewitnesses tying him to the Gilpins’ deaths. Glen Hosier was shot to death by a murder suspect in 1971 after entering a home.
“They did exactly the opposite of what I wanted them to do,” Hosier said of his attorneys’ approach to the clemency petition. “I told them I didn’t want the ‘boo-hoo, woe is me.’ All that stuff happened 53 years ago, OK? It has nothing to do with why I’m sitting here right now.”
Hosier’s fate rests solely with Parson, a Republican and a former county sheriff who has overseen 10 executions since taking office in 2018. One of Hosier’s lawyers, federal public defender Larry Komp, said Monday that there are no last-minute court appeals pending.
The governor’s office did not return a message seeking comment.
Hosier wheezed at times when he spoke and his voice was weak. In mid-May, he was taken from the prison to a hospital — a rare move for death row inmates. He was diagnosed with atrial fibrillation. He said he’s on medication, but continues to feel poorly.
Hosier spent four years in active duty in the Navy and later worked as a firefighter and EMT in Jefferson City. He acknowledged his 2009 affair with Angela Gilpin and that she ended it and reconciled with her husband. In September 2009, they were shot to death near the doorway of their apartment.
Detective Jason Miles said Hosier made numerous comments to other people threatening to harm Angela Gilpin in the days before the killings.
After the shootings, police found an application for a protective order in Angela Gilpin’s purse, and another document in which she expressed fear that Hosier might shoot her and her husband.
Hosier was an immediate suspect, but police couldn’t find him. They used cellphone data to track him to Oklahoma. A chase ensued when an Oklahoma officer tried to stop Hosier’s car. When he got out, he told the officers, “Shoot me, and get it over with,” court records show.
Officers found 15 guns, a bulletproof vest, 400 rounds of ammunition and other weapons in Hosier’s car. The weapons included a submachine gun made from a kit that investigators maintain was used in the killings, though tests on it were inconclusive.
A note was found in the front seat of Hosier’s vehicle. “If you are going with someone do not lie to them,” it read in part. “Be honest with them if there is something wrong. If you do not this could happen to YOU!!”
Hosier said he wasn’t fleeing to Oklahoma, but was simply on a long drive to clear his mind. He had the guns because he likes to hunt, he said. He didn’t recall a note in the car.
The Missouri Supreme Court upheld his conviction in 2019.
The execution would be the second in Missouri this year. Brian Dorsey was executed in April for killing his cousin and her husband in 2006.
veryGood! (55)
Related
- Civic engagement nonprofits say democracy needs support in between big elections. Do funders agree?
- Could Bitcoin climb to more than $1 million before 2030? Cathie Wood says yes.
- MLS Matchday 5: Columbus Crew face surprising New York Red Bulls. Lionel Messi out again for Inter Miami.
- What we know so far about 'Love is Blind' Season 7: Release date, cast, location
- Rolling Loud 2024: Lineup, how to stream the world's largest hip hop music festival
- Prosecutors in Chicago charge man with stabbing ex-girlfriend’s 11-year-old son to death
- Bernie Sanders wants the US to adopt a 32-hour workweek. Could workers and companies benefit?
- Energy Department conditionally approves $2.26 billion loan for huge lithium mine in Nevada
- Paula Abdul settles lawsuit with former 'So You Think You Can Dance' co
- Man, woman arrested in connection to dead baby found in Florida trash bin
Ranking
- Most popular books of the week: See what topped USA TODAY's bestselling books list
- NASA gave Voyager 1 a 'poke' amid communication woes. Here's why the response was encouraging.
- Boeing plane found to have missing panel after flight from California to southern Oregon
- Aaron Donald was a singularly spectacular player. The NFL will never see another like him.
- Bill Belichick's salary at North Carolina: School releases football coach's contract details
- How to safely watch the total solar eclipse: You will need glasses
- Early morning shooting at an Indianapolis bar kills 1 person and injures 5, report says
- In close primary race, trailing North Carolina legislator files election protests
Recommendation
'Vanderpump Rules' star DJ James Kennedy arrested on domestic violence charges
Kim Kardashian Appears to Joke About Finding Kate Middleton Amid Photo Controversy
Paul Simon, graceful poet and musical genius, gets his documentary due 'In Restless Dreams'
First male top-tier professional soccer player to come out as gay proposes to partner on home pitch
$73.5M beach replenishment project starts in January at Jersey Shore
Love Is Blind's Cameron Hamilton Reveals Why He and Lauren Weren't at the Season 6 Reunion
Things to know about Uber and Lyft saying they will halt ride-hailing services in Minneapolis
Host, radio station apologize for 'offensive' quip about South Carolina star Kamilla Cardoso