Execution Report: Jeffery Caldwell

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After Caldwell was found guilty, Henry and another brother testified against him during the sentencing hearing. Prosecutors used the brothers' testimonies to show that Jeffery was a continuing threat to society who deserved the death penalty.

Over the years, Jeffery Caldwell gave conflicting accounts of the crime to authorities, reporters, and his family. The story he ended up settling on was that his family was killed by Jamaican mobsters. He said that he had stolen some drugs from the mobsters and they came looking for him. Not finding him, they killed his parents and sister. He said that he didn't know his parents and sister were dead until after his arrest and that he was arrested and convicted because of his criminal past.

In the days leading up to his execution, Caldwell's lawyers argued that he was incompetent to be executed. His requests for a stay were denied by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals and the U.S. Supreme Court.

Prior to his execution, Caldwell issued a written statement in which he reiterated his claim of innocence. "I still to this day scream out that I did not kill them," he wrote. "Although these lifes [sic] being taken was my fault because I robbed some drug dealers three times, I accept the blame for what happened to my parents and my only sister but did not kill them or beat them or shoot them." He also spoke to Henry for the first time in over a decade. Henry Caldwell did not attend the execution.

In the execution chamber, Caldwell expressed love for his family. He was pronounced dead at 6:25 p.m.

By David Carson. Posted on 13 September 2000.
Sources: Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Associated Press, Dallas Morning News.