Samuel Gallamore

Samuel Clark Gallamore, 31, was executed by lethal injection on 14 January 2003 in Huntsville, Texas for the robbery and murder of three people in their home.

On 29 March 1992, Gallamore, then 21, and James Steiner, 19, drove to the home of Clayton Kenney, 83; his wife, Juliana, 74; and Mrs. Kenny's daughter, Adrienne Arnot, 44. Steiner, who had once cared for Mrs. Kenney at an area nursing home, was carrying a tire iron and a cedar tree branch. He hid while Gallamore knocked on the door. After Arnot opened the door, the two men knocked her down and forced their way inside. Mr. Kenney came to Arnot's aid, but the intruders beat both of them with the tire iron and the tree branch. Gallamore then grabbed a knife from the kitchen and began stabbing them. Next, Gallamore proceeded further into the house, finding Mrs. Kenney, who was partially paralyzed, seated in a chair and unable to move. Gallamore stabbed her in the neck and beat her.

After killing all of the residents, Gallamore and Steiner stole some silverware, cash, and figurines.

Adrienne Arnot suffered 26 blunt force blows all over her body, two stab wounds to her neck, and a slashed finger. Clayton Kenney suffered six blunt force blows to his head. Juliana Kenney had a large stab wound to her neck and five blows to her head. The blows created a 7-inch by 2-inch hole in her skull.

Sheriff's investigators found the bloody tree branch hidden in the brush outside the Kenneys' home. A partial fingerprint pointed them to Gallamore, who had a prior arrest record for minor offenses. Eighteen months later, Gallamore was arrested in Chicago. In his confession, he said that he and Steiner had been taking crack cocaine and decided to rob the Kenneys to buy more drugs. Most of the stolen property was discovered buried on some land owned by Gallamore's parents.

Gallamore had no prior felony convictions, but he had misdemeanor convictions for domestic assault, possession of marijuana, and resisting arrest.

A jury convicted Gallamore in February 1994 of the capital murder of Mr. and Mrs. Kenney and Adrienne Arnot and sentenced him to death. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed the conviction and sentence in February 1996. All of his subsequent appeals in state and federal court were denied.

James John Steiner was convicted in December 1994 of capital murder and sentenced to life in prison.

"Things went wrong, terribly wrong," Gallamore said of the triple murder in an interview the week before his execution. "I was under the impression that people weren't supposed to be there. They were. One thing led to another. Everything happened so fast. I had a split second to react. I don't know why I made the decision that I did, but those people had a chance to live. No one had to die ... I am sorry. I have no problem giving my life in payment."

"When it comes to having a life, you can pretty much say mine was a failure," Gallamore said.

Gallamore declined to make a spoken last statement at his execution. He was pronounced dead at 6:14 p.m. His written last statement was issued after the execution was over. "I would like to apologize and say I'm sorry, but words seem so hollow and cheap," he wrote. He also thanked his victim's family for their forgiveness. "Thank you. You have given me more hope than I have had in a long time ... If I could change things I would, not for my sake but for all those who have loved me over the years and for those who have forgiven me."

"We forgave him," said Kristin Huffman, Arnot's cousin, who witnessed the execution. "My heart goes out to Gallamore's family," she said. "They've lost a son, a loved one, and we know what that feels like."