Execution Report: Hilton Crawford

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A jury convicted Crawford of capital murder in July 1996 and sentenced him to death. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed the conviction and sentence in February 1999. All of his subsequent appeals in state and federal court were denied.

Irene Flores, 52, a former employee of Crawford's, who was to receive $25,000 from him for making the ransom phone calls, said that she never thought McKay would be harmed. She pleaded no contest to aggravated kidnapping and was sentenced to 25 years in prison. She is eligible for parole in 2008.

After the murder, Paulette Everett suffered a stroke, and she and her husband divorced. She remarried as Paulette Norman and went through three years of physical therapy. While Carl Everett kept a low public profile, Paulette started The McKay Foundation to raise awareness of child safety. "The greatest thing I can contribute is the story of what happened and hope people can look at me and hear my story and have an awareness," she told a reporter.

On death row, fellow inmates called Crawford not "Uncle Hilty," but rather "Old Man." In an interview, he explained how he became so desperate as to kidnap the child of family friends. He said that he sold his security firm and was awaiting the proceeds, but the buyers sold the business to a second group, and his plans collapsed. The new owners, "some Nigerians," ignored debts owed to Crawford and failed to pay the firm's employees. "These had been my people, so I decided to pay them myself," he said. He borrowed so much money, he was $450,000 in debt. "I guess I could have gone to family for help. I could have struggled. I should have, but I didn't."

"I made a wrong decision in my life," Crawford continued. "I really messed up by being involved. I really am sorry." He still claimed that R. L. Remington killed McKay. "I met him at a racetrack in Bossier City [Louisiana]," Crawford said. "I gave him a [business] card. He knew all about the security business." According to Crawford, Remington told him that "he'd done this before, that no one would get hurt." He said that he waited in his car while Remington abducted McCay. When Irene Flores failed to make any follow-up phone calls to provide ransom instructions, Remington shot McKay. "What happened wasn't supposed to happen," Crawford said.

Other people connected to the case believe that Remington never existed. Remington is "in Hilton Crawford's head," assistant district attorney Aduddell said. Paulette Norman told an interviewer, "I think 'R. L. Remington' is his pistol, and it is his way to disassociate himself with what he did." Crawford, however, never wavered from his account. "I know where Remington is," he told a reporter. "He's in France. I've got an address." Then he added, cryptically, "It will all be made clear in information to be released after I die."

Under Texas law, a person can be convicted of capital murder if the jury finds him to be responsible for the victim's death, even if he is not the person who actually inflicted the fatal injury. Crawford's lawyer, Roy Greenwood, acknowledged that even if Crawford had an accomplice who pulled the trigger, that wouldn't disqualify his capital murder conviction. "He's not innocent. He was a party to a kidnapping capital murder."

Crawford said that he was emotionally and spiritually prepared for his upcoming execution. "I've got peace in my heart," he said. "I'm fine, I really am ... I've been thankful for living as long as I did. I feel sorry for those who have been here 20, 25 years." He said he hoped that Paulette Norman would forgive him, although "If I was on the other side, I don't know if I could."

At his execution, Crawford thanked his family, friends, and spiritual advisors who supported him, and he expressed love to his family. He also thanked "the Lord Jesus Christ for the years I have spent on death row. They have been a blessing in my life." Then, turning his head toward Norman, he said, "I want to ask Paulette for forgiveness from your heart. One day I hope you will. It is a tragedy for my family and your family. I am sorry." Crawford finished by saying, "May God pass me over to the Kingdom's shore softly and gently. I am ready." After this, the lethal injection was started. He was pronounced dead at 6:19 p.m.

"His gesture doesn't mean anything to me," Norman said after the execution. She told reporters that Crawford's last statement showed his desire to detach himself from murdering her son. "I'm not surprised he didn't refer to McKay. He always referred to him [at his trial] as 'the boy.'" Forgiveness, she said, "is God's job."

By David Carson. Posted on 3 July 2003.
Sources: Texas Attorney General's office, Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Associated Press, Beaumont Enterprise, Houston Chronicle, Huntsville Item.