Morris Mason

Morris Odell Mason (March 28, 1954 – June 25, 1985) was an American convicted rapist and murderer who called himself "the killer for the Eastern Shore". He was executed for the murder of Margaret K. Hand, although he was responsible for at least one other murder committed during a killing spree days prior that involved multiple burglaries and sexual assaults. His execution was controversial due to his diagnosis with schizophrenia and developmental disabilities, the latter of which caused activists and even Mason's executioner to worry that Mason was not mentally sound enough to be aware of his impending execution.

Early life
Mason was born in Philadelphia and was raised by his mother in Northampton County, Virginia. When he was a child, he complained that he could hear voices that ordered him to "destroy things." His neighbors reported that he was interested in firestarting as a child. He struggled in academics and never completed high school. Mason also joined the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War.

Years prior to the crimes that landed Mason on death row, Mason was diagnosed as "mentally retarded" and tested as having an IQ of 66 although one test showed that he had an IQ of 62. On three separate occasions, Mason was also diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. He was first placed under involuntary psychiatric commitment when he was 17 years old.

In 1975, Mason burglarized and set fire to a house in Virginia's Eastern Shore region. Shortly before Mason's conviction for those crimes, Dr. Richard Williams, a Chesapeake-based psychiatrist, examined Mason and found him to be mentally ill and unstable. A second psychiatric examination at Central State Hospital recommended that Mason be given psychiatric care while in prison serving his sentence for the burglary and arson although after the crime spree that landed him on death row authorities refused to confirm if Mason was given psychiatric care during his first incarceration. For the burglary and arson, Mason was sentenced to 10 years in prison. It was Mason's first time being incarcerated although authorities suspected that he may have been responsible for other house fires and burglaries in his teens.

Prior to his parole in 1978, Virginia's parole board requested another evaluation of Mason, this time by an Eastern Shore parole officer. The parole board ultimately permitted Mason's release, and on April 12, 1978, a little under a month before his murder spree, Mason was paroled. A few days before his murder spree, Mason begged his parole officer to help him be placed in psychiatric custody or a halfway house because "he was sure something terrible would happen." There were no halfway houses available in Virginia to take him in, so Mason was not placed into custody. A few days later, the crime spree began.

Crime spree
On May 2, 1978, Mason burglarized the home of 86-year-old Ursula Stevenson in Birdsnest, Virginia. He raped and murdered her, and then he set her house on fire.

On May 13, 1978, Mason burglarized the home of 71-year-old Margaret Keen Hand. After forcing her to close her drapes, he raped and sodomized her, beat her with an ax, forced her to sit in a chair, nailed her wrist to the chair's armrest, tied her up, and set the room on fire. He left, but he returned to the house to retrieve a bag with his identity papers in it. Mason attributed this murder to an "alcoholic rampage."

On May 14, 1978, Mason burglarized a house where two girls, aged 12 and 13, were home alone. The 13-year-old retrieved her father's pistol and attempted to shoot Mason, but he wrested the pistol from her and shot her in the abdomen, leaving her a paraplegic. He then kidnapped the 12-year-old and took her to a forest, where he raped and sodomized her, covered her with leaves, and set the leaves on fire. The leaves burned the girl's shirt and hair. Both girls survived the attacks. Later the same day, he burned down an abandoned house. He was arrested on May 15, the next day.

For the crimes committed against Margaret Hand, Mason pleaded guilty to rape, arson, and murder. In court, after issuing his guilty plea, Mason boasted, "I am the killer for the Eastern Shore. I'm the only killer they ever had around here. I made the Eastern Shore popular." Overall, Mason received one death sentence for Hand's murder, as well as seven life sentences and 100 years for his other crimes.

Death row
Mason's execution was controversial due to his mental disabilities. Other Virginia death row inmates, including Dennis Stockton and Joseph Giarratano, spoke in diary entries and retrospective interviews about the fact that Mason was "crazy" and that "something wasn't right" with him. In a letter to anti-death penalty activist Reverend Joe Ingle, Giarratano said living with Mason on death row was like "living with a hyperactive eight-year-old. He could never sit still, and would never stop talking." Another unnamed inmate stated that inmates in the Virginia State Penitentiary felt "rare sympathy" for Mason because, despite the severity of his crimes, "it's evident the man ain't responsible" [ sic]. Another inmate said, "He acts just like a big baby. . . . He couldn't stand to be by hisself [sic]. He would pay dudes with his VA money just to keep him company, write letters for him and stuff."

Appeals for clemency
Before Mason's execution, eight clergymen from Richmond, Virginia, met with Governor Chuck Robb in a bid to convince Robb to spare Mason's life on the basis of his mental disabilities. Robb ultimately refused to interfere in Mason's electrocution, allowing it to move forward. In justifying his decision, Robb cited internal memos stating that several psychiatric analyses of Mason completed by psychiatrists hired by the state of Virginia demonstrated that despite Mason's low IQ, schizophrenia, and intellectual disabilities, he understood his actions. The memos also cited Mason's retrieval of identifying information from Hand's burning house showing that he took steps to avoid implicating himself.

Mason's attorneys also petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court, given that a recent ruling would have permitted them to grant Mason a stay of execution based on his psychological disorders so that he could undergo examination by an independent psychiatrist. However, because Mason pleaded guilty to his charges, he was not eligible for a stay of execution under the ruling.

Execution
Mason's last meal consisted of four Big Macs, two large orders of French fries, two ice cream sundaes, two apple pies, and two large grape sodas, which he shared with two guards. He spent some of his final hours with Jerry Givens, Virginia's executioner who would ultimately carry out Mason's electrocution. Givens stated afterwards that Mason did not eat all of his sundaes and, instead, told Givens, "I can't eat all this; put it in the freezer for tomorrow." Givens said this made him realize Mason "had no idea" what was happening to him or that he was going to be executed: "He was not kidding or being sarcastic; I knew that he wasn't ready." Marie Deans, a death penalty abolitionist who was also with Mason during his final hours, stated that he was childlike and that his execution would be "just like killing an 8-year-old." Deans also said that shortly before he was led to the electric chair, Mason asked her what he should wear to his own funeral.

He was executed on June 25, 1985. He asked Deans to escort him to the death chamber. He had no formal last words, although he briefly spoke to Tony Bair to say he would "go out strong just like I promised you." Bair was the warden of the Mecklenburg Correctional Center, where Virginia's death row inmates were held before their transfers to the Virginia State Penitentiary where the execution chamber and electric chair were held. During Mason's execution, death penalty opponents held a candlelight vigil outside of the Virginia State Penitentiary in protest, while on the other side of the street, civilians in support of Mason's execution drank beer, danced, and held signs bearing racial slurs against black people.

General references

 * The Associated Press. Two Men Convicted Of Murder Are Executed In Virginia And Texas. The New York Times (1985-06-26). Retrieved on 2007-08-13.
 * Helen Redmond. Executions Banned For Mentally Retarded. The New Abolitionist (August 2002, Issue 25). Retrieved on 2007-08-13.
 * US Executions since 1976. Clark County Prosecutor. Retrieved on 2007-08-13.
 * Human Rights Watch. Beyond Reason: Defendants with Mental Retardation: Their Stories. Retrieved on 2008-04-01.