Missouri death row inmate furious at his own clemency petition as governor clears the way for his execution by lethal injection
A Missouri death row inmate is outraged by the way his lawyers handled his clemency request, which was rejected by Gov. Mike Parson on Monday.
David Hosier, 69, will die by lethal injection on Tuesday, more than a decade after he was convicted of the 2009 murders of Angela Gilpin, 45, and Rodney Gilpin, 61. Associated press reported.
He maintains his innocence to this day, and much to his dismay, his defense team wrote a pardon petition that focused on how a 16-year-old Hosier suffered severe trauma when his father was murdered in the line of duty as a citizen of Indiana. Police Sergeant.
He told the Associated Press in a telephone interview that the plea for mercy should have focused on the lack of forensic evidence linking him to the Gilpin killings. His lawyers also argued in a failed appeal from 2019 to the Missouri Supreme Court that there were no eyewitnesses to the crime.
“They did the exact opposite of what I wanted them to do,” Hosier said. ‘I told them I didn’t want the ‘boo hoo, woe is me’. All those things happened 53 years ago, okay? It has nothing to do with why I’m here now.’
This photo provided by Missourians to Abolish the Death Penalty shows inmate David Hosier, Friday, June 7, 2024, at the Potosi Correctional Center in Potosi, Missouri
Angela Gilpin and Rodney Gilpin were shot dead in 2009. David Hosier was romantically involved with Angela while the couple was on a break and prosecutors say Hosier killed them after they got back together.
His father, Glen Hosier, was shot and killed by a murder suspect in 1971 as he entered a home.
Larry Komp, a federal public defender and one of Hosier’s attorneys, did not address his client’s dissatisfaction but stood by his message in a statement shared with the Associated Press.
“It sends the wrong message to execute and marginalize a veteran and an individual who was harmed by the tragedy of his father’s death during his military service, which sent his life in a different direction,” Komp wrote in an email.
‘The context of his life history and the lack of evidence regarding his guilt make this a series of tragedies; nothing is gained by killing him.”
The Gilpins were found shot to death in the hallway of Angela’s Jefferson City apartment on September 29, 2009.
Hosier’s motive for killing them was that he was dating Angela while she was separated from Rodney sometime in 2008 or 2009, according to court records.
Hosier strongly disagrees with the strategy his lawyers followed in the plea for leniency, telling the Associated Press that his father was murdered 53 years ago.
When Angela made the decision to return to her husband in the summer of 2009, Hosier was heard saying that if she didn’t “come with him” he would “end it one way or another.”
‘Mrs. Angela Gilpin’s life was stolen by David Hosier because he couldn’t accept it when she ended their romantic involvement. He shows no remorse for his senseless violence,” Parson said of his denial of Hosier’s clemency request. “For these heinous acts, Hosier received the maximum penalty under the law.”
The Republican, who served as Polk County sheriff for 22 years, has overseen 10 executions since becoming governor in 2018.
In the days before the Gilpins were killed, Hosier allegedly made comments to others threatening to attack Angela.
And after the shooting, police discovered two crucial pieces of evidence in Angela’s bag: an application for a protective order and another document in which she wrote about her fear that Hosier would shoot her and her husband.
Missouri’s Republican Governor Mike Parson rejected Hosier’s clemency request, which all but guarantees his execution next Tuesday
At that point, Hosier became the prime suspect for police, who tracked him down to Oklahoma using cell phone tower data.
When they caught up to Hosier and stopped his car, court records show he got out and told the officers, “Shoot me and end it.”
Authorities searched his car and found 15 firearms, 400 rounds of ammunition and other weapons.
A submachine gun they found is the weapon investigators believe Hosier shot the Gilpins, although tests on it were inconclusive, the Associated Press reported.
Hosier explained all this away by saying he wasn’t on the run, but he was taking a long drive to clear his head. The weapons were with him because he was an avid hunter, he said.
However, Hosier has acknowledged his romantic relationship with Angela.
If Hosier is executed next week, which is likely because his lawyers said they have no appeal in store, he will be the second inmate executed in Missouri this year.
Brian Dorsey, 52, was executed by lethal injection in April for killing his cousin and her husband.