Feb. 4, 1999-----
VIRGINIA: EXECUTION
In Jarratt, a man convicted of killing
a car salesman whose bullet-
riddled body was tied to a truck bumper and dragged down a dirt
road was executed by injection Thursday night.
Tony Leslie Fry, 23, pleaded guilty to
murder and robbery in the February
1994, slaying of Leland A. Jacobs, who worked for a Richmond-area
Ford
dealership.
In a final statement, Fry said he was "sorry
for what I've done, and I
have made peace with myself."
Jacobs was shot 11 times with a .22-caliber
handgun. His necktie was
tied to the rear bumper of the Explorer. A medical examiner testified
that Jacobs probably was still alive when he was dragged.
A police officer who had a warrant for
Fry's arrest in an unrelated case
spotted Fry and an accomplice, then 17-year-old Bradford A. Hinson,
leaving the scene and stopped them. Fry confessed to the killing
when
he was arrested.
Hinson was convicted of 1st-degree murder
and robbery and is serving an
88-year sentence
Fry becomes the 2nd condemned inmate to
be put to death in Virginia
this year, and the 61st overall since the state resumed capital
punishment in 1982. Only Texas, with 167 executions (also since
1982),
has executed more people.
Fry also becomes the 13th condemned prisoner
to be executed this year
in the USA, and the 513th overall since America resumed executions
on
Jan. 17, 1977.
(sources: Associated Press and Rick Halperin)