A man set to be executed in Missouri on Tuesday says he will maintain his innocence until his last breath.
David Hosier, 69, was set to die by injection causing at 6 pm local time for the 2009 murder of the Jefferson City couple, Angela and Rodney Gilpin.
Prosecutors said Hosier, a U.S. Navy veteran, had a romantic relationship with Angela Gilpin and resented her for ending it and reconciling with her husband. According to court documents, Hosier broke into her apartment in September 2009 and shot her and her husband before fleeing to Oklahoma.
Missouri Governor Mike Parson on Friday rejected Hosier’s clemency request. There is no pending court appeal.
“Ms. Angela Gilpin had her life stolen by David Hosier because he could not accept it when he ended his romantic involvement. He did not show remorse for the violence of his feelings,” Parson, a Republican, said in a statement. “For this heinous act, Hosier received the maximum sentence under the law. I can’t imagine the pain Angela and Rodney’s loved ones are going through, but the hope of serving Hosier’s sentence as the Court has ordered brings closure.”
In a telephone interview with Newsweek there, Hosier said he was put to death for a crime he did not commit.
“When they put a needle in my arm and inject poison inside me to kill me, I will keep my innocence,” she said. “It saddens me that people still won’t believe people when they tell the truth because the prosecutor said he did it, I know he did it, he’s done it, he’s an ex.”
Hosier said he couldn’t blame those who were already convinced of his guilt.
“It’s a belief,” he said. “However, I want them to think about this: do you want a family member, a friend, a loved one, sitting, waiting to die, to be executed, because something was not done based on circumstantial evidence, on suspicion, on suspicion?”
He continued: “They have no hard evidence, and they never have and will never have because I was not there. alibi or witness. I did not do anything wrong and I cannot fight lies, innuendo, allegations, the allegations that the prosecutor used to convict me.
“But I want them to think about it, is it going to be the way they want to be treated? Is it going to be the way they want their loved ones to be treated? chords in their heart and say, ‘Hey, wait a minute, this isn’t right.'”
Hosier also expressed his frustration with the clemency petitions filed by his lawyers. It focuses on the trauma of his father, an Indiana State Police sergeant, who was killed in the line of duty when Hosier was 16 years old.
“I specifically told him I didn’t want the ‘boo-hoo, woe is me’ type,” he said. “Because it has nothing to do with this case.”
He said he wanted to focus on the lack of evidence or witnesses tying him to Gilpins’ death. Laurence Komp, one of Hosier’s attorneys, has been reached for comment by email.
According to court documents, an application for a protective order was found in Angela Gilpin’s purse after the shooting, along with other documents she feared Hosier might take from her and her husband.
Police used cell phone data to identify Hosier traveling through Oklahoma, and a manhunt began when a police officer tried to pull him over.
When he got out, he told the officers, “Shoot me, and get it over with” or “stop it,” according to court documents.
Officers found 15 firearms, 400 rounds of ammunition, a bulletproof vest, and a knife in Hosier’s car. The weapons included a disassembled machine gun that investigators say was used in the killings, although ballistics tests were inconclusive.
Police also found a note in the front seat of Hosier’s vehicle. “If you go with someone, don’t lie to them, don’t play with them, don’t bother them by telling other people things that aren’t true, don’t blame them for things they haven’t done. “he said. “Be honest with them if something goes wrong. If you don’t do it this can happen to YOU!! People don’t like to be f***** with, and after so much s*** they can get out of ( deep) ) done!!”
Hosier said he wasn’t running but was walking to clear his mind, The Associated Press reported. He has a gun because he likes to hunt, and doesn’t remember the notes in the car.
“If you’re looking for a weapon to kill someone, why would you take something so big? That’s going to be hard to hide,” Hosier said. Newsweek.
He said he rejected a plea deal that would have taken the death penalty off the table.
“I could have saved my own life a long time ago,” he said. “But I won’t plead guilty to something I didn’t do and I’ve been keeping it since.”
The Missouri Supreme Court upheld Hosier’s conviction in 2019.
But Hosier believes he would not have been convicted if he had been represented in court by a private attorney instead of a public defender.
“Because they don’t have real evidence,” he said. “They have no witnesses. They have no fingerprints linking me to this crime. They have no DNA linking me to this crime.
Last month, he was transferred from prison to hospital and diagnosed with atrial fibrillation. He said he is being treated with medicine, but he is still in pain.
Hosier thanked those who tried to save his life. Representatives Cori Bush and Emanuel Cleaver, both Missouri Democrats, had asked Parson to stop Hosier’s execution last week.
“I’m thankful for everyone, all the support,” he said. “All you can do is hope for the best, prepare for the worst, and pray.”
He also said that while he may have supported the death penalty after his father’s murder, he now believes that the death penalty should be abolished.
“Had you asked me 53 years ago if the death penalty was the appropriate punishment, I would probably have said yes,” he said.
“But that was also back when I believed in the criminal justice system and in the supposed infallibility of our justice system. And knowing what I know now … there’s no way I can justify the death penalty as an appropriate type of punishment for anybody.”
He added: “It just has to stop, period, not just for me, but for everyone.”
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for a common field.