Executed May 22, 2001 by Lethal Injection in Oklahoma

30th murderer executed in U.S. in 2001
713th murderer executed in U.S. since 1976
12th murderer executed in Oklahoma in 2001
42nd murderer executed in Oklahoma since 1976

Since 1976	Date of Execution	State	Method	Murderer (Race/Sex/Age at Murder-Execution)	Date of Birth	Victim(s) (Race/Sex/Age at Murder)	Date of Murder	Method of Murder	Relationship to Murderer	Date of Sentence
713	05-22-01	OK	Lethal Injection	Terrance Anthony James W / M / 22 - 41	03-18-60	Mark Allen Berry W / M / 25	02-06-83	Strangulation with wire	Fellow inmate at Federal jail in Muskogee	Received at DOC 10-04-85

Summary:
James and Berry were in jail awaiting trial for Theft of Gov't Property. James became convinced Berry was a "snitch." Along with accomplices Dennis Brown and Sammy Van Woudenberg, James strangled Berry with a wire, then hung him to make it appear as a suicide. Brown received 35 years, and Van Woudenberg was sentenced to death for aiding in the strangulation. Joint trial with Van Woudenberg.

Citations:
James v. State, 736 P2d 541 (Okla. 1987), cert. denied 484 US 970 (1987).
James v. State, 818 P2d 918 (Okla. 1991).
James v. Gibson, 211 F3d 543 (10th Cir. 2000).

Internet Sources:

Oklahoma Department of Corrections

Oklahoma Department of Corrections

Oklahoma Attorney General

W.A. Drew Edmondson, Attorney General - May 22 Execution Date Set for Terrance James (03/23/2001) The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals today set May 22, 2001, as the execution date for Muskogee County death row inmate Terrance A. James. James, 41, was sentenced to death for the Feb. 6, 1983, murder of 25-year-old Mark Allen Berry at the Muskogee City/Federal Jail. Attorney General Drew Edmondson asked the court Jan. 22 to set the date after the U.S. Supreme Court denied the inmate's final appeal.

Berry, James and a third man, Dennis Brown, were incarcerated on a federal charge of theft of government property. James and Brown believed Berry was responsible for their arrest. Berry was strangled to death at about 4:30 a.m. while playing cards with Brown. James approached Berry from behind, wrapped a wire around his neck and strangled him. Brown held Berry's feet and placed his hand over Berry's mouth. Brown and Sammy Van Woudenberg, an inmate who helped plan the murder, hung Berry's body in a shower stall.

Brown pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and received 35 years imprisonment for his part in the murder. Van Woudenberg received the death penalty for his role in the crime. His final appeal was denied Feb. 20, 2001, by the U.S. Supreme Court. Edmondson's request for an execution date is pending before the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals. "Terrance James was rightfully convicted and sentenced for a murder he committed more than 18 years ago," said Edmondson. "Mark Allen Berry's family has waited long enough to see justice done. My thoughts are with the Berry family."

ProDeathPenalty.Com

The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals set a May 22 execution date for Terrance A. James, who was convicted of strangling a man in a Federal jail in Muskogee in 1983. James, 41, was sentenced to death by a jury for killing Mark Allen Berry, 25, on Feb. 6, 1983 when James was 22. Terrence James and Sammy Van Woudenberg were convicted of first-degree murder in Berry's death, Attorney General Drew Edmondson said. Van Woudenberg was in the Muskogee jail on a federal kidnapping charge. He also was sentenced to death in Berry's slaying. James had been serving a five-year sentence after pleading guilty to theft, but he and another inmate, Dennis Earl Brown, blamed Berry, 25, for their arrests, and thought he was a "snitch". Berry was in the jail awaiting trial on a charge of stealing government property and was killed while he and Brown played cards around 4:30 in the morning. After Van Woudenberg put a piece of paper over the camera, James approached Berry from behind, wrapped a wire from a broom around his neck and strangled him. Brown held Berry's feet and put his hand over Berry's mouth. James, Brown and Van Woudenberg then hanged Berry in a shower stall to make it appear that he had committed suicide, prosecutors said. Brown pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and received 35 years in prison for testifying against James and Van Woudenberg, prosecutors said.

Death Penalty Institute of Oklahoma

Terrance James, 41, was executed via lethal injection tonight at Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester. He was pronounced dead at 9:06pm. James received a death sentence for the 1983 jailhouse murder of Mark Allen Berry, 25. Tonight's execution of James was 12th execution in the state this year. The only year in which Oklahoma executed more people was in 1933, when the state executed 14 men. Oklahoma has the second highest per capita execution rate in the country, ahead of both Texas and Virginia.

Background

Mark Berry, Terrance James and Dennis Brown were in the Muskogee City-Federal Jail, having all been charged with theft of government property in the same case. Sammy Van Woudenberg was also in the jail on separate charges. On the morning of February 6, 1983, Berry was found hanging by towel-strips in the shower stall of the jail. The coroner's report stated that Berry was strangled to death with a piece of wire. According to the prosecution, James, Brown and Van Woudenberg all took part in the murder. Brown testified for the prosecution against James and Van Woudenberg and was allowed to plead guilty to second-degree murder. He received a 35-year prison sentence. James and Van Woudenberg were tried together on first-degree murder charges. Both men were sentenced to death. Van Woudenberg is still on death row.

Vigils were held at numerous locations around the state, including outside the gates of the penitentiary in McAlester.

The Lamp of Hope (Associated Press & Rick Halperin)

May 22, 2001 OKLAHOMA - A man was executed by injection Tuesday for killing a fellow inmate he allegedly blamed for his arrest. Terrance Anthony James, 41, was convicted in the 1983 death of Mark Allen "Corkey" Berry. James had been serving a 5-year sentence after pleading guilty to theft, but he and another inmate, Dennis Earl Brown, blamed Berry, 25, for their arrests, prosecutors said.

Berry was killed while he and Brown played cards. James approached Berry from behind, wrapped a wire around his neck and strangled him, prosecutors said. Brown held Berry's feet and put his hand over Berry's mouth. James, Brown and Samuel Raymond Van Woudenberg, another inmate, then hanged Berry in a shower stall, prosecutors said. Van Woudenberg is on death row, but his sentence is being reviewed. Brown pleaded guilty 2nd-degree murder and received 35 years in prison for testifying against James and Van Woudenberg, prosecutors said.

James becomes the 12th condemned inmate to be put to death this year in Oklahoma, and the 42nd overall since the state resumed capital punishment in 1990. James becomes the 30th condemned inmate to be put to death this year in the USA, and the 713th overall since America resumed executions on January 17, 1977.