Mark Gardner (murderer)

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Mark Gardner, 43 was a murderer executed on September 8, 1999 by lethal injectionby the State of Arkansas. He was convicted of the December 12, 1985 murder of Joe Joyce, Martha Joyce and raped and murdered their daughter, Sara Joyce McCurdy in Sebastian County, Arkansas.

Alan Willett was also executed on the same day for the unreated muders of Eric Willett and Roger Willett.

1 The Murder
2 Execution
3 See also
4 References

[edit] The Murder

Joe Joyce had just returned home from a funeral and Sara McCurdy had gone to her parents' home for lunch while her husband was away on Air National Guard duty. The family was tied up and they were suffocated with tape that was placed over their mouths and noses. Martha was found with a wire coat hanger around her neck. Their house was ransacked and jewelry and a car was stolen. Gardner was on parole for an armed robbery conviction and was under an arrest warrant out of Illinois for another armed robbery. Some of the family's jewelry was found on Gardner when he was arrested and he told police that he had also killed a man in NY state. At his trial he claimed that "demons" made him do it.

[edit] Execution

Garner last meal was Fried shrimp, grilled salmon, garden salad, chocolate cake with a coke. Gardner was executed first because he had the lower inmate number (SK901) than Alan Willett (SK930). The injection of a lethal drug was administered at 8:02 p.m. CDT, and he was pronounced dead at 8:15.

Garner’s last words were "Blessed are those who are called to the Lord's supper. A never-ending feasts awaits me. I love the Melanie Alberson family (his pastoral advisor) and I thank them very much."

Gardner was the 3rd condemned inmate to be put to death in 1999 in Arkansas and the 20h person executed by the state of Arkansas since Furman v. Georgia, 408 U.S. 238 (1972), after new capital punishment laws were passed in Arkansas and that came into force on March 23, 1973.

He was also the 569th person executed overall since America resumed executions on Jan. 17, 1977.