Terry D. Clark

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Terry Doug Clark (May 17, 1956 – November 6, 2001) was convicted of the murder of nine year old Dena Lynn Gore. He was executed by the State of New Mexico by means of lethal injection. He became the first and (as of November 2007) the only person to be executed in New Mexico since 1976 when the death penalty was reinstated.

Terry Clark was convicted of kidnapping and raping a six year old girl from Roswell in 1984. Pending appeals in that case, he was released on bond. While out on bond, Clark drove to Artesia on July 17, 1986 and kidnapped Dena Lynn Gore. He then raped her and finally killed her by shooting her in the back of her head three times. A few days later, Clark was taken into custody and, while in jail, he confessed to a minister. At his trial later that same year, Clark pled guilty to kidnapping and murder and was sentenced to death, but the New Mexico Supreme Court overturned the sentence in 1994, saying his constitutional rights had been violated and that he should be re-sentenced. During his re-sentencing in 1996, a second jury again decided that Clark should die for his crimes. Clark waived his appeals in 1999 and was executed in 2001. This made him the first New Mexico inmate to be executed in 41 years and the first ever New Mexico inmate to be executed by means of lethal injection.