By Amanda Lee Myers
The Associated Press
FLORENCE, Ariz. — A U.S. inmate apologized to the family of the man he killed and his own family, said his life was one mistake after another and started crying before he was injected with a lethal drug Thursday.
Robert Charles Towery, 47, convicted of killing Mark Jones while robbing his Arizona home in 1991, was the second inmate put to death in the state in eight days.
“I would like to apologize to Mark’s family and friends for what I did to them. I would like to apologize to my family. So many times in my life I went left when I should have gone right and I went right when I should have gone left. It was mistake after mistake after mistake,” Towery said as his final words.
He started weeping after he looked at his family members and said, “I love my family.” Then he took a few heavy breaths and appeared to fall asleep.
The execution took nine minutes. KSAZ-TV reported that prison staff had problems finding a vein.
Towery’s defense attorney, Dale Baich, expressed concern over whether that caused Towery any unnecessary pain.
“Did they say how many times they stuck him?” Baich asked after the execution. “That will be something I will definitely try to find out.”
Towery’s attorneys made several unsuccessful last-minute arguments in an effort to spare him, including a request on Wednesday with the Arizona Supreme Court to reduce his sentence to 25 years to life in prison because Towery’s accomplice spent less than 10 years behind bars.
Randy Allen Barker, the other man convicted, was given a plea deal for testifying against Towery and was released in 2001. Towery’s lawyers argued that although Towery strangled Jones, Barker was holding the gun, watched the prolonged killing and “exhibited extreme indifference to human life.”
The U.S. Supreme Court denied a review of the case and a stay of execution.
Deacon Ed Sheffer of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Tucson met with Towery and witnessed the execution. He described Towery as remorseful.
“He was trying to find peace,” Sheffer said, adding that nothing was accomplished with his execution.
“To teach that killing is wrong by killing — that is impossible to reconcile,” Sheffer said.
In a statement, Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne said Towery caused great suffering and that Jones’ family finally has justice.
On Feb. 29, Arizona executed Robert Henry Moormann for killing and dismembering his adoptive mother. Moormann was the first Arizona inmate executed with one lethal drug, as opposed to the state’s long-standing three-drug protocol. The same single-drug method was used with Towery.
The Arizona Supreme Court will consider whether to approve death warrants for two other inmates on March 20.