By Frank Green
The Richmond Times-Dispatch, Va.
RICHMOND, Va. — Two death-row inmates say triple-murderer Percy Levar Walton was ignored for days by officers after he apparently stopped up his toilet and his cell filled with sewage.
Gordon Hickey, spokesman for Gov. Timothy M. Kaine, said Kaine is aware of an incident involving “squalor” in Walton’s cell, but Hickey disputed the inmates’ accounts.
“It did happen, but it was a short-term event. ... It was not the result of days of neglect,” he said. However, Hickey added, “It’s not to say it wasn’t a horrible condition. ... Nobody should live like that.”
“It was cleaned up and Mr. Walton is being more closely watched,” Hickey said. Referring to Walton, Hickey said, “Everybody I’ve talked to says he presents some challenges.”
Walton has been dubbed “Crazy Horse” on death row for his bizarre behavior and lack of hygiene. Two scheduled executions last year were delayed out of fear he was mentally unfit to execute.
Last December, amid controversy over Walton’s mental competence, Kaine delayed the execution until June 2008 so Walton could be observed to see whether his condition changed.
Larry Traylor, spokesman for the Virginia Department of Corrections, said, “Our investigation reveals that the allegations are unfounded.” He did not elaborate on the sewage incident.
In any case, Jennifer Givens, one of Walton’s lawyers, said Walton’s legal team was concerned about his well-being and would continue to monitor the situation closely.
“We appreciate the governor’s attention to the matter, as well as his attempts to ensure that something like this does not happen again,” Givens said.
William E. Van Poyck, an inmate who said he cleaned Walton’s cell, wrote to his sister on Oct. 21: “I was still several cells away when the odor punched me in the face. When I looked into Percy’s cell the entire floor was covered in about 2 inches of raw sewage.”
In his letter (which appears at www.deathrowdiary.blogspot.com), he wrote, “Percy had been locked in that airtight cell like that for the last five-six days.”
He wrote that he vacuumed out about 20 gallons of human waste.
In a Nov. 24 letter to The Times-Dispatch, death-row inmate Ivan Teleguz wrote that the inmate in the cell next to Walton’s complained about the smell five or six days.
Teleguz said Walton has since returned to his old cell.
Walton’s mental health has long been an issue.
His lawyers say he is not competent to be executed; the courts have disagreed. The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled a person is not competent to be executed if he or she is unaware of the punishment and why it was imposed.
Kaine said last December that it was possible that Walton’s condition was not permanent. He delayed Walton’s execution until June 10, 2008, to permit further observation.
In 1997, Walton pleaded guilty to the 1996 killing an elderly husband and wife and another man in Danville.
Death row for male inmates is at the Sussex I State Prison in Waverly. There are 20 Virginia inmates on death row, 19 of them males. The one female is being held at Fluvanna Correctional Center for Women.
Van Poyck was sent here from Florida for his safety. He murdered a correctional officer in 1987. Teleguz was sentenced to death for the 2001 murder-for-hire of his ex-girlfriend in Rockingham County.
A third death-row inmate, who did not want to be identified by name, said that while he could not see Walton’s cell, Van Poyck was issued protective clothing to clean the cell.
The day after the cell was cleaned, the inmate heard an inmate in the cell next to Walton’s thank Van Poyck, saying “I can breathe again.”
Copyright 2007 Richmond-Times Dispatch