Blunt defies family wishes
By Christopher R. Williams
For the St. Louis American
“The governor had a new toy,” Mathew Knuckles said, “and he wanted to play with it.”
Knuckles was referring to the new death chamber at the Eastern Reception, Diagnostic and Correctional Center in Bonne Terre, Mo., some 60 miles south of St. Louis.
Just after midnight, in the early minutes of Wednesday, April 27, Knuckles’ nephew, Donald Jones, age 38, was executed by the State of Missouri at the facility via lethal injection.
On Tuesday morning, Gov. Matt Blunt denied a request by Jones’ family to reduce his death sentence to life in prison. Later that day, the federal appeals court in St. Louis and the U.S. Supreme Court rejected his petitions, clearing the way for his execution.
Jones was the first inmate to be executed at the new facility in Bonne Terre. The other 61 state executions since the death penalty was reinstated in Missouri in 1989 were carried out at the Potosi Correctional Center.
Jones was convicted for the murder of his grandmother, Dorothy Knuckles, on March 6, 1993. He beat her with a butcher block and stabbed her repeatedly in her home in St. Louis.
Knuckles, a Rock Hill alderman, and his family and friends visited with Jones until 7 p.m. Tuesday while his final appeals were being denied.
“I wonder about what kind of state we live in that doesn’t follow the wishes of the victims, the family,” Knuckles said.
“They killed a man when the victims and the family demanded life in prison.”
Knuckles and other family members watched as the state put Jones to death.
“DJ asked us for forgiveness,” Knuckles said, “and we forgave him.”
Knuckles said the family was left without accommodations while on death watch, though the state provided accommodations for news media.
“I will always remember how they treated me and the family. How do you get the media accommodations before the family?” he said.
Now, he said, the family must look to its future.
“His last request was that we keep the family together,” Knuckles said. “And we are prepared to do that.”
Vigil for the condemned
As a steady rain fell Tuesday night, about 150 members of The National Coalition To Abolish The Death Penalty gathered on the steps of St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church to pray for Jones and his family.
The vigil participants stood silently in a steady rain, fighting to keep their candles lit as the moderator read the tragic story of how Jones killed
his grandmother in a drug-induced state and argued that the state should spare his life.
Participants wiped rain or tears from their faces and occasionally acknowledged passing motorists who honked their automobile horns in support of the coalition.
At 8:55 p.m., coalition members reached Jones via cell phone.
“I thank all of you for your prayers,” Jones said, before a coalition member accidentally hung up on him.
“We got him back on the line. He thought we hung up because we were busy,” said Elizabeth Henricks, a Saint Louis University sophomore who previously led fellow students in a “die-in” on campus to crusade against the death penalty.
Dan Johnson, a Saint Louis University senior, recalled visiting with Jones days before his execution.
“We had to pass by the death chamber to visit him. He seemed prepared for his fate,” Johnson said.
“The only purpose for the death penalty is vengeance and retribution. The death penalty does not solve anything.”
Ellen Blau, Jones’ trial attorney, attended the vigil and said her heart was heavy for Jones and his family.
“It was my privilege to serve Donald,” Blau said.
“I don’t believe in the death penalty, personally. I feel very, very sorry for the family.”
Before ending his last conversation with his supporters in St. Louis, Jones encouraged the students to “hit the books” and get ready for their finals.
