This is a photo of Greg Wright 15 minutes after his execution on Oct 30, 2008 in Texas. His friend Bente Hjortshøj is standing on the left. She wrote this caption to the photo:
“The first time we touched you Greg…you were still warm…you looked at peace…as though you were just sleeping and would wake up soon….it was sooooo hard to see you like this though you were finally free..this is just about 15 minutes after the execution…sooo surreal….BUT dearest Greg…..Me and Connie kept our promise to you and for that we are glad…but it was tougher than we thought…. we did it out of love and respect for you!! LOVE YA LOADS!!!!”.
Bente Hjortshøj has given permission for the photo to be distributed around the internet, “me and Connie decided to publish all pictures to show the world the cruel and unusual punishment and its horrible consequences”.
The photos are from her recent trip to Texas when she witnessed the execution of Greg Wright (website) on October 30, 2008.
“The truth doesn’t matter,” Wright said in an interview from death row a few days before his execution. He said he was stunned when his guilty verdict was announced. “I couldn’t believe what was happening … I am innocent.”
Wright again proclaimed his innocence in his last statement at his execution, when asked if he had anything to say:
“Yes I do. There has been a lot of confusion on who done this. I know you all want closure. Donna had her Christianity in tact when she died. She never went to a drug house. John Adams lied. He went to the police and told them a story. He made deals and sold stuff to keep from going to prison. I left the house, and I left him there. My only act or involvement was not telling on him. John Adams is the one that killed Donna Vick. I took a polygraph and passed. John Adams never volunteered to take one. I have done everything in my power. Donna Vick helped me; she took me off the street. I was a truck driver; my CDL was still active. Donna gave me everything I could ask for. I helped her around the yard. I helped her around the house. She asked if there were anyone else to help. I am a Christian myself, so I told her about John Adams. We picked him up at a dope house. I did not know he was a career criminal. When we got to the house he was jonesin for drugs. He has to go to Dallas. I was in the bathroom when he attacked. I am deaf in one ear and I thought the T.V. was up too loud. I ran in to the bedroom. By the time I came in, when I tried to help her, with first aid, it was too late. The veins were cut on her throat. He stabbed her in her heart, and that’s what killed her. I told John Adams, “turn yourself in or hit the high road.” I owed him a favor because he pulled someone off my back. I was in a fight downtown. Two or three days later he turned on me. I have done everything to prove my innocence. Before you is an innocent man. I love my famly. I’ll be waiting on ya’ll. I’m finished talking.”
The lethal injection was then started. He was pronounced dead at 6:20 p.m.
Grits For Breakfast, recently named by the ABA as one of the top 100 legal blogs, commented on Wright’s last statement:
When you read the final statements of most executed offenders, at least those who choose to give them, they tend to express remorse, often apologizing to victim families, or else offering comfort to friends and family they’re leaving behind. Wright’s final statement was noteworthy because he defiantly maintained his innocence until the end, instead insisting that an informant who testified against him really did the deed.
