wishing we were dead.
There's a TV in my front room,
and it's screwing up my head.
There's a scanner in the toilet,
to watch you take a bath.
There's a picture of Hiroshima,
to make sure you never laugh.
Joseph Lewis Clark, (15 January 1949 – May 2, 2006), was executed by the State of Ohio. He was the 21st person executed by Ohio since the state resumed executions in 1999. Clark was sentenced to die on November 28, 1984 for the murder of 22-year-old David Manning during a gas station hold-up in Toledo.
Clark's execution was notable for a number of reasons. He spent 21 years and 5 months on death row, making him one of the longest-serving inmates between sentencing and execution. He also gave the longest (10 minutes) final statement according to the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction.
Clark's execution was also most notable and controversial because it took officials nearly 90 minutes to complete the process. The problems began when the staff were unable to find two suitable veins to attach the IV lines leading to the lethal chemicals. Clark had an extensive history as an intravenous drug user, making his veins weak and brittle. Under the state's execution protocol, two veins were required with the second serving as backup should the main line fail. After unsuccessfully trying to find a suitable second site for nearly 30 minutes, the staff opted to move ahead with only the single main line.
Shortly after the chemicals began flowing Clark shouted, "It don't work. It don't work." and attempted to raise his head and upper body, according to witnesses. The director of the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction, Terry Collins, on just his second day as head of the department, ordered the curtain to the visitors' gallery be closed, while execution team members strived to find another suitable vein. It took another 40 minutes before the second vein was found and the execution continued. By 11:26 a.m. Clark was dead.
Throughout his professional criminal career he never killed anyone.
Described by Mafiosi Donald Frankos as "a little bright-eyed man" who stood at 5 feet 7 inches, he was very talkative, chain-smoked hand rolled Bull Durnham cigarettes, and dispensed mounds of legal advice to any convict willing to listen.
Inmates considered Sutton a "wise old head" in the prison population.
When incarcerated he never had to worry about assault because his Mafia friends looked after him.Gangsters from the time period, and many incarcerated organized crime mafia family leaders and made Mafioso loved having Sutton around for companionship.
He was always a gentleman, witty and non-violent.
Frankos declared that Sutton made legendary bank thieves Jesse James and John Dillinger look like amateurs.
Sutton married Louise Leudemann in 1929. She divorced him while he was in jail. Their daughter Jeanie was born the following year. His second wife was Olga Kowalska, whom he married in 1933. His longest period of (legal) employment lasted for only 18 months.
Sutton preferred the name Bill, but police nicknamed him Willie.
He robbed about 100 banks from the late 1920s to his final arrest in 1952—with several prison terms in between; he was also a master at breaking out of prisons.
He allegedly never robbed a bank when a woman screamed or a baby cried.
"Why did I rob banks? Because I enjoyed it. I loved it. I was more alive when I was inside a bank, robbing it, than at any other time in my life. I enjoyed everything about it so much that one or two weeks later I'd be out looking for the next job. But to me the money was the chips, that's all. Go where the money is...and go there often."
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