Anthony Nathaniel Bonham

Case name and identity

Anthony Nathaniel Bonham (also shown as Antonio Nathanial Bonham) was executed by lethal injection in Texas on September 28, 1993.

Timeline

• July 9, 1981 — Bonham forced business college teacher Marie Jones McGowen, 62, into the trunk of her car; after driving for four hours he raped her and left her for dead on an isolated stretch of road in southeast Houston.
• July 9, 1981 (later that day) — After eleven hours, McGowen’s abandoned car was found by Houston police; her husband John McGowen discovered her mangled body pinned under the car.
• September 28, 1993 — Bonham was put to death by lethal injection in Texas; he made no final statement.
• Up to September 28, 1993 — Bonham’s lawyer continued litigating for Bonham’s life, including arguments about the confession and the circumstances at the time of the crime.

Background

Bonham had an education level of 9th grade.

Bonham had recently been paroled from a ten-year sentence for aggravated robbery and had only been free for five weeks.

The offence

On the morning of July 9, 1981, Bonham forced business college teacher Marie Jones McGowen, 62, into the trunk of her car.

Bonham drove around for four hours and then parked on an isolated stretch of road in southeast Houston. He then raped McGowen and left her for dead.

McGowen arrived at work before 7 a.m. as was customary.

Bonham’s stated intent had been to steal McGowen’s car. He hit McGowen over the head with a brick and threw her in the trunk. After driving aimlessly around the city of Houston for several hours, he stopped on a desolate section of Schurmier Rd. in Southeast Houston.

Bonham raped McGowen and let her go so she could get help for herself. When McGowen gave no response, Bonham tried to scare her by chasing her with the car. Bonham ran over McGowen three times with the late-model sedan.

When he failed to get the vehicle out of a ditch, Bonham fled the scene.

Investigation and arrest

Eleven hours after the abduction, Houston police found McGowen’s abandoned car. Police called her husband, John McGowen, to bring the vehicles’ spare keys.

John McGowen discovered his wife’s mangled body pinned under the car.

Houston police arrested Bonham when a set of keys belonging to the homes of Bonham’s mother, father, and sister were found near the crime scene. Bonham’s fingerprints also matched those on the car.

Bonham admitted to the murder in a written confession. He said the detective in charge promised him a life sentence rather than the death penalty if he gave a written confession.

Bonham told police:

“It was really my (intention) never to harm the lady, but since I had been drinking heavily prior to this incident, the alcohol somehow took all control of me,”

Trial and defence

Bonham’s attorney was Mike Charleton.

Charleton lamented after the trial that jurors did not consider evidence that Bonham was drunk at the time and showed remorse for the killing.

Charleton fought by claiming that the admitted evidence of the confession was not voluntary and was:

“the product of psychological coercion, deceit, fraud, and trickery” violating Bonham’s fifth, sixth, and 14th amendments.

The defence used Bonham’s written confession against the prosecution during the appeal trial.

In the course of the appeal, the court found the confession:

“voluntarily and freely made without compulsion or coercion, threats of promises…”

The appeal was revoked based on that finding.

Charleton also argued that jurors never considered Bonham’s young age of 21 or his drunken state at the time of the crime.

Sentencing and execution

Bonham was sentenced to death for the slaying of McGowen, and he was executed by lethal injection in Texas on September 28, 1993.

On September 28, 1993, Bonham was pronounced dead at 12:28 a.m. His death sentence was carried out for the slaying of McGowen.

Bonham’s execution occurred as the 69th convict executed since the law was reinstated in Texas.

Bonham’s execution was set for September 28, 1993, and Charlton had continued litigating for Bonham’s life up until that time.

Bonham made no final statement.

Other details

McGowen was a keypunch instructor at Massey Business College.

Attorney Mike Charleton discussed public attention and stated:

“I think that Tony’s case did not have the publicity like the other executions. The lady was a well-known teacher, but it just did not get a great deal of attention,”

Bonham’s case also had few activists protesting against his death compared with the executions preceding and following him.