John Wade Adams

Background

John Wade Adams was born on January 26, 1963. He was previously convicted of burglary of a habitation and served a five-year sentence under TDCJ-ID #515044. He was released on parole, returned as a parole violator on June 20, 1995, and was released on mandatory supervision on December 27, 1996.

The offence

On March 23, 1997, in De Soto, Adams and his co-defendant murdered a 52-year-old white female. They held her down and fatally stabbed her in the neck and chest with a kitchen knife taken from her own kitchen. They took her TV, VCR, weed eater, and her car. The car was later found abandoned in Lancaster.

Investigation

On March 22, 1997, Adams placed an emergency 911 call to the Dallas Police Department stating that he had witnessed a murder the night before. He led authorities to an abandoned white Chrysler New Yorker registered to Donna Duncan Vick. The victim was found murdered in her home with a pillow covering her face and lying in a pool of blood. She had sustained multiple stab wounds, bruises, and cuts to her face, neck, chin, hands, and throat.

The victim

Donna Duncan Vick, a fifty-two-year-old widow known for ministering to and aiding the homeless, had invited Gregory Wright, a homeless person and panhandler, to reside in her house in exchange for yard work.

The offence details

Wright had been staying at Ms. Vick's house as a guest for about one week prior to the killing. On the day before the murder, Wright and Ms. Vick drove to a house in north Oak Cliff belonging to Llewelyn Mosley, where Wright purchased and used crack cocaine before leaving with Ms. Vick. Later that evening, Wright and Ms. Vick returned to Mosley's house, where they met Adams. The three left together in Ms. Vick's car.

The events leading to the murder

They all went to the VFW lodge around midnight and stayed until 2:00 a.m. They returned to Ms. Vick's home, where she cooked for Adams and Wright. Ms. Vick then went to bed. At some point, Wright held up a paper towel with the words "Do you want to do it?" written on it. Adams and Wright, armed with Adams' pocketknife and a butcher knife from Ms. Vick's kitchen, went back to her bedroom and proceeded to stab her repeatedly.

Post-murder actions

Wright and Adams gathered items belonging to Ms. Vick, including her microwave, portable CD player, TV, VCR, computer equipment, and a newly purchased weedeater, and placed them in her car. They transported these items to a crack house to trade for drugs.

Trial and sentencing

Adams was convicted of capital murder in a separate trial six months after Wright's conviction and was sentenced to death on August 12, 1998.