David Paul Hammer

Case record: David Paul Hammer

David Paul Hammer (October 9, 1958–) was an American murderer and a prisoner on death row at Terre Haute prison, Indiana.

Background

Hammer was born in Holdenville, Oklahoma. He described his childhood as being full of “poverty, abuse, and many other of society’s ills”. He was the oldest of three children and attended 21 different schools as a child, before dropping out of high school.

As a child, Hammer suffered verbal, physical, and sexual abuse. At age 13, he ran away from home for several weeks before being returned. Two years later, Hammer lived on the street with drug abuse problems. At age 16, he married and was subsequently divorced.

Hammer was first imprisoned at age 19. With the exception of two brief escapes during the 1980s, he served 21 of the first 41 years of his life incarcerated for a multitude of offences, including larceny, shooting with intent to kill, kidnapping and telephoning in a bomb threat. In all, he was serving 1232 years for his 11 convictions.

The offence

In April 1996, in the Special Housing Unit in the U.S. Penitentiary, Allenwood, Hammer strangled his cellmate, Andrew Marti (aged 27), to death using a piece of homemade cord.

Investigation

Hammer wrote on a website dedicated to his case in 2001 and stated that he “could not ‘attribute any motive’ to his actions.”

Trial

Hammer pleaded guilty to the murder of Andrew Marti.

Sentencing

Hammer was sentenced to death by lethal injection on November 4, 1998, at Williamsport, Pennsylvania.

His execution date was set at January 14, 1999 at 10:00 A.M.

Appeals

Hammer had media fame for his appeals against his sentence and against the death penalty itself. During his trial period, he wavered his right to appeal and then proceeded to appeal three weeks later, followed by dismissing his own appeal a further three months later.

Hammer cited the nine-year-old daughter of fellow death row inmate Brownsville drug boss Juan Raul Garza as his motivation to fight his conviction. Elizabeth Ann Garza was reported to have told Hammer that “his life could make a difference for others.” Elizabeth Ann’s letter to President Bill Clinton appealing against her own father’s sentence was also reported to have motivated Hammer to appeal his own death sentence.

Hammer wrote to President Bill Clinton asking for his sentence to be changed to life imprisonment rather than the death sentence, describing the death penalty to be “plagued by systemic bias, disparity and arbitrariness.”

Other details

Attempted suicide

On the night before June 11, the date of the execution of Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh, Hammer attempted to commit suicide. A diabetic, Hammer injected insulin directly into his veins, but the attempt was thwarted and he received hospital treatment.

In a daily journal, Hammer mentioned his suicide attempt and wrote: “I keep wondering how long until my own date with the executioner will arrive, I wish I were dead right now, but I’m not. Death would be a welcome relief.”

At the time, Hammer’s own date of execution (previously set at November 15, 2000) had been postponed and no further date had been set, to allow for his appeals. Hammer’s attorney, Ronald Travis, claimed that he had no knowledge of his client’s intent to harm himself, however he did believe that Hammer and McVeigh were “close”. Hammer reported that he and McVeigh had become friends having met on a flight from Terre Haute and were in adjacent cells.

Hunger strike and misconduct charges

On November 23, 2001, during a visiting period, Hammer became agitated and faced three misconduct charges. He was placed under death watch, with constant supervision using cameras. Hammer refused both food and insulin, creating a great danger due to his diabetes.

Education and charity work

During his incarceration, Hammer obtained degrees in psychology, criminal justice, and paralegal studies through mail correspondence courses.

In light of his own childhood, Hammer collaborated with a Sister Camille D’Arienzo to produce Christmas cards generating over $6000 for organizations helping abused and neglected children.

Timothy McVeigh and publications

Hammer published two books on the Oklahoma City bombing based on knowledge allegedly gleaned first-hand from Timothy McVeigh on death row prior to his execution:

• “Secrets Worth Dying For: Timothy James McVeigh and the Oklahoma City Bombing” (2004), co-authored with Jeffery William Paul
• “Deadly Secrets: Timothy McVeigh and the Oklahoma City Bombing” (2010)

In May 2010, shortly following the publication of the second book, Hammer gave an extended interview on the talk radio show of Alex Jones, detailing his relationship with McVeigh and McVeigh’s account of the US government’s alleged involvement in his recruitment and perpetration of the bombing.