Larry Allen Hayes

Case information

Larry Allen Hayes was convicted of capital murder and was executed by lethal injection in Texas on September 10, 2003.

Timeline

• July 13, 1999 — Larry Allen Hayes told his stepson that his wife was having an affair with a co-worker and that he did not think that he could “forgive her like she forgave me.”
• July 15, 1999 — Hayes suspected an affair between Mary Hayes and Gary Hurt, Mrs. Hayes’s co-worker; Hurt testified that Hayes called him about the affair and said: “Don’t you know that people get killed over these things?”
• July 15, 1999 (between 10:45 and 11:00 p.m.) — Paula Odendalski heard a shrill, high-pitched noise and saw Lauren Hayes, Hayes’s ten-year-old daughter, running across the street; Odendalski called 911 at 10:51 p.m.
• July 15, 1999 — Hayes hit Mary Hayes on the head and chased her into their daughter Lauren’s bedroom; Lauren ran out of the house and heard several more shots; Dr. Parungao testified Mary Hayes was shot seven times, including three times in the head, once in the left shoulder blade, twice in the back, and once in the hand.
• July 15, 1999 (shortly after killing his wife) — Hayes drove to the Diamond Shamrock gas station at FM 3083 and Creighton Road; a witness saw Hayes lead clerk Rosalyn Robinson out of the store at gunpoint to her white Ford Mustang; Hayes shot her.
• July 15, 1999 (later that same evening) — Vale Yates stopped at a Super 8 Motel in Cleveland, Texas; his Chevrolet Blazer was stolen, and it was parked behind where Robinson’s white Mustang was.
• 12:20 a.m. — The Polk County Sheriff’s Department received a dispatch to a Dandy Double truck stop in Polk County, Texas to apprehend a potential suspect from Montgomery County.
• During the arrest at the Dandy Double truck stop (time not specified) — Officers confronted Hayes; he had a .44 magnum tucked into his waistband; Sergeant Waller fired a first shot that missed and a second shot that struck Hayes in the back; Hayes was taken into custody and transported to Columbia Conroe Medical Center for medical attention.
• Mar. 7, 2000 — A grand jury indicted Hayes in the 221st Judicial District Court of Montgomery County, Texas, for capital offenses: (1) murdering Rosalyn Robinson while in the course of committing or attempting to commit the offenses of robbery or kidnapping; and (2) murdering Mary Hayes and Rosalyn Robinson during the same criminal transaction or pursuant to the same scheme or course of conduct.
• May 10, 2000 — A jury found Hayes guilty of capital murder in the 410th Judicial District Court of Montgomery County.
• May 17, 2000 — Following a separate punishment hearing, the court assessed a sentence of death.
• July 6, 2000 — Hayes testified that he wished to waive all appeals; the trial court entered a finding of competency but refused to dismiss Hayes’s appeals.
• May 14, 2002 — Hayes signed an affidavit indicating he still wished to waive all appeals.
• Sept. 11, 2002 — Hayes’s conviction and sentence were affirmed on direct appeal by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals in a published opinion.
• Oct. 23, 2002 — Hayes’s application for writ of habeas corpus was denied by Court of Criminal Appeals.
• Nov. 19, 2002 — The United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas, Houston Division found that Hayes wished to waive federal habeas review and was competent to do so.
• September 10, 2003 — Hayes was scheduled to be executed after 6 p.m. and was executed by lethal injection; he was pronounced dead at 6:29 p.m.

Background

In 1999, Hayes and his wife, Mary Hayes, were living together at 2667 South Woodloch in Conroe, Texas.

Hayes was previously convicted of driving under the influence of drugs in Galveston County, driving while intoxicated in Harris County, and felony possession of barbiturates in Missouri. Hayes was also arrested but not convicted for assault in Montgomery County.

Hayes was diagnosed in 1998 as bipolar and manic depressive, and he was being treated with Prozac at the time of the crimes.

The offence

At between 10:45 and 11:00 p.m. on July 15, 1999, Paula Odendalski heard a shrill, high-pitched noise and saw Lauren Hayes running across the street. Odendalski met Lauren in her driveway and asked what was happening. Lauren was screaming and said that her father was trying to kill her mother. Odendalski called 911 at 10:51 p.m. Lauren told the 911 operator that she heard her mother and father fighting. Hayes was hitting Mary Hayes on the head and chased her into Lauren’s bedroom. Lauren ran into the bedroom and saw Hayes had shot her mother in the hand. Mary Hayes tried to crawl under Lauren’s bed to escape. Hazel Hayes, Hayes’s mother, ran to the room and tried to stop Hayes. Lauren ran out of the house and heard several more shots. During the 911 phone conversation, Lauren told the operator that she thought Hayes had left the house in a black Chevy Suburban truck.

Police arrived and found Hazel Hayes wailing inside the house. Hazel Hayes told the police that Hayes and his wife were fighting over Mary Hayes’s alleged affair with another man. Hazel Hayes stated that she tried without success to stop her son. She said he reloaded his gun and asked her for a kiss before driving off.

The police found the body of Mary Hayes in Lauren Hayes’s bedroom. Police found blood on the wall and the bed, and brain matter and skull fragments on the floor. Dr. Parungao testified that Mary Hayes was shot seven times: three times in the head, once in the left shoulder blade, twice in the back, and once in the hand. Dr. Parungao testified that two of the wounds were close contact wounds fired within six inches of the body. Dr. Parungao described Mary Hayes’s head as “shattered” and “crushed.”

Eight “spent” .44 magnum cartridge casings were recovered at the scene.

Shortly after killing Mary Hayes, Hayes drove to the Diamond Shamrock gas station at FM 3083 and Creighton Road in Montgomery County. A witness testified that she saw Hayes lead clerk Rosalyn Robinson out of the store at gunpoint to Robinson’s white Ford Mustang. As the witness started to drive away, she heard a gunshot. When police arrived, they found Rosalyn Robinson lying on the ground in front of Hayes’s black Suburban, alive but unresponsive; Robinson later died. Dr. Parungao testified that the cause of Robinson’s death was multiple gunshot wounds to the head and abdomen. Dr. Parungao testified that Robinson was shot three times: once in the abdomen, once in the right arm, and once in the face. Robinson’s white Mustang was missing.

Vale Yates testified that later that same evening he stopped at a Super 8 Motel in Cleveland, Texas. Yates testified he was having trouble with the starter in his Chevy Blazer, so he left the truck running while he went inside to check in. When he returned, his Blazer was gone and parked behind where it had been was Rosalyn Robinson’s white Mustang. Inside the Mustang was an overnight bag containing prescription medications bearing Hayes’s name, a cartridge carrier, and three spent shell casings.

Following the murders, Hayes’s kidnapping and the last shot were caught on videotape.

Investigation and arrest

The Polk County Sheriff’s Department received a dispatch at 12:20 a.m. to report to a Dandy Double truck stop in Polk County, Texas, to apprehend a potential suspect from Montgomery County. Sharon Glass and her husband reported that a man driving a Chevy Blazer asked them for a jump in the parking lot. When he turned to the side, Mrs. Glass saw a large gun tucked into the waistband of his pants.

When a deputy sheriff apprehended Hayes, Hayes was walking south across the Dandy Double parking lot with his shirt off and tucked into his waistband. Officers yelled at Hayes to put his hands up, and Hayes turned and pulled away the white t-shirt to reveal a .44 magnum. Hayes then started to raise the gun. Sergeant Waller fired a shot which missed Hayes. Hayes moved into a “shooter stance” and Sergeant Waller fired a second shot which struck Hayes in the back. Hayes was taken into custody and transported to Columbia Conroe Medical Center for medical attention.

Trial

Charges and indictment

Hayes was indicted in the 221st Judicial District Court of Montgomery County, Texas, for capital offenses:

1. murdering Rosalyn Robinson while in the course of committing or attempting to commit the offenses of robbery or kidnapping; and
2. murdering Mary Hayes and Rosalyn Robinson during the same criminal transaction or pursuant to the same scheme or course of conduct.

Verdict and punishment

On May 10, 2000, a jury found Hayes guilty of capital murder in the 410th Judicial District Court of Montgomery County. On May 17, 2000, following a separate punishment hearing, the court assessed a sentence of death.

During the punishment phase, nurses testified that Hayes was verbally and physically abusive and threatened to kill one nurse “if he could get his hands on her.”

Hayes testified that he wished to waive all appeals on July 6, 2000; the trial court entered a finding of competency but refused to dismiss Hayes’s appeals.

Victim-impact statements

Shortly after the jury’s verdict, state District Judge K. Michael Mayes allowed the mothers of both victims to tell Hayes and others in the courtroom how his acts had affected them.

Ruby Robinson told Hayes: “I thought I'd never say this but I want to see your face when you die. You got what you deserved. You could have had my daughter's car, you didn't have to kill her,” Robinson said. Now, Ruby Robinson told Hayes, there is "just pain, pain. When I got up every morning, I'd pass by her room and she was there. Now it's just an empty room. An empty room. An empty room.”

Rosa Faust, 72, read from a letter Hayes had written her from jail about two weeks after the killings. Faust said she forgave Hayes because “Hate destroys.” Faust said: “I forgave you for every hurtful word you said to my daughter and grandchildren. I forgave you for the pain you inflicted on their bodies and minds. "You couldn't hide what you were from me. I knew almost from the beginning,” Faust told Hayes. "But I had already forgiven you before you asked. I forgive you. I feel sorry for you,” Faust told her son-in-law. "I tell you what: I'd rather be Mary's mother than your mother.” Faust looked at her former son-in-law and told him he'd robbed his children not only of a mother but a father as well.

Hayes showed no emotion throughout the statements.

Evidence described at trial

Prosecutors played a tape of the 911 call with Hayes’s daughter, and the jury heard testimony about the shooting of Mary Hayes and the attack on Rosalyn Robinson. The police found body evidence in Lauren’s bedroom, including blood on the wall and the bed and brain matter and skull fragments on the floor. Dr. Parungao testified about the seven gunshot wounds to Mary Hayes, including two close contact wounds fired within six inches of the body. The jury also was shown a video of Hayes attempting to steal Robinson’s car; the video depicted Hayes taking Robinson by gunpoint, ordering “Get in the car, get in the car,” and the later shooting heard on the film.

A jury of nine men and three women deliberated just under four hours before returning a verdict in the punishment phase.

Defense attorneys William Hall and Lydia Clay-Jackson argued Hayes’s life should be spared, contending he posed little risk of future danger if sentenced to life in prison, and that his diagnosed manic depression and learning of his wife’s affair drove him to violence.

Prosecutors Jim Prewitt and Robert Bartlett argued Hayes’s reaction to life situations was consistently violent, and that his choice involved violence.

Appeals

On Sept. 11, 2002, Hayes’s conviction and sentence were affirmed on direct appeal by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals in a published opinion (Hayes v. State).

Hayes raised four points of error on direct appeal, including challenges to the sufficiency of the evidence at the punishment phase. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals overruled each point of error and affirmed the judgment.

Brady claim (direct appeal)

Hayes claimed his right to a fair trial was violated because the prosecution failed to disclose favorable punishment evidence: a letter Hayes wrote to Rosa Faust in which he said he was “sorry for what he has done.”

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals held the Brady rule did not apply because Hayes was aware of both the existence and contents of the letter since he had written it, and it overruled the point of error.

Admission of photographs (direct appeal)

Hayes argued that the trial court erred by admitting autopsy photographs as inflammatory and that their prejudicial value outweighed their probative value.

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals addressed exhibits 11C, D, and E and exhibit 19A and overruled the objections, holding there was no abuse of discretion and that any error would be harmless in light of other evidence and the surveillance tape showing Hayes shooting Robinson.

The court concluded: “We affirm the judgment of the trial court. En Banc. Delivered September 11, 2002.”

Habeas corpus and federal review waiver

On Oct. 23, 2002, the Court of Criminal Appeals denied Hayes’s application for writ of habeas corpus.

On Nov. 19, 2002, the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas, Houston Division found that Hayes wished to waive federal habeas review and was competent to do so.

Hayes waived all appeals.

Sentence and execution

Hayes was scheduled to be executed in Texas after 6 p.m. on September 10, 2003.

Last statement

Before lethal injection began, Hayes made a last statement that included: “I would like for Rosalyn's family and loved ones and my wife, Mary's, family to know that I am genuinely sorry for what I did. I would like you to reach down in your hearts and forgive me. There is no excuse for what I did. Rosalyn's mother asked me at the trial, "Why?" and I do not have a good reason for it. Please forgive me. As for my friends and family here - thanks for sticking with me and know that I love you and will take part of you with me. I would like to thank one of the arresting officers that I would have killed if I could have. He gave me CPR, saved my life, and gave me a chance to get my life right. I know I will see Mary and Rosalyn tonight. I love you all.”

After his statement, the lethal injection was started, and Hayes was pronounced dead at 6:29 p.m.

Other details

Prior domestic violence allegations and testimony

At sentencing, the jury heard testimony that Hayes was verbally and physically abusive and threatened to kill a nurse “if he could get his hands on her.” The jury also heard testimony from witnesses about multiple episodes of violence and about Mary Hayes being admitted to a shelter for battered women run by the Montgomery County Women’s Center.

Nancy Harrington testified that Mary Hayes told shelter officials she had been physically and emotionally abused, slapped, choked and shoved, and that she had been confined against her will and that household objects were thrown at her. Harrington testified that Mary Hayes returned to her husband but did not say why and did not say when she was admitted.

Statements to arresting officers

Sergeant Waller and other officers testified about confrontations at the Dandy Double truck stop. Another officer testified Hayes told him on one occasion “There will be violence.”

Documents and citations noted in case materials

The direct appeal opinion was identified as Hayes v. State, ___ S.W.3d ___ (Tex.Crim.App. September 11, 2002).

Final meal

Hayes’s final meal included: Two bacon double cheeseburgers, French fries, onion rings, ketchup, cole slaw, two diet Cokes, one quart of milk, one pint of rocky road ice cream, one pint of fried okra, salad dressing, tomato, and onion.