Orien Cecil Joiner

Case information

Orien Cecil "O.C." Joiner was executed by lethal injection in Texas on July 12, 2000.

The offence

In December 1986, Joiner murdered Carol Lynette Huckabee and Eva Marie DeForest, who lived in an apartment in Lubbock next to his residence. Both women were bound with duct tape and stabbed to death.

Carol Lynette Huckabee (26) was raped and suffered multiple stab wounds to the chest, back, and face, and her throat was slashed. Eva Marie DeForest (29) was beaten and stabbed 41 times in the face, and her throat was cut. A broken knife blade was left sticking out of her chest. Evidence showed that Joiner had raped Huckabee.

Background and prior conduct

Joiner behaved violently toward his wife shortly before he committed the murders. Shortly after Thanksgiving, Joiner and his wife agreed to separate. On Sunday, Dec. 14, 1986, Joiner arrived unexpectedly at Gustafson's (his wife) apartment. As soon as she let him inside, Joiner closed the door behind her, pulled an open knife from his right rear pocket, and placed it to her throat. He told Gustafson "not to say anything and not to scream or he would kill [her] right there." He then walked Gustafson over to the couch and punched her twice in the face with his right fist. He cut her sweater off and forced her to remove her pants and underwear. He punched her several more times in the face, chest, stomach, and ribs. Joiner continued this physical abuse of his wife throughout that night and into the early morning hours of Monday, Dec. 15, 1986. He punched her in the face and mouth several more times and, at one point, attempted to strangle her. During this episode, Joiner repeatedly told Gustafson that he "ought to kill [her] right then and there." Joiner made Gustafson call in sick to work. All that day, he kept her and his son James inside the apartment. By Tuesday morning, Gustafson had convinced Joiner that she would not have him arrested and that they would be reconciled. She then allowed her to leave with James to go to work. Gustafson did not return until Wednesday evening, accompanied by a girlfriend and two police officers, to retrieve her clothing and that of her son.

Kathleen Gustafson also testified that in 1985, she was doing laundry in the laundry room when she needed to use the bathroom. When she returned, Joiner did not believe her explanation of where she had gone, accusing her of lying and "screwing around." While she held her young son, Joiner hit Gustafson in the stomach with his fist, hard enough to cause her to drop to her knees. The noise caused a custodian to go to the laundry room to check on what had happened. A few months later, Gustafson's son was tickling Joiner as he slept. Joiner grabbed him by his hair and threw him off the mattress. Gustafson remembered slapping Joiner and told him to leave James alone. Joiner then pulled out his knife and threatened, "Don't ever hit me again."

Around Christmas, 1986, Joiner called Gustafson from the Lubbock County Jail, following the Huckabee and DeForest murders. He asked if she were going to file for divorce. When she answered affirmatively, Joiner threatened to have both her and her son killed.

The jury heard additional testimony about Joiner's violent conduct:

• Pat Fink testified he had worked with Joiner and Gustafson since 1985 and had seen Joiner threaten people with his knife on four or five occasions. In Fink's opinion, Joiner had a quick and violent temper.
• Ernest Denman had been Joiner's employer from September 1984 until March 1986. Denman saw Joiner threaten co-workers with his knife on two occasions. On the first occasion, Joiner indicated his desire to cut off facial features, i.e., a nose, tongue, or ear. On the second occasion, Joiner threatened to make "a woman" out of a male co-worker.
• Denman testified that Joiner was placed on a 90-day probation for pulling his knife on a group of workers who were unloading his trailer.

Joiner also was hospitalized for emotional problems about four weeks earlier.

Investigation

A resident of the apartment complex where Huckabee and DeForest lived testified that they saw Joiner near their apartment on the night of the murder with blood on his shirt and dripping from his hand. Tests done on Joiner's shirt found that:

• a blood stain on the shirt matched the blood type of Carol Huckabee; and
• another stain on the shirt matched DeForest's blood type.

A photograph taken of Joiner's right hand immediately after the murders showed cuts on his hand and fingers. Two days after the murders, pictures of Joiner were taken showing a cut on his right hand, cuts on his fingers, and bloodstains on clothes he was wearing the day of the murders.

Joiner called police and told them he discovered the bodies, observed two men running from the victims' apartment, and said they escaped over a fence. Police checked the muddy ground around the fence and could find no footprints leaving the scene or on muddy ground on the other side of the fence. Joiner told police the men jumped over the fence.

During investigation and earlier reports, Joiner told police he saw two black men running out of the back of the victims' apartment and gave conflicting statements about how he found the murdered women.

Arrest and custody

Joiner was arrested after telling police conflicting stories about how he found the murdered women.

Trial

Joiner was convicted and sentenced to death in April 1988 for the December 1986 murders of Carol Lynette Huckabee and Eva Marie DeForest. Evidence and trial testimony included that:

• Huckabee was stabbed in the chest and her throat was cut;
• the evidence showed Joiner had raped Huckabee;
• DeForest was stabbed 41 times and was found with blunt force trauma to her forehead, and her throat was cut;
• both victims were bound with duct tape and stabbed repeatedly.

Joiner lived in the apartment next door to the victims and initially told police he saw two assailants fleeing from the apartment.

During trial, Joiner's estranged wife presented testimony of Joiner's violent nature, describing repeated beating and that towards the end he put a knife to her throat and threatened to kill her. Witnesses also testified that Joiner carried a particular knife with him on a daily basis and threatened people with that knife on different occasions.

Sentencing

Joiner was convicted and sentenced to death in April 1988.

Appeals

• March 18, 1992 — The Court of Criminal Appeals denied motion for rehearing.
• June 28, 1993 — The United States Supreme Court denied petition for writ of certiorari.
• June 11, 1998 — The trial court entered findings of fact and conclusions of law recommending that briefing filed in State court be denied.
• Sept. 16, 1998 — The Court of Criminal Appeals denied relief based on its own review.
• March 2, 1999 — The Federal District Court denied relief and affirmed Joiner's conviction.
• April 6, 1999 — The District Court denied permission to appeal.
• Nov. 30, 1999 — The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals denied permission to appeal.
• April 3, 2000 — The Supreme Court denied writ of certiorari.

In re Orien Cecil Joiner, Petitioner (United States Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit, June 27, 1995) concerned Joiner's petition for writ of mandamus:

• Orien Joiner was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death in Texas state court.
• The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed his conviction, and the U.S. Supreme Court denied certiorari.
• Joiner sought federal relief and asked for investigative and expert assistance under 21 U.S.C. Sec. 848(q)(9).
• The magistrate denied the motion, and the district judge overruled Joiner's objections.
• The Fifth Circuit denied the petition for writ of mandamus. A separate opinion stated:

KING, Circuit Judge, specially concurring: Although I am uneasy about our holding in Sterling v. Scott, 57 F.3d 451 (5th Cir.1995), I agree that Sterling controls the outcome here and I therefore concur.

Joiner had not filed a clemency petition with the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles.

Outcome and execution

Joiner was executed by lethal injection in Texas on July 12, 2000.

Final meal:

• 1/2 lb. Hamburger steak (well done), brown gravy and grilled onions
• large order of deep french-fried fries with ketchup
• five pieces of buttered grilled Texas toast
• iced tea with real sugar
• hot honey buns with melted butter on the side

Final words:

Kathy, y'all take and I bless all of you and I am glad I have had y'all in my life. As I have said from the very first thing, I am innocent of this crime and God knows I am innocent and the four people that was murdered know I am innocent and when I get to heaven I'll be hunting you and we'll talk. I feel sorry for the families that's had to suffer and my family and I have 'em all in my prayers. I love you all. Y'all take and y'all look after Sheila and Shannon and them, call 'em and get the pictures to 'em and everything and, ah, again, like I said, I feel sorry for the families, but if it takes my death to make them happy, then I will bless them. I have no hard feelings toward anyone cause the Lord feels that it is my time to come home to Him, my work on earth is done and that, ah, like I said, I am just sorry for, but they will have to go through this one time again, cause sooner or later, whoever did this crime is going to be caught and they'll have to come down here and do this again and they will realize they witnessed an innocent man going to be with Jesus Christ.

Another last statement reported that Joiner said:

“My work on earth is done,” Joiner said before receiving a lethal injection for the fatal slashing and stabbing of two Lubbock women who lived in an apartment next to him in December 1986. “As I've said since the very first thing, I am innocent of this crime,” he said. “And God knows I'm innocent, and the poor people that was murdered knows I am innocent. And when I get to heaven, I'll be meeting you and we'll all talk.”

During the execution, the lethal drugs were administered at 6:11 p.m. and Joiner was pronounced dead at 6:17 p.m. While being injected, he mouthed “I love you” to someone. He gasped, coughed and closed his eyes.

Other details

• Joiner lived in Huntsville, Texas for the execution period and was executed at Huntsville, Texas.
• The Texas Attorney General media advisory stated: Texas Attorney General John Cornyn offered information on Orien Cecil Joiner scheduled to be executed after 6 p.m., Wednesday, July 12th.
• Joiner had been known in prison as O.C. and described himself in a death-row interview.
• In the Associated Press report, former Lubbock County District Attorney Travis Ware said:

“The state doesn't have to prove motive, but obviously the sexual aspect looms large in that regard,” former Lubbock County District Attorney Travis Ware, who prosecuted Joiner, said this week. “Presumably they were objects of his fancy.”