Noble Mays

Background

Noble Mays had been convicted once for burglary and once for assault, which was the result of a bar fight. He grew up in a poor broken home with little to no education. He worked outdoors, doing physical labor, working in mines for several roofing companies, and somewhat followed in his father’s footsteps as an oilfield worker.

When Mays was six years old, he was thrown from a pick-up truck that his father was driving and suffered a severe head injury, from which he would never recover. Some thought he might be mentally retarded, but he was never diagnosed.

The offence

On April 7, 1979, Mays and a convicted felon named James Moore were hanging around a Wichita Falls Recreational Park when they saw a car heading their way.

With a scheme in mind, they flagged down the car and claimed to the driver that they were having car trouble. The driver, Jerry Lamb, invited the two into his car. Once inside, Mays and Moore held Lamb up by knife-point demanding any money that he had.

As Lamb panicked and tried to escape, he was run down by his own Lincoln Continental and stabbed four times in the neck and chest by Mays. The two criminals fled with $27.

Investigation

Two days later, Mays was arrested in his home outside of Wichita Falls.

Trial

Moore testified against Mays and received a 45-year murder sentence, which he is still serving.

Mays was sentenced to death. Mays went to trial four times. The first was declared a mistrial in its early stages. The next two, which resulted in convictions, were reversed on appeal.

Appeals

Mays won three stays of execution. All appeals argued that he was mentally incapacitated at the time of the crime. They even attempted the insanity defense because of the head injury he received when he was a child.

David Taubenfeld said:

“He contends two things,” said Taubenfeld, “that he did not commit the act and also, that at the time the act occurred, that he was suffering from the effects of a seizure of these two brain effects.”

Mays maintained his innocence.

Other details

Sheppard Air Force Lt. Sam Johnson said:

“I remember reading in the papers that Mays would not give up,” said Sheppard Air Force Lt. Sam Johnson, “People would always talk about how he could afford the lawyer fees to keep him alive so long.”

Mays and attorney David Taubenfeld kept him alive through multiple trials and stays of execution. Mays had a change of heart: he offered to end his appeals and allow his execution if the state paid his wife and stepdaughter $10,000. He still claimed to be innocent of the murder, but was willing to face the death penalty to help his family.

The condemned killer said his wife, a former secretary and waitress, had been unable to work due to a back injury. As soon as district judge Temple Driver received Mays’ offer, the district judge set Mays’ execution date.

Outcome

On April 6, 1995, Mays made no final statement. After he was administered the lethal injection, he took three deep breaths, uttered a low gasp and was pronounced dead.