Jonathan Nobles

Case information

Jonathan Nobles was a death row inmate. He was executed by lethal injection in Texas on October 7, 1998.

Timeline

• September 13, 1986 — Nobles broke into the north Austin home of Mitzi Nalley and her roommate Kelly Farquhar and stabbed Mitzi Nalley and Kelly Farquhar to death; Ron Ross was severely injured.
• Around 1987 — A jury found Nobles guilty of the murders of Nalley and Farquar and the trial court imposed the death penalty.
• 1993 — Nobles filed a state habeas petition, which the trial court and the Court of Criminal Appeals denied.
• February 21, 1995 — The United States Supreme Court denied Nobles’s petition for writ of certiorari.
• June 28, 1996 — Nobles filed his federal habeas corpus petition.
• October 28, 1997 — The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit affirmed the denial of Nobles’s application for writ of habeas corpus.
• September 1998 — Nobles was on death row and gave interviews describing his views about his responsibility and the acts.
• October 7, 1998 — Nobles was executed by lethal injection in Texas.

The offence

Jonathan Nobles broke into a house in Austin, Texas where Mitzi Nalley and her roommate Kelly Farquar were living. Nobles brutally stabbed Nalley and Farquar to death and severely injured Nalley’s boyfriend, Ron Ross. Ross survived the attack despite receiving nineteen stab wounds and losing an eye.

After the murders, Nobles went home and called his friend Marlly O’Brien, asking her to come over and help him. Marlly O’Brien found Nobles in the bathroom with his arm badly cut and wrapped in a towel. There was blood all over the bathroom. Nobles then changed clothes, cleaned the bathroom, and put everything with blood on it into a trash bag that he placed in the trunk of O’Brien’s car. O’Brien dropped Nobles off at a friend’s house, where Nobles shaved his beard and had his arm taped up. O’Brien later picked Nobles up and let him borrow her car while she went to work. Nobles lied to O’Brien and his other friends about what had happened, saying he had been involved in a fight.

Ross testified that he was awakened in the middle of the night by screams. Ross ran into Kelly Farquar’s bedroom and saw Nobles stabbing Mitzi Nalley. Ross fought with the attacker and was stabbed repeatedly, stumbled outside, and collapsed in the street. Ross’s testimony said the two women were killed but he was revived by emergency medical technicians. Nobles was also wounded in the fight and left a blood trail away from the home. Ross identified Nobles as the man who broke into the north Austin home on Sept. 13, 1986 and began “flailing away in a frenzy” with a knife 5 1/2 inches long and nearly 2 inches wide. At the time of the attack, Nobles was on parole about 4 months after serving less than 8 months of a 3-year prison term for theft in Collin County in suburban Dallas.

Witnesses at Nobles’s trial described him as a frequent user of methamphetamine, cocaine, marijuana, and alcohol.

Investigation

Based on physical evidence from the murder scene and on information obtained from O’Brien and others, Nobles was arrested. Nobles confessed to the murders and then led police to where he had hidden the trash bag containing the murder weapon and the blood-soaked clothes he had worn during the killings.

Marlly O’Brien testified about the evening before the murders. On the evening before the murders, Nobles and O’Brien purchased hypodermic needles filled with what O’Brien assumed was speed. After the purchase, O’Brien dropped Nobles off at his godmother’s house around 6:00 p.m. and picked him up again around 8:00 p.m. O’Brien did not actually see Nobles take any drugs but assumed he had because of his behavior and because she observed track marks on his arms the following morning. O’Brien testified that Nobles told her he had ingested speed, cocaine, marijuana, and liquor that night and that he did not remember what had happened.

Nobles’s fingerprint was found on one of the window screens found in the victims’ backyard. Blood and pubic hair found at the scene were consistent with Nobles’s own.

Arrest and confession

Nobles was arrested after police relied on physical evidence from the murder scene and information obtained from O’Brien and others. He confessed to the murders and led police to where he had hidden the trash bag containing the murder weapon and blood-soaked clothes.

Trial

In 1987, a jury found Nobles guilty of the murders of Mitzi Nalley and Kelly Farquar. The jury responded affirmatively to two special sentencing issues submitted pursuant to former Article 37.071 of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure, and the trial court imposed the death penalty. Nobles’s conviction and sentence were automatically appealed to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, which affirmed both. Nobles v. State, 843 S.W.2d 503 (Tex.Crim.App.1992).

At the punishment phase, the jury responded “yes” to Special Issue Number 1, which asked if the jury had found that Nobles committed the murders “deliberately and with the reasonable expectation that the death of [the victims] would result.” Counsel for Nobles argued at the punishment phase that Nobles had been temporarily insane during the murders due to the combined effect of drugs and alcohol.

Pastor Charles Hyde and Assistant Pastor Frank McElhenney testified at the punishment phase that both had spoken to Nobles shortly after the murders. They testified that Nobles admitted he had trouble recalling whether he had actually killed anyone. The jury also heard the edited confession admitted during the guilt/innocence phase, which retained numerous allusions to the fragmented state of Nobles’s memory.

Nobles did not take the stand during his trial. He sat impassively as the guilty verdict was read and, according to newspaper accounts, only flinched slightly when District Judge Bob Jones sentenced him to death.

During trial, Nobles’s counsel objected to the manner in which the State introduced the edited confession. During the ensuing bench conference, the trial judge gave defense counsel the opportunity to compare the edited and unedited versions and specifically instructed counsel he had “an absolute right pursuant to [Texas Rule of Criminal Evidence] 106 to complete the record” if he desired. Nobles’s counsel chose not to do so.

Sentencing

In 1987, after the jury responded affirmatively to the two special sentencing issues pursuant to former Article 37.071 of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure, the trial court imposed the death penalty.

Nobles was sentenced to death.

Appeals

State habeas

In 1993, Nobles filed a state habeas petition, which the trial court and the Court of Criminal Appeals denied.

United States Supreme Court

The United States Supreme Court denied Nobles’s petition for writ of certiorari on February 21, 1995.

Federal habeas and Fifth Circuit

Nobles moved the United States District Court for appointment of counsel and to proceed in forma pauperis on a petition for federal writ of habeas corpus. The district court granted a stay of execution and appointed counsel who petitioned for writ of habeas corpus. The district court denied Nobles’s petition for habeas relief and Nobles appealed. The district court granted a certificate of appealability on all of Nobles’s claims.

Nobles, “Jonathan Wayne Nobles, Petitioner-Appellant, v. Gary L. Johnson, Director, Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Institutional Division, Respondent-Appellee,” was decided by the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. The court affirmed the district court’s denial of Nobles’s petition.

Claims addressed by the Fifth Circuit

Nobles raised issues concerning:

• applicability of the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act,
• the prosecution’s use of an edited confession,
• and the effectiveness of counsel.

The Fifth Circuit determined that the AEDPA applied to Nobles’s federal habeas petition because the actual habeas corpus petition was filed on June 28, 1996. The Fifth Circuit also addressed a due process claim based on the prosecution’s use of an edited version of Nobles’s taped confession and a claim of ineffective assistance of counsel tied to counsel’s failure to present the unedited confession.

Edited confession due process claim

Nobles claimed the prosecution knowingly used false evidence by introducing an edited version of his taped confession that omitted remarks indicating Nobles did not remember certain details of the murders. Nobles argued that if the jury had considered the omitted remarks, it could have found that mental impairment from drugs and alcohol meant he had not deliberately committed the murders.

The Fifth Circuit did not decide whether the edited confession constituted “false evidence” under Giglio. The court found that even if the confession was “false,” it was not “material” because it could not reasonably have affected the jury’s determination that Nobles deliberately committed the murders.

The court considered the edited confession and noted it contained references to Nobles’s failure to remember significant portions and to his fragmented state of mind. The court also cited other evidence including witnesses’ testimony that Nobles told them he had taken drugs and could not remember what happened, and evidence that Nobles ingested drugs and alcohol some seven to ten hours before the murders. The court also noted evidence that Nobles drove around with O’Brien after taking the drugs and spoke rationally to her about a business venture, and that Nobles wore gloves during the murders and afterward disposed of the evidence.

The Fifth Circuit also addressed an alternative basis for rejecting the due process claim: Nobles’s counsel objected at trial and was given the opportunity to compare the edited and unedited versions, and counsel chose not to enter the unedited confession.

Ineffective assistance of counsel claim

Nobles claimed trial counsel’s failure to present his unedited confession denied him the effective assistance of counsel. The Fifth Circuit addressed claims that the jury was not instructed on the lesser-included offense of voluntary manslaughter at the guilt phase and that the jury could have found no deliberateness at the punishment phase if the unedited confession had been available.

The Fifth Circuit found that the omitted portions of Nobles’s confession failed to demonstrate the “sudden passion” or “adequate cause” necessary to support voluntary manslaughter under Texas law. The Fifth Circuit described examples of omitted confession content and stated that parts of the confession presented to the jury similarly referenced victims striking Nobles. The Fifth Circuit concluded Nobles failed to show prejudice at the guilt phase.

The Fifth Circuit also concluded Nobles failed to show prejudice at the punishment phase, given the cumulative nature of the omitted evidence, the unbelievability of the claimed memory loss, and other overwhelming evidence of deliberateness.

Nobles also claimed ineffective assistance because counsel failed to present sufficient mitigating evidence about traumatic childhood and history of drug abuse and mental illness. The Fifth Circuit addressed exhaustion and procedural default issues and concluded Nobles procedurally defaulted the claim and, in any case, could not show constitutional violation impacting the jury’s findings.

The Fifth Circuit concluded by affirming the denial of Nobles’s petition for writ of habeas corpus.

Last statement and final moments

Nobles made a lengthy final statement. He quoted scripture from 1 Corinthians 12:31B – 13:13 (NIV) and expressed love and sorrow.

The final statement included the following scripture quotation, reproduced verbatim:

“And now I will show you the most excellent way. If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing. Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.”

During the final statement, Nobles expressed love to survivors of his victims, including a man wounded in the attack. Nobles addressed victim Ron Ross and said:

“Ron, I took so much from you. There is nothing I can do to give it back to you. I love you deeply,”

Ross watched through glass a few feet away. Ross said afterward:

“I carried a lot of anger into that room but after the conversation we had...I think I released it,”

Nobles addressed virtually every witness by name and expressed love. He began quoting Corinthians about love and said he was dedicating his death:

“in sacrifice for abuses to the Holy Mother.”

After reciting other prayers and scripture passages, Nobles began singing “Silent Night” as the lethal dose was administered. His singing halted mid-phrase with a gasp as the drugs took effect.

Nobles had claimed he became addicted to drugs at age 8.

As the lethal dose was administered in the death chamber, Nobles began to speak to witnesses in the room next door. He said:

“I know some of you won’t believe me, but I am truly sorry for what I have done. I wish that I could undo what happened back then and bring back your loved ones, but I can’t.”

He began to sob as he addressed Mitzi Nalley’s mother, saying:

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I wish I could bring her back to you. And Ron . . . I took so much from you. I’m sorry. I know you probably don’t want my love, but you have it.”

Turning to another witness, he said:

“Steve, I can’t believe that I had to go through all this to see you in a suit coat. Hey man, don’t worry about the phone number, bro. You’ve done so much. I love you. Dona, thank you for being here. I know it was hard for you. I love you. Pam, thank you for coming from so far away. Thanks for all you have done. I love you. Bishop Carmody, thank you so much. Reverend Lopez and you, Father Walsh, I love you all. I have something I want to say. It comes from I Corinthians. It goes . . . ”

After reciting the scripture, Nobles said:

“Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit.”

He then began to sing “Silent night / Holy night . . .” and got as far as “mother and child” before his breathing and movement changed. He did not move after that point.

The executioner started the flow of lethal drugs into Nobles’s arms. Nobles was pronounced dead at 6:25 p.m., 5 minutes after an executioner started the flow of lethal drugs into his arms.

Victims

Two victims were named:

• Mitzi Johnson-Nalley, 21
• Kelly Farquhar, 24

Nobles also severely injured victim Ron Ross, who was stabbed 19 times and lost an eye. Ron Ross identified Nobles as the attacker.

Other details

Pre-execution and witness arrangements

Nobles selected witnesses to watch him die, including a Catholic bishop, Edmond Carmody of Tyler, and a Catholic bishop was one of the witnesses among others selected. A Catholic bishop and other selected witnesses were assembled for an orientation session conducted by Reverend Jim Brazzil, the chaplain at the Walls unit. The warden was described as being one of two people inside the chamber with Nobles when he died, and Reverend Jim Brazzil was described as providing step-by-step information about the execution process to the witnesses.

Nobles converted to Catholicism while on death row. A Catholic bishop, Edmond Carmody of Tyler, was one of the witnesses he selected to watch him die. A Catholic bishop was present among the witnesses.

Country singer-songwriter Steve Earle accepted Nobles’s invitation to witness the death and made a brief statement afterward:

“I'm not here for any other reason except Jonathan asked me to be here today,''

Earle also said:

“But I still believe that what I just witnessed was murder although nobody in this prison is any more responsible than anybody else in the state of Texas or the country for that matter.”

Nobles unsuccessfully tried to donate his organs. The Texas Department of Criminal Justice allowed inmates to donate organs but did not extend the policy to death row prisoners.

Nobles said he was prepared to die but wanted to do something positive and tried to have his organs harvested and donated. Nobles corresponded with suicide doctor Jack Kevorkian to try to arrange a kidney donation, and he found a surgeon and a patient willing to accept it. Nobles and the woman were not a blood-type match, and she died without getting a transplant.

Nobles had a death row interview in which he said:

“I don't think I'm a terrible person today,”

and also said:

“I don't think I'm the monster who perpetrated these terrible acts. Nothing I can do for a thousand years can relieve me of my responsibility.”

Parole and prior imprisonment

Background described in federal case

In the federal habeas factual background, the Fifth Circuit stated Nobles broke into a house in Austin, Texas where Mitzi Nalley and her roommate Kelly Farquar were living. It stated Nobles stabbed Nalley and Farquar to death and severely injured Ron Ross, who survived despite receiving nineteen stab wounds and losing an eye.

The federal record also stated that after the murders, Nobles called friend Marlly O’Brien and that she found Nobles in the bathroom with a badly cut arm wrapped in a towel, with blood all over the bathroom. The federal record then described the trash bag placed in the trunk and the later events in which Nobles shaved his beard and had his arm taped up and borrowed O’Brien’s car while she worked.

Federal citations and legal context

The Fifth Circuit’s opinion discussed AEDPA effective date and relevant Supreme Court decisions including Lindh v. Murphy, McFarland v. Scott, and procedural issues involving Drinkard v. Johnson and Williams v. Cain. It also discussed due process standards from Giglio v. United States and materiality standards from Westley v. Johnson. It addressed ineffective assistance under Strickland v. Washington. It discussed issues involving exhaustion and procedural default and referenced Picard v. Connor, Anderson v. Harless, Coleman v. Thompson, and Wainwright v. Sykes.

Final statements and execution-day witness statements

After witnessing the execution, Paula Kurland, Mitzi Nalley’s mother, said:

“It's not a pleasant thing watching someone die, no matter the circumstances,”

Kurland said about her daughter: Mitzi Nalley was stabbed 28 times and died on her 21st birthday. Kurland also said:

“There's no such thing as closure,”

and:

“This is the beginning of a new chapter for us. The punishment was just. It doesn't mean we have to like it. We didn't get any pleasure.”

Kurland also described meeting Nobles through Victim Offender Mediation/Dialogue and later saw him again on the day of his execution by lethal injection, recalling:

“Jonathan blew me a kiss and told me he loved me,” and: “He addressed each of us (the victims' families) individually. He died singing 'Silent Night.' And I know that my daughter ... greeted him.”