Richard Wayne Smith

Case overview

Richard Wayne Smith was executed by lethal injection in Texas on September 21, 1999.

Timeline

• September 21, 1999 — Smith was executed by lethal injection in Texas.
• December 2, 1992 — Smith killed Karen Birky, 38, a special education teacher, during a robbery at the Baytown convenience store where she moonlighted.
• October 1991 — Karen Birky worked since October 1991 at Lamar Elementary School, where she worked until she died.
• July 1991 — Karen Birky had been employed by the Stop N Go chain since July 1991 as a night clerk.
• 1975 — Smith received a bad conduct discharge from the Army.
• 1978 — Smith was arrested in Bossier City, La., for forgery and was arrested in Nacogdoches for stealing a rental car.
• December 1978 — Smith was arrested in Santa Cruz, Calif., against his account (he said he thought it happened in Missouri).
• 1970s — Smith had a juvenile marijuana-dealing charge and later record of crime and drugs dates to that juvenile charge.
• 1978 — Smith said he was arrested in Nevada for stealing trucks and had prison sentences in Louisiana for armed robbery.
• 1994 — Smith was convicted of capital murder.

The offence

On December 2, 1992, Smith killed Karen Birky, 38, during a robbery at a Baytown convenience store. Karen Birky was a special education teacher and was moonlighting as a convenience store clerk.

Prosecutors said Smith robbed a convenience store where Birky worked so she could buy supplies for her special education students. Birky complied with Smith’s demand for money before Smith walked her into the parking lot and shot her in the neck. Witnesses testified Smith fired one shot into Birky’s neck and fled in a stolen Jeep Cherokee.

After being flown to Hermann Hospital in Houston by Life Flight helicopter, Birky died about 1:30 a.m. Police later that night found the Jeep in the apartment complex of Smith’s ex-wife. Police said the victim bled to death aboard an emergency helicopter.

Smith was thought to have contracted hepatitis through a shared heroin needle.

Smith’s robbery netted him less than $100.

Investigation

Two people who were driving up at the moment told police they heard Karen scream as the man shot her. A patrolman, Russell Krutsinger, responded to the holdup alarm as the Jeep was leaving. Officers said he had made a note of the license number. It was close though he was a few numbers off.

Karen Birky was only able to tell police that she didn’t know her attacker before she was taken to Hermann by Life Flight helicopter.

Arrest

Smith was arrested that night in possession of a .32-caliber pistol tied to the killing and three $5 bills traced to the store. He woke up after sleeping in a nearby car.

Trial

Smith took the stand and was shown surveillance photos. He acknowledged that the bearded man with the gun resembled him, but said he didn’t remember doing it. He said his memory was fuzzy about his 1978 arrest in Bossier City, La., for forgery and his 1978 arrest in Nacogdoches for stealing a rental car.

Smith remembered his bad conduct discharge from the Army in 1975 but said his memory was fuzzy about earlier details of his arrests. He also testified about his arrests and prison sentences, including an arrest against him in Santa Cruz, Calif., in December 1978, which Smith said he thought it happened in Missouri. His testimony also recounted arrests in Nevada for stealing trucks and prison sentences in Louisiana for armed robbery.

Surveillance videotape showed Smith robbing the convenience store where Birky worked.

The prosecutor Jim Mount described Smith as someone who “couldn't stop doing dope, and when he did dope he became a very mean man,” said Jim Mount, the prosecutor in Smith's case.

Authorities also said they thwarted what appeared to be an escape plan Smith and his then-girlfriend organized while he was waiting for his murder trial.

Sentencing

Smith was sentenced to die by lethal injection for murdering the Baytown convenience store clerk in a robbery. A five-time loser addicted to drugs and alcohol was sentenced to die by lethal injection.

Prosecutors said they robbed a convenience store where Karen Birky worked so she could buy supplies for her students. He was sentenced for the Baytown convenience store robbery and killing.

Smith had been convicted of aggravated burglary, armed robbery, auto theft and forgery before his 1994 capital murder conviction.

Appeals

Smith dropped all appeals, electing for death by injection rather than from hepatitis C he was believed to have contracted from sharing a heroin needle. Smith eventually dropped all appeals to be executed before dying of hepatitis C. Shirley Cornelius, the assistant Harris County District Attorney who handled death-row appeals, noted that drug abuse was responsible both for his illness and his criminal nature.

Defense attorney Guy Womack said Smith hadn't wavered from his decision late last year to die. When Womack tried to dissuade him from dropping his appeals, Smith told him:

“Guy, you don't understand that I'll be much happier dead and not suffering. If I win the appeal, what does that mean?”

Smith declined to be interviewed by The Associated Press.

Outcome

Smith declined to make a last statement.

When a warden asked Smith whether he had a final statement, he said, “ No, sir.”

Smith was pronounced dead at 6:25 p.m., 8 minutes after the flow of lethal drugs began.

Aftermath

Richard Wayne Smith, 43, was the 25th person executed in Texas this year and the fourth this month. Texas carried out 4 executions that month.

Smith became the 25th condemned inmate to be put to death this year in Texas and the 189th overall since the state resumed capital punishment on Dec. 7, 1982.

Smith had used a wheelchair since May because of his failing liver. A warden asked whether he had a final statement, and Smith replied, “ No, sir.”

Smith’s case involved drug abuse described as responsible for both his illness and his criminal nature. Shirley Cornelius said prior to Smith’s execution:

“He's a perfect example of drug abuse, both for the health reasons and the sociological reasons,” she said prior to Smith's execution.

The sentence and decision were linked to hepatitis C. Richard Wayne Smith decided to drop his appeals so he wouldn’t die from advancing hepatitis C, a progressive disease that leads to liver cancer, cirrhosis and liver failure.

Other details

Richard Wayne Smith was 43 years old at the time of execution. His education level was some college.

Karen Birky was 38 years old. Karen’s family lived in Michigan, and she was single and had no children. She worked at Lamar Elementary School where she had worked since October 1991.

Guy Womack was Smith’s defense attorney. Jim Mount was the prosecutor in Smith’s case. Shirley Cornelius was the assistant Harris County District Attorney who handled death-row appeals.

Smith was a Bowie County, Ark., native and a Louisiana parolee in and out of prison his entire life. He had a record of crime and drugs dating to a juvenile marijuana-dealing charge.

Smith said he was impaired that night and remembers nothing. Authorities said they thwarted what appeared to be an escape plan Smith and his then-girlfriend organized while he was waiting for his murder trial.