Steven Ray Thacker

Parties and identifying information

Steven Ray Thacker was a white male born on 11/21/70. He was listed as alias David Wilson and ODOC# 437398. He was described as 6 ft. 03 in. tall and 211 pounds, with black hair and hazel eyes. At the time of execution, he was 42.

Timeline

• December 23, 1999 — Steven Ray Thacker met Laci Dawn Hill in her home after answering an advertisement she placed to sell a pool table; he pulled a knife, demanded money, forced Hill to go with him, took her to a rural cabin, raped her, attempted to choke her, and then stabbed her in the chest and neck.
• December 26, 1999 — Hill’s body was found in the cabin on the cabin floor (as referenced in the case record).
• December 2, 2002 — Thacker entered guilty pleas to kidnapping, first-degree rape, and first-degree murder in the Oklahoma case and waived a jury trial on aggravating circumstances.
• February 8, 2002 — He was sentenced to death in Tennessee.
• December 23, 2002 — He was sentenced to death in Oklahoma.
• December 23, 2002 — The trial court imposed death for the murder charge; he received ten years imprisonment on kidnapping and fifty years imprisonment on first degree rape to be served consecutively, along with certain fines on both counts.
• December 26, 2002 — A death date for the sentencing record in Oklahoma was listed as “DEATH” with Death 12/26/2002.
• January 2, 2003 — An Oklahoma trial attorney filed a notice of intent to appeal on Thacker’s behalf.
• October 21, 2004 — The Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma issued an opinion affirming the judgments and sentences.
• September 13, 2005 — The Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma denied post-conviction relief.
• April 23, 2012 — The United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit affirmed the denial of federal habeas relief.
• March 12, 2013 — Steven Ray Thacker was executed by lethal injection in Oklahoma.

The offence

Murder and sexual assault of Laci Dawn Hill

On December 23, 1999, Steven Ray Thacker responded to an advertisement placed by 25-year-old Laci Dawn Hill to sell a pool table. Thacker met Hill in her home. When Hill allowed him admission, he pulled a knife and demanded money. Hill told him she had no money but could get some from an ATM machine. Thacker forced Hill outside and into his vehicle and took her to a rural cabin, where he bound her to a chair.

Thacker told Hill he would let her go if she had sex with him. He then forced Hill to have sexual intercourse against her will. After raping Hill, Thacker again bound her to a chair. Because he feared Hill would escape and tell authorities, Thacker removed her from the chair and attempted to choke her to death with his hands and/or a piece of cloth. When that proved unsuccessful due to Hill’s struggle, he stabbed her twice in the chest with his knife. Both wounds penetrated Hill’s left lung, resulting in massive internal bleeding and ultimately death.

Authorities found Hill’s lifeless body on the cabin floor, covered by box springs and several mattresses. Her body was found after six days. She had been disrobed from the waist down except for one sock. Her sweatshirt and shirt had been pushed up over her head, and her bra clasped in the front had been undone. Her sweat pants and panties were found near her body. A medical examiner found the presence of sperm in Hill’s vagina and determined Hill had been wearing panties at or very close to the time of her death and that the panties remained on her body for several hours after her death.

Attempt to rob Hill and kidnapping

Thacker’s plan was to rob someone to obtain cash to purchase Christmas presents for his wife of a few months, Trena Thacker, and her two children. Thacker devised a plan to rob someone and reviewed classified advertisements in the Tulsa newspaper. After responding to the pool table advertisement placed by Hill, Thacker made arrangements to come to Hill’s house to view the pool table. When Thacker’s attempt to rob Hill failed, Hill was kidnapped and taken to a rural cabin.

Crime spree: Boyd and Patterson

After killing Hill, Thacker fled to Missouri. During the ensuing spree, he killed Forrest Reed Boyd, a 24-year-old restaurant supervisor in Aldrich, Mo., by stabbing him several times in the back. Thacker fled in Boyd’s car and made it to Tennessee before the car broke down. He called a towing company.

Thacker murdered Ray Patterson, age 52, the tow truck driver, after being confronted for using a stolen credit card. The credit card used to pay for the tow was shown to have been stolen. Thacker also stole Patterson’s car and credit cards, and he took an unloaded pistol. Thacker was arrested at a Super 8 Motel in Union City, Tenn., after being located by police. After searching Thacker’s motel room, police found several items belonging to Patterson, including credit cards. Police also found a pistol, hair dye, two bloodstained coats, and two knives. Police searched Thacker’s vehicle and found a third knife covered in Patterson’s blood.

Investigation and arrest

Police tracked Thacker to a Union City motel and arrested him. In his statement to authorities while in custody, Thacker described leaving his home in Chouteau, Okla., and traveling to Springfield, Mo., leaving Springfield on December 31 and traveling toward Dyersburg, Tenn., when his car broke down “two-and-a-half miles this side of the Mississippi River.” Thacker stated that an unidentified man gave him a ride into Dyersburg and dropped him off at a truck stop. At the truck stop, he obtained a name and phone number for a local tow-truck driver, called Patterson, and asked him to tow his vehicle into the service station. After arriving back at Patterson’s service station, Thacker attempted to pay Patterson with the stolen credit card, but the card was rejected.

In Thacker’s account, he said: “he wasn’t gonna give my credit, my card back ‘cause I couldn’t pay the bill ... And I knew I was wanted in other states, so I just stabbed him and took off.”

Trial

Oklahoma charges and guilty pleas

Thacker was charged by information in the District Court of Mayes County, Oklahoma, Case Number CF-1999-305, with first-degree malice aforethought murder on December 30, 1999. On February 8, 2000, a first amended information charged Thacker with first-degree malice aforethought murder (Count I), kidnapping (Count II), and first-degree rape (Count III).

On February 25, 2000, the prosecution filed a bill of particulars alleging three aggravating circumstances:

1. the murder was committed for the purpose of avoiding or preventing lawful arrest or prosecution;
2. the existence of a probability that Thacker would commit criminal acts of violence that would constitute a continuing threat to society; and
3. the murder was especially heinous, atrocious, or cruel.

A first amended bill of particulars was filed on June 12, 2002, with the substance of the aggravating circumstances remaining the same. Three attorneys from the Oklahoma Indigent Defense System were appointed to represent Thacker. On December 2, 2002, the eve of trial, Thacker waived his right to a jury trial and entered a blind guilty plea to the charged crimes. He also waived a jury trial on the aggravating circumstances, and a non-jury sentencing trial was held beginning December 17, 2002.

The handwritten addendum in Thacker’s plea stated:

Ct. 1 I took Mrs. Hill from her home to Locust Grove where I strangled and stabbed her. I killed Mrs. Hill on December 23, 1999. Ct. 2 I took Mrs. Hill by force from her home and took her to Locust Grove. I took Mrs. Hill to a remote cabin where nobody could find her. Ct. 3 I forced Mrs. Hill to have sexual intercourse with me and that included penetration. All the charges are true and were committed on or around December 23, 1999 in Mayes County. I am pleading guilty to the charges listed because I am in fact guilty and I do not wish to cause the victims [sic] family and friends more pain by forcing them to endured [sic] a long drawn out trial. I have caused enough pain and heartache and I [sic] am deeply sorry and want to put this to an end for everyone.

During the plea hearing inquiry, Thacker testified and agreed to details. Under questioning by defense counsel, he stated:

DEFENDANT THACKER: I was looking in the newspaper ad and I saw an address for a pool table and I called her house and she give me directions to her house to come and look at a pool table.
DEFENDANT THACKER: I had intended to rob whoever was home.
DEFENDANT THACKER: No.
DEFENDANT THACKER: Yes.
DEFENDANT THACKER: I pulled a knife on her and asked her to give me her money and she informed me she didn't have any money at the house but she had an ATM card and so I forced her to go with me to use the ATM card.
DEFENDANT THACKER: Right.
DEFENDANT THACKER: To Locust Grove, there was a remote cabin in Locust Grove.
DEFENDANT THACKER: No, she didn't.
DEFENDANT THACKER: I raped Mrs. Hill at the cabin.
DEFENDANT THACKER: We had sexual intercourse and penetration.
DEFENDANT THACKER: Yes, I did.
DEFENDANT THACKER: So then I went back in and I killed her.
DEFENDANT THACKER: Yes, it did.

The trial judge found Thacker guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of all three charged crimes after questioning him further about his admissions.

Competency and understanding during the plea

During the plea hearing, the trial judge asked about any diagnosed bipolar condition, taking lithium, not taking lithium, and having gone to mental health facilities. Thacker responded that these circumstances did not affect his ability to understand and comprehend the nature and consequences of the hearing. Defense counsel stated they believed Thacker was competent to understand what was going on.

Defense counsel asked about the time of the crimes and whether Thacker knew what he was doing was wrong; Thacker answered yes. Defense counsel asked why he did it; Thacker answered: “No.”

Sentencing

Oklahoma sentencing

After evidence at the non-jury sentencing trial, the trial judge found that all three aggravating circumstances were proven beyond a reasonable doubt and found that they outweighed mitigating evidence. Thacker was sentenced to death for the murder charge. He also received ten years imprisonment on Count II (kidnapping) and fifty years imprisonment on Count III (first degree rape), with sentences to be served consecutively. The trial judge ordered all sentences to be served consecutively and imposed certain fines on both counts.

Tennessee and Missouri sentencing

Thacker was sentenced to death in Tennessee on February 8, 2002. Thacker was also sentenced to death in Oklahoma on December 23, 2002. In Missouri, he was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole after pleading guilty to killing Forrest Reed Boyd.

Appeals

Direct appeal in Oklahoma

Thacker appealed his convictions and sentences. His arguments included that aggravating circumstances were not charged in an information or indictment and were not subjected to adversarial testing at a preliminary hearing, and that the Oklahoma sentencing scheme violated the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments because the heinous, atrocious, or cruel aggravator allegedly broadened discretion.

The Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed the judgments and sentences. It held that aggravating sentencing circumstances did not need to be included in an indictment or information and did not need to be presented to a magistrate for adversarial testing at a preliminary hearing, and that Thacker received constitutionally sufficient notice of the aggravating sentencing circumstances for due process purposes.

Post-conviction relief in Oklahoma

Thacker sought post-conviction relief after appellate affirmance. The Court of Criminal Appeals denied post-conviction relief, finding that he failed to establish claims of ineffective assistance of counsel. The Court further denied the motion for evidentiary hearing, and ordered the mandate.

Outcome

Thacker’s death sentence in Tennessee and Oklahoma led to execution in Oklahoma.

Aftermath

Last meal, execution witnesses, and last statement

Thacker waived his right to a clemency hearing. He was executed by lethal injection in the Oklahoma State Penitentiary execution chamber in Oklahoma at the time described as Tuesday evening in the case narrative. He arrived at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary on Feb. 12 and had been held on death row in Tennessee at the Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville.

Witnesses included family members of each of Thacker’s three victims, members of the media, his step-father Donald Johnston, two people from the federal public defenders office, a clergy member on behalf of Thacker, two law enforcement representatives, Oklahoma Department of Corrections Director Justin Jones, and three DOC employees. OSP Warden Anita Trammell and an attending physician were with Thacker in the execution chamber.

Thacker’s last meal was listed as “a large meat lover’s pizza, a small bag of peanut M&Ms and an A&W root beer” served around noon.

Thacker gave a last statement before the execution process began:

“I’d like to apologize sincerely to the families of Laci Hill, Forrest Boyd and Ray Patterson. I don’t deserve it, but as God has forgiven me, I hope you will forgive me for the pain I’ve caused.
I would like to thank my family and friends for your love and support. When my body is gone, my spirit will be with them.
Jesus Christ died for my sins. God has forgiven me and eternity in heaven is mine.”

During the execution process, lethal drugs began being delivered at 6:03 p.m., and Thacker was pronounced dead at 6:10 p.m.

Statements from victims’ families and associates

Marnie Reed, described as Laci Hill’s best friend, gave a statement after the execution:

“On behalf of Laci’s family and friends I want to thank everyone for the enormous support and love we have received the last 13 years. There are too many people to name individually. Laci impacted many.
“They say time heals all wounds, which I guess is true, but Laci’s murder has left a huge scar to remind us all daily of what we have lost, what we will never have again.
“It was time, justice needed to be served, 13 years was long enough. We believe Steven Thacker deserved to be punished. His selfish act 13 years (ago) destroyed a family and took away a person who was just starting her young life.
“His death won’t erase what happened but hopefully we can now focus on happier memories — memories of the joy Laci brought to our lives. Now we can truly celebrate and remember what an amazing person she truly was.”

Nikki Hodgson, a friend of Laci Hill, said:

“So humane,” Hodgson said, “He just got to go to sleep .. it’s nothing like what the victims endured.”

Larry Eugene Griffin, Hill’s father, told a newspaper that he still attended grief counseling. His wife Linda Griffin died in September 2010, and their son Larry Griffin was killed six months later when he was hit by a car in Broward County, Fla.

Prosecution statements about the spree

Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt stated that “Steven Thacker was sentenced to death for savagely ending the life of an innocent young woman,” and said his thoughts were with the families of Laci, Forrest and Ray.

Pruitt stated that Thacker met Hill in her home on Dec. 23, 1999, after answering an ad placed to sell a pool table, and that when his attempt to rob Hill failed, Thacker kidnapped her, took her to a rural cabin, and raped her. Pruitt also stated that Thacker attempted to strangle Hill and eventually stabbed her in the chest and neck.

Pruitt stated that Thacker, who fled to Missouri after killing Hill, killed Forrest Reed Boyd and stole his car along with his credit cards, and that Thacker murdered Ray Patterson after being confronted for using a stolen credit card.

Convictions and sentences (as listed in the case record)

• Mayes County — Kidnapping — Conviction term start: 12/23/2002; term: 10Y 0M 0D; incarceration listed under CASE# 99-305 MAYE.
• Mayes County — Rape First Degree — Conviction term start: 12/23/2002; term: 50Y 0M 0D; incarceration listed under CASE# 99-305 MAYE.
• Mayes County — Murder In The First Degree Malice Aforethought — sentencing: DEATH; listed death date: 12/26/2002.
• Additional sentencing referenced — death sentence in Tennessee on February 8, 2002; death sentence in Oklahoma on December 23, 2002; life imprisonment without the possibility of parole in Missouri for killing Boyd.

Other details

Victims identified

• Laci Dawn Hill, age 25, of Bixby, Okla.
• Forrest Reed Boyd, age 24, of Aldrich, Mo.
• Ray Patterson, age 52, tow truck driver; referenced in connection with Dyersburg, Tenn.

Prison-related context and mental health evidence (as described in the record)

Thacker had been described in multiple proceedings as diagnosed with bipolar disorder, including references to stopping taking medicine before the crimes. In federal habeas proceedings, testimony and findings described a psychiatrist, Dr. Keith Caruso, who examined Thacker before trial and stated that judgment and impulse control were not immediately impaired at the time of evaluation, insight was “fair,” he was no longer in a manic episode, and he was depressed; Caruso testified Thacker was competent to stand trial. The record also referenced later examination by a neuropsychologist, Dr. Johnathan Pincus, who determined Thacker had deficits in the frontal lobe affecting impulse control and desires, and a clinical psychiatrist, Dr. Robert Shaffer, who evaluated Thacker in 2008 and described predisposition to violence based on factors including mental illness history, lack of maternal relationship, childhood neglect and physical abuse, frequent changes in home and schools, and multiple head traumas.

Defense counsel and sentencing mitigation disputes (as described)

During the post-conviction proceedings, multiple witnesses testified about mitigation work and trial strategy. Charles Kelly and Tom Strawn were referenced as defense counsel at the 2002 trial. In post-conviction proceedings, the court described that sentencing mitigation included testimony regarding bipolar disorder, and that the court did not find ineffective assistance during the sentencing portion.

Verbatim quotes regarding sentencing and execution

In addition to Thacker’s final statement, the case record contained a statement read during execution logistics, including:

“Let the execution process begin.” Thacker’s related execution observations were described as lips bubbled outward and he exhaled heavily, his lips moved slightly, and the color from his face began to drain, with an attending physician pronouncing death at 6:10 p.m.

Admissions about kidnapping, rape, and killing

In the detailed plea hearing colloquy, Thacker admitted pulling a knife, forcing Hill to go with him to use an ATM card, taking her to a remote cabin, raping her, binding her, strangling her, and stabbing her, and that these occurred in Mayes County on the same day as the pool table visit.