Rupe spared death penalty for final time
Information from the Associated Press is included in this report.
Nancy Bartley's phone message number is 253-437-9461. Her e-mail address is nbartley@seattletimes.com
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The Mitchell Rupe case
Sept. 17, 1981: Mitchell Rupe fatally shoots tellers Candace Klingbeil Hemmig and Twila Capron while robbing the West Olympia branch of Tumwater State Bank. Police are led to Rupe because he left his checkbook at the bank.
April 1982: Rupe is convicted in Thurston County Superior Court of two counts of aggravated first-degree murder. He is sentenced to death by hanging.
June 1984: The state Supreme Court overturns the death sentence because trial evidence about Rupe's gun collection may have prejudiced the jury. The Supreme Court orders Rupe to be resentenced.
February 1985: A Thurston County Superior Court jury again sentences Rupe to death.
January 1992: Rupe's execution date of Jan. 10, 1992, is stayed by a U.S. District Court judge, who orders the state Supreme Court to again review the case.
November 1992: State Supreme Court rejects Rupe's claim that his death sentence should be changed to life in prison without parole. Rupe argued unsuccessfully Thurston County Superior Court Judge Robert Doran had no authority to impose a second death sentence.
May 1994: Rupe's attorneys argue that he is too heavy to hang because he would be decapitated in the process.
Sept. 19, 1994: U.S. District Judge Thomas Zilly overturns Rupe's death sentence because jurors who sentenced him weren't told a key witness failed a polygraph test.
December 1995: Thwarting a request by prosecutors, the state Department of Corrections refuses to release details on Rupe's medical condition, citing a state law that says medical records can't be released without a patient's consent. However, reports have surfaced suggesting Rupe is being evaluated for a liver transplant.
March 29, 1996: Then-Gov. Mike Lowry signs a measure making lethal injection instead of hanging the way to execute a condemned inmate if the inmate refuses to choose between the two. Previously, the law made hanging the execution method in that circumstance.
Aug. 15, 1996: In a 3-0 decision, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upholds Zilly's decision that the exclusion of polygraph results violated Rupe's right to present all favorable and relevant evidence to his penalty-phase jury. But in a piece of good news for the state, the court also rules that the law making lethal injection the state's method of execution does apply to inmates such as Rupe who were condemned to die before the law was passed.
Feb. 18, 1997: Rupe gets yet another sentencing trial to determine if he should be put to death or kept in prison for life, following a U.S. Supreme Court decision.
Jan. 13, 1998: Rupe's defense attorneys say he is suffering from a terminal liver disease and they doubt he would live long enough to see a death sentence carried out even if Rupe is again sentenced to die.
March 7, 2000: Rupe takes the stand during his third sentencing trial in Thurston County Superior Court and apologizes for the slayings. His attorneys say it's the first time he has apologized for the murders.
March 10, 2000: Jurors deadlock on Rupe's death sentence, effectively sentencing him to life imprisonment.
Research provided by Miyoko Wolf of the Seattle Times news library.