Ten years ago on this date, 9 April
2003, Earl Conrad Bramblett (March 20, 1942 to April 9, 2003) was executed by the
electric chair in Virginia. He was convicted of the Hodges family on August 29,
1994. We, the Victims’ Families For the Death Penalty, will remember the
victims and not this killer. We are satisfied he felt the pain of electrocution
than a painless death of lethal injection.
 |
|
The Hodges Family
|
Summary: The bodies of a family of
four were found in their burning house on August 29, 1994. The children and
their father were shot in the head. The mother had been strangled. The victims
were identified as Blaine and Teresa Hodges and their two children, Anah, 3,
and Winter, 11. Authorities immediately suspected Bramblett, a family friend
who had been living with the Hodges family. After questioning, authorities
believed he knew things about the crime scene that had previously not been
reported. .22-caliber bullet casings from his truck matched those at the scene
and a pubic hair belonging to Bramblett was found in the girls' bed.
Prosecutors theorized that Bramblett murdered the family because he was
sexually obsessed with 11 year old Winter, and that Blaine Hodges was using the
girl to entrap him in a sex crime. Tapes recovered from Bramblett depicted his
sexual attraction toward the eldest daughter. Bramblett claimed all the
circumstantial evidence used against him had either been planted or fabricated.
He said his pubic hair sample was taken before authorities located the hair on
the girls' bed, and that his tape recordings had been altered to give the
impression he was attracted to Winter. Bramblett was arrested and charged with
the slayings about two years after the murders. The testimony of a jailhouse
informant, since recanted, was also presented at trial. Bramblett told him he
was "addicted to young girls," and said that he had been caught with
one of the children by her mother. The informant testified that Bramblett told
him he choked her. After that, Bramblett killed the rest of the family and
burned the house to destroy the evidence.
A man who murdered a family of four was put
to death in Virginia's electric chair Wednesday, maintaining his innocence to
the end. Earl C. Bramblett, 61, was pronounced dead at 9:09 p.m. EDT after the
U.S. Supreme Court rejected his appeals and Gov. Mark R. Warner denied his
request for clemency. Bramblett was only the third Virginia inmate to die in
the electric chair since condemned prisoners were given the option of
electrocution or lethal injection in 1995.
Bramblett was led into the execution chamber
at 8:54 p.m. and strapped into the oak electric chair built by inmates. "I
didn't murder the Hodges family," Bramblett said firmly in his final
statement. "I've never murdered anybody. I'm going to my death with a
clear conscience," Bramblett said. "I am going to my death having had
a great life because of my two great sons," who visited Bramblett earlier
in the day along with his ex-wife.
A Department of Corrections official then
turned a key switch in the wall behind the electric chair, activating the
system. An executioner sitting behind a one-way glass immediately pressed a
button labeled "execute" and 1,800 volts surged through Bramblett's
body, causing him to go rigid and throwing him against the back of the chair.
Bramblett's head and right leg were shaved to allow skintight attachments of
two electrodes. During the execution, a puff of smoke rose from the electrode
on his right leg. After waiting five minutes, Dr. Alvin Harris, a corrections
physicians, walked into the death chamber and placed his stethoscope against
Bramblett's chest. "This man has expired," Harris announced.
Sarah Lugar, Teresa Hodges's niece, said
yesterday that she planned to attend the execution, along with her mother,
Brenda Lugar. Sarah Lugar remembered the Hodgeses as an "all-American
family." She recalled that her aunt often made homemade bread and that the
children loved the movie "Beauty and the Beast."
"A lot of pain and suffering will die with [Bramblett] tonight,"
Sarah Lugar said hours before the execution. "Nothing
that we are going to see this evening will be any worse than what he did to
them."
live by the spord or die by it.bramlett forfieted his right to live by committing a crime that beggard discription. i as a born again christian side with the state of virginia to excecute earl by the eletric chair ,frankly-he did not give clemency to the hodges family a did not deserve it. thank u virginia
ReplyDeleteThe bastard deserved it, he wasn't just a cold blooded murderer but a child molester too. He still remains the prime suspect in the killing of 2 other girls whose bodies had never been recovered.
ReplyDeleteBramblett almost got away with it but it was the passing motorist who notified the fire department that prevented him from winning. I've seen this case on both New Detectives and Forensic Files.
ReplyDeleteAfter slaughtering a whole family whom he regarded as his friends [and so, it is worse than if unknown to him], Earl Bramblett deserved nothing else than dying on the electric chair!
ReplyDeleteAmen! No one except you has mentioned that fact. He was a family friend....they trusted him,and he betrayed ALL of them. He was mentally sadistic and the only cute was for him,to fry. I don't feel,sorry for him in the least. To kill a faithful friend is the absolute worst!!!!!
DeleteI am happy he died. Earl Bramblett is now where he belongs: under dirt. Al fin uno menos!
ReplyDeleteHow were the bodies found in the burning house on August 29, 1994 AND Bramblett was convicted of the murders on August 29, 1994?
ReplyDeleteI would enjoy watching the fear in his eyes. Maybe a pretend buzz to start
ReplyDeleteAmazing that there are idiots out there who think he's innocent.
ReplyDeleteEarl had to die....
ReplyDeleteGot what he deserved.