On this date, June 12, 2012, Jan
Michael Brawner was executed by lethal injection in Mississippi. He was
convicted of the murder of his daughter, ex-wife and the parents of his ex-wife
on April 25, 2001. Let us hear from the sister of the victim and not forget the
four victims.
 |
| Jan Michael Brawner |
CASE:
Mississippi executed a man Tuesday June 12, 2012 for fatally shooting his
3-year-old daughter, his ex-wife and her parents in a crime in which
authorities say he also stole his slain mother-in-law's wedding ring and used
it to propose marriage to his girlfriend. Jan Michael Brawner, 34, was
pronounced dead at 6:18 p.m. CDT after receiving a chemical injection at the
Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman. Brawner had admitted to the
killings and said he didn't deserve to live after shooting his daughter, Paige,
his ex-wife, Barbara Craft, and her parents, Carl and Jane Craft, at their
house on April 25, 2001.
Before the execution,
Brawner appeared talkative and said he deserved to die for what he'd done,
Corrections Commissioner Chris Epps said.
Brawner also said he wasn't
on drugs or alcohol when he killed, but snapped under the stress of a divorce
and restraining order, according to Epps.
Court records based on
Brawner's testimony and statements to police describe the killings and the
series of events leading up to them like this:
Brawner left his apartment
in Southaven, just south of Memphis, Tenn., about 3 a.m. the day before the
killings and drove an hour to the Crafts' house because he was having financial
trouble and found out his ex-wife planned to stop him from seeing the child. He
emptied bullets from a 7-mm rifle in his father-in-law's truck and fled when a
dog began barking.
He drove back to the house
the next day and knocked on the door, but nobody was home. He put on rubber
gloves and went through a back door. He took a .22 caliber rifle from the
house, then drove to Carl Craft's job and asked if he could go to the house to
wait for his ex-wife so he could see his daughter. Carl Craft agreed.
Brawner went back to the
house. When his ex-wife, her mother and his daughter arrived, Brawner became
agitated. He shot his ex-wife's mother first, then shot his ex-wife. She had
wounds to her hands from trying to protect herself.
He walked across the room
to his former mother-in-law and "put her out of her misery." Then he
shot his ex-wife again.
The child had blood
splatter on her from the shootings and said, "Daddy, you hurt me."
He took his daughter to a
bedroom and told her to watch television, but decided she could identify him as
the killer. He shot her in the chin and head. He killed Carl Craft when he
arrived from work.
He stole Carl Craft's
wallet and took his former mother-in-law's wedding ring off her finger. He gave
the ring to his girlfriend and proposed marriage later that day, records show.
A brother of Brawner's
ex-wife witnessed the execution. None of his relatives were present.
QUOTE: Kathy
Jaco Sigler, Jane Craft's sister, issued a statement afterward saying her
family will never understand why the killings happened and referred to
Christian scripture.
"Man has a
choice of good and evil. Michael chose evil while my family chose good. God's
peace prevails over this evil because we know in our hearts that my sister and
her family dwell in heaven with the Lord," the
statement said.
AUTHOR: Kathy Jaco Sigler whose sister,
Jane Craft together with her 3-year-old daughter and parents were murdered by
Jan Michael Brawner on April 25, 2001. Jan Michael Brawner was executed by lethal injection in
Mississippi on June 12, 2012.
No comments:
Post a Comment