Saturday, August 17, 2013

PETER ANTHONY CANTU (EXECUTED IN TEXAS ON AUGUST 17, 2010)



NOTICE: The following article is written by the author itself and not by me, I am not trying to violate their copyright. I will give some information on them.

DATE: Tuesday 17 August 2010
AUTHOR: JoAnne Thomas

Tuesday, August 17th, 2010 at 4:31 pm

Peter Anthony Cantu Executed For Murders Of Jennifer Ertman And Elizabeth Pena (Video)

By JoAnne Thomas
Huntsville, Texas

Peter Anthony Cantu, 35, was executed by lethal injection at 6:17 PM this evening, August 17, 2010. 

Cantu was the leader of a gang of six people convicted of the rape and murder of 14-year-old Jennifer Ertman and 16-year-old Elizabeth Pena in June of 1993.

The horrific nature of the crime shocked Houston to it’s core.

Peter Anthony Cantu Executed For Murders Of Jennifer Ertman And Elizabeth Pena (Video) 

Peter Anthony Cantu lived longer in prison than either girl lived on earth. This evening’s lethal injection was the last of executions related to the barbaric murders of two beautiful teens, 14-year-old Jennifer Ertman and 16-year-old Elizabeth Pena back in June of 1993.

Pena and Ertman had taken a shortcut through the woods to make it home by their 11:30 PM curfew. 

Cantu’s gang, known as the ‘Black and White’ was in a wooded area near T.C. Jester Park to initiate a new member into the cold-blooded group. They allegedly spotted the girls crossing a railroad bridge and one gang member grabbed Elizabeth Pena—Jennifer Ertman ran to her aid.

What happened next is incomprehensible and in my opinion, justification for the death penalty imposed on five of the gang members. 

In what police later would describe as a sadistic frenzy, the girls were gang-raped for more than an hour. They were forced to perform oral sex. They were kicked, teeth knocked out and hair pulled out and ribs broken. A red nylon belt, with an attacker tugging at each end, was pulled so tightly around Ertman’s neck the belt snapped. Shoelaces were used to strangle Pena.

Evidence showed Cantu kicked one of the girls in the face with his steel-toed boot.

Their brutalized and tortured bodies were discarded and found four days later. The Ertman / Pena murders were the catalyst in changing the laws regarding victim’s rights. This case made it possible for families of victims to be present at executions. 

The tragic part about the death penalty in this particular case is that two of the sadistic defendants were only 17 at the time of the crime and SCOTUS ruled people under 18 can no longer be executed. One of the six defendants was 14 and received 40 years.

Two defendants were executed prior to Cantu; Derrick Sean O’Brien in 2006, and Jose Medellin in 2008, both by lethal injection.

You might recall the outcry against Medellin’s execution a few years ago—-not because he was innocent, but because he was a Mexican citizen.

O’Brien and Medellin both apologized in their final words, their apologies rightfully rejected by the girl’s families.

Last night, attention seeking, anti-death penalty folks had a little protest, daring to use a memorial to Jennifer Ertman And Elizabeth Pena as a back-drop for their worthless cause. Shame on them.

We’re not saying he’s innocent,” said Gloria Rubac with the Texas Death Penalty Abolition Movement. “He is one of the worst of the worst, but the point is we have a fallible human system. So lock Peter Cantu up. He’s obviously a deranged person that no one wants as a neighbor. But lock him up. Texas is filled with prisons. Don’t execute him.”

Food for thought—the recent Arizona escapees, 3 convicted murderers, are linked to the gruesome murders of Linda and Gary Haas. Although 2 have been captured, John McCluskey and his accomplice girlfriend/ first cousin Casslyn Welch remain on the loose.

Had the death penalty been enacted, Gary and Linda Haas, good family people from Oklahoma, would not have had to die because our too politically correct society thinks it can fix everyone.

You can’t fix evil! Get it through your brain or heart or whatever it is that motivates you into thinking warm fuzzies for criminals can cure all ills.

Can anyone say with 100% certainty that Cantu would never escape?

Peter Anthony Cantu has been executed and it should be the final chapter in the nightmare the Pena and Ertman families have been living through, but it’s not.

Venancio Medellin, who was 14 at the time of the murders, has been serving a 40 year sentence. He becomes eligible for parole every few years.

Raul Villareal and Efrain Perez, whose death sentences were commuted to life in prison, will be up for parole in 2028.

If the families want these men to stay in prison, they need to appeal to the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles each and every time

Why can’t the death penalty opponents take a moment and shed a tear or two for the families of these children? They are the ones serving a life sentence in hell.

What do you think? Please leave your thoughts on ‘Peter Anthony Cantu Executed For Murders Of Jennifer Ertman And Elizabeth Pena’ in the comment section beneath the video.



Petra.
NCADP- Statement from Diann Rust-Tierney
Wed Aug 18, 2010 13:41
78.35.112.215

To: NCADPAffiliates
Sent: Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Statement from Diann Rust-Tierney, Executive Director

National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty

Regarding News Conference at Memorial for

Elizabeth Pena and Jennifer Ertman


August 17, 2010 - The National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty (NCADP) is deeply disappointed that a few anti-death penalty voices chose to hold a news conference near a memorial at Houston's Waltrip High School for murder victims Elizabeth Pena and Jennifer Ertman.

The memorial to these slain victims was erected to honor them and serve as a reminder of the tragedy of their murders. We recognize the devastation wreaked on their families, this school, and the community and the memorial should be accorded deep respect.

Whether one is for or against the death penalty, this action was highly inappropriate, and insensitive to Pena's and Ertman's families.

In our work to promote respect and dignity for all human life, there are boundaries that should never be crossed under any circumstances. This news conference disrespected the lives of two murder victims, and as such, crossed a boundary.

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