Roy Lee Ward
If there was ever a “poster child” to advocate for the death penalty I am pretty sure Roy Lee Ward would be in the running. I know that you have seen me blog about cases in which I question whether the death penalty was the right and appropriate sentence but this will not be one of them. This is not a case of not knowing who was the perpetrator and it definitely falls into my category of “extremely heinous” crimes. While most murders are senseless, this murder seemed to have no rhythm or reason or motive or gain. On July 11, 2001 fifteen year old Stacy Payne and her fourteen year old sister, Melissa, were home alone at their rural Dale Indiana home. The adults had gone off to work and it seems that Stacy was headed out soon herself. Melissa was upstairs sleeping when she was awaken by her sister's screams. She went to the top of the stairs and saw Roy Lee Ward on top of her sister. She ran to a bedroom and called 911. When police arrived on the scene Roy Lee W...