Geronimo bank murders
LocationGeronimo, Oklahoma
DateDecember 14, 1984
Attack type
Mass murder, bank robbery
WeaponsPistol
Knife
Deaths4
Injured3
PerpetratorJay Wesley Neill
ConvictionsFirst degree murder (4 counts)
Shooting with intent to kill (3 counts)
Attempted shooting with intent to kill
Sentence

The Geronimo bank murders occurred on December 14, 1984, when Jay Wesley Neill killed four people during a bank robbery in Geronimo, Oklahoma.[1][2][3][4][5] Neill was convicted and sentenced to death, and was executed in 2002. His coconspirator, Robert Grady Johnson, was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Background

Jay Wesley Neill was born on April 9, 1965, and at 18-years-old he joined the United States Army in 1983. Neill met Robert Grady Johnson in February 1984 at a bar, and the two became romantically involved.[6] He was discharged from the military in the summer of 1984 after disclosing that he was homosexual, and quickly began having financial difficulties.

Neill and Johnson shared an apartment in Lawton, Oklahoma, and a joint checking account at a bank in Geronimo, Oklahoma. The bank account had frequent checks returned due to insufficient funds, and they were frequently present at the Geronimo bank to work out their money problems. The Geronimo bank was a small facility, which was housed in a prefabricated building, and usually had only two tellers and no surveillance cameras or security guards. Neill commented to Johnson on more than one occasion on the absence of the security measures, and how easy he thought it would be to commit a robbery at the bank.

Robbery

Preparation

On December 12, 1984, Neill shopped for firearms at a local pawnshop, but the shop keeper informed him that a buyer must be at least 21-years-old, and Neill was only 19-years-old at the time. The following day, Johnson applied for a gun license, and that same morning Neill went to a travel agent to purchase tickets for flights to Nassau, Bahamas leaving at 6 p.m. the next day. On the morning of December 14, Neill and Johnson returned to the pawn shop Neill had attempted buy a gun from two days earlier, and purchased a revolver Neill had seen during his previous visit.

Robbery and murders

At around 1 p.m. on December 14, Neill entered the First Bank of Chattanooga in Geronimo, and at gunpoint forced the three tellers working at the bank to the back room. The tellers, Kay Bruno (42), Jerri Bowles (19), and Joyce Mullenix (25) were told to lie face down on the floor, where Neill then stabbed them to death. The three employees were stabbed a total of 75 times,[7] and Mullenix was six months pregnant.[8]

While Neill was attempting the decapitation of one of the tellers, four customers entered the bank, who were taken to the back room by Neill and shot in the head. Ralph Zeller (33) died from his wounds, becoming the fourth and final murder victim. Bellen and Reuben Robles as well as Marilyn Roach would recover from their head wounds.[9] Neill attempted to shoot the couple's 14-month-old daughter, Marie, but the gun was out of bullets. Johnson was 16 miles away from the crime scene as the FBI report reflects. However Johnson remains in prison 34 years later for Neill's crime.[10][11]

Arrest and conviction

Neill and Johnson were arrested on December 17 in San Francisco, California. Marked bills stolen from the bank were used to pay for hotel rooms, limousine rides and shopping excursions. Bills worth around $3,700 were found on Neill and in their hotel room. Johnson was sentenced to four life sentences with the possibility of parole, despite there being a dispute whether or not Johnson was present in the bank at the time of the robbery. Neill testified that Johnson was at home waiting on him during the robbery, however, he had previously maintained that Johnson had accompanied him in the bank. Marilyn Roach testified to hearing the voices of two men inside the bank.

Neill was sentenced to death twice, once in 1985 and again in 1992. During the time of his incarceration, he converted to Christianity at first, and then to Buddhism.[12][13] The first death sentence was overturned due to procedural errors.[14]

While on death row, Neill's friendship with anyone was always doubtful and his conversion to Christianity was often the topic of conversation, as his "friends" were skeptical of the sincerity of his conversion even though he delivered mini-sermons and quoted Scripture often. Neill lived diagonally across from Ron Williamson (now a death row exoneree), and Neill once explained Williamson's mental behavior and problems in his letter to Williamson's sister, Renee.[12] During his last days on death row, Neill described his spiritual journey since his incarceration; the letter concluded, "Above all, I enjoy the sharing of love, and positive thoughts. I’m as unjudgmental as I know how to be. I believe every person has an individual right to live their lives free of harm, and prejudice. I just wish I knew more about life when I was a confused 19-year-old – the age I was, when I committed this crime."[13]

Johnson was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.[15]

Execution

Neill's sentence appeal was denied by the U.S. Supreme Court on October 7, 2002, and he was executed by lethal injection on December 12. His final meal consisted of a double cheeseburger, fries, peach or cherry cobbler, a pint of vanilla ice cream and a large bottle of cran-grape juice. As he was on the gurney, he offered an apology to the families of Bruno, Bowles, Mullenix and Zeller, and to the Robleses, saying, "I want everyone to know I'm really sorry for what I did to you. I'm not sorry for dying here today. I'm not sorry because I'm lying here. I'm sorry for the horrible, horrible thing I did. I hope you find some comfort in that, to know Robert Johnson wasn't in that bank. I know you think he was, but he wasn't. Please forgive me." As he made that statement, his voice quivered and he complained of being dizzy before asking, "Are they starting?", then he prayed until he became unconscious, and Neill was pronounced dead at 6:18 p.m.[13]

Jay Wesley Neill was the 54th person executed by the state of Oklahoma since resuming executions in 1990.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Ellis, Randy (December 20, 1984). "FBI Says Evidence Discovered". The Daily Oklahoman. p. 69. Retrieved January 16, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ↑ Rains, Scott (August 29, 2021). "From the Redder Dirt Files: The Geronimo Bank Robbery, massacre and manhunt". The Lawton Constitution. Archived from the original on August 29, 2021. Retrieved January 16, 2024.
  3. ↑ Howarth, Joan W. (January 1, 2008). "The Geronimo Bank Murders: A Gay Tragedy". Scholarly Works.
  4. ↑ Kinyou, Chris (May 25, 1985). "Two Found Guilty In Bank Slayings". The Daily Oklahoman. p. 1. Retrieved January 16, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ↑ "2 'Living It Up' In San Francisco Held In Killings". The New York Times. AP. December 18, 1984. p. 22. Retrieved January 16, 2024.
  6. ↑ Doucette, Bob (December 12, 2002). "Bank-robbery slayer's execution set for tonight: Debt, overdue bills blamed for heist plot, mass murder". The Oklahoman. Retrieved January 17, 2024.
  7. ↑ "Remark About 'Gays' May Have Led To 4 Slayings". The New York Times. AP. January 16, 1984. p. 17. Retrieved January 16, 2024.
  8. ↑ Dorner, Robin; Townsend, Ken (February 16, 2014). "Geronimo massacre 29 years later: How one man escaped death row". The Gayly. Retrieved January 17, 2024.
  9. ↑ Branstetter, Ziva (December 13, 2002). "Killer is dealt injection". Tulsa World. Retrieved August 25, 2021.
  10. ↑ Brasier, Andrew (August 9, 2019). "Writ of Habeas Corpus denied for Geronimo bank robbery suspect". KSWO-TV. Retrieved January 16, 2024.
  11. ↑ Zizzo, David (December 13, 2004). "Geronimo bank slayings: 1984 crime made community stronger: Victim's family says it will never forget'". The Oklahoman. Retrieved January 16, 2024.
  12. 1 2 Grisham, John (2007). "Chapter 11". The Innocent Man: Murder and Injustice in a Small Town. Dell. pp. 291–2. ISBN 978-0-440-24383-0.
  13. 1 2 3 "Jay Wesley Neill #818". Office of the Clark County Prosecuting Attorney. Retrieved January 25, 2010.
  14. ↑ Hutchison, Mark A. (August 30, 1992). "Neill Receives 4 Death Terms For 2nd Time". The Oklahoman. Retrieved January 16, 2024.
  15. ↑ Hutchison, Mark A. (July 29, 1993). "Geronimo Bank Murderer Gets Life Without Parole". The Oklahoman. Retrieved January 16, 2024.
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