Summary:

Jackson was serving a 30 year prison term for a 1986 second degree murder conviction in the killing of his common law wife, Freda Laverne Washington.

The original first-degree murder charge in Washington's death was changed to second-degree murder through a plea agreement.

Jackson thought his new girlfriend, Wendy Cade, would marry him after his prison release, but she became engaged to someone else.

On September 6, 1994, Jackson was on the prison work crew installing furniture at the Jim Thorpe Building in Oklahoma City. Wendy came to the building and the two drove off in her Jeep.

After purchasing cigarettes, beer and alcohol, they went to a motel, where they had sex. There was also testimony that Jackson had purchased cocaine. However, then the two began arguing.

At his trial, Jackson testified that the two hit one another in several bouts in the room and Wendy fell to the floor.

When he went to the bathroom and came back to sit on the bed, he saw Wendy lying on the floor with blood on her. She had over thirty stab and slash wounds. One wound slashed her jugular vein.

At the time of his arrest, Jackson also had her watch, jewelry and the keys to her Jeep.

Jackson admitted to police that if Wendy was dead, he did it. Cade was stabbed and slashed with a box cutter knife that prison officials had given Jackson to open boxes of furniture he was helping install in a state office building.

Citations:

Jackson v. State, 964 P.2d 875 (Okla.Crim.App. 1998) (Direct Appeal)

Final Meal:

Fried fish with tartar and hot sauce, a fried chicken sandwich, a steak sandwich with french fries, ice cream and a 7-up.

Final Words:

"Take care of my mama. I want to ask for forgiveness from Martha Cade. I'm sorry for everything I brought upon her. I'm sorry for the pain, sorrow I brought on her and her family and kids. I'm sorry to all of you for the same thing. I guess I'm going to go now. Bye y'all."

News Release - W.A. Drew Edmondson, Attorney General

Court Sets Execution Date for Jackson

February 13, 2003

The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals today set execution date for death row inmate Larry Kenneth Jackson. Attorney General Drew Edmondson requested the date Jan. 15 after the United States Supreme Court denied the inmate's final appeals.

Jackson was serving a 30 year prison term for second degree murder and assault and battery with a deadly weapon in the killing of his former girlfriend, Freda Laverne Washington.

The original first-degree murder charge in Washington's death was changed to second-degree murder through a plea agreement. Jackson thought his new girlfriend, Wendy Cade, would marry him after his prison release, but she became engaged to someone else.

On September 6, 1994, Jackson was on the prison crew installing furniture at the Jim Thorpe Building in Oklahoma City.

Prosecutors said Wendy came to the building and the two drove off in her Jeep. After purchasing cigarettes, beer and alcohol, they went to a motel, where they had sex.

There was also testimony that Jackson had purchased cocaine. However, then the two began arguing. Court documents indicated that although they continued their relationship while he was imprisoned,

Wendy wanted to break it off. Jackson, according to Oklahoma Criminal Court of Appeals documents, never specifically admitted to the murder. However, Wendy was found with her throat cut in the bloodied motel room.

At the time of his arrest, Jackson also had her watch, jewelry and the keys to her Jeep. Jackson admitted to police that if Wendy was dead, he did it. At his trial, Jackson testified that the two hit one another in several bouts in the room and Wendy fell to the floor.

When he went to the bathroom and came back to sit on the bed, he saw Wendy lying on the floor with blood on her. She had over thirty stab and slash wounds, inflicted with a box cutter that prison officials had given him to cut open boxes of furniture.

One wound slashed her jugular vein. Lawyers for Jackson tried to show that Jackson was intoxicated at the time of the murder and should have been guilty of manslaughter.

UPDATE:

The family of Wendy Cade say they're ready for her killer to die. Wendy's sister Anita Taylor says justice will be served when Jackson is put to death. Jackson was serving a 30-year prison term for the 1985 shooting death of his common-law wife when he met Cade.

Jackson was working in a prison work program in Oklahoma City when Cade picked him up and they went to a metro-area motel. Prosecutors say Jackson stabbed and slashed Cade more than 30 times with a box cutter that prison officials had given him to cut open boxes of furniture.

Jackson says he blacked out when the attack occurred. Jackson's attorneys at this time have not filed any last-minute appeals and Jackson refused to attend his April 7 clemency hearing. The Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board voted not to recommend clemency.

The state Pardon and Parole Board voted Monday not to recommend clemency for convicted murderer Larry Kenneth Jackson at a meeting at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary. Jackson was sentenced to die for the Sept. 6, 1994, stabbing death of Wendy Cade at a north Oklahoma City motel.

Jackson had been serving a 30-year sentence for second- degree murder at the time of the slaying. He was working at the Jim Thorpe Building, installing furniture as part of a prison work program there when Cade picked him up and took him to a motel. It is thought Cade was there to break off their relationship. She was slashed and stabbed repeatedly with a box cutter knife Jackson had with him that day.

Steve Presson, Jackson's attorney, argued that the trial judge made a major mistake when he didn't instruct the jury to consider Jackson's state of intoxication at the time of the killing.

Jackson claimed that he'd consumed a beer and a large quantity of liquor that day and had "blacked out" when the attack occurred. "It's up to the jury to believe it," Presson said. "But the jury wasn't even allowed to consider it." Juries are allowed to weigh intoxication as a defense in violent crimes.

Seth Branham, assistant attorney general, said that while the judge did not give the jury instructions on that defense, jurors were presented testimony about Jackson's drunkenness that day. "This intoxication issue was alive in the guilt phase and it certainly was alive in the penalty phase," Branham said. He said jurors were instead convinced that Jackson had made up his mind to kill Cade.

Anita Taylor, Cade's sister, said Cade's death has been difficult for her family. "Larry took a star out of our family," she said. "I have to forgive him, but I'll never forget." Relatives of Jackson's other slaying victim, Freda Washington, also spoke to board members. Jackson was convicted of shooting Washington to death in 1985. "Larry did wrong ... and he should have to pay for it," said Sharyl Washington, Freda Washington's sister.

Jackson had been scheduled to speak at his hearing, but refused to leave his cell Monday morning, Presson said. He is scheduled to be executed April 17.

UPDATE:

The state of Oklahoma on Thursday executed a man who killed his girlfriend while he was out on a prison work detail. Larry Kenneth Jackson was pronounced dead at 6:08 p.m. at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary.

Jackson, 40, was put to death for the Sept. 6, 1994, slaying of Wendy Cade. Cade was found dead in a north Oklahoma City motel room with more than 30 stab and slash wounds, authorities said.

Jackson, 40, was serving a 30-year prison term for 2nd-degree murder when he walked away from a prison work program at the state Capitol complex and left with Cade, authorities said. Cade drove Jackson around the metro area, including a stop at her mother's home to drop off her young daughter, before going to the motel, according to prosecutors.

Cade, 29, was killed because she was ending her relationship with Jackson and was not going to help his effort to win parole, authorities said. Cade was stabbed and slashed with a box cutter knife that prison officials had given Jackson to open boxes of furniture he was helping install in the Jim Thorpe Building, authorities said.

Larry Jackson (OK) - April 17, 2003 - 6:00 PM CST, 7:00 PM EST

The state of Oklahoma is scheduled to execute Larry Jackson, a black man, April 17 for the murder of Wendy Cade in Oklahoma City. Jackson allegedly stabbed Cade, his girlfriend, in a motel room on Sept. 6, 1994.

According to the state, the two met that morning at the Jim Thorpe building, where Jackson had been assigned on work detail from the Joseph Harp Correctional Institution.

They then bought beer and liquor before checking into a Motel 6 on I-35, where Jackson eventually stabbed her numerous times with a utility knife. Meanwhile, the Department of Corrections placed him on escape status.

After the murder, Jackson drove the victim’s Jeep away from the motel, but crashed it at the entrance ramp of the Turner Turnpike. He later confessed to the crime, noting his intoxication and diminished capacity to understand the consequences of his actions. The state convicted him of murder and sentenced him to the death in 1995.

Jackson argues that critical errors impacted the outcome of his trial, ranging from illegal searches in the police investigation to improper jury instruction at trial. The appellate courts denied those challenges in January, and the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals set a date to carry out his sentence the following month.

This gave him less than two weeks to prepare a clemency request before his scheduled execution, so he petitioned for more time and received a second date in April, which has held up firmly and is now extremely serious.

Escapee Who Killed Woman After Night of Sex and Drugs Executed in Oklahoma

By Robert Anthony Phillips

April 14, 2003

McALESTER, Okla. - A man who was already in prison for the slaying of his common-law wife was executed Thursday night for walking away from a prison work crew and then murdering his girlfriend. Kenneth Jackson, 40, became the seventh convicted killer put to death in Oklahoma in 2003.

He was pronounced dead at 6:08 p.m. from the lethal injection of chemicals. Prosecutors said that Jackson cut the throat of Wendy Cade, 29, using a box-cutting knife. The murder occurred in a motel room in Oklahoma City on September 6, 1994.

Stolen Freedom And Murder

Jackson was on the prison crew installing furniture at the Jim Thorpe Building. He was serving the prison term for the slaying of his common-law wife. Prosecutors said Cade came to the building and the two drove off in Cade’s Jeep. After purchasing cigarettes, beer and alcohol, they went to a motel, where they had sex.

There was also testimony that Jackson had purchased cocaine. However, the Cade and Jackson began arguing. Court documents indicated that although Jackson and Cade continued their relationship while he was imprisoned, she wanted to break it off.

Cuts Victim's Throat

Jackson, according to Oklahoma Criminal Court of Appeals documents, never specifically admitted to the murder. However, Cade was found with her throat cut in the bloodied motel room. At the time of his arrest, Jackson also had Cade’s watch, jewelry and the keys to her Jeep. Jackson admitted to police that if Cade was dead, he did it.

At his trial, Jackson testified that the two hit one another in several bouts in the room and Cade fell to the floor. When he went to the bathroom and came back to sit on the bed, he saw Cade lying on the floor with blood on her.

Oklahoma Death Row Inmate Larry Kenneth Jackson Executed

KTUL-TV.com

AP Thursday, April 17, 2003

McAlester (AP) - Oklahoma death row inmate Larry Kenneth Jackson told his family he loved them and apologized for his victim's family before he was executed tonight. Jackson was put to death for the 1994 killing of Wendy Cade. He was pronounced dead at 6:08 at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester.

Jackson was serving a 30-year prison term for second-degree murder when he walked away from a prison work program and left with Cade. Cade drove Jackson around the Oklahoma City metro area before going to a motel, where she was found dead with more than 30 stab and slash wounds.

Killer put to death

By Doug Russell - McAlester News-Capital

April 18, 2003

Wanda Cade was a "good Christian lady who'd give you the shirt off her back" and "she had a smile - her smile could light up the whole room," according to her sister, Anita Taylor. But Taylor never saw Cade smile after Sept. 6, 1994.

That's the day the 29-year-old hairdresser was murdered in an Oklahoma City motel room, slashed 30 times with a state-issued utility knife. Thursday night Taylor said she finally had closure after the man who killed her sister was executed at Oklahoma State Penitentiary.

At 6:05 p.m. Larry Kenneth Jackson raised his head and looked out at his family members who had come to witness his death. "Take care of my mama," he said before turning his eyes to the one-way glass behind which Taylor and eight of her family members sat. Four members of another family, the family of Freda Washington, sat in the room with Cade's family. "I want to ask for forgiveness from Martha Cade," he said. "I'm sorry for everything I brought upon her. I'm sorry for the pain, sorrow I brought on her and her family and kids." Turning his eyes toward his family members, Jackson said, "I'm sorry to all of you for the same thing. I guess I'm going to go now. 'Bye y'all." He was pronounced dead at 6:08 p.m.

Taylor said she wasn't satisfied with Jackson's apology but "That's between him and God." Martha Gulley, Cade's mother, said she has forgiven Jackson for her daughter's killing. "I forgive him, but I can't forget the pain he caused. I've forgiven him but I ask that God would help him and his family."

The 40-year-old inmate had been installing office furniture at the Jim Thorpe Building in Oklahoma City as part of a prison work program when Cade drove to the building and picked him up in September 1994. At the time, Jackson was serving a 30-year sentence for the 1985 shooting death of his common-law wife, Freda Washington, as well as a five-year sentence for shooting Lynwood Smith the same day. Smith survived the shooting.

According to prosecutors, Cade and Jackson drove around for a while before they went to a motel room Cade had rented. There the two argued after drinking and Jackson killed her with a utility knife he had been issued to do his prison work. Jackson was arrested the next day.

He claimed he could not remember exact details of the crime but prosecutors pointed out that he clearly remembered events leading up to and following the murder. For that reason, they said, Jackson could not claim intoxication as a defense and was not eligible for a manslaughter conviction. Appeals courts upheld the prosecutors' contentions.

Oklahoman Executed for Killing Girlfriend

By Ken Miller - Kansas City Star

Associated Press April 18, 2003

McALESTER, Okla. -A man was executed for killing his girlfriend after he walked away from a prison work detail while serving a sentence for killing another woman, his common-law wife. Larry Kenneth Jackson, 40, was given a lethal injection Thursday at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary.

Jackson apologized to Wendy Cade's mother and family and to his own family members who watched him die. "I want to say I'm sorry, that's all I can say. I just want to apologize," Jackson said. "I guess I'm going to go now. Bye, y'all."

Cade's sister, Anita Taylor, said she was not satisfied with Jackson's apology, but said she's not sure what she wanted Jackson to say. "That's between him and God," she said. Still, she said, "This has been a closure for our family so we can get on with our lives."

Jackson was serving a 30-year prison term for second-degree murder in the 1985 shooting death of his common-law wife, Freda Jackson, when he walked away from a work detail installing furniture at the state Capitol in 1994.

Prosecutors said Jackson escaped to meet Cade, but then killed her at a motel because she was going to end their relationship and not help him in an upcoming parole bid. Cade, 29, was slashed and stabbed her more than 30 times with a box cutter that prison officials gave Jackson to open boxes of furniture. Jackson testified he was so drunk he couldn't remember what happened in the motel room.

LARRY KENNETH JACKSON, Petitioner - Appellant,
v.
MIKE MULLIN, Warden Oklahoma State Penitentiary, Respondent - Appellee.

Habeas September 16, 2002

Before EBEL, Circuit Judge, BRORBY, Senior Circuit Judge, and MURPHY, Circuit Judge.

Larry Kenneth Jackson was convicted by an Oklahoma trial court of the first degree murder of his girlfriend Wendy Cade and sentenced to death. The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals (OCCA) affirmed the conviction and sentence. Jackson v. State, 964 P.2d 875 (Okla. Crim. App. 1998) (per curiam), cert. denied, 526 U.S. 1008 (1999). That court also denied post-conviction relief. Jackson v. State, No. PC-97-1349 (Okla. Crim. App. Nov. 20, 1998). Thereafter, Jackson filed a federal habeas petition, and the federal district court denied relief.

That court granted a certificate of appealability (COA) on one issue: whether the trial court's refusal to instruct on the defenses of voluntary and involuntary intoxication violated Jackson's constitutional rights. At a case management conference, this court granted a COA on an additional issue: whether the trial court's refusal to allow voir dire concerning the prospective jurors' attitudes toward intoxication defenses violated Jackson's constitutional rights. Exercising jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §§ 1291 and 2253(c), we affirm the denial of habeas relief on both issues.

FACTS

Cade died in a room at the Oklahoma City Motel 6 on September 6, 1994, due to a laceration to her neck that severed her jugular veins. It is undisputed that Jackson, an inmate at the Joseph Harp Correctional Center, killed her.

Jackson and Cade had maintained a relationship while Jackson was incarcerated. She visited him at the prison on Sundays, and at least twice outside the prison when he was with a prison work crew. Jackson believed they would marry after his release, but Cade was engaged to and living with Victor Dizer, the father of some of her children, and was attempting to change her relationship with Jackson. Apparently, Jackson and Cade had ongoing arguments about this relationship change.

On September 6, Jackson was assigned to a work crew delivering and installing office/modular furniture at the Jim Thorpe state office building in Oklahoma City. That day, Cade also went to the building, and the two left in her Jeep.

Sometime before going to the motel, Jackson purchased a quart of beer at a convenience store. At the same time, Cade went to a nearby liquor store and purchased a fifth of liquor called Alize, which was a mixed drink of passion fruit juice and cognac.

Jackson drank all of the Alize and half of the quart of beer and had two puffs on a marijuana cigarette before entering the motel room. While in the room, the two had sexual intercourse and fought. Jackson claimed he "blimped out." He remembered leaving the motel in Cade's Jeep, having an accident and abandoning the Jeep. Later that day, a highway patrol trooper found the Jeep.

After abandoning the Jeep, Jackson next remembered waking up in a field and walking until he met two men. He obtained a ride from them to the apartments where his sister worked. He arrived about 6:00 or 6:30 p.m. Dorothy Leffette, the sister of one of the men, let him stay with her until morning.

On September 7, Dizer and Martha Gulley, Cade's mother, went to the area where the Jeep was found. Noticing the nearby Motel 6, they went there and learned Cade had rented a room.

After being notified, the police checked the room and found Cade's body lying against the bed. She had sustained over thirty cuts. The entire bathroom floor, apart from the shower, was covered with blood. It appeared a struggle had occurred in the bathroom, and Cade had been moved from the bathroom to the bedroom.

There was some blood on the bedroom carpet, but little blood on Cade's nude body. The police found a box cutting knife wrapped in a wash cloth and stuck between the mattress and box springs of the bed.

The police located Jackson at Leffette's apartment. In the room where the police arrested Jackson, they found Cade's jewelry, watch, and keys to her Jeep. Jackson admitted to police officers that if Cade was dead, he did it, but he did not intend to kill her, did not want to talk about the details of the killing, and did not remember much about what happened in the motel room.

At trial, Jackson's defense was that he killed Cade without malice aforethought because he had blacked out due to intoxication and being upset. Rejecting the lesser included offense of manslaughter, the jury found Jackson guilty of first degree murder.

* * * *

Jackson argues the trial court denied him due process and his Sixth, Eighth, and Fourteenth Amendment rights by refusing to instruct the jury, as he requested, on voluntary and involuntary intoxication. He claims the jury instructions did not reflect his intoxication defense, despite his offering ample evidence to support the defense.

Jackson fails to cite Supreme Court precedent establishing a constitutional mandate for intoxication instructions.(1) Supreme Court precedent instead suggests there is no such mandate. See generally Montana v. Egelhoff, 518 U.S. 37, 39-40, 43, 51, 56 (1996) (holding Montana statute precluding consideration of voluntary intoxication in determining existence of mental state which is element of criminal offense does not violate Due Process Clause); Taylor v. Withrow, 288 F.3d 846, 851 (6th Cir. 2002) (citing Egelhoff for proposition that states have great latitude in formulating defenses to crimes), petition for cert. filed, (U.S. Aug. 28, 2002) (No. 02-6153).

Defendant was convicted in the District Court, Oklahoma County, Dan Owens, J., of murder in the first degree and was sentenced to death. He appealed. The Court of Criminal Appeals held that: (1) prospective juror who was a convicted felon was subject to challenge for cause; (2) there was sufficient evidence of malice aforethought; (3) police properly obtained consent to search apartment at which defendant had been sleeping; (4) test for determining whether instruction on voluntary intoxication should be given is no different from test used for any other defense; and (5) evidence supported imposition of death penalty.

Affirmed. Lumpkin, J., concurred in results and filed opinion. Lane, J., dissented and filed opinion in which Strubhar, V.P.J., joined.

PER CURIAM:

1 Appellant, Larry Kenneth Jackson, was charged with first degree malice murder in violation of 21 O.S.1991, § 701.7 , in the District Court of Oklahoma County, Case No. CF-94-6070. The State filed a Bill of Particulars alleging three aggravating circumstances. A jury trial was held before the Honorable Daniel L. Owens, District Judge.

The jury found Jackson guilty of first degree murder and found the existence of two aggravating circumstances that the murder was especially heinous, atrocious, or cruel and that Jackson was previously convicted of a felony involving the use or threat of violence to the person. The State also alleged that Jackson posed a continuing threat. Jackson was sentenced to death. From this Judgment and Sentence Jackson has perfected his appeal.

FACTS

2 Jackson and Wendy Cade had an ongoing relationship while Jackson was incarcerated at Joseph Harp Correctional Institution. Jackson believed that they would be married when he was released from prison. Cade was engaged to Victor Dizer and was attempting to change the relationship she had with Jackson.

3 Jackson was assigned on a work detail installing furniture for Oklahoma State Industries at the Jim Thorpe building in Oklahoma City. Cade went to the Jim Thorpe building where Jackson was working on September 6, 1994. They left together in Cade's Jeep Cherokee at about 10:00 a.m. According to Jackson, they were arguing about their relationship. Jackson left with the tools he was using, which included a utility knife. (A knife that uses disposable razor sharp blades, also called a box knife.) Shortly thereafter, Jackson was discovered missing and the Department of Corrections placed Jackson on escape status.

4 Jackson and Cade first stopped at a convenience store at 23rd and Broadway where Jackson purchased a quart of beer and cigarettes. Jackson said that Cade went across the street to a liquor store and bought a "fifth" of some type of alcoholic beverage. They then drove to Martha Gulley's house (Cade's mother) where Cade dropped off her 4 year old daughter.

5 After that, they drove around for some time north of the Oklahoma City metropolitan area. Around noon they stopped and bought chicken at a Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant. They then went to a Motel 6 at N.E. 122nd and I-35.

6 At the motel, they checked into a room, ate their chicken and had intercourse. After that, according to Jackson they began fighting and he "blimped" out due to being either intoxicated or angry. Jackson left the motel in Cade's Jeep and got as far as the entrance ramp to the Turner Turnpike, just north of 122nd and I-35, where he had an accident, disabling the Jeep. Later that day, at about 3:30 p.m., the Jeep was found by a highway patrol trooper.

7 Jackson next remembered waking up in a field. Jackson hitched a ride to the Ambassador Court apartments at 1634 South Phillips where he believed his sister worked. Arriving there at about 6:00 to 6:30 p.m., he was unable to find his sister, but he did find a woman, Dorothy Leffette, who allowed him to stay at her apartment.

8 On September 7, 1994, at around 9:00 a.m. Victor Dizer and Martha Gulley, Cade's fiance and mother, went to the area where the Jeep was found in order to search for Cade. They went to the Motel 6 at N.E. 122 *883 and I-35 and learned that Cade had rented a room. The police were notified and upon checking the room, they found Cade's nude body lying against the bed. Cade's throat had been slashed and the entire bathroom floor was covered with blood; however, very little blood was on Cade's body. Cade had over thirty slash/stab wounds. Cause of death was determined to be the deep incised wound to her throat which severed both jugular veins. The utility knife, wrapped in a wash cloth, was found stuck between the mattress and box springs of the bed.

9 Jackson was located by police at Leffette's apartment at about noon on September 7, 1994. He was taken into custody. In the room where Jackson was arrested the police found Cade's jewelry, watch, and keys to the Jeep. Jackson admitted to police that if Cade was dead, he did it, but he did not want to talk about the details of the killing.

* * * *

106 When we independently weigh the mitigating evidence against the aggravating circumstances which were each proven beyond a reasonable doubt, we find the jury's determination that the aggravating circumstances outweigh the mitigating circumstances is amply supported by the record.