Stephen Peter Morin was executed by lethal injection on March 13,
1985. Morin withdrew all appeals after pleading guilty to the 1981
capital murder of Carrie Marie Scott. Morin was later convicted of
the killings of Janna Bruce in Corpus Christi and Shelia Whalen in
Golden Colorado.
In the early morning hours of Dec.
11, 1981 in San Antonio, Morin shot and killed 21-year old Carrie
Marie Scott in front of Maggie’s Restaurant, her place of employment.
She interrupted Morin in the process of stealing her car. She
confronted Morin and was shot.
“Morin said he never intended to kill Ms. Scott,
he pleaded with her to leave him alone but then he said something
came over him and the gun went off,” said Patricia Murrey, a close
friend of Morin’s.
Later that day Morin abducted
Margaret Palm from a local shopping center. Morin and Palm drove all
day and Morin ended up boarding a bus to Austin from Kerrville.
Morin was apprehended in Austin ending a four-year
FBI manhunt. Morin was a fixture on the FBI’s most wanted list for a
number of years. At the time of his arrest Morin was a suspect in
more than 30 violent crimes from coast to coast.
Morin, a self-proclaimed “born again” Christian,
shocked the legal community by becoming only the second man in Texas
history to plead guilty to capital murder. “We discussed all the
options. Stephen chose to plead guilty and with the state’s case
against him it was his best defense,” said Pete Torres, Morin’s
defending attorney. “Morin’s new-found faith was significant in his
decision to plead guilty and withdraw all appeals.”
Morin had no desire to fight his conviction or
the death-penalty sentence. “Morin knew he was guilty and was
accepting of whatever the judge thought he deserved, he was a
changed man and if the Lord wanted him to remain on Earth or go home
to heaven, Stephen was willing,” said Charles Galloway, a friend of
Morin’s.
Up until the time of his death, Morin remained a
suspect in over 30 unsolved cases around the nation. He chose to
remain quiet on those cases. “Morin never discussed those cases with
me until they came up in litigation, and even then he was and
unclear when discussing them,” Torres said. “Stephen was involved in
an awful lot but he told me he honestly had no recollection of any
crimes he may have committed, Murrey said. “It is as though that
whole part of his life has been blanked from his memory.”.
Morin led a bible study on death row and received
a degree in biblical teachings. Morin looked forward to his
execution date and served as an inspiration to the other inmates on
death row. “Stephen was prepared and referred to his execution as a
graduation day,” said Murrey. “We were the first to see Stephen that
day and all day he kept joking and saying this was a ‘great day,”
Galloway said.
Because of Morin’s heavy drug use, medical
technicians searched for nearly 40 minutes to find a usable vein for
the injection. Morin was pronounced dead at 12:55 a.m. March 13,
1985, becoming the sixth man be executed in Texas since the state
began using lethal injections in 1982.
Stephen Peter Morin
By Mark A. Vann
April 30, 2005
(Note to the teacher, this is a very power
lesson about Stephen Peter Morin. Present it as two different people
Stephen before his conversion to Christianity and Peter after his
conversion. I actually had one of my youth say “they are 180 deg.
Apart” when asked what is the difference between Stephen and Peter).
Write the following on the board before hand:
Heavenly Father, I give thanks for
this time, for the time that we have been together, the fellowship
in Your world, the Christian family presented to me. Allow your Holy
Spirit to flow as I know your love as been showered upon me. Forgive
them for they know not what they do, as I know that You have
forgiven me, as I have forgiven them. Lord Jesus, I commit my soul
to You, I praise You, and I thank You.
I want to talk to you this morning about two
men Stephen and Peter.
Stephen was born 2-19-51 in
Texas. At the age of 9 years old he got into some trouble at school
and was placed in a detention home. By the time he reached 15 he had
been in several juvenile detention homes, was heavily involved in
drugs and alcohol and robbery.
When he was in his 20’s he had a girl friend.
They had a van and they started traveling the country. They would go
into a town, check into a hotel. Stephen would leave his girl friend
in the hotel room by her self for a day or 2 and then return,
usually cut up and with some cash.
He would tell his girl
friend that it is time to move on. When it got dark, they would get
back into the van and drive to another town, usually hundreds of
miles away. After a while his girl friend started noticing that as
soon as they left a town, there were news reports about a missing
woman. Then the police found the body of the woman, she had been
murdered, but they did not know who did it.
A few years passed and his girlfriend left him
and he ended up on the FBI’s most wanted list. In the early morning
hours of Dec. 11, 1981 in San Antonio, Stephen shot and killed 21-year
old Carrie Marie Scott in front of Maggie’s Restaurant, her place of
employment. She interrupted Stephen in the process of stealing her
car. She confronted him and was shot.
He said he never intended to
kill Ms. Scott, he pleaded with her to leave him alone but then he
said something came over him and the gun went off.
Later that day Morin abducted Margaret Palm
from a local shopping center. Margaret Mayfield was shopping at a
San Antonio store when a gun-wielding man suddenly confronted her. "I'm
the man who killed the woman at the restaurant last night," he
announced, "and I'm going to kill you if you make one move." Ms.
Mayfield had just been abducted by mass murderer Stephen. We will
come back to talk about what happened to Margaret later. But here is
a copy of Stephen’s prison record sheet (pass the sheet around the
room).
Now lets talk
about Peter. Peter had a degree in Biblical Teachings and lead a
Bible Study where he worked. Peter was a born again Christian, a
very godly and religious man who loved Jesus. We don’t know a lot
about Peter but just before he died here are his last words:
Heavenly Father, I give thanks for this time,
for the time that we have been together, the fellowship in your
world, the Christian family presented to me. Allow your holy spirit
to flow as I know your love as been showered upon me. Forgive them
for they know not what they do, as I know that you have forgiven me,
as I have forgiven them. Lord Jesus, I commit my soul to you, I
praise you, and I thank you.
What do you think about these two guys? How are
they different? Do you think that they would get along with each
other? Do you think they could be friends? What would you say if I
told you that they have the same mother? What would you say if they
had the same father? What would you say if I told you that they are
the same person!? They are one and same. Stephen Peter Morin.
What do you think happened? (Hopefully some
body will say that he changed). But HOW did he change? How does a
drug addict, serial killer and rapist get a college degree in
Biblical teaching and lead a Bible study?
We have look at the beginning of his life and
we looked at his death. Lets look at what happened in between.
When Stephen abducted Margaret she was
terrified, she began praying aloud. Instead of ordering her to drive
away, Morin began to sob and talk about his unhappy childhood. Ms.
Mayfield told him: "It's not coincidence you're here. God brought
you to this car. You think the hell you're going through is bad;
it's nothing compared to the hell you're going to. Even though you
have committed some horrible things, God still loves you."
Morin forced Ms. Mayfield to
start driving, and as she drove, she continued telling him about the
love of Christ and began playing evangelistic tapes. Margaret said
that I am going to pray for you right now. Stephen said NO!, I don’t
want anyone praying for me! Margaret said SHUTUP, and she started
praying for him.
At
that moment Stephen changed into Peter by the power of God. Morin
pulled off the road and began to pray. "Jesus, I am sorry for
everything I have ever done. Please save me." Morin then picked up
his pistol, opened the chamber and dumped the bullets into Ms.
Mayfield's hands. "I knew I was witnessing a miracle," Ms. Mayfield
would later say.
Morin
decided to go to Fort Worth to meet with evangelist Kenneth Copeland,
whose tapes Ms. Mayfield had played. When police picked him up hours
later, Morin surrendered quietly. "This morning I would have got up
and shot the gun," he told the officers. "But I met this lady today,
and now I'm different."
During Morin's incarceration in Bexar County
Jail, a Prison Fellowship volunteer picked up where Ms. Mayfield
left off, witnessing to Morin until he was transferred elsewhere.
Stephen Peter Morin, drug addict, serial killer
was sentenced to death in Texas. On the day they executed him, they
had to probe his body for 40 minuets to find a suitable vein because
of his drug use in earlier year. He pleaded guilty to his crimes and
waived his right to appeal his death sentence. He was executed on
March 13, 1985 and you can see his last words on the board.
Stephen Peter Morin turned his life over to
Jesus and when he did, Jesus dramatically changed his whole life.
Have you given your life to Jesus Christ? If so, did you experience
a change? Perhaps it was not as drastic a change as Stephen, but if
you really trust Jesus with your heart YOU WILL CHANGE! You cannot
help it. If you have not given your life to Christ, I want to ask
you to do that today.
