Betty Lou Beets

Betty Lou Beets was a 62 year old women who was sentenced to the death penalty. She sentenced to death on 02/24/2000, by lethal injection in at Huntsville prison. Not very many women had been executed, but she was one of them. Also, a name given to her because of all the chaos and actions she took was the “Black Widow of Henderson County.” Betty was a grandmother who was accused of shooting her husband. It wasn't just her husband, but her fifth. In recent years, she was also found guilty because she shot and wounded her second husband. To add to the list, she was accused of killing her fourth husband, but she was never charged for it. Being convicted in 1985, it took fifteen years for the whole process to take place.

For the murder of her fifth husband, he was found buried in the front yard of their house. She claimed that killing him would leave his insurance money behind, for her to have. It was brought to attention, during her process of conviction, that Beets was abused throughout her whole life; not only as a child but with her husbands too: sexually, physically, and emotionally. Governor at the time, George W. Bush, stated “After careful review of the evidence in the case I concur with the jury that Betty Lou Beets is guilty of this murder." Usually whenever there is evidence in the past that leads a person to have an mental illness. When a mental illness comes up during a case it is reviewed even more and may not even lead to the death penalty then because it violates a mitigating factor.

These actions violate civil rights that are granted to every person, but that didn't stop the execution from happening. Bush was criticized by many people for his actions in this case. The jury, when made the decision for her to be sentenced to death, did not know about her abuse. Betty, soon before her execution date, wanted a pardon, but it was turned down. US District Judge James Nowlin thought of her plea to be, "yet another example of a prisoner attempting to delay execution just prior to the execution date." She was given no leeway in her case. Her excuses of abuse did not help her in anyway and she was executed in the state of Texas.

Carson, D. (2000, June 13). Betty beets. Retrieved from http://www.txexecutions.org/reports/208.asp

Death penalty cases. (2010, December 31). Retrieved from http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/executions

Texas executes 62-year-old great grandmother betty lou beets. (2000, Feb). Retrieved from http://www.wsws.org/articles/2000/feb2000/exec-f26.shtml