Brandon Bernard was 18 years old when he went out one night with a group of other young men to rob and hurt people. Brandon Bernard set a car on fire with a young woman in the trunk with her husband. Brandon Bernard helped kidnap and rob the couple. After another robber shot both victims in the head Brandon Bernard used the accelerant the group had bought to set the vehicle on fire with the young couple praying as they lay dying. The group killed the couple so they would have a perfect crime with no witnesses and Brandon Bernard would not live happily as a criminal who could hurt people when he wanted, however he wanted. But, that's not how things turned out.
Brandon Bernard's lawyers want to claim that the military aged man who went out with an armed group to rob and hurt people was simply a 'get away' driver who stumbled innocently into a double murder. The lawyers are joining others in calling for President Trump and courts to stop the execution of Brandon Bernard.
The incident started when two of the group of armed young men approached Todd Bagley while he was using a payphone, according to court documents. They asked Bagley if he could give them a ride to their uncle’s house. Bagley, a veteran who previously served at the Fort Hood army base nearby, was in town with his wife Stacie to visit friends and a church they used to attend.
Bagley agreed, according to court documents, letting three of the young men into his car. As they gave Bagley directions, Vialva and another young man pulled out pistols and pointed them at Bagley and his wife. “The plans have changed,” said Vialva, according to court documents.
They stole the couple’s jewelry, wallet, and purse, and forced them into the trunk of their car, according to court documents. They then drove around town and pulled money out of ATMs using Bagley’s debit cards.
At some point Vialva decided that the couple had to die, according to court documents. They met up with another young man and Bernard, who had purchased lighter fluid. Then they drove the vehicle out to a remote area on the Fort Hood military base. Bernard poured lighter fluid over the vehicle while the Bagleys prayed inside the trunk.
Vialva then shot both of the victims in the head, according to court documents. Bernard lit the vehicle on fire.
Vialva and Bernard were both sentenced to death. Vialva was executed by lethal injection on Sept. 24.
Brandon Bernard’s lawyers have presented their case to the
Department of Justice’s Office of the Pardon Attorney requesting that
President Donald Trump commute Bernard’s sentence to life in prison. Because the murders and arson took place on Fort Hood, a US Military base, the case was federal. So, Trump is the one who could pardon Brandon Bernard
...................
Sep. 23, 2020 at 4:29 PM PDT
KILLEEN, Texas (KWTX) – Christopher Andre Vialva, 40, one of two Central Texas men who landed on federal death row after they were convicted of the brutal murders of an Iowa pastor and his wife, received a lethal injection Thursday, 17 September 2020, at the U.S. Penitentiary in Terre, Haute, Ind.
He was pronounced dead at 5:42 p.m. CDT.
No comments:
Post a Comment