Donald Ray Wallace
Encyclopedia
Donald Ray Wallace Jr., a 47-year-old white male, was executed by lethal injection
at the Indiana State Prison in Michigan City, Indiana
on March 10, 2005. Wallace was found guilty of the 1980 murder of Patrick Gilligan, a 30-year-old white male, Teresa Gilligan, a 30-year-old white female, Gregory Gilligan, a 5-year-old white male, and Lisa Gilligan, a 4-year-old white female. Wallace, who was 22-years old when he committed the capital crime, was sentenced to death on October 21, 1982.
Donna Madison was at the home of her sister, Debbie Durham, the night of the 14th when earlier that evening she witnessed Wallace driving the blue Plymouth. Between 7:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m. Wallace returned to Durham's home, and Madison heard him ask for matches. He found a cigarette lighter, and Madison saw him in the backyard burning the jacket he had been carrying over his shoulder upon arrival.
Neighbor Sherry Grayson saw a fire at the same time and saw a man with shoulder length hair that was characteristic of Wallace, standing by it. Officer John Crosser recovered the remains of the jacket and other items found on the ground. Among these items was a set of wedding rings without stones in them and some fragments of glass. State Police Specialist Oliver examined the glass and found the pieces fit into a pattern matching the hole in Gilligans' window.
On the evening of the 14th Wallace and Durham had a Carl Durham take pictures of them with many of the items taken from the Gilligan and Hendrick residences. The pictures also showed money and pistols connected with these burglaries, and were later admitted into evidence.
Debbie Durham, Wallace's girlfriend testified that when Wallace visited her around 9:30 p.m on January 14 he immediately took his clothes off and gave them to her so he could change. On his blue jeans there was a piece of fleshy-whitish-red matter. Durham asked what it was, and Wallace stated it had to be a piece of brain because he had shot the residents, who had caught him, in the head. He told her a man had come in from the garage and surprised him. They struggled, and Wallace made him bring in the rest of the family. He said he tied up the man, made the woman tie up the children, and then Wallace tied her up. He shot the man in the head after possibly breaking the man's neck in the struggle. He said he then shot the woman twice and because the children were crying for the mother, he shot each one of them once. Wallace, who was out on parole
for a prior felony
, said he shot the adults because they could identify him.
in his defense.
A first hearing was instituted by the trial judge who detected reasonable grounds that Wallace lacked competency to proceed. The court then appointed two psychiatrists, Dr. Larry Davis and Dr. John Kooiker, to examine Wallace. In their reports they opined that Wallace was incompetent to proceed with trial because he was suffering from acute paranoid
schizophrenia
.
At a hearing held in May 1980 Davis and Kooiker described elaborate delusions expressed by Wallace of plots against him. He had told the doctors about his belief that the CIA and Masons
were attempting to place him before a firing squad to prevent his release of secret matters including information on the Iranian hostage situation. He expressed concern about others plotting against him including his attorney and court personnel, he imagined radio-listening devices were planted in his cell and in the room where the psychiatrists interviewed him, and he expressed suspicion of the psychiatrists and of all those with whom he came in contact.
Davis and Kooiker concluded Wallace was unable to assist counsel at the time or to participate in and understand the trial proceedings. Each stated Wallace's apparent condition would be very difficult to feign. The State's two witnesses, Wallace's cellmate and a member of the Sheriff's department, testified Wallace displayed these mannerisms only at selective times, the implication being Wallace was feigning the psychosis. After taking the matter under advisement the judge found in May 1980 that Wallace was incompetent to stand trial, stating that despite evidence to the contrary, his decision was based on an overwhelming evidence of incompetency given by the doctors.
The Superintendent of Logansport State Hospital
later certified to the court that Wallace had now attained competency to stand trial based upon a Dr. Matheu's opinion. However, the hearing scheduled pursuant to this certification was continued when Davis and Kooiker opined that Wallace needed further evaluation and treatment. After that Wallace had become oriented with time, place, and person, and now both psychiatrists considered Wallace competent to stand trial.
At the second hearing Wallace appeared too heavily sedated from the medication. The psychiatrists testified that Wallace's dosage of psychotic medication could be modified such that he would maintain competency but not experience the sedative side effects. Over Wallace’s objection the court ruled that his competency depended upon an adjustment in his medication and ordered him back to Wishard Hospital for further treatment.
At the next and third hearing on January 16, 1981, Kooiker, Davis, and Moore opined that Wallace was incompetent to proceed with trial. All three psychiatrists testified that he was again suffering from symptoms of schizophrenia and that the suggested modified treatment from the previous hearing had failed. The general consensus was that Wallace was not feigning the psychosis
. Moore testified that if Wallace was faking, he was "one of the best damn actors he had ever seen." Once again the court found Wallace incompetent to stand trial and ordered him committed.
In February 1982 the State moved for another competency hearing informing the court it could produce evidence that Wallace had been faking his psychosis to which the court so ordered. At the June 16 hearing the State introduced letters Wallace had written to Durham, during the time between his arrest and the first pretrial court appearance, at which his competency was put at issue. These letters indicated a full understanding of what he was doing and were intended to show he purposefully feigned incompetency to delay his trial and frustrate the State's attempt to have him sentenced to death. In the letters he discussed Durham's loyalty to him, their sex lives, and his feelings toward his attorney. He wrote he had a higher I.Q. than his attorney and so was planning to hire an attorney from San Francisco with the assistance of his uncle. His uncle would furnish the money for an attorney with the reputation for gaining acquittals for persons charged with murder. He said he was studying from materials furnished to him by a friend who was a professor from a local law school. His studies concentrated on suppression of evidence
and the art of cross-examination
. He indicated he was becoming very well informed on these subjects so that he would be in a position to attack the State in court and frustrate their case. Wallace also told Durham, who was in jail on a burglary charge herself, that she would not have to worry if she went to the Women's Prison because he had connections in the prison that would get her special consideration.
Several of the staff members from Logansport State Hospital, where Wallace had been for most of the preceding two years, testified in the same manner. Robert Cosgray testified that when Wallace first came to the hospital he acted psychotic but shortly thereafter admitted to Cosgray that he was feigning his mental illness. Wallace later denied this statement and told Cosgray that it was Cosgray's word against his. He said he would rather spend his life in the hospital than go to the electric chair. William Hardesty testified Wallace exhibited his psychosis early in 1980, but later Wallace told Hardesty that he liked to "beat people at their own game." Further, Wallace told Hardesty that the longer he drags this out the less chance the state had of convicting him.
Others at Logansport, James Campbell, Deborah Illes, Wilma McLaughlin, Richard Younce, and William Conn, each testified that during the two years of Wallace's hospitalization they saw his alleged psychotic delusions manifested very rarely. He appeared to have psychotic delusions perhaps once or twice, and then only when Dr. Keating was present or about to enter the room. Several of the staff members stated that Wallace gave them a contrasting impression and he was a sharp pool and card player.
recommended the death penalty.
Lethal injection
Lethal injection is the practice of injecting a person with a fatal dose of drugs for the express purpose of causing the immediate death of the subject. The main application for this procedure is capital punishment, but the term may also be applied in a broad sense to euthanasia and suicide...
at the Indiana State Prison in Michigan City, Indiana
Michigan City, Indiana
Michigan City's origins date to 1830, when the land for the city was first purchased by Isaac C. Elston. Elston Middle School, formerly Elston High School, located at 317 Detroit St., is named after the founder....
on March 10, 2005. Wallace was found guilty of the 1980 murder of Patrick Gilligan, a 30-year-old white male, Teresa Gilligan, a 30-year-old white female, Gregory Gilligan, a 5-year-old white male, and Lisa Gilligan, a 4-year-old white female. Wallace, who was 22-years old when he committed the capital crime, was sentenced to death on October 21, 1982.
Discovery of bodies
On January 14, 1980, Indiana State Trooper Thomas Snyder was called to the Evansville home of Ralph Hendricks as it had been reportedly burglarized. Snyder went to the home of Patrick and Theresa Gilligan, which was next door to Hendricks's house, to inquire whether the Gilligans might have seen or heard anything unusual. Snyder, discovering that the window to the Gilligans' back door was broken, checked inside the house and discovered four dead bodies in the family room—Patrick and Theresa and their two children, Gregory and Lisa. Theresa had her hands tied behind her, and the two children were tied together. Dr. David Wilson, the coroner, testified that the cause of all four deaths was brain damage from gunshot wounds.Evidence and eye-witness accounts
The evidence also showed that on the 14th Wallace was seen driving a blue Plymouth automobile that belonged to Richard Milligan. And while Milligan and Milligan's girlfriend, Debbie Durham, were known to have committed several prior burglaries using this same automobile, Milligan was in jail on burglary charges this particular night. Witnesses recalled seeing the Plymouth in the Evansville neighborhood about the time the murders occurred.Donna Madison was at the home of her sister, Debbie Durham, the night of the 14th when earlier that evening she witnessed Wallace driving the blue Plymouth. Between 7:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m. Wallace returned to Durham's home, and Madison heard him ask for matches. He found a cigarette lighter, and Madison saw him in the backyard burning the jacket he had been carrying over his shoulder upon arrival.
Neighbor Sherry Grayson saw a fire at the same time and saw a man with shoulder length hair that was characteristic of Wallace, standing by it. Officer John Crosser recovered the remains of the jacket and other items found on the ground. Among these items was a set of wedding rings without stones in them and some fragments of glass. State Police Specialist Oliver examined the glass and found the pieces fit into a pattern matching the hole in Gilligans' window.
On the evening of the 14th Wallace and Durham had a Carl Durham take pictures of them with many of the items taken from the Gilligan and Hendrick residences. The pictures also showed money and pistols connected with these burglaries, and were later admitted into evidence.
Blood match
Durham gave William Kune, a serologist, the blue jeans worn by Wallace the night of the crime, upon which Kune found type AB blood. Wallace had blood type O, but Teresa Gilligan and one of the children had blood type AB. Kune also found type B blood on a brown cotton glove, identified as one of a set Wallace wore while burglarizing homes. Patrick Gilligan had type B blood.Personal items identified
William Madison, the brother of Durham and Madison, came to the Durham's home the evening of the 14th and saw Wallace come in wearing a gun in a holster to show William a briefcase with a couple of guns in it. Wallace also had in his possession a CB, a police scanner, and some rings. That same night Wallace attempted to sell to Randy Rhinehart some guns, a CB, and a scanner. Several witnesses testified that Durham displayed to them pieces of jewelry that were later traced to the Gilligans. Durham gave one of the rings to Officer O'Risky that was identified by Dorothy Sahm, Theresa's mother, as belonging to Theresa. A jeweler that had sized the ring and kept pictures of it also identified it as belonging to Theresa.Confession to friends
Friends of Wallace, Mark Boyles and Anita Hoeche, testified they received a phone call on January 15 from Wallace who said he was in trouble and in need of a ride. While riding in the car, Wallace told them he had gotten too greedy the night before. He said he had broken into one house and never should have gone to the next house because he got caught there and that after he got caught a man in the house was giving him trouble, and he had to tie up the entire family. He said the little girl was crying and screaming, and it was bothering him. He felt he could not let the children grow up with the trauma of not having parents, and he did not "want to see the kids to go through life with tragedy of seeing their parents being killed," so he killed them also. He said the woman was screaming, and he had to shut her up. Later that night Wallace, while hiding in the attic of Hoeche's house, was arrested.Debbie Durham, Wallace's girlfriend testified that when Wallace visited her around 9:30 p.m on January 14 he immediately took his clothes off and gave them to her so he could change. On his blue jeans there was a piece of fleshy-whitish-red matter. Durham asked what it was, and Wallace stated it had to be a piece of brain because he had shot the residents, who had caught him, in the head. He told her a man had come in from the garage and surprised him. They struggled, and Wallace made him bring in the rest of the family. He said he tied up the man, made the woman tie up the children, and then Wallace tied her up. He shot the man in the head after possibly breaking the man's neck in the struggle. He said he then shot the woman twice and because the children were crying for the mother, he shot each one of them once. Wallace, who was out on parole
Parole
Parole may have different meanings depending on the field and judiciary system. All of the meanings originated from the French parole . Following its use in late-resurrected Anglo-French chivalric practice, the term became associated with the release of prisoners based on prisoners giving their...
for a prior felony
Felony
A felony is a serious crime in the common law countries. The term originates from English common law where felonies were originally crimes which involved the confiscation of a convicted person's land and goods; other crimes were called misdemeanors...
, said he shot the adults because they could identify him.
Pre-trial hearings
Wallace raised several issues concerning his mental competency to stand trial and four hearings were held before the trial judge found Wallace was competent to understand the proceedings and assist his counselCounsel
A counsel or a counselor gives advice, more particularly in legal matters.-U.K. and Ireland:The legal system in England uses the term counsel as an approximate synonym for a barrister-at-law, and may apply it to mean either a single person who pleads a cause, or collectively, the body of barristers...
in his defense.
A first hearing was instituted by the trial judge who detected reasonable grounds that Wallace lacked competency to proceed. The court then appointed two psychiatrists, Dr. Larry Davis and Dr. John Kooiker, to examine Wallace. In their reports they opined that Wallace was incompetent to proceed with trial because he was suffering from acute paranoid
Paranoia
Paranoia [] is a thought process believed to be heavily influenced by anxiety or fear, often to the point of irrationality and delusion. Paranoid thinking typically includes persecutory beliefs, or beliefs of conspiracy concerning a perceived threat towards oneself...
schizophrenia
Schizophrenia
Schizophrenia is a mental disorder characterized by a disintegration of thought processes and of emotional responsiveness. It most commonly manifests itself as auditory hallucinations, paranoid or bizarre delusions, or disorganized speech and thinking, and it is accompanied by significant social...
.
At a hearing held in May 1980 Davis and Kooiker described elaborate delusions expressed by Wallace of plots against him. He had told the doctors about his belief that the CIA and Masons
Freemasonry
Freemasonry is a fraternal organisation that arose from obscure origins in the late 16th to early 17th century. Freemasonry now exists in various forms all over the world, with a membership estimated at around six million, including approximately 150,000 under the jurisdictions of the Grand Lodge...
were attempting to place him before a firing squad to prevent his release of secret matters including information on the Iranian hostage situation. He expressed concern about others plotting against him including his attorney and court personnel, he imagined radio-listening devices were planted in his cell and in the room where the psychiatrists interviewed him, and he expressed suspicion of the psychiatrists and of all those with whom he came in contact.
Davis and Kooiker concluded Wallace was unable to assist counsel at the time or to participate in and understand the trial proceedings. Each stated Wallace's apparent condition would be very difficult to feign. The State's two witnesses, Wallace's cellmate and a member of the Sheriff's department, testified Wallace displayed these mannerisms only at selective times, the implication being Wallace was feigning the psychosis. After taking the matter under advisement the judge found in May 1980 that Wallace was incompetent to stand trial, stating that despite evidence to the contrary, his decision was based on an overwhelming evidence of incompetency given by the doctors.
The Superintendent of Logansport State Hospital
Logansport State Hospital
Logansport State Hospital is a psychiatric hospital located in Logansport, Indiana, United States.It was founded July 1, 1888, as the Northern Indiana Hospital for the Insane. Its first superintendent was Dr. J.G...
later certified to the court that Wallace had now attained competency to stand trial based upon a Dr. Matheu's opinion. However, the hearing scheduled pursuant to this certification was continued when Davis and Kooiker opined that Wallace needed further evaluation and treatment. After that Wallace had become oriented with time, place, and person, and now both psychiatrists considered Wallace competent to stand trial.
At the second hearing Wallace appeared too heavily sedated from the medication. The psychiatrists testified that Wallace's dosage of psychotic medication could be modified such that he would maintain competency but not experience the sedative side effects. Over Wallace’s objection the court ruled that his competency depended upon an adjustment in his medication and ordered him back to Wishard Hospital for further treatment.
At the next and third hearing on January 16, 1981, Kooiker, Davis, and Moore opined that Wallace was incompetent to proceed with trial. All three psychiatrists testified that he was again suffering from symptoms of schizophrenia and that the suggested modified treatment from the previous hearing had failed. The general consensus was that Wallace was not feigning the psychosis
Psychosis
Psychosis means abnormal condition of the mind, and is a generic psychiatric term for a mental state often described as involving a "loss of contact with reality"...
. Moore testified that if Wallace was faking, he was "one of the best damn actors he had ever seen." Once again the court found Wallace incompetent to stand trial and ordered him committed.
In February 1982 the State moved for another competency hearing informing the court it could produce evidence that Wallace had been faking his psychosis to which the court so ordered. At the June 16 hearing the State introduced letters Wallace had written to Durham, during the time between his arrest and the first pretrial court appearance, at which his competency was put at issue. These letters indicated a full understanding of what he was doing and were intended to show he purposefully feigned incompetency to delay his trial and frustrate the State's attempt to have him sentenced to death. In the letters he discussed Durham's loyalty to him, their sex lives, and his feelings toward his attorney. He wrote he had a higher I.Q. than his attorney and so was planning to hire an attorney from San Francisco with the assistance of his uncle. His uncle would furnish the money for an attorney with the reputation for gaining acquittals for persons charged with murder. He said he was studying from materials furnished to him by a friend who was a professor from a local law school. His studies concentrated on suppression of evidence
Suppression of evidence
Suppression of evidence is a term used in the United States legal system to describe the lawful or unlawful act of preventing evidence from being shown in a trial. This could happen for several reasons. For example, if a judge believes that the evidence in question was obtained illegally, he can...
and the art of cross-examination
Cross-examination
In law, cross-examination is the interrogation of a witness called by one's opponent. It is preceded by direct examination and may be followed by a redirect .- Variations by Jurisdiction :In...
. He indicated he was becoming very well informed on these subjects so that he would be in a position to attack the State in court and frustrate their case. Wallace also told Durham, who was in jail on a burglary charge herself, that she would not have to worry if she went to the Women's Prison because he had connections in the prison that would get her special consideration.
Faking mental instability
A former jailmate of Wallace testified that sometime in February or March 1980 Wallace told him he was using the Masons’ story to get out of going to trial and stated that he would act psychotic only when non-prisoners were present. Two jailmates from Vigo County, Lofston and St. John, testified that during 1980 Wallace would act perfectly normal unless the doctors were around. Wallace told them he was fooling the psychiatrist by telling them he was collaborating with the Germans. Lofston testified that sometimes Wallace would give his medication to him and other inmates and that it would make them drowsy. St. John testified that Wallace told him he was pretending to be crazy to evade trial. Wallace told St. John he saved up his medication for a hearing so he would be extremely drowsy in the courtroom.Several of the staff members from Logansport State Hospital, where Wallace had been for most of the preceding two years, testified in the same manner. Robert Cosgray testified that when Wallace first came to the hospital he acted psychotic but shortly thereafter admitted to Cosgray that he was feigning his mental illness. Wallace later denied this statement and told Cosgray that it was Cosgray's word against his. He said he would rather spend his life in the hospital than go to the electric chair. William Hardesty testified Wallace exhibited his psychosis early in 1980, but later Wallace told Hardesty that he liked to "beat people at their own game." Further, Wallace told Hardesty that the longer he drags this out the less chance the state had of convicting him.
Others at Logansport, James Campbell, Deborah Illes, Wilma McLaughlin, Richard Younce, and William Conn, each testified that during the two years of Wallace's hospitalization they saw his alleged psychotic delusions manifested very rarely. He appeared to have psychotic delusions perhaps once or twice, and then only when Dr. Keating was present or about to enter the room. Several of the staff members stated that Wallace gave them a contrasting impression and he was a sharp pool and card player.
Trial and sentence
After hearing all of this evidence the trial court concluded that Wallace was faking his psychosis and that he was in fact competent to stand trial. Wallace later asked the trial court to order that all of his medication be withdrawn from him but the trial court found this to be a medical matter and denied the motion. Following trial the juryJury
A jury is a sworn body of people convened to render an impartial verdict officially submitted to them by a court, or to set a penalty or judgment. Modern juries tend to be found in courts to ascertain the guilt, or lack thereof, in a crime. In Anglophone jurisdictions, the verdict may be guilty,...
recommended the death penalty.
See also
- Capital punishment in Indiana
- Capital punishment in the United StatesCapital punishment in the United StatesCapital punishment in the United States, in practice, applies only for aggravated murder and more rarely for felony murder. Capital punishment was a penalty at common law, for many felonies, and was enforced in all of the American colonies prior to the Declaration of Independence...