Criminal status executed | Role Serial Killer Name Marion Pruett Killed 5 | |
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Motive acquisitive crimes related to illegal drug use Victims Pamela Sue Barker, Peggy Lowe, James R. Balderson, Anthony Taitt, Bobbie Jean Robertson Span of killings March 2, 1981–October 12, 1981 Died April 12, 1999, Lincoln County, Arkansas, United States Locations | ||
Date apprehended October 17, 1981 Criminal penalty Capital punishment | ||
Serial Killers: Mad Dog Killer Marion Albert! Full Crime Documentary
Marion Albert Pruett (October 4, 1949 in Gastonia, North Carolina – April 12, 1999 in Cummins Unit, Arkansas) was an American spree killer.
Contents
- Serial Killers Mad Dog Killer Marion Albert Full Crime Documentary
- Witness Protection Program
- Execution
- References
Witness Protection Program
In 1979, Pruett was given $800, a new name (Charles "Sonny" Pearson), and placed in the United States Federal Witness Protection Program after testifying about a federal prison slaying in Atlanta, Georgia. He then began his crime spree under his alias. Pruett would later claim that he killed the cellmate.
Pruett killed Peggy Lowe after he kidnapped her as he robbed the Jackson, Mississippi Savings and Loan, where she worked; Bobbie Jean Robertson, a convenience store clerk in Fort Smith, Arkansas; and two convenience store clerks in Colorado. He received a life sentence for Lowe's murder, two more life sentences for the murders in Colorado, and the death penalty for Robertson's murder.
On trial in New Mexico for the March 2, 1981, murder of his common-law wife, Pamela Sue Barker (aka Michelle Lynn Pearson), Pruett admitted he had robbed her in order to support a $4,000 a week cocaine habit, but denied that he killed Barker, who was beaten to death, then set on fire. He was convicted, and given a third life sentence. From death row, he asked a Mississippi newspaper to pay him $20,000 to disclose the location of Barker's engagement ring, and offered to reveal the location of a Florida victim's body in exchange for a paid appearance on Geraldo.
Execution
His final meal consisted of a stuffed crust pizza from Pizza Hut, four Burger King Whoppers, a large order of French fries, three two-liter bottles of Pepsi, a bucket of ice, a bottle of ketchup, salt, fried eggplant, fried squash, fried okra, and a pecan pie. In an interview prior to his execution date, Pruett said he was going to share his last meal with another inmate who was going to be executed the same day. He went on to say he originally wanted to have a roast duck for his last meal, but it was rejected because he felt the prison would not cook it.
Pruett was executed by lethal injection at 8:04 PM and pronounced dead at 8:09 PM. Pruett was the 19th person executed by Arkansas since Furman v. Georgia.