Texas father seeks clemency for son who tried to kill him
SUGAR LAND, Texas — In a week, Thomas “Bart” Whitaker, 38, is scheduled to be executed for plotting a 2003 attack that left his mother and brother dead and almost killed his father.
That father, Kent Whitaker, is doing everything he can to halt the execution. Inspired by his Christian faith and his son’s repentance, the 69-yearold retired construction company comptroller hopes to have his son’s sentence commuted.
“The death penalty in this case is the wrong punishment,” he said.
Kent Whitaker forgives his son. He paid for lawyers to fight the death sentence at trial in 2007, and got down on his knees and begged prosecutors to seek a life sentence.
Texas is known for capital punishment, executing more inmates than any other state in the country — three this year, seven last year. But Kent Whitaker notes that it is also a victims’ rights state, meaning his wishes should be taken into account.
“Juries routinely defer to victims in cases to spare the life of a killer,” he said.
Thomas Whitaker’s last chance is a clemency petition filed with the seven-member Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles, which makes a recommendation to the governor by majority vote. Clemency is rare.
One of Whitaker’s attorneys won it for another convicted murderer, Kenneth Foster, hours before he was scheduled to die in 2007, based on arguments drawn from Scripture. Parole board members in Texas are bound by their consciences, not the law, and some told the lawyer afterward that his biblical arguments had influenced their votes.
So in Thomas Whitaker’s clemency petition, his attorney cited the Old Testament story of Cain, who after murdering his brother Abel was marked — but not killed — by God. He also cited the New Testament parable of the prodigal son, forgiven and accepted by his father after he strayed because he repented.
“You have a collision between two interests. Every one of those board members is a death penalty supporter. And every one of them is there to protect victims’ interests. They have to decide if it is more important to execute Thomas Whitaker or spare Kent Whitaker,” attorney Keith Hampton said.