Arizona prisoner execution on
Clemency denied for man guilty in 1978 ASU student killing
PHOENIX — Arizona’s clemency board has unanimously declined to recommend to Gov. Doug Ducey that the death sentence of a prisoner be delayed or reduced to life in prison in what would be the state’s first use of the death penalty in nearly eight years.
The decision by the Arizona Board of Executive Clemency on Thursday marks one of the last steps before Clarence Dixon’s execution in the 1978 killing of Arizona State University student Deana Bowdoin. The execution is scheduled for May 11.
The board made the decision after hearing tearful comments from Bowdin’s sister, Leslie Bowdin James, who reflected on the brutality her 21-year-old sister suffered.
“There is not one legal, social or moral imperative for recommending a reprieve or commutation,” she said.
The board’s decision keeps the execution on track, at least for now.
A hearing is scheduled Tuesday in a Pinal County court to consider whether Dixon is mentally fit to be executed. His lawyers argue Dixon’s psychological problems keep him from rationally understanding why the state wants to end his life.
Authorities say Bowdoin, who was found dead in her apartment, had been raped, stabbed and strangled with a belt. Dixon had been charged with raping Bowdoin, but the charge was later dropped on statute-of-limitation grounds. He was convicted, though, in her death.
Before his conviction in Bowdoin’s death, Dixon was serving life sentences for sexual assault and other convictions stemming from an attack in the mid-1980s on a 21-yearold Northern Arizona University student. DNA samples taken while he was in prison later linked him to Bowdoin’s killing.
In arguing that their client is mentally unfit to be executed, Dixon’s lawyers say he erroneously believes he will be executed because police at Northern Arizona University wrongfully arrested him in the previous case.
His attorneys concede he was in fact lawfully arrested then by Flagstaff police and said he can’t distinguish between reality and fantasy in the case involving the NAU student.
Board chairwoman Mina Mendez said Bowdin suffered before her death as a result of Dixon’s actions, that the victim’s family is haunted by the killing and that she believes the condemned man understands why he will be executed.
“What was missing was remorse or any kind of acceptance of responsibility,” Mendez said.
The last time Arizona used the death penalty was in July 2014, when Joseph Wood was given 15 doses of a two-drug combination over two hours in an execution that his lawyers said was botched.