William Wesley Chappell | Murderpedia, the encyclopedia of murderers

William Wesley CHAPPELL

Classification: Murderer

Characteristics:

Revenge -

Retaliation for testifying against him

Number of victims: 3

Date of murder: May 3,

1988

Date of arrest: May

1988

Date of birth: September 26,

1936

Victims profile: Alexandra Heath, 27, Martha Lindsey, 50, and Elbert Sitton, 71

Method of murder:

Shooting (

9mm pistol)

Location: Tarrant County, Texas, USA

Status: Executed by lethal injection in Texas on November 20,

2002

Summary:

Chappell killed his former girlfriend's family in retaliation for testifying against him in an indecency trial.

In May 1987, Chappell was found guilty of one count of indecency with a 3 year old child and was sentenced to five years confinement. Chappell was released on bond pending appeal.

After the indecency trial, the family of the victim congregated outside the courtroom. When Chappell came out, he informed the victim's grandmother, Martha Lindsey, that "it wasn't over yet" and that he "would get her for that."

According to testimony from his wife (received in exchange for a probated sentence), in January 1988 Chappell was driven to the residence of Martha Lindsey, with gasoline intending to burn their house down. He was unsuccessful.

Then on May 3, 1988, his wife again drove Chappell to the residence. He was dressed in dark clothing, makeup and a wig.

Chappell also had a black ski mask, brown gloves and a nylon tote bag containing a walkie-talkie, the 9-mm gun, a pistol, the silencer, clips for the guns, a crowbar, and wire cutters.

15 to 20 minutes later, Chappell contacted Hayes by walkie-talkie and she picked him up. When he got into the van, Chappell stated that he had "shot Jane, her mother, and her daddy."

He also said that he had taken some money to make it look like a robbery. The pair then drove back to Tennessee, where they disposed of as much evidence as possible.

Martha Lindsey, her husband Elbert Sitton, and her daughter Alexandra Heath were found inside the home shot several times. Heath was shot several times while lying in bed and died at the scene.

Before his death, Sitton told a Fort Worth police officer that an intruder wearing a ski mask had confronted Sitton and Lindsey in their bedroom.

After Lindsey complied with the intruder's demand for money, the intruder shot the couple several times. Lindsey died two days later.

Sitton, who survived for two months in the hospital, was able to tell the emergency room physician that he believed the intruder was the same man who raped his daughter or granddaughter.

Chappell was the oldest convict executed in Texas since the state in 1924 took over capital punishment duties from counties.

Final Meal:

Same meal that is served to all other offenders in the main dining room.

Final Words:

"My request is that y'all get yourselves in church, because y'all are killing me. Pray for your souls, because you need to. I didn't do it. It's not in my nature. Jane, you know damn well I didn't molest that damn daughter of yours. I know you think I did this and I'm sure you think this is wonderful in your eyes. But let me tell you something, there were two DNA tests done and none matched me. I wanted a third, but that never happened. You are murdering me, and I feel sorry for you. I don't know what else to say. Please go to church and say ..."

ClarkProsecutor.org

Texas Attorney General

Media Advisory

Monday, November 18, 2002

William Wesley Chappell Scheduled to be Executed.

AUSTIN - Texas Attorney General John Cornyn offers the following information on William Wesley Chappell, who is scheduled to be executed after 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2002.

On Nov. 22, 1989, William Wesley Chappell was sentenced to die for the capital murder of Alexandra Heath, which occurred in Fort Worth, Texas, on May 3, 1988:

FACTS OF THE CRIME

William Wesley Chappell was charged with murdering Alexandra Heath in the course of committing or attempting to commit burglary of a building owned by her mother, Martha Lindsey, with the intent to commit the felony offense of retaliation against Lindsey or her husband, Elbert Sitton, or commit theft of property belonging to Lindsay or Sitton. Heath, Lindsey and Sitton were all killed inside Lindsey's home.

The evidence illustrates that Chappell had a strained relationship with Lindsey, Sitton, and their daughter, Jane Sitton - Alexandra's half sister.

Chappell, who was then 43 or 44 years old, and Jane, who was then 14 or 15 years old, began dating in 1981 or 1982 and stopped seeing each other in 1983 or 1984.

In May 1984, Chappell was indicted for molesting Jane's daughter. Lindsey had reported the offense to police. In May 1987, Chappell was found guilty of one count of indecency with a child and was sentenced to five years confinement. Chappell was released on bond pending appeal.

After the indecency trial, the Lindsey/Sitton family congregated outside the courtroom. When Chappell came out, he informed Lindsey that "it wasn't over yet" and that he "would get her for that."

Chappell related this threat to his then-wife Sally Hayes, denied molesting Jane's daughter and said that Lindsey and the Sittons were after his money. Chappell stated that he wanted to "do away" with the Lindsey/Sitton family.

In January 1988, Hayes drove Chappell to Lindsey's home where Elbert and Jane also resided. Chappell had purchased gasoline and put it in jugs. Hayes let Chappell out near Lindsey's home and drove around for 15 minutes.

When Chappell signaled Hayes with his flashlight, she picked him up. Chappell no longer had the jugs and said that he had set fire to Lindsey's house. Chappell became upset when he later learned that the home suffered relatively little damage and that none of the occupants were injured.

In February 1988, Chappell and Hayes went to a gun show. Hayes testified that she purchased ammunition, an extra barrel, a spring, and a "small round thing with holes in it" that fit over the barrel of the gun. Thereafter, Chappell began working on a silencer for the gun. In March 1988, Chappell and Hayes purchased two walkie-talkies at Radio Shack.

In April 1988, Chappell settled an unrelated personal-injury suit against a church and received a cashier's check for $66,000.

That same month, Chappell and Hayes went to Hornbeak, Tennessee, where Hayes owned a house. Chappell brought $60,000 of his settlement to put into certificates of deposit in hopes of preventing the Lindsey/Sitton family from getting it. Hayes testified that Chappell planned to return to Texas and the Lindsey home in order to kill anyone who happened to be in it.

On May 3, 1988, Chappell and Hayes left Tennessee at 10:30 a.m. in a van. They arrived in Fort Worth around 8:30 p.m. and stopped at a grocery store. While Hayes went into the store, Chappell changed into dark clothing, makeup and a wig. Chappell also had a black ski mask, brown gloves and a nylon tote bag containing a walkie-talkie, the 9-mm gun, a pistol, the silencer, clips for the guns, a crowbar, and wire cutters.

Sometime after 9:00 p.m. Hayes let Chappell out of the van near Lindsey's home. Hayes then drove around the neighborhood waiting for Chappell to contact her by walkie-talkie.

Fifteen to 20 minutes later, Chappell contacted Hayes, and she picked him up. When he got into the van, Chappell stated that he had "shot Jane, her mother, and her daddy." He also said that he had taken some money to make it look like a robbery.

The pair then drove back to Tennessee, where they disposed of as much evidence as possible. Chappell was shocked when he learned that it was not Jane, but her half sister, Alexandra Heath, whom he had killed.

Heath was shot several times while lying in bed and died at the scene. Before his death, Sitton told a Fort Worth police officer that an intruder wearing a ski mask had confronted Sitton and Lindsey in their bedroom.

After Lindsey complied with the intruder's demand for money, the intruder shot the couple several times. Lindsey died two days later. Sitton, who survived for two months in the hospital, was able to tell the emergency room physician that he believed the intruder was the same man who raped his daughter or granddaughter. [The physician could not remember whether Sitton said "daughter" or "granddaughter."]

PROCEDURAL HISTORY

May 3,1988 - Chappell murdered Alexandra Heath, Martha Lindsey and Elbert Sitton.
Feb. 7, 1989 - Chappell was charged by an indictment in Tarrant County for the capital murder of Alexandra Heath.
Nov. 19, 1989 - A jury found Chappell guilty of capital murder.
Nov. 22, 1989 - Following a separate punishment hearing, the trial court sentenced Chappell to death.
Feb. 3, 1993 - On direct appeal, the Court of Criminal Appeals reversed the judgment and remanded the cause for retrial because the trial court erred in granting the State's motion for second shuffle of jury venire.
April 7, 1993 - The Court of Criminal Appeals overruled the State's petition for rehearing.
Oct. 1993 - On remand, sometime after voir dire began, the trial court declared a mistrial.
Oct. 9, 1996 - On retrial, a jury again found Chappell guilty of capital murder.
Oct. 9, 1996 - Following a separate punishment hearing, the trial court sentenced Chappell to death.
Oct. 29, 1998 - Chappell filed his Brief on direct appeal raising seven points of error.
May 21, 1999 - Chappell filed a state writ of habeas corpus petition raising six grounds for relief.
Oct. 13, 1999 - On direct appeal, the Court of Criminal Appeals rejected Chappell's seven claims and affirmed his conviction and sentence. Chappell did not petition for certiorari review from the United States Supreme Court.
Nov. 24, 1999 - On state habeas, the Court of Criminal Appeals denied relief on all six of Chappell's claims based on the Court's own review and on the state trial court's findings and conclusions.
Dec. 26, 2000 - Chappell filed a federal writ of habeas corpus petition raising seven claims.
Jan. 26, 2001 - The State (through Gary Johnson, former Director of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice's Institutional Division) filed an answer and moved for summary judgment.
Feb. 7, 2001 - The United States District Court for the Northern District, Fort Worth Division, issued a memorandum opinion and order denying habeas relief and issued final judgment.
Feb. 21, 2001 - Chappell filed notice of appeal and an application for certificate of appealability.
March 1, 2001 - The district court denied a COA.
May 14, 2001 - Chappell filed an application for COA in the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
June 13, 2001 - The State (through former TDCJ Director Gary Johnson) filed its opposition to COA.
April 9, 2002 - The Fifth Circuit denied a COA in an unpublished opinion.
June 10, 2002 - Chappell petitioned for a rehearing, and the Fifth Circuit denied the request.
Sept. 5, 2002 - Chappell petitioned the United States Supreme Court for certiorari review of two claims.
Oct. 10, 2002 - The State (through current TDCJ Director Janie Cockrell) filed a brief in opposition. Nov. 4, 2002 - The trial court denied Chappell's motion for DNA testing.
Nov. 13, 2002 - Chappell filed a successive state habeas application and moved for a stay of execution in the trial court. Chappell also appealed the denial of DNA testing.

PRIOR CRIMINAL HISTORY

Evidence was introduced that in May 1987, Chappell was found guilty of one count of indecency with a child and was sentenced to five years confinement. Because it was theorized that Chappell killed his three victims in retaliation over his conviction and imprisonment, this testimony was introduced during the guilt/innocence stage of trial.

During the punishment phase, the State presented a daughter of the victims who testified that in January 1984, her parents' home in Fort Worth caught fire and the kitchen area was destroyed.

This witness also testified that Chappell was 43 or 44 years old when he started dating Jane Sitton (who was 14 or 15 years old at the time); that Ms. Sitton already had a child, but had not been married; and that while they were dating, Chappell attended high school functions with Ms. Sitton, including football games and the senior prom.

The State also called Ms. Sitton's daughter to testify regarding several incidents where Chappell sexually molested her, including once at Chappell's boat shop and once in a car. According to this witness, the molestation ended when she was four years old, after she reported the events to her uncle.

An additional State's witness testified that in the mid-1980s, Chappell was involved in a fraudulent theft whereby the witness falsely reported that his 1986 Dodge van had been stolen, when, in reality, Chappell had taken the van from a shopping mall parking lot by using the keys provided by the witness.

On May 8, 1988, Chappell brought the Dodge van to the witness' property; however, 12 days later, the police seized the van because it had been used in the commission of the Heath/Lindsey/Sitton murders. This witness also testified that he later learned that Chappell was accusing him of the murders, and felt that Chappell left the van at his property in order to frame him.

ProDeathPenalty

William Wesley Chappell killed his former girlfriend's family in retaliation for testifying against him in an indecency trial. Chappell of Fort Worth, was sentenced to death in October 1996 for killing the family of Jane Sitton, his former girlfriend.

On May 3, 1988, Chappell broke into the family's home, robbed and shot Martha Lindsey, 50, and Elbert Sitton, 71, as they sat watching television in their bedroom, court records showed. Chappell then shot Alexandra Heath while she slept, thinking she was Jane Sitton.

The evidence illustrates that Chappell had a strained relationship with Lindsey, Sitton, and their daughter, Jane Sitton - Alexandra's half sister.

Chappell, who was then 43 or 44 years old, and Jane, who was then 14 or 15 years old, began dating in 1981 or 1982 and stopped seeing each other in 1983 or 1984.

In May 1984, Chappell was indicted for molesting Jane's daughter. Martha Lindsey had reported the offense to police.

In May 1987, Chappell was found guilty of one count of indecency with a child and was sentenced to five years confinement. Chappell was released on bond pending appeal.

After the indecency trial, the Lindsey/Sitton family congregated outside the courtroom. When Chappell came out, he informed Lindsey that "it wasn't over yet" and that he "would get her for that."

In April 1988, Chappell settled an unrelated personal-injury suit against a church and received a cashier's check for $66,000. That same month, Chappell and Hayes went to Hornbeak, Tennessee, where Hayes owned a house.

Chappell brought $60,000 of his settlement to put into certificates of deposit in hopes of preventing the Lindsey/Sitton family from getting it. Hayes testified that Chappell planned to return to Texas and the Lindsey home in order to kill anyone who happened to be in it.

On May 3, 1988, Chappell and Hayes left Tennessee at 10:30 a.m. in a van. They arrived in Fort Worth around 8:30 p.m. and stopped at a grocery store.

While Hayes went into the store, Chappell changed into dark clothing, makeup and a wig. Chappell also had a black ski mask, brown gloves and a nylon tote bag containing a walkie-talkie, the 9-mm gun, a pistol, the silencer, clips for the guns, a crowbar, and wire cutters.

Sometime after 9:00 p.m. Hayes let Chappell out of the van near Lindsey's home. Hayes then drove around the neighborhood waiting for Chappell to contact her by walkie-talkie. Fifteen to 20 minutes later, Chappell contacted Hayes, and she picked him up.

When he got into the van, Chappell stated that he had "shot Jane, her mother, and her daddy." He also said that he had taken some money to make it look like a robbery. The pair then drove back to Tennessee, where they disposed of as much evidence as possible. Chappell was shocked when he learned that it was not Jane, but her half sister, Alexandra Heath, whom he had killed.

Heath was shot in the face 4 times and in the right arm twice, while lying in bed and died at the scene. Sitton, who was wounded six times but survived for two months in the hospital, was able to tell the emergency room physician that he believed the intruder was the same man who raped his daughter or granddaughter. [The physician could not remember whether Sitton said "daughter" or "granddaughter."]

Before his death, Sitton told a Fort Worth police officer that an intruder wearing a ski mask had confronted Sitton and Lindsey in their bedroom. After Lindsey complied with the intruder's demand for money, the intruder shot the couple several times. Lindsey died two days later.

Texas Execution Information Center by David Carson

Txexecutions.org

William Wesley Chappell, 66, was executed by lethal injection on 20 November 2002 in Huntsville, Texas for the murder of three people.

William Chappell was 45 when he met Jane Sitton. She was 17, had an 18-month old daughter, Elizabeth, and was working as a waitress at a restaurant across the street from Chappell's boat shop. They dated for about two years.

One evening in May 1984, Sitton's half-brother, Geoffrey Lindsey, and Elizabeth, then 3, were watching TV together when a kissing scene came on. "That's what me and Bill do," Elizabeth blurted out. Geoffrey told his mother, Martha Lindsey, who contacted authorities.

Chappell was put on trial in May 1987 for indecency with a child. Sitton testified that Chappell used to beat her and threatened to kill her unless she allowed him to molest Elizabeth. Geoffrey and Martha Lindsey and other family members also testified against him. Chappell was convicted and sentenced to five years in prison, but was released on bond pending appeal.

After the trial, Chappell confronted the Sitton/Lindsey family outside the courtroom. He told Martha, "This is not over yet," and that he would "get her for that." Chappell also told his wife, Sally Hayes, that he did not molest Jane's daughter and that he wanted to "do away" with that family.

In January 1988, Chappell and Hayes drove to the home where Martha Lindsey resided with her husband, Elbert Sitton, and Jane. Chappell brought some jugs of gasoline. Hayes let Chappell out and drove around for about 15 minutes, then picked him up after he signaled with his flashlight. Chappell told Hayes that he set fire to the house.

The house, however, suffered little damage and none of the occupants were injured. After the fire, Jane Sitton decided to move out of the home. Alexandra Heath, her half-sister and Martha Lindsey's daughter, took her room.

In February 1988, Chappell and Hayes purchased some gun equipment, including some materials for fashioning a silencer. They bought a pair of walkie-talkies in March.

On 3 May 1988, Chappell, then 51, and Hayes drove to the Sitton home. Chappell was wearing dark clothes, a ski mask, and gloves. He carried a bag containing two guns, the silencer, clips of ammunition, a crowbar, wire cutters, and one of the walkie-talkies. He got out of the van and Hayes drove around.

Chappell then entered the Sitton home and shot Martha Lindsey, 50, Elbert Sitton, 71, and Alexandra Heath, 27, multiple times with a 9mm pistol. About 15 to 20 minutes later, Chappell contacted Hayes by walkie-talkie and she picked him up. He told her that he "shot Jane, her mother, and her daddy." He also said that he took some money to make it look like a robbery.

Believing her to be Jane, Chappell shot Heath several times while she lay in bed. She died at the scene. Martha Lindsey died two days later. Elbert Sitton died after two months in the hospital. He told the emergency room doctor that his attacker was the same man who raped his granddaughter.

While Chappell was in jail awaiting trial for capital murder, he arranged bond for another inmate and hired him to kill his wife/accomplice, Sally Hayes. Instead of carrying out the plan, however, the inmate reported the plot to authorities. Hayes testified against Chappell in exchange for a probated sentence.

An acquaintance of Chappell's testified that he and Chappell had been involved together in a fraud scheme whereby he left his van in a parking lot, gave Chappell the keys, and reported the van as stolen. This was the van that was used in the murders. The man testified that it reappeared at his property on the day of the murders, and he believed that Chappell was trying to frame him for the crime.

A jury convicted Chappell in November 1989 of the capital offense of murdering Alexandra Heath in the course of burglary. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals reversed the conviction in February 1993 because of an error during jury selection.

He was brought to trial again in October 1993, but the judge declared a mistrial before the jury was sworn in because another death row inmate, Ricky Lee Green, confessed to the slayings. Prosecutors contended that Green's confession was part of a plot that he and Chappell worked out together. Green was executed in 1997 for a different conviction.

Chappell was tried again, and in October 1996, another jury convicted him of capital murder and sentenced him to death. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed this conviction and sentence in October 1999. All of his subsequent appeals in state and federal court were denied.

"My request is that y'all get yourselves in church, because y'all are killing me," Chappell said in his last statement. "Pray for your souls, because you need to." He said that he was innocent of the triple murder, that other people had confessed to it, and that additional DNA testing should have been performed. "I didn't do it. It's not in my nature," he said. Speaking to Jane Sitton, who watched through a window, he said, "Jane, you know damn well I didn't molest that damn daughter of yours." At 6:10 p.m., after the two minutes allotted for his last statement had elapsed, the lethal injection was started. Chappell was repeating that he was being murdered and that his victims' witnesses should ask for salvation when the drugs took effect. He gasped twice and went silent. He was pronounced dead at 6:17 p.m.

At 66, Chappell was the oldest person to be executed by the state of Texas since it began performing executions in 1924. (Before then, each Texas county carried out its own executions.)

Execution Scheduled for Triple Murderer

By Mark Passwaters - The Huntsville Item

November 20, 2002

William Wesley Chappell, sentenced to death for the murders of three people in Ft. Worth in 1988, is scheduled to be executed tonight in the death chamber at the Huntsville "Walls" Unit. Should his execution be carried out, Chappell, 66, will be the oldest man executed in the state since the death penalty was reinstated in 1982.

Chappell was convicted of killing Alexandra Heath, 27, her mother, 50-year-old Martha Lindsey and Lindsey's husband, 71-year-old Elbert Sitton. Tarrant County prosecutors believe Chappell killed the three in revenge for their roles in his conviction on child indecency charges the year before.

In 1983, Chappell -- then in his early 40s -- was dating Jane Sitton, Heath's half-sister. She was either 14 or 15 at the time and had a 3-year-old daughter. After the two broke up, Lindsey went to police and claimed Chappell had molested Jane Sitton's daughter.

He was indicted on the child indecency charge in May of 1984. Three years later, he was found guilty and sentenced to five years in jail. Chappell was released on bond pending an appeal of the conviction.

As he left the courtroom, Chappell made a comment to the Sitton and Lindsey families that appeared more chilling after the killings. Looking at the families, he told Lindsey "it wasn't over yet" and that he "would get her for that." He later repeated the threat to his wife, Sally Hayes, adding he wanted to "do away" with Lindsey and her entire family. Prosecutors say Chappell attempted to do just that.

During her testimony at her husband's trial, Hayes -- who has since divorced Chappell -- said he spent several months after a failed attempt to burn down Lindsey's house in January 1988 gathering weapons and working on a silencer for a gun.

On the night of May 3, Hayes testified, Chappell dressed in dark clothing, makeup and a wig and had her drop him off at Lindsey's home. When she returned 20 minutes later, Chappell climbed in the van and said he had "shot Jane, her mother and her daddy." Actually, he had shot Alexandra, her half-sister, by mistake.

When police arrived, Heath was already dead from a number of gunshot wounds. Lindsey died two days later. Though mortally wounded, Sitton survived in the hospital for two months and was able to give a description to emergency room staff of the attacks and the man who shot them.

Though the evidence against Chappell was considerable, it took three trials for his death sentence to be assessed. His first conviction was thrown out by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals in 1996 on the grounds his jury had been improperly selected.

A second trial, which began in October of 1993, ended in a mistrial. Chappell was found guilty of capital murder by a third jury on Oct. 9, 1996, and sentenced to death the same day.

Barring a stay of execution, Chappell will be executed sometime after 6 p.m. A third execution, scheduled for Thursday, has been called off. Thirty-four-year-old James Clark, sentenced to death for a murder committed in Denton County, received a stay from the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals Monday afternoon.

Convicted Killer, 66, Oldest Executed in Texas

Houston Chronicle

AP - November 20, 2002

HUNTSVILLE -- Bitterly professing his innocence, 66-year-old William Wesley Chappell became the oldest man executed by Texas today for fatally shooting a Fort Worth woman in a revenge spree that also left the woman's parents dead. "My request to you is to get yourself in church and pray to God he forgives you because you are murdering me," Chappell said.

He angrily insisted he should have had additional DNA tests on evidence and suggested others were responsible for the triple slaying. Chappell also denied molesting a child that authorities said led him to commit the slayings. "You know damn well I didn't molest that child," he told Jane Sitton, who watched a few feet away through a window. "You all are murdering me and I feel sorry for you. I don't know what else to say. Please go to church and say ...," he said, unable to complete his sentence as the drugs began taking effect. Chappell was pronounced dead at 6:17 p.m. CST, seven minutes after the flow of drugs began. About 45 minutes earlier, the U.S. Supreme Court denied his final appeals.

Chappell became the second condemned killer to receive lethal injection in Texas in as many nights and the 31st this year. He also was the oldest convict executed in Texas since the state in 1924 took over capital punishment duties from counties. Of the 361 men electrocuted between then and 1964, Henry Meyer, from Harris County, was the oldest when he was put to death June 8, 1955, at age 65. Since Texas resumed executions in 1982 with lethal injection, two convicted killers, Betty Lou Beets and Clydell Coleman, were the oldest at 62 when they were put to death.

Authorities believed Chappell missed his intended target, an ex-girlfriend who had moved out fearing for her safety, and was not there the night of May 3, 1988, when he broke into the home and began shooting people with a silencer-equipped gun.

Killed were Alexandra Heath, 27; her stepfather, Elbert Sitton, 71; and her mother, Martha Lindsey, 50. "These people were doing nothing but sleeping in their beds," said Greg Miller, a Tarrant County assistant district attorney who prosecuted Chappell. "This is a guy the death penalty was designed for, in my opinion."

He was free on bond, however, pending appeal. "We believe the person he intended to kill that night was that little girl's mother," Miller said. "We think he thought he was killing Jane Sitton but obviously he killed Alexandra Heath, her sister. "Regardless of who he killed, it's a bad deal all around." "I think putting him to death is more of a protection to society than anything else," Sitton, now 38, told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. "If anyone should be put to death, I guess it should be him."

Chappell, who refused to speak with reporters in the weeks preceding his scheduled punishment, had warned Lindsey outside the courtroom after the indecency trial that, "It wasn't over yet." Court records showed he also said he wanted to "do away" with the Lindsey-Sitton family. Testimony at his capital murder trial showed he tried to burn down their house in January 1988, only to discover later damage was minimal and no one was hurt. Jane Sitton said that's when she decided to move out. Heath took her room.

Chappell's then-wife, Sally Hayes, testifying against Chappell in exchange for a probated sentence, said he had been working on a gun silencer, that she dropped him off at the house the night of May 3, 1988, that when she picked him up he said he had "shot Jane, her mother and her daddy," and that he said he had taken some money to make the shootings look like a robbery. The couple fled to Tennessee where Chappell learned it was Alexandra Heath who was among those killed, not Jane Sitton.

Heath was shot several times and was dead at the scene. Lindsey died two days later. Elbert Sitton survived for two months before dying of his wounds. He told an emergency room physician the gunman was the man who had raped a family member.

Chappell's first capital murder conviction was thrown out by an appeals court, which ruled his jury was selected improperly. A second trial was stopped by a mistrial. In 1996, at his third trial, a jury again convicted him and decided he should be put to death.

66-Year-Old Killer Executed in Texas

By Michael Graczyk - Austin American-Statesman

AP - November 20, 2002

HUNTSVILLE, Texas (AP)--A 66-year-old convicted killer was executed by injection Wednesday--becoming the oldest inmate Texas has put to death--as he bitterly professed his innocence on the gurney before the drugs stopped him mid-sentence.

William Wesley Chappell angrily insisted he should have had additional DNA tests on evidence and suggested others were responsible for the fatal shootings of three people in a revenge spree. ``My request to you is to get yourself in church and pray to God he forgives you because you are murdering me,'' Chappell said. He also denied molesting a 3-year-old child that authorities said led him to commit the slayings.

Jane Sitton, the mother of the girl and the woman who authorities believe was Chappell's intended target in the shootings, watched the execution through a window. ``You know damn well I didn't molest that child,'' Chappell said to her as the drugs flowed into his body. ``You all are murdering me and I feel sorry for you. I don't know what else to say. Please go to church and say ...,'' he said, unable to complete his sentence.

He was pronounced dead at 6:17 p.m., 45 minutes after the U.S. Supreme Court denied his final appeals. Chappell was the oldest convict executed in Texas since the state took over capital punishment duties from counties in 1924.

Authorities say Chappell broke into a home in Fort Worth in May 1988 and began shooting people with a silencer-equipped gun as they slept. Killed were Alexandra Heath, 27; her stepfather, Elbert Sitton, 71; and her mother, Martha Lindsey, 50. But police believe he missed his intended target, ex-girlfriend Jane Sitton, who had moved out of her parents' home because she feared for her safety, and Heath, her half-sister, took her room.

A year before the killings, Chappell was convicted of indecency with a child for molesting Sitton's 3-year-old daughter. He was sentenced to five years in prison but was free on bond, pending appeal. "It's over and done with,'' Sitton said after watching Chappell die. "There's no more chance of appeals. There's no more chance of something getting thrown out on a technicality, which happened to us before.''

Texas Executes Man Who Murdered Witnesses in 1988

ABC News.com

Reuters - November 20, 2002

HUNTSVILLE, Texas (Reuters) - Texas on Wednesday executed a man who in 1988 shot to death three people in retaliation killings related to an earlier child molestation conviction.

William Chappell, 66, became the oldest person executed in the state since it resumed capital punishment 20 years ago and was the second man put to death by lethal injection in Texas in as many days.

Chappell is the 31st person put to death this year in Texas, by far the nation's most active death penalty state. He is the 287th inmate executed in Texas since the state resumed capital punishment in 1982, six years after the U.S. Supreme Court lifted a national death penalty ban.

Chappell was free on appeal in the molestation case when he murdered Martha Lindsey, Alexandra Heath and Elbert Sitton of Fort Worth, Texas, in 1988. Lindsey was the grandmother and Heath the aunt of a three-year-old girl Chappell was found guilty of molesting. Sitton was the grandfather of the girl.

Chappell had vowed revenge against the family after his conviction, testimony showed. After the attack, Sitton survived long enough to give police a description of the man who shot him. Chappell is also believed to have attempted to burn down Lindsey's house.

Chappell died protesting his innocence in the murders and the molestation, claiming further DNA testing would have exonerated him in the slayings. "I know you think I did this and I'm sure you think this is wonderful in your eyes," Chappell told relatives of the victims in his final statement while strapped to the gurney in the death chamber. "But let me tell you something, there were two DNA tests done and none matched me. I wanted a third, but that never happened." "You are murdering me," he said, "and I feel sorry for you." He told the relatives to go to church and seek forgiveness.

The two women were both shot in the face while lying in bed. Sitton was shot six times.

For his final meal, Chappell requested the meal being served in the main inmate cafeteria.

Texas Executes 66-Year-Old Triple Killer

By Robert Anthony Phillips - TheDeathHouse.com

November 20, 2002

Huntsville, Texas - Triple-killer William Chappell became the oldest man executed by the state when he was put to death Wednesday night for the murder of a Fort Worth woman . Prosecutors said Chappell, 66, murdered three members of his former girlfriend’s family to either exact revenge or stop them from further testifying against him in a child molestation case.

"I know you think I did this and I'm sure this is wonderful in your eyes...," Chappell said while strapped to the execution gurney. "You get yourself in church and pray to God he forgives you because you all are murdering me."

Denies Murders And Molestation

At one point, Chappell used some of his last words to address his former girlfriend, Jane Sitton, whose child he was convicted of molesting and whose parents prosecutors said he killed. "Jane, you know damn well I didn't molest that damn kid of yours," Chappell said."You're murdering me and I feel sorry for you. Michelle Lyons, a spokeswoman for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, said that Chappell was still trying to talk when the lethal drugs began to take affect and he slipped into unnconsciousness.

Chappell was pronounced dead 6:17 p.m. seven minutes after the lethal injection began. Chappell was executed for the murder of Alexandra Heath, 27, who he shot while she was sleeping in her bed in her family's Fort Worth home. Two others, Martha Lindsey, 50, and Elbert Sitton, 71, were fatally wounded in Chappell's 1988 killing spree.

Oldest Executed In Texas

Chappell became the 31st condemned killer executed in Texas in 2002, by far the highest in the nation. He also was the second prisoner put to death in as many days in Texas. Chappell also became the oldest condemned prisoner put to death in Texas since the state took over executions from the counties in 1924.

The previous oldest prisoner executed was Henry Meyer, 65, electrocuted in 1955. Since executions resumed in Texas in 1982, the state has now put to death 286 convicted killers. In the modern era of the death penalty, the two oldest condemned killers executed in Texas were black-widow Betty Beets and Clydell Coleman. Both were 62 when they were executed.

Convicted For Indecency With Child

Prosecutors said that Chappell murdered the trio in their Fort worth home on May 3,1988. Prosecutors said that Chappell’s intended targets were a former girlfriend, Jane Sitton, and her parents, Lindsey and Elbert Sitton. Chappell, in January 1988, had tried to burn their home down.

Chappell, while in his 40s, had gone out with Jane Sitton, when she was 14-or-15 years old. But in May 1984, he was indicted for molesting his former girlfriend’s daughter and given a five year sentence for indecency with a child. It was Martha Lindsey who initially reported the criminal act to police, prosecutors said.

Vowed Vengeance

After the indecency trial, Chappell told Martha Lindsey that "it wasn’t over yet" and denied molesting the child, saying the family was after his money. Chappell was free on bond appealing the indecency conviciton. Chappell’s then wife, Sally Hayes, later testified that she and her husband went to a gun show to purchase ammo and other firearms-related items.

She also said Chappell began working on a silencer for a gun. On May 3, 1999, the couple, who lived in Tennessee, left their home and drove to Fort Worth, stopping at a grocery store where Chappell changed into dark cloths, a wig and used makeup. He was also wearing a ski mask and carrying a 9mm gun.

Victim Shot In Bed Communicating through walkie-talkies, Hayes said she dropped her husband off in front of the Lindsey home. About 20 minutes later, Chappell came out and told her that he had just shot "Jane, her mother and her daddy" and taken money to make it look like a robbery.

Prosecutors said that Chappell had shot Health, thinking she was former girlfriend Jane Sitton, as she lay in her bed. Elbert Sitton survived the initial attack and died two months later. Martha Lindsey died two days after being shot.

National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty

William Chappell - Nov. 20, 2002 (TX) - 6:00 PM CST, 7:00 PM EST.

The state of Texas tried and convicted William Chappell for triple murder in 1989, and after a reversal from the Court of Criminal Appeals, retried and reconvicted him in 1996. He is scheduled to be executed Nov. 20.

Chappell, a white man from Fort Worth, allegedly shot and killed the family of Jane Sitton – his former girlfriend – in 1988 because she testified that he molested her 3-year-old daughter years earlier. The crime included the murders of Lindsey and Elbert Sitton – Jane’s parents – and Alexandra Heath, a victim the state claimed Chappell had mistaken for Jane.

Chappell successfully appealed his first conviction on the grounds that the court allowed a second jury shuffle – a procedure not allowed under Texas law. His 1996 conviction has held firmly through the appeals process, though, and he is currently scheduled as the third of four Texas inmates to be executed during the month of November.

Texas remains the leader in executions in this country, accounting for a third of the death sentences carried out nationwide since the reinstatement of capital punishment in 1976. As various states around the country reevaluate the fairness of their death penalty systems, Texas continues to ignore obvious causes for concern.

In the state’s case against Chappell, prosecutors used testimonies from jailhouse informants, which are notoriously unreliable. Such witnesses usually testify because they expect rewards, often including a reduced charge, early release, or better conditions of confinement. As the Texas Defender Service states in its report on this issue: “Despite the obvious risk that inmates will fabricate testimony to curry favor with authorities, Texas imposes no restrictions on its use.”

The state of Texas continues to perceive its death penalty process as flawless, and the time to examine it for systematic problems – such a jailhouse informant testimony and ineffective counsel – is long overdue. Please write the state of Texas and request a stay for William Wesley Chappell so that the state can evaluate the problems with its death penalty system.

Convicted Killer, 66, Oldest Executed in Texas

By Michael Graczyk - Abeline Reporter-News

AP - November 21, 2002

HUNTSVILLE, Texas (AP) - Bitterly professing his innocence, 66-year-old William Wesley Chappell became the oldest man executed by Texas on Wednesday for fatally shooting a Fort Worth woman in a revenge spree that also left the woman's parents dead. "My request to you is to get yourself in church and pray to God he forgives you because you are murdering me," Chappell said.

He angrily insisted he should have had additional DNA tests on evidence and suggested others were responsible for the triple slaying, including Larry Ashbrook, who killed seven people before shooting himself to death at Fort Worth's Wedgwood Baptist Church in 1999.

Chappell also denied molesting a child that authorities said led him to commit the slayings. "You know damn well I didn't molest that child," he told Jane Sitton, who watched a few feet away through a window. "You all are murdering me and I feel sorry for you. I don't know what else to say. Please go to church and say ...," he said, unable to complete his sentence as the drugs began taking effect.

Chappell was pronounced dead at 6:17 p.m. CST, seven minutes after the flow of drugs began. About 45 minutes earlier, the U.S. Supreme Court denied his final appeals.

Of the 361 men electrocuted between then and 1964, Henry Meyer, from Harris County, was the oldest when he was put to death June 8, 1955, at age 65. Since Texas resumed executions in 1982 with lethal injection, two convicted killers, Betty Lou Beets and Clydell Coleman, were the oldest at 62 when they were put to death.

A year before the Fort Worth killings, Chappell was convicted of indecency with a child for molesting the 3-year-old daughter of Heath's half-sister, Jane Sitton, and received a five-year prison term. He was free on bond, however, pending appeal. "We believe the person he intended to kill that night was that little girl's mother," Miller said. "We think he thought he was killing Jane Sitton but obviously he killed Alexandra Heath, her sister. "Regardless of who he killed, it's a bad deal all around."

"It's over and done with," Sitton, now 38, said after watching Chappell die. "There's no more chance of appeals. There's no more chance of something getting thrown out on a technicality, which happened to us before." "There were so many different things going through my mind," sobbed Chappell's molestation victim. "I just couldn't understand how he could sit there and say those things didn't happen because they did and I remember this happening... "He wasn't even man enough to stand up and say: 'I did this and I'm sorry.'"

Family members also described the Ashbrook reference as bizarre and said they did not know the man responsible for the nation's worst church shooting. "That's the ranting of a crazy person," said Grace Castle, whose sister was killed in the triple shooting.

Testimony at his capital murder trial showed he tried to burn down their house in January 1988, only to discover later damage was minimal and no one was hurt. Jane Sitton said that's when she decided to move out. Heath took her room.