Robert Lee Willie

Robert Lee Willie (January 2, 1958 – December 28, 1984) was an American serial killer and Aryan Brotherhood member who confessed to six murders committed in Louisiana from 1978 to 1980. He was sentenced to death for the rape and murder of 18-year-old Faith Hathaway and was executed in 1984.

Sister Helen Prejean, a teacher and one of the Sisters of Saint Joseph of Medaille from New Orleans, began to write to him and later served as his spiritual adviser. In her book Dead Man Walking (1993), she explored her experiences with men on death row and the basis for her growing opposition to the death penalty. The book was adapted as a 1995 film of the same name, starring Susan Sarandon and Sean Penn. The book was also adapted as an opera, first produced by the San Francisco Opera in 2000.

Background Willie was the son of John Kelton Willie Jr and Elizabeth Oalman of Covington, and had four brothers. In interviews, he recounted a life filled with drugs, alcoholism and violence. Willie's mother said he had a ninth-grade education and left home when he was 16 after he started using drugs. In 1954, he went to prison for cattle theft. He went back to prison for aggravated battery and violating his parole. In 1964, John was returned to prison once more with a life sentence for second degree murder. He was released from prison in 1972 after his sentence was commuted to 10 years, but he went back to prison for aggravated battery and was released for the last time in October 1983.

Wille was a member of the Aryan Brotherhood. He expressed admiration for Adolf Hitler, telling a newspaper, "I don't admire him for killing people or being what he was, but admire his ideas to advance in the world."

Crimes On May 23, 1978, Willie and his cousin, Perry Wayne Taylor, beat and drowned 19-year-old Dennis Buford Hemby, and then stole his marijuana. They left her body at Frickes Cave, a borrow pit, south of the parish seat Franklinton, Louisiana, along Highway 25 and near the Bogue Chitto River.

Three days later, on May 31, 1980, Cuevas was then driven back to Louisiana, where Vaccaro raped her. Willie and Vaccaro then drove to the trailer home of Tommy Holden. Holden made sexual advances on Cuevas but panicked when she told him that she'd been kidnapped and raped. Willie and Vaccaro had been planning to kill Cuevas, but Holden talked them into releasing her.

Trial Because Willie and Vaccaro had taken Brewster and Cuevas across state lines from Louisiana to Alabama, the crime became a federal case under the Federal Kidnapping Act. They both pleaded guilty to conspiracy to two counts of kidnapping and one count of conspiracy to kidnapping and received three consecutive life sentences. During his trial, Willie mocked Cuevas by blowing kisses at her and drawing his finger across his throat. Holden faced state charges for being an accessory and hanged himself shortly after the trial.

In court, Willie presented a hard case, saying he had enjoyed raping Hathaway. Cuevas testified in court against him. At the trials, Willie and Vaccaro presented disputing accounts as to which man had what role in the crimes. Willie was convicted of the kidnapping, rape, and murder of Hathaway and sentenced to death.

A juror who was removed from consideration for the Willie trial due to her stated opposition to capital punishment was seated for the Vaccaro trial when she said she was fine with it. This juror became the sole vote against a death sentence for Vaccaro, and as Louisiana law requires successful votes for capital punishment to be unanimous, Vaccaro instead got a life sentence under state law. In total, Vaccaro received two life sentences for the murder of Hathaway and the kidnapping of Cuevas & Brewster. Vaccaro served his sentence at the United States Penitentiary in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, and died in prison on January 22, 2008, at the age of 55.

After their murder trials, Willie and Vaccaro stood trial for aggravated rape, aggravated kidnapping, and attempted murder. After Cuevas was forced to testify about how she was kidnapped and raped for a second time, Willie and Vaccaro pleaded guilty and said "Yeah, we're guilty. We just wanted to put y'all through this." They received four additional life sentences. The four men were charged with murder, but the charges against the others were dropped after Willie recanted and said the others had nothing to do with the murder. He pleaded guilty to second degree murder and received another life sentence. Willie allegedly recanted that others were involved after his father told him he'd violated the code of honor among criminals by being a snitch.

In May 1984, serial killers Henry Lee Lucas and Ottis Toole confessed to killing Wagner. Willie then recanted completely, saying he'd only confessed to Wagner's murder so he could stay in the St. Tammany Parish Jail since he thought it was easier to escape from. They were charged with murder shortly after Willie's execution, but a grand jury declined to indict them. It was later found that Lucas and Toole could not have been involved in Wagner's murder.

Willie also claimed to have killed two other men. One of the alleged victims was a hitchhiker, but no other details were given. The other was a male brick truck driver who Willie said he robbed in St. Tammany Parish. He said he hadn't planned on killing the man but ran him over after he threw a brick through Willie's windshield. He said he disposed of the body in a pond along the interstate.

Death row In 1982, Sister Helen Prejean began to write to Willie at the request of the prison chaplain. A teacher in New Orleans, she was one of the Sisters of Saint Joseph of Medaille and had acted as spiritual adviser to another inmate on death row.

Willie was held on death row pending his execution, as appeals made their way through the courts. As was customary for such inmates, he was isolated socially and unable to work or participate in prison programs. After some time, Sister Prejean began to visit him and became his spiritual adviser. As she recounted in a book (see below), she worked to acknowledge him as a human being, help him acknowledge his crimes, and reconcile with God.

Execution During Willie's clemency hearing, his mother begged the state board of pardons to spare him. "Robert was a good boy," said Elizabeth Oalman. "He was always helping around the house, cutting grass. You know, he'd cut the yards. He'd make money to go the show and stuff. Robert didn't see his father when he was growing up."

Aftermath Feeling that victims' families were overlooked in the criminal justice system, the Harveys founded a group, Parents of Murdered Children, to help others. They have worked to ensure that families are given more information about court proceedings as well. They have continued to support capital punishment. (Zondervan Publishing, 2000), she tells of her spiritual journey. After her book was published, Morris began writing to Vaccaro in prison.

Michael L. Varnado, the detective in the case of Faith Hathaway wrote Victims of the Dead Man Walking (Pelican Publishing, 2003) recounting his views on the case.