Donald Moeller Will Be Executed In South Dakota Tuesday
Donald Moeller has given up appeals, accepting his execution without protest after 22 years of legal battles with the state of South Dakota. Moeller, 60, will be put to death on Tuesday for the murder of nine-year-old Becky O’Connell.
Former Lincoln County Sheriff Ken Albers was the first officer to approach the pale body of the nine-year-old girl, reports Yahoo! News. Albers recalled:
“I almost didn’t believe it. You don’t mess up a crime scene, but I had to walk over and touch the body to convince myself that it was real.”
The gruesome discovery in 1990 was the start of a massive 22-year-long legal battle and emotional experience for young Becky’s mom, as well as the community of Sioux Falls.
Moeller’s death sentence in 1992 was the first South Dakota had handed down in 45 years. Aside from the execution of a prison guard’s killer earlier this year, it will be the second time since the 1940s that a prisoner has been executed in the state.
The young girl’s mother, Tina Curl, will be making the trip from New York state to Sioux Falls to watch the execution, which will bring an end to the mass of emotional trauma she has been under since Becky O’Connell’s death.
The Sioux City Journal notes that Donald Moeller kidnapped the nine-year-old girl from a convenience store in Sioux Falls. He then drove her to a secluded area near the Big Sioux River, where he raped and stabbed her, leaving her for death. Her naked body was discovered the next day.
In giving up his appeal in July, Moeller stated that he was ready to accept the conviction as a consequence of his actions. He added, “The law has spoken. I killed. I deserve to be killed.”
For a city where violent crime is rare, the memory of Becky O’Donnell’s death is still haunting. Her mother hopes that Moeller’s death will finally help her find peace after 22 years of pain and suffering. Curl stated:
“I’m looking forward to it. All this is just bringing what I tried to push way in the back, back up front … Right after Beck was murdered, I started drinking every day. I drank from the time I woke up to the time I passed out at night.”
She hopes that the trip back to Sioux Falls to see her daughter’s murderer, Donald Moeller, executed will help her still the memories of her daughter’s haunting crime scene photos.
Tags : becky o'donnell murder, becky o'donnell murderer execution, donald moeller, donald moeller execution, south dakota execution
Posted: October 28, 2012
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Oct 29, 2012
I do not have a problem with the death penalty, but I do believe in the appeals process to ensure that every one convicted has a real opportunity to prove their innocence. After 22 years of fighting it, this man accepts responsibility for raping and murdering a little girl? I doubt it, he just has no more chances. Good bye and good riddance.
Oct 29, 2012
22 years on death row…
Oct 29, 2012
Too many years, that little girl didn't deserve to die, He Does!
Oct 29, 2012
don't have a problem with the death penalty, what I have a problem is tax payers money were used to keep this person in prison for 22 years, at an average of $80,000 a year!
Oct 29, 2012
wells its about time! yaay!
Oct 29, 2012
He gets the easy way out of being injected with medication. Where was the little girl's medication when she was being killed and stabbed? He does NOT deserve medication. He needs to be done to the same way what he did to the little girl.
Oct 29, 2012
If they would start inacting the death penalty as soon as the trial is over, if there needs to be one, they should schedule their execution right away..This crap of holding them for years & years on the taxpayers dime is RIDICULOUS!
Oct 29, 2012
IF there needs to be a trial? That is crap!
Oct 29, 2012
An eye for an eye
Oct 29, 2012
Death does not compare to murder. Make him sufer alive even if you givin him a chance to repebt or not
Oct 29, 2012
yes, I believe in the death penalty..too many prisoners, when they get out, just can't resist breaking the law again. The only thing, if given the death penalty, it should be carried out within 6 months.
Oct 29, 2012
That's EXACTLY what I posted! Had this been Texas, he would have been dead years ago!!
Oct 29, 2012
Some needs to rape his ass and stabb hin to death fuckin asshole!!!!! Hope u burn in hell!!!
Oct 29, 2012
Instead of 80K a year, why not put a 30 day limit on it. It would cost 6500. To make sure that they are innocent.
Oct 29, 2012
Some people are found innocent during them so, yes I say if one is needed.. Think about it…"Innocent until PROVEN Guilty"
Oct 29, 2012
But 22 on the row is BS
Oct 29, 2012
He deserves everything he gets!
Oct 29, 2012
my roomate's step-aunt brought home $14914 the prior week. she gets paid on the internet and moved in a $433100 home. All she did was get blessed and follow the tips laid out on this website try37.co₥.
Oct 29, 2012
It's not the death penalty I have a problem with. It's that it is possible the innocent people have and will be executed.
Oct 29, 2012
it's about time, really? we've supported this sick ass for 22 yrs? doesn't say much (once again) about our justice system.
Oct 29, 2012
It takes so long because of the appeals process…which is given to be sure a fair trial was given. Which I agree with…but I just think they should make them higher priorities and do faster.
Oct 29, 2012
the appeals process is now a joke hence 22 years sitting on death row. granted not free but alive eating communicating with family friends dental care, medical care, medications, dietary needs, heat and ac HBO football games.. he should have been gone decades ago…
Oct 29, 2012
Lisa Bennett Human………I apologize, I misunderstood what you were saying……but I still agree with the appeals process. Too many people have been wrongly convicted. If they are already dead when the truth comes out, "Oops" just doesn't do it…….not to mention that the guilty scum is still out there, free to rape and kill again. The system isn't perfect, but if we don't do our best to catch the guilty and free the innocent, we aren't even decent.
Oct 29, 2012
Ya know old school law was better, u f-ed up u got the rope around da neck
Oct 29, 2012
Well, just like God, I forgive him . I hate what he did, but I can forgive him. Now, if it were my daughter that he raped….I'm sure it might be a different story, but it shouldn't. amen.
Oct 29, 2012
And. We taday Would not have to pay the state tax to keep em alive t wast da green back
Oct 29, 2012
Death row inmates do not have TV nor AC. So, there will not be HBO. I don't know about South Dakota. But TX Death row inmates sure don't have those luxury. They are in very small cell. Out 30 minutes a day for sun and that be it.
Oct 29, 2012
Its justice, however that Mother will probably regret watching the execution. She will never erase it from her mind's eye, and it will not bring her daughter back. I hope she finds some kind of peace.
Oct 29, 2012
It's about time!!!
I believe murderers and pedophiles should be slowly tortured for weeks before given the death penalty.
Oct 29, 2012
Gloria you are so right. It is hard to find peace after loss of loved one and I just don't know how you would find peace after the murder of a loved one. The mother is going to have to live through the pain in honor of her daughter and try to reach out to other people that have suffered the same loss. Seems impossible, but it is not…just almost impossible.
Oct 29, 2012
this isn't going to put the mom to rest she will always feel the same just because he is dead doesn't change anything just makes it an easy way out for him.
Oct 29, 2012
The poor mother has been in hell for 22 years. My heart goes out to her.
Oct 29, 2012
its givin so long because of all the mistakes the criminal justice system makes there are actually innocent people on death row today but have no way to prove it. so many cases have been amended because of mistakes its fair because would you want to see a family member that was innocent be killed but there are those who are guilty that deserve a torturesome death not a quick and easy death but there are some innocents
Oct 29, 2012
Thank you , Michele. I feel the same way. Funny, conservatives still label me a liberal because they're too blind and stupid to realize that a person can be liberal on some issues and ultra conservative on others.
Oct 29, 2012
That's my concern too. I'm all for the death penalty if you have 100% proof (not 99%), like DNA evidence and a taped confession and then he should be executed within one year in the same manner that he (or she) did their killing (stabbing, arson, gunfire, etc.) My only problem is that due to lawyer "scummage" and other problems with the legal system a substantial number of convicts were discovered to be innocent of their crimes while on death row, or sadly, after their death, by execution or otherwise.
Oct 29, 2012
Pedophiles? Sure. Murderers? Depends on who was murdered.
Oct 29, 2012
good
Oct 30, 2012
Thanks Paula. The appeals process is crucial in all cases, however I also agree with your comment about the truth coming out too late. "Oops" just doesn't cut it!
Oct 30, 2012
Ashley Hall I understand & agree the justice system is hardly perfect, however, every one of the people (criminals) that are in prison are given a fair trial & options to have counsel. If they choose to represent themselves, well the saying is "he who represents himself has a fool for a client"….I don't feel sorry for any of them.
Oct 30, 2012
How can you say you forgive him & then compare it to "if it were your daughter it would be a different story??" Forgiveness is forgiveness..there are no conditions or limitations on it!
Oct 31, 2012
Because if it were my daughter then it turns the tables. Seeing bad things from a distance verses having them in your own backyard is quite different. yes?
Oct 31, 2012
DId not scum die yet?
Oct 31, 2012
No Clare Bowles… its not…because every time I see a story like this I think that could have been my daughter, niece, son, nephew, etc etc etc. I believe that's called empathy! He has had 21 years too long in my opinion and the only thing better than witnessing this is "flipping the switch" yourself! Her daughter would have been 31 this year if not for this POS. Guess I wish I could be as God like as you but I can't! Your phrase that says "Because if it were my daughter" reminds me of another phrase, "Screw you jack I got mine"!
Oct 31, 2012
If he truly felt it was the easy way out, he wouldn't have fought it all these years. He wanted to live…..knowing he would be in prison the rest of his life. He felt life in prison would be better than death.
Oct 31, 2012
So it's all about the money?
Nov 7, 2012
I know one thing.Even though I don't know the victim or the killer, I will feel MUCH better once his miserable cold heart begins to stop beating.I would feel even better if they simply hung him by his toes in the town square until he died a slow cruel death.The idea that these monsters can live for decades and then once they have lived most of their years, take a needle and go to sleep makes me sick.They should execute them using the same method they used on their victims.Make it mean something if you are going to have the death penalty.Otherwise, don't have it.
Nov 13, 2012
free lenny