Special to the News
On Monday Attorney General Steve Marshall issued a statement in complete opposition to any grant of clemency to Jeffery Lee, a confessed and convicted double murderer who executed two innocent Alabamians in cold blood.
“On December 12, 1998, Jeffery Lee walked into Jimmy’s Pawn Shop in Orrville, Ala., and murdered Jimmy Ellis and Elaine Thompson. He drank liquor and smoked a marijuana cigarette laced with cocaine before arming himself with a sawed-off shotgun and opening fire, killing both victims and wounding a third. He left the murder weapon on the counter and fled to Georgia, where he was apprehended the following morning.
“There is absolutely no question as to his guilt. Lee confessed. The surviving victim identified him. Surveillance footage captured the entire attack. Multiple courts have called the evidence against him ‘overwhelming.’
“For nearly 30 years, courts at every level have reviewed and upheld Lee’s conviction and sentence. As recently as one week ago, a federal court ruled that his method of execution is constitutional. Every legal avenue has been exhausted. The legal process has run its full and proper course.
“We should not give in to the loud voices of a few far-left activists from organizations like the ACLU and AL.com who want to see this sentence set aside and would like nothing more than for dangerous criminals to be released back into our communities.
“Over time, it can be easy to look at these convicted murderers as old men rather than as the killers they were when they stole the lives of their victims and terrorized their communities. Those victims are the people I keep in mind. I think of the hopes and dreams of Jimmy Ellis and Elaine Thompson, the futures and the lives with their families that were senselessly taken from them by Jeffery Lee’s premeditated and cruel actions. Their voices were silenced on December 12, 1998, and it is a shame that there are those out there who feel the need to amplify the voice of Mr. Lee over the voices of his victims.
“The people of Alabama have not forgotten Jimmy and Elaine. I have not forgotten them. Anything short of carrying out the sentence imposed by the court falls short of justice for the victims, and that is not what victims of this state deserve.”
