Draft:Murders of Wanda and Sheila Romines
| Murders of Wanda and Sheila Romines | |
|---|---|
| Location | Union County, Tennessee, United States |
| Date | March 17, 1986 |
Attack type | Murder, kidnapping and rape |
| Convicted | Stephen Michael West Ronnie Martin |
| Verdict | Guilty |
| Convictions | Stephen West First-degree murder (x2) Aggravated kidnapping (x2) Aggravated rape Ronnie Martin First-degree murder (x2) |
| Sentence | Stephen West Death – murder 40 years' imprisonment (x3) – Other charges Ronnie Martin Life imprisonment (x2) – murder |
On March 17, 1986, a mother-daughter pair, 51-year-old Wanda Lou Romines (April 10, 1934 – March 17, 1986) and 15-year-old Sheila Ann Romines (November 26, 1970 – March 17, 1986), were abducted from their home by two men in Union County, Tennessee. The Romines were subsequently murdered by their kidnappers, who both tortured the victims to death and even raped Sheila Romines. The murderers – Stephen Michael West (September 16, 1962 – August 15, 2019) and Ronnie Martin (born 1969) – were arrested the following day and charged with the double murder.
West, who was 23 years old when he killed the women, convicted and sentenced to death in 1987, while Martin, who was 17 at the time of the offence, was spared the death sentence and instead given two life sentences after pleading guilty. West was incarcerated on death row for 33 years before he was executed by the electric chair on August 15, 2019. Martin remains incarcerated in a Tennessee prison and will be eligible for parole in 2030.
Double murder
[edit]On March 17, 1986, in Union County, Tennessee, a mother-daughter pair were kidnapped and murdered by two men.
On that fateful day, 51-year-old Wanda Lou Romines and her 15-year-old daughter Sheila Ann Romines were
A day later, on March 18, 1986, both Martin and West were arrested for the murders, and subsequently charged in court with kidnapping, rape and murder. Under Tennessee state law, for the most serious charge of murder, both men could face the death penalty.
Trials of the murderers
[edit]Both Ronnie Martin and Stephen West were tried in separate courts for the murders of the Romines.
On March 16, 1987, West was the first out of the duo to stand trial before an Union County jury for the double murder. Consequently, West was convicted of two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of aggravated kidnapping and one count of aggravated rape.
On March 25, 1987, West was sentenced to death for the charges of murdering Sheila and Wanda Romines, after all the 12 jurors unanimously agreed to impose the death penalty on the grounds that the murders were especially heinous, atrocious or cruel, and that the murders were committed in the course of a serious offence like rape or kidnapping and additionally to avoid arrest. Apart from the two death sentences, West also received three consecutive sentences of 40 years' jail for the lesser convictions of rape and kidnapping.
As for Ronnie Martin, he was tried in a separate court for the murders of the Romines. Due to the fact that Martin was 17 years old at the time of the murder, he was ineligible for the death penalty in accordance with state law. As a result, Martin pleaded guilty to all counts, and he was sentenced to two consecutive life terms. Martin will be eligible for parole in 2030.
Appeals of West
[edit]West's electric chair execution
[edit]By late 2018, Stephen West, who had exhausted all avenues of appeal against his death sentence, was listed as one of the several inmates in line for imminent execution between 2018 and 2020.
On February 3, 2019, NBC News reported that West was one of four condemned inmates from Tennessee who were scheduled to be executed by the state in 2019, with another two (including Nicholas Todd Sutton) planned for 2020. West's death sentence was tentatively slated to be carried out on August 15, 2019. This arrangement was confirmed in July 2019.
Prior to his scheduled execution, West was given the chance to select whichever execution method he preferred to die with. Under Tennessee state law, prisoners sentenced to death before 1999 were allowed to choose between the default method of lethal injection or the alternative method of electrocution via the electric chair.
At the last minute, West expressed that he did not want to die by lethal injection, but preferred to be executed by the electric chair. The change of execution methods was granted after West made the choice.
On August 15, 2019, 56-year-old Stephen Michael West was put to death by the electric chair at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution. For his final meal, West requested for a Philly cheesesteak and french fries.
See also
[edit]- List of kidnappings
- Capital punishment in Tennessee
- List of people executed in Tennessee
- List of people executed in the United States in 2019