Killer Moves A Step Closer To Execution Harold McQueen, Jr., who was sentenced to death in 1981 for killing a 22-year-old convenience-store clerk during a robbery in Richmond, could be the first person executed in Kentucky in 35 years. The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals declined to hear McQueen’s appeal. A three-judge panel of that court refused last month to set aside McQueen’s death sentence. The court’s decision increased the chances that McQueen, 44, of Berea, will be executed sometime this year. The last step is for McQueen to ask the U.S. Supreme Court for the third time to review the case. It has already refused to twice. If McQueen doesn’t win, his normal appeal process would be over and his execution could be scheduled this year. McQueen could be executed this summer at the earliest. Kentucky’s last execution was in March 1962, when Kelly Moss of Henderson County died in the electric chair for murdering his stepfather. Does Anyone Care About The Innocent Woman He Brutally Murdered? Seventeen years ago, on January 17, 1980, Harold McQueen brutally murdered twenty-two-year-old Rebecca Bryan O’Hearn in Richmond, Kentucky. Becky was working alone that night at the Richmond Minit Mart. She had just graduated from Eastern Kentucky University and was working in order to save enough money to pay tuition at Morehead State University to earn a Master’s Degree.
Harold McQueen was 27 years old when he murdered Becky O’Hearn. He began his criminal career at the age of 13. His juvenile record included Breaking and Entering, Shoplifting, Truancy, Destroying City Property and Public Intoxication. His adult record includes Cold Checks, Disorderly Conduct, Violation of a Peace Bond, Public Intoxication, Burglary, Pandering, Desertion of the U.S. Army, Hit and Run, Violation of Parole, First Degree Robbery and Murder. On the day of the murder McQueen and his girlfriend, Linda Rose, spent the day driving around in the country smoking marijuana, taking valiums and drinking. At about 6:00 p.m. they picked up his 19-year-old half-brother. At about 11:00 p.m. McQueen told Rose that "he had some business to take care of," and drove to the Minit Mart and parked in the back. McQueen and his half-brother got out of the car. McQueen took his gun with him and told Rose that he would be back in a minute. Shortly thereafter Rose heard a gunshot. McQueen and his half-brother returned to their vehicle with some bags. McQueen said, "I know the bitch is dead." At approximately 11:30 p.m. a Park Ranger stopped by the Minit Mart. He found Becky O’Hearn face down on the floor behind the counter. She was on her knees and her face was in her hands. She had been shot in the face from a distance of three to six inches. Becky had also been shot in the back of her neck. That bullet fragmented and entered both her spinal canal and brain stem. Approximately $1,500 cash was taken from the Minit Mart along with a bundle of food stamps. Both the cash register and safe were open. Opening the safe required two keys, one of which was hidden. That each key had to be turned in a certain manner and sequence indicated that Becky was trying to do what she was told. Earlier McQueen had told Linda Rose that "if he ever robbed a place he would never leave an eyewitness. He would leave them lying dead." Late that January night Harold McQueen did just that. He shot and killed an innocent young woman in cold blood and left her to die on the floor with all of her hopes and dreams for the future. All for $1,500. A Madison County jury determined that Harold McQueen deserved to die for what he did to Becky O’Hearn. Finally, after seventeen years it appears that Harold McQueen will have to answer for the horrible thing he did. It’s about time! |
