The federal government is trying to execute Wesley Purkey even though he has advanced Alzheimer’s disease, dementia, and severe brain damage. Wesley is not mentally competent and it would be unconstitutional to execute him. The Dept. of Justice should end this political charade.
The federal government has repeatedly refused to allow Wesley’s attorneys to review his medical records or to conduct an independent neuropsychiatric evaluation. The legal team has made numerous specific requests over the past 10 months. The government has stonewalled.
The information that we do have about Wesley’s life is very revealing. While the Department of Justice would like the public to believe that Wesley is “the worst of the worst,” the truth tells a different story. Wesley has a lifelong history of mental illness, trauma, and abuse.
Both of Wesley’s parents were alcoholics. State agency records describe their home as “violent, dirty, and chaotic.” Domestic violence was a frequent occurrence, including in front of the children. Wesley’s father viciously beat him beginning when he was 5 years old.
Wesley’s parents divorced when he was 9 years old. One year later, Wesley’s mother began sexually assaulting him. The rape and abuse continued for 12 years until Wesley was 22 years old. Wesley was also sexually exploited by his grandmother.
Wesley began drinking alcohol when he was 10 years old. He dropped out of school and began using drugs when he was 14. Wesley has spent almost the entirety of his adult life in prison, but he has been married twice and he has a close relationship with his daughter.
Wesley also has a long history of head injuries that have resulted in significant brain damage. He was knocked unconscious in serious car crashes in March 1968, April 1968, and 1972. His face was fractured during a fight in 1976. He was attacked with a lead pipe in prison.
Wesley’s speech was severely delayed when he was a child. He did not begin talking until he was 6 years old. Wesley also had difficulty walking after he was infected with polio.
Wesley also has a lifelong history of severe mental illness. He was repeatedly referred for psychiatric treatment and in-patient hospitalization because of his delusions, hallucinations, strange behavior, paranoia, anxiety, and depression.
Wesley sought help multiple times. He was diagnosed with schizophrenia and depression in 1971; psychosis in 1998; and bipolar disorder in 1999. Wesley has attempted to kill himself on multiple occasions.
As early as 1966, when Wesley was 14 years old, doctors noted abnormalities in his brain after an EEG. Wesley was admitted to a hospital after reporting blackouts and amnesia when he was 16. He was prescribed a drug used to treat schizophrenia in 1971 when he was 18.
In 1972, when Wesley was 20 years old, doctors noted that he needed much psychiatric treatment and “had needed it for some time.” Wesley was admitted to a psychiatric hospital and remained there for four months.
In 1976, Wesley was hospitalized after an overdose. He did not wake up for 18 hours. Later that same year, Wesley reported visual and auditory hallucinations.
In 1981, a mental health evaluator interviewed Wesley and noted that it seemed like he was “holding two conversations at the same time, in different voices.”
In 1998, Wesley was diagnosed with psychosis. He told doctors that someone was on the roof of the hospital spraying chemicals into his room, that the chemical was activated by a light beam, and that his house was wired with cameras and microphones.
In 2016, Wesley was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder. Wesley told doctors that he had coped with the trauma he experienced as a child by sniffing paint thinner and abusing other drugs.
Brain imaging shows that Wesley has suffered significant damage to his frontal lobe, an area of the brain associated with decision-making and behavior regulation.
Wesley has no rational understanding of the reason he is on death row and facing execution. He is not mentally competent under any legal standard. Supreme Court precedent does not allow the government to execute a person who is not mentally competent.
Wesley’s background does not excuse his actions. Nothing could ever justify the killings of Jennifer Long and Mary Ruth Bales. All of this information about Wesley’s life does show us that he is not the “worst of the worst” and that he is not competent for execution.
How many times did society fail Wesley before he even became an adult? He was physically and sexually abused for decades, diagnosed with severe mental illnesses that were left untreated, and left to fend for himself.
We know that trauma begets more trauma. Childhood experiences of abuse and neglect are extremely common among those on death row. Background matters, and jurors care about this information.
Wesley Purkey’s case is yet another example of the reality of our death penalty system. We don’t execute the “worst of the worst.” We execute those who are the most vulnerable, the most damaged, the most traumatized, and the most neglected. It’s wrong and it’s got to end.
