Stephen Dale Barbee, 55, was executed by lethal injection on 16
November 2022 in Huntsville, Texas for the murder of a woman and her
son in their home.

Lisa Underwood owned a bagel shop in Fort Worth. In the fall of 2003,
she began having a personal relationship with Barbee, who had been a
customer at the shop. Barbee was married. They stopped seeing each
other at the end of 2003, and Underwood subsequently began dating
another man. She was still seeing that man when she resumed her
relationship with Barbee in July 2004. She then became pregnant. She
informed both men about her pregnancy and told Barbee she believed he
was the father.

Underwood's employee, Holly Pils, planned to host a baby shower for
her at the bagel shop on Saturday, 18 February 2005. Pils testified
that Underwood, 34, then seven months pregnant, stayed home from work
the day before the shower because she had a cold. Underwood later told
Pils that she was feeling better and was excited about the baby
shower, and she planned to arrive at the bagel shop shortly before
4:00 p.m. on Saturday.

On Saturday at 3:00 a.m., Denton County Deputy Sheriff David Brawner
stopped a man walking along the service road of Interstate Highway 35.
It was cold and had been raining. Brawner testified that the man's
clothes were "very wet" and that he was "covered in mud." When Brawner
asked the man for identification, he said he had left his wallet at
his friend's home nearby. He gave Brawner a false name and date of
birth and then "took off running on foot" while Brawner was verifying
it. He ran into a thickly wooded area. Brawner and other officers
searched for several hours, but lost him.

Underwood failed to show up for the baby shower, and the police were
contacted. They went to Underwood's house to investigate. There were
no signs of forced entry. Neither Underwood nor her 7-year-old son,
Jayden, were in the house. There was blood on an entertainment center,
the walls, and other items in the living room. It appeared to police
as if someone had attempted to clean and conceal a blood stain on the
living room floor. Underwood's car was gone, and there was blood on
the floor in the garage. Jayden's glasses were next to his bed.

An inspection of Underwood's home computer showed that she used it for
about forty minutes around midnight.

On Tuesday, 21 February, Underwood's Dodge SUV was found in a creek
near Interstate 35 in Denton County. The front end of the vehicle was
submerged in the water, and the rest of it was sticking out. Some
cleaning solution was in it, and Underwood's keys and purse were found
nearby. The car was about 300 yards from the location of the encounter
Deputy Brawner had with the unidentified man the morning that
Underwood disappeared. Brawner subsequently identified Barbee as that
man from a photo lineup.

Detectives Michel Carroll, John McCaskell, and Brian Jamison of the
Fort Worth Police Department traveled to Tyler to speak with Barbee,
then 37. They found him, his wife, Trish Barbee, and a co-worker, Ron
Dodd, 33, in a Wal-Mart parking lot. After some initial conversation,
they asked them to come to the Tyler Police Department for further
questioning. There, Carroll and Jamison interviewed Barbee in one
room, while McCaskell interviewed Dodd in another room.

Barbee stated that he worked cutting down trees on 19 February.* He
drove home to Fort Worth that evening and then went to Dodd's house
later that night to work on a truck that he and Dodd used as a
business vehicle. He left Dodd's house at around 2:00 or 3:00 a.m.
When he arrived home, he slept on the couch so as to not wake his
wife. Barbee acknowledged that he had dated Underwood and that she had
informed him he might be her unborn child's father, but he claimed he
had not seen or heard from her in a while. He eventually acknowledged
being stopped by law enforcement in Denton County around 3:00 a.m.,
that he had given the officer a false name and date of birth, and that
he ran away.

Officer Carroll then excused himself to go observe Officer McCaskell's
interview with Dodd. Barbee subsequently opened the door and asked to
use the men's room. Carroll testified that he and Barbee then had an
unrecorded conversation lasting 45 to 60 minutes. He warned Barbee
that Dodd was "going to lay this whole thing in [Barbee's] lap" and
that "Lisa's family needed closure." Barbee told him that he and Dodd
devised a plan to murder Underwood because "Lisa wanted to use his
name on a birth certificate or she was trying to take money from him,
she was going to ruin his family, his relationship with his wife,
Trish, and he did not want that to happen."

Carroll testified Barbee told him that he dropped his car off at
Dodd's house, and then Dodd drove him to Underwood's house and left.
Barbee went inside and tried to "pick a fight" with her. He was unable
to provoke a fight, so he called Dodd to pick him up. He later had
Dodd drop him off again. This time, "he was able to get her upset
enough that he could start a fight with her." He wrestled her to the
ground and "held her face into the carpet until she stopped
breathing." Jayden then came into the room, crying. Barbee walked up
to him, placed his hand over his mouth and nose, and "held it there
until he stopped breathing." Afterwards, he tried to clean up the
house and cover a blood stain with a piece of furniture. He placed the
bodies in Underwood's car and drove to a road off of Farm-to-Market
Road 407. Using a shovel Dodd had given him, he buried both victims in
a shallow grave and placed debris on top of it. He then drove
Underwood's car to another location and "stopped it just short of the
creek."

Carroll had Barbee locate the roads he had used and the site where the
bodies were buried on a map. He then took him back into the interview
room to make another recorded statement.

After Carroll finished his second interview with Barbee, he exited the
interview room and told Trish Barbee that her husband had confessed to
the murders and wanted to speak with her. She wanted to speak with him
as well, so she went into the interview room. Carroll did not go in
with them, but the recording equipment was on. Stephen told Trish that
Underwood called and threatened him, so he went to her house to talk
to her. He said Underwood was going to "ruin" him and that they
fought. He said he "held her down too long" and "didn't mean for her
to stop breathing."

Barbee spent that night in the Smith County Jail. The next morning, he
rode with Carroll and another officer and directed them to the grave.
Carroll testified that Dodd had already taken them to the same area,
but the bodies were not located until Barbee went with them.

The medical examiner testified that Lisa Underwood was killed by
"traumatic asphyxiation," most likely from being held down until she
stopped breathing. Additionally, She had a broken arm, facial
abrasions and contusions, and bruises on both sides of her back. At
the time of her death, she was seven months pregnant. Jayden's death
was caused by "asphyxia by smothering." He had a large bruise above
his right temple "due to some sort of impact to the head." He had
further bruises and abrasions on his back, arm, hip, and leg. He had
bruises on his lips and gums that appeared to come from pressure being
applied to his mouth.

DNA evidence showed that Barbee was not the father of Underwood's
unborn child.

Theresa Barbee testified that she was married to Stephen Barbee from
1996 to 2003 and that she had physically assaulted her during the
course of their relationship. During one of their fights, she suffered
a "bad concussion." While she was bleeding and unconscious, Stephen
sat in another room and ate ice cream. When she awoke, he made her
drive herself to the hospital.

Theresa also testified that she was dating Ron Dodd at the time Lisa
and Jayden Underwood were murdered. She stated that Dodd had been at
her house on the night of Friday, 18 February. Dodd and Barbee left in
Dodd's truck sometime after 10:00 p.m and Dodd returned home alone
shortly after. As soon as he returned, Barbee called Dodd, and he left
again. He returned with Barbee about 15 minutes later. At around 3:00
a.m., Barbee called Dodd. She heard Barbee say "come and help him" and
that he ran out of gas. Dodd left, and Theresa went to sleep.

When Theresa next saw Stephen Barbee on Sunday morning, he cried and
said that "his life was over with." He later called and said he had
confessed to police. He told her "he didn't mean to" and that he went
over to Underwood's to talk to her, but they got into a fight. Theresa
asked him, "What about the boy?" He replied that "he didn't mean to"
and "was just trying to keep him quiet." She asked if Dodd was
involved. He said "Ron's mistake was in picking him up."

By the time Theresa visited her ex-husband in jail, he had become more
defensive. She testified that Barbee kept changing his story and said
he did not commit the murders. On another visit, Barbee held up a
piece of paper asking her to say that Dodd was the killer and set him
up. She started crying and left. Barbee then had Theresa removed from
his visitors list.

In the previous article, David Carson <davidc@wa-wd.com> wrote:
> The state of Texas immediately appealed Hoyt's ruling staying
> Barbee's execution to the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, which
> overturned it in a three-sentence order issued Wednesday
> afternoon. The U.S. Supreme Court of Appeals declined to take
> Barbee's case.

Couting the one-sentence footnote and the "It is so ordered" (but not
the "caption" at the top), the order was actually seven sentences:

https://www.ca5.uscourts.gov/opinions/unpub/22/22-70012.0.pdf

Okay, that number counts a citation as well. But the order also
includes some short concurring opinions on the part of two of the
judges explaining how they got there.

Judge Hoyt is a Reagan appointee with "senior status," which is what
they call judges who are retired or semi-retired. He has a reputation
that is better than his performance in this case indicates.

Everyone knows that judges don't like being reversed. Lawyers will
tell you that being reversed isn't necessarily a big deal, but a short
"per curiam" reversal based on "abuse of discretion" is an unambiguous
humiliation. The appeals panel tried to soften the blow with "abuses
of its otherwise sound discretion," but still. Ouch.

And, yes, Judge Hoyt's goopy, silly orders were (so far as I can see,
based on a fairly quick reading) based on no actual law and he richly
deserved the benchslapping he got from CA5. Still: ouch.

For those of you who keep track of such things: Judge Dennis is
widely regarded as very liberal, and was appointed by Bill Clinton.
Judge Elrod was appointed to CA5 by W. Judge Willett was appointed by
Trump. All three had been state-level judges but not federal judges
before they were appointed directly to CA5. Willett was widely
considered a short-list Supreme Court nominee when vacancies opened
during the Trump Administration.
--
_+_ From the catapult of |If anyone objects to any statement I make, I am
_|70|___:)=}- J.D. Baldwin |quite prepared not only to retract it, but also
\ / baldwin@panix.com|to deny under oath that I ever made it.-T. Lehrer
***~~~~----------------------------------------------------------------------

On Thu, 17 Nov 2022 19:13:38 -0000 (UTC),
INVALID_SEE_SIG@example.com.invalid (J.D. Baldwin) wrote:

>
>In the previous article, David Carson <davidc@wa-wd.com> wrote:
>> The state of Texas immediately appealed Hoyt's ruling staying
>> Barbee's execution to the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, which
>> overturned it in a three-sentence order issued Wednesday
>> afternoon. The U.S. Supreme Court of Appeals declined to take
>> Barbee's case.
>
>Couting the one-sentence footnote and the "It is so ordered" (but not
>the "caption" at the top), the order was actually seven sentences:
>
>https://www.ca5.uscourts.gov/opinions/unpub/22/22-70012.0.pdf
>
>Okay, that number counts a citation as well. But the order also
>includes some short concurring opinions on the part of two of the
>judges explaining how they got there.

I'm willing to go as high as four sentences making up the "order" of
the (slightly) longer opinion.

>Judge Hoyt is a Reagan appointee with "senior status," which is what
>they call judges who are retired or semi-retired. He has a reputation
>that is better than his performance in this case indicates.

I wasn't familiar with him, but I looked him up when preparing this
report. After reading a bit about him, I was surprised at how he
handled this appeal.

I didn't mention it in my report, but Hoyt also issued Barbee's 2021
stay of execution having to do with TDCJ's spiritual advisor
protocols.

>Everyone knows that judges don't like being reversed. Lawyers will
>tell you that being reversed isn't necessarily a big deal, but a short
>"per curiam" reversal based on "abuse of discretion" is an unambiguous
>humiliation. The appeals panel tried to soften the blow with "abuses
>of its otherwise sound discretion," but still. Ouch.

Yes. That "its otherwise sound discretion" line is very conspicuous in
such a short opinion.

It's possible that Hoyt didn't see this reversal coming because the
opinion the Fifth Circuit issued on Friday, 11 November, didn't send
him the right signals. That opinion, which was seven pages, complains
that Hoyt was treating Barbee's appeal like a class action lawsuit
that applied to all prisoners. The order ended thusly:

"As it stands, the preliminary injunction ordering the Defendants
to enact a written policy on religious accommodation that would apply
to all executions is overbroad and must be vacated. The district court
may instead consider what relief specific to Barbee is consistent with
Ramirez and is appropriate in this case."

I can see how someone might read that opinion to mean that the only
change Hoyt needed to make was to replace "all defendants" with
"Barbee" and hit "Republish."

David Carson

In article <1iocnhlvcqsfal22d4msl5iponb96ie2fk@4ax.com>,
David Carson <davidc@wa-wd.com> wrote:
....
>Underwood's employee, Holly Pils, planned to host a baby shower for
>her at the bagel shop on Saturday, 18 February 2005. Pils testified
...........................^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

February 2005
Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa
1 2 3 4 5
6 7 8 9 10 11 12
13 14 15 16 17 18 19
20 21 22 23 24 25 26
27 28

--
The only thing Trump's made great again is Saturday Night Live.