The Execution of Richard Cartwright
Taxas has executed Richard Cartwight who, on August 1, 1996, killed Nick Moraida, a gay man, in a robbery attempt.
On August 1, 1996, Richard Cartwright and two male accomplices met Nick Moraida after he pulled up in a small black sports car. The trio invited Moraida to go drinking with them at seaside park. After Moraida, agreed, they drove to a secluded fishing area off a cul-de-sac on Ocean Way.
Once parked in the cul-de-sac, the four men went down a hill to the seawall area, and Cartwright pulled out a gun and said, “This is a robbery. Put your hands on the cement [wall].” At the same time, one of the accomplices held a knife to Moraida’s neck. Cartwright and his accomplices took Moraida’s watch, keys, wallet and an envelope containing cash, then an accomplice cut Moraida’s throat and Cartwright shot the victim. (source)
This from the Houston Chronicle:
HUNTSVILLE - A former mechanic from Chicago was executed Thursday for the robbery and fatal shooting of a Corpus Christi man.
In a brief final statement, Richard Cartwright thanked his friends and family for their support.
“I want to apologize to the victim’s family for any pain and suffering I caused them,” he said. Then he urged his fellow death row inmates to “just keep your heads up and stay strong.” [...]
There were no witnesses from the murder victim’s family.
Cartwright, 31, was the eighth Texas prisoner put to death this year and the second in as many days.
Cartwright was one of three men who duped Nick Moraida into thinking they were homosexuals offering to share beer with him at a beachfront park along Corpus Christi Bay in 1996.
Instead, Moraida was stabbed then shot to death while being robbed of his watch and wallet containing between $60 and $200.
His assailants hoped to use the money to buy drugs and alcohol.
Kelly Overstreet, 27, and Dennis Hagood, 28, are serving long prison terms. They agreed to plea bargains and testified against Cartwright.
Less than an hour before his scheduled lethal injection, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected a late appeal in which Cartwright’s lawyers argued he was condemned by a Nueces County jury because of testimony Overstreet now insisted was false.
Overstreet originally placed much of the blame for the shooting on Cartwright, but in a written statement to Cartwright’s lawyers earlier this month, Overstreet said, “I intentionally made Cartwright out to be the bad guy out of spite when in fact I am the one who was at the forefront of all events.”
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Tony, obviously you don't know enough about Rich's case, otherwise, you wouldn't ask why he appologized. You can research his case by googling "Richard Cartwright 9993224" or "Richard Cartwright Execution".
I made a promise to Rich the day he was executed. I promised him that I would continue educating people about the death penalty and about the injustice in Texas, including Texas executing Rich for a crime he did not commit. Rich may have died, however, his voice is still very loud.
If he did not commit murder then why did this man apologize to his victims family?let this man rest in peace and let the victims family have their Justice.
Richard Cartwright was executed for a crime he did not commit.
Missy
i know how it is to lose someone you love very much,my sister was killed in a car accident in 1995 along with her baby,i was the one who found her dead her car had went off a hill and was semerged in water,i thought i couldnt go on,but i have a strong family and you must move on,it does get easier to deal with,i thought nothing bad can ever happen again to my family,i was very wrong,then in 2003 we had planned a big birthday party for my nephew the house was all decorated and we had his cake all ready his friends where gathering one by one,he was at his mothers house my brother was going to pick him at a noon,my sister got a phone call around 11:30 telling her they could not find shannon he was missing,so my family rushed to his mothers house to help find him,45 minutes later they pulled his body from the river,he had been murdered,the boy who killed him was 12 years old,he got 6 months probation,and he joked about it in school saying how stupid the judge was,and he got by with murder,we did all we could to get this young man some help,we didnt want him to be locked up for the rest of his life all we wanted was for him to know what he took from our family,your brother had a chioce his victim didnt,i have compassion for your family because you lost your brother,but i cant have compassion for a killer,the death penalty is there for a reason,if people are put back on the street they can kill again,i dont want my family to be there next victim.
Missy,
I am sorry for your loss. It's a difficult issue for me to comprehend in many ways. I do try to understand. I hear that Richard was a wonderful man, but I can't understand that. If he was so wonderful, why was he there that night to rob this man, who happened to be gay. I mention the victim being gay, because it's my understanding that Richard and his two friends used that to lure the victim into this park.
I can also understand how they only intended to rob him (and, in my view that doesn't sound very "wonderful" to me), and how things got out of hand. But at the end of the day, their robbery victim was dead.
I didn't know Richard so I can't honestly pass a judgment on him. It may interest you to know that I do see people for who they are. I am currently writing to and have helped to some degree a man who was part of the death of a gay man here in Connecticut some time ago. He is currently serving a 40 year prison term. He regrets what he did so long ago and has told me that he had no idea what it was like to be gay - he was just an stupid, ignorant kid when the crime was committed, who thought that gay men were an easy target. It too started out as a robbery which turned violent. He's lucky he escaped with a prison term.
So, I'm not a heartless person who thinks that what happened to your brother was justified. I am actually against the death penalty. No doubt, many of my readers disagree with me on that.
But at some point, you have to ask yourself, could Richard have stopped the events that led to that mans death? Did he try? Apparently, he didn't.
I'm sorry for your loss. Over time, your heart will mend, but you need to give yourself time. Trust me, it will get better, even though right now, that doesn't seem possible.
I am a lesbian and I watched Texas kill my brother on May 19th. Rich was a beautiful man. Never once did he judge me for who I am. He taught me to be strong in the face of injustice and adversity and be true to who I am and not care what others think. Rich is in a better place now. Please know that the press makes him out to be a person he was not! Please refer to the Houston Chronicle where Overstreet announces that he was the mastermind of this crime and admits he made Rich out to be the bad guy THE DAY AFTER RICH'S EXECUTION. My heart is broken.
Justice was not served in this case,kelly overstreet and dennis hagood was just as guilty as richard cartwright, mr.moraida's life meant nothing to this scum,they killed him like he was a peice of trash,they killed him for 60.00 or 200.00 and because he was gay,and i would guess they had a good laugh afterwards,all three of them should have been put to sleep,mr.moraida final hour of his life must have been hell,maybe we can rest better tonight knowing that a killer will never have the chance to be released by mistake and kill again,if a killer is dead we know for sure they will never harm anyone else.