Regarding the murder of Diane Parker
Michael McDougall
Victim: Diane Parker
Early on Aug. 21, 1979, Mr. McDougall talked his way into the home of Ms. Parker, a neighbor, telling her and her roommate, Vicki Dunno, that his wife was injured and needed help.
Mr. McDougall tried to abduct the two women, but when they resisted, he attacked them with a knife. Ms. Parker was killed, but her roommate -- who was stabbed nine times -- survived to testify against Mr. McDougall.
At his trial, Mr. McDougall did not deny the slaying, but his lawyers said that it occurred in a cocaine-induced psychosis. He said he had injected four to five grams of cocaine.
Mr. McDougall lived a troubled and violent life. At 8 years old, he saw his grandfather commit suicide, and at age 13 his father was killed in a robbery at his family's package store.
Despite having an IQ of 122 and growing up in a comfortable suburb of Atlanta, Mr. McDougall dropped out of school in the 10th grade. At 18, he pleaded guilty to raping a 31-year-old Marietta, Ga., woman at knifepoint and served 21 months in a Georgia prison for the offense.
http://www.carolinajustice.org/executed.html.1
A detailed account of the facts supporting the conviction is set forth in State v. McDougall, 308 N.C. 1, 301 S.E.2d 308, cert. denied, 464 U.S. 865, 104 S.Ct. 197, 78 L.Ed.2d 173 (1983), so we provide only a summary that may assist in framing the issues.
9
In the early morning hours of August 21, 1979, McDougall rang the doorbell at the home of his neighbors, Vicki Dunno and Diane Parker, who lived together at 1420 Blueberry Lane, Charlotte, North Carolina. He begged to be admitted and claimed that his wife had cut her leg badly and he needed alcohol and bandages for her, and that he needed to call a doctor. Miss Parker took alcohol and bandages and placed them outside the back door and then went back to the front of the house where appellant began calling her by name and saying that he needed to talk to her because he needed help for his wife. He explained that he was her neighbor, Mike, and continued to plead to get into the house. Unfortunately, Diane Parker let McDougall into the house. They went into the kitchen where Vicki Dunno was checking the telephone directory for a doctor's number. While this was going on, defendant walked from the kitchen into the den and began to "check out the house." At this point Diane Parker took the telephone book from Vicki Dunno and started to dial for help. McDougall returned to the kitchen and picked up a butcher knife. He then grabbed Diane by the arm and put the knife in front of her face and told her to put down the telephone. A struggle developed and Diane told Vicki to run next door and get help. Vicki ran out to the front yard but she slipped on wet grass, and in the course of falling, lost her glasses. While she was looking for her glasses, McDougall came out of the house and told Vicki that she was not going anywhere, and another struggle ensued. Diane came out of the house holding a knife, and McDougall took the knife from her. After another struggle he grabbed the two women by their hair and dragged them back into the house. At the time McDougall was 6'2" tall and weighed about 220 pounds; Vicki was 25 years of age, 5'10" tall and weighed 130 pounds; and Diane was 27 years of age, 5'2" tall and weighed 125 pounds.
10
McDougall demanded the car keys, and when they were delivered, he forced both women back outside and told them he was going to put them in the trunk. Vicki then threw the keys away, and McDougall threw her to the ground and began to stab her. Vicki screamed to Diane to run for help. She ran but McDougall caught her and stabbed her 22 times. Two of these wounds were to the heart and medical evidence established that most of the wounds occurred while she was in a prone position. There were also defensive cuts about her hands. Diane Parker's body was found in the yard of McDougall's home. The butcher knife, which was found at the scene, was identified as the murder weapon.
11
While McDougall was chasing Diane, Vicki Dunno dialed the emergency number, 911, and police arrived and began looking for McDougall. When they brought in search lights, McDougall came from behind some bushes saying, "I give up. Okay, I give up." There was blood smeared on his person, his shirt and pants and a blood analysis showed that this blood matched the blood type of the deceased.
12
Shortly after McDougall's arrest, his family retained Charlotte attorney Wallace Osborne to represent him. Because of his limited experience in criminal cases, Osborne associated Attorney Michael Scofield with McDougall's consent. Mr. Scofield had considerable criminal experience and had been an Assistant United States Attorney in the Western District of North Carolina and a Public Defender for Mecklenburg County, North Carolina. The attorneys arranged to send McDougall to a psychiatric hospital for mental evaluation, and to secure information about his amnesia, since he claimed no memory of the events of August 21, 1979. While at the hospital McDougall was treated by Dr. Stephan S. Teich, a psychiatrist, and Courtney Mullin, a "juristic psychologist", both of whom were privately retained. These individuals had previously been associated with Attorney Jerome Paul in the defense of other criminal cases and they urged McDougall to retain Attorney Paul for his defense. After meeting with Attorney Scofield, McDougall and his family, Paul was retained in May 1980 to represent appellant together with Attorneys Scofield and Osborne. All three attorneys participated in the three-week trial, which included the guilt and the sentencing phases, and resulted in the death sentence now under attack.
13
At trial, the defense contended that McDougall suffered a cocaine induced psychosis, underlying depression and organic brain damage. He was alleged to have injected himself with cocaine on the night of the murder, and he claimed amnesia as to all events surrounding the crimes. He did not testify in the guilt phase of the trial but he did testify during the sentencing phase.
14
The appellant's guilt of the murder of Diane Parker is not an issue in the present appeal. The evidence of guilt was overwhelming.
15
During the sentencing phase, it was established that McDougall had been convicted of rape in March 1974, and that prior to stabbing Diane Parker to death, he had stabbed Vicki Dunno. Defendant introduced evidence that he was present, as a young boy, when his grandfather committed suicide, and since that event he has experienced hallucinations and heard his grandfather's voice. He also contended that he suffered from cocaine induced psychosis, organic brain damage and depression, and that at the time of the murder, he thought he was fighting his mother, who was hitting him with an automobile radio antenna.
http://ftp.resource.org/courts.gov/c/F2/921/921.F2d.518.88-4003.html.1
Published: October 19, 1991
Man Convicted in 1979 Slaying Is Put to Death in North Carolina
RALEIGH, N.C., Oct. 18— A man who killed one woman and seriously wounded another in a drug-induced knife attack 12 years ago was executed by lethal injection at the state prison here early today.
The 36-year-old prisoner, Michael Van McDougall, became the fourth person executed by North Carolina, and the 156th in the nation, since the United States Supreme Court allowed the death penalty to be restored in 1976.
Mr. McDougall, a former drug dealer, was convicted in 1980 of fatally stabbing a neighbor, Diane Parker, after talking his way into her Charlotte home on Aug. 21, 1979. Ms. Parker, 27, was stabbed 22 times. Her roommate, Vicki Dunno, was stabbed nine times but survived. 11th-Hour Appeal Turned Down
Testimony at Mr. McDougall's trial showed that he had injected himself with up to five grams of cocaine before going to his neighbors' house. He woke Ms. Parker and Ms. Dunno shortly before 3 A.M. and pleaded for help, saying that his wife had cut herself and that he needed to call a doctor. Once inside the house, he grabbed a butcher knife and attacked the women.
In various appeals, Mr. McDougall contended that he had been inadequately represented. But state and Federal courts rejected his arguments.
On Thursday the United States Supreme Court turned down his 11th-hour appeal and refused to grant a stay of execution. There were no recorded dissenting votes among the Justices.
Opponents of capital punishment held a prayer service at a local church Thursday night and then marched to the prison for a candlelight vigil that lasted until Mr. McDougall was put to death. "We want to affirm that all human life is sacred," said one of the protesters, Collins Kilburn, executive director of the North Carolina Council of Churches.
Mr. McDougall said "O.K." and appeared to wink at his lawyer just before he was executed. About a minute after he began to receive the lethal injection, his head jerked slightly and his body became still. He was pronounced dead at 2:20 A.M.
http://www.nytimes.com/1991/10/19/us/man-convicted-in-1979-slaying-is-put-to-death-in-north-carolina .html?scp=1&sq=Michael+McDougall+executed&st=nyt.1