Wesley Ira Purkey

Wesley Ira Purkey was born on January 6, 1952, in Wichita, Kansas. As a child, he experienced repeated sexual abuse and molestation by those in charge of his care. At age 14, he was examined for possible brain damage. He reportedly had multiple traumatic brain injuries throughout his life, which began in 1968 at the age of 16 and again in 1972 and 1976, at the ages of 20 and 24, respectively. At age 18, he was diagnosed with schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder, as well as depression superimposed upon a preexisting antisocial personality disorder.[3]

Purkey was convicted of burglary in 1970, for which he received his first parole. However, he broke his parole and was sent back to prison. He was paroled again in 1980. Following his release on parole, Purkey, accompanied by a friend, robbed a man in Wichita at gunpoint. Purkey then shot the man twice in the head before fleeing. The man survived the shooting, and Purkey was sentenced to fifteen years to life in prison for aggravated battery, aggravated kidnapping, and aggravated robbery.[4] While in prison, records show he was violent and uncooperative. He was stabbed on two separate occasions by other inmates, one of which was over a drug deal.[5]

In 1986, Purkey was reported to have changed and was staying out of trouble and working in a prison paint shop. He earned an associate degree in literature from a community college, joined Alcoholics Anonymous, and took drug, alcohol, and mental health counseling. In 1992, counselors evaluated Purkey and found he was a classic psychopath; however, his education and intelligence seemed to moderate his antisocial tendencies. In 1996, a counselor concluded he had used his time in prison productively to help rebuild his life. The following year, Purkey's family and friends sent letters to the Kansas Parole Board asking for his release, arguing he had matured and was ready for freedom. Police, prosecutors, and Purkey's former victims objected to his release. The 1980 shooting victim, who was now partially disabled for life, told the parole board that Purkey should stay in prison for the remainder of his life. However, the board disagreed, citing that he had made good progress while incarcerated. In March 1997, Purkey was released from prison after serving seventeen years behind bars.[5]

On December 15, 1998, while awaiting trial for the murder of Bales, Purkey sent a letter to KCK Detective Bill Howard, saying he wanted to talk about an unsolved kidnapping and murder which had occurred earlier in the year. Purkey also asked Howard to bring an FBI agent with him. He said he was facing a life sentence in state prison for the murder of Bales, and wanted to be convicted of a federal charge so he could serve his time in a federal prison. Purkey had made enemies in the Kansas prison system, and overall believed that life in a federal penitentiary would be more comfortable than in a state prison.[11]

Detective Howard asked FBI Agent Dirk Tarpley to join him in meeting Purkey. The three men met the next day. At the start of the meeting, Purkey said he was planning to plead guilty to murdering Bales, but was willing to admit to a second murder if he was given a life sentence in federal prison. The two officers told Purkey they would give whatever information he revealed to the U.S. Attorney General, but could not make any other promises. Purkey then gave an account of how he kidnapped a female victim (Purkey initially did not give up Long's name), took her across state lines from Missouri to his home in Kansas, and then raped and murdered her. Purkey refused to give up any more details unless he was assured that the case would be federally prosecuted.[11]

The two officers met with Kurt Shernuk, an Assistant U.S. Attorney General for the District of Kansas. Shernuk was skeptical of Purkey's confession given his motivations, but said a federal prosecution was possible if Purkey cooperated further and gave more evidence, including a body, to corroborate his confession.[11]

Over the next few days, Purkey gave a handwritten and oral confession and led Tarpley and Howard to the crime scene and the septic pond where he disposed of Long's remains. He said that due to the measures he had taken to dispose of the body, the victim's remains were not recoverable. When the officers showed Purkey a line-up of missing people, he quickly identified Long. Throughout this entire process, the question of sentencing was never raised by anyone, including Purkey, who assumed he would receive a life sentence.[11]

In March 2000, Purkey pleaded guilty to felony first degree murder and aggravated robbery for killing Bales in Wyandotte County District Court.[10] On April 28, 2000, he was sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for 32 years. During his sentencing hearing, Purkey said he was high on cocaine at the time of the murder and apologized, saying "Words cannot express my remorse for this hideous and senseless murder." Bales's grandson, Lonnie Bales, called Purkey's statement a "sob story" and said he blamed everyone but himself.[12][13]

On October 10, 2001, federal prosecutors charged Purkey with kidnapping a child resulting in death for Long's murder. Because Purkey's confession had no stipulations regarding sentencing, they announced they would pursue a death sentence.[5] Upon learning that he faced possible execution, Purkey tried to retract his confession but was unsuccessful.[14]

Purkey's trial started in October 2003. He admitted to killing Long but denied kidnapping her. He claimed she was a sex worker who voluntarily traveled with him to Kansas and that he lied about the kidnapping aspect of the murder to ensure a federal prosecution.[15][16] On November 5, 2003, the jury found Purkey guilty of kidnapping a child resulting in death.[17] During his sentencing hearing, the government produced several witnesses who attested to Purkey's lengthy history of violence. One man said Purkey had raped him at knifepoint in a prison kitchen. A prison gang expert noted that Purkey had "Aryan Pride", Swastika, and Ku Klux Klan tattoos, indicating his involvement in the Aryan Brotherhood.[16][18] After deliberating for 10 hours, they recommended a death sentence.[19] Purkey was formally sentenced to death on January 23, 2004.[20] He was transferred to the United States Penitentiary in Terre Haute, Indiana and was placed on federal death row.[21]

In July 2019, the United States federal government announced that federal executions would return after a nearly two-decade gap since the previous execution of Louis Jones Jr. in 2003. Purkey was one of five condemned men on federal death row selected to be executed, with his execution scheduled for December 13, 2019.[22][23] On November 20, 2019, U.S. District Judge Tanya S. Chutkan issued a preliminary injunction preventing the resumption of federal executions. Purkey and the other three plaintiffs in the case argued that the use of pentobarbital might violate the Federal Death Penalty Act of 1994.[24] In April 2020, a panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit vacated District Judge Chutkan's injunction in a per curiam decision.[25]

The execution date for Purkey was rescheduled for July 15, 2020. However, on that same morning, a judge halted the execution due to claims Purkey had dementia.[26] The justice department filed an immediate appeal to the Supreme Court of the United States. Purkey's lawyers argued he had Alzheimer's disease and was not mentally fit enough to be executed.[27]

In the early hours of July 16, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled in a 5–4 decision that the federal government could proceed with executing Purkey and cleared the way for the execution to take place.[28] Hours later, Purkey was executed via lethal injection at USP Terre Haute.[2] In his final statement he apologized to both Long's family and his own.[29] He was pronounced dead at 8:19 a.m.[1][30]

• Capital punishment by the United States federal government
• List of people executed by the United States federal government
• List of people executed in the United States in 2020