Published: April 18, 2006 10:25 am

Man Set to Die for Grady County Murders

McALESTER, Okla. -- A Grady County man convicted in a 1996 triple murder in southwestern Oklahoma is scheduled to die Tuesday by lethal injection at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary.

A jury found Richard Alford Thornburg, Jr., 40, guilty of the Sept. 28, 1996, shooting deaths of James Donald Poteet, 51; Terry Lynn Shepard, 39; and Keith Alan Smith, 24. Two other men also were convicted of murder in the case.

The three killings occurred at Poteet's house in Alex, which was set on fire.

The defendants held a fourth man, Marvin Matheson, at gunpoint and forced him to shoot Donald Brent Scott, who survived his wounds, prosecutors said.  Also convicted and sentenced to death for the murders was Glenn Anderson, whose appeal is pending with the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Another defendant, Roger Embry, was convicted and received one life sentence and two sentences of life without parole.

One month before the murders, Thornburg was shot by an unknown suspect and believed Poteet or Matheson may have been responsible, according to court records. Thornburg kidnapped Matheson at gunpoint and drove with Embry and Anderson to Poteet's residence.

Prosecutors also alleged Thornburg and Poteet argued over drug money.

While at the house, Poteet, Shepard and Smith all were shot and left to die while the defendants doused the house in gasoline and set it on fire, prosecutors said.

Scott, who managed to escape from the home while it burned, testified during the trial that Matheson was forced at gunpoint to shoot him.

Two days after the murders, Thornburg allegedly admitted telling a woman at a bar that he planned to kill more people.

During Thornburg's trial, defense attorneys presented testimony that Thornburg had brain damage and was subject to blackouts during bouts of heavy drinking.

In addition to the three murder counts, Thornburg also was convicted of shooting with intent to kill, first-degree arson and two counts of kidnapping.

Messages left with the victims' family members on Monday were not immediately returned.

However, in a letter to the clemency board signed by Keith Smith's mother, Ann Smith of Chickasha wrote that she and her husband, Carl Smith, felt robbed by their son's death.

"One week before he died, he came by and I hugged him when he left," she wrote. "That was the last time I saw my son, the last time I could see the mischief in his eyes or the confidence that comes from being 24 (years old) and your whole life is ahead of you.

"Every year at that time, I am so sad and lost just wishing I could hold him one more time."

Thornburg did not seek clemency and has no appeals pending, said Charlie Price, a spokesman for the attorney general's office.

Source: Channel 5 News