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North Carolina Death Row Inmate Writes Letter About Life of 'Leisure'
ABC NewsBy CHRISTINA NG | ABC News – 9 hrs ago

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North Carolina Death Row Inmate Writes Letter About Life of 'Leisure' (ABC News)

North Carolina Death Row Inmate Writes Letter About Life of 'Leisure' (ABC News)

A convicted murderer on death row in North Carolina wrote a taunting letter to his hometown newspaper about his life of "leisure" in prison and making a mockery of the legal system.

Danny Robbie Hembree Jr. was found guilty of murdering 17-year-old Heather Catterton in 2009 and was sentenced to death on Nov. 18, 2011.

Hembree, 50, is on death row at Central Prison in Raleigh, N.C., but he's not looking for any pity in the letter he sent to The Gaston Gazette.

"Is the public aware that I am a gentleman of leisure, watching color TV in the A.C., reading, taking naps at will, eating three well balanced hot meals a day," Hembree asked in the letter. "I'm housed in a building that connects to the new 55 million dollar hospital with round the clock free medical care 24/7."

He also asks if the public knows that the chances of his "lawful murder" taking place in the next 20 years, if ever, are "very slim."

Hembree has also been accused of killing two other women. One was 30-year-old Randi Dean Saldana, whose burnt remains were found near Blacksburg, S.C. in 2009. The other was 30-year-old Deborah Ratchford, whose body was found in 1992.

He admitted to taking drugs and having sex with Catterton and Saldana on the days they died, but told jurors he did not kill them or dispose of their bodies, according to ABC News' Raleigh-Durham affiliate WTVD. He is scheduled to go on trial for Saldana's killing in March.

Hembree confessed to killing the three women during recorded police interviews, but later said the confessions were an attempt to cover up a string of armed robberies, according to the Gaston Gazette.

In the letter, Hembree also mocks the judicial system.

"I laugh at you self righteous clowns and I spit in the face of your so called justice system. The state of North Carolina has sentenced me to death but it's not real," he wrote.

North Carolina State Representative Paul Stam told WTVD that the letter is a travesty of justice. He said that it is more likely that Hembree will die of natural causes than of the death penalty.

"His punishment does not fit his crime at all," Stam said.

Hembree tells the citizens of Gaston County, N.C., that they should petition that state and force them to carry out his "murder sentence."

The Gaston County District Attorney's Office did not immediately respond to request for comment.

"I am a man who is ready to except [sic] his unjustful punishment and face God almighty with a clean conscience unlike you cowards and your cowardly system," Hembree wrote. "Kill me if you can suckers. Ha! Ha! Ha!"

The letter is signed, "Sincerely, Danny Hembree.

[Tebow15]

It costs more money to execute a person than to keep them in prison for life. the luxeries that many prisoners receive at some of these places are redic though.

[FlyHiJets]

Clemens11, on 27 January 2012 - 08:27 PM, said:

It costs more money to execute a person than to keep them in prison for life. the luxeries that many prisoners receive at some of these places are redic though.

By costing more to execute someone I assume you're referring to the process of having them on death row and going through countless pointless appeals, etc? The cost to actually execute the scumbag that is this guy wouldn't be more than the cost of a bullet & the time it would take for a sharpshooter to pull the trigger.

[Mr_Jet]

This is my response to those who talk about the "luxuries" of prison life. How prisoners get free health care, 3 meals a day, free room and board, and them not having to pay bills and taxes.



I'll gladly pay bills and taxes to avoid the constant asshole rape.

[santana]

Mr_Jet, on 27 January 2012 - 11:59 PM, said:

This is my response to those who talk about the "luxuries" of prison life. How prisoners get free health care, 3 meals a day, free room and board, and them not having to pay bills and taxes.



I'll gladly pay bills and taxes to avoid the constant asshole rape.