Execution Date Set for Roy Ward
By: Andy Schroeder
Updated: June 8, 2007
Confessed killer Roy Lee Ward is scheduled to die on June 8, 2008, but appeals will likely keep him alive much longer.
Ward was convicted of the 2001 rape and murder of 15 year old Stacey Payne in her Dale, Indiana home. He was convicted and sentenced to die, but that sentence was overturned by the Indiana Supreme Court. Ward then plead guilty, and was again sentenced to die.
The sentence was affirmed Friday, and members of Stacey Paynes family shared their sorrow and loss in a victims statement to the court. Julie Payne, Staceys mom, remembered her daughter as a happy kid who was working hard to afford her first car when she turned 16. She said Stacey was full of life, and her future was wide open.
Julie Payne says the impact of the murder is impossible to put into words, and that the things they miss about Stacey the most are the hardest to explain.
She called the six years since Staceys death, "horrible", "sad", and "long", and wished to see her daughter smile one more time, and share one more hug with her.
Sister Melissa Payne told reporters after the sentencing that experiencing what her family has changed her view of the death penalty, suggesting that its hard not to support capitol punishment when youve lost a family member in such a tragic way.
Roy Lee Ward did not address the court when given the opportunity.
