RICHMOND, Va. -- Linwood Briley, who died in the electric chair he tried to avoid in the nation's biggest death row breakout, went calmly to his death protesting his innocence in the killing of a disc jockey.
'He made it a little easier on everyone by being exceedingly brave, and he maintained his innocence,' said attorney Deborah Wyatt, who saw the execution Friday night. 'Those were his last words.'
Richmond prosecutor Aubrey Davis mingled with police outside the State Penitentiary. Davis said Briley -- linked with his brothers Anthony and James to 11 killings in the Richmond area in 1979 -- got what he deserved.
'I am satisfied that in this particular case, the punishment fits the crime,' Davis said. 'Linwood had a historprevious to this series of murders before. I visited the scenes, most of which were very heinous ....
'The evidence in the case was overwhelming.'
Briley, 30, was electrocuted at 11:05 p.m. for the 1979 robbery and murder of John 'Johnny G' Gallaher, a popular country-western disc jockey found shot in the back.
Outside the century-old State Penitentiary, up to 500 demonstrators - about evenly divided -- spoke out for and against capital punishment.
Among those in a candlelight vigil protesting the death penalty was a woman whose mother was among the many victims of the Briley brothers.
'I think it's something wrong with our system,' said Nancy Gowen, whose mother was raped, robbed and shot to death in April 1979. 'I don't think to murder someone for a murder committed is the answer.'
Inside the prison, some inmates wore black armbands in protest.
Across the street from death penalty opponents, a crowd favoring capital punishment carried signs that read 'Fry 'em' and 'Burn Briley, Burn.' They jeered at the those carrying the candles.
'In the eyes of the regular old Joes, justice has been done,' said James Futrell, who attended a nearby oyster roast and crab feast that coincided with Briley's execution date.
Richmond police cordoned off the street leading to the prison and said one man was arrested for being disorderly and carrying a concealed weapon.
Although some firecrackers were set, the crowd overall was orderly at the time of the execution.
Inside, Mayor Roy West was among eight witnesses as Warden E.L. Booker turned the key that sent two, 55-second bursts of 2,400 volts through Briley.
West told the Richmond Times-Dispatch that Briley was 'very calm, very resolute' entering the death chamber.
'He had his eyes closed but he was very, very calm. He sat, and they strapped him in, and put the mask over his face and attached the electrode to his right leg and then put the cap over his head and attached that.
'That was completed -- I guess, about five minutes to 11. Nothing was done from that point until a few seconds after 11 o'clock. And I saw a signal given by one of the officials and I was looking at Mr. Briley at the same time, and when the first surge hit him, of course, there was a reaction.
'He pressed against the straps, his hands stretched, and then clenched his fists, and then he relaxed. And we waited a few seconds, a minute or so, and then another surge hit him. Obviously the first one knocked him out -- that's what I was told -- and when the second one hit him, muscular reaction caused him to surge again against the straps.
'And that was it. The doctor came in and pronounced him dead, and that was it,' said West.
Another witness, retired General District Judge Lemuel DeBerry, told the newspaper the execution 'was not a pretty picture.
'However, I do not recall any of Linwood Briley's victims winning a beauty contest,' he said.
Virginia Corrections Director Robert Landon emerged minutes after the execution to announce, 'The order of the circuit court of the city of Richmond has been carried out.
Asked if Briley had any final words, Landon said, 'He said he was innocent. He said he was not guilty.'
Briley was the 26th man executed in the United States since the Supreme Court lifted its ban on capital punishment in 1976. His was the 15th execution this year.
Briley, who was housed 40 steps from the death chamber, was visited Friday by hismother, Bertha, his 10-year-old son, and other relatives.
He also talked to relatives through the day, including his brothers, Anthony, who is serving a life term, and James, who is on death row.
Briley avoided the electric chair for five years. In May, Linwood and James Briley led four other death row inmates from Mecklenburg Correctional Center in the nation's biggest death row escape. All were recaptured within 19 days.
