As part of that plea deal, Owen testified against Gissendaner in exchange for a life sentence, avoiding the death penalty. Owen will become eligible for parole after spending 25 years in prison, sometime in 2023.Owen said he put a knife to Doug Gissendaner's throat and forced him to drive to a spot near the Walton County line, then made him walk into the woods and kneel down. Owen beat Doug Gissendaner with a nightstick, he said, and stabbed him repeatedly in the neck and back.Then, Owen said, he drove around in the victim's Chevrolet Caprice until Kelly Gissendaner paged him. She arrived with a Coke bottle filled with gasoline, Owen said, and he used it to burn the car.
Unfortunately for Gissendaner, she did not take an offered plea deal, and a jury sentenced her to death. That death sentence has now been postponed twice. The original execution on February 25, 2015, was delayed due to a winter snow storm that struck parts of Georgia. When it was attempted again, on March 2nd, there was another delay because of the execution drugs:
Over the years, Kelly has earned a theology degree from Crossroad Bible Institute. Now, hundreds of church leaders have added their names to a petition seeking clemency for Gissendaner. The sole authority in Georgia that could commute her sentence is the Board of Pardons and Parole. The Board reviewed and denied her appeal for clemency back on February 25th. Nevertheless, many faith leaders and church members have since added their names to this petition, addressed to state and local judges and other elected officials."Prior to the execution, the drugs were sent to an independent lab for testing of potency. The drugs fell within the acceptable testing limits," the Georgia Department of Corrections said in a statement."Within the hours leading up to the scheduled execution, the Execution Team performed the necessary checks. At that time, the drugs appeared cloudy. The Department of Corrections immediately consulted with a pharmacist, and in an abundance of caution, Inmate Gissendaner's execution has been postponed."
The "grounds for the commutation of Kelly's sentence" in the petition are nothing more than appeals to emotion. Nowhere is there an appeal to the bible, nor even sound reasoning.
- Kelly has accepted full responsibility for her involvement in the murder of her husband
I commend her for taking responsibility. However, that does not negate the need for justice. Romans 13:4 says of our governing authority, "for it is a minister of God to you for good. But if you do what is evil, be afraid; for it does not bear the sword for nothing; for it is a minister of God, an avenger who brings wrath on the one who practices evil."
- Kelly has experienced a profound spiritual transformation, maturing as a person and in her faith.
Her 18 years of incarceration should thus be considered a blessing, allowing her to be forgiven of her sins and share her faith with others. However, forgiveness of sins does not abrogate the consequences of those sins. In the book of 2 Samuel, after David had committed adultery with Bathsheba and had her husband Uriah killed, God sent the prophet Nathan to rebuke David. David then repented and was forgiven, but there was still a consequence for his sin: the death of his son.
Then David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” And Nathan said to David, “The Lord also has taken away your sin; you shall not die. However, because by this deed you have given occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme, the child also that is born to you shall surely die.” (2 Sam 12:13-14, NASB)
- Kelly is respected by Department of Corrections staff; she is seen as an example to other inmates and viewed as an asset to the institution.
Again, it is commendable that she is acting responsibly in prison. But good behavior does not annul the requirements of justice for the sake of her victim.
- If the state proceeds to execute Kelly, it will be the first time in the modern death penalty era (post-1976) that Georgia has executed an individual who was not the “trigger person” — that is, the person who actually used violence in the crime.
This fact is irrelevant. What if it was the first time Georgia had ever used the death penalty? Would that make it unjust? Certainly not. Kelly is still deserving of the death penalty, regardless of how it has been applied in the past. Similarly, just because God shows mercy to some does not mean that any are deserving of that same mercy.
What shall we say then? There is no injustice with God, is there? May it never be! For He says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy. For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I raised you up, to demonstrate My power in you, and that My name might be proclaimed throughout the whole earth.” So then He has mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires. (Romans 9:14-18, NASB)
Currently, Kelly Gissendaner has filed a lawsuit, citing cruel and unusual punishment from the last attempt to carry out her execution. I make no legal arguments here. Is there a place for mercy in our legal system? Certainly. That's the point of probation and parole. But Kelly Gissendaner is well past a time for either of those.
To those who would criticize the compatibility of the death penalty with the New Testament, I leave you with a passage that clearly shows the Apostle Paul had no problem being executed, if he was deserving of death.
But Paul said, “I am standing before Caesar’s tribunal, where I ought to be tried. I have done no wrong to the Jews, as you also very well know. If, then, I am a wrongdoer and have committed anything worthy of death, I do not refuse to die; but if none of those things is true of which these men accuse me, no one can hand me over to them. I appeal to Caesar.” (Acts 25:10-11, NASB)
