Missourians request clemency for Compassion editor
August 14, 2008
ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI – Today Missourians to Abolish the Death Penalty submitted an appeal to Governor Blunt to commute the death sentence of Dennis Skillicorn to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.
Dennis Skillicorn was convicted as an accomplice and sentenced to death for the 1994 murder of Richard Drummond. Skillicorn would be the first person executed in Missouri in nearly three years.
The petition to Governor Blunt, made on behalf of 150 Missouri voters argues that a death sentence is an inappropriate punishment for Dennis Skillicorn for two major reasons.
First, Mr. Skillicorn was neither present at the time of the shooting, nor involved in any planning of the shooting. Mr. Nicklasson, the man who shot and killed Richard Drummond has maintained consistently, since the time he was arrested, that Dennis Skillicorn was not involved in the murder of Richard Drummond.
In a sworn affidavit, Mr. Nicklasson stated: “Dennis had absolutely no knowledge that I would murder Mr. Richard Drummond.” He explains, “I told Dennis and Tim to stay by the car. Dennis tried to keep me calm. I told them I was going to tie him up and not to worry. I told them this would give us time to get back to Blue Springs before Drummond could call the cops. Dennis would have had no reason to doubt me.” Nicklasson continues, “Dennis was scared to death that if he didn’t go along, I’d kill him, and at the time, I just might have.”
And yet Allen Nicklasson pled the fifth during Dennis Skillicorn’s trial, so the jury never heard this information. This crucial information could easily have made the difference between a life and death sentence.
Second, Mr. Skillicorn has consistently and passionately demonstrated his commitment to rehabilitation for himself and many others.
As an inmate at Potosi Correctional Center, Mr. Skillicorn has demonstrated his respect for life by working for the prison’s hospice program. Through his book Today’s Choices Affect Tomorrow’s Dreams, he has reached out to young offenders, teaching them the skills needed to avoid a life of crime. He is the editor of Compassion Magazine, a publication, written by death row inmates, that focuses on restorative justice and has raised $34,000 in scholarships for murder victims’ family members. He has served as a minister, founded a family-strengthening program, led an anti-smoking campaign aimed at local school children, and initiated an annual charity carnival as a way for inmates to give back to local charities.
Missourians to Abolish the Death Penalty’s State Coordinator said, “Dennis Skillicorn is not a threat to society. On the contrary, if Dennis is executed, thousands of inmates will no longer be able to learn from his good example, and troubled teens will be robbed of the chance to learn from a man who desperately wants to help them avoid making the mistakes that he himself has made. Justice truly will be served if Dennis Skillicorn spends the rest of his natural life in prison. From there he can continue to repay society for his mistakes.”