Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, June 18, 1993 TAG: 9306180261
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: JARRATT LENGTH: Medium
Chabrol, 36, was pronounced dead at 11:07 p.m., said Wayne Brown, operations officer at the Greensville Correctional Center, where Virginia's electric chair is located.
Chabrol showed little expression as he entered the death chamber and was strapped into the chair, said Tom Buskirk, a representative of The Associated Press who was one of nine witnesses to the execution.
"It was as though he had done this before and this was just another trip," Buskirk said of Chabrol, who had no final statement.
Chabrol, convicted of the July 1991 rape and murder of Melissa Harrington in his Chesapeake home, lost his automatic review before the Virginia Supreme Court in February and chose not to pursue further appeals.
"He's made up his mind, and it's been made up for a long time," said his attorney, Bill Brown. "He's a bright individual. It's an informed choice."
Gov. Douglas Wilder reviewed Chabrol's case although the inmate did not request clemency, said Glenn Davidson, the governor's press secretary. Wilder did not intervene.
No family members or friends visited Chabrol on his final day, which he spent in his cell next to the Chabrol electric chair, Wayne Brown said. Chabrol met briefly with a priest several hours before the execution.
It also was calm outside the prison as the execution approached. Seven death-penalty opponents stood quietly, carrying no signs and planning no formal protest, said Thomas Clarey of Richmond, a spokesman for the group. The seven, who had attended a church service in Richmond earlier in the evening, sang hymns when Chabrol was executed.
Chabrol had a shorter wait until execution than the 19 other Virginia prisoners put to death since the U.S. Supreme Court allowed states to resume executions.
The former lieutenant had tried to develop a romantic relationship with Harrington while she was in his command. But she rejected his advances and complained to his superior.
Chabrol said her complaint damaged his career and ruined his marriage. He left the Navy in January 1991 and began planning revenge, keeping a computer journal in which he referred to Harrington as "Nemesis."
After several months of trying, Chabrol learned where Harrington lived. He got another man, Stanley J. Berkeley, to help him abduct the woman from her Virginia Beach home while her husband was out of town, and they took her to Chabrol's house.
Harrington was strapped to a bed and raped. When she tried to fight, her head was tightly wrapped in duct tape and she was strangled with a rope.
"I just went berserk," Chabrol testified at his trial, where he pleaded guilty.
Harrington's husband, Joseph, a Navy weapons chief warrant officer, said this week he was glad Chabrol's execution was near.
"I just hope they get it over with as soon as possible, and get things back to . . . well, they won't be the same," he said. "But at least it will give me some satisfaction that he got what he deserved."
Berkeley was sentenced to three life terms on convictions of first-degree murder, rape and abduction.
by CNB