Death row inmate's astonishing five-word confession before planned execution
A death row inmate admitted to a horrific killing before his scheduled execution, confessing, 'I am guilty of murder.'
James Osgood, 55, is scheduled to be killed by lethal injection in Alabama on Thursday for the rape and slaying of Tracy Lynn Wilemon in 2010.
Osgood broke into Wilemon's home with his girlfriend at the time, Tonya Van Dyke. Wilemon was his girlfriend's cousin, and the two had grown up together.
Prosecutors said the two carried out a 'twisted fantasy' by breaking into Wilemon's home, raping her and slitting her throat.
Osgood admitted to the horrific crimes and was convicted in 2014 and sentenced to death. Van Dyke, who also pleaded guilty to the rape and murder, was sentenced to life in prison.
His lawyers filed an appeal, but it was later thrown out after a judge gave improper instructions to a jury.
Osgood decided that he wouldn't let his appeals go on for longer than a decade, and asked for a death sentence during a second sentencing hearing.
'The reason I dropped my appeals is I am guilty of murder,' Osgood told the Associated Press during a phone interview.
James Osgood, 55, is scheduled to be executed on Thursday by lethal injection in Alabama for the brutal murder of Tracy Lynn Wilemon in 2010
Wilemon was raped and killed in 2010 by her cousin, Tonya Van Dyke, and James Osgood
Osgood told his attorney that he wanted to die and said he believed in 'an eye for an eye,' and a 'tooth for a tooth'
'I'm a firm believer in, like I said in court, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. I took a life so mine was forfeited. I don't believe in sitting here and wasting everybody's time and everybody's money,' he added.
Osgood said he knew the jury would come back with another death sentence, and he didn't want to put Wilemon's family through the pain of another hearing.
'I didn't want her family and my family to relive all that, just for the same thing. Why put them through that?' he said.
Osgood added that he didn't want anti-death penalty protestors advocating for him, saying that there was 'no need' for their activism.
'If you want to protest against executions, that's fine, just don't use my name as your platform,' he added.
Osgood told his attorney that he wanted to die, writing, 'I no longer feel as if I'm even existing. I'm tired. I want to complete my sentence.'
Osgood, who is scheduled to die via a lethal injection, said that staying in prison without a chance for parole was scarier than dying.
The man on death row said he wanted to apologize to the victim's family but understood that they would never forgive him.
He regretted his actions and has never explicitly explained his motive for the murder. After initially denying the crimes, he told police that he remembered 'seeing the fear in her eyes' when he killed Wilemon.
Tonya Van Dyke was sentenced to life in prison for her role in the 2010 rape and murder of her cousin
Prosecutors argued during Osgood's trial that he 'enjoyed' the crimes and wanted to fulfill a fantasy
Chief Assistant District Attorney CJ Robinson told jurors during the trial that Osgood 'enjoyed' committing the crimes and wanted to fulfill a fantasy.
'The same things you heard ... that turned your stomach, turned him on,' Robinson argued, according to the Montgomery Advertiser's reporting at the time.
Osgood was found guilty of attacking Wilemon while she was in her bedroom and forcing her to perform sex acts on him and his girlfriend. He then slashed Wilemon's throat multiple times and stabbed her in the back.
'I know there was a lot of cutting involved, but it wasn't a crime of violence. There was no anger involved. I was scared. She wasn't dying, so I kept cutting her throat and neck,' he confessed to the Chilton County Sheriff's Department.
He said he had 'nothing against' Wilemon and apologized to her during her last moments.
The judge presiding over the trial said he couldn't think of a 'darker set of facts' than what the prosecutors presented.
The gruesome story has finally come to an end as Osgood prepares for death. Meanwhile, Wilemon's family has been forced to reconcile with the tragic killing over a decade later.
Wilemon was found guilty of breaking into Wilemon's home with his girlfriend at the time, forcing her to perform sex acts on them, slashing her throat, and stabbing her back
Wilemon's step-sister and step-mom told USA Today that they were planning on attending Osgood's execution. They described her as a beloved mom who was just repairing her life after a divorce when she was killed
Wilemon's step-sister, Trish Jackson, told USA Today that her family plans to attend the execution.
She told the publication that she traveled to Alabama from Southern California with her mom, 'Just to know that he will be no more.'
'She didn't deserve this. No one does. She was very loved ... She deserved to have the greatest life and flourish,' Jackson said.
Jackson added that Wilemon was fresh off a divorce and was restarting her life when she was brutally murdered.
She said that Wilemon, whose name was still legally Brown when she died, was saving up money to visit her daughter in Arizona when the attack occurred.
Wilemon's daughter has since had two children, and Jackson mourned that she 'would have made an amazing grandmother.'
