Earl Alexander Frederick Sr. executed for 1989 beating death

McALESTER, Okla. (AP) _ Relatives of Bradford Lee Beck waited 13 years to get the justice they sought. <br><br>Now that the man who killed Beck has been executed, they feel justice has been served. <br><br>Earl

Wednesday, July 31st 2002, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

McALESTER, Okla. (AP) _ Relatives of Bradford Lee Beck waited 13 years to get the justice they sought.

Now that the man who killed Beck has been executed, they feel justice has been served.

Earl Alexander Frederick Sr. was executed Tuesday for Beck's 1989 beating death. Frederick was pronounced dead at 6:19 p.m. after receiving a lethal injection of drugs.

Members of Beck's who witnessed the execution declined to speak publicly afterwards, Attorney General's office spokesman Charlie Price said. The family released a statement saying they felt justice had been served.

``I never thought I would live to see the execution carried out,'' the statement said. ``I am relieved to know that justice will be served this evening.''

``The loss of (Brad's) life has impacted our lives in more ways than we can count,'' it said.

When asked if he had a last statement, Frederick said, ``I wish to express my deepest sorrow to the Beck family and the Fox family.

``I'm sorry it's taken this long to have justice served for y'all, but it's being served now.''

A woman who was one of seven witnesses for Frederick fought back tears and let out a gasp when the time of death was announced.

Frederick, 51, had told the Attorney General's office he wanted to waive his appeals.

Prosecutors said the 41-year-old Beck, a partially paralyzed Vietnam War veteran, befriended Frederick in November of 1989. Beck let Frederick stay with him and told his family that Frederick was an old war buddy. Beck said the two had stayed together at a veterans hospital.

Beck's body had started to decompose when it was found in a field in Midwest City on Jan. 15, 1990. The medical examiner listed the cause of death as undetermined head trauma.

Police said Frederick killed Beck on Nov. 11, 1989, stole his clothes and pickup, and drove to Texas.

Eight days later, Frederick was arrested in Amarillo, Texas, on suspicion of killing Shirley Fox, 77, in the Texas Panhandle. Texas authorities decided not to pursue the case when they learned Oklahoma officials would be seeking the death penalty.

Court records show Frederick admitted to Texas authorities that he killed Beck.

Frederick was first tried and sentenced in 1992.

In 1995, the Oklahoma Criminal Court of Appeals ordered a second trial saying Frederick was denied testimony of a medical witness at the first trial.

Frederick was convicted and sentenced to death again in 1998.

Frederick said he hadn't wanted a second trial.

``I did not want the Beck family or my family to have to relive the nightmare of another trial,'' he said in a February 2001 letter to Assistant Attorney General Sandy Howard. ``I certainly feel the conviction and sentence I received the first time was justified.''

The former Noble assistant police chief is the fourth person executed in Oklahoma this year. He requested fried chicken, biscuits and chocolate pie as his last meal.

The state executed John Joseph Romano on Jan. 29 for the 1985 death of an Oklahoma City jeweler. Romano's co-defendant, David Wayne Woodruff, was put to death two days later.

Last week, Randall Eugene Cannon was executed for the kidnapping and killing of an 84-year-old Oklahoma City woman.