The Houston Chronicle

The Graham Execution:Key Witness Asks God to Save Killer's Soul

June 23, 2000, Friday 3 STAR EDITION

SECTION: A17

ALAN BERNSTEIN

As Gary Graham prepared to die, Bernadine Skillern prepared to pray.

Graham's lawyers made futile moves to save his life. Skillern said she would ask God to save his soul.

Skillern's testimony in 1981 was a key element to the prosecution's case that led to Graham's execution Thursday. But Skillern said Thursday she is not an advocate for the death penalty.

So it went for Skillern about five hours before Graham was put to death. She was in a subdued and thoughtful mood, at home in Houston with relatives.

"I just want the community to have a closure to this, and we can all move on," she said softly.

In Graham's capital murder trial, Skillern identified Graham as the man who shot Bobby Lambert during a robbery in a supermarket parking lot. No other witness fingered Graham as the killer.

Using Graham's case as their latest rallying cry, critics of capital punishment said no one should be put to death on the basis of a sole eyewitness because such testimony is unreliable. Skillern said she saw what she saw and that her testimony remains unshaken.

"I guess I'm just relieved," Skillern said about the fact that Graham would be executed. "There's no joy there, and there is no remorse, since I know what the young man did."

Skillern, a school secretary, went to work Thursday. At home afterward, she talked to a Chronicle reporter by telephone. She declined to be interviewed in the evening after Graham was put to death.

As the execution time approached, she went out with family members.

"I know that I am going to pray again for Mr. Graham," Skillern said.

Why?

"He is a human being and his soul needs to be saved," she answered.

And what words would she choose for her prayer?

"That is going to be a private prayer between me and God."

It was not the only pressing thought that Skillern chose to keep to herself Thursday afternoon.

While solid in her belief that Graham took a life, she would not say if she believed that Graham's life should be taken, too.

"What I have been saying is I am not an advocate of the death penalty," she said. "But again I really believe that my position on how I am feeling about the death penalty should be a privacy thing. I am not acknowledging whether I am for or against the death penalty."

Skillern said Thursday she was "trying to keep out of my mind the fact that some people actually believe that I was responsible for this young man's final destiny.

"Mr. Graham was responsible for his own destiny," Skillern said. "I just came forward and told the truth about what I saw."

Her tone remained gentle as she made the strident comment. But it was even more as gentle as she mentioned that she was thinking about the feelings of Graham's family. Graham's mother visited him in prison Thursday morning.

"I understand that this young man has loved ones, and they were very genuine in their love for him and are not just supporting him because of the sensationalism and the actors and the other people," Skillern said. "You have to consider them (Graham's relatives) also."

Actor Danny Glover and other celebrities supported Graham's quest for exoneration.

As Skillern spoke, demonstrators outside the death chamber in Huntsville voiced their opinions about the death penalty and law enforcement officers guarded against violent confrontations.

Far removed from the tension, Skillern was thinking about the scene.

"I would hope and I would pray that people would stay peaceful and just let this go as it should, not carry on and cause other things to happen or act out in anyway," Skillern said. "Our world is in enough trouble as it is with violence."

As Graham's supporters stepped up their public activities last week, Skillern surfaced and stated at a news conference that she is sticking by her version of the 1981 crime. Her face, with its pensive expression, became noteworthy for at least one day.

Skillern said she is recognized by strangers now, but "not as much as people would think."

She said she hopes that the end of Graham's life will bring the end of her time in the spotlight.

"I am hoping that this brings closure and my life will be back to have some normal," she said.

LOAD-DATE: June 24, 2000

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