Bio 

William Joseph Kitchens was born on April 27, 1963, and was from Oklahoma. He grew up in a profoundly troubled environment marked by severe childhood abuse, family turmoil, and a generational struggle with alcoholism, factors his later defense teams would argue severely impacted his psychological development. By his early twenties, Kitchens had relocated from Oklahoma to Texas, where he worked as a laborer and struggled with a severe drinking problem.

On the night of May 16, 1986, while drinking heavily at the Silver Bullet saloon in Abilene, Texas, he crossed paths with 25-year-old Patricia "Patti" Leann Webb. Believing she was safely driving him home, Webb left the venue with Kitchens, who subsequently forced her out of her Pontiac Fiero by her hair, dragged her into a secluded, wooded area, sexually assaulted her, and shot her in the head with a .22 caliber revolver. Kitchens fled to Oklahoma in Webb's stolen vehicle, but after crashing it into a ditch, he was located and arrested at his parents' house, where he provided a full, written confession. 

Though Kitchens pled guilty to murder during his August 1986 trial, the jury deliberated for just fifteen minutes before convicting him of capital murder and sentencing him to death. Over the next fourteen years, his legal appeals focusing on his traumatic upbringing, brain damage, and ineffective counsel were systematically denied. 

Ultimately, at the age of 37, Kitchens was executed by lethal injection at the Huntsville State Penitentiary on May 9, 2000, using his final statement to explicitly clear Webb's name of any infidelity, take full responsibility for forcing her, and offer a long prayer for her surviving family.

Murder Story

On the evening of May 16, 1986, Patricia Leann Webb, a 25-year-old married woman from Abilene, Texas, attended an office party with female co-workers from United Cable of Abilene. The group first went to a restaurant, then to a nightclub, and later to the Silver Bullet saloon. William Joseph Kitchens was also at the Silver Bullet after taking a taxi there from the Abilene motel where he was staying.

Kitchens appeared friendly and danced with several women in the group, including Webb. Witnesses later said they did not see Webb and Kitchens form a romantic connection. When the club closed, the group returned to another parking lot to get their cars. Webb said she was going to drive Kitchens home. Around 12:15 a.m. on May 17, 1986, she left in her white Pontiac Fiero with Kitchens as her passenger.

According to later evidence, Webb and Kitchens went to his motel room. Kitchens later admitted that he forced her, assaulted her, and took her to a secluded wooded area outside Abilene. He beat and strangled her, then shot her in the eye at close range with a .22-caliber pistol. Medical evidence showed that she had been beaten, strangled, shot, and sexually assaulted.

After the killing, Kitchens took Webb’s car, credit cards, checkbook, and other property and drove from Texas to Oklahoma. On May 18, 1986, police in Blanchard, Oklahoma, saw Webb’s white Fiero speeding and pursued it. The car became stuck in a ditch and was abandoned. Officers later found Kitchens at his parents’ home. His mother gave police a .22-caliber revolver, which was identified as the murder weapon.

Kitchens gave statements admitting that he killed Webb. He also gave officers directions that led them to her body and purse outside Abilene. At trial, he pleaded guilty to murder but not guilty to capital murder. The jury convicted him of capital murder on August 28, 1986. The State’s theory included murder during robbery and aggravated sexual assault, and the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals later upheld the conviction.

During the punishment phase, Kitchens testified and admitted telling an officer that he had decided to kill Webb at the motel. He also admitted that he may have forced her to drive to the secluded area where she was killed. His explanation was that he was drunk and believed he was acting against his wife, but the jury rejected mitigation and chose the death penalty.

Kitchens remained on Texas death row for nearly 14 years. His appeals challenged his trial representation, mental-health investigation, and other issues, but state and federal courts denied relief. He was executed by lethal injection on May 9, 2000.