EXECUTION #12

Danny Joe Bradley
Executed February 12, 2009 06:15 p.m. by Lethal Injection in Alabama
12th murderer executed in U.S. in 2009
1148th murderer executed in U.S. since 1976
2nd murderer executed in Alabama in 2009
40th murderer executed in Alabama since 1976
Summary:
12 -year-old Rhonda Hardin and her younger brother, Bubba, were left in the care of their stepfather, Danny Joe Bradley. The mother of the children, Judy Bradley, had been hospitalized for more than one week. At approximately 8:00 p.m., Rhonda was watching television with Bubba and Bradley. Rhonda was lying on the couch and asked Bubba to wake her if she fell asleep so that she could move to the bedroom. When Bubba decided to go to bed, Bradley told him not to wake Rhonda but to leave her on the couch. Bradley also told Bubba to go to sleep in the room normally occupied by Mr. and Mrs. Bradley instead of his own bedroom. Bradley claimed that he had fallen asleep and that when he awoke, Rhonda was gone. Her body was found the next day in woods near Bradley's apartment. She had been raped, sodomized and strangled to death. When he discovered her "missing" Bradley went to his in-laws, then to the next door neighbor, before going to the hospital. He claimed to police that he had not left the house before discovering her missing, but was witnessed by a police officer near where the body was eventually discovered. Her brother later testified that Bradley had frequently rendered the children unconscious by squeezing their necks. Fiber evidence from Bradley's home and trunk was also consistent with clothing and bedding fibers from the victim.
Final/Special Meal:
Bradley had no final meal request. He had two fried egg sandwiches for breakfast and a snack during the day.
Final Words:
None.
The Execution
Bradley, 49, was given a lethal injection at 6:15 p.m. at Holman prison after spending 25 years on Alabama’s death row.