Robert Drew
Harris
County, Texas
Date of Crime: February 21, 1983
Executed August 2, 1994
Robert Nelson Drew was convicted of the murder of
17-year-old Jeffrey Mays. In Feb. 1983, Mays went traveling with his high
school friend, Bee Landrum, in Landrum's 1973 Maverick. Both were runaways
with alcohol and drug problems. While traveling, the two picked up numerous
hitchhikers along the way to obtain gas money. In Lafayette, LA they picked
up Drew, then 23, and a man surnamed Frank. Mays and Landrum agreed to drive
the men thirty miles east to Franklin, LA. Drew assumed driving duty within
4 blocks of his pick-up point, but got stuck in the mud while crossing a
highway median to make a U-turn. In Franklin, Frank bought pizza and beer
for everyone, filled Landrum's car with gas, and gave Drew $65. Mays and
Landrum agreed to take Drew to Houston in exchange for more gas money.
Mays and Landrum, with Drew, headed west and passed again through Lafayette
where they picked up a hitchhiker, John Sly, whom they had previously given
a ride. Just outside Lafayette, they picked up a third hitchhiker, Ernest
Puralewski. Everyone was drinking beer except Mays, who was driving. At
least one marijuana cigarette was passed around, which everyone smoked
except Mays. Drew and Puralewski engaged in conversation. Puralewski stated
that he was on the run and that he had been imprisoned with Charles Manson
in California.
Mays apparently was unnerved by Puralewski, and after stopping he said he
learned through a phone call that his father was sick and that he had to
return home to Alabama. Although Mays was persuaded to continue on, he was
subsequently stabbed, killed, and left behind. John Sly departed from the
group prior to the murder. He testified that Puralewski robbed him at
knifepoint of $10 to $15 and told him to “get your ass out of here.”
Twenty minutes after Mays was killed, Landrum, Drew, and Puralewski pulled
into a Baytown, Texas truck stop. (Mays' body was found a half-mile down
I-10 from the stop towards Houston.) Drew and Puralewski entered a store to
buy beer. A clerk noticed Drew had a cut over his left eye and blood on his
clothes. Drew later said the cut over his eye was caused by a jack handle
during his efforts to free the car from the mud in Louisiana. The trio
continued on, stopping at a restaurant and a Houston nightclub. Puralewski
then said he wanted to “roll a faggot,” and left to enter a “faggot bar.”
Landrum and Drew then drove away without him. The two were stopped shortly
thereafter for a traffic violation and were arrested.
At Drew's trial, Landrum testified that he saw the murder from the driver's
seat at night through the rear view mirror. He said he saw Drew pull Mays'
head back and slash his throat. Landrum even re-enacted the killing for the
jury. The medical examiner testified that the cuts on Mays' neck came from a
left handed person; Drew was left-handed. The knife that killed Mays was
owned by Landrum and found in Puralewski's possession when the same was
arrested. Puralewski, who was awaiting his own trial for capital murder,
refused to testify at Drew's trial. Drew was sentenced to death.
A tape recording later emerged, taken within hours of the murder, on which
Landrum said he had not seen the murder. He passed a polygraph to this
effect. This evidence had been withheld by the prosecution for five years.
Landrum recanted his trial testimony. However, after a conversation with
prosecutors he recanted his recantation.
Prior to Drew's trial, Puralewski signed statements stating Drew was the
killer. After the trial Puralewski pled guilty in return for a reduced
sentence. He later swore that he and he alone committed the killing: “I am
the person who murdered Jeffrey Mays and Robert Drew is innocent.”
Puralewski also stated that Drew played no role in the killing and was in
fear of his own life at the time. Before pleading guilty Puralewski told at
least three people that he alone killed Mays; after pleading guilty he told
others the same thing. Puralewski had only spent part of one day with Drew.
He had no personal reason to spare Drew. Drew always maintained his
innocence.
The prosecution argued that Drew killed Mays in order to steal from him.
According to a police officer, Drew had produced Mays' driver's license when
he stopped Landrum's car and he also had Mays' wallet. According to Landrum,
Drew also had Mays' watch and jacket. Drew had no criminal record for
robbery or any other offense. He had paid a pawn broker to recover items for
Mays prior to the murder and had paid for gas for the car. Shortly after
Mays was killed, Puralewski had said he did not want Mays' body to be
identified by his possessions. It would appear that Drew kept or took Mays'
possessions due to Puralewski's demand, possibly with no intent to keep them
after Puralewski was gone. Since Puralewski had robbed Sly, but expressed no
interest in Mays' possessions, the possessions presumably were not worth
much.
Two years after Houston judge Charles J. Hearn signed Drew's death warrant
with a happy face, Drew was executed by lethal injection at Huntsville on
Aug. 2, 1994. His last statement was, “I don't know why Marta Glass wasn't
allowed in here. I love you all. Keep the faith. Remember the death penalty
is murder. They are taking the life of an innocent man. My attorney, Ron
Kuby, will read my letter at a press conference after this is over. That is
all I have to say. I love you all.” [2/11]
________________________________
References: Skeptical
Juror Scorecard,
New York Times,
Drew v. State,
Drew v. Collins, Texas Defender Service,
Texas Department of Criminal Justice
Posted in:
Victims of the State,
Houston Cases,
Defendants Executed by Texas
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