in the head with Andrews’ .38. He thusrnmade an individual deeision to acceleraternthe murder objective mutuallyrnagreed upon with Andrews. While twornof the victims were saved, examinationsrnlater confirmed that all of them wouldrnhave died from poisoning had the’ beenrnleft unattended.rnBoth Andrews and Selby were black.rnAccordingly, the all-white jury at thern1974 “Hi-Fi Murder” trial became anrnissue, as did the fact that prospectivernjuror James Gillespie, Jr., a black man,rnwas dismissed by the prosecutor in arnperemptory challenge. But it was therndefense that first sought to dismiss Mr.rnGillespie, because he was a law enforcementrnofficer (and thus considered prejudicedrnin favor of testimony from otherrnlaw enforcement officers). When thernjudge refused to grant the defense’srnmotion, the prosecution asked forrnGillespie’s dismissal in order to deny arnpossible basis for an appeal. Prior tornAndrews’ death, Gillespie publicly supportedrnthe sentence and insisted that thern1974 trial was untainted by racism. Ironically,rnit was Gillespie—who now worksrnas director of field communications forrnthe Utah Department of Corrections—rnwho delivered the official announcementrnof Andrews’ execution.rnSelby was executed in 1987, provokingrnpredictable protests from opponents ofrncapital punishment. Many objected tornthe “racist” application of the deathrnpenalty: several white murderers in Utahrnare serving life sentences, rather than anticipatingrnexecution on death row. AsrnAndrews’ execution approached, the “socialrnjustice” industry began to protestrnthat he was merely an accomplice to thernlethal crime and thus not properly arnmurderer.rnhi the final weeks before Andrews’ execution,rnhis supporters depicted him as arnquiet, modest young man who had beenrnhelplessly drawn into Selby’s orbit. Butrnboth his military and prison records beliernsuch a description. Andrews’ role inrnthe murders had been well-establishedrnat the trial; the procedural questions relatedrnto the trial had been examined inrnsix separate appeals to the SupremernCourt, hitcrviews with Selby and Andrewsrnconducted b social workers hadrnprovided evidence that it was Andrews,rnnot Selby, who took the initiative inrnplanning the crime.rnThere was no reason to believe thatrnAndrews had been “rehabilitated” duringrnhis 18-year tenancy on death row. Hisrnpersonal record at the Utah state prisonrnis replete with escape attempts, arsonrnattempts, threats of sexual assault, andrnacts of physical assault. On one occasion,rnfor example, Andrews somehowrnconstructed a spear, which he threw at arnprison guard.rnIn an execution-eve interview on localrnpublic television, Andrews complainedrnthat “I haven’t had a chance to enjoyrnthe more beautiful things in life. I’vernnever seen the ocean, I’ve never seen thernGrand Canyon. There are so many goodrnpeople in the world I never got a chancernto meet.” (He met a few in the hi-firnstore one esening, with fatal consequencesrnfor them.) He uttered not onernsyllable of remorse for his acts nor regretrntoward the surviving victims.rnI’he contention that Utah’s deathrnpenalty is racist in application is difficultrnto sustain. Of the 47 murderers executedrnby the state of Utah before Andrews,rn41 were white; the remainder ofrnthe total was divided e’enlv amongrnblacks, Ilispanics, and American Indians.rnThis allotment is representative ofrnthe state’s racial composition.rnNevertheless, career leftists and racebaitersrnbesieged the state. Amnesty Internationalrnorchestrated an internationalrnletter-writing campaign on Andrews’rnbehalf; letters from around the globernwere delivered to Utah Governor NormanrnBangerter and published in Utahrnpapers. Telcision actor Mike Farrellrn(B.J. Hunnicutt of M*A*.S*//) wasrnbrought to the state in an attempt tornwin clemency from the governor. In arnspeech to Andrews supporters, black activistrnRon Hampton declared, “We havernreason to believe Utah can be classifiedrnamong the states in the Bible Belt thatrnlive and practice racism.” (Hampton’srnlogic is as reliable as his geography.) ThernUtah chapter of the NAACP announcedrnthat “the color of justice in Utah isrnwhite” and conducted a nightly vigilrnoutside the governor’s mansion. Twornother black organizations filed an appealrnbefore Third District Judge Anne Stirba.rnAttorney Victor Gordon, who representedrnthe organizations, announced thatrn”this execution signals the end to thernhopes that racism and discriminationrnwill end, and will signify .. . the arrival ofrnrepression, and will build the foundationrnfor Apartheid in Utah.” In keeping withrnthe South Africa parallel, Desmond Tuturncalled the Utah NAACP to expressrnsupport for Andrews.rnIn a final testament delivered hoursrnbefore his July 30 execution, Andrewsrnthanked his supporters for their effortsrnand urged them to “continue the fightrnfor social justice after I’m gone.” He alsornexpressed the hope that “maybe a lotrnof white people will learn that black peoplernhave the same emotions, same loes,rnand same hates as they do.”rnBlack “leaders” in Utah saw nothingrnamiss in designating Andrews a symbolrnof the “black community.” But at arnmemorial service Steven Hawkins of thernNAi^CP Legal Defense Fund elevatedrnAndrews beyond the status of martr;rnhe compared him to Jesus Christ, insistingrnthat Andrews was “innocent and unjustlyrnaccused . . . a man whose life hasrnchanged us all and made the world arnbetter place. . . . He has made the ultimaterncontribution to our struggle.”rnThe Utah NAACP has taken strengthrnfrom Andrews’ “sacrifice.” It has evenrnorganized a “William Andrews Committeernfor Equal Justice,” a group thatrnintends to tabulate incidents of individualrnand “institutional” racism, monitorrncourt proceedings, and “educate Utahansrnabout racism.” The William AndrewsrnCommittee will be assisted in thisrneffort by the Utah Martin Luther KingrnHuman Rights Commission, which wasrnestablished by Republican GovernorrnNorman Bangerter’s executive order inrnAugust 1991. One state legislator whornserves on the commission has said thatrninformal contacts between the tworngroups had been made before Andrews’rnexecution.rnThe state Human Rights Commissionrnhas since beatified another criminal.rnLast August, 18-year-old SteviernManzanares was shot while attemptingrnrobberv. Because Manzanares is Hispanic,rnmany elements of Utah’s “socialrnjustice” industry—including the SocialistrnWorkers’ Party and members of thernHuman Rights Commission—have classifiedrnthe shooting a racial incident. Arncoalition of career malcontents organizedrna protest march on Manzanares’rnbehalf in Salt Lake City last August 29.rnAmong the speakers at the protest wasrnJeanette Williams, a vice-president ofrnthe Utah NAACP and a member of thernWilliam Andrews Committee. Shernadded Manzanares’ name to the martyrs’rnroster: “Every time they hear Stevic’srnname, they’ll know we are fightingrnthe injustices here in the state of Utah.”rnThe Human Rights Commission hasrnfew misgivings about Manzanares’ worthinessrnas a hero. When 1 mentionedrn38/CHRONICLESrnrnrn