***UPDATE 6/7/07 AT BOTTOM***

I enjoy gallows humor as much as the next true crime author, however, it is important to dig deeper to see why Knight is about to be executed. According to his Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals petition filed in June of 2006, Knight and an accomplice, Robert Bradfield, snuck into the home of an older married couple, Walter and Mary Ann Werner, on the morning of August 26, 1991, in Amarillo, Texas. The two burglars stayed in the home until later that night when the Werners arrived. Knight proceeded to drag the couple down into their basement where he locked them up. He then went joyrding in the Werners' vehicle with Bradfield.

The following day, according to the petition:

Around midnight on Tuesday, Knight bound, gagged, and blindfolded the couple, forced them into their own van, and drove them to a location in the country about four miles away from their home. He made them get out of the van and kneel, and then he shot each of them in the back of the head, execution-style. He dragged their bodies into a ditch on the side of the road and returned to his trailer house and went to sleep.

Pretty funny stuff, huh?

While in jail awaiting trial, he threatened to kill other inmates, guards, and himself. He also managed to get his hands on a jury list for his own trial. He was discovered to have a screwdriver, a razor blade, sharpened paper clips, a rope, and baby powder mixed with Comet cleanser in his cell and, therefore, spent much of his time in solitary confinement.

Knight later posted a letter on the prison pen-pal site Voices From The Inside, that he was guilty, but, of course, he was not the triggerman.

Knight apparently laughs at the face of Death. According to a recent poem entitled The Race, which is posted at D.R.I.V.E., Knight said of his nemesis, which he is scheduled to face on June 26, 2007:

He sharpens those needle blades - real close so I can hear it

then rages away like a mad man - at my smile and unbroken spirit

I'd like to know what you think about Knight's request for a final joke? Should prisoners be allowed to have MySpace pages? Should Doreen Hawk, an anti-death penalty advocate and creator of Knight's MySpace profile, set up a page for the Werners?

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***UPDATE 6/7/07***

In Cold Blog was one of the very first blogs to report on the "Dead Man Laughing" situation. Two days after the story appeared here, the MSM picked up on it and have been running blurbs all week.

***

I spoke with several of Patrick Knight's MySpace "friends" who have posted jokes on his profile. The majority are female, they seem relatively nice, and they seem to have no idea exactly what Knight did to the Werner couple. One friend said she misunderstood what the request was for and that she thought it was for "innocent" death row inmates. They are adamantly anti-death penalty and cite "compassion" as their reason for posting.

Unfortunately, Knight's MySpace profile creator Doreen Hawk was not even aware of one crucial fact in regard to her friend's murderous activities. I asked her if Knight still claims that he did not pull the trigger as was linked to in the above post where Knight himself said he did not fire the weapon. Hawk replied that Knight had never made such a claim. After I pointed out his own letter where he denied ultimate responsibility Hawk replied, "Patrick does take responsability (sic) for these murders is what I should have said."

***

On a more positive note in regard to Hawk, she did take my advice to attempt to help crime victims in some way. She has set up a Patrick Knight - Dead Man Laughing merchandise shop at Cafepress.com where she is selling T-shirts, buttons, magnets, and caps with Knight's mug on them. The good thing is that 100% of the proceeds are going to a charitable organization called Families of Missing Children. Unfortunately, no link to the charity was provided. Hawk stated "We are trying to make something good out of this," in a 6/6/07 MySpace bulletin.

***

Rapper Capital-"X" has recorded a song entitled "Dead Man Laughing" about Patrick Knight's incarceration on death row. It is difficult to tell for sure from his MySpace profile, but it looks as if Mr. "X"'s track will "drop" on June 26, 2007 -- the same day as Knight's execution.

The song is not "X"'s default song so you will have to go to the last song on his player to hear it.