Ruthann Veal

Veal stabbed 66-year-old Catherine Haynes to death and robbed her. In the Human Rights Watch’s report, they ignore the substantial evidence against Veal and only acknowledge that she stole from Haynes. While they admit that Haynes was stabbed and killed, they fail to acknowledge that Veal was the person responsible for her murder.

The Truth

“Catherine Haynes, age sixty-six, was stabbed to death at her Waterloo home sometime between 6:00 p.m. on June 15 and 6:00 a.m. on June 16, 1993….”

“At about 8:45 or 9:00 p.m., victim Catherine Haynes visited
briefly at a neighbor’s house across the street from her own house….”

“Between 10:00 and 11:00 p.m., a number of long-distance telephone calls were placed from Haynes’ residence to the residences of friends and relatives of defendant Veal….”

“At about midnight on June 15, Veal drove around in Haynes’ car near a Waterloo convenience store, showed several young people that she had some credit cards, and offered to pay
their way if they accompanied her to Cedar Rapids….”

“Defendant Veal told Parsons that she needed to get rid of the car and parked it about a block away from Richardson’s house. Veal hid the clothes she had been wearing earlier—the
green slacks and white shirt—in a bush….”

“Haynes’ body was discovered at her Waterloo home that afternoon. She was wearing the same clothes she had worn when she visited with her neighbors the previous evening. She apparently had struggled with her murderer and had been stabbed twenty-three times.”

“During the afternoon of the next day, June 17, while walking with Parsons near Richardson’s Cedar Rapids house, defendant Veal threw Haynes’ credit cards and car keys into a trash can….”

“In Haynes’ house, investigators found Veal’s fingerprint on a table and a false fingernail, which had been attached to one of Veal’s fingers, near Haynes’ body in an upstairs hall. A footprint found in an upstairs bedroom matched those made by Veal’s shoes. Veal’s clothes and person provided further evidence. Her white shirt and green pants were stained with human blood, although witnesses had seen no such stains at 6:00p.m. on June 15. Veal’s shoes had bloodstains that were consistent with Haynes’ blood but inconsistent with Veal’s blood.” State v. Veal, 564 N.W.2d 797, 804–05 (Iowa 1997).

Anti-JLWOP Activist’s Version

“Court documents indicate that after running away, Alexis entered the home of a woman under
the pretense of needing to use the phone, and she was later found to have taken and used the
woman’s car and credit cards. The sixty-six-year-old woman was found dead from multiple stab wounds.”

Sources

Amnesty International/Human Rights Watch, The Rest of Their Lives: Life without Parole for Child Offenders in the United States, page 51.

Research from the Heritage Foundation’s Adult Time For Adult Crime.