Condemned killer wants gags

Patrick Knight is awaiting the death penalty in a Texas prison for shooting his neighbours, Walter and Mary Werner, almost 16 years ago.

But he wants to go out laughing, and will chose the best he receives in the execution chamber.

Knight has received about 250 gags so far, with more being collected via a friend’s MySpace page.

The 39-year-old said: I'm not trying to disrespect the Werners or anything like that.

‘I'm about to die. I'm not going to sit here and whine and cry and moan. I'm not asking for money. I'm not asking for pen pal. All I'm asking for is jokes.’

Knight said he got the idea after a Death Row friend, Vincent Gutierrez, said just before being executed: ‘Where's a stunt double when you need one?’

Lawyer jokes have proved particularly popular, but Knight is very particular about what sort of gag he wants: ‘I'm not going to use any profanity,’ he said, ‘Or any vulgar content.

‘It wouldn't be bad if it was a little bit on the edge. That would be cool.’

Knight, who admits his guilt, is set to die on June 26, when he will become the fifth man to be executed in Texas in the month – bringing the state’s tally to 19 this year alone. At least ten other inmates already have execution dates set for the second half of the year.

The address to send jokes to is: Patrick Knight #999072, Polunsky Unit 3872 FM 350 S. Livingston, Texas 77351, USA

Published: 6 Jun 2007