Stewart was tried and convicted of three of the four murders he committed in Illinois and for the two murders he committed in Wisconsin. He was sentenced to two consecutive life terms for the murders he committed in Wisconsin and sentenced to death for the murders he committed in Illinois. During one of his murder trials in April 1982, Stewart fled the courtroom and attempted to hide in an oilcan. He sustained a shoulder wound during his escape attempt. After exhausting his appeals, Stewart had an execution date set. At a clemency hearing with the Illinois Prisoner Review Board, Stewart submitted a 15-minute taped statement. He claimed that he hated white people at the time of the murders, since white people were responsible for the deaths of his childhood idols,
John F. Kennedy and
Martin Luther King Jr. Some noted that this did not fully explain what he had done since Stewart's first two victims, Fredd and Pearson, were both black. Stewart also mentioned the incidents with his girlfriend and landlord, as well as his anger over his robbery conviction. After explaining himself, Stewart expressed remorse, saying "All these crimes were morally and legally wrong. I want to apologize." He admitted that he personally believed that he deserved what he was getting, saying "The victims had not done anything to me. It was as if I was playing games with the police. In my way of thinking, I deserve the death penalty." At his clemency hearing, Constance Mitchell, the cousin of Willie Fredd and mother of Albert Pearson, supported Stewart's bid to receive a positive recommendation from the board for his sentence to be commuted to life in prison without parole, as she did not believe in capital punishment. "I believe with all my heart that my son is in heaven," Mitchell said. She said she opposed the death penalty and that only God has the right to take a life away. "I must learn to forgive him or I will carry this pain with me until I die," she said. However, most of the other relatives of Stewart's victims were adamantly opposed to clemency. "Please, don't let this man escape his punishment," said Willie Fredd's son, Alex Fredd. "He deserves the death penalty. He has to pay for what he did. Not to my father, but to me." Alex said he became an alcoholic, dropped out of school, and watched the health of his mother and grandmother worsen after Stewart murdered Willie. Alex said he often thought about how he learned about what happened. He said he was in his biology class at
Rock Valley College when he was pulled out and told that his father and cousin had been shot. When Alex went back to school he could not concentrate well, and ended up failing to obtain a degree in business administration. He was present at almost all of Stewart's court hearings. He said he wanted the case done and over with, and that he was planning to leave Rockford after the execution to leave his bad memories behind. Thelma Crawford, Willie's mother, said Stewart deserved to die. "I asked whether he; was sorry for what he had done, and he indicated that he was, so I blessed him," Bernardin recounted. "I said, 'We both face premature death. This is the reason for both of us to put our lives in the hands of God.'" Stewart had final visits from a brother, a sister, and his teenage daughter. == See also ==