When William Andrews and Pierre Dale Selby were arrested in 1974 for the slayings of three people at Ogden's Hi Fi Shop, Weber County blacks intentionally distanced themselves from the accused men.
Airmen stationed at nearby Hill Air Force Base, Andrews and Selby were considered transients. Fearing racial reprisals, members of Ogden's black community made clear that Ogden blacks were neither part of nor condoned the torture slayings of two women and one man."They (the black community) were outraged with the atrocities of the case," former Weber County Attorney Robert Newey testified Aug. 11 during Andrews' commutation hearing. "They wanted to let me know as county attorney that they certainly did not agree with what occurred."
But black leaders say that didn't stop the white community from lashing out at all blacks.
"They took it out on the whole black community. You know, they didn't even live in Weber County," said James Gillespie, president of the Ogden chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. "Every black who had ever committed a crime and some who were out late were harassed. I'm still upset that black people were harassed."
Some blacks feared for their lives immediately following the slayings, the Rev. Robert L. Harris said in a recent telephone interview.
"Every black person in Utah was afraid. There were rumors at that time they (angry white people) were going to kill 30 black people - 10 for every one they killed," Harris said.
Gillespie says he's still angry that area residents could not differentiate between Ogden's black community and the black airmen accused of killing Sherry Michelle Ansley, Stanley Walker and Carol Naisbitt.
Now, some 15 years later, Gillespie and a number of Utah blacks who decried the violent episode and felt they were innocent victims of the ill will that followed the shootings, are rallying behind Andrews. They say Andrews' participation in the crime does not warrant the death penalty.
Andrews, 34, has been on death row longer than any other inmate in the United States. The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals recently stayed his scheduled execution while it considers new appeals in the case.
Newey said he believes that Andrews was as culpable as Selby for what occurred at the Hi Fi Shop. Andrews denies shooting anyone but he admittedly helped to administer liquid drain cleaner to each of the five victims.
According to an affidavit presented during Andrews' commutation hearing, one of two men who survived the ordeal would have died if he had not received emergency care.
Selby also was sentenced to die for his crimes and was executed by lethal injection in 1987 after exhausting his appeals.
"A lot of people actually don't (believe he deserves the death penalty) because they feel he didn't actually kill the people," Harris said.
Harris said he believes Andrews and Selby both deserved the death penalty. Yet, he questions why whites who committed premeditated murder in Utah did not die for their crimes.
"To me, he deserves to die but not until (Myron) Lance and (Walter) Kelbach are killed first," he said.
Lance and Kelbach killed six people in a shooting spree during the Christmas season of 1966. The men were sentenced to die for their crimes, but the death sentences were reversed 11 years later by order of the U.S. Supreme Court.
Harris said Andrews' support swelled after Selby testified in his own commutation hearing that he - not Andrews - shot the Hi Fi victims.
Gillespie maintains that blacks perceived that the prosecution never should have sought the death penalty in Andrews' case. He was denied fair treatment throughout the 15-year history of his case, he said.
"We didn't think at the time he should have gotten the death penalty. We wanted the cases separated and we said that. The media was so racist at the time that they only printed what they wanted to go in the paper," Gillespie said.
If Andrews is executed, Harris said he anticipates blacks from throughout the country will stage vigorous protests.
"If they would have executed him (Aug. 22), they would have had protesters from other states and a lot of them would come here trying to raise hell.
"People from out of state would have gathered here in Utah, and that's something we wouldn't want."