As the UPI report goes on to note, Keith had an opportunity to avoid the death penalty for his crimes through a plea deal. In the deal, which a judge refused, he would plead guilty to kidnapping in exchange for a chance at parole. Against the advice of his counsel, Keith then pleaded guilty to all charges against him, leading to his time spent on death row. As of UPI’s report, he otherwise fought all efforts to overturn his conviction or stay his execution. Journalist Dennis Jones was close to Keith at that time. Jones said (via UPI), “He has no intention of being saved from this … He believes he killed a man and he needs to pay for it.”
The reason that Keith at first gave for killing Shryock was that it was an involuntary reaction to himself being shot by a police sniper. According to Jones, who witnessed the incident, and Keith himself, who later walked back his motive, that version of events was soon cast in doubt. Jones said (via UPI), “He knew and I knew that wasn’t true. Too much time had elapsed between the sniper fire and the fatal gunshot that killed Shryock for it to have truly been unintentional.”
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