Joseph Mitchell "Yogi" Parsons (July 22, 1964 – October 15, 1999) was an American who was executed for the August 1987 murder of Richard Lynn Ernest.

[3] During his sentencing hearing, Parsons said that he killed Ernest to fend off a homosexual advance, but was unable to present any evidence to support this claim in his defense.

[9] On the night of October 16 to 17, 1982, Parsons met David Wood in Las Vegas and they took a cab to the Strip in search of marijuana.

[11] After stealing the driver's taxi, the two were caught in an alley and placed under citizen's arrest by Charles Conant and his brother-in-law Ronald Maske, who were both armed with guns.

He was picked up by 30-year-old Richard Lynn Ernest,[3] a concrete laborer from Loma Linda, California, on his way to a construction job in Denver, Colorado.

[1] At about 3 a.m. on August 31, Ernest was too tired to drive and stopped at the Lunt Park rest area near Cedar City, Utah, to get some sleep.

A clerk called the Richfield Police Department after Parsons attempted to purchase $300 worth of items at 12:34 p.m. and the credit card was found to be over its limit.

The attendant back at the Texaco station called the Beaver County Sheriff's Office after discovering bloody items in the dumpster.

[1] On September 1, 1987, Ernest's body was discovered underneath a sleeping bag dumped on the east side of Interstate 15,[1] about a mile north of the rest area where he had been killed.

[15] According to forensic psychiatrist David Tomb from the University of Utah, the descriptions of Parsons' sexual history indicated that he "may have been the one initiating the contact and became angry when [Ernest] turned him down.

On October 16, 1989, the court unanimously upheld the conviction and rejected his appeal on the grounds that Parsons should have raised that objection before he waived his right to a trial with his guilty plea.

[19] On March 5, 1990, District Judge J. Philip Eves rejected Parsons' complaint that he was denied his right to legal counsel while in prison and set his execution date for April 30, 1990.

[6] A new team of attorneys, which included Gregory Sanders and Ronald Yengich of the Rocky Mountain Defense Fund,[20] took up Parsons' appeal that he had ineffective counsel during his trial.

[9] On August 16, 1999, District Judge Philip Eves signed a death warrant and scheduled Parsons' execution for October 15.

[24] Parsons submitted a last request to walk under the stars, play basketball,[25] and watch science-fiction films to prison warden Hank Galetka.

They shared his last meal of Burger King hamburgers, French fries, milkshakes, root beer, and chocolate chip ice cream.

[27] Parsons's attorney said he believed his client chose this meal because the Burger King slogan "Have it your way" was a reflection of him taking control of his life.

[25][27][28] Parsons would become the first inmate to be executed in a new chamber that was built in 1998 at Utah State Prison for use in either firing squads or lethal injections.

The prison selected among paramedics or nurses because the American Medical Association prohibits licensed physicians from participating in executions.

[31] Fellow inmate Doug "Woody" Lovell stated "Rainbow Warrior" was instead referring to the colorful racing car of NASCAR champion Jeff Gordon.

[5] Although Parsons requested that no one protest his death,[32] the American Civil Liberties Union of Utah planned to organize a candlelight vigil in opposition to the execution.

Deputy attorney general Reed Richards presumed that the media apathy was a result of Parsons' choice of lethal injection, which was more broadly adopted in the United States than execution by firing squad, which was unique to Utah.