Execution Tuesday in Cumby murder case

By Scott Harvey

Cumby – An execution is scheduled for Tuesday in connection with an area capital murder case.

Joseph Ray Ries, or Oregon, was convicted in November 1999 for a slaying near Cumby.

Ries, and a co-defendant, are alleged on Feb. 22, 1999, to have broken into a residence on Farm-To-Market Road 3134 north of Cumby belonging to 64-year old Robert Lee Ratliff, who was asleep at the time. The defendants shot the victim in the back, neck and head with a 22-caliber pistol and then stole Ratliff's 1991 Lincoln.

The pair were arrested in Lawton, Okla., inside the stolen car.