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Execution Watch with Ray Hill will be on the net here from 6:00 PM CT to 7:00 PM CT on any day Texas executes a prisoner. TDCJ's list of Scheduled Executions Past Executions and Programs Check the NEW News! Links Blog 
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| Elroy Chester III |
| Wednesday, June 12, 2013 at 6:00 pm |
| Execution |
 A jury sentenced him to death after he pleaded guilty to the 1998 fatal shooting of a Port Arthur firefighter who was was slain after arriving at his sister's home during a robbery. Chester's attorneys argued on appeal that he is ineligible for execution because he is mentally impaired, but a divided federal appeals court upheld the sentence. Chester's previous execution date of April 24, 2013, was delayed by the trial court in response to a motion he filed. |
| Kimberly McCarthy |
| Wednesday, June 26, 2013 at 6:00 pm |
| Execution |
 A former crack addict who was sentenced to death for the 1997 slaying of an elderly woman during a home robbery near Dallas. McCarthy, 51, is the former wife of New Black Panther Party founder Aaron Michaels, with whom she has a son. She is one of 10 women on Texas death row. Since an execution date was announced in September 2013, she has been the only woman with a scheduled execution. Three of the nearly 500 people Texas has put to death in the modern era have been women. The week before her scheduled execution April 3, 2013, McCarthy's attorneys persuaded a judge to delay it until June 26. Hours before her date several months earlier, Jan. 29, a judge put it off until April 3. Among the attorneys' assertions was that jury selection in McCarthy's trial was tainted by racism.
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| Backpage on Kimberly McCarthy |
| Rigoberto Avila Jr. |
| Wednesday, July 10, 2013 at 6:00 pm |
| Execution |
 The 40-year-old veteran from El Paso was convicted in the February 2000 slaying of his girlfriend's son while babysitting. Avila served in the military during Desert Storm. The execution of an El Paso man convicted in the beating death of his girlfriend's 19-month-old son in 2000 has been delayed for a 2nd time. Rigoberto Avila Jr., 40, was scheduled to be put to death April 10, 2013, when a judge granted a set-off until July 10 to give defense attorneys time to explore new evidence pointing to his innocence. An earlier execution date of Dec. 12, 2012, was also delayed by a judge.
Following a court hearing this morning, 41st District Judge Anna Perez ruled additional time is necessary to allow Avila's defense attorneys to explore possible new evidence of Avila's innocence. Perez also ordered that a new execution date be scheduled for July 10.
The U.S. Supreme Court declined in 2010 to hear an appeal filed by his attorney, Robin Norris. In A |
| Backpage on Rigoberto Avila Jr. |
| John Quintanilla Jr. |
| Tuesday, July 16, 2013 at 6:00 pm |
| Execution |
 Arrested in a Victoria, Texas, robbery that turned deadly, Quintanilla was convicted - along with Jeffrey Bibb - of slipping into an amusement arcade wearing a mask and brandishing a rifle, demanding cash from a worker and ordering customers to lie down on the floor. The murder victim, a former sheriff's deputy, was shot three times when he stood up and grabbed Quintanilla's weapon. Bibb and Quintanilla were charged with capital murder in the 2002 slaying. Bibb received a lengthy prison sentence. |
| Backpage on John Quintanilla Jr. |
| Vaughn Ross |
| Thursday, July 18, 2013 at 6:00 pm |
| Execution |
 A former architecture student at Texas Tech, he was condemned in the 2001 murders of an 18-year-old woman he was feuding with and a Texas Tech associate dean who happened to be with her. Ross's attorneys argued that police contaminated DNA testing by mishandling it and suggested the slayings stemmed from Birdsall's visits to "a high-crime area" to patronize prostitutes. Family members of the victims said the death sentence brought them little peace. The relatives included Birdsall's son, Nat, who opposes the death penalty and said his father did, too. |
| Backpage on Vaughn Ross |
| Douglas Feldman |
| Wednesday, July 31, 2013 at 6:00 pm |
| Execution |
 The former financial analyst from Richardson, Texas, was convicted of shooting to death two truck drivers in separate road-rage incidents in 1998. A federal appeals court in September rejected Feldman's appeal, in which he claimed his trial lawyers were deficient, the jury received incorrect instructions, and a prospective juror was improperly dismissed. |
| Backpage on Douglas Feldman |
| Robert Garza |
| Thursday, September 19, 2013 at 6:00 pm |
| Execution |
 Condemned after being convicted of two capital murder charges in the 2002 shooting deaths of four women in Donna, Texas. Garza had his appeal rejected in February 2013 by the U.S. Supreme Court. According to court records, Garza was among four men who targeted six women as they left Garcia’s Bar following their shifts as waitresses. State prosecutors said another man had ordered a hit on the women because he believed they had been called to testify against him in an attempted murder case. Authorities said the men mistakenly killed the wrong women. Garza reportedly told law enforcement he witnessed the shootings and knew of the plot but did not fire a gun. A jury convicted him of the crime under the Texas law of parties, which makes it unnecessary to prove a defendant killed a victim in order to hold him or her equally responsible for the crime if a secondary role can be proven. |
| Backpage on Robert Garza |
| Arturo Elizar Diaz |
| Thursday, September 26, 2013 at 6:00 pm |
| Execution |
| Convicted of murdering a man by stabbing him 94 times. The 1999 slaying occurred in the victim's apartment in McAllen, Texas. Authorities said Diaz and another man went to the apartment to rob the victim. On appeal, Diaz argued that his attorneys erred in the sentencing hearing by failing to call relatives to testify about his childhood, which was filled with poverty, neglect, violence and self-mutilation. The mitigating information, he argued, might have swayed a jury to spare his life. The courts rejected the argument, determining that Diaz's defense attorneys were only honoring his request that they not involve his relatives. |
| Jefferey D. Williams |
| Wednesday, May 15, 2013 |
| Execution |
 Condemned in the 1999 shooting death of a Houston Police Officer who was trying to arrest him for driving a stolen Lexus. The officer was alive when backup arrived but died later of his wounds. A delay in the arrival of an ambulance sparked a probe of the Houston Fire Department's dispatching procedures. The contention was that the officer might have survived had he received treatment sooner. Investigators found that the dispatcher initially misdirected the ambulance to a location miles away. |
| Backpage on Jefferey D. Williams |
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| John Quintanilla Jr. |
| Tuesday, May 14, 2013 |
| Execution |
 Arrested in a Victoria, Texas, robbery that turned deadly, Quintanilla was convicted - along with Jeffrey Bibb - of slipping into an amusement arcade wearing a mask and brandishing a rifle, demanding cash from a worker and ordering customers to lie down on the floor. The murder victim, a former sheriff's deputy, was shot three times when he stood up and grabbed Quintanilla's weapon. Bibb and Quintanilla were charged with capital murder in the 2002 slaying. Bibb received a lengthy prison sentence. |
| Backpage on John Quintanilla Jr. |
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| Carroll Joe Parr | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tuesday, May 7, 2013 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Listen to the program Download the program | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Execution | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 Parr grew up in poverty so extreme, he was often given baked dirt to eat. His sister once tried to kill him. Texas plans to execute Parr for the shooting death of a man in a drug deal outside a North Waco convenience store in 2003. Parr and his fall partner, Earl Whiteside, were accused of approaching two men sitting in a car, forcing them to the side of the building, and robbing and shooting them. One victim survived. Whiteside testified against Parr and received a 15-year sentence on a plea to aggravated robbery. Parr’s would be the 497th Texas execution in the modern death-penalty era. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Backpage on Carroll Joe Parr | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Richard Cobb | ||||||
| Thursday, April 25, 2013 | ||||||
| Listen to the program Download the program | ||||||
| Execution | ||||||
 One of two men condemned in a 2002 robbery-slaying in the small, East Texas town of Ruskin. He and Beunka Adams (executed April 26, 2012) were convicted of forcing three convenience-store workers into a car, driving them to a field, raping one of the women, and shooting all three with a shotgun. One worker, a mentally disabled man, died. The women survived by playing dead. | ||||||
| Backpage on Richard Cobb | ||||||
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| Elroy Chester III |
| Wednesday, April 24, 2013 |
| Execution |
 A jury sentenced him to death after he pleaded guilty to the 1998 fatal shooting of a Port Arthur firefighter who was was slain after arriving at his sister's home during a robbery. Chester's attorneys argued on appeal that he is ineligible for execution because he is mentally impaired, but a divided federal appeals court upheld the sentence. |
| Backpage on Elroy Chester III |
| Return to Top |
| Ronnie Paul Threadgill |
| Tuesday, April 16, 2013 |
| Execution |
 Threadgill, 38, was sentenced to death for a slaying in 2001 outside a Navarro County nightclub. He was convicted of firing two shots into a car, hitting a 17-year-old who was in the back seat. The U.S. Supreme Court declined in 2012 to review the case. Threadgill's appeal asserted that his lawyers should have negotiated for a felony murder charge instead of capital murder and should have rebutted an alleged shooting in Freestone County that was brought up during the trial. |
| Backpage on Ronnie Paul Threadgill |
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| Rigoberto Avila Jr. | ||||||
| Wednesday, April 10, 2013 | ||||||
| Execution | ||||||
 The 40-year-old veteran from El Paso was convicted in the February 2000 slaying of his girlfriend's son while babysitting. Avila served in the military during Desert Storm. The U.S. Supreme Court declined in 2010 to hear an appeal filed by his attorney, Robin Norris. | ||||||
| Backpage on Rigoberto Avila Jr. | ||||||
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| Rickey Lynn Lewis |
| Tuesday, April 9, 2013 |
| Listen to the program Download the program |
| Execution |
 Convicted of sexually assaulting a Tyler woman and killing her fiance during a home burglary in 1990. A previous execution date was stayed because of claims that Lewis had extremely poor intellectual functioning, but a court ruled in 2005 that his intellectual abilities were not an issue. |
| Backpage on Rickey Lynn Lewis |
| Return to Top |
| Kimberly McCarthy |
| Wednesday, April 3, 2013 |
| Execution |
| A former crack addict who was sentenced to death for the 1997 slaying of an elderly woman during a home robbery near Dallas. McCarthy, 51, is the former wife of New Black Panther Party founder Aaron Michaels, with whom she has a son. She is one of 10 women on Texas death row. Since the date was announced Sept. 12, she has been the only one with a scheduled execution. Three of the nearly 500 people Texas has put to death in the modern era have been women. Hours before her scheduled execution Jan. 29, 2013, a Dallas judge put it off until April 3, based on her attorneys' assertions that jury selection in McCarthy's trial was tainted by racism.
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| Backpage on Kimberly McCarthy |
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| Michael Gonzales |
| Thursday, March 21, 2013 |
| Execution |
 Convicted of fatally stabbing his elderly neighbors in 1994 after they awakened while he was burglarizing their home. In 2009, Gonzales received a new punishment trial because of testimony from a former psychologist for Texas prisons who cited race and ethnicity as reasons for his future dangerousness. A March 2013 execution date was set, but a federal judge issued a stay at the request of Gonzales's attorney, who sought time to prepare a motion to strike his death sentence on grounds of mental incompetence.
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| Backpage on Michael Gonzales |
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| Larry Swearingen |
| Wednesday, February 27, 2013 |
| Execution |
 Ninth Texas District Court Judge Fred Edwards set Swearingen's latest execution date after the state Court of Criminal Appeals rejected the convict's most recent appeal. Swearingen was convicted in June 2000 of the abduction and murder of college student Melissa Trotter. He has since been sentenced to die by lethal injection on three occasions – January 2007, January 2009 and August 2011. He was granted stays as his claim of innocence wound its way through the appellate courts. Swearingen's latest stay came Jan. 30, 2013, when a judge struck the execution date of Feb. 27 to allow for further DNA testing.
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| Backpage on Larry Swearingen |
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| Carl Henry Blue |
| Thursday, February 21, 2013 |
| Execution |
| Convicted of killing his ex-girlfriend in 1995 by burning her alive at her College Station apartment. His attorneys argued unsuccessfully that he was mentally impaired and therefore ineligible for the death penalty. Blue acknowledged drinking and smoking crack the night of the slaying. |
| Backpage on Carl Henry Blue |
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| Britt Ripkowski | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Wednesday, February 20, 2013 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Execution | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 Convicted of capital murder in the 1997 slaying of a toddler kidnapped from Utah and found buried near Sheldon Reservoir northeast of Houston. In appealing his conviction, Ripkowski claimed that he was incompetent to assist his attorney in his defense at trial. An affadavit from a physician who had examined Ripkowski said he had bipolar disorder, suffered from hallucinations, and appeared to have been suicidal during trial. On Jan. 11, a Houston judge canceled the Feb. 20 execution date after ruling that Ripkowski was mentally incompetent. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Backpage on Britt Ripkowski | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Kimberly McCarthy |
| Tuesday, January 29, 2013 |
| Execution |
 A former crack addict who was sentenced to death for the 1997 slaying of an elderly woman during a home robbery near Dallas. McCarthy, 51, is the former wife of New Black Panther Party founder Aaron Michaels, with whom she has a son. She is one of 10 women on Texas death row. Since the date was announced Sept. 12, she has been the only one with a scheduled execution. Three of the nearly 500 people Texas has put to death in the modern era have been women. |
| Backpage on Kimberly McCarthy |
| Return to Top |
| Rigoberto Avila Jr. |
| Wednesday, December 12, 2012 |
| Execution |
 The 40-year-old veteran from El Paso was convicted in the February 2000 slaying of his girlfriend's son while babysitting. Avila served in the military during Desert Storm. The U.S. Supreme Court declined in 2010 to hear an appeal filed by his attorney, Robin Norris. |
| Backpage on Rigoberto Avila Jr. |
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| Preston Hughes | ||||||
| Thursday, November 15, 2012 | ||||||
| Listen to the program Download the program | ||||||
| Execution | ||||||
 Hughes, 46, was sent to Texas death row more than 23 years ago following his conviction in the Houston murders of a teenage girl and a toddler. His supporters cite numerous problems with the case against him, including a confession they say was coerced by police. | ||||||
| Backpage on Preston Hughes | ||||||
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| Ramon Hernandez | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Wednesday, November 14, 2012 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Listen to the program Download the program | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Execution | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
 One of two men sentenced to death for a 2002 murder in San Antonio in which the victim was abducted, robbed and sexually assaulted. Co-defendant Santos Minjarez cheated the death gurney by dying in custody Jan. 14, 2012, from septic shock and multiple organ failure.
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| Backpage on Ramon Hernandez | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Mario Swain | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Thursday, November 8, 2012 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Listen to the program Download the program | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Execution | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
 A jury convicted the Los Angeles native, following a three-day trial, of murdering a woman after she entered her East Texas home to find Swain burglarizing it. Among his claims on appeal were that the prosecution should not have been allowed to introduce his confessions at trial, his attorneys failed to investigate evidence of childhood abuse that might have persuaded the jury to spare his life, and a prosecution-requested jury shuffle deliberately placed more whites at the front of the panel of prospective jurors, reducing the likelihood that a black person would be chosen. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Donnie Lee Roberts | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Wednesday, October 31, 2012 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Listen to the program Download the program | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Execution | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 Condemned for the slaying of a live-in girlfriend found shot to death in their home in 2003. Roberts appealed on several grounds, including the trial judge's refusal to allow a defense expert to testify that Roberts' combined use of alcohol and crack cocaine had fueled the crime. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Backpage on Donnie Lee Roberts | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Bobby Hines | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Wednesday, October 24, 2012 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Execution | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 The 40-year-old was condemned 20 years ago in the robbery-murder of a woman in Dallas. Hines, who was 19 at the time of the crime, was scheduled to die in June, but the Dallas County district attorney's office withdrew the death date for additional DNA testing of evidence. His execution was reset when test results reportedly confirmed his guilt. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals rejected an appeal from Hines the week before his execution. His appellate attorney argued that Hines' trial attorneys "failed to adequately investigate ... the abuse, neglect and violence (he) was subjected to at a very young age." | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Backpage on Bobby Hines | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Anthony Haynes | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Thursday, October 18, 2012 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Execution | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 The 33-year-old, who has been locked up since he was 19, was one of two black men convicted in the 1998 slaying of a white off-duty Houston police officer. Also convicted in the killing was Michael Turner. On appeal, Haynes asserted that prosecutors deliberately excluded African-Americans from the jury.
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| Backpage on Anthony Haynes | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Jonathan Green | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Wednesday, October 10, 2012 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Listen to the program Download the program | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Execution | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 Convicted in the June 2000 slaying of a 12-year-old girl in Montgomery County, north of Houston. He survived an execution date in 2010 when Texas's highest criminal court granted a hearing on whether he was too mentally ill to be put to death. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Backpage on Jonathan Green | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Sarge Foster | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tuesday, September 25, 2012 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Listen to the program Download the program | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Execution | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 This is Texas' fourth attempt to put to death the former Army recruiter who has consistently claimed innocence of the murder for which he was condemned. The state's past three execution attempts, all in 2011, were turned back by the courts. Foster and another man were convicted in 2004 of killing a woman in Fort Worth a decade ago. Co-defendant Sheldon Ward died of brain cancer in prison in 2010. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Robert Harris | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Thursday, September 20, 2012 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Listen to the program Download the program | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Execution | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 The 40-year-old Lubbock native was condemned following his conviction for two of five shooting deaths during a March 20, 2000, robbery at a Dallas-area car wash. He had been fired from his job there several days earlier. Attorneys for Harris say he is mentally impaired and therefore ineligible for execution under Supreme Court guidelines, an argument rejected in March by a federal appeals court. His lawyer, Lydia Brandt, said she would take the appeal to the Supreme Court. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| John Balentine | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Wednesday, August 22, 2012 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Execution | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 It's the third execution date for the former auto mechanic and laborer convicted in the 1998 deaths of three teens in Amarillo. Prosecutors said the slayings were the result of a feud between Balentine and his ex-girlfriend's brother, one of the victims. Balentine was granted stays after arguing that his trial attorneys did a poor job. Balentine had a lengthy criminal record in his native Arkansas that included kidnapping, assault and robbery. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Marvin Wilson | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tuesday, August 7, 2012 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Listen to the program Download the program | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Execution | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 Wilson was sent to death row after his conviction in the 1992 kidnapping and murder of confidential police informant Jerry Williams following a confrontation between the two. A tip from the victim had led to a police search in which drugs were seized and charges lodged against Wilson. His attorneys argued unsuccessfully on appeal that he is ineligible for execution because he is mentally retarded. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Marcus Druery | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Wednesday, August 1, 2012 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Execution | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 The former student at Texas State Technical College was convicted in the death of 20-year-old fellow student Skyyler Browne. According to testimony at Druery's trial, the two were among a group celebrating Halloween 2002 in Bryan and wound up at property belonging to Druery's family in rural Brazos County. Browne's body was found in a pond on the property. He had been shot three times and his body burned. Druery's attorneys argued unsuccessfully in his appeal that his trial lawyers were deficient and jury instructions were faulty.
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| Yokamon Hearn | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Wednesday, July 18, 2012 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Listen to the program Download the program | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Execution | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 The 33-year-old was sentenced to die in the 1998 slaying of a North Dallas man who was abducted from a coin-operated car wash, driven to a secluded area, and shot to death. The victim’s Mustang was found the next day in a shopping center parking lot. Hearn, who was 19 at the time of the crime, has been on death row since New Year’s Eve 1998. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Backpage on Yokamon Hearn | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Bobby Hines | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Wednesday, June 6, 2012 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Execution | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
 Convicted of killing a Dallas woman in 1991 who lived in the apartments where he was staying. He was 19 at the time of the crime. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Steven Staley |
| Wednesday, May 16, 2012 |
| Execution |
| Convicted of murdering a restaurant manager during a 1989 robbery in Fort Worth, Staley, 49, is a paranoid schizophrenic whose severe symptoms have caused three previous execution dates to be withdrawn on the grounds that he was too mentally ill to understand the real reason he was being put to death. Staley's mental incompetence is so frustrating to people who want his death sentence carried out, he has been the subject of a court order to force medication to try to make him sane long enough to qualify for execution. His childhood included a father who had acute alchoholism and a mother who was so mentally ill, she once tried to drive a stake through Staley's chest and, on another occasion, tried to stab him with a butcher knife. One doctor who evaluated Staley said his symptoms included hallucinations; paralysis; depression, sometimes to the point of catatonia; and delusional thinking. The U.S. Supreme Court has not prohibited the execution of mentally ill people, but it bars the execution of anyone so mentally incompetent they do not understand why they are being put to death.
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| Backpage on Steven Staley |
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| Anthony Bartee | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Wednesday, May 2, 2012 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Execution | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 Convicted in the August 1996 robbery murder of a friend, Bartee was given a stay before his scheduled execution in February so that additional DNA testing could be done. When the May 2 date was announced, Bartee attorney David Dow sent the court a letter saying the new date should not have been set because DNA testing has not been done. Dow said no notice of a hearing for a new execution date was sent to him or Bartee. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Beunka Adams | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Thursday, April 26, 2012 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Execution | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 He and his fall partner, Richard Cobb, were convicted of abducting and killing a man during the robbery of a convenience store in the East Texas town of Rusk. Cobb remains on death row. Adams was 19 at the time of the offense; Cobb was 18. Three days before the scheduled execution, a federal judge in Texarkana granted Adams a stay of execution. Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott appealed the stay, which was lifted by the Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals the day before the execution.
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| Backpage on Beunka Adams | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Jesse Hernandez | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Wednesday, March 28, 2012 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Listen to the program Download the program | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Execution | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
 Convicted in the 2001 beating death of a 10-month-old boy he was babysitting in West Dallas. The jury imposed the death penalty after finding that Hernandez posed a continuing threat to society and that there were no mitigating circumstances to warrant sparing his life. Police linked Hernandez to the slaying through traces of his DNA mixed with the boy's blood on a pillowcase and a jumper. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Backpage on Jesse Hernandez | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Beunka Adams | ||||||
| Thursday, March 8, 2012 | ||||||
| Execution | ||||||
 He and his fall partner, Richard Cobb, were convicted of abducting and killing a man during the robbery of a convenience store in the East Texas town of Rusk. Cobb remains on death row. Adams was 19 at the time of the offense; Cobb was 18. The scheduled execution of Adams comes less than eight years after his conviction in August 2004.
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| Backpage on Beunka Adams | ||||||
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| Keith Steven Thurmond | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Wednesday, March 7, 2012 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Execution | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
 The former master mechanic was convicted of shooting and killing his estranged wife and her boyfriend in Magnolia in 2001. He lost his federal appeal when his attorney missed a deadlines, essentially waiving the last constitutionally required review before his death sentence could be carried out. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Backpage on Keith Steven Thurmond | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| George Rivas | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Wednesday, February 29, 2012 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Listen to the program Download the program | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Execution | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 Described as the mastermind of a seven-man escape in 2000 from a state prison in South Texas, he was condemned in the shooting death of a police officer outside Dallas during a robbery by the group. Later, one escapee committed suicide rather than be captured. The six survivors were sentenced to death. Executed in August 2008 was Michael Rodriguez, who had dropped his appeals. Donald Newbury was set to die Feb. 1 but got a stay. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Backpage on George Rivas | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Anthony Bartee |
| Tuesday, February 28, 2012 |
| Execution |
 Convicted of the 1996 robbery-murder of his San Antonio neighbor, Bartee insisted that two gang members committed the 1996 murder and robbed the victim of his motorcycle. He won a stay of execution on Feb. 23, 2011, five days before his scheduled execution, when a judge in Houston agreed to new forensic tests. |
| Backpage on Anthony Bartee |
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| Donald Newbury |
| Wednesday, February 1, 2012 |
| Execution |
 The Albuquerque, New Mexico, native was one of seven men who escaped from a Texas prison in 2000 and committed a store robbery in suburban Dallas in which a police officer was killed. One escapee claimed sole responsibility for the murder. Newbury and the others were condemned to death following separate trials. Texas is the only state that permits the death penalty for people convicted of murder for playing a supporting role. One co-defendant has been executed, another has an execution date of Feb. 29, and the other three continue to appeal their cases. |
| Backpage on Donald Newbury |
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| Rodrigo Hernandez | ||||||||||||||||||
| Thursday, January 26, 2012 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Execution | ||||||||||||||||||
 Convicted in the murder of a Frito-Lay saleswoman, his appeal was rejected in 2008 by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. The seven-year gap from Hernandez' 2004 conviction to the 2011 announcement of his execution date was relatively short. Typically, a person sentenced to death spends at least 10 years going through the appeals process. | ||||||||||||||||||
| Backpage on Rodrigo Hernandez | ||||||||||||||||||
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| Guadalupe Esparza |
| Wednesday, November 16, 2011 |
| Listen to the program Download the program |
| Execution |
 Esparza, 46, received his execution date Aug. 16, 2011, from a San Antonio judge who ignored his attorney's request for a delay to prepare an appeal based on evidence that Esparza is mentally retarded. A jury ordered Esparza put to death in 2001 following his conviction in the abduction, rape and strangulation of a 7-year-old girl. The victim's mother, Diana Berlanga, said she planned to witness Esparza's execution.
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| Backpage on Guadalupe Esparza |
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| Henry "Hank" Skinner |
| Wednesday, November 9, 2011 |
| Execution |
 (For earlier background, scroll down to Skinner's stayed execution date, March 24, 2010.) |
| Backpage on Henry "Hank" Skinner |
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| Frank Garcia | ||||||
| Thursday, October 27, 2011 | ||||||
| Listen to the program Download the program | ||||||
| Execution | ||||||
 Slated to be executed six days after his 39th birthday, Garcia was convicted in the shooting deaths of his wife and a San Antonio Police officer in 2001. The officer had responded to a call about a domestic dispute. | ||||||
| Backpage on Frank Garcia | ||||||
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| Cameron Todd Willingham | ||||||
| Wednesday, October 5, 2011 | ||||||
| Listen to the program Download the program | ||||||
| Execution | ||||||
| Yes, you read the prisoner's name right. The date, too. Execution Watch is producing a special program examining the Feb. 17, 2004, execution of Todd Willingham. He was put to death despite emerging evidence of his innocence in the deaths of his three daughters in a house fire. Top arson experts using modern investigative techniques have categorically rejected the arson finding of local investigators in Corsicana. Two years ago, the Texas Forensic Science Commission was on the verge of receiving a report condemning the original investigation, when Perry abruptly shut down their work by replacing several members, including the chairman, with new appointees. | ||||||
| Because of technical problems a few minutes from the beginning of the show are missing. | ||||||
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| Lawrence Russell Brewer | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Wednesday, September 21, 2011 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Listen to the program Download the program | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Execution | |||||||||||||||||||||
 One of three men convicted in the infamous East Texas slaying in which three white men chained James Byrd, a 49-year-old black man, to the back of a pickup truck and dragged him to death on a country road near Jasper. The 1998 case shocked the nation for its brutality. Fall partner John William King is on death row, awaiting an appeal. Another co-defendant, Shawn Berry, received life in prison. The trials of the three men cost Jasper County $1.02 million, leading to a 6.7 percent increase in property taxes.
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| Backpage on Lawrence Russell Brewer | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| Cleve 'Sarge' Foster | ||||||||||||||||||
| Tuesday, September 20, 2011 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Execution | ||||||||||||||||||
 This is the third execution date set for Foster, who was convicted of participating in a 2002 crime in Tarrant County in which another man has admitted committing a murder. The U.S. Supreme Court granted Foster a last-minute stay of execution in January, later rejecting his appeal. Foster was then set to be executed in April when the Supreme Court issued a second stay to consider his request for a rehearing. In May, the high court decided not to take up that motion. | ||||||||||||||||||
| Backpage on Cleve 'Sarge' Foster | ||||||||||||||||||
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| Duane Buck | ||||||||||||||||||
| Thursday, September 15, 2011 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Execution | ||||||||||||||||||
 Convicted in the 1995 homicide of his ex-girlfriend and her male friend in Houston. Buck was on parole for a cocaine delivery conviction at the time. Witnesses said Buck came to his ex-girlfriend's apartment late one night, kicked in the door, argued with her and others, then left after retrieving some of his possessions. He returned a few hours later with a gun, fatally shooting his ex-girlfriend and her male friend. | ||||||||||||||||||
| Backpage on Duane Buck | ||||||||||||||||||
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| Steven Michael Woods | ||||||||||||
| Tuesday, September 13, 2011 | ||||||||||||
| Listen to the program Download the program | ||||||||||||
| Execution | ||||||||||||
 After Woods was convicted and sentenced to death in a double homicide outside Dallas, a co-defendant admitted to killing the couple, saying Woods was present but did not participate in the slayings. The co-defendant received a life sentence. Woods' death sentence was allowed to stand under the law of parties. Texas is the only state in which the law of parties permits the death penalty for those convicted of participating in a crime involving a murder -- even if someone else committed the murder and receives a lesser punishment. | ||||||||||||
| Backpage on Steven Michael Woods | ||||||||||||
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| Ivan Cantu |
| Tuesday, August 30, 2011 |
| Execution |
 Condemned in the 2000 shooting death of his cousin, he petitioned the courts unsuccessfully for forensic testing of DNA evidence that he said would prove his innocence. Cantu was 28 when a Collin County jury convicted him of capital murder in a botched robbery that left his cousin and the cousin's girlfriend dead. Cantu was also indicted in the death of Mosqueda's girlfriend, 22-year-old Amy Kitchen. The couple were found slain Nov. 4 in their North Dallas home.
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| Backpage on Ivan Cantu |
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| Randall Wayne Mays |
| Tuesday, August 23, 2011 |
| Execution |
 The former oil field worker with a history of mental illness was convicted in the 2007 shooting deaths of two Henderson County sheriff's deputies. The U.S. Supreme Court refused in March 2011 to hear his case. In challenging his conviction, Mays's appellate attorneys asserted that: he was not mentally fit to stand trial, he received ineffective assistance of counsel, and his trial judge gave improper instructions to the jury. Mays will be the second in his family to die at the hands of the state in as many decades. His oldest brother, Noble, was executed in 1995 for stabbing and robbing a man in Wichita Falls. |
| Backpage on Randall Wayne Mays |
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| Larry Swearingen |
| Thursday, August 18, 2011 |
| Execution |
 On June 24, 2011, a Montgomery County judge gave Swearingen this execution date -- his third in four years. A growing list of physicians and scientists (10 at last count) say there is virtually no way the now-40-year-old man could have committed the 1998 murder for which he was condemned, that of Melissa Trotter. They all agree that, based on the condition of Trotter’s body, she died at a time when he was in police custody. Swearingen has filed a sixth writ of habeas corpus with the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, which last turned him down in February 2010. “In this case we have fantastic science from multiple areas,” said his attorney, James Rytting. “All of it converges at the place where Swearingen is excluded from the universe of possible culprits.”
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| Backpage on Larry Swearingen |
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| Martin Robles | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Wednesday, August 10, 2011 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Listen to the program Download the program | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Execution | |||||||||||||||||||||
 One of two men convicted in a 2002 double slaying in Corpus Christi. Robles was convicted and condemned after the men were found shot to death at a residence. Joe David Padron, Robles's fall partner, was also convicted of capital murder but received a life sentence. Prison records indicate Robles began using marijuana and inhalants at age 10, acid and mushrooms at 14 and cocaine at 15. He acknowledged he was an alcoholic and that he joined a gang at 14. He had at least 11 arrests as a juvenile. | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| Mark Stroman | ||||||||||||||||||
| Wednesday, July 20, 2011 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Listen to the program Download the program | ||||||||||||||||||
| Execution | ||||||||||||||||||
 41, convicted of killing an Indian-American man during a post-9/11 shooting spree in Dallas that claimed one other life. The sole survivor of the shootings, Rais Bhuiyan, has since forgiven Stroman and mounted an international campaign to spare his life. | ||||||||||||||||||
| Backpage on Mark Stroman | ||||||||||||||||||
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| Humberto Leal, Jr. | |||||||||||||||
| Thursday, July 7, 2011 | |||||||||||||||
| Listen to the program Download the program | |||||||||||||||
| Execution | |||||||||||||||
 President Obama's pleas to stay the execution of the Mexican citizen are having no impact on Governor Perry, who is also turning a deaf ear to the international community and the elite of the U.S. military and criminal justice system. They've warned that Leal's execution would endanger Americans abroad by violating a treaty guaranteeing consular access to foreign nationals upon their arrest. | |||||||||||||||
| Backpage on Humberto Leal, Jr. | |||||||||||||||
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| Milton Mathis | ||||||||||||||||||
| Tuesday, June 21, 2011 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Listen to the program Download the program | ||||||||||||||||||
| Execution | ||||||||||||||||||
 After cheating death in 2005 when he got a stay of execution, Mathis received a new date with the executioner. His execution was scheduled after the U.S. Supreme Court turned down an appeal in February 2011. His attorneys say they've been unable to get a court to consider claims that their client is mentally retarded and therefore ineligible for execution. The Houston native was convicted in the shooting deaths of two men in 1998 in Fort Bend County
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| Backpage on Milton Mathis | ||||||||||||||||||
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| Lee Taylor | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Thursday, June 16, 2011 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Listen to the program Download the program | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Execution | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
 His execution date was set shortly after the U.S. Supreme Court refused his appeal in April 2011. Taylor was serving a life term in 1999 for the beating death of a Houston man when he was convicted of murdering a fellow inmate at the Telford state prison in New Boston, about 2-1/2 hours northeast of Dallas. Taylor, who was 16 at the time of the Houston murder, argued unsuccessfully that prosecutors improperly used the juvenile conviction - when he was ineligible for the death penalty - as evidence to convince a jury to condemn him for the prison killing. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Backpage on Lee Taylor | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| John Balentine | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Wednesday, June 15, 2011 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Execution | |||||||||||||||||||||
 News of Balentine's execution date came a year and a half after a last-minute stay voided his original ticket to the death house. A federal appeals court issued the reprieve based on arguments by the Amarillo man's appeals lawyer that the jury might not have condemned him for the 1998 triple murder if his trial attorney had presented mitigating evidence about his childhood, which was filled with violence, poverty and abuse. The appeals court considered arguments on the claim but decided in November that the evidence could not be considered.
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| Gayland Bradford | ||||||||||||||||||
| Wednesday, June 1, 2011 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Listen to the program Download the program | ||||||||||||||||||
| Execution | ||||||||||||||||||
 Came within six days of being executed when the U.S. Supreme Court issued a stay to give his attorneys time to prepare a full appeal of his death sentence on grounds that he is mentally impaired. Bradford was sentenced to death in the slaying of a security guard. His attorneys say his execution would be unconstitutional because he is mentally retarded. Bradford was convicted in the shooting death of Brian Williams during a robbery at a south Dallas convenience store in 1988. Bradford's IQ was tested as 68 by the Texas Department of Corrections when he was a 17-year-old first offender. | ||||||||||||||||||
| Backpage on Gayland Bradford | ||||||||||||||||||
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| Cary Kerr | ||||||||||||||||||
| Tuesday, May 3, 2011 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Listen to the program Download the program | ||||||||||||||||||
| Execution | ||||||||||||||||||
 Kerr, now 46, was condemned for the July 2001 slaying of 34-year-old Pamela Horton. Both were from Haltom City, near Fort Worth. When Horton's body was found, Kerr told authorities he had been with her at his home that night but that she had left alive. His trial lawyer said the woman walked out after the two argued following an evening of heavy drinking. Petitions to stay Kerr's execution and reexamine the case were pending before the U.S. Supreme court. Executioners planned to use pentobarbital for the first time in Texas history. Officials announced recently that they would substitute pentobarbital in the three-drug method of lethal injection because the supply of the sedative employed in executions for the past three decades was cut off due to anti-death penalty sentiment where the manufacturer is based, in Europe.
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| Backpage on Cary Kerr | ||||||||||||||||||
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| Cleve Foster | |||||||||||||||
| Tuesday, April 5, 2011 | |||||||||||||||
| Execution | |||||||||||||||
 The former Army recruiter survived His Jan. 11 execution date when the U.S. Supreme Court issued a last-minute stay, which it later lifted without comment. Foster, who insists he is innocent, was condemned for participating in a 2002 crime in which Sudanese woman was murdered in Fort Worth. He and Sheldon Ward were sent to death row for the death of Mary Pal, 28. Ward, who claimed sole responsibility for the slaying, cheated the executioner by dying in prison May 13, 2010, of a brain tumor | |||||||||||||||
| Backpage on Cleve Foster | |||||||||||||||
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| Timothy Adams |
| Tuesday, February 22, 2011 |
| Listen to the program Download the program |
| Execution |
 Sentenced to death in the 2002 shooting death of his son in Houston following a standoff with police after his wife threatened to divorce him.
A jury deliberated more than two days before sentencing Adams to death after he surprised prosecutors by pleading guilty to capital murder as his trial was about to start. |
| Backpage on Timothy Adams |
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| Michael Wayne Hall | |||||||||||||||
| Tuesday, February 15, 2011 | |||||||||||||||
| Execution | |||||||||||||||
 Sentenced to death in the 1998 kidnapping and fatal shooting of a woman in Arlington. Hall's attorney attempted to save him from the gurney by asking a federal court to reconsider previous rulings that Hall is not retarded. The attorney said courts should consider new definitions of mental retardation. Hall's co-defendant Robert Neville was executed in 2006
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| Backpage on Michael Wayne Hall | |||||||||||||||
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| Cleve 'Sarge' Foster | ||||||||||||||||||
| Tuesday, January 11, 2011 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Execution | ||||||||||||||||||
 The former Army recruiter, who insists he is innocent, was condemned for the murder of a Sudanese woman in Fort Worth in 2002. He and Sheldon Ward were sent to death row for the death of Mary Pal, 28. Ward, who claimed sole responsibility for the slaying, died May 13, 2010, of a brain tumor. | ||||||||||||||||||
| Backpage on Cleve 'Sarge' Foster | ||||||||||||||||||
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| Steven Kenneth Staley | |||||||||||||||
| Wednesday, December 1, 2010 | |||||||||||||||
| Execution | |||||||||||||||
 Condemned for the shooting death of a restaurant manager in Fort Worth during a botched robbery in 1991 by Staley and two accomplices. A district judge at one point ordered the state to forcibly give anti-psychotic drugs to Staley, who had been diagnosed with severe paranoid schizophrenia and refused to take medication because he believed it poisoned him.
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| Backpage on Steven Kenneth Staley | |||||||||||||||
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| Larry Wooten | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Thursday, October 21, 2010 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Execution | |||||||||||||||||||||
 Sentenced to death in 1998 at age 39 following his conviction in the robbery-murders of an elderly couple in Paris, Texas, for whom he had worked as a handyman. The state's highest criminal court in 2004 granted him a new trial on his claim that could not be executed because he is mentally retarded. The trial, held in the same Lamar County District Court where he had been convicted and sentenced to death, found that he was not retarded. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Backpage on Larry Wooten | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| Gayland Bradford | |||||||||||||||
| Thursday, October 14, 2010 | |||||||||||||||
| Execution | |||||||||||||||
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| Peter Anthony Cantu | ||||||||||||||||||
| Tuesday, August 17, 2010 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Listen to the program Download the program | ||||||||||||||||||
| Execution | ||||||||||||||||||
 One of a group of teenagers convicted of raping and killing two teenage Houston girls in 1993. Cantu, who was 18 at the time of the slayings, and four companions -- all 17 or 18 -- received death sentences. Two have been executed. Two others had their sentences commuted to life after the U.S. Supreme Court barred the death penalty for those under 18 at the time of their crimes. The slayings led to a Texas law allowing victims' families to view the execution of murderers. International controversy erupted around the execution two years ago of co-defendant José Medellín when it was revealed that he was not notified of his right to meet with Mexican consular officials. | ||||||||||||||||||
| Backpage on Peter Anthony Cantu | ||||||||||||||||||
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| Derrick Leon Jackson | ||||||||||||||||||
| Tuesday, July 20, 2010 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Listen to the program Download the program | ||||||||||||||||||
| Execution | ||||||||||||||||||
 Condemned in 1998 for the stabbing deaths of Houston Grand Opera tenors Richard Alan Wrotenbery and Forrest G. Henderson, both 31, during an apparent robbery in their Houston apartment 10 years earlier.
Jackson, formerly of Missouri City, has insisted on his innocence. He was linked to the slayings by DNA evidence and a bloody fingerprint on the apartment door. The discovery of widespread problems at the HPD crime lab led investigators from the Harris County District Attorney's office in 2003 to order a retesting of the evidence in Jackson's case.
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| Backpage on Derrick Leon Jackson | ||||||||||||||||||
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| Michael Perry | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Thursday, July 1, 2010 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Listen to the program Download the program | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Execution | |||||||||||||||||||||
 confessed to authorities that he killed 50-year-old Sandra Stotler in her home near Conroe in 2001, then recanted, saying police had beat the confession out of him. He claims he was in jail on an unrelated traffic charge during the period the state's medical examiner pinpointed as the time of death. He blames co-defendant Jason Aaron Burkett for the shotgun slayings of Stotler and later Stotler's son, Adam, and Adam's friend, Jeremy Richardson. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Backpage on Michael Perry | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| Jonathan Green | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Wednesday, June 30, 2010 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Execution | |||||||||||||||||||||
 Convicted and sentenced to death in 2002 by an all-white jury in the murder of a 12-year-old white girl in Dobbin, Texas, a small town 60 miles northwest of Houston. Green, who is African-American, suffers from mental illness, is functionally illiterate and is probably mentally retarded, according to his attorneys. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2002 that the execution of mentally retarded people is illegal because it is cruel and unusual punishment.
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| Backpage on Jonathan Green | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| David Lee Powell | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tuesday, June 15, 2010 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Listen to the program Download the program | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Execution | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
 On death row more than three decades, Powell was convicted in the 1978 slaying of an Austin police officer. The U.S. Supreme Court refused to review Powell's death sentence in 2009. He was sent to death row three separate times, including retrials. Powell's attorneys said his due-process rights were violated when prosecutors held back documents indicating his girlfriend might have fired the fatal shots. Of the 322 people on Texas death row, only five have been there longer than Powell. He would be the state's longest-serving death row inmate to die by lethal injection. Excell White was executed in 1999 after 24 years. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| George Jones | |||||||||||||||
| Wednesday, June 2, 2010 | |||||||||||||||
| Listen to the program Download the program | |||||||||||||||
| Execution | |||||||||||||||
 Convicted in the 1993 robbery-murder of Forest Hall, who was abducted from the parking lot of a Dallas shopping mall. Jones' attorneys say his verdict and sentence were reached unfairly, because the trial judge wrongly allowed Dallas County prosecutors to exclude a prospective juror perceived as friendly to the defense. In a capital trial, a single holdout juror can mean the difference between life and death.
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| Backpage on George Jones | |||||||||||||||
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| John Alba | ||||||||||||||||||
| Tuesday, May 25, 2010 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Execution | ||||||||||||||||||
 Alba, 54, was convicted in the 1991 shooting death of his wife, Wendy Alba. He was arrested in Plano, Texas, following a standoff with police in which he held a gun to his head and threatened to pull the trigger. A federal court in 2000 overturned his death sentence because a psychologist testified improperly at his trial that jurors should consider the fact that he is Hispanic in deciding punishment. Alba had a second punishment trial, at which a Collin County jury imposed the death penalty. | ||||||||||||||||||
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| Rogelio Cannady | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Wednesday, May 19, 2010 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Listen to the program Download the program | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Execution | |||||||||||||||||||||
 Cannady was in prison on a life sentence in 1993 when he was charged with killing his cellmate at the McConnell Unit in Beeville. The victim was serving 15 years for murder. Cannady was the first Texas prison inmate prosecuted under a 1993 statute permitting a charge of capital murder against an offender serving 99 years or life on a previous murder conviction. His personal diary entries have been posted by a friend at http://deathwatchjournal.wordpress.com/ | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Backpage on Rogelio Cannady | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| Billy John Galloway | |||||||||||||||
| Thursday, May 13, 2010 | |||||||||||||||
| Listen to the program Download the program | |||||||||||||||
| Execution | |||||||||||||||
 Billy John Galloway was condemned for the slaying of a man in Greenville, east of Dallas. Galloway, Kevin Varga (May 12 date) and two women were arrested in the September 1998 robbery and beating death. | |||||||||||||||
| Backpage on Billy John Galloway | |||||||||||||||
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| Kevin Varga | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Wednesday, May 12, 2010 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Listen to the program Download the program | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Execution | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 Kevin Varga was condemned for murder of a man in Greenville, east of Dallas, during a 1998 robbery by Varga, Billy John Galloway (May 13 execution date), and two women. The women pleaded to lesser charges.
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| Backpage on Kevin Varga | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Samuel Bustamante | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Tuesday, April 27, 2010 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Listen to the program Download the program | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Execution | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Bustamante was one of four people charged in the 1998 fatal stabbing of 27-year-old Rafael Alvarado of Richmond. His attorney requested clemency from the state, arguing that Bustamante received inadequate representation from his state-appointed appellate attorney, who missed critical filing deadlines and failed to conduct any additional investigation of his client's background, which included serious abuse as a child. Courts rejected Bustamante's arguments that his execution would be unconstitutional because he is retarded, with a tested IQ of 71. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Backpage on Samuel Bustamante | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| William Berkley | ||||||||||||||||||
| Thursday, April 22, 2010 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Listen to the program Download the program | ||||||||||||||||||
| Execution | ||||||||||||||||||
| Berkley, a native of Germany, was living in El Paso and had just turned 21 when he and Michael Jacques were arrested in March 2000 and charged with the murder of a woman whose body had been found in the northeast section of the city. | ||||||||||||||||||
| Backpage on William Berkley | ||||||||||||||||||
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| Franklin Alix | |||||||||||||||
| Tuesday, March 30, 2010 | |||||||||||||||
| Listen to the program Download the program | |||||||||||||||
| Execution | |||||||||||||||
 Convicted in the January 1998 slaying of a man at an apartment complex in Houston, Alix is among hundreds of defendants whose DNA evidence was submitted for retesting because of questions about the way it was processed by the Houston Police Department's crime lab. An investigation of the lab found that an analyst failed to report potentially exculpatory DNA test results from a murder that was cited in the penalty phase of Alix's capital murder trial. | |||||||||||||||
| Backpage on Franklin Alix | |||||||||||||||
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| Henry Watkins Skinner | ||||||||||||
| Wednesday, March 24, 2010 | ||||||||||||
| Execution | ||||||||||||
| Condemned to die for the 1993 murders of his girlfriend and her two adult sons in the Texas Panhandle town of Pampa, "Hank" Skinner has always insisted he is innocent. Northwestern journalism students investigating his conviction found numerous inconsistencies in the state's case. His supporters have encountered a wall of resistance from the state their efforts to obtain testing of additional crime scene evidence gathered by police. If the execution goes on as scheduled, protesters plan to gather outside the death house in Huntsville, where our reporters will provide live coverage.
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| Backpage on Henry Watkins Skinner | ||||||||||||
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| Joshua Maxwell | ||||||||||||||||||
| Thursday, March 11, 2010 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Listen to the program Download the program | ||||||||||||||||||
| Execution | ||||||||||||||||||
 Convicted in the shooting death of an off-duty Bexar County Deputy Sheriff in an alleged three-state crime spree 10 years ago with girlfriend Tessie McFarland, who is serving a life sentence. Dubbed the "Natural Born Killers" couple, their case sold many newspapers and was fodder for the true-crime television series Wicked Attraction. | ||||||||||||||||||
| Backpage on Joshua Maxwell | ||||||||||||||||||
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| Michael Sigala | ||||||||||||
| Tuesday, March 2, 2010 | ||||||||||||
| Listen to the program Download the program | ||||||||||||
| Execution | ||||||||||||
 Convicted of slaying a couple in their Plano apartment during a robbery in August of 2000. In appealing his death sentence, Sigala argued that the testimony of a psychiatrist was improperly limited at trial. Dr. Laura Slaughter had planned to testify that Sigala had a history of mental illness and suffered from bipolar disorder. The prosecution prevented the jury from hearing the diagnosis.
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| Backpage on Michael Sigala | ||||||||||||
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| Henry Watkins Skinner | ||||||||||||
| Wednesday, February 24, 2010 | ||||||||||||
| Execution | ||||||||||||
 ***DELAYED TILL 3/24/2010*** Hank Skinner was condemned to die for the 1993 murder of his live-in girlfriend and her two adult sons in the small Texas town of Pampa, Henry "Hank" Skinner has always insisted he is innocent. Northwestern journalism students investigating his conviction found that Skinner's trial defense was inadequate and that forensic testing of evidence was incomplete. | ||||||||||||
| Backpage on Henry Watkins Skinner | ||||||||||||
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| Gary James Johnson | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Tuesday, January 12, 2010 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Listen to the program Download the program | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Execution | |||||||||||||||||||||
 Convicted of murdering ranch manager James M. Hazelton, 28, and Peter J. Sparagana, 23, in 1986, as they investigated a report of a burglary at Triple Creek Ranch outside Huntsville, Texas. Johnson's brother, co-defendant Terry Johnson, struck a deal with prosecutors that spared him from the death penalty, in exchange for testifying against Gary Johnson. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Backpage on Gary James Johnson | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| Kenneth Mosley | ||||||||||||||||||
| Thursday, January 7, 2010 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Listen to the program Download the program | ||||||||||||||||||
| Execution | ||||||||||||||||||
 Kenneth Mosley, 51, was condemned for the February 1997 shooting death of Garland, Texas, Officer Michael David Moore, who was responding to a 911 call about a robbery at a bank. Mosley's appellate attorneys argued he should have a new hearing, because his trial attorneys failed to object to victim impact testimony from the officer's wife and did not call witnesses to testify about Mosley's drug and alcohol addictions. The Supreme Court gave Mosley a reprieve in September one day before he was to be executed, but the panel later declined to hear his appeal. | ||||||||||||||||||
| Backpage on Kenneth Mosley | ||||||||||||||||||
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| Bobby Wayne Woods | ||||||||||||||||||
| Thursday, December 3, 2009 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Listen to the program Download the program | ||||||||||||||||||
| Execution | ||||||||||||||||||
 Believed by some experts to be mentally retarded, Woods was convicted and sentenced to die for the April 1997 slaying of Sarah Patterson. The girl and her 9-year-old brother were abducted from their home. She was killed when her throat was slashed. Her brother, Cody, was choked into unconsciousness but survived. Attorneys are seeking a stay so they may present evidence that Woods' execution would be unconstitutional because of diminished mental capacity. | ||||||||||||||||||
| Backpage on Bobby Wayne Woods | ||||||||||||||||||
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| Robert Lee Thompson | ||||||||||||||||||
| Thursday, November 19, 2009 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Listen to the program Download the program | ||||||||||||||||||
| Execution | ||||||||||||||||||
 Thompson and a co-defendant robbed a convenience store. On their way out, Thompson, armed with a .25-caliber pistol, and Sammy Butler, with a .38-caliber pistol, fired at the clerk. Butler, who was later sentenced to life in prison, shot the fatal bullet. Thompson was convicted under the law of parties and sentenced to death. He has sought clemency from Gov. Rick Perry and the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles on the grounds that his punishment should not be worse than that of the person who fired the fatal shot. | ||||||||||||||||||
| Backpage on Robert Lee Thompson | ||||||||||||||||||
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| Danielle Nathaniel Simpson | ||||||||||||||||||
| Wednesday, November 18, 2009 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Listen to the program Download the program | ||||||||||||||||||
| Execution | ||||||||||||||||||
 Simpson and three teenage co-defendants were burglarizing the Palestine, Texas, home of an 84-year-old white woman on Jan. 26, 2000. When the woman came home unexpectedly. They robbed her, taped her mouth, bound her hands and feet, put her in the trunk of her vehicle, drove to the Nueces River, tied a rope with a block to her, and threw her into the river. Simpson and his co-defendants were in possession of the victim's vehicle at the time of their arrest. | ||||||||||||||||||
| Backpage on Danielle Nathaniel Simpson | ||||||||||||||||||
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| Gerald Cornelius Eldridge | ||||||||||||||||||
| Tuesday, November 17, 2009 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Execution | ||||||||||||||||||
 Convicted in the shooting deaths of former girlfriend Cynthia Bogany and her 9-year-old daughter, Chirrisa Bogany. Eldridge broke into Bogany's apartment and shot the daughter as she slept on a couch. After chasing Cynthia's boyfriend from the apartment, he returned to the living room and shot in the shoulder the 7-year-old son he had with Cynthia. He then chased Cynthia onto a stairwell outside the apartment and shot her. | ||||||||||||||||||
| Backpage on Gerald Cornelius Eldridge | ||||||||||||||||||
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| Yosvanis Valle | ||||||||||||||||||
| Tuesday, November 10, 2009 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Listen to the program Download the program | ||||||||||||||||||
| Execution | ||||||||||||||||||
 Valle, a Cuban national who prosecutors say joined a prison gang while incarcerated for a previous crime, was convicted of forcing his way into the Pasadena, Texas, home of Jose Martin Junco on June 7, 1999, stealing drugs, money and weapons, and shooting Junco to death.
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| Backpage on Yosvanis Valle | ||||||||||||||||||
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| Khristian Oliver | ||||||||||||
| Thursday, November 5, 2009 | ||||||||||||
| Listen to the program Download the program | ||||||||||||
| Execution | ||||||||||||
 Oliver was 20 when he and three juveniles burglarized the home of an East Texas farmer on March 17, 1998. The farmer, a 64-year-old white man, came home unexpectedly, saw the burglars, got his rifle, and shot and wounded a juvenile. Oliver responded by shooting the owner with a handgun, seizing his rifle, and using it to beat him. The jury that convicted Oliver consulted the Bible during sentencing deliberations that resulted in the death penalty. | ||||||||||||
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| Backpage on Khristian Oliver | ||||||||||||
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| Reginald Blanton | ||||||||||||||||||
| Tuesday, October 27, 2009 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Execution | ||||||||||||||||||
 According to prosecutors, Blanton and a co-defendant shot and killed a 20-year-old friend of Blanton's during an April 2000 robbery in San Antonio during which jewelry was stolen and later pawned for $79. | ||||||||||||||||||
| Backpage on Reginald Blanton | ||||||||||||||||||
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| John Uzell Balentine | ||||||||||||||||||
| Wednesday, September 30, 2009 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Execution | ||||||||||||||||||
 On 01/21/98 in Amarillo, Texas, Balentine fatally shot 3 white males, 17 year old Edward Mark Caylor, 15 year old Kai Brooke Geyer and 15 year old Steven Brady Watson, once each in the head with a 32-caliber pistol. Balentine entered the residence during the night, and committed the murders while the victims were sleeping.
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| Backpage on John Uzell Balentine | ||||||||||||||||||
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| Kenneth Mosley | ||||||||||||
| Thursday, September 24, 2009 | ||||||||||||
| Execution | ||||||||||||
 On February 15, 1997, Mosley murdered a white male police officer while attempting to rob a bank in Garland. Employees called police after noticing Mosley inside the bank acting suspicious. As one of the first officers to arrive at the scene, the victim entered the bank in full uniform and approached Mosley, noticing that the would-be bandit had his hand stuck in his waistband. When the officer told Mosley to show him his hands, a struggle ensued and the two crashed through a glass window. Witnesses heard several shots fired before Mosley re-entered the bank through the broken window and was shot in the wrist after flashing his pistol at a second police officer. The victim died the afternoon of the shooting. He suffered at least four bullet wounds to the torso. | ||||||||||||
| Backpage on Kenneth Mosley | ||||||||||||
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| Christopher Coleman | ||||||||||||
| Tuesday, September 22, 2009 | ||||||||||||
| Listen to the program Download the program | ||||||||||||
| Execution | ||||||||||||
 On December 14, 1995 in Houston, Coleman and two co-defendants murdered three men during a drug deal. Four men were shot by Coleman, but one survived to identify him as the gunman. | ||||||||||||
| Backpage on Christopher Coleman | ||||||||||||
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| Stephen Lindsey Moody | ||||||||||||
| Wednesday, September 16, 2009 | ||||||||||||
| Listen to the program Download the program | ||||||||||||
| Execution | ||||||||||||
 Convicted in the robbery and murder of 28-year-old Joseph F. Hall in Houston. Moody and a co-defendant followed Hall to his home, forced their way inside, and demanded money and drugs. While Hall, who was crippled, begged for his life, Moody shot him at close range with a sawed-off shotgun. Moody and his accomplice then fled with $1200 in cash from the home. Moody later told his co-defendant that he shot Hall because he kept trying to get up from the ground. | ||||||||||||
| Backpage on Stephen Lindsey Moody | ||||||||||||
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| David L. Wood | ||||||
| Thursday, August 20, 2009 | ||||||
| Execution | ||||||
 Convicted in the abduction and stabbing death of 24-year-old Ivy Susanna Williams of El Paso. Williams was one of six female murder victims found in the desert around El Paso between June and August 1987. Wood was also indicted in the five other murders. Nearly a year after her disappearance on March 14, 1988, Williams' remains were found buried in the desert a short distance from U.S. Highway 54. | ||||||
| Read interview of David Wood on Associated Content (click here) | ||||||
| Backpage on David L. Wood | ||||||
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| Tracy Beatty | ||||||
| Thursday, August 13, 2009 | ||||||
| Execution | ||||||
 Convicted of: On July 25, 2003, in Smith County, Texas, Beatty strangled his mother, a sixty-two year old white female, placed her in the bathtub for two days and then buried her in a shallow grave in their backyard. | ||||||
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| Roderick Dasha Newton | ||||||
| Thursday, July 23, 2009 | ||||||
| Execution | ||||||
 Convicted of carjacking (with another man) a 20-year old Hispanic male, forcing him to an ATM at gunpoint, then shooting and killing him. | ||||||
| Backpage on Roderick Dasha Newton | ||||||
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| Kenneth Mosley | ||||||
| Thursday, July 16, 2009 | ||||||
| Execution | ||||||
 Convicted of murdering a white male police officer while attempting to rob a bank in Garland. Employees called police after noticing Mosley inside the bank acting suspicious. As one of the first officers to arrive at the scene, the victim entered the bank in full uniform and approached Mosley, noticing that the would-be bandit had his hand stuck in his waistband. When the officer told Mosley to show him his hands, a struggle ensued and the two crashed through a glass window. Witnesses heard several shots fired before Mosley re-entered the bank through the broken window and was shot in the wrist after flashing his pistol at a second police officer. The victim died the afternoon of the shooting. He suffered at least four bullet wounds to the torso. | ||||||
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| Terry Hankins | |||||||||||||||
| Tuesday, June 2, 2009 | |||||||||||||||
| Listen to the program Download the program | |||||||||||||||
| Execution | |||||||||||||||
 On 08/26/2001, in Mansfield, Hankins shot his wife (34 year old white female) one time in the head while she was sleeping, resulting in her death. The next day, Hankins shot his stepchildren (a 12 year old white male and a 10 year old white female) in the same manner, causing their deaths. After his arrest, Hankins told authorities where to find the bodies of his 55 year old father and his 20 year old sister, whom he murdered in 2000.
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| Backpage on Terry Hankins | |||||||||||||||
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| Michael Lynn Riley | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tuesday, May 19, 2009 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Listen to the program Download the program | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Execution | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
 Riley's execution stems from the robbery and fatal stabbing of a convenience store clerk 23 years ago in Quitman. Riley turned himself in to police hours after the slaying. His execution was stayed in 2005 to allow an investigation of claims he is mentally retarded, which would make his execution unconstitutional. When Riley was a teenager, an evaluation at Terrell State Hospital put his IQ at 67. An IQ of 70 is considered the threshold for mental retardation. Riley's execution date coincides with the birthday of Malcolm X, who said: "“It isn’t the white man who is racist, but it’s the American political, economic, and social atmosphere that automatically nourishes a racist psychology in the white man.” | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Backpage on Michael Lynn Riley | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Derrick Lamone Johnson | ||||||
| Thursday, April 30, 2009 | ||||||
| Execution | ||||||
 Convicted in the death of a 25-year-old woman during the commission of a robbery. The courts indicated that Johnson and a co-defendant beat the victim about the head with a board and then suffocated her with a shirt and a sweater. | ||||||
| Backpage on Derrick Lamone Johnson | ||||||
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| Michael Rosales | ||||||
| Wednesday, April 15, 2009 | ||||||
| Execution | ||||||
 Convicted of killing a 60-year-old woman during the commission of a burglary. Rosales claimed he did not know she was home. When he was discovered, he grabbed a kitchen knife and stabbed her 137 times, then struck her with a hard object resulting in her death. | ||||||
| Backpage on Michael Rosales | ||||||
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| Jose Garcia Briseno | ||||||
| Tuesday, April 7, 2009 | ||||||
| Execution | ||||||
 (Invited Guest: LULAC Drctr Francisco Rodriguez)
Convicted in the January 1991 murder of Dimmit County Sheriff Ben "Doc" Murray. Murray was killed inside his home in Carrizo Springs following a violent struggle with Briseno and his accomplice, Alberto Gonzales. The sheriff suffered numerous stab wounds with a knife found buried in his chest. He had also been shot once in the head. | ||||||
| Backpage on Jose Garcia Briseno | ||||||
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| Luis Salazar | ||||||||||||||||||
| Wednesday, March 11, 2009 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Execution | ||||||||||||||||||
 Sentenced to death for his conviction in the murder of a 28-year-old woman who was stabbed to death Oct. 11, 1997, by an intruder who sneaked into her Fort Worth home through a window. | ||||||||||||||||||
| Backpage on Luis Salazar | ||||||||||||||||||
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| James Edward Martinez | ||||||||||||
| Tuesday, March 10, 2009 | ||||||||||||
| Execution | ||||||||||||
 Convicted of a double murder that occurred in Fort Worth on September 21, 2000, when 20 shots were fired into a vehicle, resulting in the deaths of a 20-year-old man and and 29-year-old woman. | ||||||||||||
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| Kenneth Wayne Morris | ||||||||||||
| Wednesday, March 4, 2009 | ||||||||||||
| Execution | ||||||||||||
 Condemned in the fatal shooting of a Houston businessman in 1991 during a burglary gone bad. Morris's date comes nearly six years after he won a last-minute reprieve over concerns that putting him to death would violate the Supreme Court's prohibition on executing the mentally retarded.
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| Backpage on Kenneth Wayne Morris | ||||||||||||
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| Willie Earl Pondexter, Jr. | ||||||||||||
| Tuesday, March 3, 2009 | ||||||||||||
| Listen to the program Download the program | ||||||||||||
| Execution | ||||||||||||
 Convicted of burglarizing the Clarksville home of an 85-year-old woman and fatally shooting her in the head. She was sleeping when Pondexter and at least one accomplice broke into her home. After shooting the woman with a 9mm pistol, the intruders took $18 from her purse and fled in her car. Cases are pending against accomplices. | ||||||||||||
| Backpage on Willie Earl Pondexter, Jr. | ||||||||||||
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| Johnny Ray Johnson | ||||||||||||||||||
| Thursday, February 12, 2009 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Listen to the program Download the program | ||||||||||||||||||
| Execution | ||||||||||||||||||
 A native of Austin, he was condemned for the rape and beating death of a woman in Houston in 1995. Johnson, 51, was convicted in the death of Leah Joette Smith. She is described in court documents as a cocaine addict Johnson offered drugs in exchange for sex, then beat to death when she used the drugs and reneged. | ||||||||||||||||||
| Backpage on Johnny Ray Johnson | ||||||||||||||||||
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| Dale Devon Scheanette | ||||||||||||||||||
| Tuesday, February 10, 2009 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Listen to the program Download the program | ||||||||||||||||||
| Execution | ||||||||||||||||||
 Dale Devon Scheanette, who identifies himself as a Cajun from Monroe, Louisiana, is scheduled to be executed in the 1996 slaying of 22-year-old Wendie Prescott of Arlington, a teacher's aide. | ||||||||||||||||||
| Backpage on Dale Devon Scheanette | ||||||||||||||||||
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| David Martinez | ||||||||||||||||||
| Wednesday, February 4, 2009 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Listen to the program Download the program | ||||||||||||||||||
| Execution | ||||||||||||||||||
 Convicted in the slayings of his girlfriend and her 14-year-old son inside their San Antonio home. Both victims were beaten to death with a baseball bat. Following his arrest in San Marcos two days after the murders, Martinez said he grabbed the bat and began to beat his girlfriend when she awoke to find him standing over her in the bedroom. Fearful that her son might discover his murdered mother, he walked into the living room where he was sleeping and struck him repeatedly in the head with the bat. He did not harm the boy's 10-year-old sister, telling her instead to go to her grandmother's home next dore and not return. No motive was offered for the killings. | ||||||||||||||||||
| Backpage on David Martinez | ||||||||||||||||||
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| Ricardo Ortiz | ||||||||||||||||||
| Thursday, January 29, 2009 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Listen to the program Download the program | ||||||||||||||||||
| Execution | ||||||||||||||||||
 Sentenced to death after being convicted of murdering Geraldo Garcia, his cellmate at El Paso County Jail, in 1997 by administering a deliberate overdose of heroin.
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| Was he set up by the state? Read Jim Skelton's backpage. | ||||||||||||||||||
| Backpage on Ricardo Ortiz | ||||||||||||||||||
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| Virgil Martinez | ||||||||||||||||||
| Wednesday, January 28, 2009 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Listen to the program Download the program | ||||||||||||||||||
| Execution | ||||||||||||||||||
 Convicted of fatally shooting a 27-year-old Hispanic female, her two children (a 3-year-old Hispanic female and a 6-year-old Hispanic male), and an 18-year-old Hispanic male during the nighttime on 10/1/96. | ||||||||||||||||||
| Backpage on Virgil Martinez | ||||||||||||||||||
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| Larry Ray Swearingen | ||||||||||||||||||
| Tuesday, January 27, 2009 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Execution | ||||||||||||||||||
 Convicted of kidnapping and strangling a 19 year old white female on 12/8/1998. | ||||||||||||||||||
| Backpage on Larry Ray Swearingen | ||||||||||||||||||
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| Reginald Perkins | ||||||||||||||||||
| Thursday, January 22, 2009 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Listen to the program Download the program | ||||||||||||||||||
| Execution | ||||||||||||||||||
 Convicted of strangling his 64 year old black female step-mother on 12/04/2000, resulting in her death. Her body was found in the trunk of her vehicle in a parking garage. | ||||||||||||||||||
| Backpage on Reginald Perkins | ||||||||||||||||||
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| Frank Moore | ||||||||||||||||||
| Wednesday, January 21, 2009 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Listen to the program Download the program | ||||||||||||||||||
| Execution | ||||||||||||||||||
 Convicted in the January 1994 shooting deaths of Samuel Boyd, 23 and Patrick Clark, 15, outside a San Antonio nightclub. The two victims were shot with a .30-caliber rifle as they sat in a car outside the Wheels of Joy Club. Boyd was shot in the chest and Clark in the head following an argument with Moore inside the club. Both died at the scene. Prior to his arrest, Moore reportedly threatened to kill family members of witnesses if they cooperated with the police investigation. | ||||||||||||||||||
| Backpage on Frank Moore | ||||||||||||||||||
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| José Garcia Briseño | ||||||||||||
| Thursday, January 15, 2009 | ||||||||||||
| Execution | ||||||||||||
 *** DELAYED TILL APRIL 7, 2009 ***
Convicted in the January 1991 murder of Dimmit County Sheriff Ben "Doc" Murray. Murray was killed inside his home in Carrizo Springs following a violent struggle with Briseño and his accomplice Alberto Gonzalez. The sheriff suffered numerous stab wounds inflicted with a butcher knife found buried in his chest. He had also been shot once in the head. Briseño and Gonzales reportedly killed Murray to avenge previous arrests he had made against them. | ||||||||||||
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| Curtis Moore | ||||||||||||||||||
| Wednesday, January 14, 2009 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Listen to the program Download the program | ||||||||||||||||||
| Execution | ||||||||||||||||||
 He was sentenced to death 12 years ago in the abduction-murder of Henry Truevillian in Fort Worth during a 1995 drug deal-turned-robbery. Since age 12, Moore had been in and out of state custody. | ||||||||||||||||||
| Backpage on Curtis Moore | ||||||||||||||||||
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| Robert Hudson | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Thursday, November 20, 2008 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Listen to the program Download the program | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Execution | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
 Convicted in the May 7, 1999 stabbing death of a 35-year-old black female and the attempted murder of her 9-year-old son. Hudson caught the victim with another man and stabbed her 7 times in the upper torso with a knife. The victim's son tried to intervene and Hudson slashed him 2 times in the throat with a knife. The victim died at the scene and her son ran out of the apartment to a neighbor, who called police. Hudson was arrested at the scene. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Backpage on Robert Hudson | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Rogelio Cannady | ||||||||||||||||||
| Wednesday, November 19, 2008 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Execution | ||||||||||||||||||
 Convicted of: On October 10, 1993, Cannady who was serving a life sentence caused the death of a 55-year-old Hispanic male Texas prison inmate inside a medium-custody housing area at the McConnell Unit in Beeville. Cannady beat the victim who was Cannady's cellmate with a steel lock attached to a belt and kicked him repeatedly in the head with steel-toed boots. The victim who was serving 15-year sentence for murder died two days later.Cannady was the first Texas prison inmate to be prosecuted under a 1993 statute that allows for capital murder convictions if the offender is serving 99 years or life as a result of previous murder convictions. | ||||||||||||||||||
| From TDCJ: "The execution date for Cannady was withdrawn today [11/17/08], subject to further order of the court." | ||||||||||||||||||
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| Eric Cathey | ||||||||||||||||||
| Tuesday, November 18, 2008 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Execution | ||||||||||||||||||
 Convicted in the September, 1995 abduction and murder of Christina Castillo in Houston. Cathey and several others abducted Castillo from the parking lot of her apartment complex and attempted to force her to tell them about her boyfriend's drug and money dealings. When Castillo refused to give them any information, she was driven to a vacant lot in northeast Houston and shot three times in the head. | ||||||||||||||||||
| Backpage on Eric Cathey | ||||||||||||||||||
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| Denard Manns | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Thursday, November 13, 2008 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Listen to the program Download the program | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Execution | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
 Convicted of: On 11/18/1998 in Killeen, Manns entered the home of a 26 year old white female. He sexually assaulted the victim, then shot her in the head and chest, resulting in her death. Manns took credit cards and cash from the residence and fled in the victim's vehicle.
A U.S. district judge in Waco, Texas, had ordered Manns' execution, originally scheduled for Aug. 20, be delayed until Nov. 13 because he has been without counsel since his attorney was removed from the case. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Backpage on Denard Manns | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| George Whitaker III | ||||||||||||||||||
| Wednesday, November 12, 2008 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Listen to the program Download the program | ||||||||||||||||||
| Execution | ||||||||||||||||||
 Convicted in the shooting death of 17-year-old Shakeitha Shanta Carrier of Crosby. Whitaker had been dating the victim's sister who had recently left him because of his abusive behavior. On the day of the murder, Whitaker drove to his former girlfriend's parents' home outside Crosby and told her mother, Mary, that he was returning some of her belongings. Told to leave them on the porch, Whitaker pulled a .45 caliber pistol and forced his way inside. He forced Mrs. Carrier and her 5-year-old daughter, Ashley, into the living room where he shot Mrs. Carrier once in the chest. He followed the fleeing Ashley upstairs where he confronted Shakeitha and shot her once in the head. He then pistol-whipped Ashley fracturing her skull in two places. Returning downstairs he saw Mrs. Carrier fleeing through the front door. Retrieving more bullets from his vehicle, he cornered Mrs. Carrier behind the house and shot her a second time in the chest. Both Mrs. Carrier and Ashley survived their wounds although Mrs. Carrier suffers from partial paralysis in her right arm and hand. Shakeitha died at the scene. Whitaker was traced to his apartment where he attempted to elude police by jumping out a window. Police shot him in the hip when he appeared to be reaching for a pistol. | ||||||||||||||||||
| From the Houston Chronicle Copyright 2008 by The Houston Chronicle The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles unanimously voted Monday to turn down condemned man George Whitaker's request for a reprieve. The board dismissed Whitaker's appeal in which he argued that jurors should have been told that he only would be eligible for parole after he served 40 years in prison. With all of his appeals exhausted, Whitaker, 37, is set to enter Texas' death chamber Wednesday. He was sentenced to die for the June 15, 1994, shooting death of Shakeitha Carrier, 17, a sister of his former girlfriend Catina Carrier, who had broken off their relationship two months before. Carrier's mother, Mary Carrier, was shot twice in the attack, and her sister Ashley, 5, was severely pistol-whipped. His execution is scheduled for Wednesday. | ||||||||||||||||||
| Backpage on George Whitaker III | ||||||||||||||||||
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| Elkie Taylor | ||||||||||||||||||
| Thursday, November 6, 2008 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Listen to the program Download the program | ||||||||||||||||||
| Execution | ||||||||||||||||||
 Convicted in the robbery and murder of 64-year-old Otis Flake in Fort Worth. Taylor and an accomplice forceably entered Flake's home and tied him up. The two then packed up several items from the home, including dishes, pots and pans, and a television later selling them for a total of $16. A friend of Flake's found him dead inside his bedroom later in the day. He had been strangled with two wire coat hangers. | ||||||||||||||||||
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| Gregory Wright | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Thursday, October 30, 2008 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Listen to the program Download the program | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Execution | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
 Convicted of: On 03/21/1997, in DeSoto, Wright broke into the home of a white female. The victim was stabbed to death with a knife. Wright took many items from the home and left the scene in the victim's vehicle. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Free Greg Wright Web Page | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Backpage on Gregory Wright | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Eric Nenno | |||||||||||||||
| Tuesday, October 28, 2008 | |||||||||||||||
| Listen to the program Download the program | |||||||||||||||
| Execution | |||||||||||||||
 Convicted in the rape and murder of 7-year-old Nicole Benton in Hockley. Nenno lured the young girl to his home and attempted to rape her. He choked her to death when she began to cry and resist. He then raped her repeatedly. Nenno hid Benton's nude body in his attic until neighbors went to police two days later and told them he had earlier been accused of fondling a child. Under questioning, Nenno confessed to killing Benton and led police to her body. | |||||||||||||||
| Backpage on Eric Nenno | |||||||||||||||
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| Bobby Woods | ||||||||||||
| Thursday, October 23, 2008 | ||||||||||||
| Execution | ||||||||||||
 Convicted of: On April 30, 1997, Woods entered the home of his ex-girlfriend through an open window. Woods sexually assaulted the 11 year old white female, then abducted her and her 9-year-old male brother. Woods severely beat the 9-year-old boy about the head, resulting in serious injury, and cutting the throat of the 11-year-old victim, resulting in her death. | ||||||||||||
| Backpage on Bobby Woods | ||||||||||||
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| Joseph Ray Ries | ||||||||||||
| Tuesday, October 21, 2008 | ||||||||||||
| Listen to the program Download the program | ||||||||||||
| Execution | ||||||||||||
 Convicted of: On 02/22/99, in Cumby, Texas, Ries and the co-defendant broke into the residence of a 64-year old white male who was asleep at the time. They shot the victim in the head with a 22-caliber pistol and then took his car. Property belonging to the victim was later pawned.
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| Backpage on Joseph Ray Ries | ||||||||||||
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| Kevin Watts | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Thursday, October 16, 2008 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Listen to the program Download the program | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Execution | |||||||||||||||||||||
 Convicted of: On March 1, 2002, in San Antonio, Texas, Watts entered a restaurant and fatally shot 1 Asian male and 2 Asian females. Watts then kidnapped a fourth victim, a Asian female, sexually assaulted her and took her to codefendant Bolden's residence where he allowed Bolden to sexually assault her. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Backpage on Kevin Watts | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| Alvin Andrew Kelly | |||||||||
| Tuesday, October 14, 2008 | |||||||||
| Listen to the program Download the program | |||||||||
| Execution | |||||||||
 Convicted in the shooting deaths of three people including an 18-month old child on April 30, 1984. According to TDCJ, 'records indicate the killings may have been drug related. | |||||||||
| Backpage on Alvin Andrew Kelly | |||||||||
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| Joseph Ries | |||||||||
| Thursday, September 18, 2008 | |||||||||
| Execution | |||||||||
 Convicted of: On 02/22/99, in Cumby, Texas, Ries and the co-defendant broke into the residence of a 64-year old white male who was asleep at the time. The victim was shot in the head with a 22-caliber pistol and his car was taken. Property belonging to the victim was later pawned. | |||||||||
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| William Murray | |||||||||
| Wednesday, September 17, 2008 | |||||||||
| Execution | |||||||||
 Convicted of: On 02/10/98, in Kaufman, Texas, during the nighttime hours, a 93-year old female was beaten, strangled and raped . Law enforcement officers responded to a call concerning the victim at her residence. When the officers arrived, they found the residence to be in disarray and appeared to have been ransacked. They found the victim in the bedroom, nude from the waist down with wounds and bruising on and about her head area. The victim also had an Ace bandage tied around her neck and into her mouth, which was soaked with blood. It was stated that the victim's death was caused by strangulation and blunt force injuries. The subject confessed to entering the residence and ransacking it. The subject admitted that he physically and sexually assaulted the victim, and wrapped an Ace bandage around her face and mouth. The subject admitted he removed some change from a jar and a small knife. | |||||||||
| Backpage on William Murray | |||||||||
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| Charles Hood | |||||||||
| Wednesday, September 10, 2008 | |||||||||
| Execution | |||||||||
 Convicted of: The November 1989 murders of Ronald Williamson and Williamson's girlfriend, Traci Lynn Wallace, 26. The two were found shot to death inside Williamson's home in Plano, Texas. Hood was living at Williamson's home and also worked for Williamson. Following the murders, Hood attempted to cash a $500 check forged against Williamson's company account. Hood was arrested in Vergennes, Indiana while driving WIlliamson's car.
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| His previously scheduled execution June 17 was halted when the death warrant expired before it could be carried out. His attorneys announced Aug. 19 that they'd file a petition in civil court asking to take the depositions of former state District Judge Vera Sue Holland and former Collin County District Attorney Tom O’Connell. They've refused to answer questions about whether they may have tainted Hood's 1990 trial by engaging in a romance. | |||||||||
| Backpage on Charles Hood | |||||||||
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| Gregory Wright | |||||||||
| Tuesday, September 9, 2008 | |||||||||
| Execution | |||||||||
 Convicted of: On 03/21/1997, in DeSoto, Wright broke into the home of a white female. The victim was stabbed to death with a knife. Wright took many items from the home and left the scene in the victim's vehicle.Wright's attorneys say approved DNA tests have excluded him as a contributor to the DNA on the knife used in the slaying. They say the new evidence, plus a recent successful polygraph test, indicate Wright is innocent, as he claims. | |||||||||
| Free Greg Wright Web Page | |||||||||
| Backpage on Gregory Wright | |||||||||
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| Jeffery Wood | ||||||||||||
| Thursday, August 21, 2008 | ||||||||||||
 Convicted of: On 01/02/1996, in Kerrville, Wood and one co-defendant robbed a service station, murdering the white male attendant in the process. Wood and the co-defendant took the store safe, a cash box, and a VCR containing a security tape. The value of cash and checks was estimated to be $11,350.Wood was not in the store when his co-defendant pulled the trigger. His case raises issues about the 'party' statute which says anyone involved in a capital offense is equally culpable. | ||||||||||||
| Save Jeff Wood Website The Other Save Jeff Wood Website Sidebar from the Houston Chronicle, August 20, 2008 At least three Texas death row inmates have been executed under the law of parties, which makes accomplices as liable as the actual killer in capital murder cases. • Carlos Santana, 40, executed in 1993 for the death of 29-year-old security guard Oliver Flores during a failed $1.1 million armored car heist in Houston. His co-defendant, James Meanes, the triggerman, was executed in 1998. • Joseph Starvaggi, 34, executed in 1987 for fatally shooting Montgomery County probation officer John Denson, 43, during a Magnolia home burglary. An accomplice, G.W. Green, 49, was executed in 1991; a third man, Glenn Martin, got life in prison. • Doyle Skillern, 49, was executed in 1985 for the murder of Department of Public Safety narcotics officer Patrick Allen Randel. Skillern claimed an accomplice, Charles Victor Sanne, was the gunman. Sanne got a life sentence. Source: Death Penalty Information Center and the Texas Department of Criminal Justice Web site | ||||||||||||
| Backpage on Jeffery Wood | ||||||||||||
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| Denard Manns |
| Wednesday, August 20, 2008 |
| Execution |
 Convicted of: On 11/18/1998 in Killeen, Manns entered the home of a 26 year old white female. He sexually assaulted the victim, then shot her in the head and chest, resulting in her death. Manns took credit cards and cash from the residence and fled in the victim's vehicle. |
| A U.S. district judge in Waco, Texas, ordered Manns' execution, originally scheduled for Aug. 20, be delayed until Nov. 13 because he has been without counsel since his attorney was removed from the case. |
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| Michael Rodriguez | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Thursday, August 14, 2008 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Listen to the program Download the program | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Execution | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Convicted of: While on escape from TDCJ, Rivas and 6 co-defendants robbed a sporting goods store at gunpoint. An Irving police officer was murdered outside the store as Rivas and co-defendants left the scene. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The Connally Unit, a maximum security prison southeast of San Antonio from which the Texas 7 escaped, had a history of prisoner attacks on guards and was short staffed by almost two dozen correctional officers the day of the breakout, according to published reports following the escape. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Leon Dorsey | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tuesday, August 12, 2008 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Listen to the program Download the program | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Execution | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Convicted of: On 4/4/1994 during the night in Dallas, Dorsey entered a video store and used a 9 millimeter pistol to rob and kill a 26 year old white male employee and a 20 year old white male employee. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Background on Dorsey Case | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Heliberto Chi | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Thursday, August 7, 2008 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Listen to the program Download the program | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Execution | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 29 years old. Convicted of murdering a clothing-store manager during a robbery seven years ago in Arlington, Texas. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Heliberto Chi is a citizen of Honduras. As in the case of Jose Medellin and the 50 other Mexican citizens covered by the Avena ruling, Chi was not advised of his right to consular notification when he was arrested. Unlike the Mexican citizens, however, Chi is not covered by the International Court of Justice's Avena ruling | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Backpage on Heliberto Chi | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Jose Medellin | |||||||||||||||
| Tuesday, August 5, 2008 | |||||||||||||||
| Listen to the program Download the program | |||||||||||||||
| Execution | |||||||||||||||
| Convicted of gang-related murder of two girls. Was not allowed to contact the Mexican consulate. | |||||||||||||||
| Executed shortly before 10PM after 5-4 decision in the Supreme Court. One member of the supreme court, justice Stephen Breyer wrote however, that to permit the execution would place the US "irremediably in violation of international law and breaks our treaty promises." | |||||||||||||||
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| Larry Davis | ||||||||||||||||||
| Thursday, July 31, 2008 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Listen to the program Download the program | ||||||||||||||||||
| Execution | ||||||||||||||||||
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| Derrick Sonnier | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Wednesday, July 23, 2008 | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| Execution | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| Carlton Turner | ||||||||||||
| Thursday, July 10, 2008 | ||||||||||||
| Listen to the program Download the program | ||||||||||||
| Execution | ||||||||||||
| Convicted of killing his parents when he was 19 in 1999. | ||||||||||||
| There was substantial evidence that Carlton was severly abused by his parents. | ||||||||||||
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| Regular Guests | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| · | Dave Atwood | ||
| A member of board of directors and past president of the Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, he reports from TCADP's execution vigils in Houston. | |||
| · | Dennis Longmire | ||
| Professor of criminal justice at Sam Houston State University and a frequent participant in Huntsville vigils. | |||
| · | Gloria Rubac | ||
| A long-time activist against the death penalty and leader of the Death Penalty Abolition Movement, she reports from outside the death chamber in Huntsville. | |||
| · | Kelly Epstein | ||
| A long-time death penalty abolitionist and regular at the vigils outside the death chamber in Huntsville. | |||
| · | Nancy Bailey | ||
| Houston death penalty coordinator for Amnesty International, board member of Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty. | |||
| Hosts |
| · | Ray Hill | ||
| Host and co-founder of EXECUTION WATCH, Ray did time in Texas prisons and has lost a number of friends to the Texas execution machine. Since his release in 1975, the Houston native has won four federal suits against the City of Houston for police abuses, including the landmark, First-Amendment U.S. Supreme Court decision: Houston v. Hill, in which he is referred to as "citizen provocateur." Ray's many awards include the ACLU-Houston's 2005 Lifetime Achievement Award. In 1980, he founded the unique Prison Show, which he continues to produce and host on Friday nights on KPFT. | |||
| · | Jim Skelton | ||
| Our show's legal analyst, Jim is an educator who has worked as a prosecutor and as a defense attorney in capital cases. | |||
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