The crowd on A-Wing A-Section at the Texas Department of Criminal Justice Polunsky Unit is about to get thinned.

A dozen condemned inmates in the so-called "death watch" cells on Texas death row are set for lethal injection over the next six weeks.


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"I pray this gives you some peace," Kelly said from the death chamber gurney, looking at four relatives of the slain family. "I know you believe that you're going to have closure tonight. As I stand before God today, the true judge, I had nothing to do with the death of your family."


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Rebecca Simpson, one of the prosecutors in the case, said the details remained vivid even nearly two decades after the trial.

"Who shoots a baby in the forehead twice? It's just horrible. I would never forget any aspect of that case.I have no doubt the evidence is overwhelming as to his guilt," she said.


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As the lethal drugs began flowing, Watts said, "Can I say something? I'm dying but. ...'' At that point, he began snoring and stopped breathing a moment later.


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In a recent interview with The Associated Press, Mr. Woods, 42, said the children were hurt accidentally.

"I took the kids out and we were horsing around," Mr. Woods said. "We went walking around graveyards, horsing around by a fence. Cody jumped on my back and hit a fence post.

"I guess I panicked."


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As the lethal drugs began flowing, he started to sing a hymn. "Our God is an awesome God," he sang. "Lord I lift your name on high."


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Court stays tonight's execution of Woods

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals issued a stay of execution this morning for Bobby Wayne Woods, a child killer who claims he is ineligible for the death penalty because he is mentally retarded.

Maurie Levin, a University of Texas adjunct law professor who is representing Woods in his appeal, said the court's order does not list an explanation for staying Woods' execution.

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So much for the rules that prevent last-minute claims.

When police finally asked him who might be behind Nicole's disappearance, Nenno's answer was as chilling as it was telling: ''Someone like me."


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This is the guy who, not so long ago, argued that his confession was involuntary because the officer just stared at him until he confessed. For details, click here.

Asked by the warden if he had a final statement, Eric Nenno replied, "No, warden."


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"He blamed everything on me," Mr. Wright said recently from a visiting cage outside Texas death row. "I'm very upset. It's a nightmare."


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New DNA tests requested by Wright's lawyers, which delayed Wright's execution initially scheduled for last month, "on the whole, confirmed Wright's guilt," state attorneys told the appeals courts in their arguments.


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Sometimes I consider renaming this thread "The Last Lies."

Another upcoming execution story has these words from a defendant: "The State of Texas is about to put to death an innocent man who did not do the crime. I am a totally innocent man and I don't deserve to die for something that I did not do."

At the same time, ongoing DNA testing has connected him to even more killings.


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Barring a last-minute appeal, 46-year-old Elkie Lee Taylor will go to the death chamber for killing Otis Flake. He would be the 15th Texas inmate executed this year and the first of six scheduled to be executed this month.

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Mr. Taylor, originally from Milwaukee, had been on parole for about three months. He was freed after serving less than nine months of an eight-year sentence for burglary.


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"Stay strong," he said. "It's bad to see a man get murdered for something he didn't do. But I am taking it like a man, like a warrior."


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"I'd like to say to Mr. and Mrs. Carrier, I apologize for your pain and suffering," Whitaker said. "To my family, I love you. Continue to pray for me. I am fine, and I have made peace with God."


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quote:

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Originally posted by JB:
"Stay strong," he said. "It's bad to see a man get murdered for something he didn't do. But I am taking it like a man, like a warrior."

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Did you notice that his attorneys were claiming mental retardation? I find that hard to believe considering the commentary and information in the article.

Also, taking it like a man, like a warrior must also include denying culpability after already admitting to participating in the burglary then bragging about how dead men don't tell tales afterwards.

The Army has set a date for its first execution in nearly 50 years. The military said Thursday that former North Carolina soldier Ronald A. Gray is to be executed Dec. 10 at the federal prison complex in Terre Haute, Ind. He was convicted of multiple rapes and murders.


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"I will take you to heaven with me," Hudson said from the death chamber gurney. "I will always be with you."

"Now pray with this young man down here and we'll go," he said, nodding to the chaplain who stood at his feet. Hudson then prayed the Lord's Prayer and concluded by again expressing love. "I am your's and we are one. Let's go warden," he said.


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After years of legal appeals and a stay of execution, convicted killer Larry Swearingen is set to be put to death Jan. 27 for the sexual assault and strangulation of 19-year-old Melissa Trotter in December 1998.


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