This page will keep a record of all Execution Watch threads … Justice Served.
- Edgar Arias Tamayo, Texas
- Suzanne Margaret Basso, Texas
- Ray Jasper, Texas
- Anthony Dewayne Doyle, Texas
- Tommy Lynn Sells, Texas
- Ramiro Hernandez, Texas
- Jose Luis Villegas, Texas
- Robert James Campbell, Texas
- Willie Tyrone Trottie, Texas
- MiGuel Angel Paredes, Texas
- Charles Frederick Warner, Oklahoma
- Arnold Prieto, Texas
- Robert Ladd, Texas
- Manuel Vasquez, Texas
- Kent Sprouse, Texas
- Manuel Fernanda Farza, Jr. , Texas
- Lester Bower, Texas
- Gregory Russeau, Texas
- Richard Masterson, Texas
- James Garrett Freeman, Texas
- Gustavo Julian Garcia, Texas
- Coy Wayne Wesbrook, Texas
- Adam Kelly Ward, Texas
- John David Battaglia, Texas (delayed)
- Pablo Lucio Vasquez, Texas
- John David Battaglia, Texas
Well just me sitting here reading everybody’s murder cases….. It seems like everybody should know right from wrong …. there’s no excuse of the crimes they had commited …. Also , I have a mental illness ….. I don’t go out there and murder someone for what …. there’s no explanation ……. at all …… may god bless you’re souls …. you’d need all the prayer you can get with the lord …….
Tommy Selles is scheduled to be executed today. The 5th circuit lifted the stay. He still can appeal to the USSC but I don’t they will grant it. This asshole murdered 22 women and children — mostly children.
Tommy Lynn Sells, not “Selles.”
Sold!
Click to access 14-70028.0.pdf
“…, the TDCJ will administer a five-gram dose of pentobarbital obtained from a licensed compounding pharmacy within the United States. The batch from which the dose will be taken has been tested by an independent laboratory. That test revealed that it has a potency of 108%, and is free of contaminants. “
Thug Update:
Rodney Reed has 90 days from 3/19 to file his petition in the USSC. His fan club now have a page asking for wits to his non existent affair with the victim. I suspect they will get another one of his family members or friends to lie and try to pass it off as newly discovered evidence. They’ve been doing that his entire criminal life and Stites would be alive today if he had been convicted and sent to prison the first time he viciously raped a woman..
Skinner got a continuance to file his brief in the trial court. It is now set for 5/20. It’s all about the delaying with these guys.
Swearingen is stuck in that black hole, aka, Judge Case’s court, waiting for him to get off his ass and set an execution date.
Looks like that fucker, Robert Pruett, got the trial court to remove his scheduled execution date. Boo!!!!!
Thanks for the updates on these sorry MFs.
The Pruett fanbois are going nuts. All that has happened is that he appealed the denial of his motion for a new trial to the TCCA. For some reason it didn’t pop up on the TCCA docket until yesterday. His arguments are weak
http://www.correctionsone.com/capital-punishment/articles/6969067-Judge-denies-appeal-for-CO-killer-sets-execution-date/
Re Rodney Reed: The state has asked for an execution date of November 19, 2014. However, the trial judge will not set it until a motion to recuse has been resolved. It is pretty late in the game for the defense to file such a motion and again, I can only think that the reason is to delay the inevitable.
The Gullible Juror is on the warpath again! He did note that Swearingen has a hrg on 5/15. I sure hope they set a date or dump the judge. .
Big doings in Oklahoma tonight, their first 2fer execution in 80 years.
And there is more.
We are reaching the end of these frivolous appeals on the drugs they use. The thug lovers are wetting their pants.
McALESTER, Okla. (AP) — A botched execution using a disputed new drug combination left an Oklahoma inmate writhing and clenching his teeth on the gurney on Tuesday, leading prison officials to halt the proceedings before the inmate’s eventual death from a heart attack.
Clayton Lockett, 38, was declared unconscious 10 minutes after the first of the state’s new three-drug combination was administered. Three minutes later, though, he began breathing heavily, writhing on the gurney, clenching his teeth and straining to lift his head off the pillow.
The blinds were eventually lowered to prevent those in the viewing gallery from watching what was happening in the death chamber, and the state’s top prison official eventually called a halt to the proceedings, although it didn’t save Lockett.
“It was a horrible thing to witness. This was totally botched,” said Lockett’s attorney, David Autry.
“They should have anticipated possible problems with an untried execution protocol. Obviously the whole thing was gummed up and botched from beginning to end. Halting the execution obviously did Lockett no good,” Autry said.
Republican Gov. Mary Fallin ordered a 14-day stay of execution for another inmate who was scheduled to die two hours after Lockett, Charles Warner. She also ordered the Department of Corrections to conduct a “full review of Oklahoma’s execution procedures to determine what happened and why during this evening’s execution.”
Lockett’s botched execution is sure to fuel the debate over the death penalty in the U.S., where several states have had to scramble to find new sources of execution drugs because drugmakers that oppose capital punishment — many based in Europe — stopped selling to prisons and corrections departments.
Several states have gone to court to shield the identities of the new sources of their execution drugs. Missouri and Texas, like Oklahoma, have both refused to reveal their sources, but both of those states have already successfully carried out executions with their new supplies.
States have been scrambling for drugs after drugmakers — many based in Europe with longtime opposition to the death penalty — stopped selling to prisons and corrections departments.
Robert Patton, the director of the Department of Corrections, halted Lockett’s execution about 20 minutes after the first drug was administered, saying later there had been vein failure.
The execution began at 6:23 p.m. when officials began administering the first drug, and a doctor declared Lockett to be unconscious at 6:33 p.m.
About three minutes later, though, Lockett began breathing heavily, writhing on the gurney, clenching his teeth and straining to lift his head off the pillow. After about three minutes, a doctor lifted the sheet that was covering Lockett to examine the injection site.
“There was some concern at that time that the drugs were not having that (desired) effect, and the doctor observed the line at that time and determined the line had blown,” Patton said at a news conference afterward, referring to Lockett’s vein rupturing.
After that, an official who was inside the death chamber lowered the blinds, preventing those in the viewing room from seeing what was happening.
Patton then made a series of phone calls before calling a halt to the execution.
“After conferring with the warden, and unknown how much drugs went into him, it was my decision at that time to stop the execution,” Patton told reporters.
Autry questioned the amount of the sedative midazolam that was given to Lockett, saying he thought that the 100 milligrams called for in the state’s execution protocol was “an overdose quantity.” He also was skeptical of the department’s determination that Lockett’s vein failed.
“I’m not a medical professional, but Mr. Lockett was not someone who had compromised veins. He was in very good shape. He had large arms and very prominent veins,” Autry said.
It was the first time Oklahoma administered midazolam as the first drug in its execution drug combination, but other states have used it. Florida administers 500 milligrams of midazolam as part of its three-drug combination.
A four-time felon, Lockett, 38, was convicted of shooting 19-year-old Stephanie Neiman with a sawed-off shotgun and watching as two accomplices buried her alive in rural Kay County in 1999 after Neiman and a friend arrived at a home the men were robbing.
Warner had been scheduled to be put to death two hours later in the same room and on the same gurney. The 46-year-old was convicted of raping and killing his roommate’s 11-month-old daughter in 1997. He has maintained his innocence.
Lockett and Warner had sued the state for refusing to disclose details about the execution drugs, including where Oklahoma obtained them.
The case, filed as a civil matter, placed Oklahoma’s two highest courts at odds and prompted calls for the impeachment of state Supreme Court justices after the court last week issued a rare stay of execution. The high court later dissolved its stay and dismissed the inmates’ claim that they were entitled to know the source of the drugs.
By then, Gov. Mary Fallin had weighed into the matter by issuing a stay of execution of her own — a one-week delay in Lockett’s execution that resulted in both men being scheduled to die on the same day.
The drugs worked fine. He just blew a vein.
I doubt he even knew what was going on.
It’s not like his vein exploded. A blown vein only means the needle became dislodged from the vein or punctured through it. They are also reporting that he sat up. Considering he is strapped at the arms, chest, hips, and legs, the chances of him sitting up are zero to none. But they are trying to spin it as some bullshit ordeal.
They keep saying (on every news source) that the execution was “botched.”

Umm…he is dead, right?
new grist for the appeals mill
Yessir, but then if a butterfly farts that is grounds for a new trial, in their view.
I’m wondering if his vein collapsed because his blood pressure bottomed out due to him having a heart attack.
Could be.
Meant to research collapsing veins over the weekend, but didn’t get to it.
Here’s a cautionary tale for scumwives:
http://goo.gl/NDfwob
He had served the max on his attempted murder because he was so out of control while in prison. This idiot marries him and within a couple of months of living on the outside, he murders her in front of her young daughter. I hate these women who bring these snakes into their families’ lives. At least she was the one killed and not her children, not that it won’t have a devastating effect on them.
Yeah and sadly there will be no shortage of thug lovers who will have the same experience.
Oklahoma Inmate Tasered, Had Self-Inflicted Wounds Day Of Execution, Docs Say
The Rodney Reed groupies are going nuts on the internet, attacking the rape victims who testified against him at the penalty phase. Can’t wait until they flush this turd.
All of Reed’s victims — all 7 of them, were white. I think we found the real racist here…
Good article by Praeger:
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2014/05/06/the_oklahoma_heart_vs_the_abolitionist_heart_____122535.html
Outstanding!
More proof that Reed fappers are mentally ill:
http://goo.gl/D2FfCs
[read the comments]
We have one coming up on September 10:
He’s been in TDCJ since 1993. That’s 21 years we’ve paid to feed and sleep this TPOS.
Nothing from 5th Circuit or SCOTUS that I’ve been able to tell regarding appeals.
Last info I have is that Trottie was denied habeas relief by the 5th Circuit in November 2013 and the SCOTUS denied cert in March 2014.
This of course doesn’t mean that his attorneys may not try another round of appeals, but I have nothing on this.
Even PrisonTalk doesn’t list this guy’s upcoming date and they’re usually prompt in letting their thug-huggers know when an execution is upcoming.
Sure has been a quiet few months in Texas, with the last couple scheduled getting stays.
Thanks for the info, I will look into this further in the a.m.
Got another one coming up Wednesday. A female, no less:
https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/oagnews/release.php?id=4838
Apparently she’s aldready gone through direct appeal and habeas and DENIED both times. I don’t know if another round of appeals is in works.
Will have a post up this evening on her.
Let me give you an update on this case:
She had two appeals with the 5th Circuit. They issued a consolidated opinion on them.
The 5th Circuit AFFIRMED the ruling of the District Court below that her request was a successive habeas petition(she appealed that ruling), DENIED her request for a second habeas petition, and most importantly DENIED her request for a stay of execution.
So tomorrow sometime we should hear from the SCOTUS, and barring a stay from them we will have another execution tomorrow after 6PM HTT (as Robbie always called it).
Forrgot the link:
Click to access 14-70029-CV0.pdf
Oh N2L, you’re getting sloppy! We have one tonight.
https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/oagnews/release.php?id=4872
He turned down all further appeals in April and was found competent to do so. So no 5th Circuit or SCOTUS updates.
Court Halts Execution Of Texas Death Row Inmate
Waited to post it because of all the danged stays being issued, guessed right this time.
So he requests no further appeals and yet he STILL gets a delay? And at least six months of it?
Then again, he does have the right to have any outstanding issues resolved (otherwise the DP crowd will claim “Texas executed an innocent man”–not that they don’t do that anyway).
Oh well, we still have Paredes on schedule for the 28th (unless you know something I don’t).
/(Sgt. Schultz)
Is Paredes’ execution still on for tomorrow? AG advises it is but I’m not aware of any possible appeals. I will keep checking, though.
https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/oagnews/release.php?id=4886
thanks for keeping up with Paredes, Mark. Good job. I’m trying to figure out a way for comments on this page to show up on the front page of the blog. Alas, no luck so far.
Turns out he filed a second habeas petition. Today the 5th Circuit DENIED it.
Click to access 14-51160.0.pdf
SCOTUS probably rules tomorrow on it. This being the last one scheduled this year, let’s see if it goes off.
Hope to get a post up on him tonight.
Justice denied…again.
I’ve lost count of how many stays the murderers have gotten this year alone.
Randall Mays was scheduled for Wed 18 Mar 15, but now the CCA has stayed it on the grounds that he might not be mentally competent.
He would have been the first of three cop killers in a row on Texas’ execution list.
http://www.kltv.com/story/28533852/texas-appeals-court-halts-wednesday-execution-for-east-texas-man
It appears that John Battaglia (the sorry excuse for a CPA who thankfully had his license revoked for killing his kids while on the phone with their mother) has been DENIED another appeal. He claimed the old “ineffective assistance of counsel” on arguing he was mentally ill.
As a CPA myself I’m following this case since I want to see a stain on our profession gone for good.
Click to access 13-70035.0.pdf
Good to see you, Mark.
What a piece of work Battaglia is. Let us know if they set a date for him.
It has been set for March 30.
thanks for the update
We’ve got an interesting little fight involving the upcoming execution of Raphael Holliday.
Seems like he’s trying to stall things by seeking to change his attorneys of record. His pro-bono and desired NEW attorneys filed motions for a stay, which his court-appointed and CURRENT attorneys have opposed.
Fortunately the Fifth Circuit DENIED Holliday’s motions, so it looks like we’re in good shape to round out the year.
Click to access 15-70035-CV0.pdf
This one was close. He got the district judge who set the date to withdraw the warrant, but a state appeals court overturned the ruling, so his last efforts were DENIED and so now HE’S DEAD, JIM!
Tonight, as my SO celebrates her birthday (no I’m not telling which one), Texas expects to execute Richard Masterson.
Masterson was convicted in the murder of Darin Honeycutt. Masterson claimed that it was an accidental death caused during a gay sexual encounter (you can read the AG link for details, children may be present). Eight days later in Tampa, Florida Masterson tried to kill another gay man in the same manner, and admitted that he tried to kill him and “there was nothing sexual about it” with the only difference being that the Floridian survived while Honeycutt didn’t.
He made the generally stupid mistake of testifying in his own defense (the attorney tried to warn him about doing so, but just as the prosecution cannot force the defendant to testify, the defense attorney cannot force the defendant not to testify) which, of course, resulted in a guilty conviction.
In the punishment phase, the State presented six cases of prior violent acts (involving both former girlfriends, fellow inmates, and correctional officers). Masterson (apparently not learning his lesson from testifying the first time) once again testified in the punishment phase, and flat out admitted that he would be a future danger and that “everyone has to live and die by their choices”. And for his admission he got a death sentence.
His appeals were generally unsuccessful with the SCOTUS, on June 15 of last year, DENYING review.
Although I don’t agree with the belief that a person is born gay or straight, even a pervert doesn’t deserve to die violently at the hands of another pervert (or one claiming to be).
Links:
Attorney General news release: https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/news/releases/media-advisory-richard-allen-masterson-scheduled-for-execution
TDCJ info:
http://tdcj.state.tx.us/death_row/dr_info/mastersonrichard.html
For the record, I have been offered an opportunity by the leader of this forum to take over our dearly departed friend N2L’s duties in Execution Watch, which I have accepted. At some point he will provide privileges so I can provide real articles (I’m looking forward to the Battaglia case, the sorry CPA who stained my honorable profession).
I forgot to mention that the case has gotten notoriety because Pope Francis has been following it, appealing for mercy:
http://abc13.com/news/popes-pleas-fall-on-deaf-ears-as-texas-set-to-execute-death-row-inmate/1166395/
There are too many juicy comments which could be made here.
Still awaiting final news but he had FOUR appeals and all four were DENIED!
http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/texas/article/Latest-US-Supreme-Court-won-t-stop-Texas-6772824.php
And it appears the deed is done:
https://twitter.com/DougMillerKHOU
And now for a new tradition when one finally pays the price:
Official report:
http://www.seattlepi.com/news/texas/article/Latest-US-Supreme-Court-won-t-stop-Texas-6772824.php
[…] Reply […]
(Due to a technical problem on my end, the only way I will be able to provide commentary is to respond to the last post.)
Tonight James Garrett Freeman is scheduled to be executed.
On March 17, 2007, Freeman was spotted by Justin Hurst, a Texas Parks & Wildlife Game Warden, illegally hunting from his truck. Instead of complying with Warden Hurst’s instructions, he led Hurst on a 90 minute car chase, reaching speeds of 130 mph at one point, before getting into a shootout with officers. Warden Hurst was fatally wounded in the shootout; he died on what would have been his 34th birthday.
In Texas, Game Wardens are fully-commissioned peace officers who can arrest for any violation of the law. As such, Freeman was charged with capital murder for knowingly killing a peace officer. He was convicted and sentenced to death; all the standard rounds of appeals (direct and habeas) were in all cases DENIED.
This case is somewhat unusual in that Freeman had no substantial prior criminal record (he was on probation for DUI at the time). As such, in addition to the usual “ineffective assistance of counsel” argument, the antis are arguing that his lack of a prior criminal record should have spared him from the chamber, and that suffered from “heavy alcohol use and severe depression” and wanted to die via “suicide by cop” (he almost did get his wish in the shootout). However, the prosecution argued that Freeman had an “uncontrollable and unpredictable temper” and was about to have his probation revoked for failure to comply (both could explain a high-speed chase and shootout). It should be noted that John Battaglia (the sorry CPA who killed his kids while on the phone with their mother) also had no prior criminal record; his is coming March 30.
It will be interesting to see what Freeman’s last words are once they are posted.
NBC DFW story on Freeman’s execution:
http://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/Man-to-Be-Executed-for-Texas-Game-Wardens-Death-in-Shootout-366607651.html?_osource=SocialFlowFB_DFWBrand
Texas Attorney General’s Press Release:
https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/news/releases/media-advisory-james-garrett-freeman-scheduled-for-execution
Just announced yesterday: Robert Leslie Roberson III had his date set for June 21. The only reason he lasted 14 years was that he was sentenced to death; had he not committed murder after what he did, general population would have long ago taken care of this sick pervert.
http://www.kltv.com/story/31084032/texas-man-convicted-of-killing-daughter-gets-execution-date
And another one has popped up on the list.
Instead of May being an off-month for the chamber, we have a May 11 date set for Terry Edwards (a one-day late birthday present for me–maybe). Shot and killed two people during a robbery of a restaurant (received from Dallas County–don’t know if that’s where it happened or if it was a change of venue).
TDCJ bare-bones info below:
http://www.tdcj.state.tx.us/death_row/dr_info/edwardsterry.html
So at this point we have 10 on the list: Gustavo next week (post to come when the Attorney General’s press release comes out), three in March (Westbrook, Ward, and the much-waited for ex-CPA Battaglia), two in April (Vasquez and Pruett), Edwards in May, two in June (Flores and Robertson), and Williams in July.
(I wonder if the state hasn’t started making its own pento?)
After you post Gustavo, please send me an email so that I can get it on the front page asap. Thanks Mark. You’re doing a great job.
OK I sure will. I’m working on it now.
I sent an email but I may not have had the right email address. Could you send me one to confirm I have the right one?
In Mississippi, legislation is pending to bring back old sparky, and also firing squad. Go figure
I prefer steel cable–sturdy and reusable. Plus it fits better if you have Renegade playing in the background.
Barring any last minute stays, Tuesday will bring us the third execution of the year for Texas (and the only one scheduled for this month).
Gustavo Garcia was, to put it nicely, a thug. And one that we have waited way too long to execute. (It’s so old the death row info is the old paper copy.)
On December 9, 1990, up in Plano (DFW area where I live), Garcia and his thug partner Christopher Vargas went into a liquor store and proceeded to rob the clerk, Craig Turski. Garcia shot him once in the abdomen, he tried to run but they reloaded and shot him in the head. A customer who saw Garcia managed to leave and come back with her husband, they found the store deserted and called police. The clerk was found but died later.
Nearly one month later (January 5, 1991) the thugs, now accompanied by Garcia’s girlfriend (also reported as his “common-law wife”, or “whore” as it used to be said) went to a Texaco in Plano and repeated the same thing. The clerk (Gregory Martin) happened to be on the phone with his girlfriend, warned her he was being robbed, and told her to call the police. Although his warnings weren’t enough to prevent his murder (Garcia was again the triggerman), they were enough to get the police there before the thugs could escape.
Garcia confessed to both crimes and was tried on the Turski murder. (Vargas was tried for capital murder and sentenced to life; the whore tried for conspiracy to commit aggravated robbery and sentenced to 20 years.) As if two capital murders in less than a month weren’t enough of an indicator of future dangerousness, the prosecution brought up his multiple burglaries while a juvenile, his numerous disciplinary actions while in school, and the problems he created while in jail awaiting trial. Not surprisingly he was sentenced to death. However, Garcia managed to get his original sentencing phase overturned on federal habeas appeal in 2000.
But not only were all the prior incidents rehashed at the second sentencing trial (March 2001), during his incarceration time Garcia tried to escape from prison in 1998, which of course was also used against him. (You think you might want to be a model prisoner so as to maybe get a life sentence the next time?) The second time was the same as the first (death sentence) but this time, ALL appeals were DENIED (the final appeal was DENIED the day before Masterson’s execution).
Garcia’s demise is, again, way overdue: he’s been on death row (since 1992) longer than my SO’s daughter has been alive (born 1995).
TDCJ info on Garcia:

Texas Attorney General press release:
https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/news/releases/media-advisory-gustavo-garcia-scheduled-for-execution
Another new one just popped up for July 27: Rolando Ruiz Jr.
He was the triggerman in a murder for hire (killed a woman so her husband could collect life insurance $$$). We’ve been paying for him since 1995 (another one where the info is the old paper copy).
Interesting side note: the husband who hired him was Michael Rodriguez, later one of the Texas 7. He’s already been executed.
Down here on the bayou, we call that lagniappe