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Published 12:52 pm, Wednesday, April 26, 2017
Texas’ most controversial executions
Name: Linda Carty
Crime: On May 16, 2001, Carty and three co-defendants invaded the home of a 25-year-old female. The victim and her 3-day-old baby were kidnapped and two other victims were beaten, duct taped, and left in the residence. The 25-year-old female was hog-tied with duct tape, a bag was taped over her head, and she was placed in the trunk of a car. This victim died from suffocation.
Execution: Currently on Death Row
Controversy: Her latest appeal for a new hearing includes an affidavit from a former DEA agent who alleges misconduct from the prosecutor and police. Among other things, this agent says the prosecutor threatened to ruin his career by falsely accusing him of an affair with Carty – his one-time confidential informant – if he didn’t testify in the case against her.
Texas’ most controversial executions
Name: Linda Carty
Crime: On May 16, 2001, Carty and three co-defendants invaded the home of a 25-year-old female. The victim and her 3-day-old baby were kidnapped and two
Photo: Melissa Phillip, Chronicle
Crime: Convicted of shooting his in-laws to death in 1992 in Fredericksburg
Execution: Execution stayed. Currently on Death Row
Controversy: It was argued he has suffered from schizophrenia since 1978 and is unable to rationally comprehend his impending execution.
Crime: Convicted of shooting his in-laws to death in 1992 in Fredericksburg
Execution: Execution stayed. Currently on Death Row
Controversy: It was argued he has suffered from
Photo: BRETT COOMER, MILWAUKEE JOURNALSENTINEL FILE
Crime: The stabbing death of clerk at gas station in 1983
Execution Date: December 7, 1989
Controversy: A Corpus Christi detective admitted the investigation surrounding the death was sloppy and detectives failed to follow up on tips that another man confessed to the crime
Crime: The stabbing death of clerk at gas station in 1983
Execution Date: December 7, 1989
Controversy: A Corpus Christi detective admitted the investigation surrounding the death
Photo: Caller-Times File
Crime: Shot three people to death
Execution Date: June 21, 2011
Controversy: Defense attorneys argued that intelligence tests proved Mathis had significant mental disability
Crime: Shot three people to death
Execution Date: June 21, 2011
Controversy: Defense attorneys argued that intelligence tests proved Mathis had significant mental disability
Photo: Texas Department Of Criminal Justice
Crime: Robbery and murder of a Houston deli owner
Execution Date: Williams: January 31, 1995, Nichols: March 07, 2007
Controversy: The case drew sharp criticism due to the fact that two men were convicted and executed for a murder only one man committed.
Crime: Robbery and murder of a Houston deli owner
Execution Date: Williams: January 31, 1995, Nichols: March 07, 2007
Controversy: The case
Photo: Houston Chronicle
Crime: Setting a fire that killed his three daughters.
Execution Date: February 17, 2004
Controversy: Eight years after Willingham’s execution, scientific evidence presented in the trial resurfaced as flawed arson science.
Crime: Setting a fire that killed his three daughters.
Execution Date: February 17, 2004
Controversy: Eight years after Willingham’s execution, scientific evidence
Photo: Anonymous, HO
Crime: In 1994 at age 17 he fatally shot the father of a federal judge
Execution Date: May 28, 2002
Controversy: His youth and lack of a criminal record was cited by hundreds of supporters from around the world who pleaded to the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles to stop the execution.
Crime: In 1994 at age 17 he fatally shot the father of a federal judge
Execution Date: May 28, 2002
Controversy: His youth and lack of a criminal record was cited by
Photo: JOEL ANDREWS, AP
Crime: Killed a Houston police officer
Execution Date: January 22, 2014
Controversy: Appeals were filed based on mental retardation and the violation of Arias’ United Nations treaty rights to contact his consulate upon his arrest
Crime: Killed a Houston police officer
Execution Date: January 22, 2014
Controversy: Appeals were filed based on mental retardation and the violation of Arias’ United
Photo: -, AFP/Getty Images
Crime: the 1983 pick-ax slaying of a Houston man
Execution date: February 3, 1998
Controversy: Faye was the first woman to be executed in Texas since 1863
Crime: the 1983 pick-ax slaying of a Houston man
Execution date: February 3, 1998
Controversy: Faye was the first woman to be executed in Texas since 1863
Photo: AP
Crime: The shooting death of two people in 1992
Execution Date: May 18, 2004
Controversy: His lawyer argued Patterson was schizophrenic and should not have been executed due to his diminished mental capacity.
Crime: The shooting death of two people in 1992
Execution Date: May 18, 2004
Controversy: His lawyer argued Patterson was schizophrenic and should not have been executed due
Photo: AP
Crime: Shooting and killing her husband and two children in 1987.
Execution Date: September 14, 2005
Controversy: Newton’s case garnered attention due to the lack of evidence and questionable ballistic tests presented during her trial.
Crime: Shooting and killing her husband and two children in 1987.
Execution Date: September 14, 2005
Controversy: Newton’s case garnered attention due to the lack of
Photo: MATT SLOCUM, AP
Crime: 1981 robbery and shooting of a man outside a Houston supermarket
Execution Date: June 22, 2000
Controversy: He was convicted on questionable witness testimony that, even after his death, remains debatable
Crime: 1981 robbery and shooting of a man outside a Houston supermarket
Execution Date: June 22, 2000
Controversy: He was convicted on questionable witness testimony that, even after his
Photo: AP
Crime: the 1994 murder of a 16 year-old girl
Execution Date: July 7, 2011
Controversy: His case gained international attention because arresting authorities did not advise him of his right to contact his nation’s (Mexico) consulate.
Crime: the 1994 murder of a 16 year-old girl
Execution Date: July 7, 2011
Controversy: His case gained international attention because arresting authorities did not
Photo: Ho, AFP/Getty Images
Crime: One deadly robbery and the murder of a man he claims was revenge for the events September 11, 2001.
Execution Date: July 20, 2011
Controversy: The lone survivor, of Stroman’s rampage unsuccessfully sued to stop the execution, saying his religious beliefs as a Muslim told him to forgive Stroman.
Crime: One deadly robbery and the murder of a man he claims was revenge for the events September 11, 2001.
Execution Date: July 20, 2011
Controversy: The lone survivor, of
Photo: HOPD
Crime: Wood and Daniel E. Reneau robbed a service station on Jan. 2, 1996, in Kerrville and killed the attendant, a man, in the process.
Execution Date: Wood’s execution was stayed in August 2016.
Controversy: Wood did not fire the fatal shot.
Crime: Wood and Daniel E. Reneau robbed a service station on Jan. 2, 1996, in Kerrville and killed the attendant, a man, in the process.
Execution Date: Wood’s execution was
Photo: The Associated Press
An auto mechanic convicted of plotting the murder-for-hire of the wife of a former police officer in exchange for a Jeep has lost a federal appeal.
The U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals rejected claims by Joseph Prystash that evidence was withheld in his case and his rights to a fair jury were violated.
Farah Fratta’s husband, Robert Fratta, a former Missouri City public safety officer who authorities say was the mastermind behind the killing, was sentenced to die for his role in his estranged wife’s murder in 1996.
The couple was reportedly caught in a divorce and custody dispute when Robert Fratta hired two men to kill his 34-year-old wife.
LIFE SPARED: Condemned inmate avoids execution with life sentence for Houston crime spree
According to prosecutors, Robert Fratta first hired Prystash, who was promised to receive a Jeep as compensation for his services, to murder Farah. Prystash worked out a murderous plan but then passed his .38-caliber pistol on to Howard Paul Guidry, whom he enlisted to carry out the deed.
Guidry, a laborer and 18 years old at the time of the shooting, was to receive $3,000 for the killing. Prosecutors say that on Feb. 9, 1994, Prystash drove Guidry to Farah Fratta’s house
Guidry then reportedly ambushed Farah Fratta as she stepped from her car inside the garage of her Atascocita home and shot her twice in the head.
Robert Fratta, Prystash and Guidry are all on death row.
Scroll through the gallery above to see the most controversial executions carried out by Texas
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