Texas Man Executed for Murder Over 20 Years Ago

Reuters ^ | 01-25-2005 | Reuters

[COEXERJ145]

HUNTSVILLE, Texas (Reuters) - A Texas man was executed by lethal injection on Tuesday for the robbery and murder more than 20 years ago of a man carrying $13 in his wallet.

Troy Kunkle, 38, was condemned for killing Steven Horton, 31, in Corpus Christi, Texas, after robbing him on Aug. 12, 1984.

Kunkle's execution was delayed for two hours as the U.S. Supreme Court considered last minute appeals by his lawyers.

In 1984, Kunkle and three accomplices offered Horton a ride in their car as he walked down a Corpus Christi street. When Horton refused to give up his wallet, Kunkle shot him in the back of the head. After killing Horton, an accomplice said Kunkle quoted: "Another day, another death, another sorrow, another breath," a lyric from heavy-metal band Metallica song "No Remorse."

His three accomplices received prison sentences ranging from 30 years to life.

In a final statement while strapped to a gurney in the death chamber, Kunkle sought forgiveness.

"I would like to ask you to forgive me," he said. "I made a mistake and I am sorry for what I did. All I can do is ask you to forgive me. I love you and I will see all of you in Heaven. I love you very much. Praise Jesus. I love you."

He then recited the Lord's Prayer.

Kunkle was the second person executed in Texas this year. He was the 338th put to death since the state resumed capital punishment in 1982, six years after the Supreme Court lifted a national death penalty ban, a total that leads the nation.

[agitator]

"I love you and I will see all of you in Heaven."

Wishful thinking.

[BibChr]

If he simply thinks he "made a mistake," I fear you may be right.

Dan

[GW and Twins Pawpaw]

New permanent member of the Greater Huntsville Flatliners' Club...

[COEXERJ145]

New permanent member of the Greater Huntsville Flatliners' Club...

If all going according to plan, there will be another new member in less than 48 hours.

[CDB]

Yeah, that guy's going the other direction--where it's real hot,

[Paleo Conservative]

Troy Kunkle, 38, was condemned for killing Steven Horton, 31, in Corpus Christi, Texas, after robbing him on Aug. 12, 1984.

I'm very glad that this vermin has been eliminated from my home town.

Here's the story that ran today in my local fishwrap.

URL: http://www.caller.com/ccct/local_news/article/0,1641,CCCT_811_3495909,00.htm

Kunkle's sixth date for death is tonight

By Neal Falgoust Caller-Times January 25, 2005

Condemned inmate Troy Kunkle is scheduled to die at 6 p.m. today for the 1984 shooting death of Corpus Christi resident Steven Wayne Horton.

This is the sixth time Kunkle, 38, has faced the death chamber during his 20 years in prison. The U.S. Supreme Court stayed his last execution on Nov. 18, with the news coming about half an hour after Kunkle was scheduled to die at 6 p.m. It was the second time the high court stayed the execution on the day Kunkle was set to die. The court lifted the most recent stay last month.

Kunkle's attorneys have made an appeal to the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles for a 180-day reprieve and the commutation of his death sentence to life in prison.

Members of the Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty will hold a vigil at 6 p.m. at the Incarnate Word Convent at 2910 S. Alameda St. to protest Kunkle's execution.

If the execution goes forward, Kunkle will be the 338th person on Texas' death row to die by lethal injection, and the second this year.

Kunkle's attorneys have argued the jury that sentenced him to death did not have the opportunity to properly consider his history of drug and alcohol abuse as mitigating evidence at trial. That evidence, they said, could spare his life.

Kunkle, 18 at the time of the killing, and three friends were visiting Corpus Christi from San Antonio on Aug. 12, 1984, when they decided to look for someone to rob.

Horton, 31, was walking on Paul Jones Avenue when the group stopped and offered him a ride home. Once he was in the car, one of the four put a gun to Horton's head and demanded his wallet. Horton refused, and Kunkle shot him in the back of the head with a .22-caliber pistol. Kunkle's girlfriend then pushed Horton's body out of the car and took his wallet, which contained $13, according to state reports.

After the killing, Kunkle reportedly recited lyrics from heavy metal band Metallica's song "No Remorse," from the album "Kill 'em All," saying, "Another day, another death, another sorrow, another breath." Later, he reportedly said the killing was "beautiful," according to state reports.

[MediaMole]

What's the problem? Isn't his victim still dead?

[The Spirit Of Allegiance]

Texas, what took ya 20 years?

Meanwhile, the guy sounds like he was repentant. Only God and he know for sure where he will spend eternity--murder is not the Unpardonable sin of rejecting Christ, thus blaspheming the Holy Spirit.

There was a woman, Karla _______ who became a true born-again Christian in prison and sought reprieve from the death penalty in TX a few years ago. They put her down. Sad but that's the price you HAVE to pay for murder.

Sad but we have failed to execute far too few, repentant or not. The D.P. for murder is cheap and right and it cures the problem of repeat offenders 100% of the time.

[deport]

If all going according to plan, there will be another new member in less than 48 hours.

---

The one for Thursday night has been stayed by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals while they review the 'mental retardation' issue.

[naturalized]

That's what I call a come-to-Jesus meeting.

[COEXERJ145]

Darn but its no surprise. Thanks to the Supreme Court, every killer is now "retarded".

[Feiny]

I wish California would catch up to Texas in this category. We have over 650 on death row.....time to put in an express lane.

[whereasandsoforth]

Don't think of these procedures as executions. Think of them as late-late term abortions. Maybe the murder-lovers can understand that analogy.

[TChris]

"I would like to ask you to forgive me," he said. "I made a mistake and I am sorry for what I did. All I can do is ask you to forgive me. I love you and I will see all of you in Heaven. I love you very much. Praise Jesus. I love you."

Funny how condemned killers seem to "find Jesus" with such frequency.

On this program, you live life in what ever way floats your boat, then quickly "find Jesus" at the end. "See ya in heaven!" Not.

[beaversmom]

Okay, now do they guy in CT that didn't get it last night.

[PAR35]

You are correct. I hope he was sincere in his profession of faith, but the execution was appropriate.

[CDB]

I agree. Twenty years of free room and board is crazy.

And, there are no atheists in a foxhole during an enemy's artillery barrage.

[Theresawithanh]

There was a woman, Karla _______ who became a true born-again Christian in prison and sought reprieve from the death penalty in TX a few years ago.

I remember that case, wasn't her name Karla Faye Tucker? I do believe her conversion while she was behind bars was genuine, but she was sentenced to death, and, like you expressed, she had to pay the price. I also believe in my heart that God forgave her for her acts.

[deport]

Jan. 25, 2005, 8:33PM

Killer who spent half of life on death row to die tonight

By MICHAEL GRACZYK
Associated Press

Associated Press/
Texas Department of Criminal Justice

Death row inmate Troy Kunkle

A condemned killer who twice avoided execution last year when courts halted his punishment on the day he was to die was executed today for a slaying in Corpus Christi more than 20 years ago.

The execution came after the U.S. Supreme Court refused on a narrow 5-4 vote to block Troy Kunkle's execution.

Kunkle was contrite as he looked toward the daughter and son-in-law of his victim, Stephen Horton, and sought their forgiveness.

"I would like to ask you to forgive me," he said. "I made a mistake and I am sorry for what I did. All I can do is ask you to forgive me."

Kunkle then turned his head toward an adjacent window in the death house and expressed love to witnesses he selected to watch him die, including his mother and his wife.

"I love you and I will see all of you in heaven," he said. "I love you very much. Praise Jesus."

Kunkle recited the Lord's Prayer and then indicated to the warden he had finished. In the seconds before the lethal drugs began taking effect, he repeatedly mouthed "I love you" to his friends and relatives. He exhaled slightly and gasped before he slipped into unconsciousness. Eight minutes later, at 8:12 p.m. CST, he was pronounced dead.

"Shame to Texas," his wife, Christa Heber, said as she watched him die.

Kunkle, 38, spent more than half of his life on death row for the death of Horton, 31, who was fatally shot and robbed of $13.

The 1984 shooting gained notoriety with disclosures Kunkle, from San Antonio and then just over 18, quoted lyrics of a song by the heavy metal rock group Metallica after Horton was gunned down.

The lethal injection was the second of the year in Texas, the nation's busiest execution state.