Texas man facing execution for 1998 killing of elderly woman for her money
A Texas man who has long sought DNA testing claiming it would help prove he was not responsible for the fatal stabbing of an 85-year-old woman decades ago was scheduled to be executed Tuesday evening.
HOUSTON — A Texas man who has long sought DNA testing claiming it would help prove he was not responsible for the fatal stabbing of an 85-year-old woman decades ago was scheduled to be executed Tuesday evening.
Ruben Gutierrez was condemned for the 1998 killing of Escolastica Harrison at her home in Brownsville in Texas’ southern tip. Prosecutors said the killing of the mobile home park manager and retired teacher was part of an attempt to steal more than $600,000 she had hidden in her home because of a mistrust of banks.
The inmate’s lethal injection was planned for Tuesday evening at the state penitentiary in Huntsville.
Gutierrez, 47, has long maintained he didn’t kill Harrison. His attorneys say there’s no physical or forensic evidence connecting him to the killing. Two others were also charged in the case.
Gutierrez’s attorneys have asked the U.S. Supreme Court to stop the execution, arguing Texas has denied his right under state law to post-conviction DNA testing that would show he would not have been eligible for the death penalty.
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