Texas on Wednesday put to death an inmate convicted of killing two men over a phony drug deal, the first U.S. execution of 2017.
Christopher Wilkins, 48, was declared dead at 6:29 p.m., 13 minutes after a lethal injection of pentobarbital.
Before the drug was administered, he twice mouthed “I’m sorry,” to two relatives of one of the murder victims as they watched through a window. He gave no final statement.
Wilkins had explained to jurors at his capital murder trial in 2008 how and why he killed his friends in Fort Worth three years earlier, saying he didn’t care if they sentenced him to death.
Wilkins shot Willie Freeman, 40 and Mike Silva, 33, after Freeman and an unidentified drug supplier duped Wilkins into paying $20 for a piece of gravel he thought was crack cocaine, according to court records.
Freeman was killed on Oct. 28, 2005, after he laughed about the scam and Silva was shot because he was there, Wilkins said. Wilkins’ fingerprints were found in Silva’s wrecked SUV and a pentagram matching one of Wilkins’ numerous tattoos had been carved into the hood.
Wilkins also testified that the day before the shootings, he shot and killed another man, Gilbert Vallejo, 47, outside a Fort Worth bar in a dispute over a pay phone, and about a week later used a stolen car to try to run down two people because he believed one of them had taken his sunglasses.
“I know they are bad decisions,” Wilkins told jurors of his actions. “I make them anyway.”
Wes Ball, one of Wilkins’ trial lawyers, described him as “candid to a degree you don’t see,” and had hoped his appearance on the witness stand would have made jurors like him.
“It didn’t work,” Ball said.
While awaiting trial, authorities discovered he had swallowed a handcuff key and fashioned a knife to be used in an escape attempt.
“This guy is the classic outlaw in the model of Billy the Kid, an Old West-style outlaw,” said Kevin Rousseau, the Tarrant County assistant district attorney who prosecuted Wilkins.
Twenty convicted killers were executed in the U.S. last year, the lowest number since the early 1980s. That tally includes seven executions in Texas — the fewest in the state since 1996. Wilkins is among nine Texas inmates already scheduled to die in the early months of 2017.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.
there needs to be a lot more, all over the country. If they are worthy of death, they are NOT worthy to be supported by us for decades. That is crap. There are several ways to kill them. Trash this lethal injection crap.
WELL AT LEAST 3 DEAD LOSERS IN THE WORLD WHO CANT HURT NO ONE ANYMORE.
Yes, it seems that the men Wilkins killed weren’t choirboys by a long shot. Texas is much better off without them.
I agree. Death penalty for murder would immediately reduce these crimes…Serial killers are willing to find more bodies for police if they are spared from death. Justice should be quick…no years of appeals….That’s not justice! Lethal injection, electric chair, or firing squad, no more than 1 month after conviction!!!! Boy would our murder rates be gone!!
GOOD RIDDANCE.
The death penalty was created to rid the world of people like Wilkins. He has now met his maker and the taxpayers no longer are stuck paying to keep him alive.
Hopefully more states will follow the lead of Texas and execute those on death row.
Nice work TEXAS!!! DRAIN the swamp!!!
How did Texas get the pentobarbital?
Robert Hagedorn – are you for real?
Phenobarbital and Pentobarbital can be ordered on line without a prescription – like so may over the counter items in large doses it can shut down vital organs even stopping breathing after the person loses consciousness.
Here is one of hundreds of sites that sell it.
http://www.broadwaymall.org/core/products/pentobarbital.php
Maybe your a victim of fake news that this was unavailable???
Justice plays a role in keeping society civilized. Capital punishment is one of these tools. A person accused of willful murder must face justice. States and people who oppose this rule will be faced with Chicago and Detroit. The Governors,AGs,and Mayors of these States and Cities must be held responsible. People in these positions need to be honorable.
If I was a relative and watching the execution I would have given that bastard the finger.
Execute with 30 days! Stop wasting the tax payers dollars. Years of appeals! For WHAT??
M
Keep it up Texas!!! We don’t need these low down scumbags walking around free and killing people!! Ten to one, he’s not going to murder anyone else in the future!