A man convicted for strangling a female impersonator and stealing the victim's car was executed through lethal injection in Texas. The execution was carried out on Wednesday, said by the Texas prison officials.
Texas officials declared Richard Masterson, 43 years old dead at 6:53 pm. Masterson was put to death by lethal injection at the death chamber of the state in Huntsville, Reuters reported. Back in 2001, he was convicted of killing a woman impersonator, strangling her to death in Houston and stole her car.
During his trial, he told the juror that he was a danger to society as well as dared them to sentence him a death penalty, according to Times of Malta. Masterson's lawyers also made appeals to the US Supreme court to stop the execution. They argued about his due process rights were violated as well as the prosecutors showed false and misleading evidence in the case.
On his final words, prison officials quoted him saying, "Sending me to a better place. I am all right with this, you have to live and die by the choices that we make," NT News cited. Masterson's execution is the first one this year.
It is also the 532nd since the Supreme Court in the US reinstituted the death penalty back in the year of 1976 in most of the states. The Death Penalty Information Center reported, Texas carried out 13 executions in 2015. The center is also responsible for monitoring US capital punishments.
On Wednesday, the Supreme Court rejects the motions of the appeal that false evidence was in the case of the death of the victim, Darin Honeycutt, 35, a female impersonator. The victim was also known on her stage name as Brandi Houston.
The lawyers also said there was no evidence of struggle and the death was accidental. The medical examiner who called the death of the victim as homicide was also questioned by the lawyers. During his trial back in the year 2002, Masterson with long criminal record did not admit the killing.
