A Texas death row inmate is ready to die for his crimes but would rather his sister and mother not be there to witness it.
"I take full responsibility for my actions of 20 years ago, and sadly, I can't go back in time and just walk away," Richard Lee Tabler said, according to USA TODAY. Tabler, now 46, has found God, and leads a ministry. Tabler has written several books, including "Within the Shadows of Life," in which he writes about the killings.
"I'm unable to get over the hatred for myself, for the pain I caused so many and my loved ones," Tabler wrote in the book, according to USA Today.
Tabler's mother and sister told the newspaper that they believe his changes are genuine.
"He didn't want us to be at the execution," his sister told USA TODAY. "And I'm like, 'No, we're gonna be there.' My mom's point was, 'You're not gonna die alone. I want our faces to be the last faces you see.'"
Tabler, 46, is set to be executed on Thursday, Feburary 13th at 6 p.m. for the shooting deaths of Mohammed-Amine Rahmouni, 28, and Haitham Zayed, 25 in 2004, NBC News reported. Rahmouni owned a strip club where Tabler worked. After Tabler was banned from the establishment, he set up a meeting with Rahmouni and killed him and his friend Zayed.
After those killings, Tabler shot and killed Tiffany Dotson, 18, and Amanda Benefield, 16, both of whom worked at the club. Although Tabler confessed to those killings and he was indicted, prosecutors stopped pursuing the case after he had received the death penalty for killing the men, NBC News reported.
"A lot of people cannot understand how I can have such peace and joy in my heart in the face of my own death, but I know it's the strength, grace and mercy of my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, who has been with me every step of the way. The day of my execution is the beginning of my real life," Tabler has said.
According to NBC News Tabler has repeatedly flip-flopped on whether he wanted to appeal and fight the death sentence or move forward with the execution. The station reported there were two instances of attempted suicide while he's been in prison.
"Petitioner has spent the last twenty years in the Courts, and see's no point in wasting this Courts time, nor anyone else's," NBC News reported that Tabler wrote to the state Court of Criminal Appeals on Dec. 9, 2024.
