Michael Graczyk reports for AP:
An Arlington man was executed Tuesday for the 1998 torture-slaying of a 19-year-old mentally challenged woman exactly 13 years ago.
Michael Wayne Hall, 31, received lethal injection less than an hour after the U.S. Supreme Court refused to stop his punishment for the abduction and murder of Amy Robinson. Hall was pronounced dead at 6:23 p.m. at the Huntsville Unit of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.
The second man convicted in her death, Robert Neville, was put to death five years ago.The Supreme Court orders denying a stay are here and here. No dissent is noted.* * *Robinson had a genetic disorder called Turner's syndrome, a rare chromosome condition found only in women and characterized by short stature and lack of sexual development at puberty. Prosecutors described her as mentally challenged and trusting.
Authorities said Hall and Neville stopped Robinson along the bike route they knew she took to work and offered her a ride. She accepted.
They drove her about 12 miles to a remote area of Tarrant County where Neville shot at her repeatedly with a crossbow but missed. They also shot her numerous times with a pellet gun and a .22-caliber rifle, prosecutors said.
"Target practice," they bragged to reporters after they were arrested two weeks later trying to cross into Mexico near Eagle Pass. They also told reporters how they laughed as Robinson pleaded for her life.
This is an appalling appalling crime, and the death sentence was well deserved. It is unfortunate that this execution was 13 years in the making. There is no doubt about guilt.
The senselessness and cruelty of this murder show why the death penalty is necessary. No matter what the cost.