A serial killer linked to at least 15 murders near railroad tracks around the US was executed in Texas last night.
Angel Maturino Resendiz mumbled a prayer, saying "Lord, forgive me. Lord, forgive me," and acknowledged the presence of relatives watching through a nearby window.
"I want to ask if it is in your heart to forgive me," he said as he looked toward the relatives of victims in another room. "You don't have to. I know I allowed the devil to rule my life."
"I thank God for having patience for me. I don't deserve to cause you pain. You did not deserve this. I deserve what I am getting," he said.
Resendiz, 46, was pronounced dead at 8:05 p.m. CDT.
The execution was delayed for almost two hours before the US Supreme Court rejected several last-day appeals. Resendiz's lead appeals lawyer, Jack Zimmermann, had argued that his client, who described himself as half-man and half-angel, told psychiatrists he couldn't be executed because he didn't believe he could die.
The court also rejected an appeal by the Houston-based consul general of Mexico questioning the Mexican national's competency and challenging the constitutionality of the lethal injection process as cruel and unusual punishment. Capital punishment is not allowed in Mexico.
AP