'Take me to my king': The chilling final words of executed murderer and rapist who maintained that he was 'not a killer'
[Editor: It is really shameful to see that the world's oldest democracy has still remained primitive in matters of criminal jurisprudence. It is equally, deplorable to witness, how a state which talks of human rights and civil rights of people around the world, resorts to state sponsored murders. I wonder how people can be so cruel and brutal, while performing such cold blooded killing of human beings!!]
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| Executed: Rickey Lynn Lewis, 50, was killed by lethal injection on Tuesday, 23 years after he murdered a man and raped his fiancee |
Texas executed a convicted murderer on Tuesday by lethal injection for killing a man then raping the victim's fiancée, even as he maintained to the end that he was 'not a killer,' according to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.
Rickey Lynn Lewis already had been in and out of prison five times in less than seven years when he was arrested three days after the killing of 45-year-old George Newman and attack on Newman's fiancée in 1990 at their home in a rural area of Smith County, about 90 miles east of Dallas.
The fiancée later climbed out of a bathroom window and drove to a store to call police, the department said.
In his last statement, Lewis said he was sorry for what happened to the woman, but then said, 'If I hadn't raped you then you wouldn't have lived.'
He maintained that he did not kill Newman and nor did he rob the house, but did admit to raping Connie Hilton, the fiance.
'When I saw you in the truck driving away, I could have killed you but I didn't,' said Lewis, according to a statement provided by prison officials.
'I was just there... I'm sorry for what you've gone through. It wasn't me that harmed and stole all of your stuff,' he said to Hilton, who stood behind a glass window a few feet away. The Associated Press normally does not name rape victims, but Hilton, 63, agreed to be identified.
DNA analysis showed that Lewis' blood and semen matched traces found at the scene, according to an account of the case from the state attorney general's office.
Rickey Lynn Lewis already had been in and out of prison five times in less than seven years when he was arrested three days after the killing of 45-year-old George Newman and attack on Newman's fiancée in 1990 at their home in a rural area of Smith County, about 90 miles east of Dallas.
The fiancée later climbed out of a bathroom window and drove to a store to call police, the department said.
In his last statement, Lewis said he was sorry for what happened to the woman, but then said, 'If I hadn't raped you then you wouldn't have lived.'
He maintained that he did not kill Newman and nor did he rob the house, but did admit to raping Connie Hilton, the fiance.
'When I saw you in the truck driving away, I could have killed you but I didn't,' said Lewis, according to a statement provided by prison officials.
'I was just there... I'm sorry for what you've gone through. It wasn't me that harmed and stole all of your stuff,' he said to Hilton, who stood behind a glass window a few feet away. The Associated Press normally does not name rape victims, but Hilton, 63, agreed to be identified.
DNA analysis showed that Lewis' blood and semen matched traces found at the scene, according to an account of the case from the state attorney general's office.
Lewis said the two people responsible for Newman's killing are still alive. He didn't identify them.
He told Hilton he watched her flee the house to get help. 'When I saw you in the truck driving away, I could have killed you, but I didn't,' he said. 'I'm not a killer.'
Ms Hilton declined to speak with reporters after the execution. In a first-person account she wrote of the attack, she said she got out of bed the night of September 17, 1990, after her barking dog woke her and saw a man in the hallway with a shotgun.
He told Hilton he watched her flee the house to get help. 'When I saw you in the truck driving away, I could have killed you, but I didn't,' he said. 'I'm not a killer.'
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| Busy spot: Eleven other convicts are scheduled to be executed before the end of July in Texas at the Huntsville execution chamber |
She screamed, and Newman responded and was shot in the face. A dog in the home was also killed.
Hilton tried hiding in a bathroom, was struck at least twice in the head and then assaulted for over an hour by Lewis while the other two people Lewis claims were there stole items from the house.
She testified she was ordered to 'quit whimpering,' felt a gun barrel on her and was told someone would find her in the morning.
Hilton tried hiding in a bathroom, was struck at least twice in the head and then assaulted for over an hour by Lewis while the other two people Lewis claims were there stole items from the house.
She testified she was ordered to 'quit whimpering,' felt a gun barrel on her and was told someone would find her in the morning.
According to court documents, she was left in the kitchen with her hands and feet bound.
'There's still a lot of fear in the back of my mind because the other two men never were caught,' Hilton told the AP last week. 'You never know if there's going to be retaliation.
'He's never told anyone and as far as I'm aware of, nobody knows. On the other hand, if he were to tell who was with him, that would confirm his guilt, and he's not going to do that.'
Busy spot: Eleven other convicts are scheduled to be executed before the end of July in Texas at the Huntsville execution chamber
Busy spot: Eleven other convicts are scheduled to be executed before the end of July in Texas at the Huntsville execution chamber
Lewis already had a long criminal record, including a conviction for assaulting an 18-year-old woman who had gotten in the way of his attempt to burglarize her family's vehicles.
Lewis had said that he had mental disabilities, and those claims delayed a 2003 execution date, but his execution was later rescheduled.
Lewis thanked his friends who watched through a nearby window 'for the love you gave me.'
'I thank the Lord for the man I am today. I have done all I can to better myself, to learn to read and write,' he said, appearing to choke back tears. 'Take me to my king.'
As the drug began taking effect, he said he could feel it 'burning my arm.'
'I feel it in my throat. I'm getting dizzy,' Lewis said before he started to snore and, seconds later, lost consciousness.
He was pronounced dead 14 minutes after the lethal dose began.
His death marks the second execution this year in Texas and the sixth in the United States, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.
Eleven other convicts are scheduled to be executed before the end of July in Texas, which has put to death more people than any other U.S. state since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976. Last year, it executed 15 people.
'There's still a lot of fear in the back of my mind because the other two men never were caught,' Hilton told the AP last week. 'You never know if there's going to be retaliation.
'He's never told anyone and as far as I'm aware of, nobody knows. On the other hand, if he were to tell who was with him, that would confirm his guilt, and he's not going to do that.'
Busy spot: Eleven other convicts are scheduled to be executed before the end of July in Texas at the Huntsville execution chamber
Busy spot: Eleven other convicts are scheduled to be executed before the end of July in Texas at the Huntsville execution chamber
Lewis already had a long criminal record, including a conviction for assaulting an 18-year-old woman who had gotten in the way of his attempt to burglarize her family's vehicles.
Lewis had said that he had mental disabilities, and those claims delayed a 2003 execution date, but his execution was later rescheduled.
Lewis thanked his friends who watched through a nearby window 'for the love you gave me.'
'I thank the Lord for the man I am today. I have done all I can to better myself, to learn to read and write,' he said, appearing to choke back tears. 'Take me to my king.'
As the drug began taking effect, he said he could feel it 'burning my arm.'
'I feel it in my throat. I'm getting dizzy,' Lewis said before he started to snore and, seconds later, lost consciousness.
He was pronounced dead 14 minutes after the lethal dose began.
His death marks the second execution this year in Texas and the sixth in the United States, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.
Eleven other convicts are scheduled to be executed before the end of July in Texas, which has put to death more people than any other U.S. state since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976. Last year, it executed 15 people.
Courtesy: Daily Mail
