Texas to Execute Killer Over 1993 Attack on Newlyweds

The southern US state of Texas was on Tuesday scheduled to execute a convicted killer and rapist over a 1993 attack on a newlywed couple, reported AFP

Alvin Braziel, 43, was set to die by lethal injection Tuesday evening at the Texas state prison in Huntsville. 

He was convicted in 2001 of attacking Douglas and Lora White, who had been married just 10 days. 

The couple were walking on a trail in the Dallas suburbs when Braziel, aged 18 at the time, attempted to rob them at gunpoint. When they said they did not have any money, Braziel shot Douglas White, 27, and raped Lora White, 23.

His lawyers filed no final appeals, but had previously challenged the death sentence on grounds that his history of mental illness and suffering abuse had not been considered as mitigating factors.

Braziel's crime remained unsolved for many years until his DNA was tested in 2001 while he was serving a sentence for another sexual assault. It matched samples taken following Lora White's assault. 

His execution will be the 13th and last of the year in Texas, the most prolific capital punishment state where another inmate was executed last week.

There have been only 11 executions this year in all other US states that carry out the death penalty. 

The United States's last execution of the year is set for Thursday in Florida, when Jose Antonio Jimenez is scheduled to die for stabbing a 63-year-old woman to death in her home in 1992.