HUNTSVILLE, Texas, Feb. 4 (UPI) -- A convicted killer with dual U.S.-British citizenship was executed Tuesday in Texas for the rape and murder of an Austin woman 16 years ago.
John William Elliott, 42, was pronounced dead at 7:09 p.m. CST after receiving a lethal injection for the murder of 19-year-old Joyce Munguia. She was raped and then beaten to death with a motorcycle chain under an overpass June 13, 1986.
Elliott offered no final statement when asked by the warden.
Elliott, who was born on a U.S. Air Force base in England, moved to the United States at the age of 6. More than 100 members of British Parliament signed a petition demanding clemency from Gov. Rick Perry.
A judge Monday turned down a request for a delay from Elliott's lawyer who wanted additional DNA testing. The attorney claimed the evidence would show a witness in Elliott's trial actually raped and killed Munguia. Elliott always claimed he was innocent.
Prosecutor Bryan Case told the Austin American-Statesman that DNA tests done in 2000 showed that Elliott had sex with Munguia and her blood was splattered on his shorts.
Elliott had been released from prison in 1982 on mandatory supervision after being sentenced to eight years for intentional murder. He was placed on 10-years probation after a conviction for burglary of a habitation.
Munguia was drinking with Elliott and two other men on June 13, 1986. The three men allegedly assaulted Munguia and Elliott beat her over the head with chain when she said she planned to call police, according to court records.
There was a witness to the attack and when officers arrived at Elliott's house they found his shorts and shoes splattered with blood. The blood matched Munguia's type and his shoe prints were consistent with prints at the scene of the crime.
Tests on the "rape kit" revealed that fluids in Munguia's body had the same blood type as all three attackers. DNA testing confirmed that Elliott could not be excluded as the donor of the sperm found in the victim's body.
The other two men were sentenced to prison for rape.
Elliott was the seventh convicted killer executed in Texas this year and the 296th since the state restored the death penalty in 1982.
