HOUSTON, Nov. 11 (UPI) -- A woman scheduled for execution next month in Texas for the murders of her husband and two children has requested clemency.
Frances Newton, 39, claims she is innocent and wants a 120-day delay so her new attorneys can investigate her case, the Houston Chronicle reported Thursday.
Newton is scheduled to receive a lethal injection Dec. 1. She would be the third woman put to death in Texas since the state resumed executions in 1982. Twenty-two convicted killers have been executed this year.
Newton's petition for clemency raises questions about ballistics tests by the Houston Police Department crime lab.
Prosecutors said Newton killed her family in 1987 to claim $100,000 in insurance money. The bodies of Adrian Newton, 23, and the couple's children, Alton, 7, and Farrah Elaine, 21 months, were found in the family's Houston-area apartment.
The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles will review the clemency petition and make a recommendation to Gov. Rick Perry.
