Texas executes third death row inmate this year

Feb. 1 (UPI) -- Texas carried out its third execution of the year Thursday, that of a Dallas man who shot his daughters to death as their mother listened on the phone in 2001.

John Battaglia, 62, received a lethal injection Thursday night in Huntsville and was pronounced dead at 9:40 p.m.

According to the Dallas Morning News, Battaglia appeared good-natured before the execution and said hello to his ex-wife, Mary Jean Pearle, who was there to watch his execution.

"Well, hi, Mary Jean. I'll see y'all later. Bye," he said. "Go ahead, please."

After the lethal injection was administered, Battaglia smiled and said, "Am I still alive?"

Moments later, he said, "Oh, here, I feel it."

It took 22 minutes for Battaglia to die after the injection was given.

Battaglia was convicted in 2002 for killing his two daughters, 6-year-old Liberty Battaglia and 9-year-old Mary Faith Battaglia. He killed them while speaking on the phone with Pearle, after he learned there was a warrant out for arrest for harassing her.

Pearle said she heard Mary Faith plead for her life: "No, daddy, please don't, don't do it."

Battaglia has twice had his execution delayed over questions about his mental competency. In 2015, three psychologists testified Battaglia suffers from delusional disorder, in which a victim has strongly believed untrue things. All three said Battaglia was mentally incompetent for execution, but disagreed on the reasons.

Battaglia's attorneys called for the Supreme Court to halt Thursday's execution, saying the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals misapplied the high court's guidance on competency.

A state judge previously determined Battaglia was faking mental illness in order to avoid execution.

"The defendant is a vengeful, manipulative, cunning and deceitful person with the motive and intellectual capability to maintain a deliberate ploy or ruse to avoid his execution," State District Judge Robert Burns said.