HUNTSVILLE, Texas, Nov. 14 (UPI) -- A Texas killer was killed Wednesday in an execution that had been postponed Sept. 11 when the terrorist attacks closed the U.S. Supreme Court.
Jeffery Eugene Tucker, 41, was pronounced dead at 6:26 p.m. CST, shortly after receiving a lethal injection for the 1988 robbery and murder of 65-year-old Wilton Humphreys in Granbury, Texas. Tucker was the 15th convicted killer executed this year in Texas.
In his final statement, Tucker expressed remorse to Humphreys' wife, daughter and two sons, who were witnesses.
"I'd like to tell the Humphreys family, I am sorry for the pain and suffering that I have caused you," he said. "I never intended for your husband and father to be killed. It was just an accident. I sincerely regret any pain and sorrow."
Tucker said he prayed that his death would bring "peace the solace" to the family.
"If my death brings you that, then I will gladly give it. I know that I leave this world for the crime that I committed."
Gov. Rick Perry issued a 30-day stay only hours before Tucker was scheduled to die Sept. 11 because the condemned man had no access to the Supreme Court for any last-minute appeals.
Another Texas death row inmate, Emerson Rudd, 31, is scheduled to receive a lethal injection Thursday for the 1988 murder of a 23-year-old Dallas restaurant manager during a robbery that netted $800.
