HUNTSVILLE, Texas, Nov. 15 (UPI) -- After resisting removal from his cell, a Texas death row inmate was executed Thursday for the 1988 murder of a Dallas restaurant manager during a robbery that netted $800.
Emerson Rudd, 31, was pronounced dead at 6:26 p.m. CST after receiving a lethal injection for the murder of 23-year-old Steve Morgan. Rudd was the 16th convicted killer executed by Texas this year.
In his final statement, Rudd told Morgan's relatives he was sorry about the shooting and that he hoped his death would bring them peace.
"Politicians say that this brings closure, but my death doesn't bring your son back -- it doesn't bring closure," he said. "I wish that I could do more, but I can't. I hope this brings you peace."
Rudd said he was still "warm" from the pepper gas used to remove him from his cell.
Rudd resisted when ordered to leave his cell on death row earlier in the day at the Polunsky Prison Unit in Livingston, Texas, according to prison spokesman Larry Fitzgerald.
"Our officers were forced to administer gas. He did resist but he was removed without injury or incident and transferred to the Huntsville Unit," he said.
When Rudd arrived at Huntsville, he told the warden he would not put up any more resistance, took a shower and then ate a hamburger, Fitzgerald said.
In a recent interview with The Dallas Morning News, Rudd admitted that he killed Morgan and promised that he would not go quietly to his execution.
"If they come and tell me, 'Let's go,' I have no intention of going anywhere with anyone talking about killing me," he said. "I have no intention of participating in my own death. Suicide is when people cooperate. And I'm not suicidal. I have no intention of hurting anyone else. I'm just going to defend myself."
Rudd's execution was the second this week in Texas. Jeffery Eugene Tucker, 41, received a lethal injection Wednesday for the 1988 robbery and murder of 65-year-old Wilton Humphreys at Granbury, Texas.
Tucker's execution had been postponed from Sept. 11 because the U.S. Supreme Court was closed after the terrorist attacks and he had no access for any last-minute appeals.
