'Railroad Killer' put to death in Texas

[tuvor]

HUNTSVILLE, Texas - A train-hopping serial killer linked to at least 15 murders near railroad tracks around the country said "I deserve what I am getting" before he was executed Tuesday night.

Angel Maturino Resendiz mumbled a prayer, saying "Lord, forgive me. Lord, forgive me," and acknowledged the presence of relatives watching through a nearby window.

"I want to ask if it is in your heart to forgive me," he said as he looked toward the relatives of victims in another room. "You don't have to. I know I allowed the devil to rule my life."

"I thank God for having patience for me. I don't deserve to cause you pain. You did not deserve this. I deserve what I am getting," he said.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060628/ap_on_re_us/railroad_killer_execution

[Ecumenist]

1. Wow, that was fast...

Did he waive his appeals? His crimes took place just a few years ago, IIRC.

[TexasLawyer]

2. This was a very scary guy

His last victim, a physician and mother, was bludgeoned to death just about 8 blocks from my house.

But I still don't believe in the death penalty. Life in prison or a mental institution, yes.

[Bassic]

9. I concur

I think the Death Penalty belonged in the Dark Ages.

[arachide]

3. And in the Phillipines....

the outlawed the death penalty.

[CornField]

4. State sanctioned murder

13 people put to death by the Texas government in six months. Is it suppose to make us feel safer? Did death finally succeed in bringing peace?

[winter999]

5. It did for the guy's next victim(s).

[Skittles]

6. cheap argument

actually a trait of conservatives

[Mr. Mojo Risin]

8. I'm with you on this.

Some people you just can't reach. He lived two or three years longer than he should have.

[AnneD]

10. He left behind ....

a trail of victims across the US. There is no telling the total number that he killed. The deaths here in Houston had anyone that lived near the tracks double bolting their doors. They were heinous, vicious crimes. He was a mass murderer and would have continued in his ways had he not been captured....Why risk the chance of him escaping or worse yet, have his conviction overturned and/or him being released (it almost happened with Coral Eugene Watts). In this case the right criminal received the right sentence. You put down a rabid animal to protect other animals-I see no difference in exececuting a mass murderer to protect society. I am not so quick to support the death penalty (I want them to be rare), but I see no problem with this execution.

[davsand]

7. I watched a stake out when they were trying to catch that guy.

It was a trip, let me tell you...

I worked in a two person office in the old train station building. My boss was on vacation that week, and it was just me--alone in that office--next to the rail road tracks. Resendiz had ties to the area--he'd been living here at one point--and they were wondering if he'd come back.

My office overlooked the train tracks and beyond that the back of the police station. Down the hall from me was the local FBI office and several other law offices. We pretty much knew everybody in the building, and I knew a lot of the local police force--including some of the SWAT team--from when I worked as a bartender years ago.

I looked out the window one morning and there were guys with weed whackers out on the side of the train tracks (like they EVER mowed that!) I did a double take when I realized that one of the guys out there with a weed whacker was one of the agents from the FBI office down the hall.

When I took a longer look, I realized that the SWAT team was over in back of the police station "cleaning out" a van (dressed like they were just mechanics or something..)

While I do not agree with the idea of the State killing anyone in the name of "The People," I did feel better once they got this guy locked up.


Laura