TEXAS LAST MEAL
WILLIAM CHAPPELL
November 20, 2002

Grumpy old dead man...

Last Meal: Same meal that is served to all other offenders in the main dining room.

The Skinny: A 66-year-old convicted killer was executed by injection, sentenced to death for the murders of three people in Ft. Worth -- becoming the oldest inmate Texas has put to death. Chappell bitterly professed his innocence on the gurney before the drugs stopped him mid-sentence. He also denied molesting a 3-year-old child that authorities said led him to commit the slayings.

Last tirade and such: "My request to you is to get yourself in church and pray to God he forgives you because you are murdering me. You know damn well I didn't molest that child. You all are murdering me and I feel sorry for you. I don't know what else to say. Please go to church and say ...," he said, unable to complete his sentence.

Factoids: Chappell was the oldest convict executed in Texas since the state took over capital punishment duties from counties in 1924.

A year before the killings, Chappell was convicted of indecency with a child for molesting a 3-year-old girl. He was sentenced to five years in prison but was free on bond, pending appeal.

Chappell was the 31st convicted killer executed in Texas this year and the 287th since the state resumed the death penalty 20 years ago.

Previous oldsters: Pre-1977, Henry Meyer was the oldest when he was put to death June 8, 1955, at age 65. Since Texas resumed executions in 1982 with lethal injection, two convicted killers, Betty Lou Beets and Clydell Coleman, were the oldest at 62 when they were put to death.