TEXAS LAST MEAL
RICHARD HEAD WILLIAMS
February 25, 2003

Richard Head kills crack head...

Last Meal: two chili cheese dogs, two cheeseburgers, two orders of onion rings with French dressing, a turkey salad with French fries, egg rolls, chocolate cake, apple pie, butter pecan ice cream, one peach, three Dr. Pepper sodas, jalapenos, ketchup and mayonnaise.

The skinny: Williams was executed for in the murder-for-hire killing of a wheelchair-bound woman that was paid for by a couple who had taken out a life insurance policy on the victim. The victim was a crack addict who had been paralyzed when her husband shot her 22 years before. The couple let the victim live with them, had taken out a $25,000 life insurance policy on her. Testimony at Williams' trial showed that they offered him $12,000 from the policy to kill her. Williams, who had just been freed from a 10-year burglary sentence, told police he planned to use the money to start a rap recording studio.

The switch-a-roo: The couple, who are serving life sentences, took Williams and the victim, ostensibly to buy cocaine. Instead, Williams slashed the woman's throat, stabbed her repeatedly and left her lying in the street. The couple sped away in their car, leaving $400 at a friend's house for Williams. When Williams discovered the couple had shortchanged him, he swore he was going to murder them.,

Last words and such: "We came a long way through the tragedy -- from hate to love and I would like to apologize for the pain I have caused all my families on both sides." "I was not a monster like they said I was. I made a mistake and this mistake cost -- but they won't cost no more."

Factoid: The couple is serving life sentences for the crime. Williams was the ninth inmate put to death in the state this year, which is by far the nation's death penalty leader and the 298th since the state restored the death penalty in 1982.