TEXAS LAST MEAL
DONALD LOREN ALDRICH
October 12, 2004

...Sundown for Sundance...

Last Meal: Chef salad with French/Ranch dressing, fried chicken breasts and legs, french fries, a cheeseburger, chocolate cake, deviled eggs, and biscuits with gravy.

The Skinny: Aldrich was executed for the abduction of a homosexual East Texas man who wound up victim of a gay-bashing murder.

More skinny: Aldrich was a member of what became known as the "CB gang," so named because the members first became acquainted over CB radios.

For months the gang in which Aldrich was known as "Sundance" preyed on homosexuals in the Tyler area. One evening they decided to go "queer-bashing," using procedures similar to those they had employed at least twice in the past to rob and assault homosexuals.

They drove to Bergfeld Park, a homosexual meeting spot in Tyler, Texas, where they robbed the victim at gunpoint. After robbing the man of his money and vehicle, they forced him into their automobile and drove to a remote area. They then forced the victim to strip, walk up a hill, where Aldrich and another one of the assailants shot him at least nine times with two .357 handguns.

Aldrich fired at least three shots into the victim. In a videotaped confession to police, Aldrich, considered leader of the cadre, said he didn't like homosexuals because at age 9 he had been raped by a gay cousin. One accomplice was convicted and executed in 2003. Another, who was 17 at the time, was convicted of aggravated kidnapping and aggravated robbery and received a life prison term.

On a Danish Internet site devoted to condemned prisoners, Aldrich, an Oklahoma native who worked as a baker, acknowledged he was "part of a crime that ended in the death of a young man, but did not play a part in his death."

Priors: Alrich was previously convicted of Burglary and Robbery and was on parole at the time of the murders.

Last words and such: "To the West family, I would just like to apologize for your loss. I hope that you can forgive me. To my family and loved ones and friends, I thank all of you for your support, and I'm sorry for the pain and hurt I caused you. All right warden."

Factoids: Aldrich was the...

49th murderer executed in U.S. in 2004
934nd murderer executed in U.S. since 1976
16th murderer executed in Texas in 2004
329th murderer executed in Texas since 1976