Tuesday, May 29, 2007

TEXAS LAST MEAL
NEWTON ANDERSON
February 22, 2007


...earning him the nickname "Hacksaw Red" from his fellow condemned inmates....

Last meal: Anderson, 30, had a final meal request of boiled eggs, pork chops, fried chicken, tacos, fried okra, potato salad, french fries, bacon, baked potatoes, sour cream, sliced onions, jalapeno peppers, pickles, cabbage, tomatoes, and a Sprite.

The skinny: Anderson was executed for torturing and killing a retired couple during the break-in of their home.

More skinny: Firemen responded to a burning home of an elderly couple in Tyler. After the firemen brought the blaze under control, a man’s body was discovered in the kitchen. He had been shot in the head at close range with a shotgun, and was lying face down with his hands and feet bound with electrical tape.

The 65-year old woman was found in the living room. She was face down, bound and gagged with electrical tape, naked from the waist down, and had been raped and strangled. She had suffered shotgun wounds to the head.

Later that day, Anderson was identified unloading the couple's Cadillac at his trailer with several personal items belonging to the couple. Witnesses testified that Anderson, who typically had no money, was seen the night of the murders wearing expensive clothing, buying rounds of drinks, and paying generously for a car ride. When asked whether he had broken into someone’s house, Anderson replied, “Yeah. I did something like that.”

At trial, a DNA expert testified for the prosecution that the DNA from the semen discovered in the woman’s body matched Newton Anderson’s DNA.

Anderson had been paroled from prison for burglary three months before the burglary/murder.

Hacksaw Red: On death row, the red-haired prisoner was caught trying to cut his way out of his steel cell, earning him the nickname "Hacksaw Red" from his fellow condemned inmates.

From death row: Anderson, in an interview last week, acknowledged the killings but said he was at a loss for why they happened. He did not testify at his trial. The couple had been out running errands and returned home to find him inside. "I am guilty," he told the AP. "I don't deny that. ... They had good evidence. Witnesses saw me. What can I say?"

Last words and such: "For all those that want this to happen, I hope you get what you want, and it makes you feel better, and gives you some kind of relief. I don't know what else to say. For those that I have hurt, I hope, after a while, it gets better." Anderson then expressed love to his relatives and said, "I am sorry. That's it. Goodbye."

In a handwritten statement distributed after his death, Anderson again apologized to the family of his victims. "I only want to say that for the last eight years I have had to leave with my guilt and shame. I know I was wrong and now I give my life," he wrote. He concluded, "I give my life. I hope it is enough for everyone. If things could be undone, I would do it, I would do it!!:"

Factoids: Anderson was the...

6th murderer executed in U.S. in 2007
1063rd murderer executed in U.S. since 1976
5th murderer executed in Texas in 2007
384th murderer executed in Texas since 1976