TEXAS LAST MEAL
JOHN JOE AMADOR
August 29, 2007

...She was able to identify Amador only after repeated interviews and a hypnosis session with investigators....

Last Meal: Amador had no final meal request.

The skinny: Amador, was executed for killing a taxicab driver for $100.

More skinny: Around 3:30 a.m. a taxi driver and his female ride-along passenger picked up Amador and his 16-year-old cousin, Sara Rivas, who directed the man to a desolate area in the town of Poteet.

When the cab stopped, and with no warning or provocation, Amador fatally shot the driver with a .380 caliber handgun. Soon after, on Amador’s command, Rivas shot the woman in the head with a .25 caliber handgun, and both victims were dragged out of the taxi and dumped face-down on the gravel driveway. The woman would survive her wounds.

After the woman's pockets were searched and emptied, Amador and Rivas drove off in the taxi, which was later found abandoned in the median of a highway in San Antonio.

A passing motorist witnessed Amador and Rivas walk away from the vehicle.

An anonymous “Crimestoppers” caller implicated Amador. On March 16, 1994, The female victim informed police that a friend told her that the two attackers were named John Joe Amador and Sara Rivas.

On March 30, 1994, she identified Amador in a photo lineup. The woman testified she survived because she pretended to be dead. Under questioning at Amador's trial, she acknowledged she had up to 15 beers and a wine cooler in the preceding hours. She was able to identify Amador only after repeated interviews and a hypnosis session with investigators.

An arrest warrant was issued for Amador, who had since gone to California.

Amador all but confessed when he identified to police the caliber of the guns used in the shootings, described how he “would have” committed the murder, asserted that he “will take [his] death sentence” if prosecutors could “prove it in court,” and warned his girlfriend by letter not to testify.

During the punishment phase of his murder trial, Amador threatened to kill the judge and prosecutors.

At the time, Amador also was on parole from California for helping kill his stepfather, who allegedly had sexually and physically abused him.

A "Changed" Man: In a recent interview, Amador said his marriage to Linda Amador and his introduction to the novel, "The Alchemist," ignited the sea of change that during his last few years in prison inspired him to paint, write several spirituals and a play about his life.

Linda Amador, who married Amador in 2004 and never missed a weekly visit, said he was a "blessing" to her life.

Last words and such: As he lay on the gurney, Amador looked toward his wife and whispered, "God forgive them for they know not what they do. ... Give them peace, God, for people seeking revenge towards me." Linda Amador pressed her face against the glass pane separating them. "I love you, Chiquita. Peace. Freedom. I'm ready. As the drugs began taking effect, he uttered, "Wow."

The victim's 19-year-old son, who directed an expletive toward the dead man as he walked out of the chamber, said he was disappointed and angered by Amador's serene manner. "He looked too happy," said the son, who was 6 when his father was killed. "I think they should have burned him or done something else."

Factoids: Amador was the...

38th murderer executed in U.S. in 2007
1095th murderer executed in U.S. since 1976
23rd murderer executed in Texas in 2007
402nd murderer executed in Texas since 1976