Sammie Felder Jr.

Sammie Felder Jr., 54, was executed by lethal injection on 15 December 1999 in Huntsville, Texas, for the murder and robbery of a 42-year-old paraplegic man.

In February 1975, Felder, then 30, was working at an apartment complex for disabled people. One night, he snuck into the apartment of a paraplegic resident, James Hanks, 42. Felder was attempting to steal a wallet containing about $300, which Hanks kept under his bed, when Hanks woke up. When Hanks recognized Felder and called him by name, Felder grabbed a pair of stainless steel surgical scissors that was lying next to the bed. He stabbed Hanks numerous times in the head and throat. He also tried to smother him with a pillow because he was crying out, "please don't hurt me." He continued stabbing Hanks until he thought he was dead. He then took the wallet and left. As he was driving away, he threw the scissors out the window. He then took a plane to Denver, where he had once lived for a few months.

Later that night, Hanks was found bleeding and unconscious in his apartment by other staff. The supervisor, Bronchee Watson, knew that Hanks kept his wallet under his bed. Watson looked, and noticed that the wallet was missing. He also noticed that the surgical scissors that were normally on a tray of medical supplies in the room were missing. Hanks was placed on life support and lived for several days, never regaining consciousness.

Felder became a suspect in the crime when he failed to report to work, and never made arrangements to collect his final paycheck.

In Colorado, Felder told a friend, Edith Cobb -- who was a civilian employee of the Denver Police Department -- that he had killed a man in Houston, and he related the story to her. Cobb testified that she did not believe him at first. But Felder kept talking about the crime over the next several days, telling her that he called his sister in Houston and learned that the police were looking for him. Cobb then told the Denver police what Felder had told her. At that time, Felder fled to Idaho. In April, about a month after the murder, Felder was stopped for a traffic violation in Idaho. He was arrested for producing false identification, and was subsequently returned to Houston on the murder warrant.

Felder had an extensive prior prison record. In May 1963, he began serving a 2-year sentence for burglary of an automobile. He was discharged in December 1964. He served 2½ years of another 5-year sentence for burglary from January 1966 to July 1968. In April 1969, he began serving another 10-year sentence for burglary. He was paroled in May 1974 and discharged in January 1975, approximately one month before Hanks's murder.

A jury convicted Felder of capital murder in June 1976 and sentenced him to death. The U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals overturned this conviction, ruling that Felder's confession was improperly admitted. Felder was convicted again in a new trial in September 1986 and again sentenced to death. This conviction was overturned upon appeal because of an error in jury selection. He was convicted a third time in February 1989. This conviction was upheld by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals in September 1992. It was also upheld throughout all subsequent appeals.

On death row, a month before his execution, Felder recalled the story of his life. "My life of crime started when I was 14 years old. It seems that I just turned bad. Not bad in the sense of someone who is constantly walking around thinking about evil deeds. Not like this. Bad in the sense that I just started doing wrong, started stealing. I was burglarizing peole's houses, I was robbing peoples [sic], I was just a common thief." He also recounted the murder of James Hanks, describing all of the particulars the same way he always had. He also added, "It was not my intention to kill him. I just snapped." He said that at his execution, "They'll ask me if I have any last words to say. If the victim's family is there, I'll probably tell them how terribly sorry I am that this happened, because there was no need for him to die. I know this is not going to be any consolation to them, because they lost a loved one. I'm very sorry for it."

At his execution, Felder simply expressed love to his friends and family. He was pronounced dead at 6:15 p.m.

At the time of his execution, Felder was fourth in seniority among the 460 prisoners on Texas' death row.