Execution Report: Glen McGinnis

Glen McGinnis, 27, was executed by lethal injection on 25 January 2000 in Huntsville, Texas, for murder and robbery of a store clerk.

In August 1990, McGinnins, then 17, walked into a dry cleaners and shot Leta Ann Wilkerson, 30, in the head with a .25-caliber pistol. He also shot her three more times in the back. McGinnis then took $140 from the cash register and fled in his victim's van.

The van was recovered on a major highway. Wilkerson's wallet was in it, and McGinnis's fingerprint was found on the wallet. McGinnis was arrested the following morning at his aunt's apartment. The aunt, Annette McGinnis, told police that Glen had lived with her for the past six days. She also said that she owned a .25-caliber pistol, but when she looked for it to show the police, it wasn't where she had left it. Police searched the apartment and found the gun in a laundry hamper. A firearms expert examined the slugs recovered from the victim's body and the shell casings on the floor of the crime scene and testified that they came from Annette McGinnis's pistol. Annette later contacted police to inform them that she found a set of keys in her apartment. Those keys were identified as belonging to the victim.

Glen McGinnis had a juvenile criminal history going back to age 13. His offenses included criminal tresspass, felony theft, misdemeanor assault, and automobile theft. In 1989, he was classified as a "chronic serious offender." He had been on probation for auto theft for five days when he murdered Leta Wilkerson.

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