Daniel Hittle

Daniel Joe Hittle, 50, was executed by lethal injection on 6 December in Huntsville, Texas for the murder of a police officer.

In November 1989, Hittle was involved in a feud with Mary Goss, described in court testimony as his drug dealer. One day, after an argument with his wife, he drove away from his home carrying a 20-gauge shotgun in his pickup truck. When Garland police officer Gerald Walker, 48, stopped Hittle for speeding, Hittle shot him in the chest at close range. He then proceded to Goss's home, kicked in the door, and opened fire, killing Goss, 39, Richard Cook Jr., 36, and Raymond Gregg, 19. After reloading, he shot Goss's 4-year-old daughter, Christy Condon, then he drove back home. Christy died in a hospital two days later.

Unknown to Hittle, Officer Walker had radioed the license plate number of his truck, and police were looking for him. They spotted him near his home and gave chase. After Hittle ran his truck off the road and wrecked it, he began shooting at his pursuers. He surrendered when he ran out of ammunition. After refusing orders to show his hands, Hittle was twice engaged by a police dog. Hittle then complied with police orders and was arrested.

Convicted of Walker's murder, Hittle was not tried for the other four murders.

In 1973, Hittle was convicted in Minnesota of killing his adoptive parents. Court testimony showed that he stabbed them to death because their dog scratched his truck. He served eleven years in prison before winning parole in 1984.

Hittle declined to speak with reporters in the weeks before his execution. His final statement consisted only of the words "Santajaib Singh Ji," the name of an Indian religious teacher who advocated love and nonviolence. He was pronounced dead at 6:20 p.m.