Execution Report: Gerald Tigner

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Tigner was convicted by a jury of capital murder and sentenced to death. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals vacated the conviction because the state had failed to provide the defense with a copy of Tigner's taped confession within the time prescribed by law. Tigner was retried in 1997 and was again convicted by a jury and sentenced to death. The Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed his conviction and sentence in April 1999. All of his other appeals in state and federal court were denied.

Tigner later claimed that his confessions were false and that he was not even at the crime scene when the murders happened. "I was not there. I was at home with my family," he said in a death-row interview. He said that Guan Scott was the killer. Tigner's attorneys had asked the courts for DNA testing of blood found on Tigner's shoes, contending that if the blood was not from the victims, it would prove Tigner was not at the scene. The courts were not persuaded of this reasoning and did not authorize DNA testing.

"I was wrongfully convicted of this crime," Tigner said in his final statement. "I got convicted on a false confession because I never admitted to it, but my lawyer did not point this out to the jury. I did not kill those drug dealers." Tigner then expressed love to his family and friends. The lethal injection was then administered, and Tigner was pronounced dead at 6:21 p.m.

By David Carson. Posted on 11 March 2002.
Sources: Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Texas Attorney General's office, Associated Press, Waco Tribune-Herald.