Execution Report: Roger Vaughn

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A jury convicted Vaughn of capital murder in May 1992 and sentenced him to death. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed the conviction and sentence in March 1995. All of his subsequent appeals in state and federal court were denied.

"I've never murdered anybody," Vaughn insisted in an interview from death row the week before his execution. "I just fit the bill." Vaughn admitted that he visited Dora Watkins the day after he "got stupid and walked off," from jail, but he said that he didn't rob her and didn't kill her. He said that he later picked up a hitchhiker who left a package inside his car. That package contained jewelry, credit cards, and a checkbook belonging to Watkins. "I hocked the rings," he said. "I needed money. I wrote a couple of checks."

At his execution, Vaughn smiled, laughed, and mouthed to relatives that he loved them, but he declined to make a last statement. At Vaughn's request, the prison chaplain read Psalm 103 during the execution procedure. After the warden signaled for the lethal injection to begin, Vaughn turned his head toward his left hand, where a needle was inserted, and said, "My hand is about to pop down here." He then succumbed to the chemicals. He was pronounced dead at 6:26 p.m.

By David Carson. Posted on 12 May 2003.
Sources: Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Texas Attorney General's Office, Associated Press.