Execution Report: Allen Janecka

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A jury convicted Janecka of the capital murder of Kevin Wanstrath in April 1981 and sentenced him to death. The conviction was originally affirmed by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals in October 1987, but upon rehearing, in January 1990, the Court overturned the conviction because the indictment against Janecka did not identify Waldhauser as the person who hired him. The court agreed with the defense's claim that this omission prevented them from preparing the best case with which to defend their client. A new indictment was issued, and Janecka was retried. In October 1993, a jury again found him guilty and sentenced him to death. The Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed this verdict and sentence in November 1996. All of Janecka's subsequent appeals in state and federal court were denied.

Markham Duff-Smith was convicted in 1981 of the capital murder of his adoptive mother, Gertrude Duff-Smith Zabolio. He was not prosecuted in the Wanstrath case. He was executed on 9 June 1993. Duff-Smith denied having any involvement in either case right up to the moment of his execution, when, surprisingly, he confessed to both crimes in his last statement.

Walter Alfred Waldhauser Jr. pleaded guilty to three counts of murder in the Wanstrath case and was sentenced to 30 years in prison. He was released in February 1990, after serving 8 years of his sentence. According to a news article, he is currently serving a life sentence for an unrelated crime under the name Michael E. Davis.

While on death row, Janecka declined to be interviewed by news reporters, but he did allow himself to be interviewed for a German documentary film. In the film, he unemotionally described the killings. This confession was shown to a jury at his 1993 sentencing hearing.

"For many years, I have done things my way, which caused a lot of pain to me, my family, and many others," Janecka said in his last statement. Janecka thanked his family and the prison chaplains for their support and wished God's blessings upon them. "Ken, my little son, I am coming to see you," he continued. "Oh Lord, into your hands I commit my spirit. Thy will be done." He was pronounced dead at 6:21 p.m.

With Janecka's execution, there remain fourteen prisoners under death sentences in Texas for murders committed in the 1970s.

By David Carson. Posted on 28 July 2003.
Sources: Texas Attorney General's office, Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Associated Press, Houston Chronicle.