Execution Report: Donald Aldrich

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A jury convicted Aldrich of capital murder in August 1994 and sentenced him to death. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed the conviction and sentence in June 1996. All of his subsequent appeals in state and federal court were denied.

Henry Earl Dunn was also convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death. He was executed in February 2003. David Ray McMillan was convicted of aggravated robbery and aggravated kidnapping and received a life sentence.

In 2003, Smith County District Attorney Jack Skeen, whose office prosecuted all three defendants, said that they were members of a group called the "CB gang", so named because they became acquainted over citizen's band (CB) radios. The gang, supposedly led by Aldrich, carried out other attacks on homosexual men in the Tyler area over a period of months.

"To the West family, I would just like to apologize for your loss. I hope that you can forgive me," Aldrich said in his last statement. He also expressed love to his family and friends. He was pronounced dead at 6:18 p.m.

By David Carson. Posted on 14 October 2004.
Sources: Texas Attorney General's office, Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Tyler Morning Telegraph.