Execution Report: Luis Ramirez

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A jury convicted Ramirez of capital murder in 1999 and sentenced him to death. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed the conviction and sentence in February 2002. All of his subsequent appeals in state and federal court were denied.

Edward Bell was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to life in prison.

"I didn't do this," Ramirez told a reporter in an interview the week before his execution. "I have no idea who did. I didn't even have a parking ticket on my record." Ramirez said that he was seventy miles away at the time of the murder, checking on some property.

On a web site, Ramirez stated that he worked for a mortgage company and was in Brady, Texas doing a "lot evaluation" on the day that Nandin was murdered. He stated that the owner of the property, Pat Raby, could have corroborated his alibi, but she was not called to testify at his trial. Although Raby was called to testify at an evidentiary hearing in 2001, Ramirez wrote, "the DA was able to trip her up" and discredit her testimony because three years had passed and she had forgotten some details.

"The case against me is entirely circumstantial," the web site read. "It lacks all basic proof. There is no physical evidence. No Scientific evidence. No DNA. No witnesses. And no murder weapon. My conviction is based solely on the testimony of Tim Hoogstre, a police paid informant ... A rumor, Hoogstra had no first hand knowledge of the crime. Bell was never called to testify. Nor has he ever given a statement to corroborate Hoogstra's testimony."

"I did not kill your loved one," Ramirez told Nandin's siblings in his last statement at his execution. "I wish I could tell you the reason why or give you some kind of solace. You lost someone you love very much, the same as my family and friends are going to lose in a few minutes. I am sure he died unjustly, just like I am. I did not murder him. I did not have anything to do with his death." After his last statement, the lethal injection was started. Ramirez was pronounced dead at 6:18 p.m.

By David Carson. Posted on 21 October 2005. Typographical error corrected on 24 October 2005.
Sources: Texas Attorney General's office, Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Associated Press, Huntsville Item, court documents, www.brokenchains.us.