Luis Ramirez

Luis Ramirez, 42, was executed by lethal injection on 20 October 2005 in Huntsville, Texas for the murder-for-hire of a 29-year-old man.

On 8 April 1999, Edward Bell, 37, phoned Nemicio Nandin, a San Angelo fireman who had a part-time job as a washer and dryer repairman, to come to his house in Tom Green county to repair a broken dryer. When Nandin arrived at the residence, Bell placed him in handcuffs and took him to a chicken coop on the property. Bell then shot Nandin in the head twice with a shotgun. After burying the victim's body in a shallow grave, Bell drove Nandin's truck to a local store and left it there.

When Nandin failed to show up for work, he was reported missing. His body was found on 17 April. The house where the murder took place was owned by Lana Riordan, but Bell and his girlfriend, Lisa McDowell, had previously lived there. Bell was arrested in Tyler.

The car Bell was driving belonged to McDowell. In it, investigators found a pair of jeans covered in blood. In Bell's wallet, they found a business card belonging to Luis Ramirez, then 34. They also found a hand-drawn map to Ramirez's ex-wife's home, a description of her vehicle, and her license plate number.

Lisa McDowell told investigators that on the day of the murder, she dropped Bell off at the Riordan house between 11:00 a.m. and noon. Later, between 3:30 and 4:00 p.m., she picked Bell up at her aunt's house and drove him back to the Riordan house. On that trip, McDowell saw Bell throw two latex gloves out of the car window. She led police to the location where Bell disposed of the evidence. There, police recovered one glove and Nandin's truck keys.

An informant told police that Luis Ramirez had offered him $1,000 to kill Nandin, but that Bell was hired instead.

Luis and Dawn Ramirez divorced in 1995 after eight years of marriage. Trial testimony indicated that Luis was still jealous over Dawn, who began dating Nandin in 1997.

Luis Ramirez was charged with hiring Nandin's murder. At his trial, Timothy Hoogstra testified that a few days before the killing, Edward Bell told him that Ramirez had hired him to kill a fireman for $1,000. Hoogstra also testified that after the murder, Bell told him that he and Ramirez went to the house, called Nandin for a repair, and then handcuffed and shot him.

At Ramirez's sentencing hearing, Dawn Ramirez testified that her husband verbally, physically, and sexually abused her and threatened her after they separated. Another ex-wife testified that he abused her as well. The state also presented evidence that Ramirez once slashed the tires of another man Dawn had dated, and that he had threatened one of her work acquaintances.

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.