Clyde Smith

Clyde Smith Jr., 32, was executed by lethal injection on 15 February 2006 in Huntsville, Texas for the kidnapping, robbery, and murder of two taxi drivers.

On 6 February 1992, taxi driver David Jacobs picked up Smith at a downtown Houston hotel. Smith told Jacobs to drive to an apartment complex parking lot. Smith then shot Jacobs three times in the back of the neck with a .38-caliber pistol, and robbed him. Jacobs' body was discovered the next day.

On 22 March, Smith robbed and killed another tax driver, Victor Bilton. He also shot Bilton three times with the same handgun.

On 5 April, police were called to investigate a shooting at a Houston apartment complex. Smith had shot himself in the leg with a .38-caliber pistol. Ballistic tests linked Smith's pistol to the one used to kill the two taxi drivers. Smith then confessed to both murders. He said that he stole $230 and a watch from the drivers, which he used to pay a rental car bill and his girlfriend's bills.

At his trial, Smith recanted the confessions, saying that he made them under duress. He did admit being involved in the robberies, but he said that someone else pulled the trigger and killed the drivers.

Two of Smith's girlfriends testified against him. One of them said that she was in the cab when he committed one of the slayings.

A jury convicted Smith of capital murder of David Jacobs in December 1993 and sentenced him to death. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed the conviction and sentence in April 1996.

In 2004, the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals heard Smith's claim that he was denied effective assistance of counsel because the jury was not presented evidence of him being abused as a child - evidence which his appeals lawyer claimed was possibly mitigating and could have resulted in a lesser penalty. The Fifth Circuit denied this claim. All of Smith's other appeals were also denied.

In an interview from death row, Smith maintained his stance that he didn't kill the men. "I realize how bad that looked, because the two were so similar," he said of the crimes. "But at the same time, I still maintain I didn't kill those persons ... I wasn't there when [Jacobs] was killed. I got there afterward."

"Things always went wrong when I was associated with people," Smith said. "I never said I should get off scot-free, but I don't feel like the part I played in it should've led to me being on death row."

Smith's execution was attended by his lawyer and by four pen pals from Europe. "I want to thank you all for being here and for your love and support," he said in his last statement. He did not acknowledge Victor Bilton's family, who also witnessed the execution. David Jacobs' family did not attend. When Smith's last statement was finished, the lethal injection was started. He was pronounced dead at 6:17 p.m.