Execution Report: Derrick Frazier

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A jury convicted Frazier of capital murder in October 1998 and sentenced him to death. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed the conviction and sentence in March 2001. All of his subsequent appeals in state and federal court were denied.

Jermaine Herron was also convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death.

Frazier gave a television interview in April 2006, when a previous execution date was approaching. He said that the confession he gave at the time of his arrest was coerced. "The only thing I'm guilty of is possession of stolen property." Frazier said that he was sitting in Nutt's pickup truck while Herron was inside the trailer. "I heard gunshots. He come out. I asked him directly, 'What the [expletive] wrong with you?' That's what I asked him. 'Man, man, get me up out of here.'"

In the interview, Frazier said that he felt no remorse for the victims. "Driving down the highway," he said, "you see a raccoon on the side of the road. It just got run over by a truck. Do you have any remorse? You didn't even know that raccoon, did you?"

Frazier received a stay of execution, but his partner did not. Herron, who claimed at his trial and during interviews that he had nothing to do with the crime and Frazier was solely responsible, was put to death on 17 May. Later, Frazier's stay was lifted, and his execution was rescheduled for 31 August.

In another interview the week before he was put to death, Frazier - then going by the name Hasan al-Shakur - repeated his claim of innocence. "I wasn't there. I did not commit the crime. I've been saying that for the last nine years. Nothing has changed," he said. He again stated that his confession was coerced.

Refugio County District Attorney Michael Sheppard responded to Frazier's claims of a coerced confession. "He talked about details only someone in the house would know - where the bodies were, how many bullets were in them, where they were shot. [Frazier and Herron] both said Herron shot Cody, handed the gun to Frazier, and Frazier shot Betsy Nutt. And bear in mind, they're giving these statements separately."

In his last statement at his execution, Frazier proclaimed his innocence and expressed love to his wife, who he married by proxy while on death row. He was pronounced dead at 6:18 p.m.

By David Carson. Posted on 6 September 2006. Spelling error corrected on 5 August 2015.
Sources: Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Texas Attorney General's office, Associated Press, KRIS-TV, court documents.