Gregory Wright

Gregory Edward Wright, 42, was executed by lethal injection on 30 October 2008 in Huntsville, Texas for the murder and robbery of a woman in her home.

In 1997, Donna Vick saw Wright, a homeless man, standing on a street corner, holding a cardboard sign offering to work for food. Vick befriended Wright, then 31, giving him food, clothing, and money, and even allowing him to stay with her at times in her home in DeSoto, a suburb of Dallas.

On the night of 20 March, Wright introduced another homeless man, John Adams, to Vick. After spending some time at a club, Wright and Adams got a ride to Vick's home. There, Vick made both of them sandwiches and told Adams to help himself to the refrigerator, the bathroom, and a spare bedroom. Vick then went to bed. She was stabbed to death in her bedroom in the early morning of 21 March. Wright, then 31, and Adams, 33, stole a television, microwave oven, rifle, and other items from her home. They also stole her car.

The next day, Adams turned himself in to police and assisted in recovering the victim's car, which he and Wright had abandoned in Landcaster, another Dallas suburb. On the steering wheel, police found blood which DNA tests showed belonged to Wright. At the house, police found Vick's body on her bed and Wright's bloody fingerprint on her pillowcase. Adams also led police to a shack where Wright sometimes stayed, and he was arrested there. Police found a pair of bloody blue jeans, and, outside the shack, a bloody knife. DNA tests established that the blood on the jeans and knife was Vick's. Police also found gold paint on the jeans, and several cans of gold spray paint in the shack.

Adams then led police to a vacant lot, where another bloody knife was found. That blood was also matched to the victim.

Llewelyn Mosley, whose home was near the vacant lot where the second bloody knife was found, testified that on the night of the murder, Wright and Adams drove up to his home in Vick's car to purchase cocaine from a drug dealer who was staying with him. Mosley testified that Wright and Adams told him they had some things from a woman in DeSoto that they wanted to get rid of. After Wright negotiated a purchase with the dealer, he and Adams exchanged "high fives."

A medical examiner testified that more than one knife could have been used to kill the victim.

Further testimony showed that Wright was known to inhale spray paint to get high.

A jury convicted Wright of capital murder in December 1997 and sentenced him to death. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed the conviction and sentence in June 2000. All of his subsequent appeals in state and federal court were denied.

John Adams was also convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death. He remains on death row as of this writing.

In their trials and appeals, both Wright and Adams blamed the other for the killing. In one appeal, Adams recanted his testimony and took sole responsibility for the killing, but he reversed himself again at a later hearing.

A September execution date for Wright was withdrawn so additional DNA testing could be done. His execution was rescheduled after the results of the test were reported back to the court.

"The truth doesn't matter," Wright said in an interview from death row a few days before his execution. He said he was stunned when his guilty verdict was announced. "I couldn't believe what was happening ... I am innocent."

Wright again proclaimed his innocence in his last statement at his execution. "There's been a lot of confusion who done this," he said. "I never sold anything to anyone. My only act or involvement was not telling on him. John Adams was the one that killed Donna Vick. The evidence proves that ... I was in the bathroom when he attacked. I ran into the bedroom. By the time I came in, when I tried to help her with first aid, it was too late." Wright also expressed love to his family. "I'll be waiting on y'all," he said in closing. "I am finished talking." The lethal injection was then started. He was pronounced dead at 6:20 p.m.

The victim's son, Jerry Don Blanton, attended Wright's execution. A reporter asked him afterward about Wright's last statement. "He could have been the hero in this if that was a true story," Blanton answered. "I really think if there was any truth in what he said, he could have probably stopped this. And if he wanted to protect his friend, all he had to do was call 911 and get an ambulance out there."

"We're getting the same thing we've got since day one, each of them blaming it on the other one."

"I thought justice demanded we executed the right person," Meg Penrose, one of Wright's lawyers, said. "I'd rather wait thirty years and make sure we have the proper individual executed than wait twelve and hedge our bets. I don't like the rush to review that we're at. A person who is innocent is rushed to the gurney and is executed."