Gary Johnson

Gary James Johnson, 49, was executed by lethal injection on 12 January 2010 in Huntsville, Texas for killing two men while burglarizing a ranch.

On 30 April 1986, Johnson, then 35, and his brother, Terry, 38 went to the Triple Creek Ranch west of Huntsville to burglarize it. Gary Johnson had once been employed there as a ranchhand. While the brothers were looking for items to steal, ranch foreman James Hazelton, 28, and his brother-in-law, Peter Sparagana, 23, arrived. They confronted Terry, but did not see Gary. While Terry distracted them, Gary surprised them and opened fire on Sparagana. Hazelton tried to run, but Gary caught him. The assailants then brought Hazelton back to the barn, made him kneel, and tied his hands behind his back. While Hazelton pleaded for mercy, Gary shoved the gun in his mouth and fired. Both victims died from wounds from a .44-caliber pistol at close range.

At Johnson's trial, Bill and Shannon Ferguson testified that they were in their pasture on the evening of the murder when they saw a truck pull over near a gate of the Triple Creek Ranch, which was adjacent to their property. They noticed someone get out of the truck, heard a chain rattle on the gate, and observed someone from the truck go through the gate and onto the property. The truck's headlights had been turned off. Concerned that there was a burglary in progress, Mrs. Ferguson ran to her house to call the ranch managers, the Hazeltons.

Fifteen minutes later, the Fergusons observed Jim Hazelton's truck appear at the same gate. Unable to enter through that gate, Hazelton entered the rance from another location. The Fergusons subsequently heard a gunshot, prompting Mrs. Ferguson to rush to her house and phone the police.

Mr. Ferguson remained in the pasture, watching to see if anyone exited the gate. Several minutes after the first gunshot, several more shots were fired in rapid succession. After a brief silence, Mr. Ferguson heard someone plead for his life. The pleas were silenced by two more shots.

Johnson's brothers - Tracey, Randy, and Ricky - all testified that in the fall of 1986, Gary visted them in Missouri. Each of them testified that Gary confessed to the murder and described it to them. In addition, Tracey testified that Gary gave him the .44-caliber pistol used in the double murder and asked him to destroy it.

Johnson had no prior criminal convictions.

A jury convicted Johnson of capital murder and sentenced him to death. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed the conviction and sentence in December 1992. All of his subsequent appeals in state and federal court were denied.

Terry Del Johnson accepted a conviction of murder and sentence of 99 years in prison in exchange for his testimony. He remains in custody as of this writing.

In an interview with the Associated Press the week before Johnson's execution, Shannon Ferguson said she's always "felt kind of responsible" for the two victim's deaths, since they wouldn't have come out to investigate the burglary if she hadn't called. But, she also said that if she hadn't done anything, "I think they probably would have gone on and murdered more people."

Johnson's execution was attended by his daughter, a brother and sister-in-law, and friends. In the other witness chamber, reserved for family and friends of the victim, was James Hazelton's brother, George. When the warden asked Johnson if he wanted to make a final statement, he declined, saying only "Just tell my family goodbye." He then continued speaking, however, urging his relatives, "you tell the rest of them what they did was wrong for letting me take the fall for what they did. I never done anything in my life to anybody." The lethal injection was then started. He was pronounced dead at 6:26 p.m.