Execution Report: Douglas Feldman

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A jury convicted Feldman of capital murder in August 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.

The rage that put Feldman on death row did not subside once he was there. A planned interview with a reporter a few weeks before his execution was canceled after he ripped the telephone off of the visiting cage wall. That was the 136th violation put on his disciplinary record during his time on death row. Prison officials declined to make him available for interviews after that.

Feldman did answer a media blog site's written request for correspondence. In his letter, he declined to discuss the circumstances of his case, stating, "At this point I don't really have time to waste writing about already public info." Most of his response concerned his belief that the death penalty was a "mechanical system of rules" set up to kill "losers" - i.e. the "stupid, rash, thoughtless" and poor - while wealthy and smart criminals, "like John Gotti and Woody Harrellsons dad," escape justice. Feldman also requested a subscription to "The Horse Backstreet Choppers Magazine", $200, some LSD to use "as medicine," and "some pretty girls and attractive women to send me some sexy photos."

Feldman concluded his letter by writing, "I used to be a friendly hardworking person but being on death row for 15 years has turned me hateful & bitter."

Family members of both of Feldman's victims were present for his execution.

"I hereby declare Robert Steven Everett and Nicolas Velasquez guilty of crimes against me, Douglas Alan Feldman," Feldman said from the death gurney. "Either by fact or by proxy, I find them both guilty. I hereby sentence both of them to death, which I carried out in August of 1998. As of that time, the state of Texas has been holding me illegally in confinement and by force for fifteen years. I hereby protest my pending execution and demand immediate relief."

Although Feldman attempted to portray himself as a bringer of stern justice in his last statement, the obvious shaking of his right leg betrayed his nervous and fearful emotional state. Media witnesses wrote that after the lethal injection was started, he appeared to attempt to resist the lethal drug. He was pronounced dead at 6:28 p.m.

The victims' family members who witnessed Feldman's execution said they were not surprised by his unusual behavior. "I prepared myself for that, Velasquez's daughter, Elizabeth Chavez, said. "I don't think he ever found peace."

"I've never seen anyone that scared," said Feldman's prosecutor, Jason January.

Feldman was known in news stories as the "road rage killer", but January wished to make it known that Feldman's prior history and his time in prison proved that his aggression was not momentary. "He didn't have road rage; he had life rage."

By David Carson. Posted on 1 August 2013.
Sources: Texas Attorney General's office, Texas Department of Criminal Justice, court documents, Associated Press, Huntsville Item, gawker.com.