Execution Report: Coy Wesbrook

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A jury found Wesbrook guilty of the capital murder of Gloria Coons and Antonio Cruz in June 1998 and sentenced him to death. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals ruled in September 2000 that the tape recordings Gary Johnson obtained of Wesbrook discussing wanting to have five people murdered were obtained illegally and were inadmissible, but nevertheless affirmed his conviction and death sentence. All of his subsequent appeals in state and federal court were denied.

The trial court in Harris County held a competency evaluation for Wesbrook and ruled in May 2014 that he was mentally competent to be executed.

In an interview from death row a few days before his execution, Wesbrook was concerned about his image and the story that the reporter would tell about him. "Don't cut me up," he said to Houston Chronicle reporter Allan Turner.

"These people here are bad," he said about his fellow death row inmates. "I consider myself a little bit better. I never had a criminal record."

Wesbrook said that after their divorce, Coons prevailed on him periodically for help in securing food or a place to live, and he always complied. "I was bewitched," he said. "I wasn't rational. I wasn't being guided by my head."

Wesbrook's description of the murders corresponded with his trial testimony. He added that in his discomfort at the party, he consumed 4 beers in 30 minutes and was "buzzed." He said that when Money threw the beer at his face, he stumbled, and that's when the rifle discharged. When Rogers and Cruz rushed at him, "I was fearing for my life." He then kicked open the locked bedroom door and shot Coons and Hazlip in the act of having sex.

"As I saw her collapse and die, the spell was broken," he said. "I could see her for what she was. I no longer found her attractive."

Wesbrook expressed remorse in the interview. "I've regretted everything a trillion times," he said. "If I could bring those people back to life, I would."

He appeared to have a different tone in a death row interview with Associated Press reporter Michael Graczyk, however. "I'm sorry it happened," he said, "But I'm not going to sit here and boo-hoo about it."

"You hear all your life, if you catch your old lady in bed with somebody, don't just shoot her, but shoot her lover, too," Wesbrook told Graczyk. "In her case, there was a bunch of lovers. I just took care of my business."

In yet another interview, with 60 Minutes correspondent Bill Whitaker the Sunday before his execution, Wesbrook said, "I'm a victim in this as well as everybody else." When Whitaker asked him who he blamed for what happened, he answered, "My wife."

Regarding his upcoming execution, Wesbrook told Turner, "I'm looking forward to it." Still, he admitted doubts. "People say that Jesus is everywhere, with you all the time," he said. "But I don't think He's here with me. Who knows, when I finally see Him, maybe He'll just kick me in the gutter."

Wesbrook also expressed mixed emotions to Whitaker, telling him if he had a lethal pill, "I'll take it right here in front of you and get it over with right now," but at the same time wondering whether he would get to meet Jesus. "I hope St. Peter lets me in the gate," he said.

Prison officials delayed the start of Wesbrook's execution by about 90 minutes. Prison spokesman Jason Clark said that officials waited "out of an abundance of caution" because they anticipated that an appeal rejected by one court hours earlier would be taken to a higher court, but it was not.

Wesbrook apologized to the relatives of his victims in his last statement. "I want to say that I'm sorry for the pain that I have caused you people," he said. "I'm sorry I can't bring everybody back. I wish things could have been a lot different." He also expressed love to his daughter and his supporters.

Wesbrook concluded by telling the victims' relatives, "I can understand your outrage and why you are made at me. God be with all of us." The lethal injection was then started. He was pronounced dead at 8:04 p.m.

By David Carson. Posted on 10 March 2016.
Sources: Texas Attorney General's office, Texas Department of Criminal Justice, court documents, Associated Press, Houston Chronicle, KHOU-TV.