Execution Report: Martin Vega

Martin Sauceda Vega, 52, was executed by lethal injection on 26 January 1999 in Huntsville, Texas for the murder-for-hire of a man for a life insurance payout.

In July 1985, after receiving a report of a homicide, Caldwell County Sheriff Mike Bading discovered the body of James Mims, 36, lying alongside a road. Mims's skull had been hit with a blunt object, and he had been shot eight times with a .22-caliber pistol. Two bullets were removed from his body, and three spent casings were recovered. He was bloody and wet.

Mims's murder was unsolved for 2½ years until Martin Vega went to authorities in Luling in 2 January 1988 and confessed. Vega told authorities that he and Mims' wife, Linda, plotted to kill Mims in order to collect approximately $150,000 in life insurance. She promised to marry him and give him $30,000 from the proceeds. Vega also described the location of the murder weapon. The handgun and the rest of the spent cartridges were found where Vega said they would be.

Vega said that the victim was wet because of a failed attempt to drown him. He insisted that Linda Mims be arrested immediately upon his confession.

Vega was indicted for capital murder. Attorney William Rugeley was appointed to represent him. In August, Vega filed a motion to dismiss Rugeley because they did "not agree with each other and [could] not see eye to eye." He claimed he had the funds to hire his own attorney. In October, the court informed Vega that Rugeley would continue to represent him until he retained other counsel, at which time Rugeley would be removed. Vega did not subsequently inform the court about new counsel.

In January 1989, eleven days before trial, Rugeley filed a motion to withdraw, stating that Vega refused to communicate with him and he could not prepare for trial. Vega explained in court that Rugeley told him to plead guilty even though he was innocent. Vega did not ask for new counsel. The court refused to remove Rugeley at that late date.

Vega had previous convictions for aggravated robbery, burglary, attempted burglary, and sale of narcotics. He had been in prison three times since age 22. At the time of the killing, he was on parole after serving one week of a two-year sentence. (At the time, early release was common in Texas due to strict prison population caps imposed by U.S. District Judge William Wayne Justice.)

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