Execution Report: Raymond Jones

Raymond James Jones, 39, was executed by lethal injection on 9 September 1999 in Huntsville, Texas for the robbery and murder of a man in his home.

On 17 June 1988, Jones, then 28, and Su Van Dang, 51, were playing dominoes with several others at Jones' uncle's house. Afterward, Jones and Dang went to Dang's house. They first went into the living room, then Dang went into the kitchen. Jones then hid, took out a knife he was carrying, and waited. When Dang returned, Jones stabbed him twice in the chest and once in the back, telling him, "You are going to die." Jones then went into the kitchen to get a bigger knife. When he returned to the living room, the victim was trying to get up. Jones then hit him and stabbed him again with a kitchen knife. Jones then went back to the kitchen to get a meat cleaver and a lug wrench.

When Jones returned to the living room, Dang told him that he wanted to take a bath. Jones then went into the bathroom to draw some water, then came back to help the victim unbutton his shirt. When Jones left the room again, Dang ran out the front door and called for help. Jones heard this, so he ran after him and dragged him back into the house, telling him he had just messed up.

Next, Jones hit Dang on the head twice with the meat cleaver. He then dragged him into the bathroom, undressed him, put him in the tub, and attempted to drown him. Unable to hold Dang underwater, Jones removed his own clothing and attempted to drown him by sitting on him. After struggling with Dang in the tub for about a half hour, Jones pulled the victim into the hallway and hit him again with the cleaver.

Jones then searched one of the bedrooms for money. He then came back to Dang, tied him up with a lamp cord, hit him on the head with a lug wrench, and put him in a bedroom closet.

Jones then continued to search the house for valuables while Dang banged on the closet wall and talked in Vietnamese. Jones then opened the closet door and saw a can of kerosene. He poured the fuel on the victim and on the floor of closet, made a trail to the center of the bedroom, and lit the kerosene. He then put his clothes back on, collected a portable stereo and other items from the house, and left.

The next day, police discovered the victim's soot-covered body in the bedroom closet. There were eight wounds on his head and four stab wounds to his chest and back.

When police questioned Jones - the last person seen with Dang before the murder - Jones said, "Yeah, I did it." He confessed to the crime in two written statements. Jones said that he saw Dang's portable stereo in the living room and decided he wanted it. He said that he took Dang's request to take a bath as the last wish of a dying man, so he decided to grant it. He also said that after he started the fire and was putting on his clothes to leave, he could still hear the victim making noises in the closet.

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