Execution Report: Billy Hughes Jr.

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A jury found Hughes guilty of capital murder in September 1976 and sentenced him to death. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals upheld the conviction and sentence upon direct appeal, but reversed his conviction in March 1987 upon Hughes' habeas corpus claim that a prospective juror had been improperly excluded. He was retried in June 1988, and a jury again found him guilty and sentenced him to death. The Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed the conviction and sentence in April 1994. All of his subsequent appeals in state and federal court were denied.

"I would glady trade the last 24 years if it would bring back Mark Frederiks," Hughes said in his last statement. "They are executing an innocent man ... the truth will come out some day." Hughes also expressed love to his family. When his last statement was finished, the lethal injection was administered, and Hughes was pronounced dead.

By David Carson. Posted on 3 August 2002.
Sources: Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Texas Attorney General's Office.