Execution Report: Richard Foster

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Foster was convicted of capital murder in November 1985 and sentenced to death. After he was admitted to death row, he was sent back to Stephens County in July 1986 to face kidnapping charges for the bank hostage incident. While awaiting trial, Foster and a female accomplice escaped from the county jail. The accomplice surrendered the next day, while Foster eluded an intensive manhunt for four days. On 7 August, Foster carjacked a pickup truck from a teenager at gunpoint. He drove through a roadblock, but police shot out the rear tires of the pickup. After pursing him for several more miles, police finally apprehended him.

Foster pleaded no contest to four counts of aggravated kidnapping and received four life sentences. He also received a 20-year sentence for escape.

Foster pleaded not guilty at his trial and maintained his innocence throughout his appeals. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed his conviction and sentence in June 1989. All of his subsequent appeals in state and federal court were denied. During a hearing in federal court in March 2000, Foster admitted for the first time to killing Gary Cox, claiming that it was an accident. He asked for all of his appeals to be stopped.

At his execution, Foster quoted Galations 2:20 from the Bible. Then, after an expressing love to a cousin named Annie, he said, "I am ready, Warden."

By David Carson. Posted on 21 March 2002.
Sources: Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Texas Attorney General's office, Reuters.