Execution Report: Rodrigo Hernandez

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In an interview from death row a few weeks before his execution, Hernandez stated that he met Verstegen at a different H-E-B in San Antonio, where he worked. He said that they had a sexual relationship for several months, and he denied killing her.

"I have a history," he said. "I was hanging out with the wrong crowd. But it still doesn't make me a murderer."

Hernandez declined to discuss Stoepker's killing in the interview. A few days before his execution, however, he wrote a letter to a San Antonio Express-News reporter and stated, "I didn't do it; I payed [sic] for [oral sex], that's it, that's where they found my DNA."

Hernandez' execution was attended by his sister and another relative. Susan Verstegan's son, Chuck Monney, was among the victims' witnesses.

"I want to tell everybody that I love everybody," Hernandez said in his last statement. "We are all family, people of God Almighty. We're all good. I'm ready." The lethal injection was then started. Hernandez uttered, "This stuff stings, man," then lost consciousness. He was pronounced dead at 6:19 p.m.

By David Carson. Posted on 27 January 2012.
Sources: Texas Attorney General's office, Texas Department of Criminal Justice, court documents, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Grand Rapids Press, San Antonio Express-News.