The state of Texas administered a lethal dose of pentobarbital to Richard Lee Tabler, 46, at the state penitentiary in Huntsville on Thursday evening, as reported by CBS Austin. Convicted for the 2004 double murder in Killeen, Tabler's execution marked the second in Texas this year, with a pronounced time of death at 6:38 p.m. CST. Before his death, Tabler expressed a poignant last statement. "There is not a day that goes by that I don't regret my actions," Tabler stated, seeking forgiveness from the families of his victims, some of whom attended the execution.
Tabler, who had a history of changing his mind about his death requests and whose mental competence was previously questioned by his attorneys, had written to the state Court of Criminal Appeals on December 9, 2024, indicating a cessation of his interest in the continuation through the courts. "Petitioner has spent the last twenty years in the Courts, and see’s no point in wasting this Courts time, nor anyone else’s," he wrote, as AP News adds. This followed a stay of execution granted in 2010 and several suicide attempts as noted in his prison record.
Details of Tabler's crimes include the fatal shooting of Mohammed-Amine Rahmouni, the manager of the strip club where Tabler worked, and Haitham Zayed, Rahmouni's friend. The two men were lured into an ambush under the pretense of a sale for stolen stereo equipment. Tabler was also indicted but not tried for the killing of two teenage girls, Tiffany Dotson and Amanda Benefield, who worked at the club. Tabler's accomplice, Timothy Payne, received a life sentence for his role in the crimes.
Tabler's death row activities included sending death threats to then-state Sen. John Whitmire via contraband cellphones, an incident that led to a systemwide lockdown of Texas prisons to find and confiscate illicit items. While on death row, according to a statement provided by his spiritual adviser, Jay Dan Gumm, and acquired by CBS Austin, Tabler acted as a source of support and mentorship to other inmates and led a ministry for death row prisoners.
The ACLU, deeming Tabler's execution an affront to his potential for growth and remorse, last year appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. His legal counsel in 2008 was accused of ignoring a report that diagnosed him with severe mental illness. The Supreme Court denied the appeal in October 2024. "Today, Texas plans to execute a man who spent the last two decades proving his capacity for growth, remorse, and redemption," Claudia Van Wyk, senior counsel at the ACLU's Capital Punishment Project, lamented, as expressed in a statement obtained by CBS Austin. Texas is scheduled to conduct its third execution of the year on March 13.
