A Tarrant County judge has set an execution date for Edward Busby, the man convicted in the 2004 abduction, robbery, and suffocation of retired TCU professor Laura Lee Crane. The date, now on the books for May 14, 2026, is the latest turn in a case that has wound through decades of appeals and courtroom battles. Local prosecutors announced the scheduling in a social media post yesterday.
As posted by the Tarrant County District Attorney, 31st District Judge William Knight signed a death warrant setting Busby's execution for May 14, 2026. The DA's social post named the judge and attached the formal court scheduling notice.
CDC 2 Judge William Knight scheduled the execution date. pic.twitter.com/Kyj5FUMpe5
— Tarrant County DA (@TarrantCountyDA) December 15, 2025
The Texas Department of Criminal Justice also lists Busby (TDCJ No. 999506) with a May 14, 2026, scheduled execution on its death-row calendar. That statewide schedule is updated periodically and only reflects dates that have been officially set by the courts.
Busby was convicted in November 2005 for the Jan. 30, 2004 abduction of 77-year-old Crane, who was taken from the Tom Thumb grocery lot at 3050 S. Hulen St. in southwest Fort Worth and later found off Interstate 35 near Davis, Oklahoma. An autopsy listed asphyxiation as the cause of death, according to reporting by the TCU student newspaper.
Prosecutors presented evidence that Busby and an accomplice used Crane's cards and checks to steal more than $775 after the abduction, according to contemporaneous reporting by the Houston Chronicle. A Tarrant County jury sentenced Busby to death in 2005, and the conviction was later upheld in a published opinion of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals.
Legal status and appeals
Busby's case has been revisited repeatedly in appellate courts, with multiple stays along the way, including a 2021 order that paused an earlier execution date so judges could examine intellectual-disability claims. That history has been tracked by the Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty. Those prior rulings mean Busby's lawyers retain multiple procedural avenues, from trial-court motions to appeals and potential clemency petitions, that could still affect the scheduled date.
What to watch next
Once a Texas judge signs a death warrant, defense teams commonly respond with a flurry of last-minute filings, asking trial and appellate courts for relief. Any clemency requests would go to the Board of Pardons and Paroles. Observers typically keep an eye on official court dockets and the Death Penalty Information Center for new filings, stays or orders that could determine whether the May 14 date actually holds.
Victim and community
Crane was a longtime educator and director of TCU’s Starpoint School, remembered by colleagues as a devoted teacher whose work supported students with special needs. Her 2004 killing left a deep mark on the Fort Worth community, and the case has never fully faded from public view, resurfacing with each appeal, scheduling shift and round of advocacy tied to Busby's disability claims.
The Tarrant County DA's social post and the Texas Department of Criminal Justice schedule remain the primary public records announcing the May 14 date. Any later filings or orders that change the warrant are expected to show up first on court dockets or on the TDCJ site, which journalists and the public will be monitoring for the next chapter in this long-running case.
