Execution date set for death row inmate
A Dallas man convicted of killing a prison guard at an Amarillo lock-up is now scheduled for execution in December, according to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.
Travis Runnels was sent to death row in 2005 after he slit corrections officer Stanley Wiley’s throat in the Clements Unit boot factory. That January, Runnels — who was serving a 70year sentence for aggravated robbery — was at work as the first-shift factory janitor when he got his hands on a knife, tilted back Wiley’s head and cut his throat.
The former laborer pleaded guilty and the entire case came down to the question of punishment — whether he would be a danger to others if he avoided a death sentence and spent the rest of his life in prison.
During the Potter County trial, the state argued that he’d killed the 40-year-old guard because he was unhappy with his prison job assignment, while the defense said it was because he was tired of Wiley “messing with him” and that he didn’t have a history of violence in prison, according to court records. But the jury didn’t think that was enough to keep him off death row.
In the years since his sentencing, Runnels’ legal team has filed appeals faulting his trial lawyer for failing to investigate the mitigating factors that could have spared him — things like mental health testing and evidence of a chaotic and damaging childhood.
The Supreme Court rejected his last federal appeal earlier this year, and afterward Runnels wrote the Houston Chronicle detailing some of the problems with his case.
“Never at any point have I not accepted responsibility for my actions, but I can’t silently take an unfair shake of justice,” he wrote, before reiterating some of the concerns that came up during the appeals process.
Earlier this month, a Potter County judge signed off on a Dec. 11 execution date.
Already his current defense team has signaled the intention to file more appeals, writing in a July legal filing that they plan to raise concerns about false testimony presented at trial by an expert witness for the prosecution.
The Lone Star State has already put to death three men in 2019, including one from Harris County. Excluding Runnels, there are 11 more executions on the calendar this year.