Texas executes man who killed prison guard in 1999
HUNTSVILLE, Texas — A Texas inmate convicted in the death of a prison guard was executed Thursday after the U.S. Supreme Court rejected his lawyers’ attempts to halt the punishment.
Robert Pruett was given a lethal injection for the fatal attack on corrections officer Daniel Nagle in December 1999 at a prison southeast of San Antonio. Nagle was repeatedly stabbed with a tape-wrapped metal rod, though an autopsy showed he died from a heart attack that the assault caused. Prosecutors have said the stabbing stemmed from a dispute over a peanut butter sandwich that
Pruett wanted to take into a recreation yard against prison rules.
In his final statement before being put to death, the 38-year-old Pruett said he hurt a lot of people and a lot of people hurt him.
He said he was sorry and held no grudges.
“I’ve had to learn lessons in life the hard way,” he said. “One day there won’t be a need to hurt people.”
He told his friends who were watching the execution through a window that he loved them. “I’m ready to go,” Pruett said. “Nighty night, everybody. I’m done, warden.”
As the lethal dose of the powerful sedative pentobarbital began to flow, he started to chant: “Love. Light. It’s forever.”
He was pronounced dead at
6:46 p.m. CDT, 29 minutes after being given the drug.