‘Tourniquet Killer’ dies in first execution of ’18
HUNTSVILLE, Texas — Texas carried out the nation’s first execution of 2018 Thursday evening, giving lethal injection to a man who became known as Houston’s “Tourniquet Killer” because of his signature murder technique on four female victims.
Anthony Allen Shore was put to death for the 1992 killing of a 21-year-old woman whose body was dumped in the drive-thru of a Houston Dairy Queen.
In his final statement, Shore, 55, was apologetic and his voice cracked with emotion.
“No amount of words or apology could ever undo what I’ve done,” Shore said. “I wish I could undo the past, but it is what it is.”
He was pronounced dead at 4:28 p.m. PST.
Shore’s lawyers argued in appeals he suffered brain damage early in life that went undiscovered by his trial attorneys and affected Shore’s decision to disregard their advice when he told his trial judge he wanted the death penalty. A federal appeals court last year turned down his appeal. The U.S. Supreme Court refused to review his case, and the six-member Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles unanimously rejected a clemency petition.
Shore’s attorneys said his appeals were exhausted. They filed no last-minute attempts to try to halt his execution.
In 1998, Shore received eight years’ probation and became a registered sex offender for sexually assaulting two relatives. Five years later, Shore was arrested for the 1992 slaying of Maria del Carmen Estrada after a tiny particle recovered from under her fingernail was matched to his DNA.