WASHINGTON, 30 APR - E' stata eseguita nel Texas la condanna a morte di un assassino senza una gamba: Rodolfo Hernandez, 52 anni, s'e' visto negare l'ultimo desiderio di potere usare una protesi per camminare verso la morte ''come un uomo'', perche' -hanno assicurato i sanitari del carcere- un'infezione lo impediva.

   Il mese scorso, il governatore del Texas Rick Perry aveva concesso in extremis una sospensione dell'esecuzione, perche' Hernandez potesse fornire alla polizia informazioni su delitti non risolti. Ora, l'uomo e' stato spinto verso la camera della morte su una sedia a rotelle.

   Affetto da diabete, Hernandez aveva subito l'estate scorsa l'amputazione della gamba sinistra al di sotto del ginocchio.

   L'uomo aveva poi inutilmente chiesto allo Stato di farsi carico di una protesi, del valore di 8.000 dollari, quasi 9.000 euro, ma aveva da ultimo trovato un privato che gliene offriva

una.

   Impossibile, pero', applicarla.

   Condannato per un omicidio commesso nel 1980, ai danni di un immigrante clandestino. Hernandez sarebbe stato coinvolto in almeno altri tre assassini, secondo quanto ha rivelato gli stesso negli ultimi giorni alla polizia.

   La condanna di Hernandez e' la decima eseguita in Texas quest'anno e la prima di una serie di otto previste in meno di un mese.

Texas Executes One-Legged Inmate for Murder

Apr 30, 2002

 HUNTSVILLE, Texas  - Texas authorities on Tuesday executed a one-legged murderer after denying him a request to be fitted with a prosthetic device so he could walk to his death "like a man".

Rodolfo Hernandez, 52, who received a last-minute temporary reprieve from execution last month so he could give police information about unsolved murders, was pushed into the death row prison in a wheelchair.

 Hernandez, whose diabetes led to the amputation of his left leg below the knee last summer, accused the state of refusing to fit him with an artificial leg because of the expense -- $8,000.

 But prison officials said he could not use a prosthesis because of a recurring infection.

 In a final statement as he was strapped to a gurney in the Texas death chamber to receive a lethal injection, Hernandez told several friends witnessing his death:

 "Everybody will be all right because y'all are going where I am going. Remember what I said -- I want to see you all where I'm going. God, come and do your will. I'm ready, warden."

 Hernandez originally was set to die March 21 for the 1985 murder of a Mexican immigrant, but Texas Gov. Rick Perry gave him a stay just minutes before he was to get a lethal injection.

 Police in San Antonio, Texas requested the reprieve because Hernandez told them he had information about several unsolved murders that he had witnessed or participated in.

 San Antonio Assistant Police Chief Manuel Longoria said on Tuesday that Hernandez had been linked to at least three killings, apart from the one for which he was convicted, dating back to 1980.

 "He made some statements to us, and identified some items at the crime scenes, that even the police were not aware of," he said.

 After he told police about the crimes, a judge gave him a new execution date.

 Hernandez was condemned to death for killing illegal immigrant Victor Manuel Serrano Cervan, 20, during a robbery in New Braunfels, Texas. Four other Mexicans traveling with Serrano were wounded in the attack.

 Hernandez was the 10th person put to death this year in Texas, which leads the nation in capital punishment, and the 266th since the state resumed executions in 1982, six years after the U.S. Supreme Court (news - web sites) lifted a national death penalty ban.

 Texas has eight executions scheduled in May, including one on Wednesday. For his final meal, Hernandez requested two cheeseburgers, French fries, three fajita tacos, guacamole salad and two fried chicken breasts.

Hernandez executed for 1985 New Braunfels murder

By Mark Passwaters

Rodolfo Baiza Hernandez, convicted of murdering a Mexican national in 1985, was put to death Tuesday evening in the Huntsville "Walls" Unit death chamber.

Hernandez, 52, was condemned to death by a Comal County jury after being found guilty for the murder of 20-year-old Victor Cervan on the night of March 7, 1985. No members of Cervan's or Hernandez's family witnessed the execution, though several of Hernandez's friends and spiritual advisors were in attendance.

Hernandez, who lost his left leg to complications from diabetes last July, had at one time hoped to be fitted with a prosthetic leg so he would be able to walk into the death chamber. Medical complications put an end to that possibility, and Hernandez was wheeled into the room seven minutes before he made his final statement.

Noting the tightness of the bonds holding him to the gurney on Tuesday, Hernandez said, "You've got me strapped down like I want to escape. I don't want to escape. I want them to do what they're going to do. I know the procedure."

At 6:11 p.m., Hernandez was asked if he wished to make a final statement.

Looking at his friends, Hernandez said, "Thanks to everybody."

"Everybody will be all right, because y'all are going where I'm going," he said. "Remember what I said, I want to see you all where I'm going. I'll be all right."

Hernandez then repeated the phrase, "Here I am God, I'm coming to do your will," three times in a weakening voice. Hernandez grunted loudly twice as the fatal dose of drugs was started at 6:12 p.m. He was pronounced dead at 6:23 p.m.

According to information provided by the Texas Attorney General's office, Hernandez met Cervan and four other young Mexican men who had entered the United States illegally after they disembarked from a train in San Antonio.

For a fee, Hernandez offered to drive the men to Denton, where they hoped to find work. Hernandez and his brother-in-law, Jesse Garibay, drove the men to a secluded area near New Braunfels, where they stopped the car and pretended they were having car trouble. Hernandez and Garibay ordered the men out of the car at gunpoint and robbed them.

One of the men attempted to run away and was shot by Hernandez in the back. The other four were ordered to lay on the ground, and Hernandez shot each of them in the neck, killing Cervan. Four of the injured men survived and testified against Hernandez at his trial.

After returning to San Antonio, Hernandez boasted to several people about his role in Cervan's death. After watching a news report about the shootings, Hernandez told his sister that he was "a gunslinger" and had been told by President Ronald Reagan that "Texas was overpopulated and to get rid of some of San Antonio's illegal aliens."

Several days later, Hernandez bragged to his neighbor, Anthony Urbano, that he had killed Cervan. Urbano later pawned two guns at the request of Hernandez; those weapons were later found and tests show they were the weapons used to kill Cervan and wound the other four immigrants.