WASHINGTON, 12 APR - Seconda esecuzione capitale in 24 ore in Texas: questa volta, a ricevere l'iniezione letale nel carcere di Huntsville, e' stato un assassino che, piu' di vent'anni or sono, nel 1981, a Texarcana, aveva ucciso un ragazzo dopo avergli rapinato 110 dollari.

   Al momento dell'esecuzione, William Burns, 43 anni, ha chiesto scusa a sua madre per averle procurato tanto dolore. 

   Burns era stato condannato a morte tre volte per l'uccisione di Johnny Hamlett, un giovane di 18 anni. Le prime due volte la sentenza era stata annullata.

   Il fratello di Burns sta scontando una condanna all'ergastolo per la sua complicita' in quello stesso episodio. 

   Quella di Burns e' stata la ottava condanna capitale eseguita quest'anno in Texas.

Texas Man Executed for Killing to Avenge Lost Job

Apr 11, 2002 

HUNTSVILLE, Texas  - A man who killed a worker at an east Texas creosote plant in revenge for his recent firing was put to death on Thursday in the second execution in Texas in as many days.

William Burns, 43, was the eighth person given a lethal injection this year in Texas, which is the nation's leading death penalty state.

 Burns was condemned for shooting Johnny Lynn Hamlett, 18, to death while Hamlett worked the night shift alone at a creosote plant in Texarkana, Texas on March 28, 1981.

 Burns had been fired from the plant two months before and, in a letter to the president of the company, vowed revenge.

 Vengeance came when he and brother Victor crept into the plant and gunned down Hamlett as he stoked a boiler with wood. Police said Hamlett was shot 14 times.

 They took his wallet, which contained $110, and fled. Police, acting on a tip, later arrested them.

 Victor Burns pleaded guilty to the crime and is serving a life sentence.

 In a final statement while strapped to a gurney in the Texas death chamber, Burns apologized to his mother for his crime.

 "I just want to tell my mom that I am sorry that I caused her so much pain. ... I really hate that," he said.

 Burns did not request a final meal.

 He was the 264th person executed in Texas since the state resumed capital punishment in 1982 after the lifting of a national death penalty ban.

 On Wednesday, Texas executed Jose Santellan, 40, for killing his girlfriend, then checking into a motel with her body for two days before police caught him in a 1993 crime.