WASHINGTON,  Nel carcere di Huntsville, in Texas, un uomo e' stato messo a morte mercoledi' sera, con un'iniezione letale, per avere rapito e ucciso nel 1995 un ragazzino di 12 anni figlio di un suo vecchio amico. Il bambino, che chiamava il suo omicida ''zio'', fu sequestrato per ottenerne un riscatto di mezzo milione di dollari, cosi' che il rapitore potesse pagarsi i debiti di gioco fatti.

Hilton Crawford, l'uomo messo a morte, ha chiesto perdono alla madre del bambino, che era presente all'esecuzione, prima di subire l'iniziezione letale.

Crawford, un ex poliziotto, aveva ammesso di avere rapito il ragazzino e di essere stato presente al delitto, che aveva pero' addossato a un fantomatico complice, che gli inquirenti sono convinti non sia mai esistito.

TEXAS: 'Uncle Hilty' executed for boy's slaying

Hilton Crawford, the convicted murderer of a 12-year-old Conroe boy nearly 8 years ago in a kidnap plot that turned deadly, was put to death by injection at 6:19 p.m. today as members of the victim's family looked on.

Crawford, 64, known to the boy as "Uncle Hilty", was the 2nd-oldest Texas convict ever executed by injection.

He was condemned to death in 1996 by a Walker County jury that took only one hour to find him guilty of the capital murder of McKay Everett. McKay was the only son of Paulette and Carl Everett of Conroe, a neighbor couple who Crawford believed could pay the $500,000 ransom he sought.

"I ask Paulette for forgiveness from your heart," he said as he looked at her.

The ex-lawman was deeply in debt and seeking a way to get hold of a half-million dollars in a hurry. Authorities said Crawford's bind was the result of high living, gambling losses and a refusal to dial back his family's lifestyle. He claimed he owed money to friends who had lent him an estimated $450,000 to cover payrolls for employees at the security business he had sold to unreliable buyers.

In his trial, prosecutors showed how he had used his family friendship with the Everetts to persuade McKay, left home alone while his parents went to a business function, to open the front door to his house and admit Crawford.

Jurors were told that Crawford on Sept. 19, 1995, had grabbed the youngster, stuffed him in the trunk of his Chrysler and sped away into the night to Louisiana, where he stopped in a swamp off Interstate 10 and beat then shot the boy.

Crawford confessed to involvement in the crime after 5 days of questioning following his return to Conroe, and he draw a map to McKay's body. But he never admitted to shooting the boy and consistently claimed a man named Remington was the killer.

He had been on Death Row at state prison in Livingston for the past seven years while appealing his conviction. Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court slammed the door on his appeals by refusing to review his case. That cleared the way for Wednesday's execution date previously set by state District Judge Fred Edwards of Conroe.

Crawford had maintained until the end that the mysterious Remington was the real mastermind of the abduction plot and the killer of the Everett boy. But authorities rejected his claim after finding that the composite drawing he helped to create actually resembled a wrecker driver whom he had tried unsuccessfully to enlist in the scheme.

The driver, unaware of the situation until Crawford's arrest was publicized, came forward and told how the 2 had chatted at a horse track about Crawford's interest in finding someone to "babysit" a youngster for a while. The driver refused to get involved.

Crawford becomes the 17th condemned inmate to be put to death this year in Texas and the 306th overall since the state resumed capital punishment on December 7, 1982. Crawford becomes the 67th condemned inmate to be put to to death in Texas since Rick Perry became governor in 2001.

Crawford becomes the 41st condemned inmate to be put to death this year in the USA and the 861st overall since America resumed executions on January 17, 1977.