Richard Dinkins, 40 anni, � stato messo a morte.

WASHINGTON, 30 GEN - Nel carcere di Huntsville, in Texas, e' stata eseguita, mercoledi' sera, la condanna a morte di Richard Dinkins, 40 anni, che ha ricevuto l'iniezione letale per avere ucciso due donne il 12 settembre 1990, nel laboratorio di una estetista a Beaumont, nel Texas.

Le sue vittime, di 46 e 32 anni, erano una massaggiatrice e una sua cliente. La massaggiatrice contestava a Dinkins di essere stata pagata con un assegno falso: l'uomo estrasse una pistola e sparo' alla testa a entrambe le donne.

Arrestato ben presto, l'uomo ammise il duplice omicidio, ma disse essersi trattato di un incidente. La giuria non gli credette e lo condanno' a morte.

Al momento dell'esecuzione, Dinkins non ha fatto dichiarazioni, ma ha lasciato un messaggio scritto, esprimendo il proprio rimorso per quanto accaduto.

Dinkins e' stato il quinto detenuto messo a morte quest'anno in Texas e il 294.o dalla ripresa delle esecuzioni, dopo una moratoria. Un'altra esecuzione e' in programma domani.

TEXAS - Execution

Convicted killer of 2 nurses executed

A former machinist who wrote bad checks to pay for massage treatment at a Beaumont clinic was executed tonight for gunning down the clinic owner and another woman there nearly 12 1/2 years ago.

Richard Dinkins declined to make a final statement, responding to the warden, "No sir" when asked if he wanted to say anything.

In a written statement, however, he asked for forgiveness and expressed regrets

"I am sorry for what happened and that it was because of me that they are gone," he said. "If there were any way I could change things and bring them back I would. But I can't."

Dinkins accepted responsibility for the damage his actions caused but said he had made peace with God and hoped that "soon everyone will be able to have closure in their hearts and lives."

Dinkins gasped twice as the lethal drugs began taking effect and was pronounced dead 7 minutes later at 6:18 p.m.

A smoke alarm brought emergency workers to the massage therapy clinic. When they arrived, instead of discovering evidence of a fire, they found the two fatally wounded women.

Dinkins, 40, contended his gun "just went off" during a struggle that left clinic owner and nurse Katherine Thompson, 44, dead.

Prosecutors say the shooting moments later of the 2nd woman, Shelly Cutler, 32, convinced them and jurors that Dinkins should go to death row.

"The thing that stands out is the murder of the second victim," said Paul McWilliams, who prosecuted Dinkins for the double slaying Sept. 12, 1990.

"That's not to diminish in any way what Katherine Thompson went through, but I guess it's one thing to know that someone is trying to kill you."

Evidence showed Cutler, an Idaho-based traveling nurse who was filling out paperwork as a prospective patient when gunfire erupted, ran to an office, closing the door behind her.

"We believe she was trying to call 911, and he reached through the window and shot her," McWilliams said. "What she must have gone through!"

"I saw someone out of the corner of my eye after Ms. Thompson was shot and I heard the door rattling," Dinkins said last week, speaking from a steel-doored cage outside death row. "I didn't know who was there. I could see someone with something in their hand.

"I shot at the door knob to keep whoever was back there from coming out. I didn't know I hit her. It looked like they had ducked."

Dinkins then fled, and the smoke from the gunfire was believed to have tripped the fire alarm.

"When I left there, it was all a blank," he said.

Detectives found Dinkins' name in Thompson's appointment book. He had been a patient but paid Thompson with bad checks. Dinkins contended he went to the clinic to resolve the check dispute but an argument erupted, the 2 wrestled and his .25-caliber pistol, hidden in a sling over his arm, fell out.

"She grabbed and I reached, too," he said last week. "I probably scared her. It just went off. I wasn't thinking right, I'm sure."

The gun then jammed but he said he had another pistol, a .357-caliber Magnum, concealed in a boot.

Both women were shot in the head with the larger weapon. Thompson died shortly after the shooting. Cutler, who had been in Beaumont only nine days, died the following day.

Dinkins lived in nearby Sour Lake and worked as a machinist for a company that made fire hydrants and water valves. He confessed to authorities.

"It was my fault," Dinkins said last week. "I guess you just say -- stupidity."

Police matched his gun to the killings and blood on his clothing to the victims.

"I can't be bitter," he said. "I'm the one who put myself in this situation."

On Tuesday night, Alva Curry, 33, was executed for killing a convenience store clerk in Austin. Another convicted murderer, Granville Riddle, 32, was set to die Thursday for killing a man during a burglary in Amarillo.

Dinkins becomes the 5th condemned inmate to be put to death this year in Texas and the 294th overall since the state resumed capital punishment on December 7, 1982.

Dinkins becomes the 55th condemned inmate to be put to death in Texas since Rick Perry became Governor in 2001.

Dinkins becomes the 6th condemned inmate to be put to death this year in the USA and the 826th overall since America resumed executions on January 17, 1977.