Texas carried out the nation’s first execution of 2018 Thursday evening.
The state administered a lethal injection to a man who became known as Houston’s ‘Tourniquet Killer’ because of his signature murder technique, used on four female victims.
Anthony Allen Shore, 55, was put to death Thursday for one of those slayings, the 1992 killing of 21-year-old Maria del Carmen Estrada, whose body was dumped in the drive-thru of a Houston Dairy Queen.
In his final statement, Shore apologized and his voice reportedly cracked with emotion.
Anthony Allen Shore was put to death in Texas on Thursday for the 1992 killing of 21-year-old Maria del Carmen Estrada, whose body was dumped in the drive-thru of a Houston Dairy Queen; Shore is seen here in a file photo provided by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice
In 2003, after being arrested for del Carmen Estrada’s murder, Shore also confessed to the killing of three others, a 9-year-old and two teenagers.
Shore’s other victims were Laurie Tremblay, 15, found beside a trash bin outside a Houston restaurant in 1986; Diana Rebollar, 9, abducted while walking to a neighborhood grocery store in 1994; and Dana Sanchez, 16, who disappeared in 1995 while hitchhiking to her boyfriend’s home in Houston.
Sanchez’s body was found after a caller to a Houston TV station provided directions on where to find it. Police believe Shore was the caller.
All four of his victims were Hispanic and at least three had been raped. Jurors also heard from three women who testified he raped them.
Shore was put to death for the 1992 killing of 21-year-old Maria del Carmen Estrada, whose body was dumped in the drive-thru of a Houston Dairy Queen
Shore confessed to the murder of Diana Rebollar, 9, who was abducted while walking to a neighborhood grocery store in 1994
‘No amount of words or apology could ever undo what I’ve done,’ Shore said while strapped to a gurney in the death chamber on Thursday.
‘I wish I could undo the past, but it is what it is.’
As the lethal dose of pentobarbital began, Shore said the drug burned.
‘Oooh-ee! I can feel that,’ he said before slipping into unconsciousness.
He was pronounced dead 13 minutes later at 6.28 pm Central.
‘Anthony Allen Shore’s reign of terror is officially over,’ Andy Kahan, the city of Houston crime victims’ advocate, said, speaking for the families of Shore’s victims.
‘There’s a reason we have the death penalty in the state of Texas and Anthony Shore is on the top of the list. This has been a long, arduous journey that has taken over 20 years for victims’ families.’
Shore confessed to the murder of Dana Sanchez, 16, who disappeared in 1995 while hitchhiking to her boyfriend’s home in Houston
Shore confessed to the murder of Laurie Tremblay, 15, who was found beside a trash bin outside a Houston restaurant in 1986
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 US 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 his two daughters, ABC News reported.
He escaped prison time but had to submit a DNA sample.
Shore was called the ‘Tourniquet Killer’ because he used a homemade tourniquet to torture and strangle his victims
Shore is seen here in the 339th District Criminal Court at the Harris County Criminal Justice Center on October 18, 2004, the first day of his trial for the 1992 murder by strangulation of Maria del Carmen Estrada
Five years later, in 2003, 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.
‘I didn’t set out to kill her,’ he told police in a taped interview from 2003, played at his 2004 trial.
‘That was not my intent. But it got out of hand.’
Estrada was walking to work around 6.30 am on April 16, 1992, when he she accepted a ride from Shore.
The former tow truck driver, phone company repairman and part-time musician blamed his actions on ‘voices in my head that I was going to have her, regardless, to possess her in some way.’
Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg, who as an assistant prosecutor worked the then-unsolved Estrada case, said crime scene photos showed Estrada was tortured and had suffered as a stick was used to tighten a cord around her neck.
Shore was called the ‘tourniquet killer’ because of his use of homemade tourniquets in his murders.
‘I know this case, I know his work and the death penalty is appropriate,’ Ogg said.
‘A jury in this case gave Shore death. […] I think he’s reached the end of the road and now it’s up to government to complete the job.’
Shore’s execution originally was set for October but was delayed several months for an investigation after another Texas death row inmate concocted a scheme to get Shore to take responsibility for his crimes.
His final statement was as follows:
‘I like to take a moment to say I’m sorry. No amount of words could ever undo what I’ve done. To the family of my victims, I wish I could undo the past. It is what it is. God bless all of you. I will die with a clear conscious. I made my peace. There is no others. I will like to wish a happy birthday to Barbara Carrol. Today is her birthday. I would like to specifically thank those that have helped me, you know who you are. God bless everybody, until we meet again. I’m ready, warden.’
In 2017, 23 convicted killers were put to death in the US.
Seven of those executions took place in Texas, which is more than in any other state.
Three more inmates are scheduled to die in Texas in the coming weeks.
Shore was put to death by lethal injection in Texas on Thursday, the first US execution of 2018