Texas executes John Alba

HUNTSVILLE, Texas - Authorities in Texas have executed a man convicted of killing his estranged wife.

John Alba (left), 54, on Tuesday evening became be the 11th prisoner executed this year in Texas, the state that carries out the most executions in the United States. Another execution is set for next week.

Testimony at his trial showed Alba and his 28-year-old wife, Wendy, had a rocky marriage marked by alcohol abuse, infidelity and repeated visits from police responding to domestic violence calls. She had taken shelter at a neighbor's apartment when she was shot to death by her husband nearly 19 years ago.

The lethal injection was carried out after the U.S. Supreme Court refused last week to hear an appeal in which Alba's attorneys argued that his death sentence violated his civil rights because prosecutors emphasized the fact that Alba is Hispanic and his slain wife was white when they questioned potential jurors.

Testimony during Alba's trial showed that after making bail on a child molestation charge, broke into a neighbor's apartment where his 28-year-old wife, Wendy Alba, had been hiding, and shot her three times.

Testimony showed that authorities responded to numerous domestic violence calls involving the couple and that Wendy Alba was terrified of her husband.

According to other evidence, Alba fired at the apartment manager as he fled. He ran into a police officer and told him he was getting out of the area because a crazy man was shooting a gun. The officer wasn't aware Alba was the shooter.

The next day, he returned to the apartment complex where the shooting occurred, saw an officer there and ran to a shopping mall, where he began a standoff with police by threatening to kill himself.

Two hours later, a SWAT team used a stun grenade and tear gas to end the standoff and arrest Alba.

Convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death, Alba won a new punishment trial in 2000 after then-Texas Attorney General John Cornyn said a review of the case showed a psychologist improperly testified that jurors should consider race in deciding his punishment.

At the second punishment trial, a woman testified that Alba had fondled her during a slumber party his niece had at his apartment. Her complaint resulted in a still-unresolved charge that put Alba in jail for several weeks until he posted bail the day of the shooting. Jurors decided for a second time he should die.

Another execution is set for next week in Texas. George Jones faces lethal injection June 2 for a fatal carjacking in Dallas 17 years ago.

Alba becomes the 11th condemned inmate to be put to death this year in Texas and the 458th overall since the state resumed capital punishment on December 7, 1982. Alba becomes the 219th condemned inmate to be put to death in Texas since Rick Perry became governor in 2001.

Alba becomes the 23rd condemned inmate to be put to death this year in the USA and the 1211th overall since the nation resumed executions on January 17, 1977.

Source: Associated Press, May 25, 2010