Oklahoma man, 73, executed for killing ex’s estranged husband, as US nears 40 executions for second straight year
A Texas man convicted of fatally stabbing and beheading his three young children in a squalid, windowless apartment in 2003 was recently executed.
John Allen Rubio, 46, was pronounced dead at 6.47 pm on Thursday after a lethal injection at the state prison in Huntsville, Texas. His killings of his baby girl and two toddlers so rocked the city of Brownsville on the US border with Mexico that the apartment building was later demolished – and the land turned into a park and community garden.
After a spiritual adviser prayed over him briefly, Rubio thanked friends and family for their “love and understanding” and said he was “not the same person I once was”. He thanked prison staff for teaching him how to find God and also expressed love for Angela Camacho, his common-law wife who is serving life in prison for her role in the slayings.
“I want to say I’m sorry to my wife’s family,” he said. “I can’t change the past but I can tell you my life is going to be over. But that’s not going to make you happy.”
“I’m going to be with my kids in a little bit,” he added.
