A Texas death row inmate has been put to death Wednesday evening for the 2003 murder of a prison supervisor at a state prison shoe factory in Amarillo.
Travis Runnels, 46, was executed by lethal injection after his conviction in the killing of 38-year-old Stanley Wiley on Jan. 29, 2003. According to prosecutors, Runnels murdered Wiley at the factory after approaching him from behind and stabbing him with a knife used to trim shoes. The attack was so aggressive that the knife went through his trachea and cut his spinal cord.
Runnels didn't give a final statement but smiled and mouthed words toward three friends who watched the execution. He took four breaths and snored four times before collapsing. He was pronounced dead at 7:26 p.m., 22 minutes after the fatal drug administration.
