TEXAS LAST MEAL
Ron Shamburger
September 18, 2002

LAST MEAL: Nachos with chili and cheese, one bowl of sliced jalapenos, one bowl of picante sauce, two large onions (sliced and grilled), tacos (with fresh tomatoes, lettuce, and cheese), and toasted corn tortilla shells.

Texas Man Executed for Murder of College Student

The skinny: Shamburger killed a fellow student at Texas A&M University while burglarizing her home in 1994. He was condemned for murdering Lori Baker, 20, after he broke into her College Station, Texas, home on Sept. 30, 1994, to steal money. Baker, who months before had gone dancing with Shamburger, awoke to find him in her bedroom, so he shot her in the head. He then used a knife to try to remove the bullet from her head and when he could not find it, poured gasoline over her body and set it on fire. Shortly after the murder, Shamburger went to the College Station Police Department to turn himself in, emptying the bullets from his gun on the floor while he did so.

Last moments: In a final statement while strapped to a gurney in the Texas death chamber, Shamburger quoted extensively from the Bible and apologized to Baker's family, several members of whom witnessed the execution.

Factoids: Shamburger was the second person in two days and the 26th person this year put to death in Texas. Shamburger was the 282nd person put to death in Texas since the state resumed capital punishment in 1982, six years after a U.S. Supreme Court decision lifted a national death penalty ban.