TEXAS LAST MEAL--DALE DEVON SCHEANETTE--02/10/09...

TEXAS LAST MEAL
DALE DEVON SCHEANETTE
February 10, 2009

...He was known as the "Bathtub Killer."...

Last Meal: Scheanette had a final meal request of two spicy fried chicken leg quarters, french fries and ketchup and two spicy fried pork chops...

The skinny: Scheanette, 35, was executed for the killing of an Arlington woman. He was charged with, but not tried for, the slaying of a second woman and was blamed for the rapes of at least five other women.

He was known as the "Bathtub Killer."

More skinny: Scheanette's signature murders occurred at the same apartment complex in Arlington in 1996 with his victims found in half-filled bathtubs, strangled, raped and bound with duct tape.

Justice delayed: The slayings went unsolved for more than three years because detectives couldn't match a fingerprint at the murder scenes to anyone. Finally, in 1999, Scheanette was arrested for a burglary outside Dallas and his prints entered into a criminal database were tied to the killings. It was his first arrest, so it was the first time he was fingerprinted and entered into the FBI database. DNA then strengthened the confirmations and also pointed to his involvement in the other rapes.

After jurors convicted him of capital murder, prosecutors in the punishment phase of the trial called to the witness stand five women who testified how they were beaten, threatened and raped by Scheanette.

Appeals: Scheanette acted as his own lawyer in late appeals. His sister, acting on his behalf, filed a three-page handwritten motion Tuesday seeking a reprieve from the U.S. Supreme Court. It was turned down less than an hour before he was taken to the death chamber.

Last words and such:Scheanette speaking from the death chamber gurney said that "no cases ever tried have been error free." He repeated the comment. "No cases are error free," he said, then told the warden standing next to him to proceed.

Nine minutes later, Scheanette was pronounced dead.

Factoids: Scheanette was the...

10th murderer executed in U.S. in 2009
1146th murderer executed in U.S. since 1976
7th murderer executed in Texas in 2009
430th murderer executed in Texas since 1976