Texas: End near for 'poster boy for death penalty'

His attorney won't seek to stop Tuesday execution.

As a youth, Franklin DeWayne Alix sang in his church's choir, taught Sunday school and drove older congregation members to their medical appointments. He was, in the eyes of some, a "typical fun-loving teenager."

But Alix's choirboy days were long past when, on the morning of Jan. 3, 1998, he accosted at gunpoint a young woman in the parking lot of her home, stuffed her into a car trunk, drove her to an ATM where he unsuccessfully tried to use her bank card, sexually assaulted her, returned to her home to steal electronics and, when caught in the act, fatally shot her brother.

Alix, 34, his court appeals exhausted, is set to be executed Tuesday for the murder of Eric Bridgeford, 23. He will be the 5th killer executed in Texas this year and the 1st from Harris County.

Alix's appellate attorney, Robert Rosenberg, said he will not appeal to the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles, a move he believes is futile. Only twice in Gov. Rick Perry's tenure has the board recommended commutation. In both cases, Perry allowed execution to proceed.

"I made some bad mistakes in life," Alix said in a recent death row interview. "There are things I would like to take back. ... I stopped going to church. Look at the results."

High school dropout

Alix, whose mother was an alcoholic and spent time in prison, was reared by his grandparents. He dropped out of high school in the 10th grade and began selling drugs. He claimed to have been sexually abused as a child.

In the punishment phase of his trial, prosecutors presented evidence that Alix also had committed three capital murders, two attempted capital murders, 8 aggravated robberies, 1 robbery and two aggravated sexual assaults accompanied by 4 aggravated kidnappings in a 6-month crime spree. A prosecutor described him as "a poster boy for the death penalty."

5 years after his conviction, however, questions arose about the validity of DNA evidence in 1 of the 3 capital killings.

In that case, a chemist from the scandal-rocked Houston Police Department Crime Lab testified that blood from a piece of gauze the killer had used for a mask tested positive for Alix's DNA. The victim's widow also made an in-court identification of Alix as the gunman.

When the gauze was tested a second time, the results were inconclusive, leading the trial judge to rule the chemist's testimony should be "deemed unreliable."

Appeal rejected

Alix filed an appeal based on the new DNA test results, but the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals rejected it, saying that it found no "reasonable possibility" that the jury would have changed its decision based on the question of the chemist's credibility.

"We also conclude, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the introduction of the testimony of the HPD chemist, even if false, did not contribute to punishment," the appeals court wrote.

In the recent interview, Alix claimed that he sold, but did not use, drugs and that the man he worked for stuffed victims into car trunks and drove them to ATM machines. Alix said he did not sexually assault Bridgeford's sister.

"I was no angel," he said, "but I didn't do all those robberies."

Alix said he became trapped in the violent world of drug dealing because of immaturity. "I just didn't understand life," he said. On one occasion, he said, his criminal associates burned him with a blow torch because of unpaid debts.

Alix is the father of 3 children, ages 11-12.

The oldest, Frankie, occasionally is brought to death row for visits.

"He's handling it OK, but it's emotional," he said of his son's death row visits. "I'm resolved that he's better than me, that his opportunities will be better than mine. ... He needs to know that he shouldn't be afraid to communicate. Someone will always help. ...He's not alone."

Source: Houston Chronicle, March 29, 2010