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| Douglas Feldman |
A former financial analyst with a history of disruptive behavior was executed Wednesday for the road-rage shooting deaths of 2 truckers in the Dallas area 15 years ago.
Douglas Feldman, 55, received lethal injection for gunning down Robert Everett, 36, of Marshfield, Mo., and Nicholas Valesquez, 62, of Irving.
Feldman mimicked the announcement a judge or jury makes when announcing a verdict, using the names of his victims and declaring he had found them guilty of crimes against him.
"I have sentenced them both to death. I personally carried out their executions," he said in a loud voice, adding that he carried out their executions in August 1998.
"As of that time, the state of Texas has been holding me illegally in confinement and by force for 15 years," Feldman said. "I hereby protest my pending execution and demand immediate relief."
He appeared very nervous, breathing quickly and his feet twitching under a sheet. As the drug began taking effect, he grimaced twice, took a few deep breaths and began snoring. Then all movement stopped.
Feldman was pronounced dead 13 minutes after the lethal drug was injected at 6:28 p.m. CDT.Feldman's attorney, Robin Norris, filed a clemency petition with the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles that was turned down Monday. Multiple courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court, earlier rejected his appeals on Feldman's behalf.
Feldman, from Richardson, was riding his motorcycle the night of Aug. 24, 1998, and said Everett, driving an 18-wheeler, cut him off on a Dallas County freeway so he took out his 9 mm pistol, pulled up alongside the truck cab and shot him. Feldman testified at his capital murder trial that he was still angry about 45 minutes later when he spotted Valesquez, a gasoline tanker driver filling a Dallas service station, and shot him.
"A security camera catches him shooting the man in cold blood," Jason January, the former Dallas County assistant district attorney who prosecuted him, said. "Several counties were frightened as this unidentified motorcyclist was out acting like 'The Terminator.'"
Feldman was arrested more than a week later, after shooting and wounding a man at a fast-food restaurant and driving off. A bystander saw the shooting and reported his license plate number to police, who tracked him down and found Feldman with 2 pistols and nearly 300 rounds of ammunition. Ballistics tests confirmed 1 of the guns was used in all 3 shootings.
"It feels wonderful to cause their death and to watch their pain," he said in one of 81 letters he wrote to a former girlfriend while awaiting his trial. The writings from the magna cum laude Southern Methodist University graduate were introduced into evidence.
"God forbid I ever had my finger on the button to launch a nuclear explosive device because I guarantee that I would wipe as many of these bastards off the face of the planet as I am able!" he said in another letter.
Without remorse, he also acknowledged the killings while testifying at his capital murder trial. Evidence showed he got into trouble as a juvenile, had drug possession and selling issues and wound up in state custody. He also had robbery and drug convictions.
While in prison, records show Feldman racked up 136 disciplinary cases, including one for ripping out the phone in a visiting cage where death row inmates are interviewed by reporters. Texas prison officials subsequently refused him media access.
The day before the fatal shootings, evidence showed he shot up a Volkswagen dealership where he once had some work done.
"Obviously, Mr. Feldman was a very angry man," John Everett, said before witnessing the execution of his brother's killer. "I can say we looked forward to it. But it doesn't change anything. Bob is still gone."
Feldman became the 11th condemned inmate to be put to death this year in Texas, the 3rd this month, and the 503rd overall since the state resumed capital punishment on December 7, 1982. Feldman becomes the 264th condemned inmate to be put to death in Texas since Rick Perry became the state's governor in 2001.
At least 7 other inmates are scheduled to die in the coming months in the nation's busiest capital punishment state.
Feldman becomes the 22nd condemned inmate to be put to death this year in the USA and the 1342nd overall since the nation resumed executions on January 17, 1977.
Executions under Rick Perry, 2001-present -- 264
Executions in Texas: Dec. 7, 1982-present -- 503
Sources: Associated Press, Rick Halperin, July 31, 2013