Tyler man slated to be 1st of two Texas death row inmates executed in two nights

The East Texas man convicted of drowning a former housemate and stuffing her body into a barrel of lime is slated to die Wednesday in the first of two consecutive executions in the Lone Star State.

If both punishments go through as planned, it'll be the first time in just over six years that Texas has put to death two prisoners in two nights.

Both men say they're innocent, and the pair of impending executions - first of Troy Clark, then of Daniel Acker - has attracted attention from actress Susan Sarandon, author Mary Buser and renowned death penalty abolitionist Sister Helen Prejean.

"Texas plans to execute Troy Clark on Wednesday but there are some serious problems with his case," Prejean tweeted. "Troy has always maintained his innocence. Someone else made a detailed confession and then completely changed her story in exchange for a reduced sentence."

Clark was sentenced to die in 2000 for killing Christina Muse out of fear the young mother would snitch on him for his drug use, according to court records. He was convicted in part due to the testimony of his then-girlfriend Tory Bush, who admitted to the crime then fingered Clark - even though there was no physical evidence connecting him to the murder.

The May 1998 slaying came just after Muse moved out of the Smith County home where Clark and Bush lived and sold meth.

One day when Muse stopped back at the home to visit, she and Clark started talking and at some point in the conversation, according to court records, he used a stun gun to take her down, then duct-taped her arms and legs and left her in a closet for hours. Then, he moved her into the bathtub and ordered Bush to get a board so he could beat the bound woman.

After drowning Muse, according to court records, Clark ordered his girlfriend to go get lime. When she got back, he dumped the slain woman's body in a blue barrel filled with lime, cement mix and water.

Later, according to the state's theory, Clark and some friends loaded the barrel into a truck and ditched it in a remote spot on his landlord's property.

When authorities found the gruesome remains, they also discovered the body of Tracy Mize decaying in a septic tank on the same property.

In trial, the jury also heard evidence that Clark allegedly killed two other people and robbed others.

But Clark denied his involvement, saying he wasn't at home at the time of the slaying, and that he was out delivering drugs. No physical evidence linked him to the crime, defense lawyers pointed out.

In the years since he was sent to death row, Clark has argued that he suffered bad lawyering, didn't get to show evidence rebutting claims he would be a future danger to society, and that his girlfriend's testimony was self-serving and unreliable - especially considering she once confessed to the crime herself.

"Clark's death sentence is the product of the largely uncorroborated testimony of an incentivized co-defendant and a trial attorney whose performance was abysmal," attorneys David Dow and Jeff Newberry wrote in a clemency petition, alleging the trial team failed to present evidence of Clark's traumatic childhood and Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Disorder.

But the Board of Pardons and Paroles on Monday afternoon denied his request for clemency. As of early Tuesday, he had no pending appeals, his attorneys said.

A day after Clark's scheduled date with death, Acker is slated for execution. The Sulphur Springs man was sent to death row in 2001 after he was convicted of strangling his girlfriend and pushing her from a moving car - though the state abandoned the strangulation theory after trial.

The Lone Star State has already executed eight men this year, and another nine death dates are on the calendar.

Source: m.chron.com, Keri Blakinger, September 25, 2018

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