February 16, 2016
Gustavo Julian Garcia was executed in Huntsville, Texas. “Justice was done today. My thoughts and prayers are with the families of the victims,” said Collin County District Attorney Greg Willis.
In December 1990, in Plano, Texas, Garcia murdered Craig Turski, a store clerk, during a robbery. Less than a month later, Garcia murdered store clerk Greg Martin during another robbery. Plano police officers caught Garcia and his accomplices at the scene of the second murder. Garcia possessed the weapon used in both murders, and he confessed to murdering Turski. Garcia was tried for Turski’s murder and sentenced to death. In 1998, Garcia participated in a highly publicized attempt to escape from Death Row with six other inmates. One inmate died during the escape, and the attempt resulted in Texas opening an entirely new Death Row unit with improved security. Garcia received a retrial on sentencing in 2001 and again received a sentence of death.
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