Luis L. Ramirez (June 19, 1963 – October 20, 2005) was executed by
lethal injection
Lethal injection is the practice of injecting one or more drugs into a person (typically a barbiturate, paralytic, and potassium solution) for the express purpose of causing rapid death. The main application for this procedure is capital puni ...
in the
U.S. state
In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...
of
Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
. He was convicted of hiring Edward Bell to kill the boyfriend of his former wife. He was the 15th person executed in Texas in 2005.
Crime
Ramirez and his wife, Dawn, were divorced in 1995 and two years later she began dating Nemecio Nandin, a fireman and part-time repairman of washing machines and dryers. In early April 1998, Ramirez was seen meeting with Bell. Tim Hoogstra, a paid police
informant
An informant (also called an informer or, as a slang term, a “snitch”) is a person who provides privileged information about a person or organization to an agency. The term is usually used within the law-enforcement world, where informan ...
, would later testify that Bell said he had been offered $1,000 to kill Nandin. Tim Hoogstra was paid $500 to give this evidence.
On April 8, 1998, Bell called Nandin and said that he needed someone to fix his washing machine. Once at the
Miles, Texas
Miles is a city in Runnels County, Texas, United States. The population was 829 at the 2010 census.
The city was named after Johnathan Miles, who donated $5,000 to a fund for an extension of a railroad track.
Geography
Miles is located at (3 ...
home of Bell, Nandin was led to a
chicken coop
Poultry farming is the form of animal husbandry which raises domesticated birds such as chickens, ducks, turkeys and geese to produce meat or eggs for food. Poultry – mostly chickens – are farmed in great numbers. More than 60 billion chicke ...
, where he was handcuffed and shot once in the head with a shotgun. He was then buried in a shallow grave. Bell later fled to
Tyler, Texas
Tyler is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the largest city and county seat of Smith County, Texas, Smith County. It is also the largest city in Northeast Texas. With a 2020 census population of 105,995, Tyler was the List of cities in Texa ...
. The body of Nandin was discovered about three weeks later after he was reported missing when he didn't turn up for work. Bell was arrested in Tyler. Business cards, maps, and hand-written notes linked him to Ramirez.
Trial and appeals
Ramirez was indicted on June 4 for solicitation of capital murder. Almost a year later on May 7, 1999, he was convicted and in the separate
penalty
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phase, sentenced to death on May 14. For his part in the crime, Bell was sentenced to
life imprisonment
Life imprisonment is any sentence of imprisonment for a crime under which convicted people are to remain in prison for the rest of their natural lives or indefinitely until pardoned, paroled, or otherwise commuted to a fixed term. Crimes for ...
. For the next six years his appeals to the
Texas Court of Criminal Appeals
The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals (CCA) is the court of last resort for all criminal matters in Texas. The Court, which is based in the Supreme Court Building in Downtown Austin, is composed of a Presiding Judge and eight judges.
Article V of ...
,
United States district court
The United States district courts are the trial courts of the United States federal judiciary, U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each United States federal judicial district, federal judicial district, which each cover o ...
s,
5th Circuit Court of Appeals
The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (in case citations, 5th Cir.) is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following federal judicial districts:
* Eastern District of Louisiana
* Mi ...
, and
United States Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...
were denied. Ramirez was adamant up to his death of his innocence and said that there was no way he was involved in the crime. He said he was in
Brady, Texas
Brady is a city in McCulloch County, Texas, United States. Brady refers to itself as the "Heart of Texas", as it is the city closest to the geographical centre, geographical center of the state, which is about 15 miles northeast of Brady. Its popul ...
on the day of the murder. Hoogstra was also a self-admitted "daily drug abuser".
On 19 October 2005, the
Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles (BPP) is a state agency that makes parole and clemency decisions for inmates in Texas prisons. It is headquartered in Austin, Texas.
The BPP was created by constitutional amendment in 1935. It determines wh ...
denied a request to commute the sentence to life imprisonment. Further appeals to the United States Supreme Court were also denied. Although new evidence placed Luis Ramirez at a gas station in a different city at the time of the murder the Supreme Court denied him stating (in short) he was convicted for remuneration not for pulling the trigger.
Execution
He was pronounced dead at 6:18 p.m. CDT on October 20, 2005, in the
execution chamber
An execution chamber, or death chamber, is a room or chamber in which capital punishment is carried out. Execution chambers are almost always inside the walls of a maximum-security prison, although not always at the same prison where the death ro ...
at the
Huntsville Unit
Texas State Penitentiary at Huntsville or Huntsville Unit (HV), nicknamed "Walls Unit", is a Texas state prison located in Huntsville, Texas, United States. The approximately facility, near downtown Huntsville, is operated by the Correctional Ins ...
. He made no
last meal
A condemned prisoner's last meal is a customary ritual preceding execution. In many countries, the prisoner may, within reason, select what the last meal will be.
Contemporary restrictions in the United States
In the United States, most states gi ...
request.
See also
*
Capital punishment in Texas
Capital punishment is a legal penalty in the U.S. state of Texas for murder, and participation in a felony resulting in death if committed by an individual who has attained or is over the age of 18.
In 1982, the state became the first jurisd ...
*
Capital punishment in the United States
In the United States, capital punishment is a legal penalty throughout the country at the federal level, in 27 states, and in American Samoa. It is also a legal penalty for some military offenses. Capital punishment has been abolished in 23 s ...
*
List of people executed in Texas, 2000–2009
The following is a list of people executed by the U.S. state of Texas between 2000 and 2009. All of the 248 people (246 males and 2 females) during this period were convicted of murder and have been executed by lethal injection at the Huntsville Un ...
*
List of people executed in the United States in 2005
This is a list of people executed in the United States in 2005. Sixty people were executed in the United States in 2005. Nineteen of them were in the state of Texas. One ( Frances Elaine Newton) was female. The states of Connecticut and Maryland ca ...
Attorney General of Texas
The Texas attorney general is the chief legal officer of the
*https://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-5th-circuit/1425987.html Last Statement ''
Texas Department of Criminal Justice
The Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) is a department of the government of the U.S. state of Texas. The TDCJ is responsible for statewide criminal justice for adult offenders, including managing offenders in state prisons, state jails, ...