Double Murderer Executed

The federal government executed double-murderer Christopher Andre Vialva last Thursday.  Jolie McCullough of the Texas Tribune reports that Vialva was convicted of the 1999 carjacking, robbery and murder of an Iowa couple on their way home from church.   Because  the murders occurred on federal land (Fort Hood) Vialva was prosecuted under federal law.   During the carjacking, Vialva forced the young couple into the trunk of their car, then tried to withdraw money from their bank accounts and pawn the woman’s wedding  ring.  Eventually, Vialva shot both victims while they lay in the trunk, killing the husband, but the wife was still alive when he and his accomplices set the car on fire.   In his appeal for clemency Vialva did not deny his guilt, but said that he was a redeemed man.  His execution was uneventful.