Another Texas Murderer Facing Justice
Tonight Texas is set to execute its second murderer this week, Arthur Brown, Jr., for the murders of four people, including a pregnant woman. Jolie McCullough of the Texas Tribune reports that Brown was convicted, along with two accomplices, of the 1992 execution-style murders and attempted murders of two others who survived. The facts presented in a 2012 decision by a unanimous panel of the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals described the cold blooded murders at a Houston drug house that supplied Brown and his companions, who were dealers. All six victims were tied to chairs and shot in the head. The surviving victims testified at trial, identifing Brown and one accomplice as the shooters. On Tuesday, a judge denied Brown’s request for a last minute stay. Brown’s attorneys claim they found new evidence that Brown is innocent, that his low IQ disqualifies him from execution, that one juror at the trial was racist and that his trial lawyer was incompetent. While CJLF has no special sympathy for drug dealers, two of Brown’s victims were teenagers, and one, 19-year-old Jessica Quinones, was 9-months pregnant. They could have straightened out their lives. As usual all the compassion is for the murderer. The other shooter, Brown’s accomplice Marion Dudly, was executed in 2006. UPDATE: Brown was pronounced dead at 6:37 PM last night.
