Texas has executed Richard Lee Tabler, who was convicted of a double homicide and admitted to killing two others, after Attorney General Ken Paxton fought to uphold his death sentence.
On November 25, 2004, Tabler lured Mohamed-Amine Rahmouni and Haitham Zayed to a parking lot under the pretense of selling cheap stereo equipment and murdered them with a borrowed handgun. Four days later, law enforcement arrested Tabler who confessed to the shootings and also admitted that he had murdered two women who he believed had been connecting him to the previous murders. In April 2007, a Bell County jury convicted Tabler of capital murder for Rahmouni and Zayed which has been upheld by every court to review the case.
“More than twenty years after his violent murder spree during Thanksgiving weekend, Richard Lee Tabler has been held accountable for his heinous actions,” said Attorney General Paxton. “The State of Texas has carried out the sentence imposed by a jury of the defendant’s peers, delivering justice for the victims and their families. I remain committed to upholding the rule of law and ensuring that violent criminals are held accountable.”
The execution was carried out by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice in Huntsville, Texas. Tabler was pronounced dead at 6:38 p.m.