This week in 1996

“There are people all over the world who face things worse than death on a daily basis, and in that sense I consider myself lucky. I cannot find the words to express the sadness I feel for bringing this hurt and pain on my loved ones. I will not ask forgiveness for the decisions I have made in this judicial process, only acceptance. God bless you all.”

— Joe Gonzales, convicted of murder, lethal injection, Texas.
Executed September 18, 1996

Gonzales shot and killed fifty-year-old William J. Veader and then made off with cash and other items. The single gunshot was orchestrated to look like a self-inflicted wound, so authorities at first assumed Veader’s death to be a suicide.