This week in 1990

“I’ve already spoken the truth, but because it was spoken by someone accused, the truth was not respected. It must come from the man who spoke the lie. I am not the killer. I myself did not kill anyone. I go to my death without begging for my life. I will not humiliate myself. I will let no man break me. It just can’t be done. There is a price to be paid. I want people to wake up to the reality of executions. The price to be paid will be a dear one.”

— James Smith, convicted of murder, lethal injection, Texas.
Executed June 26, 1990

A former retail merchant, Smith saw his execution as a “point of honor” and requested a “lump of dirt” as his last meal, a request that was denied. Smith was found guilty of shooting insurance company employee Larry Don Rohus during a robbery in an office building. Smith had been arrested in a nearby apartment complex after being chased by Rohus’s coworker, a man on the street, and workers inside the complex. He would later escape the courthouse during the jury selection for his trial, only to be apprehended again by an officer several blocks away.