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http://www.foxnews.com/us/2018/02/01/texas-man-executed-for-2001-murders-young-daughters.html
Texas man executed for 2001 murders of young daughters
Fox News
This undated photo provided by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice shows John David Battaglia who is scheduled for execution Thursday, Feb. 1, 2018, in Huntsville, Texas, for the May 2001 slayings of his two daughters. (Texas Department of Criminal Justice via AP)
A Dallas man on death row for nearly two decades after being convicted of killing his two young daughters was executed in Texas on Thursday night after his last-minute appeals failed.
John David Battaglia received lethal injection for the May 2001 killings of his 9-year-old daughter, Faith, and her 6-year-old sister, Liberty. The murders occurred while Battaglia’s estranged wife was listening over the telephone.
"No, Daddy, please don't, don't do it!" Mary Jane Pearle testified hearing her daughter Faith beg over the phone.
Pearle yelled into the phone for the children to run, then heard gunshots.
"Merry (expletive) Christmas,” Pearle said Battaglia then told her, before more gunshots were fired.
Pearle called 911.
On Thursday night, Pearle was in attendance for Battaglia’s execution, Fox 4 in Dallas-Fort Worth reported.
Battaglia and his wife had separated and the girls were killed at his Dallas apartment during a scheduled visit.
The punishment was carried out after the U.S. Supreme Court rejected appeals from his lawyers to review his case, contending Battaglia, 62, was delusional and mentally incompetent for execution.
His was the nation's third execution this year, all in Texas.
The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals earlier in the day rejected an appeal that argued a lower court improperly refused his lawyers money to hire an expert to further examine legal claims of his mental competency.
The Supreme Court has ruled that prisoners can be executed if they're aware the death penalty is to be carried out and have a rational understanding of why they're facing that punishment.
John Battaglia pictured with his two daughters. (Dallas County Court)
Attorneys for Battaglia contended he didn't have that understanding and that the state's highest court, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, misapplied the Supreme Court's guidance when it ruled that Battaglia is competent.
State attorneys said the Texas courts ensured proper legal standards were followed and that Battaglia had been provided expert help and a court hearing in accordance with Supreme Court precedents.
Another unsuccessful appeal challenged the effectiveness of the pentobarbital Texas uses as its execution drug. Attorneys contended the state's supply was outdated and Battaglia was at risk for unconstitutionally cruel punishment.
A state judge and the state appeals court described Battaglia as highly intelligent, competent, not mentally ill and faking mental illness to avoid execution.
Testimony at a hearing showed Battaglia used the prison library to research capital case rulings on mental competence and discussed with his father during a phone call from jail the "chess game" of avoiding execution. State Judge Robert Burns, who found him competent, said Battaglia's intelligence and education -- he has a master's degree -- shows he's not a "typical inmate" and has the "motive and intellectual capability to maintain a deliberate ploy or ruse to avoid his execution."
At the time of the shootings, Battaglia was on probation for a Christmas 1999 attack on Pearle. His profanity-laced Christmas greeting to Pearle was an apparent reference to that.
Faith was shot three times, Liberty five. Hours later, Battaglia was arrested outside at a tattoo shop where he had two large red roses inked on his left arm to commemorate his daughters. It took four officers to subdue him. A fully loaded revolver was found in his truck and more than a dozen firearms were recovered from his apartment.
Battaglia told the Dallas Morning News in 2014 his daughters were his "best little friends" and that he had photos of them displayed in his prison cell.
"I don't feel like I killed them," he said. "I am a little bit in the blank about what happened."
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
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Texas man executed for 2001 murders of young daughters
Fox News
This undated photo provided by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice shows John David Battaglia who is scheduled for execution Thursday, Feb. 1, 2018, in Huntsville, Texas, for the May 2001 slayings of his two daughters. (Texas Department of Criminal Justice via AP)
A Dallas man on death row for nearly two decades after being convicted of killing his two young daughters was executed in Texas on Thursday night after his last-minute appeals failed.
John David Battaglia received lethal injection for the May 2001 killings of his 9-year-old daughter, Faith, and her 6-year-old sister, Liberty. The murders occurred while Battaglia’s estranged wife was listening over the telephone.
"No, Daddy, please don't, don't do it!" Mary Jane Pearle testified hearing her daughter Faith beg over the phone.
Pearle yelled into the phone for the children to run, then heard gunshots.
"Merry (expletive) Christmas,” Pearle said Battaglia then told her, before more gunshots were fired.
Pearle called 911.
On Thursday night, Pearle was in attendance for Battaglia’s execution, Fox 4 in Dallas-Fort Worth reported.
Battaglia and his wife had separated and the girls were killed at his Dallas apartment during a scheduled visit.
The punishment was carried out after the U.S. Supreme Court rejected appeals from his lawyers to review his case, contending Battaglia, 62, was delusional and mentally incompetent for execution.
His was the nation's third execution this year, all in Texas.
The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals earlier in the day rejected an appeal that argued a lower court improperly refused his lawyers money to hire an expert to further examine legal claims of his mental competency.
The Supreme Court has ruled that prisoners can be executed if they're aware the death penalty is to be carried out and have a rational understanding of why they're facing that punishment.
John Battaglia pictured with his two daughters. (Dallas County Court)
Attorneys for Battaglia contended he didn't have that understanding and that the state's highest court, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, misapplied the Supreme Court's guidance when it ruled that Battaglia is competent.
State attorneys said the Texas courts ensured proper legal standards were followed and that Battaglia had been provided expert help and a court hearing in accordance with Supreme Court precedents.
Another unsuccessful appeal challenged the effectiveness of the pentobarbital Texas uses as its execution drug. Attorneys contended the state's supply was outdated and Battaglia was at risk for unconstitutionally cruel punishment.
A state judge and the state appeals court described Battaglia as highly intelligent, competent, not mentally ill and faking mental illness to avoid execution.
Testimony at a hearing showed Battaglia used the prison library to research capital case rulings on mental competence and discussed with his father during a phone call from jail the "chess game" of avoiding execution. State Judge Robert Burns, who found him competent, said Battaglia's intelligence and education -- he has a master's degree -- shows he's not a "typical inmate" and has the "motive and intellectual capability to maintain a deliberate ploy or ruse to avoid his execution."
At the time of the shootings, Battaglia was on probation for a Christmas 1999 attack on Pearle. His profanity-laced Christmas greeting to Pearle was an apparent reference to that.
Faith was shot three times, Liberty five. Hours later, Battaglia was arrested outside at a tattoo shop where he had two large red roses inked on his left arm to commemorate his daughters. It took four officers to subdue him. A fully loaded revolver was found in his truck and more than a dozen firearms were recovered from his apartment.
Battaglia told the Dallas Morning News in 2014 his daughters were his "best little friends" and that he had photos of them displayed in his prison cell.
"I don't feel like I killed them," he said. "I am a little bit in the blank about what happened."
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
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