A man on Death Row was executed for killing a jogger with her own shoelaces back in 1997 – but he was refused the infamous last meal for one reason.
Arthur Lee Burton, a 54-year-old Texas Death Row inmate who was found guilty and convicted of the brutal murder of a jogger in 1997, was executed on Wednesday.
Burton had confessed to the killing of Nancy Adleman, 48, and later claimed he “couldn’t help” but commit the crime. His confession, he argued, should not have been used in his trial.
READ MORE: Death Row killer’s modest three-item final meal in first state execution in 14 years
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The mother of three went missing after going for a run and her bludgeoned body was discovered the next day in a shallow grave in a wooded area near Brays Bayou.
(Image: AP)
Court records reveal that Burton admitted to attempting to rape Nancy before strangling her with her own shoelaces. He later told a prison psychologist the murder was “just something I couldn’t help”. In 1998, a jury found him guilty, reports the Mirror US.
Burton was the third inmate to be executed in Texas this year and the 11th in the US. He and those other two Texan inmates, however, did not receive the famous Death Row last meal – and it’s essentially because one man before them took the mick.
In September 2011, Texas abolished the tradition of allowing Death Row inmates to request special meals after Lawrence Russell Brewer requested a large and expensive one – but didn’t eat it.
(Image: Getty Images)
He asked for steak, fried okra, a triple bacon cheeseburger, three fajitas, an omelette, pizza and half a loaf of bread. He also requested a Blue Bell ice cream, peanut butter fudge and three root beers.
But when Brewer’s mammoth meal arrived he ate precisely none of it, reportedly telling guards he didn’t think he would be able to eat. Since then, the last meal for prisoners on Death Row in Texas is whatever is being served in the Huntsville Unit cafeteria on the day of execution.
After Burton was arrested for the 1997 attack, he initially denied any involvement in the woman’s murder. However, when confronted with evidence found at the scene by law enforcement, inconsistencies in his story were revealed.
(Image: Utah Department of Corrections/A)
This led to the 54-year-old’s confession. Court documents from 2004 reveal that Burton admitted in writing to assaulting Nancy, dragging her still-living body into the woods, and strangling her until she lost consciousness so he could undress and rape her.
When the mother regained consciousness, she was strangled again and dragged into a hole. Burton noticed another person nearby as he was leaving the scene. He rushed back to the hole and used the mother of three’s shoelace to strangle her.
In court, the prosecution delved into Burton’s troubled history, highlighting the 39 burglaries he committed in a single month at the tender age of 18. Along with his accomplices, Burton made away with a variety of items such as radios, weapons, fishing equipment and calculators.
In 2002, Michael Burton, Burton’s brother, testified that his sibling began dealing cocaine at 17 and started using marijuana when he was just 16.
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