A killer said he “prayed” his death will give “peace” to the family of an estate agent he murdered in his final words before being given a lethal injection.
Kosoul Chanthakoummane, 41, was found guilty of killing Sarah Walker who was found with more than 30 stab wounds at the house in McKinney, near Dallas, in 2006.
His execution was carried out at the Texas State Penitentiary in Huntsville and he was pronounced dead at 6.33pm local time.
Final appeals by Chanthakoummane’s lawyers to have the death penalty commuted to a lighter sentence or have a stay of execution were thrown out by the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles on Monday.
Chanthakoummane always maintained he was innocent while his case was shrouded in doubts about the reliability of evidence that was used against him at trial.
His mother was present at the execution that was carried out by using a lethal dose of pentobarbital.
In his final words he reportedly thanked “Jesus, his supporters and prison ministers”.
He stated: “To Ms Walker’s family I pray my death will bring you peace.”
After his death Collin County District Attorney’s Office tweeted: “Parolee executed for brutal 2006 murder of real estate agent.”
And District Attorney Greg Willis said: “Final justice was done this evening as the verdict of a Collin County jury was carried out for the killer of Sarah Walker.
"Kosoul Chanthakoummane was executed by lethal injection. Hopefully, Sarah’s family, friends, and loved ones can find some measure of solace.”
Witnesses in Chanthakoummane's trial said he was at the model home, a builder's example house, where Ms Walker was killed, while blood under her fingernails and a bite mark on the 40-year-old victim were linked to the death row prisoner.
But Chanthakoummane’s lawyers said there were concerns about the reliability of DNA evidence and it is part of a pattern used by prosecutors in the case.
They successfully discredited the claim his DNA was found on the bite mark to Ms Walker’s neck and two witnesses who gave evidence at the trial had been hypnotised by Texan officers - which can distort people’s memories.
Joseph Walker, the father of the victim, said before he died last year that he had forgiven the murderer.
