A Texas inmate who taunted a jury to sentence him to death is scheduled to be executed Wednesday evening for torturing and drowning an East Texas woman in his bathtub and then stuffing her body into a barrel.
Troy Clark was condemned for the May 1998 slaying of a former roommate, Christina Muse of Tyler. Authorities said that Clark, a drug dealer, had worried that Muse, 20, would snitch on him.
The 51-year-old Clark would become the 17th inmate put to death this year in the U.S. and the ninth given a lethal injection in Texas, the nation’s busiest capital punishment state. Clark’s the first of two inmates set to receive lethal injection this week. Daniel Acker was scheduled to be executed Thursday for fatally running over his girlfriend.
The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles has declined to recommend a commutation of Clark’s sentence.
Clark has argued his trial attorneys failed to present evidence of his childhood, marked by physical and emotional abuse, which might have convinced jurors to spare his life.
Appeals courts have previously ruled that because of the overwhelming case against Clark, it’s likely he still would have been sentenced to death even if the jury had heard evidence of his troubled childhood.
Prosecutors said Clark subdued Muse with a stun gun, bound her with duct tape and left her in a closet for several hours while he played video games and sold drugs to a customer.
Clark later moved Muse to a bathroom where he hit her with a board and threatened his girlfriend, Tory Bush, into helping him drown Muse in the tub. Muse’s body was then stuffed into a barrel with cement mix and lime before being dumped in a ravine.
Against the advice of his attorneys, Clark testified during his trial’s punishment phase, saying, “I really ain’t got no story to tell. It’s just I want the death penalty.”
Prosecutors also presented evidence Clark had committed two other killings, including one that occurred after Muse’s death but prior to his arrest. The Smith County District Attorney’s Office, which prosecuted Clark, declined to comment.
Bush, who testified against Clark, was sentenced to 20 years in prison.
AP
Emeh Achanga,the CEO of the Miss Petite Nigeria Brand is a lawyer turned blogger. She is very passionate about writing, with several publications and awards to her credit .She is currently working on publishing a collection of short stories which are basically a memoir about her exciting true experiences.
