Khristian Oliver, the man convicted of capital murder for the 1998 death of Joe Collins, is set to be executed by lethal injection Thursday.
Some members of the Collins family have confirmed that they will attend the Huntsville execution.
Sentinel file photo |
Khristian Oliver leaves the courtroom at the Nacogdoches County Courthouse during his 1999 trial.
|
Collins, 64, found Oliver and Lonny Rubalcaba burglarizing his home on March 17, 1998. Collins retrieved a gun and shot Rubalcaba in the leg, after which Oliver shot Collins with a different gun and used the man's gun to beat him, according to trial testimony. Sonya Fawn Reed, who had been waiting in a vehicle outside Collins' home with Rubalcaba's brother, Benny, was convicted of engaging in organized criminal activity and sentenced to 99 years in prison. Both Benny and Lonny were convicted and sentenced to five and 10 years, respectively, after they testified as state witnesses as part of plea agreements. Oliver was convicted and sentenced to death April 22, 1999.
He appealed the verdict based on the fact that jurors consulted a Bible during punishment deliberations. A passage in the book of Numbers states a man who kills another man with an iron rod should be put to death. A Texas appellate court ruled the jurors' use of the Bible was inappropriate but did not overturn the conviction.
In April, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear Oliver's appeal, and on June 29, 145th District Court Judge Campbell Cox set a Nov. 5 execution date.
Nacogdoches County District Attorney Nicole LoStracco said Oliver's attorney's filed a last minute subsequent application for post conviction writ of habeas corpus on Oct. 26 and a motion for stay of execution with the Texas Court of Criminal appeals on Oct. 28, pending resolution of the writ. She said her office, although having until Nov. 10, a date after the scheduled execution, to answer, has already prepared its response and had it filed by the end of last week.
