Texas has executed Richard Lee Tabler, convicted of a double homicide in 2004 and who admitted to killing two additional individuals. The execution followed efforts by Attorney General Ken Paxton to maintain his death sentence.
On November 25, 2004, Tabler lured Mohamed-Amine Rahmouni and Haitham Zayed to a parking lot under the guise of selling inexpensive stereo equipment and killed them with a borrowed handgun. Four days later, authorities arrested Tabler, who confessed to these shootings and admitted to murdering two women he believed were connecting him to the previous murders. In April 2007, a Bell County jury found Tabler guilty of capital murder for Rahmouni and Zayed. This conviction has been upheld by every court that reviewed the case.
Attorney General Paxton stated, “More than twenty years after his violent murder spree during Thanksgiving weekend, Richard Lee Tabler has been held accountable for his heinous actions. The State of Texas has carried out the sentence imposed by a jury of the defendant’s peers, delivering justice for the victims and their families. I remain committed to upholding the rule of law and ensuring that violent criminals are held accountable.”
The execution was conducted by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice in Huntsville, Texas. Tabler was pronounced dead at 6:38 p.m.