After winning three stays of execution over the past decade, San Antonio's infamous 'Lover's Lane Killer' is set to be executed tonight for killing a man during a robbery back in 2003, News Radio 1200 WOAI reports.
Police said Juan Castillo used a female accomplice to lure the victim, Tommy Garcia, Jr. to a secluded spot which is used for making out. When Garcia arrived, Castillo shot him to death in a robbery.
The woman and two other accomplices all worked out deals with prosecutors, but Death Row spokesman Robert Hurst says Castillo was arrogant, and refused to go along.
"Castillo was so certain that the murder charges would be dropped against him, that he never went down that road, trying to get a plea deal," Hurst said.
Castillo was convicted largely on the testimony of a fellow inmate, who Hurst says hear Castillo confess to the crime.
"Castillo's lawyers contended there was no physical evidence tying him tot he slayings, however, prosecutors say they have two eyewitnesses to the shooting, as well as a man who reported hearing Castillo talk about committing the crime," Hurst said.
Castillo's appeals on the state and federal level have been rejected, and he even received on stay of execution last year due to Hurricane Harvey.
But his public defenders are asking Gov. Abbott to grant clemency, saying they have uncovered new evidence that 'casts doubt about much of the evidence' that was used to convict Castillo back in 2005.
The appeal to Abbott is not expected to be successful. Castillo would be the sixth person executed in Texas in 2018, more than in any other state.