The Texas Department of Criminal Justice carried out its first execution of 2023 Tuesday night.
Officials say Robert Fratta, age 65, was put to death for his role in the murder-for-hire plot against his wife in 1994 in the suburbs of Houston.
"Fratta, a former Missouri City police officer, was convicted of capital murder for the 1994 fatal shooting of his wife, Farah, during a bitter divorce and custody battle over their three children," said TDCJ spokesperson Robert Hurst. A jury concluded that Fratta went through a middleman, Joseph Prystash, to hire Howard Guidry to carry out the murder. Both of those men are also on death row.
Fratta's lawyers had asked the U.S. Supreme Court to block the execution. They claimed prosecutors had withheld information that investigators had hypnotized a witness who testified during Fratta's trial. Prosecutors contended the hypnosis did not produce any new information. The U.S. Supreme Court declined that appeal.
Fratta's lawyers had filed a separate lawsuit attempting to block the execution on the grounds that the drugs being used by the state were likely expired and unsafe. A judge in Austin issued a temporary injunction, but it was overturned by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals and the Texas Supreme Court rejected an appeal.
Related
LISTEN on the Audacy App
Tell your Smart Speaker to "PLAY 1080 KRLD"
Sign Up and Follow NewsRadio 1080 KRLD