Robert Dale Rowell (April 8, 1955 – November 15, 2005) was a

murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse committed with the necessary Intention (criminal law), intention as defined by the law in a specific jurisd ...

er executed by

lethal injection Lethal injection is the practice of injecting one or more drugs into a person (typically a barbiturate, paralytic, and potassium) for the express purpose of causing death. The main application for this procedure is capital punishment, but t ...

by the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

. He was convicted of the May 10, 1993, murder of Raymond Davey Mata in a

Houston, Texas Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

crack house A drug house is a residence used in the illegal drug trade. Drug houses shelter drug users and provide a place for drug dealers to supply them. Drug houses can also be used as laboratories to synthesize (cook) drugs, or cache ingredients and p ...

Crime

Rowell had gone to the house on May 10 with the intent to rob Irving Wright of his drugs and money after Rowell thought he had paid too much for some

crack cocaine Crack cocaine, commonly known simply as crack, and also known as rock, is a free base form of the stimulant cocaine that can be Smoking, smoked. Crack offers a short, intense Euphoria (emotion), high to smokers. The ''Manual of Adolescent Sub ...

. Wright, Mata and his girlfriend, Angie Perez, were in the house. After entering the house, Rowell told Perez and Mata that he would shoot them if they tried to leave. Rowell then proceeded to beat Wright with a

claw hammer A claw hammer is a hammer primarily used in carpentry for driving nail (fastener), nails into or pulling them from wood. Historically, a claw hammer has been associated with woodworking, but is also used in general applications. It is not sui ...

. Then the three victims were ordered into the bathtub, where Rowell shot them with a .22 caliber

pistol A pistol is a type of handgun, characterised by a gun barrel, barrel with an integral chamber (firearms), chamber. The word "pistol" derives from the Middle French ''pistolet'' (), meaning a small gun or knife, and first appeared in the Englis ...

, killing Mata. Wright was in a coma for several months and later died. According to the police report, Mata appeared to have shown signs of being beaten after being shot. Police arrested Rowell who was parked across the street from the scene and found him in possession of a .22 caliber revolver with six spent cartridge casings in the chamber, the gun case and Wright's bank bag.

Trial and appeals

After being indicted for capital murder on March 1, 1994, he was found guilty and sentenced to death by a jury on April 7. The conviction and sentence were affirmed by the

Texas Court of Criminal Appeals The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals (CCA) is the court of last resort for all criminal matters in Texas. The Court, which is based in the Supreme Court Building in Downtown Austin, is composed of a presiding judge and eight judges. Article V ...

on December 18, 1996. A petition for writ of

certiorari In law, ''certiorari'' is a court process to seek judicial review of a decision of a lower court or government agency. ''Certiorari'' comes from the name of a prerogative writ in England, issued by a superior court to direct that the recor ...

was denied by the

Supreme Court of the United States The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all Federal tribunals in the United States, U.S. federal court cases, and over Stat ...

on October 6, 1997, and further appeals for writ of

habeas corpus ''Habeas corpus'' (; from Medieval Latin, ) is a legal procedure invoking the jurisdiction of a court to review the unlawful detention or imprisonment of an individual, and request the individual's custodian (usually a prison official) to ...

were denied by his trial court and Texas Court of Criminal Appeals in 1998 and 2002 respectively. Rowell had appealed his sentence as he claimed the jury were improperly instructed. Under Texas state law, during the sentencing phase of the trial, the jury are asked two special issue questions, one of which relates to the future dangerousness to society of the accused. The jury had asked for clarification of the term "society" and the trial judge had replied, "I am prohibited by law from expanding on the Court's charge." Rowell also said that the judge had not explained properly to the jury just how long the non-parole period of his life sentence would have been. He would not have been released until he was 84 years old. Prior to the events of May 10, 1993, Rowell already had a criminal record. In 1973 he had served concurrent sentences of ten and twelve years for armed robberies. While on

parole Parole, also known as provisional release, supervised release, or being on paper, is a form of early release of a prisoner, prison inmate where the prisoner agrees to abide by behavioral conditions, including checking-in with their designated ...

in 1980 he had robbed a restaurant at gunpoint. One of the patrons was a police officer, who took chase. After the man had identified himself as a police officer, Rowell had fired at the officer. After being arrested in a parking lot nearby, he was sentenced on November 18, 1980, to 30 years. During this prison sentence he fatally stabbed another inmate with a homemade knife at Ramsey I prison in Brazoria County and was convicted of

manslaughter Manslaughter is a common law legal term for homicide considered by law as less culpable than murder. The distinction between murder and manslaughter is sometimes said to have first been made by the ancient Athenian lawmaker Draco in the 7th ce ...

and sentenced to eight years in prison. According to a psychological testing, Rowell was reported to be unusual for a capital defendant as he did not act impulsively. Instead, he scored highly in ability to think rationally and act purposefully. He was also reported to be suffering from depression,

psychopath Psychopathy, or psychopathic personality, is a personality Construct (psychology), construct characterized by impaired empathy and remorse, along with boldness, bold, disinhibited, and egocentrism, egocentric traits. These traits are often ma ...

ic behavior, deviant behavior,

anxiety Anxiety is an emotion characterised by an unpleasant state of inner wikt:turmoil, turmoil and includes feelings of dread over Anticipation, anticipated events. Anxiety is different from fear in that fear is defined as the emotional response ...

, social

introversion Extraversion and introversion are a central trait dimension in human personality theory. The terms were introduced into psychology by Carl Jung, though both the popular understanding and current psychological usage are not the same as Jung's o ...

drug addiction Addiction is a neuropsychological disorder characterized by a persistent and intense urge to use a drug or engage in a behavior that produces natural reward, despite substantial harm and other negative consequences. Repetitive drug use can ...

and

alcoholism Alcoholism is the continued drinking of alcohol despite it causing problems. Some definitions require evidence of dependence and withdrawal. Problematic use of alcohol has been mentioned in the earliest historical records. The World He ...

Execution

Rowell declined a last meal, asking for only a cup of

tea Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by pouring hot or boiling water over cured or fresh leaves of '' Camellia sinensis'', an evergreen shrub native to East Asia which probably originated in the borderlands of south-western China and nor ...

. Witnesses to the execution said that he snorted twice as the drugs took effect. He was pronounced dead at 6:24 p.m. CST after being executed by lethal injection at the

Huntsville Unit Texas State Penitentiary at Huntsville or Huntsville Unit (HV), nicknamed "Walls Unit", is a Texas state prison located in Huntsville, Texas, United States. The approximately facility, near downtown Huntsville, is operated by the Correctional Ins ...

Huntsville, Texas Huntsville is a city in and the county seat of Walker County, Texas, United States. Its population was 45,941 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is the center of the Huntsville United States micropolitan area, micropolitan area ...

. He is buried at Captain Joe Byrd Cemetery.

General references

Offender information
from the

Texas Department of Criminal Justice The Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) is a department of the government of the U.S. state of Texas. The TDCJ is responsible for statewide criminal justice for adult offenders, including managing offenders in state prisons, state jails ...

Report
from the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty
Media Advisory
from Texas Attorney General * * *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rowell, Robert Dale 1955 births 2005 deaths 21st-century executions by Texas 21st-century executions of American people American people executed for murder American people convicted of manslaughter People convicted of murder by Texas People executed by Texas by lethal injection Criminals from Houston

Crime

Trial and appeals

Execution

See also

General references

References