By Michael Graczyk
Associated Press
HUNTSVILLE, Texas — A three-time convicted robber who helped engineer the biggest prison break in Texas history was set to be executed Wednesday for killing a suburban Dallas police officer while the notorious gang was on the run.
Donald Newbury, 52, would be the third member of the group known as the “Texas 7" executed for the fatal shooting of 29-year-old Aubrey Hawkins, an Irving officer who interrupted the fugitives’ robbery of a sporting goods store on Christmas Eve in 2000.
The slaying occurred 11 days after the convicts escaped. The gang was captured a month later in Colorado.
Newbury’s attorneys asked the U.S. Supreme Court to keep him from lethal injection, arguing that previous lawyers were deficient and courts did not provide adequate money for a defense expert to illustrate how Newbury’s abusive childhood influenced his violent behavior.
“Newbury’s request is nothing more than a meritless attempt to postpone his already-delayed execution,” Tomee Henning, an assistant Texas attorney general, told the high court.
Evidence showed the gang led by George Rivas, who had 17 life prison terms, overpowered workers on Dec. 13, 2000, at the Connally Unit of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, about 60 miles south of San Antonio. They broke into a prison armory, stole weapons and drove off in a prison truck.
Two days later, Rivas and Newbury held up a suburban Houston RadioShack store, taking electronics including police radio scanners.
“Rivas was the leader and would do the talking and Newbury was one of the guys standing with the gun and threatening everybody,” said Toby Shook, the former Dallas County assistant district attorney who prosecuted both. “Rivas was using him as his muscle.”
Eleven days after the breakout, Hawkins drove to the sporting goods store to check out a report of suspicious activity. He was shot 11 times, his bullet-ridden body pulled from his squad car and then run over with a stolen SUV. The fugitives fled with $70,000, 44 firearms and ammunition, plus jewelry and wallets from store employees who were closing up for the evening.
The gang was apprehended a month later. One of them, Larry Harper, killed himself rather than surrender. When arrested, Newbury had 12 loaded firearms in the Colorado Springs Holiday Inn room he shared with inmate Joseph Garcia.
Newbury contended he didn’t shoot to kill Hawkins and had pointed his gun far above the officer’s head.
Prison records show Newbury, serving a 99-year sentence at the time of the escape, was cited 55 times for disciplinary violations in his 13 years on death row.
In a 2003 interview with The Associated Press, Newbury called his trial “a farce” and said he wished he would have testified so jurors could get to know him.
“We’re not the Hannibal Lecters people believe,” he said.
Rivas was put to death three years ago at age 41. George Rodriguez ordered his appeals dropped and was executed in 2008 at age 45. Three remain on death row: Garcia, 43, Patrick Murphy Jr., 53, and Randy Halprin, 37.
Copyright 2015 The Associated Press