John Alba Executed in Texas

The Star Telegram reports on the execution of a man who killed his wife in 1991.

A Collin County man, asking forgiveness for killing his estranged wife, was executed Tuesday evening for forcing his way into a neighbor's apartment and shooting his wife not long after he had been released from jail on bail on a child molestation charge.

When a warden asked whether he had a final statement, John Alba, 54, said, "I wish I could go back and change it, but I know I can't."

He also addressed his son and daughter, who watched through a window.

"Just tell everyone I love them," he said. "Y'all will be OK. I will, too.

"OK, warden," he said. "Do it."

Among the witnesses were the parents of the girl he was accused of molesting.

As the lethal drugs began to take effect, Alba said he could taste them.

"I am starting to go," he said just before slipping into unconsciousness. He was pronounced dead at 6:19 p.m.

Now that's what I call a graphic description of pre-meditated murder.

Alba and his wife, Wendy, 28, had a rocky marriage marked by alcohol abuse, infidelity and domestic violence, according to trial testimony.

While Alba was in jail for several weeks after a 12-year-old girl told police that he fondled her, Wendy Alba took refuge in a neighbor's apartment in Allen while she was trying to find a women's shelter.

Not long after leaving jail Aug. 5, 1991, Alba bought a .22-caliber semiautomatic pistol at a Plano pawn shop. He showed up at the apartment, forced his way in and shot Wendy Alba. The neighbor, who was wounded, testified against Alba.

I wonder if it's as easy today to buy a gun in the Plano pawn shop? What do you think?

Sometimes it seems like a violent and dangerous character like this guy has the full support of other gun owners, he has a right to bear arms like everybody else, after all, but when he kills his wife, the pro-gun guys say, "he's not one of us, he's a criminal."

I can understand the gun rights folks wanting to draw a line between themselves and the gangbangers, but not between themselves and hard-drinking violent men like John Alba. You belong to the same group.

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