TEXAS, USA. CHARLES THACKER EXECUTED FOR 1993 MURDER OF TEACHER

Charles Daniel Thacker, a man convicted of strangling a schoolteacher during a sexual assault in 1993, was executed by lethal injection.
Thacker, 37, was the 17th person put to death this year in Texas, which leads the nation in capital punishment.
Thacker was condemned for strangling Karen Crawford during an attempted rape in a restroom at her northwest Houston apartment complex. She had been dragged into the restroom from the complex's mailboxes.
Thacker had protested his innocence in the murder, although several women testified at his trial he had raped them. Thacker's attorneys attempted to have his execution delayed so evidence could be tested for his DNA.
In his final statement while strapped to a gurney in the Texas death chamber, Thacker said, "Tell my family I love them.
"I am sorry for the things I have done. I know God will forgive me. I will miss you guys. I love you. I guess that's all," he said.
He was the 353rd person put to death in Texas since the state resumed executions in 1982. Three more executions are scheduled this year in Texas.