USA - Texas. Joshua Maxwell, 31, white, was executed

Joshua Maxwell, 31, white, was executed. Maxwell apologized repeatedly in the seconds before lethal drugs began flowing into his arms. Maxwell was condemned for gunning down Bexar County Sheriff's Department Sgt. Rudy Lopes, 45, in October 2000. Maxwell also was convicted of killing a man in Indiana a month before, Robby Bott, 45. In booth cases he was together with his girlfriend, Tessie McFarland. McFarland, 30, is serving a life prison term in Texas after pleading guilty to Lopes' slaying. In Indiana, she initially was charged with murder, criminal confinement, arson and theft in Bott's killing, but pleaded guilty to confinement and arson as part of a plea deal. Maxwell becomes the 4th condemned inmate to be put to death this year in Texas and the 451st overall since executions resumed on December 7th, 1982. Maxwell becomes the 9th condemned inmate to be put to death this year in the USA and the 1197th overall since the nation resumed executions on January 17, 1977.