Texas Executes Killer Gary Johnson

A man convicted of killing two men who interrupted the nighttime burglary of a southeast Texas ranch in 1986 has been executed by lethal injection. Gary Johnson, 59, was pronounced dead at 6:26 p.m. Tuesday at Huntsville State Prison.

Johnson was convicted of the deaths of James Hazelton, 28, and his brother-in-law, Peter Sparagana, 23.

Johnson refused to make a final public statement, but told the warden, "Just tell my family good bye." But then he urged relatives to tell other family members "what they did was wrong for letting me take the fall for what they did. I never done anything in my life to anybody," he said.

Trial records show that in April 1986, Gary Johnson and his brother Terry Johnson drove their pickup truck through a chained gate at the Triple Creek Ranch 10 miles west of Huntsville in the dark of night to burglarize the property. Their truck was seen by neighbors who were tending to a horse about to give birth in a nearby pasture.

Begged For His Life

The neighbors called James Hazelton to report the intruders to the ranch where he worked. Hazelton and Sparagana found Terry Johnson, but did not initially see Gary. Prosecutors said Gary opened fire with a .44-caliber Magnum pistol and killed Sparagana.

Hazelton attempted to run away, but Gary Johnson, who once worked for Hazelton, caught him.

"He put the gun in Hazelton's mouth," prosecutor Frank Blazek said. "Hazelton begged for his life and people across the way, in the nearby pasture, couldn't see all this but could hear a man begging for his life."

Terry Johnson, now 62, took a plea deal and received a 99-year prison term.

See Also:
Former Worker Who Shot 2 at Texas Ranch Executed
More Information:
Texas Death Row Inmates
The Death Penalty

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