News & Issues

Frederick Patrick McWilliams #57

2004 Executions - Frederick Patrick McWilliams:

#57 murderer executed in U.S. in 2004.
Executed 11/10/2004 in Texas by Lethal Injection.

Summary of the Murder: During a crime spree by McWilliams and accomplices Kenneth Adams and Richard Hawkins, the three happened upon Alfonso Rodriguez who was sleeping inside his parked car. When the three attempted to put Rodriguez inside the trunk of the car, he struggled, and McWilliams shot him in the head, and killed him.

Statistical Data:

Murderer - Frederick Patrick McWilliams

Date of Birth - 12/1/1973
Race - Black
Sex - Male
Age when crime committed - 25
Age when executed - 30
Date of Sentence - 9/9/1997

Victim -

Date of Murder - 9/28/1996
Race - Hispanic
Sex - Male
Age when murdered - 29
Method of Murder - Handgun
Relationship to Murderer - None

Details of the Crime:

On the night of September 28, 1996, McWilliams and two accomplices drove to a Houston apartment complex where McWilliams and one of the accomplices, Kenneth Adams, talked about stealing a car. After McWilliams found a brown car with a man sleeping inside, both he and Adams, who were carrying guns, approached the vehicle. Adams pulled Alfonso Rodriguez from the car at gunpoint while McWilliams rummaged through the glove compartment.

Adams beat Rodriguez with the butt of the gun while Rodriguez was lying on the ground attempting to cover his head. Adams then picked Rodriguez up, and he and McWilliams tried to put Rodriguez in the trunk of his car.

Not wanting to be part of the robbery, the third accomplice jumped into the driver’s seat of Adam’s car and drove away. As he was leaving, he heard a shot. A few minutes later, he saw McWilliams and Adams driving Rodriguez’s car, and they waved at him to pull over. Adams, who was covered in blood, got into the driver’s seat and told Hawkins, “Your cousin wild. He wild. He shot a man.”

The Capture:

On October 3, 1996, Adams and another man were stopped for speeding. A search of the car yielded several firearms, one of which was identified as the gun that killed Rodriguez. During questioning by investigating officers, Adams confessed and implicated McWilliams. After being arrested, McWilliams admitted to shooting Rodriguez.

Prior Criminal History:

McWilliams received probation for an August 1993 aggravated robbery, and he was convicted for evading arrest in a September 1994 incident. He also participated in several robberies leading up to and following the capital murder of Alfonso Rodriguez, including the September 9, 1996, robbery of Dan’s Food Market in Brookshire; the September 24, 1996, robbery of Lucy’s Cantina in Houston; and the October 3, 1996, robbery of the Brookshire Brothers Grocery Store in Brookshire.

Procedural History:

March 10, 1999 -- The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed McWilliams’ conviction and sentence.
July 22, 1998 -- McWilliams filed an application for writ of habeas corpus in the state trial court.
April 4, 2001 -- The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals denied McWilliams’ application for writ of habeas corpus.
April 3, 2002 -- McWilliams filed a federal petition for writ of habeas corpus in a Houston U.S. District Court.
December 31, 2002 -- The federal district court dismissed McWilliams’ federal habeas petition and denied a certificate of appealibility.
March 28, 2003 -- McWilliams requested permission to appeal from the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
August 15, 2003 -- The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals denied McWilliams’ request to appeal the district court’s denial of his federal habeas petition.
September 5, 2003 -- McWilliams filed a petition for rehearing on his application for certificate of appealibility.
September 22, 2003 -- The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals denied the petition for rehearing.
December 18, 2003 -- McWilliams petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court for a writ of certiorari.
March 1, 2004 -- McWilliams’ petition for writ of certiorari was denied by the Supreme Court.

The Execution

Final Meal:McWilliams requested fried chicken breasts, lasagna, egg rolls, shrimp fried rice, chimichangas, turkey with liver and gizzard dressing, dirty rice, cranberry sauce and lemonade.

Final Words: "Well, here we are again, folks, in the catacombs of justice," McWilliams said in his last statement. There are people that will be mad, thinking I try to seek freedom from this, but as long as I see, freedom belongs to me and I'll keep on keeping on. The shackles and chains that just might hold my body can't hold my mind." McWilliams also expressed love to his family and friends.

He was pronounced dead at 6:18 p.m.