Man executed withlethal injectionafter using plant stand to beat real estate agent to death at model home in Texas.
Kosoul Chanthakoummane, 41, killed her Sarah Walker in 2006 at his McKinney home near Dallas where he was found with more than 30 stab wounds. Convicted of murder.
He has always maintained his innocence, and there have been questions about the reliability of the evidence used against him at trial. He said it was Chanthakman who was in the model house. Meanwhile, blood under his fingernails and bite marks on his 40-year-old victim were linked to death row prisoners.
But Chanthakumane's lawyers questioned the reliability of the DNA evidence. There are concerns, which he says are part of the pattern prosecutors used in this case.
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Death Penalty Information Center)They successfully denied the claim that his DNA was found in a bite mark on Ms. Walker's neck.
And his two witnesses who gave evidence at the trial had been hypnotized by Texas police officers. This can distort people's memories.
However, the Texas State Pardon and Parole Board last Monday refused to revoke Chanthakman's death sentence or grant him a 120-day reprieve.
"Critically speaking, current scientific knowledge states that the 'only reasonable inference' that should be drawn from the DNA evidence is that Mr. Chanthakman violently attacked Mr. Walker. Attorneys Catherine Clare Bernhardt and Eric J. Allen reported to the Texas Tribune on appeal last week.
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Reuters)But there was DNA evidence on Ms. Walker's fingernails and elsewhere in the model home, and the court decided
Chanthakoummane, who was out on parole for aggravated kidnapping and robbery, admitted to being at home but only drinking water.
He was also accused of stealing Ms. Walker's Rolex watch and silver ring, which were never found.
The victim's father, Joseph Walker said he forgave his killer before he died.
