“We continue to press forward and await the finality of the execution date … to see that the jury’s verdict is upheld,” said Henry Garza, Bell County district attorney.
Manns was convicted for the capital murder of 25-year-old Army medic Michele Christine Robson, whose body was found in the bathtub of her apartment, her hands bound behind her back with several gunshot wounds to her head and chest.
“He is a disgrace to society and has finally gotten what he deserves,” Chad Robson, brother of the murder victim, said in March 2002. “Just looking at him (during the trial) has made us sick, and may he burn in hell.”
Manns, 42, did not hear Robson’s scathing remarks about him, which were given after his guilty verdict on the last day of the trial.
In an unusual decision, Manns refused to attend his punishment hearing, where the jury decided he should be put to death.
At the conclusion of the proceeding, a juror leaving the courtroom said, “he (Manns) was remorseless.”
During the trial, Manns took the stand in his own behalf and disputed several points of evidence. He was found with Ms. Robson’s ring and jacket. In addition, his fingerprints were found on the murder weapon and he lived just two doors down from Ms. Robson at the time of the crime.
Manns told the jury he got the ring, along with some crack, from a drug dealer. He said he obtained the jacket during a clothing swap with another man and denied it was Ms. Robson’s, although earlier testimony indicated it was indeed her jacket.
His fingerprints were on the gun because he took it away from his brother, who was shooting it at a large inflatable gorilla at a car dealership, Manns said.
One thing Manns did not have an answer for was how his DNA got onto Ms. Robson’s bra.
“I don’t know her,” Manns said during the trial. “I never touched the lady.”
Manns had been convicted of armed robbery twice out of New York.
Two death row inmates from Bell County previously were executed.
Christopher Black Sr. was 43 when he was executed on July 9, 2003, for killing his 17-month-old granddaughter Katrese Houston on Feb. 7, 1998. Black also was charged with killing his wife Gwendolyn Black, and 5-month-old-daughter Christina Black.
Thomas Barefoot was 39 when he was executed on Oct. 30, 1984, for killing a Harker Heights police officer to avoid arrest on Aug. 7, 1978. Barefoot was wanted in New Mexico on charges of sexually assaulting a 3-year-old girl.
Manns is one of two executions scheduled for this week. If both go through, Manns will be the 17th death-row inmate executed in Texas this year. Last year Texas had 26 executions.
