Texas 'Tourniquet Killer' Put to Death in First Execution of 2018

Texas carried out the nation's first execution of 2018 on Thursday evening, putting to death a man known as Houston's "tourniquet killer" because of his signature murder technique.

Anthony Shore, 55, was executed by lethal injection in the state's death chamber in Huntsville. His time of death was recorded at 6:28 p.m., Robert Hurst, a spokesperson for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice told AOL.

He was sentenced to death for one of his killings, a 1992 murder of 21-year-old Maria del Carmen Estrada, whose body was dumped in the drive-thru of a Houston Dairy Queen.

Shore was dubbed the "tourniquet killer" for his murder spree in the 1980s and 1990s because he strangled his victims with handmade tourniquets, according to the Harris County District Attorney's office.

In his final statement, Shore, 55, asked to "take a moment to say I'm sorry," according to prison officials.

"No amount of words or apology could ever undo what I've done," he said ahead of his execution. "I wish I could undo the past, but it is what it is. God bless all of you, I will die with a clear conscience. I made my peace."

The crimes Shore committed went unsolved for more than a decade until he was arrested for molesting two of his daughters and his DNA was filed as that of a sexual predator.

When the DNA was tested against cold case files, it proved a positive match in at least one case. Shore was brought in for questioning and confessed to murdering and raping five girls and women in the Houston area, the district attorney's office said, AOL reports.

He was convicted and sentenced to death in 2004.

In addition to Estrada, Shore's victims included 14-year-old Laurie Trembley who was killed in 1986; a 14-year-old anonymous girl who was killed in 1993; 9-year-old Dana Rebollar whom he kidded in 1994 and 16-year-old Dana Sanches, killed in 1995.

Shore's lawyers argued in initial appeals that he suffered brain damage early in life that went undiscovered by his trial attorneys. They claimed the cognitive damage affected his decision to disregard their advice when he told his trial judge he wanted the death penalty.

A federal appeals court last year turned down the appeal, the US Supreme Court refused to review his case and the six-member Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles unanimously rejected a clemency petition.

The murderer had initially been scheduled to be put to death October, but his execution was postponed for an investigation by prosecutors. They were investigating whether Shore had plotted to take the blame for a murder that put fellow inmate Larry Swearington on death row.

In 2017, 23 convicted murderers were put to death in the US, with seven executions performed in Texas. In the coming weeks, three more Texas inmates are scheduled to be put to death.