Serial killer Ricky Lee Green, 36, was pronounced dead on October 9, 1997, after being lethally injected by prison authorities in Huntsville, Texas. "Now we can go on and not have to worry about him getting out and hurting anyone else,'' said Shirley Bailey, the sister of one of his known victims.
Speaking quietly and slowly, Green turned to four relatives of his victims and said he was sorry. "This to me is another killing and it's not going to solve nothing. I feel my punishment is over and now my friends and family are being punished." Executioners had trouble finding "a suitable vein," thanks to Ricky's fondness for intravenous drugs. Before dying the convicted killer reminded onlookers that he had been a model prisoner while on Death Row.
The one-eyed radiator repairman was condemned to death for the Dec. 27, 1986, murder of Steven Fefferman, an advertising executive for a Fort Worth television station. Fefferman, 28, was castrated and repeatedly stabbed with a butcher knife at his home after having sex with Green. He also admitted killing three people in 1985, including a 16-year-old boy who was also castrated and stabbed Green had been sentenced to life prison terms for two of the other killings. Fort Worth police Detective Danny LaRue asked Green at the time of his arrest why he killed, his reply was: "They all deserved it. They were kind of the dregs of society." LaRue believes eight other unsolved murders in North Texas bear Green's trademarks.