White supremacist killer Justen Hall who murdered transgender woman begs for forgiveness before execution
A WHITE supremacist who killed a transgender woman begged for forgiveness before his execution.
Double murderer Justen Hall, 38, was pronounced dead by lethal injection in Texas, US, on Wednesday night.
Before being injected with a mix of lethal drugs, he addressed the families of his two victims, saying he was sorry for "the pain and suffering I caused".
Hall was charged in connection with the fatal shooting of Arturo Diaz, a transgender woman whose body was found on April 10, 2002.
That initial slaying - to which he finally confessed to carrying out two years ago - was originally investigated as a hate crime.
The pair had reportedly met at a gay bar, and his indictment said he was motivated to commit murder by prejudice over Diaz's sexual orientation.
But, while out on bond, he strangled Melanie Billhartz, 29.
Hall was the first person in El Paso to be charged with killing someone while out on bail on another murder charge, reports .
He had feared Billhartz would tip off cops about the location of a drug den, where he and other members of his white supremacist gang held clandestine meetings.
Prosecutors said that Ted Murgatroyd, a recruit to Hall's racist pals, got into a fight with Billhartz while in her truck, on the way to a convenience store in El Paso County.
SHOVEL AND MACHETE
When the pair returned to the drug house, where the racists were gathered, Hall decided to kill Billhartz to keep her from reporting either the fight or the meeting place, say court documents.
Hall left the drug house with Billhartz in her truck and returned five hours later with her body in the back of the vehicle.
He ordered Murgatroyd to get a shovel and machete and accompany him on a drive to New Mexico, where they buried the victim's body.
A month later, Hall confessed to police after they pulled him over while he was driving Billhartz's truck. Police later recovered Billhartz's remains, and an autopsy found she'd been strangled with an electrical cord.
Hall was convicted of Billhartz's murder in 2005, and sentenced to death.
After his conviction, Hall filed an appeal challenging the DNA evidence against him, as he claimed he was innocent.
ADMITS DOUBLE SLAYINGS
But in 2016, he withdrew the appeal and asked for an execution date to be set instead.
In a letter to the district attorney, the murderer said: "I have done this because I believe it's time for justice to be served, and to give the victim's family closure."
Appearing at a court hearing in March 2017, he admitted to a judge that the DNA test request was a "stall tactic".
He confessed: "I killed Melanie, and I killed Arturo. And I accept punishment for it, and I'm ready to get it over with, you know."
Yesterday, before being killed by lethal injection, Hall addressed the family of both victims.
In the execution chamber in Huntsville he apologised for the "pain and suffering I caused.
"And to the Diaz's family that I had to put you through this, it should never happened.
"And to my mum... I love you and I'm going to miss you. I'm ready."
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Hall became the 19th inmate in America and the eighth in Texas executed this year, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.
Texas has executed more prisoners than any other state since the US Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976.
On Monday night, South Dakota executed a man convicted of fatally stabbing a former doughnut shop co-worker during a 1992 burglary.