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Rosendo Rodriguez, who turned 38 a day before the planned
execution, was set to be put to death by lethal injection at 6
p.m. at the state's death chamber in Huntsville.
If the execution goes ahead, it would be the seventh this year
in the United States and the fourth in Texas, which has executed
more inmates than any state since the U.S. Supreme Court
reinstated the death penalty in 1976.
Attorneys for Rodriguez filed a last-minute appeal with the U.S.
Supreme Court, seeking judicial review after they questioned the
integrity and findings of medical examiners in Lubbock relating
to the autopsy on the victim, Summer Baldwin, 29.
The body of Baldwin, described by the Texas Court of Criminal
Appeals as "a drug-addicted prostitute," was found in a suitcase
in a Lubbock landfill in September 2005. A police investigation
found the suitcase was recently purchased and paid for by a
debit card belonging to Rodriguez, court papers showed.
Baldwin's blood was later found in a hotel room where Rodriguez
stayed. Rodriguez, later dubbed "the suitcase killer" was
arrested and confessed to police, prosecutors said.
In a police statement admitted at trial, Rodriguez said he had
sexual intercourse with the victim and placed her in a
choke-hold until she lost consciousness and had no pulse. He
then purchased the suitcase, stuffed Baldwin inside and threw
the suitcase into a dumpster, prosecutors said.
He also admitted to murdering Joanna Rogers, 16, in 2004,
stuffing her body in a suitcase and throwing the bag away,
prosecutors said. His death sentence is for Baldwin's murder.
Lawyers for Rodriguez have asked for a new autopsy for Baldwin
after it was reported that she may have died from blunt force
trauma, saying her death could have come from a trash compactor
and not from their client.
Lawyers for Texas said the exact manner of death does not matter
because it was Rodriguez's actions that directly led to
Baldwin's death.
"Demonstrating that Rodriguez did not cause the blunt-force
injuries does not negate the fact that he asphyxiated her and
then placed her in harm’s way," they said in court filings.
(Reporting by Jon Herskovitz; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)
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